*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A large addition to the shelves of more than 15 anthologies, with well-known editors including Asimov, Carnell, Carr, Ellison, Knight, Merril, Mills and Wollheim. Four are HC, Classic Science Fiction: The First Golden Age (Carr), A Pocketful Of Stars (Knight), The Best Of The Best (Merril) and Science Fiction At Large (Peter Nicholls). The last is a fascinating collection of essays about the interface between science fiction and reality, taken written for a 1975 symposium, and includes contributions from an eclectic cast such as Ursula Le Guin, Edward de Bono, Alan Garner, Harry Harrison, Robert Sheckley and Philip K Dick.
30CC
American Update: Batmania continues: Wedding Bells for the Caped Crusader! Batman #122 FN/VF
*DC: While Superman and chums had their ‘Imaginary Stories’, Batman eschewed such silliness… until the editors came up with the idea of Alfred the butler writing what basically amounted to fan-fic about his employers (surely a bit of a security gaffe?), and one early example was ‘The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman!’ in Batman #122. This camp classic kicked off an entire string of ‘Alfred’s Diary’ stories, which proved hugely popular with the readership. This particular copy is an exceptional grade for its vintage, a gorgeous FN/VF cents copy at £185. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Seeing Double (Double)
*DC: In the Sixties, it was a common, if somewhat unethical, practise of the UK distributors of American comics to return the covers of unsold copies for credit, then rebind said coverless unsolds, four to an issue, in extra-thick collections behind a bodged-together cover as ‘Double Double’ Comics. These are literally random – any given issue of, say, Superman Double Double Comics may have copies of Superman, but is just as likely to have any other DC title of the period, from Super-hero to comedy to romance to war, or even the occasional Marvel and ACG comic that slipped into the pile! Most of them – not all – had at least a token issue of the series claimed on the cover, but after that, all the rules went out of the window, and even copies of the same issue, according to the cover, may have entirely different contents! (Hey, speculators – EVERY copy is a variant issue!) We have three of these daft beauties new to our lists, Justice League of America Double Double #2 (GD/VG £15) and Superboy NN (presumably #1) & #2, in VG £20 and GD/VG £15 respectively, listed under ‘Double Double Comics’ in our DC catalogue, where you’ll also find content details of the issues we have in stock. Remember – you’ve got to buy them all!
American Update: Spider-Mania continues: Amazing Spider-Man #3 (1st Dr Octopus) & #4 (1st Sandman)
*Marvel: While early issues of the Amazing Spider-Man are always popular, the debuts of his major villains are the hot-button items – and two of his most relentless enemies are the topic of this week’s update! In issue #3 of his title, Spider-Man faced Dr. Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Doctor Octopus, for the first time; and the very next issue saw the premier appearance of the shape-shifting Sandman. Both gentlemen have gone on to plague Peter Parker for more than half a century, but here’s where they got their starts! Our copy of Amazing Spider-Man #3 is a GD/VG cents copy at £450 (a little tired, with minor chipping at right edge cover and minor wear around all edges, but nice unspoilt cover image, good staples and decent page quality); #4 is a highly attractive VG cents at £425 (minor chipping at right edge cover, some spine wear, bright unmarked cover, flat with tight staples and nice page quality). SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: Cable and Deadpool – a pair of Dynamic Debuts from New Mutants
*Marvel: Although popular in its own right, New Mutants, the ‘X-Men-In-Training’ title from the 1980s, has become in retrospect more famous for the fact that two hugely popular characters made their debuts as supporting cast; in New Mutants #87, having stuck his face into the previous issue, Cable made his first full appearance. Hailing from an apocalyptic near-future, the son of Scott Summers by a cloned replica of Jean Grey, came back in time to prevent his own future from coming to pass, eventually taking over the headmastership of the Academy. Appearing in the forthcoming second Deadpool movie, interest in the character’s early appearances has skyrocketed. And speaking of Deadpool, New Mutants #98 saw the first appearance of the Merc-With-A-Mouth, who became Marvel’s greatest phenomenon of recent decades, his libidinous guttersnipe antics delighting urchins of all ages. This copy of New Mutants #87 is VF/NM p at £95; #98 is an exceptional NM p at £225. Competition for both of these modern-age key issues is going to be intense, so early ordering is advised.
American Update: Huge Marvel Silver/Bronze Age sweep
*Marvel: Well over 150 issues added to our Marvel boxes, mostly Silver Age, for the following titles: Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Journey Into Mystery (with Thor), Marvel Premiere (with Dr Strange & Iron Fist), Not Brand Echh, Amazing Spider-Man, Strange Tales (with Nick Fury by Steranko and Dr Strange), Sub-Mariner, Tales of Suspense & Tales To Astonish (with plenty of pre-hero Big Panty Monster issues for both plus later hero issues), Thor and X-Men (both ‘old’ and ‘new’).
