Original Gold Key Cover Paintings

[Red Oak Kid]

I ran across this on ebay. Some original cover paintings of Gold Key comics such as Flash Gordon and Twilight Zone are being offered for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Flash-Gordon-20-Painted-COVER-Gold-Key-Art-Sci-Fi-Ming_W0QQitemZ180068420327QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3985Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have no connection with the seller and I will understand if the Moderator deletes this, but I thought some of the posters here would like to see these scans.

It's interesting that on none of these covers, is the cover artist named.

[Sir Tim Drake]

I have no connection with the seller and I will understand if the Moderator deletes this, but I thought some of the posters here would like to see these scans.

There will be no deletion-- I think these are definitely worth seeing.

I would also be interested to know who the artists are. The only Gold Key cover painter I've heard of is George Wilson, and I assume he didn't do all their covers.

[Red Oak Kid]

Thanks, Sir Tim.

Also note on the Flash Gordon cover you can compare the original art with the printed cover. Note how the bright red background of the original got muddied up on the final printing.

The TZ covers can be seen if you click on the "seller's other auctions" link on the upper right of the FG link.

[Lone Ranger]

Thanks for the link, ROK.

I noticed a while back that some of these were being auctioned via Heritage Auction galleries.

I went to the Archives and searched for Gold Key painted within the 'Covers' section. Here's what it came up with:

It seems that when in doubt, attribute it to George Wilson. I wish there was more Gold Key cover information out there on the web. I've looked, but came up with next to nothing.

Heritage - Gold Key Painted Covers (http://comics.heritageauctions.com/common/auction/pricesrealized.php?src=&ID=&optGlobalSearch=&cboDenomination=Original+Comic+Art%3ACovers&cboSaleNo=&txtSearch=Gold+Key+painted&cmdSearch=Search+Auction+Archives&chkFullSearch=1&chkNotSold=1&hdnSearch=True&txtLotNo=&stage=1)

[MWGallaher]

Was it worth it?
I've gotta assume that paying for a fully painted cover was more expensive than a pen-and-ink cover, but despite the gorgeous artwork, as far as I could tell in the 70's, at least, the Gold Key comics languished on the shelves. They put all that effort into the covers, but I don't think anyone in the era I grew up buying comics on bought anything without at least leafing through the interior, and at Gold Key, they'd see mediocre Spanish artists and weird absence of panel borders, flat, emotionless lettering...or maybe it was just me? Maybe those cool covers kept people buying?