Tim Holt #11 & #17 Published by Magazine Enterprises.
It is double your pleasure today on the Undervalued Spotlight featuring the original Ghost Ride circa 1949-1955. Let’s get to it.
The creation of the original Ghost Rider was rather unique. It was inspired by two other mediums. A song – Ghost Riders in the Sky, written by Stan Jones and made popular by singer Vaughn Monroe, and a movie – Disney’s the Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Headless Horseman). Magazine enterprises Vince Sullivan, writer Ray Krank, and artist Dick Ayers have all been listed as co-creators of this new Ghost Rider. They turned an existing comic character The Calico Kid/ alias Rex Fury in to The Ghost Rider. His transformation in to the Ghost Rider took place in our UV spotlight Tim Holt #11 in November 1949. The Ghost Rider proved to be very popular and remained in Tim Holt comics as a split comic, and also spun off into his own series the Ghost Rider which ran from 1950-1954 and lasted fourteen issues. Magazine enterprises ceased publishing in 1958. Marvel comics picked up the Ghost Rider when the trademark for the character expired and a new Ghost Rider – Carter Slade was born with Dick Ayers, the original Ghost Rider artist at the helm. The Ghost Rider later turned in his horse for a motorcycle with Johnny Blaze and the legend continued.
The early Ghost Rider fought plenty of traditional western foes like bank and train robbers and cattle rustlers. He was however a much more supernatural character and also fought Frankenstein, werewolves, vampires, and the devil. Loco weed and other hallucinatory drugs stories too. These pre-code western horror books were a very different offering from the conventional western genre comics.
Frank Frazetta contributed six covers to the Ghost Rider. Our UV spotlight Tim Holt #17 & #21, plus four issues in the new Ghost Rider series issues #2-5. They are all very popular and much sought after by Frazetta fans. This work took place about four years prior to his Famous Funnies run on Buck Rogers.
Tim Holt was a son of an actor who became an actor himself. His stock and trade was a B western movie star, usually playing the straight-arrow, stand -up cowboys you could really count on when you needed to take down rustlers and crooks. He did have a much more varied career than that though, landing parts in some of the most iconic movies of the late 30’s and 40’s. John Wayne’s coming out party -Stagecoach in 1939, Orson Welles follow up to Citizen Kane – the Magnificent Ambersons 1942, My Darling Clementine – the first big Gunfight at the OK corral 1946, and the classic Treasure of the Sierra Madre in 1948. Tim Holt died in the early 70’s. His movies and comics live on for us to enjoy.
Before we get to why I think these books are undervalued let’s take a look at some 47th Overstreet Price guide values.
| 6.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.2 | |
| Tim Holt #11 1949 | $174 | $371 | $636 | $900 |
| Tim Holt #17 Frazetta cover | $135 | $284 | $480 | $675 |
| Ghost Rider #1 1950 | $348 | $742 | $1271 | $1800 |
| Ghost Rider #2-5 Frazetta covers | $270 | $576 | $966 | $1400 |
These prices seem a bit out of sorts to me.
Tim Holt #11 – This book contains the Ghost Riders 1st appearance and origin story. The book is half the value of Ghost Rider #1. I know that Marvel’s Ghost Rider does not have direct lineage back to this Ghost Rider in terms of story, but the character that was created certainly does. This book has a pretty low value for a character who has been published for over seven decades right up to today.
Tim Holt #17 – This book has the first/second Frazetta cover of the Ghost Rider. I say this because Ghost Rider #2 came out in late 1950 but I don’t know the month. I think the Tim Holt cover came first but couldn’t confirm. The value of the Tim Holt Frazetta cover is slightly less than half or the Ghost Rider #2-5 work. This makes no sense to me. All of this early Frank Frazetta cover work is first rate.
The value of these Tim Holt books may be lost on Overstreet, but they are not lost on the marketplace. There are pre-code horror fans, Ghost Rider fans, Tim Holt fans, and Frazetta fans, all tracking down these books. I have been chasing copies of these books, and all old Ghost Rider books for some time now with limited success. The only books that don’t make guide are very low grade and the odd Canadian issue. The rest always sell well over guide, but are still a bargain in my opinion. I have a couple of my own and are a real treat to read. Highly recommended.
Reasons to buy these books as an investment.
Tim Holt #11
- First appearance of the Ghost Rider
- Dirt cheap in Overstreet price guide, and strong collector appeal
- Tough book to find in any grade
Tim Holt #17
- Early Frank Frazetta comic work
- Dirt cheap in Overstreet price guide, and strong collector appeal
- Tough black cover, difficult to find in grade
Hooray Walt! Westerns are among the most undervalued of comics for some reason. When you think of the number of western-related television shows and movies that have emerged over the years (especially in the ’50s and ’60s), it’s no wonder so many of the good ones ended up in comics format, many with Dell photo covers. I’ve always thought books like Tim Holt, Ghost Rider and, my all-time favourite, Tom Mix, should share space right up there with the great super-hero books. Sadly, the reality is that westerns have pretty much had their day in the sun years ago, so, one of the reasons western comics are no longer popular, or published for that matter, is that the western in most popular media is non-existent. When was the last time you saw a blockbuster western?
