The Jack Adler Collection Of Comic Art!

RARE ORIGINAL 1975-1976 LINE ART TO A NATIONAL LAMPOON COMIC COVER BY FRANK SPRINGER, A LONG-TERM ARTIST OF THE INFLUENTIAL SATIRE MAGAZINE AND ICON OF COMIC ART GOING BACK TO THE SILVER-AGE.

HIGH QUALITY, BLACK INK ON WHITE.  'ISAAC & JACOB IN HUN FUNNY', A COVER SO AWESOME THAT IT WAS ALSO FEATURED YEARS LATER IN A BEST-OF COMPILATION TITLED 'MAGAZINE RACK'.  OVERALL SIZE IS A MASSIVE 11.5" X 17.5"; IN OUR INCLUDED PICTURES YOU CAN SEE THE PAGE NEXT TO THE ACTUAL 1976 MAGAZINE FOR SCALE. (*NATLAMP MAG NOT INCLUDED, ONLY ART IS BEING AUCTIONED)  CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MANY MEMORABLE AND NON-PC COMICS IN THE HISTORY OF THE LONG-RUNNING HUMOR SERIES, THIS PAGE WAS PUBLISHED FIRST IN THE MAY, 1976, 'UNWANTED FOREIGNERS' ISSUE NUMBER #74, AND LATER IN THE BEST-OF NAT LAMP VOLUME TITLED 'MAGAZINE RACK'.

This piece of American Pop Culture history is for the fan who likes to own the true rarities.

VERY FEW ORIGINAL PIECES FOR THE NATLAMP COMICS WERE PRESENT IN THE ADLER HOARD.

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH SOMETHING USED TO MAKE A MODERN REPRINT OR A TRADE PAPERBACK OR GRAPHIC NOVEL OR ANY OTHER COMMON REHASH ITERATION, THIS RARE ART PIECE WAS USED TO PRODUCE THE ORIGINAL FIRST PRINTING, BACK IN THE 1970's.  THESE WOULD BE STUNNING IF FRAMED.

THIS IS ONE OF MANY VINTAGE ART PIECES AND RARE COLLECTIBLES WE'RE LISTING THIS MONTH, BOTH IN FIXED PRICE FORMAT AND VIA NO-RESERVE AUCTION.

 IT'S DIFFICULT TO FIND IN ANY SHAPE, AS MOST OF THE ARTWORK OF THE ERA GOT DESTROYED AFTER THE RELATED PUBLICATION HITS THE STANDS; CHECK AROUND IN THE MARKET FOR YOURSELF AND THEN COME BACK AND BID.

THIS ORIGINAL IS A MASTERPIECE, WITH INTRICATE DETAILS VISIBLE THAT YOU DON'T NOTICE IN THE MERE MASS-PRODUCED IMAGE THAT APPEARED IN PRINT IN EARLY 1976.  THESE HOT COLLECTOR ITEMS ARE TRULY UNUSUAL TO SEE AT ANY PRICE, AS MOST WERE DISCARDED BACK IN THE SEVENTIES, SO SUCH UNIQUE PIECES HAVE TRUE SCARCITY, AND WILL ALWAYS BE BELOVED. 

Many of you have read about this significant find in C.B.M. and/or C.B.G.
(Comic Book Marketplace #85 and Comics Buyer's Guide #'s 1399, 1402, 1414, etc.)
We are secure packagers and prompt shippers so expect to be pleased.

Jack Adler was DC Comics' premiere colorist from the early '50's through the mid '80's, and was head of the art department for much of his tenure. He graduated from high school at the age of fifteen, and quickly got a degree in fine art. He became proficient at sculpting, pencilling, inking, painting, and photography. He pioneered the washtone/graytone effect which became so popular on the DC "Big Five" war titles. He took the photos that eventually became the famous DC 'photo covers' of the sixties and seventies, and invented the technique for using photographs and oil paintings along with traditional line art to produce a single new image combining both elements.  Plus, he inked many '50's, '60's, and '70's comic covers as well.  He also did advertising art, and colored many of the comics that ran in National Lampoon during their cult-classic first eight years. Moreover, he developed the "3-D" process used on the Batman 3-D and Superman 3-D comics in 1953; --so we're talking about a major contributor to DC history.

