Amazing-Man #5 Mile High pedigree (Centaur, 1939) CGC NM 9.4 Off-white to white pages. This rare Golden Age gem contains the...

Auction amount: $63,250.00

Sold: Jul 7, 2002

Amazing Man Comics #5 Values

Publisher: Centaur, 1939

About Amazing Man Comics #5

First issue of the title. Origin and first appearance of the Amazing Man, Iron Skull, Miniature Man, and The Cat-Man. Bill Everett cover and art. Carl Burgos, Tarpe Mills, and Paul Gustavson art. Both Overstreet and the Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books list this issue as "rare". Currently #87 on Overstreet's list of Top 100 Golden Age Comics.

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COVER DETAILS

Characters: Amazing Man [John Aman]

Pencils: Bill Everett

Inks: Bill Everett

STORY DETAILS

(11 Stories)

Title: Origin of Amazing-Man

Characters: Amazing-Man [John Aman] (introduction, origin); The Council of Seven [The Great Question (villain); Nika (scientist); Lady Zina (a knife thrower); four un-named others] (introduction for all); un-named cowhand; Mr. Uhlin [as Mr. Crater] (villain, railroad company President, death)

Synopsis: After being raised for 25 years by the Council of Seven in Tibet, Aman is tested and sent out into the world. Of the council members, Nika exhorts him to do good and gifts him with invisibility, while the Great Question plots to bend Aman to his will. In America, Aman learns of a series of train wrecks and confronts the man behind the disasters.

Pages: 10.000

Script: Bill Everett [as W. B. Everett] (signed)

Pencils: Bill Everett [as W. B. Everett] (signed)

Inks: Bill Everett [as W. B. Everett] (signed)

Notes: According to a letter written by Grace Everett (Bill Everett's mother) she did most of the research in creating Aman the Amazing-Man. The character influenced the creation of Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt in Thunderbolt (Charlton, 1966 Series) #1 as well a Iron Fist in Marvel Premiere (Marvel, 1972 series) #15. Once he was in public domain he was used in The Protectors (Malibu, 1992 series) #1 (with other Centaur characters ), in Immortal Iron Fist (Marvel, 2007 series) #12 and in Project Superpowers (Dynamite Entertainment, 2008 series) #0. One of many aliases that the Amazing Man is known to have to his enemies is "The Green Mist".

Characters: Cat Man [Barton Stone] (introduction)

Synopsis: Barton Stone finishes his 20-year jail sentence and seeks revenge on his former partners who let his wife die in poverty while he took the rap for all of their crimes. A year later, each partner is visited by a strange old lady with a cat who scratches them.

Pages: 5.000

Pencils: Tarpe Mills (signed)

Inks: Tarpe Mills (signed)

Title: River Subs

Characters: Jack Rhodes (introduction, only appearance?)

Synopsis: Rhodes is sent to investigate suspicious submarine sightings.

Pages: 3.000

Pencils: Larry Riley [as Riley] (signed)

Inks: Larry Riley [as Riley] (signed)

Notes: Previously a note here linked Jack Rhodes with Minimidget, but there is no evidence of any such link in this issue- Minimidget also debuts in a later story. All other references easily found on the internet mention this link only to dismiss it. Some mention that Minimidget may be called Jack Rhodes later in his run, but a spot check of several issues of this series and Stars and Stripes Comics reveal no such name.

Characters: The Iron Skull (introduction)

Synopsis: The Iron Skull thwarts a scientist's plans to use robots to carry out crime, and mechanized spiders to terrorize the town and extort cash from the local government.

Pages: 7.000

Script: Carl Burgos (signed)

Pencils: Carl Burgos (signed)

Inks: Carl Burgos (signed)

Notes: No origin or explanation is given for the Iron Skull in this story. He is mentioned to have "steel fists" but it is not stated that he is a robot or android despite the presence of robots elsewhere in the story.

