Price history & market evidence
Price observations belong to this edition. Guide estimates, catalog references and completed sales are separate kinds of evidence.
| Grade | Amount | Evidence | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | $70.00 | PANEL_PROFITS · grade_4_0_valueguide | 1952-02-01 |
| 6.0 | $193.18 | PANEL_PROFITS · grade_6_0_valueguide | 1952-02-01 |
| 8.0 | $349.38 | PANEL_PROFITS · grade_8_0_valueguide | 1952-02-01 |
| 9.2 | $776.75 | PANEL_PROFITS · grade_9_2_valueguide | 1952-02-01 |
| RAW | $91.50 | PANEL_PROFITS · ungraded_valueguide | 1952-02-01 |
| 9.6 | $310.00 | ComicBase · catalog referencecatalog | Date not recorded |
Reading this edition’s market
Compare the same cover, printing and grade before setting a bid. A raw guide or a higher-grade price does not establish a slab’s value. Include selling fees, shipping and the depth of completed-sale evidence when assessing an exit price.
The table includes 5 guide observations and 1 catalog references. These are reference values, not guaranteed sale proceeds.
Graded population
CGC records 45 graded copies for Strange Adventures #17 (1952). Population is the number recorded by this grading source, not the total print run or all surviving copies.
Captain Comet: "Beware the Synthetic Men"
The military begin to build a small army of "synthetic men," and five of them go AWOL. Captain Comet) hunts them down and finds them devouring "food chemicals" in Utah. When Captain Comet confronts them, he is easily defeated and taken as their prisoner. Bound inside a warehouse, Captain Comet soon makes his escape and traps his foes inside. Acting quickly, he shoves a hose into the warehouse, pumping the place with oxygen. The synthetic men slowly harden, becoming stone statues. Captain Comet has defeated them by deducing that the men breathed pure nitrogen, and the synthetics couldn't survive pure oxygen. The combination of the two elements caused their bodies to form calcium carbonate -- marble.
| StoryTitle2 = The Last Days of Earth | Synopsis2 =
| StoryTitle3 = Giants of the Telescope | Synopsis3 = one-page with the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel
| StoryTitle4 = The Brain of Dr. Royer | Synopsis4 = With the third world war imminent, Dr. Royer, the creator of a system of guided atomic bombs, is targeted by an enemy agent with a radium weapon. The doctor's assistant proposes to use a diminishing ray to enter his body and operate on him.
| Appearing1 = **Featured Characters:** * Captain Comet) **Supporting Characters:** *Prof. Zackro) **Antagonists:** * The Synthetic Men all transformed into ** Alpha ** Beta ** Delta ** Gamma **Other Characters:** * Dr. Stanton * General Dalton **Locations:** * Washington, D.C. * Calnit, Utah **Items:** * Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) * Neoplasm * Calcium nitrate **Vehicles:** * Cometeer (vehicle))
| Appearing2 = **Characters:** * Hank Rowley * Rufus Kellogg * Professor * U.S. President) * Jim * Hiram Hornsby, world's wealthiest man **Locations:** * An alternate universe ** Earth *** San Diego **** Palomar Observatory *** New Mexico *** Washington, D.C. **** White House *** New York City *** Sahara Desert ** Cygnus system **Items:** * **Vehicles:** * spaceships
| Appearing3 = **Characters:** * Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel **Locations:** * 19th Century * Sirius system * Procyon * Krueger 60 * 61 Cygni **Items:** * telescope
| Appearing4 = **Characters:** * Dr. John Royer * Bob Daily * An enemy nation **Locations:** * Washington, D.C. * Pentagon **Items:** * Radium bolt gun * Diminution Light Ray **Vehicles:** * airplane
| Notes = * "Beware the Synthetic Men" is reprinted in DC Super-Stars Vol 1 6. | Trivia = * "The Last Days of Earth": The American president is not identified in the story. Since no specific year is mentioned, we assume the year of publication, which means the president at that time was Harry S. Truman. The Earth is indeed destroyed in the story, indicating it is set in an unknown alternate universe. | Links =
Creative credits
Writers: John Broome
Interior art: Murphy Anderson, Carmine Infantino, Alex Toth
Source records & attribution
Panel Profits keeps each source identity attached to its edition record.
COMICBASE: comicbase:1031517
GCD: 9414
PANEL PROFITS: 2407868