Beschreibung:

HUMBUG No. 6 Uncut Cover Proof [with] HUMBUG No. 6 Comic Book Author: Place: Publisher: Humbug, Inc. Date: January, 1958 Description: Measures 13" x 17.5" (image area 10" x 13.5"). Very fine condition, vertical crease, small residue spot not affecting image area. Unprinted verso. Comic book is VF-, edges of cover and pages toned. A rare uncut and unfolded color cover proof to Humbug #6, showing both the Jack Davis "Scrooge" front cover and the Arnold Roth back cover, untrimmed with excess paper surrounding the image. This proof represents Kurtzman's final opportunity to inspect the cover before the comic was printed. According to Kurtzman's biographer Denis Kitchen, who documented the Kurtzman estate, as few as one and as many as three cover proofs were produced for each issue of Humbug. None have been offered for sale before now. This issue's Ebenezer Scrooge cover was featured in a highly laudatory Playboy article promoting Kurtzman's Humbug ("The Little World of Harvey Kurtzman " December 1957). A Christmas Carol was one of Kurtzman's favorite stories, according to Kurtzman biographer Bill Schelly, and his choice to showcase Scrooge on this cover reveals something of Kurtzman's human sympathies: "He became a lifelong fan of Dickens and was particularly captivated by A Christmas Carol. It was Dickens's self-described 'sledgehammer blow for the poor' that touched him, dovetailing nicely with the labor versus management ideas he'd picked up at home." Provenance: From the Harvey Kurtzman Estate Consignments Accepted for PBA's Next Comic Book Auction. Golden Age, Silver Age, Pre-Code, Original Art, Interesting Ephemera Sought. Contact ivan@pbagalleries.com for details. PBA COMICS March 26th Comic Book Sale catalogues available. Supplies Limited. Softcover catalogues limited to 200 copies ($45 + $5 postage/handling). Hardcovers limited to 26 lettered copies, dust jackets, special limitation plates ($150). Contact ivan@pbagalleries.com. Lot Amendments Condition: Item number: 312553