(Stock Image)
SOLD ON: Monday, 12/08/2014 1:16 PM
This auction has ended.
PUBLISHER: Eastern Color
COMMENTS: crm/ow pgs; from the collection of Willam Gaines includes COA
1st monthly newsstand comic book; wraparound golf cover
Read Description ▼
crm/ow pgs; from the collection of Willam Gaines includes COA
1st monthly newsstand comic book; wraparound golf coverEastern Color published Famous Funnies 1, in July 1934, a sixty-eight-page periodical they distributed to newsstands through American News Company. While it was a huge hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression and sold close to ninety percent of its original 200,000 print run, the expenses left Eastern Color with a $4,000 loss. Eastern's luck would eventually change as the book turned a $30,000 profit with every issue after 11. Famous Funnies ran for 218 issues, inspiring imitators and launching a new form of entertainment readily consumed by the masses. It's quite possibly one of the most important comics ever published. Without this trailblazer it is hard to imagine that American comic book readership would have developed as successfully as it has.This extremely rare treasure is difficult enough to locate in any condition, and this copy is particularly appealing for its grade, boasting a clean central image on its cover. Note, this book hails from the collection of William Gaines, one of comics' most important and revered figures, making it doubly historic for the serious collector.
Overstreet Guide 2014 VG (4.0) value = $6,400.