Recreation by C.C. Beck Based on his Cover for Whiz Comics No. 18 (1941)

Although this was one of the re-creations that Collectors Book Store had C.C. Beck create in the mid- 1970s, it somehow didn't catch my attention -- perhaps because the sale brochure only showed the piece in black and white. It probably is my favorite of all the Beck re-creations that I have seen. But a close second is another painting sold by Collectors Book Store at around the same time, the cover of Whiz Comics No. 19. It was reproduced in color when it was first sold, and I really wanted to buy it. But $300 seemed like a lot of money at the time. The man who did buy it passed away a couple of years ago, and two of my friends knew him well. Even before he died I had asked one of those friends to try to get the Beck for me, but nothing came of it. After the owner died, both of my friends went with the owner's son to the house where his collections were supposed to be, but no art was there and the son said he had no idea what happened to it. It anyone comes across the Whiz No. 19, I would be very grateful if you could let me know where it is. It's very frustrating to wait 45 years for a piece of art to come around a scond time and to have it disappear without having another chance to obtain it!

Beck often made modifications to his covers when painting his recreations. In this example he substituted Captain Nazi, one of Captain Marvel's most interesting foes, for the generic Nazi that stood on the front of the train in the actual cover art.

I first became aware of Whiz Comics No. 18 when I bought Steranko's History of the Comics at the time it was first publIshed in the very early 1970s. I eventually bought a very high grade copy of the comic book from Terry Stroud at the 1973 San Diego Comic Book Convention -- Stroud had bought a great collection of Timely and Fawcett comic book, all of which were in near mint condition, including a Marvel Comics No. 1 and a Whiz Comics No. 1. I couldn't afford the greatest comics from that collection, but I was extremely happy to obtain the Whiz No. 18 for the then rather high price of $150.00. I greatly prefer the colors of this recreation to those of the comic book's cover.