Cosmic Aeroplane pedigree

Jumbo Comics #86 “Cosmic Aeroplane”*

The Cosmic Aeroplane pedigree is named after a bookstore in Salt Lake City, Utah where partners David Faggiola and Ken Sanders sold a large collection of comics with distinct markings. The
collection was discovered in 1972 when they were “approached by a woman who had old comics to sell. She explained that they had been bought by her late brother. He had gone to By’s Magazine Shop in downtown Salt Lake City every Saturday from 1939 to 1961 to buy the new comics. He kept them in an old trunk, which preserved them in their pristine condition.”

Additional research uncovered many copies with a stamp on the cover with the name “WC Holt, Jr ” a pressman, printer (and WWII veteran) who was employed by Litho Graphic near Salt Lake and passed away in 1971. He had one sibling, a sister. There is a high probability that WC Holt, Jr was the original owner of the Cosmic Aeroplane pedigree.

“Fighting the axis left its mark…” Sky Girl by Matt Baker Jumbo Comics #86

The comics contain penciled check marks throughout – as the story goes the original owner checked off panels he would trace. Cosmic Aeroplane employees removed the tracing paper from the comics before listing them for sale and the books were subsequently dispersed into the market to collectors.

Jumbo Comics #25 “Cosmic Aeroplane”

It is the second earliest collection officially recognized as a pedigree and estimated to have included somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 comics. Cosmic Aeroplane copies can command 1.5x to 2x guide and 3x guide in higher grade.

My “cosmic” copies are Police Comics #27 (February 1940), Jumbo Comics #25 (March 1941), Jumbo Comics #86* (April 1946) and #93* (November 1946). Inside the Jumbo’s contain some typically solid Fiction House gga, particularly Matt Baker artwork on Skygirl.