Comments on: Scott’s Classic Comics Corner: More Gold Key One-Shots

By: Jeffrey S. Nelson

Jeffrey S. Nelson — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:04:04 +0000

I’m trying to find a Gold Key comics story that was a take on “The Man With The Midas Touch.” Everything he touched turned to gold and he couldn’t eat food. I swear it was in an issue of Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery or The Twilight Zone, but I can’t find it for the life of me. Can you identify tite and issue number? Thanks, Jeff

By: Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:21:43 +0000

“Freedom Agent” is a great title. Also, more comics covers should have chickens prominent in the foreground.

By: Kirbydotter

Kirbydotter — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:18:50 +0000

Never even heard of these, except for the Flash Gordon of course.

You never cease to amaze me Scott. You are trully a archeologist of the comic book history, rediscovering lost treasures, long forgotten.

I love the Gold Key covers as well, too bad the interior art was usually much inferior.

By: Rob Schmidt

Rob Schmidt — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:18:05 +0000

Gold Key’s painted covers didn’t attract me as a kid. Seems to me they were trying to evoke old paperback books and pulp magazines. To me that said “action/adventure potboilers,” not “cool comics.”

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:50:44 +0000

I have purchased a dozen or so of these old Gold Key (and Dell) comics over the years. Some of the stories are interesting enough, but the interior art is often weak.

By: Roquefort Raider

Roquefort Raider — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:23:48 +0000

That Freedom Agent book sure has an impressive cover for a one-shot !!! That’s really impressive work.

By: jazzbo

jazzbo — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:47:29 +0000

I’m with Scott. I’ve never given Gold Key comics a look because the covers made the comics look boring. But after a few of these posts, I want to track some down. It seems like I’ve missed out on some good comics.

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:32:11 +0000

Scott, you may have just hit the nail on the head as to why these were only ever ‘one-shots.’ That said though, I would have bought that Freedom Agent cover in a heartbeat…

By: Scott Harris

Scott Harris — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:24:17 +0000

I certainly can’t argue with the art on these covers, as they all look great. However, as a kid reading comics I was always turned off by the design elements of these covers — the logos, the fonts, the blurbs, etc. They didn’t look like fun comics, they looked like my Grandmother’s idea of fun comics.

Now that I’m an adult, of course, I’m a lot more interested and can see that they were emulating the design of contemporary paperbacks. But as cool as these are, when I see them that kid in the back of my head screams out a warning that boredom awaits if I dare to read these.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:09:36 +0000

Good question:

I picked up a FN copy of Duke for $5 at a convention in August

A Jet Dream in VG/F sold for $2.25 on eBay

Flash Gordon in VG/VG+ sold for $8.80 on eBay

Freedom Agent and City Surgeon- not recent sales but sellers have lower grade copies for under $10

By: LouReedRichards

LouReedRichards — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:30:17 +0000

Yeah, those are some great covers, esp. Duke of the k-9 Patrol.
How expensive are these Gold Key one shots?

Thanks, I’ve really enjoyed your last several posts.

By: dantecat

dantecat — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:28:14 +0000

“Jet Dream”???

Really??

I’m the first to say it????

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:42:00 +0000

These all look utterly fantastic. Gold Key had the best covers.

By: Pedro Bouça

Pedro Bouça — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:54:09 +0000

“…all drawn by the meticulous and vastly underappreciated Alberto Giolitti.”

Don’t worry, he is rightfully praised on his native Italy.

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)