Beschreibung:

Johnny Craig CRYPT OF TERROR #19 Original Art, "Cave Man," Page 4 Author: [Original Comic Art] Craig, Johnny Place: Publisher: Date: 1950 Description: Ink on bristol board, measuring 15x22" including margins, unsigned. Excellent condition, bright and clean, light marginal fingermarks, presumably those of the artist. Framed under archival anti-glare museum plexiglass to 25x32½". A Johnny Craig page from the story "Cave Man" (Crypt of Terror #19, Aug.-Sept. 1950). Fourteen years before the Sub-Mariner raged at Eskimos for worshiping the ice-bound figure of Captain America in Avengers #4, poor Homer Perry vents his frustrations on a 200,000-year-old Neanderthal found frozen in ice. Homer, an insecure anthropologist who believes that a colleague's discovery of a perfectly-preserved caveman will undermine his own puny accomplishments, thaws the brute so that it will rot away, taking his colleague's fame along with it. In typical EC fashion, things don't go as planned, and the caveman soon proves to be as adept at murder as any Homo sapiens, to Homer's short-lived regret. Craig was an auteur who wrote and drew his own stories. His primary subject was fear, and few artists captured terror and its effects more skillfully, with his Noirish lighting techniques and characters dripping with copious flop sweat. As the artist pointed out in a 1980 interview with John Benson "Fear is inside a person. Some people are afraid of some things, some people are afraid of other things. But whatever they're afraid of is inside them." Craig explores this motif in "Cave Man," in which Homer Perry's fear of being outshone by his colleague reduces him to the level of a conniving, savage brute. In a sense, the killer caveman is a proxy for Homer's own inner state, making him truly a victim of his own impulses. The cave man himself is a fearful creature in both senses of the word: he inspires terror in others, but ultimately succumbs to his own inner fears. Having killed Homer in a rage, he finds himself trapped in a modern world he can't comprehend. Confronted by a situation he can't resolve with brute force, he cringes and weeps in anxiety and dread before retreating to his frozen crypt, just another victim of modernity. 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: 322159