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Author:
Title: MORE FUN COMICS No. 21
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Nicholson Publishing Co. Inc.]
Date Published: June, 1937
Description: CGC certified: Fair/Good (1.5). Grader's notes: "Moderate creasing to cover; moderate spine splits to cover; moderate spine stress lines to cover; moderate tape." Slightly brittle pages. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: A 1.5 sold for $250 in 2004. More recently, a 2.5 sold for $773 in 12/22.

CGC Census: 10 graded copies (7 Universal, 4 Restored). Gerber Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 7 ("Scarce: 21-50 copies").

Credits: Cover: Vin Sullivan. Scripts: Bill Ely, Vin Sullivan, Russell Cole, Jimmy DeAngelo, Homer Fleming, Tom Hickey, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Laidlaw, Leo O'Mealia, Creig Flessel, Whitney Ellsworth, Richard Speed, Jerry Siegel, Tom Folliard. Art: Bill Ely, Vin Sullivan, Russell Cole, Jimmy DeAngelo, Homer Fleming, Tom Hickey, Raymond Perry, Laidlaw, Leo O'Mealia, Henry Kiefer, Creig Flessel, Whitney Ellsworth, Sven Elven, Joe Shuster, Tom Folliard.Sullivan's Close Shave: Part of the fun of reading old funnybooks is spotting clues to the shifting manners and customs of the day. American life changed rapidly in the first half of the 20th century, due to technological advances (cars, planes, indoor plumbing, electrified housing), social progress (women's suffrage, the end of prohibition), and the disruption of two World Wars. Naturally, parents fretted about the effects of rapid societal shifts on their kids; indeed, these fears would collide with comics during the anti-comics furor of the 1950s, resulting in the formation of the Comics Code Authority.

Vin Sullivan's cover, depicting an alarmed mom walking in on her boy as he prepares to maul his mug with his pop's straight razor, puts an amusing spin on the notion of kids imperiled by the hazards of the adult world. Curiously, it was the slaughterhouse of World War I that started the straight razor on the road to obsolescence — doughboys were issued safety razors by government decree, and many of them continued the habit when they returned to the States. Perhaps the dad of the lad on this mag's cover was a draft dodger, and missed out when Uncle Sam was handing out Gilettes?****************************************
The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, encompassing every single DC comic published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. The collection was amassed by British music producer Ian Levine over the course of several decades, and it's been hailed as the single greatest collecting accomplishment in comic book history. This collection served as the basis for former DC Comics president Paul Levitz's monumental book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, published by Taschen in 2017. PBA is proud to present this epic collection in a series of themed sales, including The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION Part 3: The GOLDEN AGE, coming this summer. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com.

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