Matt Baker and L.B. Cole's Terrors of the Jungle #19, Up for Auction

Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Jay Disbrow, l.b. cole, Matt Baker

Matt Baker and L.B. Cole's Terrors of the Jungle #19, Up for Auction

L.B. Cole's cover for Terrors of the Jungle #19 (Star Publications, 1952) is inspired by a Matt Baker interior story in this issue.

Published Sun, 12 May 2024 14:27:07 -0500
by Mark Seifert
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Article Summary

• L.B. Cole's vivid cover for Terrors of the Jungle #19 is inspired by Matt Baker's story.
• The issue features Baker's work from Jo-Jo Comics and a new story by Jay Disbrow.
• Star Publications capitalized on acquired Novelty Press and Fox Syndicate comics.
• Disbrow's The Wrath of Kara ties in military gem procurement with the supernatural.

We've mentioned L.B. Cole's tried-and-true magic formula for his Star Publications titles here a few times before.  Cole would assign Jay Disbrow a new story to package into a new comic with his acquired inventory material, and typically, he would create a new cover based on Disbrow's story.  But Terrors of the Jungle #19 is something special in this regard because instead of being inspired by Disbrow's The Wrath of Kara lead story, he based his cover on the Matt Baker story The Golden Ghost Gorilla, which originally appeared in Jo-Jo Comics #16.  The issue also includes Baker's Nightmare of Destruction from Jo-Jo Comics #20 in addition to Disbrow's new story.  In typical Cole style, the resulting cover manages to be lurid, sexy and menacing all at once —  a treat that pokes you right in the eyeballs.  Another stand out cover by Cole, in this case inspired by a Matt Baker story, there's a Terrors of the Jungle #19 (Star Publications, 1952) up for auction in the 2022 July 3-4 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122227.

Cole had been developing this publishing formula for three years by the time this issue hit the stands. With the heat turning up on the comic book industry in 1948, Curtis Publishing, who published comics via their Novelty Press imprint, had found themselves getting caught up in the controversy over the industry during that period.  Best known as the publisher of the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies Home Journal, Curtis decided to throw in the towel on comic books by 1949, selling their titles and inventory to Star Publications, a company formed by L.B. Cole and lawyer Gerhard Kramer.  The company leveraged this inventory, along with other reprint material from Fox Feature Syndicate titles, to create a noteworthy line of comics, adding Cole's legendarily eye-catching covers and new material from the likes of Jay Disbrow.

Disbrow contributed to around 45 comic books for Star Publications 1950-1954, across the company's titles, focused on horror and romance. In Disbrow's The Wrath of Kara, a team of scientists and contractors was sent to Africa by the Pentagon to procure industrial gems for military use.  Such materials were in high demand at the time of this story (and often since) for use in various military applications.  The mission soon ran into supernatural complications.  This issue has pretty much everything you want in Pre-Code Horror, and here's a Terrors of the Jungle #19 (Star Publications, 1952) up for auction in the 2022 July 3-4 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122227.

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