eMoviePoster.com

What are the objects in the corners of some images? Learn More

Spy Smasher, the 1942 William Witney patriotic superhero fighting-the-Nazis-undercover-in-America World War II (WWII) action adventure serial ("Suggested by the character Spy Smasher, appearing in WHIZ COMICS magazine, copyright by Fawcett Publications, Inc. 1940-1941-1942"; "A Republic Serial in 12 Chapters") starring Kane Richmond (in a dual role, both in the title role as Alan Armstrong, aka Spy Smasher, and his twin brother Jack Armstrong!), Sam Flint, Marguerite Chapman, Hans Schumm, and Tristram Coffin. Note that Spy Smasher's origin was suspiciously similar to that of The Lone Ranger, in that he was reported killed, and then he decided to fight the Nazis, and he thought it better to remain hidden behind a mask, so the Nazis could not take reprisals against his friends and family (which was especially important since he had a twin brother!). Note that Republic Pictures had tried to make a deal with DC Comics to make serials of Superman and Batman in 1940, but they could not agree on a deal, and in fact a lawsuit resulted. So instead they made a deal with Whiz Comics and made "The Adventures of Captain Marvel" in 1941, and this serial "Spy Smasher" in 1942 (and DC Comics signed with Columbia Pictures in 1943, and made their Batman and Superman serials there!). Many fans of serials consider this serial to be among the handful of finest serial movies ever made, if not the best!
NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography.

Important Added Info: Note that there is an almost exact reprint of this pressbook that has often been mistakenly sold as original (it was done in the 1970s by Jack Mathis, and was intended as a tribute). However, the pressbook we are offering here is absolutely the original from 1942! It has a slightly different cover from the original, and it has a "tipped-in" full-color herald, while the recreation has an image of the herald printed on that page. We are currently also auctioning one of the recreation pressbooks in a separate auction, so you should look at both this auction and that auction, so you can clearly see the differences! Note that when studios would prepare pressbooks they would often include a sample of the herald. Most often, the herald is no longer still with the pressbook. Sometimes, the herald by itself will sell for almost as much as the rest of the entire pressbook! This pressbook contains the original herald that was included with it, and it is pictured next to the pressbook below. Note that we have provided several images from this pressbook, always including the cover and the poster pages, and of course, the winner of this auction will receive the entire single pressbook we are auctioning (plus any supplements or heralds described above)! Also note that this pressbook is complete and uncut! Given that theater owners received pressbooks partly in order to create their newspaper advertising, and quite frequently cut them up for that purpose, it is rare to find a pressbook that IS complete and uncut!

Note that we are auctioning 74 pressbooks in this Part II of our March Major Auction. 62 of those come from a single collector who was attempting to assemble EVERY pressbook from movie serials that were based on either comic book or comic strip characters, and he spent many decades doing so, and he came very close to getting every one there is! These include many that we have never auctioned in all our years of auctioning, and may well never auction them again! This is a very rare opportunity for collectors to acquire these ultra rare pressbooks (which are even more rare than the posters from these same serials, likely because they were sent to very few theaters, and likely most of those theaters immediately threw them out). If one started to try to assemble a similar collection without purchasing any of these pressbooks, they would likely spend many years before they could acquire even a small percentage of them. That is how rare these are!

Our address for UPS or FedEx only is:
Bruce Hershenson,
306 Washington Avenue, West Plains, MO 65775