FIGHT COMICS #45 — CGC 6.5 (FN+)
Fiction House · August 1946 · Off-White Pages
CGC Certification #2013153009

MATT BAKER ART. Fiction House good girl art with a Bob Lubbers cover, in an attractive mid-grade CGC Universal (blue label) holder.

Matt Baker

CGC has credited Matt Baker art on the label. Baker is among the most collected artists of the Golden Age — the defining hand of "good girl art," the artist behind Phantom Lady, and the first prominent African American artist in American comic books. Baker-credited books carry their own following entirely apart from title or character, and collectors search on his name.

The cover — "Tonight Don Diablo Rides!"

Classic Fiction House. Señorita Rio is thrown across the foreground in a salmon dress, one hand clamped on the wrist of a bald, monocled officer in a green military tunic as he levels a pistol at her — while behind them Don Diablo wheels a rearing horse and swings a bolas overhead against a hot yellow sky and blue mountains. Cover by Bob Lubbers, one of Fiction House's strongest cover men, later of the Tarzan and Long Sam newspaper strips.

Cover blurbs: Featuring SEÑORITA RIO and CAPTAIN FIGHT — TIGER GIRL and many others.

Characters

Señorita Rio — Fiction House's glamorous spy heroine, created as a wartime counter-espionage agent and one of the most popular good girl art features of the era. Tiger Girl — the jungle-queen feature that would eventually take over the Fight Comics covers outright. Both are actively collected.

Credits

  • Cover and art: Bob Lubbers
  • Art: Matt Baker

Back cover bonus

Full-page "GET STRONG! HAVE MUSCLES OF STEEL" ad from Muscle Power Co. — the "Whitely Gym" Six-Way Progressive Muscle Building Set, $8.98 with a 10-day free trial, "all made with U.S. Government released surplus airplane cord," plus a free copy of "How to Fight." Note the servicemen's disclaimer about F.P.O. and A.P.O. shipments. A great postwar 1946 period piece.

Condition notes

  • CGC 6.5 (FN+) with Off-White page quality
  • Colors are strong — the yellow sky, salmon dress and green uniform all present well, and the Lubbers linework is crisp
  • Wear consistent with the grade: edge and corner wear, small chips along the bottom edge and lower left corner, light spine wear, and a small dark spot near the "Señorita Rio" cover text
  • Please review photos closely; they show the actual book being sold

Shipping

Ships fully protected: slab bagged, corner-protected, and boxed with rigid backing in a double-walled carton. Insured with tracking. Questions welcome.