American Update: Four Charlton Horror titles from the 1970s
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Small updates to four of the idiosyncratic horror titles from the 1970s: Creepy Things, Midnight Tales, Monster Hunters and Scary Tales.
American Update: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: The conclusion with Millie the Model and Patsy Walker
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: Having teased you with previous instalments of this series, we bring out the ‘big guns’ for the finale – Millie the Model and Patsy Walker, the two ladies whose combined sales steered the company that would become Marvel through the lean years of the 1950s. Each of these daffy dames starred in not one, but a string of titles, and here we offer you selections from Life With Millie, Millie the Model (from #84 through to #160), Patsy and Hedy, Patsy and Her Pals, Patsy Walker, Miss America and Teen Comics – the latter two starring Patsy among others. Pictured are Teen Comics #29 VG+ £36 and Miss America #56 VG £21. Prices and grades for the others may be found in our online catalogue.
American Update: Marvel Mags: Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu and Rampaging Hulk
*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: Two of Marvel’s 1970s hits in their magazine line recharged this week: Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu, which boasted not only Shang-Chi, Iron Fist and a host of their martial arts characters, but also the non-fictional Bruce Lee, plus Rampaging Hulk (later just Hulk), which boasted just the Hulk, but hey, isn’t he enough?
American Update: UK and US Fanzines from the 1970s to the 21st Century
*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: A rich selection of fanzines from both sides of the pond this update! From the UK, we have two early Alan Austin ‘zines, Aftermath (1971) and An Adzine (1970); Arkensword, including a double issue featuring interviews with Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Howard Chaykin, and a very saucy Bollo cover (pictured); Orpheus from 1971, with artwork by Steve Parkhouse and a fledgling Barry Smith (pre-Windsor) and a run of the stripzine Paper Empire, which continued (with Moore’s consent) the adventures of Alan Moore’s ‘Captain Empire’, introduced in the Moore/Davis ‘Captain Britain’ series. From our colonial cousins, we offer 1971’s Comics Fandom Monthly, with writing by Paul Levitz, Tony Isabella, Don & Maggie Thompson, Joe Brancatelli, and Mark Evanier; Collector, from 1973, with seldom-seen art by Kirby, Ditko, and Don Newton; the 1980 Rocket’s Blast/Comic Collector Harlan Ellison Special and a selection of the more recent ‘prozines’, Alter Ego (second series), Back Issue, Comic Book Artist (1st Series) and Comic Profiles.
American/British Update: Going Underground – Again! Don Lawrence’s Cathy, Fantagor by Corben, Nasty Tales and a whole lot more
*Undergrounds: Our last update of Undergrounds was such a success that we’re heading subterranean again for another rampage through the counterculture on both sides of the Atlantic. From the UK, we have the infamous Nasty Tales, the comic which promoted a notorious obscenity trial in the 1970’s; Issues #1 and #2 of this scarce series back in stock. We also have RDH Comix, a 1971 small-press featuring very early work by Brian Bolland on his ‘Little Nympho’ series, and Ogoth and Ugly Boot, from Cozmic Comics in 1973. From the US, we have Fantagor, the 1970s anthology featuring Richard Corben’s art; Corben also looms large in From the Pit, new this update. Robert Crumb, probably the most acclaimed and most reviled underground artist, is heavily represented with new issues of Half Assed, Id, Mr. Natural and Weirdo, and the Furry Freak Brothers turn up not only in their own series, but in Fat Freddy’s Cat: War of the Cockroaches TP and the 20th Anniversary Freak Flyer. There’s a long run of Jack Katz’ groundbreaking ‘ground level’ saga, the First Kingdom, and other alt/indie series from the 1970s: Imagine, Star*Reach, Orb and Quack, while George Perez makes a surprising appearance in the first (and possibly only?) issue of Oracle. Deja-Vu brings us Wrightson, Kaluta and Jeff Jones, Ghita of Alizarr brings us Frank Thorne’s saucy Red Sonja-alike, the current series of Love and Rockets continues, Rip Off celebrates its 20th Anniversary, and Steve Ditko’s Mr. A hits the streets… but out of all these diversities, the most oddball is probably the Cathy collection, collected from Don Lawrence’s work in men’s magazines. This full-colour paperback from Aircel presents its heroine in a variety of situations which are light on plot, but heavy on gratuitous nudity! Pictured are Cathy Vol 1 (VF £35), Fantagor #1 (2nd Print) VF £25 and #2 (1st Print) £20, Nasty Tales #1 VG £40 and #2 VG £30. For price and grade details of the others, please see the Underground section of our online catalogue.
