Atomic Zombies & Other Mutants in Journey into Mystery #15, at Auction

In current years, we have talked loads in these public sale posts in regards to the low-key function that radiation-transformed characters performed in comedian books lengthy earlier than the Silver Age Marvel Universe. From the cosmic ray-powered The Ray and Bill Everett‘s The Conqueror; to a second, post-Atomic Bomb wave of characters like Atoman and Atomic Man; and a 3rd wave impressed by escalating fears of the implications of nuclear conflict because the United States ramped up atomic bomb testing and the Soviet Union grew to become the second nuclear energy. In comics, Strange Worlds #7 is an enchanting early entry into the implications of this third wave. And whereas it does not title them as such in the textual content, Marvel/Atlas’ Journey into Mystery #15 is one other mid-Fifties instance of radiation-transformed mutants. There’s a Journey Into Mystery #15 (Atlas, 1954) CBCS FN+ 6.5 Off-white pages up for public sale in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 at Heritage Auctions.

The cowl of Journey into Mystery #15 by Sol Brodsky is a illustration of the inside story “Till Death Us Do Part”, is symbolic of the idea of the story — a pair being despatched to their demise collectively by some zombie-like creature. But the inside story drawn by Vic Carrabotta that corresponds to this cowl tells a special story. The couple in that story fought till the husband was actually at his spouse’s throat — and at that second an atomic conflict began. As the captions clarify:

I by no means completed the job… as a result of at that time the best violence the world had ever identified was perpetrated upon civilization. The dreaded Atomic War which everybody had anticipated since 1953 was lastly an actuality.

Half the world’s inhabitants was worn out earlier than peace got here. Those who have been spared thought-about themselves lucky, though atomic shock had left man in a deplorable state, and lots of underwent dreadful adjustments underneath the affect of atomic radiation.

While these dreadful adjustments did not embrace powers, at least as depicted in the story, the implications of mutation are nonetheless made clear. An enchanting depiction of the implications of atomic conflict appropriately wrapped up into Pre-Code Horror, there is a Journey Into Mystery #15 (Atlas, 1954) CBCS FN+ 6.5 Off-white pages up for public sale in the 2022 October 27 – 28 Halloween Pre-Code Horror and Crime Comics Showcase Auction #40207 at Heritage Auctions. If you have by no means bid at Heritage Auctions earlier than, you may get additional info, you may try their FAQ on the bidding course of and associated issues.