King Solomon's Mines #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThis single-issue one-shot represents one of the earliest comic-book translations of H. Rider Haggard's foundational 1885 adventure novel, bringing Allan Quatermain — a character whose DNA runs through every lost-world and jungle-adventure story that followed, including the Indiana Jones franchise — directly into the Golden Age comics format. Avon Periodicals, already a restless experimenter across horror, science fiction, and Western genres, here demonstrated that movie tie-in licensing and literary adaptation could be packaged together as a single commercial and cultural event. As a tie-in to MGM's Oscar-nominated 1950 Technicolor spectacle, the book sits at a precise intersection of Hollywood prestige and four-color pulp storytelling. It also preserves an early example of Avon's broader strategy of adapting public-domain adventure literature for newsstand readers who might never crack the original novel.
A party of explorers travels to Africa following the route of King Solomon in search of a legendary diamond treasure hidden in a secret chamber. Along the way, they encounter Twala, a native king whose people nearly destroy them, but they manage to defeat the witch Gagool and her dark magic through a supernatural sign from the sun. After overcoming jungle perils and discovering a white man, George, stranded in the desert for two years, the expedition successfully completes its mission and returns to England with tales of adventure.
Allan Quatermain recounts how a dying man's map and letter drew him into an extraordinary quest: Sir Henry Curtis seeks his missing brother in the legendary diamond mines of King Solomon, hidden deep in the Suliman Mountains and guarded by thousands of fierce warriors. With the map as their guide and a growing party of companions, Quatermain and his new allies prepare to venture into uncharted territory where countless men have perished in pursuit of fabulous treasure.
When famous jockey Midge Morgan arrives at police headquarters in fear for his life, Inspector Yates finds himself investigating four suspects with motive to want him dead—his estranged wife, her lover a high-rolling gambler, his boss, and even the stable boy. As the inspector circles through interviews and accusations, a race day tragedy strikes at the track, and the poisoning that kills both man and horse points to a killer operating on a far more calculated scheme than anyone suspected.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Avon Periodicals, a comic-book arm of the paperback publisher founded in 1941 by the American News Company, released this book expressly to ride the wave of publicity from the MGM film starring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr, which had opened on November 24, 1950. The Grand Comics Database notes the issue was explicitly scheduled to take advantage of that film's promotional moment. Interior art was originally credited to Lee Ames, but GCD researchers have since argued, based on stylistic comparison with signed Astarita work in 'Real Life Comics' #53, 'Intimate Confessions' #5, and 'Realistic Romances' #8, that the actual artist is Astarita — a credit dispute that remains unresolved in some catalog records. Avon published the book as a true one-shot, with no sequel issues ever produced.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Avon Periodicals in 1951 as a one-shot (first and only issue), with no follow-up issues ever released.
- Adapts H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines, featuring the adventurer Allan Quatermain as the lead character.
- Released to capitalize on the publicity surrounding MGM's acclaimed 1950 Technicolor film of the same name, starring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr — a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and winner of two Oscars.
- The main story follows Allan Quatermain leading a search for a missing man into unexplored Africa and discovering a lost civilization, broadly adapted from Haggard's plot.
- Contains a backup story — a crime drama titled 'The Race-Track Rub-Out' — reprinted from Avon's own 'The Saint' comic series.
- Total page count: 36 pages, published in full color.
- Art originally credited to Lee Ames (illustrator), but Grand Comics Database researchers have attributed the interior art to Astarita based on comparative stylistic analysis with his signed work in other Avon titles; the credit dispute has not been definitively resolved.
- A modern reprint edition was produced by Golden Age Reprints (associated with Kari Therrian/UP History and Hobby) and is available in print-on-demand format, extending the issue's accessibility to contemporary readers.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Kit Carson #5 (1954), Fantasy Classic #2 (2017)
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