British Update: Cuddly man-eating shark Hookjaw from Action: complete archives
*Collected Editions: Hot off the presses, the formidable Archive edition in splendid Hardcover of Hookjaw from the pages of the infamous UK title Action (1976). Although we think of him here as a cuddly man-eating monster, this edition describes him as ‘A great white shark disfigured with a harpoon, Hookjaw is a vengeful force of nature, striking back with unstoppable force against those who despoil the oceans with grisly results…’ So now you know. This handsome volume reprints all the Hookjaw stories from Action, including the material from the 1976 Action Special and the 1977 annual, as well as the lost pages from the banned period which have never before been printed. Brand new at £30.
British Update: First Quenchers – Thunder #1 and #2 with first Adam Eterno, Steel Commando, Black Max and more.
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In 1970, the short-lived Thunder promised much to an expectant audience: deathless warrior ‘Adam Eterno’, diabolical mad-scientist antics with ‘Black Max’, WWII robotics with the ‘Steel Commando’, time-stopping shenanigans with ‘Phil the Fluter’, and more – a personal favourite here at 30th C is ‘Paddy McGinty’s Goat’, in which a young lad is helped out by his magical goat. (Oh, all right then, a shape-shifting alien who assumes the form of a goat; does that really sound so much better?) Despite a strong selection of strips, though, Thunder didn’t ‘catch’, and after only 22 issues, merged with the veteran Lion, where a full third of Thunder’s roster enjoyed much longer careers than in their parent. We have the first two Thunders available in mid-grade: #1 GD £15 (pictured) and #2 GD £10. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
British Update: They’re back! Those cuddly Auto-Bots in a large Transformers update!
*TV & Film Related Comics: Well, it seems you can’t get enough of the Auto-Bots, so here’s another big heap of them, with over 100 issues fresh in between #4 and #180. Customers are leaving our basement with armfuls of Transformers, so we’re very keen to be able to top up our boxes!
British Update: Bring On The Buster – they’re Brung! Christmas finale!
*Humour Comics: We’ve finally reached the end of our mammoth Buster series of updates and, as Halloween appraoches, what better way to conclude than with a series of Christmas issues? Three from the 1970s (71, 74 & 75) and then a consecutive run from 1990-1998, the last decade of Buster when print runs were smaller – not commonly seen and great value for a glut of festive fun! More Busters lurk in our future no doubt, but for now that’s the lot!
British Update: Whizzer & Chips 1969-1990
*Humour Comics: A huge update to our stock of the famous long running two-in-one Humour title Whizzer & Chips, with close on 200 issues added from 1969, the first year of publication, right up to 1990, its last year. Within this laugh fest are included many Christmas, New Year and Fireworks issues, plus issues with promotional flyers and also the first issue with Knockout.
British Update: Free Gift Farrago and First Quenchers Mash-Up – Loads of Younger Readers #1’s 1961-1990
*Younger Readers’ Comics: A plethora of premieres this week, many of them having Free Gifts to enhance their collectability. First issues with Free Gifts include Alf, Beep Beep, Disney Weekly, Get Along Gang, Goofy, Lamb Chop, Mickey Mouse & Friends, Postman Pat Fun-To-Do and World of Wym – no, we have no more clue about that last one than you do. As a bonus, we have the second issue of Maple Town with a free gift finger puppet, because we’re just too good to you! First issues without the free gifts include Buttons, Donald Duck (both #1’s from 1975 and 1987), Little Star, Mickey Mouse (1975), Teddy Bear and 1961’s Bimbo Weekly – a title which, thanks to linguistic shifts, would be a very different series if launched today! These pre-school debuts span almost three decades from 1961 to 1990. Bimbo #1 (pictured) is PR/FA at £5, owing mainly to a bit of ham-fisted interior colouring on four pages (Kids, eh? No coordination). For the grades and prices of the others, see our online catalogue.
British Update: First Quenchers – Lindy #1 from 1975
*Girls’ Comics: Lindy was a bit of an anomaly for Fleetway/IPC, published on better quality paper and with more colour pages than the average weekly, seemingly attempting to straddle the gap between the usual girls’ comic and the teen magazines, with a heavy emphasis on TV and pop. The experiment doesn’t appear to have been successful, as, after a scant twenty issues, it was merged into Jinty. While Lindy didn’t offer any ‘star’ features – the comedy filler ‘Penny Crayon’ was the longest-lived of its strips – its short achievable run, and the fact that the plethora of pin-ups mean that undamaged copies are rare, means that today it’s highly collectable. (The issue with the David Essex swimsuit centrefold is notoriously hard to find; no judgement…) We have a decent copy of the first issue of this series, in GD at £15, for your delectation.
