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 The Magic Fountain comic book, No. 533 (Number 533), with 15 cents price on cover, dated on the inside December 1956. It is not a first edition as the listing on the back cover of other comic books available in the series ends with No. 562 The Enchanted Pony (HRN #562). 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.

The Magic Fountain comic is an acceptable reading copy (we say this largely because part of one page has been cut out as will be detailed below), but does have a child's first name written prominently in crayon on the front cover with the letter initial of this name also written nearby in blue ink pen (see image). The inside front cover connect the dots picture has been done in pencil with the animal figure also colored in in pencil and a different child's name and last name initial written above this in cursive in pencil. However, the inside back cover coloring picture is clean/has not been done or colored. The comic does have usual age reading use/wear. On the front cover in particular there is a vertical band along the right side edge about 1/2 inch in width that is slightly discolored/lighter than the other coloring on the cover. This does not appear to be water damage as there is no indication of damage on the reverse side/inside front cover, so we don't know why this is there. Otherwise the front cover has usual handling wear including wrinkling, creasing, impressed lines (as if somewhat put another paper on top of the comic and did something on that paper), a vertical crease line, wear along the top and bottom edges including tiny tears/chipping/rubbed wear to white/etc., wear/paper wear along the bound/stapled edge, crease/cracking lines in the front colors, etc. The back cover has an aged/slightly dirty look with similar handling, wrinkling, etc. wear. Also on the back cover there are four pencil check marks next to four of the comic titles.

The inside pages are browned, several have some folding at the top or bottom right corners, and a number have some small tears/chips -- an about 3/4 inch vertical tear from the bottom edge in the middle bottom of the first comic page and on page 23 (with this page also having a second smaller tear), an about 1/4 inch similar tear in the same spot on page 7, a tiny triangular chip along the bottom edge with a little dark spot/staining on page 9, and a tiny triangular chip along the right side edge near the bottom on page 15. However, the most important interior issue is that someone cut into the final page of the story, page 25, cuting out what we are guessing was part of the drawing showing the prince and princess getting married. You can read the last page fine (there's no cutting in the words here), but the figures of the prince and princess have been cut out. This also affects the reverse side which is the first page of a 5 page illustrated comic of The Straw, The Coal and The Bean, and here the cutting has taken out some of the words as well as illustration. After this story, this copy includes a one page illustration and telling of the nursery rhyme Where, O Where, with the reverse side illustrating The Animal World, The Squirrel.

This collectible comic book measures about 6 15/16 x 10 3/16 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.