Beschreibung:

CGC certified: VG (4.0). Off-white pages. Mexican comic featuring an uncredited redraw of Jack Davis's cover to Tales from the Crypt #38 (EC, 1953). Black and white contents. Stories translated into Spanish. CGC Census: Only graded copy. GPAnalysis: No recorded sales. Pirated Mexican version of EC's Tales from the Crypt #38, featuring a re-draw of Jack Davis's ax-murder cover. The original cover artwork proved too outré even for scandal-prone EC, and Bill Gaines ordered it to be dialed down, possibly on the advice of his lawyers, who may have feared a bad reaction from American distributors. The version of the cover familiar to U.S. readers features a crazed man hacking away at the unseen contents of a trunk. Canada's Superior Publishing released its version of TFTC #38 shortly after the U.S. version was released, also with a censored cover. Although Graphic Masters released a poster in 1971 featuring the uncensored cover art, this edition of Clasicos del Terror represents the first time that the uncensored version appeared on the cover of a newsstand comic book, albeit in ersatz form. The uncensored cover wouldn't appear on a U.S. comic book until Gemstone reprinted TFTC #38 (as Tales from the Crypt #22) in 1997. There's a paucity of information regarding official vs. pirated versions of Yankee comics, but if nothing else, this mag's publication date makes it clear that it's an unauthorized bootleg rather than a licensed product. As Bill Gaines stated in 1970, shortly before this mag's release, "The only thing in connection with EC [currently] being reprinted in foreign editions is MAD magazines and paperbacks." — Roger Hill, "The EC Family," Squa Tront #3. Jerry Weist: 1970, p. 69. The history of licensed and unlicensed EC International editions has yet to be fully untangled, but this much is known: during the New Trend years, Bill Gaines sold rubber duplicates of EC's printing plates to his Canadian equivalent, William Zimmerman of Superior Publishing. The rubber plates are largely responsible for the lousy print quality of Superior ECs: "Since it cost too much to ship metal plates, Gaines decided to have rubber plates made up for easy shipment. These plates were sold to Superior." —ibid. Gaines permitted British publisher L. Miller and Co. to reprint some EC material in the early 1950s under the Arnold Book Co. imprint: "Once again, it woud've been impossible to send them the plates, so he sent proof sheets." Finally, as the ax fell on U.S. pre-Code comics, Gaines sold the metal plates in one fell swoop to a Mexican publisher: "Near the demise of EC, all the metal plates from the EC New Trend comics were sold to Mexico for the firm sum of $2000." —ibid. The publisher that Gaines sold the metal plates to was Editora Sol of Mesones, Mexico (mistakenly identified in Squa Tront #3 as Una Revista). What became of the plates when Editora Sol was done with them? Were they sold off to other International publishers, such as Ediciones Latino Americanas? Nobody knows. Internationals are truly the Wild West of comics collecting, with a handful of determined researchers obsessively sifting facts from lore. PBA will continue to delve into the mysteries of International versions of EC mags in future catalogues. A deluxe limited edition of 12 hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a small number of softcovers. 400 lots, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcover $40, deluxe hardcover with dust jacket and limitation plate $200. Eight of the 12 hardcovers are pre-ordered and the rest will go quickly, so reserve yours now. To order, contact [email protected] . Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2022 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of comics auctioneers. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." — R. Crumb. Send inquiries to