British Update: The Merry Month of June! Scarce 1970s June Weeklies restocked
*Girls’ Comics: For nearly 13 years, June (more commonly remembered as June & School Friend) was the premier IPC/Fleetway girls’ weekly, until toppled by the upstart Tammy in the 1970s. We are pleased to have approximately 35 issues new to our listings, a token dash from 1966 and 1967, but the bulk being from 1971 and 1972, years traditionally under-represented in our inventory, as we suspect circulation was already faltering prior to the series’ ultimate demise in 1974. However, the quality of the stories and artwork was unafflicted, with ‘My Name Is Nobody’, ‘The Lonely Ones’, and ‘Gymnast Jinty’ being the newcomers during this period, and of course long-term regulars such as ‘Bessie Bunter’ and ‘Lucky’s Living Doll’ keeping a steady hand on the helm. These are mostly affordable low-to-mid grade copies of these scarcer years, so if you’re looking for gap-fillers, now’s your chance!
British Update: ‘A Home For Heroes’ – Commando 50th Anniversary Special Edition
*Magazines/Books About Vintage UK Comics: In 2011, the long-running war digest comic series, Commando Picture Library, celebrated its 50th year of continuous publication, and to celebrate the occasion, this massive tome was released. Measuring 12″ by 13″, ‘Commando: 50 Years A Home For Heroes’ was written by George Low, the longest-serving editor of the Commando series, and reprints six of the most acclaimed Commando stories of all time, with commentaries, in addition to profiles of leading creators, 50 iconic full-colour cover reproductions, a complete series index, and the history of Commando and its publisher, D.C. Thomson of Dundee. This epic hardcover retrospective is NM at £25. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
What’s Old: Amazing Spider-Man #14 with the Green Goblin’s Debut
Spider-Mania invades our What’s Old feature this week! “Does the Green Goblin Look Cute To You?…” The rather twee opening line of the blurb on Amazing Spider-Man #14’s cover heralded the first appearance of Spider-Man’s most dastardly and persistent enemy – his “Joker”, so to speak. The sinister and malevolent Green Goblin has plagued Spider-Man ever since, causing chaos, destruction and the deaths of some of Spidey’s most beloved friends, and this masterwork by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is where his villainous career kicked off. And guest-starring the Hulk to boot! A pence copy, this is an attractive Fine, with minimal ‘blunting’ at corners, tight staples, excellent interior page quality, and extremely light wear at spine. Beautiful unmarred cover scene with deep unfaded covers, priced at £600. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
Books Update: Hitchcock’s Horror
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Our latest book update is in keeping with the spirit of our latest window display (Halloween), with 16 collections of horror stories assembled by Alfred Hitchcock. These are a mixture of ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ and ‘Alfred Hitchcock’s’ titles, but both share a predilection for dubious puns (The Best of Fiends, Slay Ride, Coffin Break and Murder Racquet being just a few examples).
Housekeeping Update
On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our American/British section:
*Undergrounds
and in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics (S -U)
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Window Update: Nevermore!
Dr Evilla is right in her element this time of year and has taken delight in concocting our Halloween window for 2017, which we’ve dubbed the ‘Nevermore’ window, complete with a witch’s hat and broomstick, a skull, gravestones, pumpkins, owls, cats, bats, rats and spiders and a very special Raven called Quoth. All featured alongside a selection of spooky comics, magazines and books the like of which festoon our horror sections. You may just hear a ghastly cackle from the back of the shop when tentatively browsing…
British Update: Annuals – Beano, Dr. Who, Westerns and more
*Annuals: A nice selection of diverse Annuals this week, mostly in mid to high grades: Beano between 1971 and 1974, a scarce Doctor Who Annual featuring Jon Pertwee from 1975, 1950s sci-fi action with ‘Space’ Kingley, 2000 AD (1st Annual from 1978), Valiant and a range of Kit Carson between 1955 and 1959.
Clearance Corner: Swift Volume 3 – Complete bound volume for just £35!
*Clearance Corner: Here’s another bargain from our Clearance Corner feature! Swift Volume 3 complete — issues #1-52 from 1956, all bound into a hardback volume and offered for just £35! (Previously on sale for £125!) Binding reasonable if a bit grubby with some wear at top and bottom spine; contents tightly bound. What looks like gold leaf lettering on spine. Minor edge chipping on some issues, but stories untouched. Borders of issues trimmed, otherwise averaging GD/VG condition. This fits into a small box weighing 2.35 kg and UK postage if required would be an extra £13.50.
