Startling #47 conundrum

[darkmark (RIP)]

While doing a little research for a project, I reread some of the run of Lance Lewis in STARTLING COMICS and found something kind of...well...startling. ;-)  We're missing issue #44, the ish in which Lance debuts.  But issue #45 is the second part of a two-parter that pits Lance against the Mercurians and their Sun King, and mentions specific things about the previous story such as the Room of Glass.  Then...I got to our issue #47 and found out that it contained the PRIOR EPISODE of Lance Lewis, right down to the Mercurians, the Sun King, and the Room of Glass!  I know that Keltner's index identifies certain features in this issue as being in #47, such as "Sooky".  But could it be that he, and we, are wrong, and this is a mislabeled and miscovered #44?  Or did they just get the story so out of sequence that the first part wasn't published until three issues after Part Two?  Inquiring minds want to know!

[Yoc]

Given that our scan of Startling 47 is coverless there is a good chance you are right DM.
Until another copy of 47 or 44 are finally scanned we likely will never know.  I'll make a note on it that it might be the wrong issue.

[darkmark (RIP)]

I think it really is #47, owing to the presence of Tygra and the fact that she has an origin in #45.  But that does mean that, yes, they really did run Lance's introduction story several issues after he was introduced and even after the second part of the story!

[Yoc]

We're going to wait for a c2c 47 to show up to confirm things.