This one may have slipped below your radar, but it's time to rectify that. I'm a bit surprised that it hasn't become more notorious amongst collectors as it is both an artistic triumph and a Fourth Wall breaking hidden gem. The premise is terrific; different artists are auditioning to become the new chronicler of the Sea Devils' adventures. Are you with we? Are you having an Earth-Prime moment or are these the Earth-One versions of the artists? It starts of with none other than Joe Kubert, who pencils the first chapter, followed by Gene Colan with the Andru/Esposito team concluding things. It's a pretty neat gimmick, with the artists getting involved in the story, and was certainly something quite novel for the time. Readers were asked to vote on their favourite. I'm not sure what accounting firm DC used to tally the votes, but something might have gone awry, as none of these folks landed the gig. Irv Novick did the next issue, and Howard Purcell would eventually come aboard for a long run. It's worth tracking this one down, as it's a wonderful curio and features an all-star lineup of artists. Friday, October 02, 2009
Hidden Gems: Sea Devils #13
This one may have slipped below your radar, but it's time to rectify that. I'm a bit surprised that it hasn't become more notorious amongst collectors as it is both an artistic triumph and a Fourth Wall breaking hidden gem. The premise is terrific; different artists are auditioning to become the new chronicler of the Sea Devils' adventures. Are you with we? Are you having an Earth-Prime moment or are these the Earth-One versions of the artists? It starts of with none other than Joe Kubert, who pencils the first chapter, followed by Gene Colan with the Andru/Esposito team concluding things. It's a pretty neat gimmick, with the artists getting involved in the story, and was certainly something quite novel for the time. Readers were asked to vote on their favourite. I'm not sure what accounting firm DC used to tally the votes, but something might have gone awry, as none of these folks landed the gig. Irv Novick did the next issue, and Howard Purcell would eventually come aboard for a long run. It's worth tracking this one down, as it's a wonderful curio and features an all-star lineup of artists. 
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5 comments:
Thanks for the write-up on this. I got lucky and found this issue plus Sea Devils 15 in one eBay lot and scored them for less than $10 about 15 minutes ago.
DC has to wake up and realize how much Kubert, Heath, Kane, Infantino, etc. artwork they have in their 50s and early 60s books just waiting for us Showcase Presents fans.
Glad you were able to track down some nice books at such a low price. I sold a bunch of Sea Devils a few years ago, and was shocked by how little interest there was out there. It's a fun series and would be great to see in a Showcase book.
I think I've mentioned elsewhere (probably in response to one of your CSBG entires) that this is the only Sea Devils ish I've ever owned. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've somehow wound up with *two* ... the first one was a really poor copy (if rats didn't chew one of the corners, they might as well have) that a local shop had for a couple of bucks. The other is in non-damaged shape, almost certainly acquired as a thrown-in with some Silver Age lot off of some of other title via eBay.
Unless I'm completely imagining having a duplicate ish. That's always possible.
Check out the story here...
http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/484/sea_devils3.html
Great - thanks for the link!
I'm just thrilled that the Comic Book Blogfather stopped by this modest home.
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