Clearance Corner: Miscellaneous Magazine lot: John Lennon, Rolling Stone, Spare Rib, New Witchcraft and lots more – just £15
*Clearance Corner: Every now and again, something turns up in a collection which isn’t in our line, but is still vintage and interesting. We’ve put together a selection of these oddities into one Clearance Corner lot, comprising some 17 publications as follows:
Sunday Times John Lennon tribute circa 1980
Rolling Stone 1969
Blighty 1957 (Glamour and humour)
Blighty Parade 1959
Picturegoer 1957
Billy’s Weekly Liar (x 2 1956/66 humourous paper)
Ghoul #1 (1976 Horror film mag)
Boys Own Paper #1 (facsimile of 1879 first edition)
Boys Own paper x4 (2 x 1963, 1 x 1964, 1 x 1967 with George Best cover)
Spare Rib #3 (feminist magazine from 1970s)
Eve (women’s mag from 1973)
War #1
New Witchcraft #1 circa 1980
All these for just £15; because of the nature of some of these, this lot is only available to readers of 18+. These fit into a small box weighing 1.9 kg and UK postage if required would be an extra £3.50.
Archie Digests
Although they’re not listed in our catalogue, we have a brand new section at the rear of the shop ground floor devoted to Archie Digests, those perennially popular bite-sized volumes full of fun and hi-jinks with the Archie gang. As we don’t list these online, they’re not available for mail order, but shop visitors can explore the dozens of gems in the Archie Digest box in comfort when calling in!
Books Update: Philip K Dick Restocked
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: With the sequel to Blade Runner wowing viewers in the cinemas, this is an apposite time to add more Philip K Dick books, including, of course, the original Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? and its movie version, Blade Runner. In addition we’ve added A Handful Of Darkness, A Scanner Darkly, Martian Time-Slip and The Game Players Of Titan.
American Update: Batmania Returns! Batman #251 – “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge!” Need we say more?
*DC: Oh, okay then, we’ll say a little more. We commence a further run of our Batmania events with a classic. While it’s not strictly accurate to say that this game-changing issue was solely responsible for the transition to the ‘Dark Knight’ iteration of Batman – he had been becoming more serious in the preceding few years – this definitely distilled all the elements which would become the template for the Batman as we know him. By Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, this tense murder mystery draws the reader in from the stunning cover, and keeps the tension mounted high as the Joker, stripped of the lingering miasma of the TV series, becomes once again a first-ranking menace. One of the best comics of the 1970s, by almost everyone’s assessment. This copy is VG+, with a pence price stamp, and minor wear and very light discolouration to the top cover edge, the singular fault which prevents a higher grade on this structurally sound copy of a ferociously sought-after issue. On sale at £65. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Golden Age DC Greats: Action Comics from 1944 to 1951
*DC: We conclude our Golden Age DC Greats event where we began, with the Man of Steel. Five vintage issues of Action Comics, the series which brought Superman to the world and, arguably, kicked off the entire super-heroic genre. All, of course, star Superman, but other features in these issues include popular and long-running series Zatara, Congo Bill, Vigilante and Tommy Tomorrow. All five of these beauties are pictured: #77 features an early appearance by the villainous Prankster and is VG- at £170; #83 features the debut of Hocus and Pocus, comedy foils who aggravated the Man of Steel for several years and is GD+ at £115; #117 is a classic Christmas themed cover and story FN at £200; #154 features Lois Lane cheating in a ‘survival’ contest with Superman’s aid in “Miss Robinson Crusoe!” GD at £65 and #158 features the first extensive retelling of Superman’s origin and babyhood in “The Kid From Krypton!” VG £210. Issues from this period are uncommon in the extreme, so rapid ordering is recommended.
American Update: DC Silver/Bronze sweep
*DC: Another trip through the Silver/Bronze Ages of the DCU, as we add stock to the following titles: Action, Adventure (lots of early Legion of Super-Heroes inc 1st Time Trapper in #321), DC Special, 80 Page Giant, Flash, Freedom Fighters, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Justice League of America, Lois Lane, Metal Men, Plastic Man, Rima the Jungle Girl (from #1), Star Hunters (#1), Superboy (inc #100 Anniversary issue), Superman (inc #200 & #300), Teen Titans (inc 1st Mad Mod #7 and classic Christmas Scrroge issue #13), Warlord, Wonder Woman and World’s Finest.
