ANOTHER RAISE THE TITANIC COMIC STRIP

Most Cussler collectors know that during the late seventies, Clive’s book, Raise the Titanic! was adapted and serialized in the Sunday comic sections of 130 newspapers. With a combined circulation in excess of 42 million by the Universal Press Syndicate of Mission, Kansas, the strip was produced under the title "BEST SELLERS byline" and ran in nearly every major newspaper across the country. The panels were sketched by noted artist, Frank Bolle, a popular illustrator of the fifties, sixties and seventies, whose work complemented (among others) the Lone Ranger and Gene Autry books. The comic strip ran from August 15, 1977 until October 9, 1977. It varied between three- and six-panel comics. Overall, the panels are highly condensed, fun to read, and quite melodramatic as one would expect from such an endeavor. The strip is faithful to Clive’s original to the extent that this was possible in an unlikely and condensed medium. Inevitably, some liberties were taken with the adaptation. The well-drawn, black and white daily strip (color on Sunday) had a total of 192 individual panels and ran daily over the course of eight weeks. I bring this up because I recently obtained a 1976 Spanish edition entitled Rescaten El Titanic. I bought it from a seller in Argentina. Upon arrival I discovered the thin (cheaply produced) paperback to be only 128 pages which indicates it’s obviously a condensed version of Clive’s book. What’s interesting about this publication is that each page has one or more full-color illustrations–160 in total. Although they do not have the refinement of Bolle’s artwork, they are fairly similar. And, by all indications, this strip may very well predate the one done by Bolle. For me, one of the more interesting aspects of the strip is that one panel depicts the outside of the newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News (which is in Clive’s book). The name of the newspaper is prominently displayed on the building in English. Although the Rocky Mountain News no longer exists, it holds a special meaning to me. That’s where I was employed from 1974 until its closure in 2009. Being able to find this particular edition reminded me that, after twenty-five years of collecting Clive, there are still surprises waiting to be found.

CLIVE’S FIRST ARC

A few months ago I was able to obtain what I consider to be the first ARC (Advance Reading Copy or similar moniker) of a Cussler book. Since I don’t believe one was done for his first two books (The Mediterranean Caper and Iceberg), the first (Clive’s third published book) has always been Raise the Titanic!. If you want you can check out the post preceding this one for further explanation on that matter. Many collectors have a copy of this particular ARC of Raise the Titanic!. It has paper wrappers with a blue cover and the title and author are in off-white. Depending on condition, prices for this book range between fifty and three hundred dollars. In 2000, I saw a listing for a galley of Raise the Titanic! that preceded the more common ARC. Bound in orange paper wrappers, it has 290 hand-numbered pages and is specifically labeled as an “Unrevised Proofs.” In September, 2000, that particular one sold for $405. The condition was described as fine/unread and, unfortunately, had a book plate laid in with Clive’s signature. That was the first and only one I ever came across. This year a second one came up for auction. I ended up being the top bidder. The condition was Very Good at best. It cost me $511. I was able to get Clive to sign it and he included his “Get It Up!” inscription/drawing. Of the two or three books I need to “complete” my collection, this was one of them. It’s definitely a book for collectors to try and obtain. Now you have an idea of what to look for so you can find one on your own. Good luck.

ARC FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN CAPER

One of the more desirable Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) of Clive’s books is
the one for the upcoming 40th anniversary edition of The Mediterranean Caper.
Due this July as a Putnam hardcover, I can tell you that the ARC for this
edition is already out. For several reasons, I consider this ARC a “must
have” for any serious collector of Clive Cussler. One reason is that The
Mediterranean Caper was Clive’s first published book and I don’t believe
that an ARC was done for the Pyramid paperback version forty years ago. As a
result, having an ARC of Clive’s debut book in a collection can be a new
cornerstone. Plus, unlike other ARCs produced for Clive’s newly-released
books, there were only around 50 or so made for The Mediterranean Caper—an
exceedingly small print run for this type of edition. The ARC for the 40th
anniversary edition does include a “Foreword” penned by Clive, although a
preliminary cover of the book that I’ve seen indicates it as a
“Preface.” I understand that the Foreword will eventually be renamed to be
a “Preface.” Recently, I’ve noticed ARCs for both Zero Hour (due out in
June) and The Mayan Secrets (scheduled for a September release) are available
on the usual Internet auction sites, but I’ve yet to see one for The
Mediterranean Caper. This is probably due to the limited number produced. My
advice: If you see one, grab it.