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Author:
Title: WHO IS NEXT? No. 5 * 1st Issue
Place Published:
Publisher:Standard/Pines [Indicia: Standard Magazines, Inc.]
Date Published: January, 1953
Description:

CGC certified: VG (4.0). Cream to off-white pages. Cover: George Roussos. Art: Alex Toth, Mike Sekowsky, Nick Cardy, Ross Andru. CGC Census: 22 Universal copies, highest grade being 8.5. GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. A 3.5 sold for $760 in May 2021, and a 5.0 sold for $1260 in November 2020.

First and only ish of this offbeat crime mag (technically, it's not a one-shot, as the indicia indicates that it was intended for quarterly publication). So why does the numbering start with #5? As usual, pre-Code savant George Suarez has the answers:

"Standard was apparently concerned that with the glut of comics hitting the newsstands at the height of the pre-Code 'explosion,' new titles would be short-shrifted by newsstand vendors... In those days, #1 issues were frequently printed without a number on the cover so distributors, vendors and fans would NOT know that the title was new.... With the newsstands cluttered so badly that rack space was at a great premium, the general attitude seemed to be that if any title was going to be denied space, it should be a new, unproven comic book: i.e. a #1 issue." — Tales To Terrirble To Tell #7. NEC: 1992-93, p. 30.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Fall 2022 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art, vintage comic-related photos and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.