American Update: Spider-Mania Returns! Amazing Spider-Man #50, with Kingpin debut and iconic cover scene
*Marvel: The return of an old favourite event for us with the first of a series of Spidey updates, beginning with a classic. Of the post-Ditko run of Amazing Spider-Man, one of the most in-demand issues is #50, wherein artist John Romita hit his stride and started doing some of the finest work of his career. The cover to #50 has become etched in the minds of a generation, endlessly imitated and ‘homaged’, and as if that wasn’t enough, this epic issue featured the first appearance of the Kingpin, one of Spider-Man’s most significant villains! (Later shoplifted by Daredevil, but that was a decade or two in the future…) Our newest Spider-Man #50 is a VG+ pence copy, with minimal edge & corner wear, an unmarked cover scene (other than pence stamp) and flexible, off-white interiors. On sale for £150. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Avengers Assemble! Key and early issues
*Marvel: With the popularity of Marvel’s Avengers mounting ever higher in anticipation of the Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy movie mash-up Infinity Gauntlet, we are delighted to present three early issues previously absent from our Avengers inventory. #11 features the Avengers’ first encounter with the Amazing Spider-Man, scarcer than most issues around this period. This copy is VG cents at £60. #16, of course, featured the groundbreaking line-up change, the first time a major super-hero team had jettisoned so much of its old roster for new recruits, as Giant-Man, the Wasp, Thor and Iron Man were replaced by Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye. This is a VG pence copy at £65. And finally – for now – issue #19 featured the premiere appearance of the Swordsman, who joined the Avengers only to betray them, and subsequently spent decades flipping from hero to villain (and life to death to life, but let’s not get started on that) with abandon. This VG cents copy of #19 is on sale at £23. SORRY, #11 & #16 NOW SOLD
American Update: Strange Tales #102 – First Appearance of the Wizard
*Marvel: Let’s be honest, most of the Human Torch’s villains from his solo series in Strange Tales were a bit rubbish. Paste-Pot Pete? The Painter of a Thousand Perils? The Sorceror? The Plantman? While some of them later got makeovers, Johnny spent much of his time harassing a succession of burly beardies in overcoats, hardly striking terror into the hearts of comic readers. But the Wizard was an exception: a criminal genius akin to the likes of Doctor Doom or the Mad Thinker, he went on to form the Frightful Four, and spend decades as one of (well, one-quarter of) the Fantastic Four’s most notorious nemeses. In Strange Tales #102, by Lee and Kirby, the Human Torch (in his second solo outing) faced off against the Wizard for the very first time, and this cents copy, with no UK overprint or price stamp, is a beautiful copy with vivid deep colour, which we have graded as Apparent FN because there is evidence of slight trim to the right edge of the book, which does not impinge upon the story pages. In every other respect a superior copy, this is relatively bargainaceous at £65.
American Update: ‘Lost In Time…Like Tears In The Rain…’ Marvel’s 2-Part Blade Runner Adaptation in stock
*Marvel: Movie adaptations in the 1980s were frequently bodged-out rush jobs, produced by people who could be spared from the ‘A list’ series, so usually featuring creators who were either at the beginning or the end of their careers, as it was assumed the name alone would sell the product. Marvel’s two-part adaptation of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner subverts all these expectations, as it has A-list creators (Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson) doing superb work in evoking the dystopian yet unbroken spirit of the classic Harrison Ford film. Complete in two issues, this is a particularly timely acquisition in light of the current cinematic release of the long-awaited Blade Runner sequel. Sold as a pair only, VF/NM p at £35. SORRY, THIS SET HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: First appearances of Josie (Pre-Pussycats) and Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch
*Archie: Contrary to popular belief, Archie and his pals weren’t the only hit series for his eponymous company; two well-loved ‘cousin’ series were Josie (later Josie and the Pussycats) and Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch, both co-created by the legendary ‘funny girl’ artist, Dan DeCarlo. But neither of those ladies made their first appearances in their own titles; they had to win their spurs as supporting acts, and we have the first appearances of both, though sadly neither was heralded on the cover. Archie’s Pals ‘N’ Gals #23 featured among its many strips an unobtrusive story, ‘Tongue Twister’, which introduced the world to maladroit and well-intentioned Josie McCoy (and her stunning curvaceous chum Melody Valentine). Predicated, as many stories were, on Josie and her pal Pepper trying to brighten Melody’s ‘dim bulb’, this proved popular enough that Josie gained her own series, running 40-odd issues before being remade as a touring fictional pop group for an even longer run. Meanwhile, another anthology, Archie’s Madhouse, was doing creditable business as a Comics Code-Approved Mad Magazine, and showcased a bunch of recurring features, some of which stuck, and some of which didn’t. One that stuck big was Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch, a space-age update on ‘I Married A Witch’ and ‘Bell, Book and Candle’, in which a teenage sorceress tackles the challenges of dating, studying, cheerleading and having to make her assigned quota of Evil Deeds! Sabrina, while continuing to appear in Madhouse and many other Archie titles (as indeed did Josie) headlined various series of her own title for a combined total of, so far, more than 200 issues. Also a long-running TV show starring Melissa Joan Hart, Sabrina is rumoured to be returning in the hit ‘Riverdale’ series, so interest in the character has never been higher. Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals #23 is a FA/GD cents copy, with undamaged interiors, but a piece out of the lower back cover, and slight wear in the cover’s centre on sale at £35. Archie’s Madhouse #22 is a superior FN cents copy at £250.
