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The Jack Adler Collection Of DC Cover Art!

This Auction Includes:
Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #7 Original Cover Proof
Courtesy of the respected Michael W. Kaluta, who did numerous great horror covers for DC during the early to mid-seventies. This Actual Piece Was Reviewed & Approved by D.C. Comics in 1972. DC used this 'Grim Reaper in the hourglass' image on an early issue of this spooky series. CLASSIC KALUTA HORROR COVER! Extremely bright colors and superb gloss. Truly Incredible Eye-appeal: Very High-Quality Paper Was Used. Snow-white whites and colors so brilliant you'll think they're still wet! This is a must-have piece of DC history for any fan of vintage horror comic-books and/or unique grim reaper collectibles or apparition/spirit-themed paper ephemera, or of original production art to Bronze-age DC comics, or just the serious art fan who likes having true rarities but cannot afford to shell out four-figure$ for the black & white line art of the era!
NOTE: We also have other production covers to vintage DC comic-books running on ebay now! Many of you have read about this significant find in C.B.M. and/or C.B.G.
(Comic Book Marketplace #85 and Comics Buyer's Guide #'s 1399, 1402, 1414, etc.)
We are secure packagers and prompt shippers so expect to be pleased.
PROVENANCE: Jack Adler worked through all the major periods of the comics: Golden-Age, Silver-Age, and Bronze-Age. He even colored the plates for the very first golden-age comic, the landmark introduction of Superman, in Action Comics #1, when he was but a youth back in 1938! He continued his freelance work, including work for the comics and the fashion industry, and eventually became DC Comics' premiere colorist, on staff from the early '50's through the mid '80's, and was head of the art department for much of his tenure, doing much of the hiring and training. He graduated from high school at the age of fifteen, and quickly got a degree in fine art. He became proficient at sculpting, pencilling, inking, painting, and photography. He pioneered the washtone/graytone effect which became so popular on the DC "Big Five" war titles. Plus, he inked many '50's, '60's, and '70's comic covers as well. Moreover, he also developed the "3-D" process used on the Batman 3-D and Superman 3-D comics in 1953; --so we're talking about a major contributor to DC history! During the summer of 2004, the living legend himself, Jack Adler, (thought by some to have passed away years ago), at the urgings of his kind family, made his very first public appearance, at the San Diego Comic-Con! He was honored Thursday afternoon at the ever-popular convention with the Inkpot Award For Excellence for Outstanding Achievement In Comic Art, and a rousing standing ovation from the many onlookers at the panel of Golden-Age and Silver-Age Greats, hosted by Mark Evanier (of course!) Besides just Mr. Adler, other noteworthy members on the entertaining and informative panel were Tom Gill (RIP), Sid Jacobson, Gene Colan, Frank Springer, Harry Harrison, and Frank Bolle. On Friday at the Comic Con, there was a one-on-one panel, with just Mark Evanier and Jack Adler, titled "Spotlight On Jack Adler", and many questions were answered for the large crowd of audience members, who were kept thoroughly entertained by the charismatic and respected living legend. It is amazing how many great names were hired on by him! I also found out that he invented the 3-D image technology popularly used in Viewmasters, but was unable to get the deserved patent, as the film itself had been patented, (but not in a similar 3D format, so he got burned, as viewmaster was able to capitalize freely!) Plus, the method that made integrating photo cover and line-drawn cover art easily into a single cover image was also pioneered by this influential innovator. (The technology was supposed to be kept a secret, but was leaked immediately by a DC exec!) Julius Shwartz had told him "don't tell me about it, just do it", and when it worked, it worked, and was immediately utilized, as the articulate and charming Adler related. As an accomplished photographer, he created covers using photographs he had taken of his own grandchildren, producing his own copies of Shazam #2 and #6, which were displayed on an overhead projector to the glee of many enthralled listeners! The picture of Captain Marvel, sitting reading to the innocent youths, was actually of Jack Adler reading to his grandkids. (These same grandkids were present at the panel, and turned out to be pleasant, gracious, and kind adults.) Moreover, he highly touted the art skills of good friends Neal Adams and Joe Kubert, (relating entertaining stories, of course!) He helped Kubert set up his now legendary School Of Comic Book Art. Once the school was set up, he was supposed to head the school, but had to back out, as he couldn't bring himself to move to New Jersey! You could write a book on the contributions Mr. Adler has made to the medium many of us know and love. Back in the "good ole days", DC normally burned or discarded such production art once the comic went to print. Mr. Adler once painfully remembered for me times that himself and fellow DC artist Jerry Serpi literally cut up thousands of pages of original comic line art and production art. He said it broke his heart to destroy all that beautiful artwork; But back then, nobody foresaw the future value of such exclusive pieces of comic-book history. Fortunately, during the period of 1967 to 1974, this award-winning artist pulled aside many prime examples, representing each step of the comic-making process! Nevertheless, there's an extremely small amount of these that were saved, considering the volume that was produced in those days. It is estimated that out of 840,000 pieces created for the production process over that time period, only about 4,000 or so survived, thanks to Jack Adler; ~A miniscule pecentage of less than one half of one percent. This is the actual COVER PROOF, (NOT the full-wrap, but just the front cover, and the advertisement on the reverse side), for this comic. The editorial and creative staff reviewed it and approved it for use, to make sure there were no errors or needed improvements, before the actual book hit the press. Provenance: Back in the late eighties, in Texas, Mr. Adler and his grandson sold his entire collection, comprised of the DC Archives of cover production art, in one fell swoop. Then, years later, it changed hands again, with the vast bulk of the load still untouched... Eventually, after lengthy negotiations, a longtime friend and I were able to acquire the whole load, except for the horror, from the Southern California art collector who possessed this landmark find since 1997. The horror genre took me an additional three and a half years of wrangling, but now they too are finding their way into the hands of the true fans, who can preserve and cherish them the right way. For additional information regarding this popular pedigree, check out the lengthy color article on the Adler Collection in the September 2001 issue of Comic Book Marketplace (which is still available from us in our ebay store!) and Alter-Ego #56, which has interviews with not only the legend himself, Jack Adler, but also a few of the talents that he influenced: Joe Kubert, Neal Adams, and Howard Stern. Additional cover art can now be found by checking the Key Comics ebay store (user ID: keycomics). Buy aggressively, as such items are often one-of-a-kind, and pre-1980 DC production pieces as a whole are notoriously rare. A signed & embossed cardstock Certificate Of Authenticity is included, forever guaranteeing the provenance of each cover proof from this major historic discovery. These covers are brilliant and glossy, (obviously very well preserved), and they are slightly larger than comic size; since they were part of the editorial process they can include tack-holes, indentations from a paper clip, staple-holes, chips, pencil notations, tape, and/or edge wear. (Other than the tackhole to top center, from where it was tacked up for review prior to publication, this one is a real beauty!) I hope that the low-resolution scan will convey that this is a great looking showpiece, which would be especially impressive framed. Regrettably, our sad scanner makes the item look dark, and the background colors appear wavy --when all colors are actually rich and uniform, and extremely bold thoughout!) As Usual: LOW ASKING PRICE AND NO RESERVE!
KEY COMICS is a long-term ebay seller and CBM Market Report Contributor and CGC Member Dealer that has specialized in Mail-Order Comics for more than a quarter-century;
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