Title: The Tragic Note

Characters: Amazing-Man [John Aman]

Synopsis: In order to explain why he refuses to perform a certain piece of music, Aman tells of his musical testing during his time in Tibet.

Pages: 2.000

Script: Matty Point

Pencils: Frank Thomas

Inks: Frank Thomas

Letters: typeset

Title: The Congo War Drum (Part 1)

Characters: "Sandy" Thorne; Labu (Thorne's servant)

Synopsis: "Sandy" Thorne of the Congo patrol and his servant Labu go in search of the source of the Congo war drums, knowing they mean trouble.

Pages: 6.000

Script: Paul Gustavson (credited)

Pencils: Paul Gustavson (credited)

Inks: Paul Gustavson (credited)

Letters: Paul Gustavson

Notes: Credit is given in type (not lettering) under the splash panel. Jerry Bails' Who's Who shows that Gustavson generally did not write the stories he illustrated for Centaur proper, although he did often write for the predecessor issues published by Chesler. However, Terry Gustafson, son of Paul Gustavson, verified that his father, Paul Gustavson, wrote, drew and lettered this story.

Characters: Minimidget (introduction); Ritty (introduction); Barmell (villain, introduction, death)

Synopsis: The mad scientist Barmell, who had already shrunk two people so small that they can fit in his hand, seeks to use Minimidget to kill his brother in order to inherit his fortune. Thwarted by his brother's will, he sends Minimidget out again and again to kill everyone who inherited his brother's fortune in his stead.

Pages: 7.000

Pencils: John F. Kolb (signed)

Inks: John F. Kolb (signed)

Notes: Neither Minimidget nor Ritty has a single line during this story, which is told primarily from the point of view of Barmell. Minimidget acts only as Barmell's assassin rather than as a hero, and Ritty makes only background appearances.

Title: The Land beneath the Sea

Characters: Chuck Hardy (introduction); Jerry Peterson (Chuck's girlfriend, introduction); Professor Kingsley (introduction)

Synopsis: Divers Chuck and Jerry are swept through a crack in the sea floor to an underground land populated by strange creatures.

Pages: 7.000

Script: Frank Thomas [as Franklyn Thomas] (signed)

Pencils: Frank Thomas [as Franklyn Thomas] (signed)

Inks: Frank Thomas [as Franklyn Thomas] (signed)

Title: Mystery of the Kidnapped Heir

Characters: Slim Bradley (forest ranger, introduction)

Synopsis: Ranger Slim Bradley has to rescue a captured millionaire's son while a forest fire rages.

Pages: 8.000

Pencils: Dick Hayes (signed)

Inks: Dick Hayes (signed)

Title: Origin of Mighty Man

Characters: Mighty Man (introduction, origin); Sunny (introduction); The Professor (introduction)

Synopsis: Sunny brings the Professor to the giant valley he found with the Professor's map. They're pursued by bandits, but the giant man they find in the valley rescues them and agrees to come with them into the outside world.

Pages: 7.000

Script: Martin Filchock (signed)

Pencils: Martin Filchock (signed)

Inks: Martin Filchock (signed)

Letters: Martin Filchock ?

Data Courtesy of Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license

GoCollect Price Guide Report for this comic

Exclusive to Heritage members: GoCollect price report for this certified comic.

CGC Census Report*

Grade	0.5	1.0	1.5	1.8	2.0	2.5	3.0	3.5	4.0	4.5	5.0	5.5	6.0	6.5	7.0	7.5	8.0	8.5	9.0	9.2	9.4	9.6	9.8	9.9	10.0	Total
Universal	1	3	4	1	1	2	1	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	21
Qualified	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Signature Series	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Restored	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	1	0	2	2	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14
Total	1	3	4	1	1	3	1	3	3	2	1	2	3	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	35

*All information listed is intended to be as accurate as possible, but errors are possible. No item may be returned or refused based on this information which is provided as a service to our customers. You should contact each pricing source directly to determine the accuracy of this information.

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