British Update: First Quenchers Plus with Free Gift Farrago! Vulcan (National Edition)
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following a well-received launch as a Scotland-only series, Vulcan was relaunched in September 1975 as a National Edition, collecting seven classic adventure strips in one weekly: ‘The Spider’, ‘Saber’, ‘Kelly’s Eye’, ‘Robot Archie’, ‘Mytek the Mighty’, ‘Trigan Empire’ and the ‘Steel Claw’. We are delighted to welcome the first three issues of this series back into stock, the first two in possession of their original free gifts (#3 was not a free gift issue). Issue #1 in VF sports its Potato-Gun Free Gift in a crumpled bag (about VG), but the gift itself is NM, never having been assembled, so we averaged it at FN/VF on the gift – comic and gift on sale at £60. #2 in VF has a VF free gift of ‘Magical Numbers Game’, available at £30 for both items; and for the sake of completeness, the third issue is new in stock, VF at £10. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
British Update: Bring On The Buster this Long Hot Summer – Buster Specials Galore!
*Humour Comics: Amalgamating two of our ongoing update events, we bring you a very attractive selection of Buster Holiday Fun/Holiday Specials, commencing with 1969 (illustrated, VG/FN £17.50), consecutive through to 1980 (skipping only 1978), and then wrapping up with a selection from 1993 to 1998, which, being the series’ final decade, probably had lower print runs. We also offer a handful of Buster and Monster Fun Holiday Specials from 1993-1995 (the latter being the final B & MF Special). Join Charlie Peace, the Misers, Galaxus, Gus the Gorilla, Clever Dick, the Rent-A-Ghost crew, Fishboy, and of course Buster himself for seaside shenanigans!
Housekeeping Update
On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following file in our American section:
*Marvel
and in our American/British section:
*Memorabilia & Esoterica
and in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics (L – R)
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
What’s Old: ‘What — Me Worry?’ UK Mad #1
We turn our attention this week, in our previously listed spot to an international classic. Following the success of Mad’s American incarnation, transitioning seamlessly from comic book to the parody mag which became an international institution, it wasn’t long before British publishers had an eye on borrowing some of Mad’s success. In 1959, Thorpe & Porter, who distributed many American magazines in the UK, launched a Mad #1 reprinting selections from the American mag, and started a series that would endure for decades and almost four hundred issues. Our Mad (UK) issue #1 is a highly attractive Fine copy at £100, crisp, clean, unimpeded pages, with only moderate corner and edge wear belying a higher grade, and with a classic cover image of Alfred E. Neuman to boot!
Books Update: Firsts To Be Reckoned With
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Just added, a small set of 1st PB editions, including Port Eternity (Cherryh), Dreamsnake (McIntyre), The Space Circus (Raymond) and This Immortal (Zelazny). Humour is well-represented, with The Silver Eggheads (Leiber) taking a swipe at the publishing profession, The Fickle Finger Of Fate (Keel) skewering certain superheroes (Batman? Superman?) and A Farce To Be Reckoned With (Zelazny & Sheckley) having fun with the eternal battle between Good and Evil.
Books Update: Eine Kleine Heinlein
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: It’s always a pleasure to announce more Heinlein books being available. In this restocking update we have Assignment In Eternity, Double Star, I Will Fear No Evil (1st US PB), Starship Troopers, The Door Into Summer, The Puppet Masters and Time For The Stars. The only thing left to say is – Enjoy!
British Update: The British Are Coming! Prepare to be… Spellbound! (inc Free Gift Farrago)
*Girls’ Comics: We proudly present the latest in our ‘British Are Coming’ event, showcasing the very best in British comics. Spellbound hit the newsagents of the UK in 1976, and brought a different complexion to the British girls’ weekly. Rather than the token ‘strange story’ beloved by the regular anthologies, every strip in the comic was devoted to supernatural or science-fiction stories. The stars of the show, of course, were the quartet of interplanetary super-heroines, the ‘Supercats’, who roamed the universe fighting evil while wearing far too much mascara, courtesy of artist Enrique Badia Romero and his studio. But there were myriad other strips starring willowy wenches in trouble, and schoolgirls facing mysterious enemies: ‘When the Mummy Walks’, ‘Vampirine’, ‘I Don’t Want to be a Witch!’, ‘The Haunting of Laura Lee’, and many more brought us stories of possession, resurrection, nocturnal avengers, struggles against destiny, and other weird events. We are delighted to have a large run of the ‘Mystery Paper For Girls!’ (Bought by many furtive boys, then and now, we assure you…) in stock, from the very first through to #57 – not a complete run, but an unbroken sequence (57 out of 69). Moreover, we have the free gifts with the first three issues. Issue #1 in FN with free gift (Mystic Sun Pendant) in VF/NM (never opened) is available for £100; another #1 in GD with Free Gift (VF) is £50 and comes with a bonus free incomplete #2; our complete #2 is FN with Free Gift (Supercats Diary) in VF at £100; (#2 is the rarest of the Free Gift issues, as its inside front cover had the coupon to send away for membership of the ‘Supercats Club’, so unmutilated copies are scarce indeed); #3 FN with unopened free gift (Black Cat Cameo) is £75 and a second #3 VG with Free Gift VF is £50. Free Gift copies of early Spellbounds are uncommon, and this is an embarrassment of riches we don’t expect to be encumbered with for long, so get your orders in quick! Oh, and remember that mention above of the ‘Supercats Club’? Well, check out our merry ‘Memorabilia & Esoterica’ catalogue category for Great News, Chums! HURRY, JUST A FEW LEFT!