During the summer of 2004, the reclusive legend himself, Jack Adler, (thought by some to have passed away years prior), at the urgings of his kind family, made his very first and only public appearance, at the San Diego Comic-Con.  He was honored Thursday afternoon at the huge annual event with the Inkpot Award For Excellence for Outstanding Achievement In Comic Art, and a rousing standing ovation from the many onlookers at the panel of Golden-Age and Silver-Age Greats, hosted by Mark Evanier (of course!) Besides just Mr. Adler, other noteworthy members on the entertaining and informative panel were Tom Gill, Sid Jacobson, Gene Colan, Frank Springer, Harry Harrison, and Frank Bolle. On Friday at the Comic Con, there was a one-on-one panel, with just Mark Evanier and Jack Adler, titled "Spotlight On Jack Adler", and many questions were answered for the large crowd of audience member, who were kept entertained by the charismatic and respected living legend. It is amazing how many great names were hired on by him. I also found out that he invented the 3-D image technology popularly used in Viewmasters, but was unable to get the deserved patent, as the film itself had been patented, (but not in a similar 3D format, so he got burned, as viewmaster was able to capitalize freely.) Plus, the method that made integrating photo cover and line-drawn cover art easily into a single cover image was also pioneered by this influential innovator. (The technology was supposed to be kept a secret, but was leaked immediately by a DC exec.) Julius Shwartz had told him "don't tell me about it, just do it", and when it worked, it worked, and was immediately utilized, as the articulate and charming Adler related. As an accomplished photographer, he created covers using photographs he had taken of his own grandchildren, producing his own copies of Shazam #2 and #6, which were displayed on an overhead projector to the glee of many enthralled listeners! The picture of Captain Marvel, sitting reading to the innocent youths, was actually of Jack Adler reading to his grandkids. (These same grandkids were present at the panel, and turned out to be pleasant, gracious, and kind adults.) Moreover, he highly touted the art skills of good friends Neal Adams and Joe Kubert, (relating entertaining stories, of course.) He helped Kubert set up his now legendary School Of Comic Book Art. Once the school was set up, he was supposed to head the school, but had to back out, as he couldn't bring himself to move to New Jersey. You could write a book on the contributions Mr. Adler made to the medium many of us know and love.  As with too many of the legends of our hobby, Mr. Adler passed away, in September of 2011 at the age of 93.

Back in the "good ole days", the publishers normally burned or discarded such production art once the comic went to print. Mr. Adler painfully recalled himself and fellow DC artist Jerry Serpi cutting up thousands of pages of original comic line art and production art. He said it broke his heart to destroy all that beautiful artwork; But back then, nobody foresaw the future value of such exclusive pieces of comic-book history. Fortunately, during the period of 1967 to 1974, this award-winning artist pulled aside many prime examples, representing each step of the comic-making process. Nevertheless, there's an extremely small amount of these that were saved, considering the volume that was produced in those days. It is estimated that out of 840,000 pieces created for the production process over that time period, only about 4,000 or so survived, thanks to Jack Adler; ~A miniscule pecentage of less than one half of one percent. Only a tiny fraction of Adler's collection was of this particular format OR of this genre, assuring that similar stuff will remain almost unseen in the marketplace.

This is the actual art used to make the entertaining full-page 'cover' for the famous comic feature. There are some notations in the margins, here and there, along with some general signs of aging, but that's all to be expected, the actual illustration is in stellar well-preserved shape.

Back in the late eighties, in Texas, Mr. Adler's grandson sold much of his collection, which represented the DC Archives Of Comic Cover Art for that halcyon Silver/Bronze era, in one fell swoop. Then, years later, it changed hands again, with the vast bulk of the load still untouched... Eventually, in 2000, after lengthy negotiations, a longtime friend and colleague and myself were able to acquire the whole load, less the horror genre, from the Southern California art collector who possessed this landmark find since 1997. The horror material took additional years of tenacious haggling, but they too are now finding their way into the hands of the true fans, who will appreciate and preserve them the right way.  Over the past decade, as additional hidden batches of vintage material were located in Mr. Adler's long-term home in Queens, I acquired more comic-art and rare ephemera including art for National Lampoon magazines, plus calendars, Book & Record sets, treasury editions, and more.  For additional information, check out the lengthy color article on the Adler Collection in the September 2001 issue of Comic Book Marketplace (which is still available from us in our store) as well as Alter-Ego #56 (which includes interviews with Adler, and Neal Adams, Howard Stern, and Joe Kubert, whom were all influenced by him.) Plus, there are interesting articles about Jack Adler and his production techniques in the July 1974 issue of IAM art magazine, and Amazing World Of DC Comics #10.  Additional art can now be found by checking the Key Comics ebay store (User ID: keycomics). Contact us with any questions.

