Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion 11 APPROVAL COVER 1973 Sparling Ritual PROOF ART

Description: The Jack Adler Collection Of DC Cover Art This Auction Includes: FORBIDDEN TALES OF DARK MANSION #11 Original Approval Cover. AWESOME SATANIC RITUAL COVER BY JACK SPARLING! This Actual Piece Was Reviewed & Approved by D.C. Comics in 1973. This one features a couple young couples, conducting an ill-advised candlelight seance around a pentagram in the castle, not realizing the demonic beast they summoned will be very angry! 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 mystery/supernatural 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 cover 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. BIO/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 first and only 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 Schwartz 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 made to the medium many of us know and love. He passed away in September of 2011, at the age of 93. Back in the "good ole days", DC normally burned or discarded such production art once the comic went to print. Mr. Adler painfully remembers himself and fellow DC artist Jerry Serpi cutting 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 Approval Cover, (blank on the reverse, unlike cover proofs), 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 they too are now 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 store, but I digress!) 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 other Key Comics ebay items (user ID: keycomics). Buy aggressively, as such items are typically very rare if not one-of-a-kind, and DC production pieces from before 1980 are notoriously rare. A signed & embossed cardstock Certificate Of Authenticity is included, forever guaranteeing the provenance of each piece from this major historic discovery. Approval Covers are brilliant and glossy, (obviously very well preserved), and they are blank on the reverse side, and 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. (This one has some minor edge flaws including a small chip out of the top left corner, but still maintains great eye appeal!) As Usual: LOW ASKING PRICE AND NO RESERVE! KEY COMICS is a Power(GOLD)Seller and CBM Market Report Contributor and CGC Member Dealer that has specialized in Mail-Order Comics for over a quarter-century; Buy with confidence. We accept PayPal; Check/M.O. * * SATISFACTION GUARANTEED * * International Customers Welcome. Please add $8.00 for Securely-Boxed tracked Priority-Mail. Buy more items and save on shipping, as extra pieces of production art only add .50 apiece. KEY COMICS IS ALWAYS DEALING IN COMICS & ART! ('30's to '70's) Please add keycomics to your Saved Sellers List if you buy/sell/trade back-issues or artwork! For more samples from our diverse inventory, including Original Comic Line Art and CGC-Graded Key Comics, plus more DC COVER ART from the historic Jack Adler Collection that is listed in assorted categories, please see our store. Good Luck and Happy Collecting! Buy Aggressively -- Once it's gone, it's gone...

Price: 69.95 USD

Location: Mesa, Arizona

End Time: 2024-12-09T05:27:09.000Z

Shipping Cost: 8 USD