British Update: Prepare to be Spellbound Part 2 – Supercats Club Membership Kit
*Memorabilia & Esoterica: Those of you keeping an eye on our Girls’ Comics listings will have noticed a mention of Spellbound issue #2 being less common because it featured the coupon for membership in the ‘Supercats Club’, so unmutilated copies are rare. Well, here is what all those copies of Spellbound #2 were sacrificed for: a Supercats Club Membership Kit! Comprising four items: a colourful Supercats sew-on patch, an exclusive Black Cat pendant, your Supercats code sheet with space for all your personal info, and a ‘denim-look’ pouch in which to store the whole shebang! The pouch, patch and pendant are virtually as new, and while the Code Sheet has been folded and creased, it has not been filled in or written on in any way, so this is a genuine rarity. This is on sale as a complete set only at £125. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Debuts of Kid Flash and the Weather Wizard – Flash #110 VG+ £325
*DC: This issue has a double-feature of debuts, of one of Barry Allen’s closest allies and one of his most relentless nemeses. The cover devotes itself to the meteorological shenanigans of the Weather Wizard, making the first of many appearances, but lurking unheralded within is the debut and origin of Wally West, aka Kid Flash, who shared Barry’s adventures (and became an integral part of the Teen Titans) for decades before assuming the mantle of the Flash himself. This is a highly attractive VG+ cents copy, with vivid unimpaired cover scene, moderate but unobtrusive corner and edge wear, and superior interior pages, on sale at £325. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Golden Age DC Greats: Superman #88 with Luthor/Prankster/Toyman team
*DC: The latest in our Golden Age DC event. From 1954, a landmark issue (#88) of the Man of Steel, featuring ‘The Terrible Trio’: Luthor, the Pranskster and the Toyman in one of three terrific stories (gosh, you got value for money in those days). Only a FA/GD copy, with a glued spine, but decent page quality and a real snip at just £50.
American Update: DC Golden & Silver Age sweep
*DC: Unusually, some low grade Golden Age issues feature in our round-up of DC titles added to our boxes this week, as well as a nice selection of Silver. Titles include: Action Comics (#181 & #184), Adventure Comics #166, Aquaman (#29 1st Ocean Master FA/GD p £20), Batman (inc #253 with the Shadow), Detective Comics, Phantom Stranger (early second series), Showcase (inc #36 3rd Atom, #82 1st Nighmaster), Superman (#87 & later) and World’s Finest #113 (not only the Mxyzptlk/Bat-Mite team up, but also the debut of Miss Arrowette!).
American Update: 1st full Marvel Crossover – Fantastic Four with the Hulk in FF #12
*Marvel: Crossovers of one character into another’s series have become such a staple of the Marvel Universe that it’s hard to recall a time when they were a novelty – but there was such a time, and we have a copy of the first example, in Fantastic Four #12, where the Hulk clashed with the FF for the first time! Contemporary with Amazing Spider-Man #1 (in which the FF also made a brief appearance), but this is the first full-on Marvel crossover. Fantastic Four #12 is an unusually rare issue, and this copy is PR/FA, with heavy back cover scribble and interior scribble on 16 pages, severely so on four. Despite the unfortunate defacements, the cover scene is unimpaired and the rarity and significance of this issue prices it at £100.
American Update: The Coming of Carnage! Amazing Spider-Man #361 NM+
*Marvel: The comics-reading public loved cuddly brain-eating symbiote venom so much that Marvel, knowing when they were onto a good thing, brought Carnage – The ‘Spawn’ of Venom, as Marvel pointedly related on the strapline (Spidey artist Todd McFarlane having recently decamped to do Spawn for Image) to life with Amazing Spider-Man #361. Carnage’s popularity soon rivalled that of his alien ‘parent’, and, with Carnage’s cinematic debut imminent, he may soon eclipse Venom altogether! This copy of ASM #361 is a sparkling NM+ p copy at £80. Buy now, or regret it later! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD