Vintage Classics Illustrated Junior comic book published by Famous Authors, Ltd., which was a division of Gilberton Company, Inc. or Gilberton Publications. This is Hans Humdrum comic book, No. 561 (Number 561), with 15 cents price on cover, dated on the inside August 1959. We think this is a first edition of this comic. The listing on the back cover of other comic books available in the series ends with this comic. On half of the inside front cover there is an ad announcing, "Coming Next, The Enchanted Pony" with a description of that comic, shown as No. 562 which is the next comic in the series. This book is not a 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 Hans Humdrum comic is a good copy overall, but does have a child's first name written prominently on the cover in crayon and additionally has the first letter initial also written nearby in blue pen (see image). The connect the dots picture on half of the inside front cover has not been done. The coloring page on the inside back cover has been roughly 10% colored in crayon in a scribbling fashion (not always within the lines) on the central figure. The comic does have usual age reading use/wear including general wrinkling/creasing/handling wear, some tiny bending/chipping wear along the top, bottom and right side edges, a little bit of wear/paper wear/paper tearing along the left bound/stapled edge, two light diagonal fold lines near the upper front right corner, corner tip wear/chipping, scuffing wear and crease/cracking lines in the front colors, etc. The back cover is overall a bit dirty with similar creasing, wrinkling, handling wear, etc. The inside pages are clean but browned, with some having pin holes and small holes in the paper (we believe this is from how the paper was made/handled in printing). This copy includes two pages after the story illustrating and telling the story The Camel and The Pig (we're not sure if this is an Aesop's Fable or not as that isn't indicated here), followed by a page illustrating and telling the Edward Lear limerick There Was an Old Man Who Said, "How, with an illustrated page The Animal World, The Walrus on the reverse side.

This collectible comic book measures about 7 x 10 1/4 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.