Golden Age Greats Spotlight Volume 13: The Centaur Chronicles coming in July, 2013 by Mark Heike

Being collectors and enthusiasts for Golden Age comics ourselves, it has long been our goal to try to bring to light some of the rarest, most important and most interesting pieces of comic book history. For many decades, one of the most esoteric and rarely-seen  comic book publishers was the storied Centaur line of the late 1930′s/early 1940′s. Often looked at as a sort of “proving grounds” for concepts and creators, Centaurs’ historical importance as THE major client for the Lloyd Jaquet Studios  just prior to (and during) the birth of Timely(now Marvel) Comics gives the line a certain “Pre-Marvel” feel, employing as it did most (if not all) of the same creators that produced early issues of Marvel Mystery, Daring Mystery, Red Raven, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner for the company that would eventually become Marvel Comics. When we did a “Centaur-centric” issue of our long-running Men of Mystery title in 2010 (#83, to be exact), we were pretty pleased with ourselves, because it included TEN full Centaur story reprints, and no one ANYWHERE could boast of such extensive coverage on Centaur previously in print. In recent months, as our print run of Men of Mystery #83 was selling out, our intial plan was to simply go back to press with the book as-is. But then we reconsidered. We’ve reprinted some OTHER Centaur stories since that volume, and come into possession of yet  more that hadn’t seen the light of day. Not to mention the fact that one of our long-time friends (and a preeminent expert among comics historians) Hames Ware knows MORE about the convoluted lineage of publishers and investors that evolved into Centaur than anyone else alive, and has been bursting to tell the REAL story for years. And, we’ve had requests over the years from Centaur fanatics out there to put all of our material relating to this almost-forgotten early publisher under one cover, as an ultimate information source for reference purposes. So- we decided to redit the Centaur stories from the now-out-of-print Men of Mystery #83, add in ALL the other Centaur stories we’ve reprinted elsewhere, add a bunch of NEVER PREVIOUSLY REPRINTED Centaur tales AND top

GAG Spotlight Volume 13 alternate cover art

it all of with Hames Ware’s history of Centaur, and REALLY make it THE  comprehensive history of the Centaur line, and The Centaur Chronicles was born.  Because this story was TOO BIG to fit into a regular-format issue of Golden Age Greats, we’ve decided to make this a SPECIAL  lucky 13Th issue of GAG Spotlight, with LOTS more pages (totalling out at more than 200), and  in a squarebound, bookshelf format, as opposed to simply being stapled. We liked the Chronicles format so much (and we think readers will, too) that we will likely resurrect it for future special issues of GAG Spotlight. “Regular” issues of GAG Spotlight  (as of Volume 14 ) will remain the standard, 140 page, saddle-stitched variety; but comic history mayvens  will hate themselves if they DON’T get a copy of THIS blockbuster- GOLDEN AGE GREATS SPOTLIGHT Volume 13: The CENTAUR CHRONICLES. 200 pages, in standard comic book size, with black and white interiors and full-color covers; squarebound, for $34.95. Characters to be featured in crisp, clear, full-story reprints will include AMAZING MAN, SHARK, FANTOM of the FAIR, ARROW, IRON SKULL, MASKED MARVEL, TNT TODD, AIRMAN, RAINBOW, ERMINE, BLUE FIRE, BLACK PANTHER, BLUE LADY,  and FIREMAN, and artists will include Paul Gustavson, Lew Glanz, Bob Lubbers, Al Plastino, Carl Burgos, Martin Filchock, Victor Pazmino, Harry Sahle, Bob Kane, Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Lonergran, Lachlan McLaughlin Field, Frank Frollo, Ben Thompson  and others. It’ll ship with two covers, in a 2:1 ratio- a standard cover, starring FANTOM of the FAIR, by Paul Gustavson, and a variant starring AMAZING MAN, drawn by Bill Everett. And since the square-backed, “perfectbind” system we will be using to bind this book is more expensive and requires more lead-time, it is quite possible that we will chose NOT to go back to press with this book once the intial print run has sold out. So- if you THINK you may want this book someday, we would suggest that you preorder it at you local reatiler through the May, 2013 Previews (for items shipping in July), rather than WAITING  with the idea of buying a copy directly from AC Comics off of our web store sometime in future- because at THAT point, they may all be gone- and might NOT be coming back. As should be obvious from what has already been said, some of this book WILL be made up of previously-published material; from MOM #83 and various other issues. But it will also contain material never previously seen, AND end up being THE biggest and most comprehensive publication on Centaur Comics and it’s history ever released. So- look for GOLDEN AGE GREATS SPOTLIGHT Volume 13: The CENTAUR CHRONICLES in the the upcoming May, 2013 Diamond Previews catalog at your local retailers; Volume 23, issue #296- for items shipping in July, 2013. Be sure to place an order.