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BLACK CAT MYSTERY No. 50 Author: Place: Publisher: Date: Description: Harvey Publications. June, 1954. CGC certified: Fair (1.0). Cream to off-white pages. Lee Elias cover. Frank Frazetta Bob Powell, Sid Check, Manny Stallman & Howard Nostrand art. In a recent conversation with PBA's Director of Comics, Roger Hill, the dean of pre-Code scholars, stated his belief that this mag's classic cover was composed by the great Warren Kremer: "Years ago when I visited Warren Kremer at his home, he pulled out and showed me all his cover prelims. The Black Cat 50 was not one of those that he showed me, however I am convinced he must've done one for this cover. Lee Elias could not have come up with that design by himself. So I presume the prelim is lost." The Naked Face of Mid-Century Horror In a crowded field of candidates, Lee Elias's over-the-top cover to Black Cat Mystery #50 stands out as perhaps the most viscerally disturbing pre-Code image of them all. This graphic depiction of a man's flesh vaporizing due to radiation rot goes straight to the source of Cold War terrors: the dread of imminent atomic doom that permeated every aspect of American life in the wake of Russia's first successful nuclear test on August 29, 1949. As cultural historian David Skal writes in The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror: "The new American prosperity of the early 1950s was won atop the largest bone pile in human history. World War II had claimed the lives of over 40 million soldiers and civilians, and had introduced two radical new forms of mechanized death—the atomic bomb and the concentration camp—that seriously challenged the mind's ability to absorb, much less cope with, the naked face of horror at mid-century.... Most Americans found it easier not to face invasion/annihilation anxieties directly; they found indirect expression in McCarthyism, UFO hysteria, and, perhaps most pointedly, in the popular medium of lurid and sensational comic books that had been growing steadily in circulation since the end of World War II." "When it comes to unforgettable Black Cat Mystery covers, issue #50 tops them all. 'White Heat' is the kind of image that sears itself in the mind, impossible to shake. It's the ultimate Atomic Age cover, Cold War paranoia at its peak." -David Tosh, Harvey Horrors Collected Works: Black Cat Mystery, Volume 4. A limited edition of 100 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues are available. Over 200 pages, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcovers $40, dust-jacketed hardcover with limitation plate $200. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com or visit: https://www.pbagalleries.com/content/comics/. R. Crumb says, "I found [PBA's catalogue] so interesting that I am saving it for the texts that accompany the comics which were put up for auction. This is some of the best commentary I’ve yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books. I especially enjoyed the reviews of the post-war horror comics. Great. Priceless." Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2021 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com. Lot Amendments Condition: Item number: 322141