Of course, the Frazetta content on these particular books guarantees their popularity!
Thanks for shining the spotlight on these grossly underappreciated books. Let’s hope we have a genuine resurgence in the genre one day.
cheers, mel
Spot on! These books all have a lot going for them. Ayers said he loved doing Ghost Rider, it was a major gig for him, high visibility on the stands. I think it showed, even with his slightly exxagerated style. They are fun stories to see and read.
Also, ME was Vince Sullivan’s company, the same man who drew the cover of Detective Comics 1 and many other pre -hero DC covers. Very important comics pioneer. Then he started Columbia, another underrated company, publisher of the long running Big Shot, over 100 issues, and The Face and Skyman.. next he started ME. ME was an innovative and high quality company and nearly all their titles are above average. Bob Powell and Fred Meagher did fine work there. Their title Straight Arrow was an unusual Indian hero, treated respectfully, and was also a popular radio show. It lasted over 50 issues. Ah, but those Frazetta covers are unequalled. I have collected them since the late 1960s and still have a couple I should Upgrade, but I agree they are not common in even as “low grade” as FN or better.
Glad you are including the FN grade. My one objection to your column was focusing only on high grade values. To old timers like me, FN is a perfectly acceptable condition so I like seeing your data in a grade I can relate to. Thanks for the informative column.
Hey Mel, hey Bud – Mike Huddleston deserves all credits for this one as it is his Spotlight (guest writer this week thanks to me sleeping off Fan Expo). Mike is the one that writes the good stuff, not that I’m calling my X-Force #2 a bad post…
Dang… Mike knows his history ^_^
Solid reasoning… makes sense to me.
Thanks for comments guys. I must be “ghosting” Walt pretty well now to trip you guys up.
Bud I have been nudging Walt for some time to add the FN grade to his posts , especially the older books. A FN graded book can be the holy grail grade for some of these books and collectors.
I also wanted to mention some of these Ghost Rider books can be found in the public domain on the internet, and can be read on-line if you are interested..
Hi Mike
I can’t believe I mistook you for Walt, especially considering I think it was just last week that you mentioned that you would be writing an Undervalued Spotlight about Ghost Rider. I know you’re the lucky owner of some choice Ghost Rider, and I can certainly understand the appeal. I really do hope the western has it’s day in the sun again. Some of those old Atlas westerns (with kirby, Severin and Williamson art) were also real gem s in this genre.
Keep ’em comin’ there, old buckaroo!
cheers, mel
Hi Mel,
Yes I still have two Ghost Riders from the fifties. My batting average on those books is about.125 in terms of winning them at auction. I have yet to land a Tim Holt- Ghost Rider . Half the fun is in the chase or so I keep telling myself…
Take care Mel,
Mike
The western certainly hasn’t gotten much love lately in the marketplace, but it is getting some love here in CBD! Can’t go wrong with anything Frazetta and the 6.0 grade is not a 9.2 but it is a thoroughly enjoyable copy to read and peruse regularly and get the joy of handling these books without fear of knocking the books down a grade inadvertently.
As my post today highlighted , the Tex -The Lonesome Rider is a instant classic for me, with a great story and great Joe Kubert Art!
Highly recommended !!
I like it!! Great picks this week.
Hey Dennis – good to here you made it to Fan Expo. Tex – The Lonesome Rider sounds like a good pick-up and certainly does fit with the CBD Western theme this week. I think War comics when I think of Kubert, but he could draw a fire hydrant and make it look interesting.
Hey Nathan – I really like those books too – now if I can just find them…..
Hey Mike. There just 2 copies each of the Tim Holt books on Ebay right now. There also some copies of the early Ghost Rider issues as well. Looks to be tough to find an affordable copy of any of these. You might get lucky in an auction. A couple of the listings are CGC Signature Series. Which are very expensive.
Hey Mike. There are just 2 copies each of the Tim Holt books on Ebay right now. There also some copies of the early Ghost Rider issues as well. Looks to be tough to find an affordable copy of any of these. You might get lucky in an auction. A couple of the listings are CGC Signature Series. Which are very expensive.
Hey Nathan – Thanks for the heads up. I am currently watching the two Ghost Rider #1’s on the Comiclink summer auction, a CVA 9.0 and 7.5 that will probably both cruise past my financial threshold. Two pretty good looking books.
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