Circa: 1953 Manufacturer: Famous Authors, Ltd.
Vintage Classics Illustrated Junior comic book published by Famous Authors, Ltd., which was a division of Gilberton Company, Inc. or Gilberton Publications. This is the Cinderella comic book, No. 503 (Number 503), which was the third title in the series (the first title was numbered 501), with 15 cents price on cover, dated on the inside December 1953.
We do not know if this is a first edition of this comic book. All the other books in the Classics Illustrated Junior series we are listing have a listing on their back cover showing the other comic books available in this series, but this comic does not. On its back cover is an ad for a recording of these fairy tales which lists some of the titles with pictures of the covers but not Cinderella (see second image). The inside front cover has a subscription ad for the comic series showing the Pinocchio cover art (Pinocchio was number 513 in the series). The inside back cover has an ad for Gilberton's Classics Illustrated series, which lists to No. 147 Ben Hur. Hopefully some of this information will help you date this Cinderella comic book. This book is not the new reprint (there is no UPC block on this book).
All the Classics Illustrated and Classics Illustrated Junior comic books we are listing came out of the same home where they were purchased as new items for their children in the 1950's and 1960's, so these are not recent reprints. The Classics Illustrated Junior comic books are generally in good/very good or acceptable reading condition but are definitely not mint, showing varying levels of age and wear which will be detailed. All were read and handled by children and thus show expected handling wear. All have interior pages which are browned at the edges, looking overall with an aged paper look, that is, the interior pages are not white as they would have been originally. All have an old comic book smell, not bad, but there if you go sniffing. Many have a child's name or initial noticeably written on the front cover in ink or crayon (and a few have more writing on the cover). For many the interior "connect the dots" illustration has been done or the interior coloring page has been colored.
This Cinderella is a very nice copy overall, but does have a child's first and last name prominently written in ink on the front cover, with the back cover having some notations, check marks and writing in blue ink. There is no connect the dots or coloring page in this comic as printed. The comic does have usual age reading use/wear with cover wrinkling/creasing/handling/bending wear, a large diagonal fold line on the lower portion, a series of indented lines (as if someone wrote on another piece of paper when it was sitting on top of this comic, no stains but the lines are visible when held at an angle in bright light), corner folding lines and curling in the lower right corner, corner tip chipping in the upper right corner, chipping and wrinkling along the bottom front cover edge, etc. The back cover seems generally slightly dirty, with similar folding, creasing, wrinkling, etc. The inside pages are clean, a few having a pin hole (we believe this is from how the paper was made/handled in printing) or a corner tip folded. This copy includes a page after the story illustrating and telling the Jack and Jill rhyme, with an illustrated page about Giant Pandas on the reverse side.
This collectible comic book measures about 7 x 10 3/8 inches in size. Given that this is an old or vintage comic book, we do not know what kind of ink was used in the printing (and particularly, whether any lead based inks were used). As such, we will only sell this comic to adult collectors, it should be handled with care, and it should not be given to/handled by children due to concerns with lead exposure.
We have many other comic books listed separately for sale. If you wish to purchase more than one comic book, please e-mail us before placing the order since the shipping information has been inputted for a purchase of just one and will not calculate the savings you would get when purchasing more than one shipped together in the same package (we will need to handle this for you).
Please Note: Comic books must be shipped via U.S.P.S. First Class Mail Package rate; they cannot be shipped via U.S.P.S. Media Mail. The post office does not permit comic books to be shipped via Media Mail due to the advertising that many include in their books. Please choose First Class Mail Package rate shipping for this item (also known as First Class Mail Parcel rate). Thank you. |