Jerry Siegel, Alex Schomburg in Amazing Adventures, at Auction

Best remembered historically as a magazine publisher and currently, as the owner of digital properties ranging from Mashable to Humble Bundle, Ziff-Davis was also briefly a comic book publisher of note.  The company published over 50 comic book titles, mostly from 1950-1952, and mostly very short-lived.  Many of their titles are best known for painted artwork from artists who were working on their pulp magazine line.  The Ziff-Davis line is often overlooked by comic book collectors due to the fact that was so short-lived, and because of the covers, the titles don’t have the typical comic book look and feel of that era.  But despite the fact that the comic book line didn’t last, Ziff-Davis had some outstanding creators working for them, and the Amazing Adventures science fiction title is a good example of that.  The first two issues were edited by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, who was reportedly the art director of the entire line.  These issues contain work by the likes of Siegel himself, Alex Schomburg, Wally Wood, Murphy Anderson, Ogden Whitney, and more.  There’s an Amazing Adventures #1 (Ziff-Davis, 1950) Condition: FN and Amazing Adventures #2 (Ziff-Davis, 1951) Condition: VG/FN up for auction in the 2022 May 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122222 at Heritage Auctions.

The stand-out covers of these two issues were done by Robert Gibson Jones (Amazing Adventures #1) and Allen Anderson (Amazing Adventures #2).  Both of these artists had extensive experience with the Ziff-Davis pulp line, among other publishers.  Ziff-Davis got into the pulp business by acquiring the legendary title Amazing Stories as a result of the bankruptcy of Hugo Gernsback‘s Experimenter Publishing company.  They soon added Fantastic Adventures among other titles, and these flagship pulps both enjoyed solid success, lasting until 1965.  The comics line was far less successful, as they largely jumped into the market during its early 1950s peak.  The company sold a few of its romance titles to St John Publications, and continued their most successful comic book, G.I. Joe, until 1957.

But there were some gems among the comic line, and Amazing Adventures was certainly one of them.  A title with contributions by a number of legendary creators, there’s an Amazing Adventures #1 (Ziff-Davis, 1950) Condition: FN and Amazing Adventures #2 (Ziff-Davis, 1951) Condition: VG/FN up for auction in the 2022 May 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122222 at Heritage Auctions.

Amazing Adventures #1 (Ziff-Davis, 1950) Condition: FN. Alex Schomburg, Wally Wood, Murphy Anderson, and Ogden Whitney art. Overstreet 2021 FN 6.0 value = $318.

Amazing Adventures #2 (Ziff-Davis, 1951) Condition: VG/FN. Painted cover by Alex Schomburg. Art by Schomburg and Murphy Anderson. Subscription crease. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $106; FN 6.0 value = $159.

Best remembered historically as a magazine publisher and currently, as the owner of digital properties ranging from Mashable to Humble Bundle, Ziff-Davis was also briefly a comic book publisher of note.  The company published over 50 comic book titles, mostly from 1950-1952, and mostly very short-lived.  Many of their titles are best known for painted artwork from artists who were working on their pulp magazine line.  The Ziff-Davis line is often overlooked by comic book collectors due to the fact that was so short-lived, and because of the covers, the titles don’t have the typical comic book look and feel of that era.  But despite the fact that the comic book line didn’t last, Ziff-Davis had some outstanding creators working for them, and the Amazing Adventures science fiction title is a good example of that.  The first two issues were edited by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, who was reportedly the art director of the entire line.  These issues contain work by the likes of Siegel himself, Alex Schomburg, Wally Wood, Murphy Anderson, Ogden Whitney, and more.  There’s an Amazing Adventures #1 (Ziff-Davis, 1950) Condition: FN and Amazing Adventures #2 (Ziff-Davis, 1951) Condition: VG/FN up for auction in the 2022 May 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122222 at Heritage Auctions.

The stand-out covers of these two issues were done by Robert Gibson Jones (Amazing Adventures #1) and Allen Anderson (Amazing Adventures #2).  Both of these artists had extensive experience with the Ziff-Davis pulp line, among other publishers.  Ziff-Davis got into the pulp business by acquiring the legendary title Amazing Stories as a result of the bankruptcy of Hugo Gernsback‘s Experimenter Publishing company.  They soon added Fantastic Adventures among other titles, and these flagship pulps both enjoyed solid success, lasting until 1965.  The comics line was far less successful, as they largely jumped into the market during its early 1950s peak.  The company sold a few of its romance titles to St John Publications, and continued their most successful comic book, G.I. Joe, until 1957.

But there were some gems among the comic line, and Amazing Adventures was certainly one of them.  A title with contributions by a number of legendary creators, there’s an Amazing Adventures #1 (Ziff-Davis, 1950) Condition: FN and Amazing Adventures #2 (Ziff-Davis, 1951) Condition: VG/FN up for auction in the 2022 May 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122222 at Heritage Auctions.

Amazing Adventures #1 (Ziff-Davis, 1950) Condition: FN. Alex Schomburg, Wally Wood, Murphy Anderson, and Ogden Whitney art. Overstreet 2021 FN 6.0 value = $318.

Amazing Adventures #2 (Ziff-Davis, 1951) Condition: VG/FN. Painted cover by Alex Schomburg. Art by Schomburg and Murphy Anderson. Subscription crease. Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $106; FN 6.0 value = $159.