Buy aggressively, as such items are one-of-a-kind, and seventies Springer original comic-art pieces as a whole are increasingly scarce in the market.

A Certificate Of Authenticity is included, forever guaranteeing the provenance of each lot from this major historic discovery.  Supple attractive condition (obviously well preserved), and much larger than comic size; since they were part of the editorial process they can include revisions, overlays, tack-holes, indentations from a paper clip, staple-holes, paste-overs, chips, creases, pencil notations, tape, and/or edge wear, but this lot is GORGEOUS and somehow avoided most such detractors. I hope the low-resolution images will convey that this is a great looking showpiece which would be impressive framed. 

As Usual: LOW ASKING PRICE, AND NO RESERVE!

SEE OUR OTHER LISTINGS FOR MORE RARE VINTAGE PRODUCTION ITEMS!

NatLamp magazine is an iconic part of 20th century pop culture, and of course spawned the hugely succesful films...  If you like old NatLamp mag's or anti-Nazi propaganda, ~it doesn't get much better than this!     

Each item is securely-packed, with plenty of protective packaging material.

This incredible original item WILL find a new home, as the Buy It Now price is LOW and there is NO RESERVE! 

ALWAYS OF INTEREST TO THE ADVANCED COLLECTOR, BUT INCREASINGLY RARE, SUCH OBSCURE COLLECTIBLES ARE ONLY GETTING HOTTER!

We are now offering other nice vintage production pieces including some Batman and Superman rarities, plus rare comic line art; And we'll be offering hundreds of other art pieces and collectable comics in the next few months.  Check out our ebay items regularly!

 A lot has happened in the past few decades since this item was utilized, adding more allure to the fabled vintage items such as this;  so I don't suggest waiting around until these obscure items have gone through the roof....  The exclusive artwork from forty years ago is always in demand, but is seldom available in the market, especially from a renowned artist's personal collection like this! 

 This is an eye-popping showpiece that you can show and display proudly.  With demand that exceeds supply, premium prices can occur when something iconic such as this reaches the market.  

Great presentation, which must be seen in person to be appreciated.  If you are a discriminating paper ephemera collector or a serious NL fan, and prefer unrestored items without significant flaws, then NOW is your brief window of opportunity.  It looks less appealing in the disappointing pictures,  ~but in person it looks spectacular!  

 There are no long creases or rips, and no tack-holes or water stains; --it is hard to believe it's four decades old!

* SPRINGER AT HIS BEST! *

We are prompt shippers & secure packagers, expect to be pleased.

BUY IT NOW PRICE IS RIDICULOUSLY LOW AND THERE IS NO RESERVE!

This auction includes: 

NAT LAMP #74, COVER ART, TO 'ISAAC & JACOB IN HUN FUNNY', 1975 OR EARLY 1976, BY FRANK SPRINGER.

INCLUDES C.O.A. FROM THE JACK ADLER COLLECTION.

 RARE VINTAGE PIECE, NOT SOME MODERN VERSION USED FOR A GN, COMPILATION, TPB, HARDCOVER BOOK, OR ARCHIVES VOLUME.

A MUST-HAVE ITEM FOR ANY SPRINGER FAN OR WIESENTHAL BUFF.

From the "UNWANTED FOREIGNERS" issue, appropriately. Published by National Lampoon in the May, 1976 issue of this cult-classic series.

This item has uniform sharp lines that you simply must see in person to appreciate.

KEY COMICS is a Power(GOLD)Seller and CBM Market Reporter and Authorized CGC Member Dealer that has specialized in Mail-Order Comics for more than a quarter-century;
Buy with confidence.

We accept PayPal, checks/MO.

BUY AGGRESSIVELY, ~ AND DON'T REGRET LOSING IT, LATER!

* * SATISFACTION GUARANTEED * *

14-Day Return Privilege.

Payment due within 10 days of auction close.

Please Include $10.00 for trackable delivery within the USA.  Please contact us for our affordable International rates, or with any questions.  Please WIN MORE ART AND SAVE: Additional original art pieces add one dollar to your shipping cost. 

KEY COMICS IS ALWAYS DEALING IN OLD COMICS & ART!
('30's to '70's)

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 Good Luck and Happy Collecting!