In Mortal Combat.
The pretext was flimsy and the cover knew it — “Why are these two gallant allies battling each other to the bitter end?” asks the corner box. “…Mainly to get you to buy this mag.” Marvel, in October 1964, could afford to be honest about the hook, because the hook was Jack Kirby drawing Captain America and Iron Man throwing everything they had at each other.
Tales of Suspense #58 is a book that does a lot of quiet work. It’s the second appearance of Kraven the Hunter, it closes out the “Tales of the Watcher” run, and it sits at the exact moment the title was tilting toward the Cap/Iron Man double-feature that would define it. But mostly it’s that cover — Kirby and Chic Stone at the height of the house style, a shield and a repulsor and a green-boxed wink at the reader.
This copy is graded CBCS 7.5 with Cream/Off-White pages — a strong, presentable mid-grade that shows the cover’s color and energy intact. An honest, characterful example of one of the era’s most reproduced images, offered here as it was graded: believed original, unpressed, unrestored.
CBCS 7.5 · Cream/Off-White Pages · Marvel Comics, October 1964.
In Mortal Combat.
The pretext was flimsy and the cover knew it — “Why are these two gallant allies battling each other to the bitter end?” asks the corner box. “…Mainly to get you to buy this mag.” Marvel, in October 1964, could afford to be honest about the hook, because the hook was Jack Kirby drawing Captain America and Iron Man throwing everything they had at each other.
Tales of Suspense #58 is a book that does a lot of quiet work. It’s the second appearance of Kraven the Hunter, it closes out the “Tales of the Watcher” run, and it sits at the exact moment the title was tilting toward the Cap/Iron Man double-feature that would define it. But mostly it’s that cover — Kirby and Chic Stone at the height of the house style, a shield and a repulsor and a green-boxed wink at the reader.
This copy is graded CBCS 7.5 with Cream/Off-White pages — a strong, presentable mid-grade that shows the cover’s color and energy intact. An honest, characterful example of one of the era’s most reproduced images, offered here as it was graded: believed original, unpressed, unrestored.
CBCS 7.5 · Cream/Off-White Pages · Marvel Comics, October 1964.
