*DC: Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke (also known for much of his career as ‘the Terminator’, until Arnie’s agents said the magic words, ‘Cease & Desist’) made his first appearance in New Teen Titans #2, the successful Wolfman/Perez revival of the faltering franchise. Already a hit, the New Teen Titans’ fortunes rose with those of Mr. Slade as their recurring arch-nemesis, and eventually he went on to star in several series of his own, as well as media appearances in the ‘Arrow’ TV show and elsewhere. This is a nice pence printed copy, tight, flat and glossy with good staples and white pages. Apart from very minor handling wear, the only small flaw is a tiny indentation line (non colour-breaking) to the right of the DC logo.
PICTURED: NEW TEEN TITANS #2 VF p £100 SOLD
Category Archives: What’s New
American Update: Batmania/Six Of The Best: Old Look Batman
*DC: Six issues of the old look Batman from the early 1960s new in this week, when you were more likely to find a monster or alien in Gotham City than you were the Joker or the Penguin. Included are: #126 (with Batwoman and the Firefly), #133, #149, #158 (Ace the Super Bat-Hound), #161 (with Bat-Mite) and Annual #5 (Strange Lives of Batman & Robin). Mostly in cheap and cheerful grades – see our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: BATMAN BOTH SOLD
#126 FA/GD £35 Colour touches and water damage
#133 GD+ p £43 Stapled 1 cm in from spine (original staples)
American Update: It’s Not Easy Being Green… Hulk 1st series #4 & #5
*Marvel: Although no Silver Age Marvels can truthfully be called rare, the first run of the Hulk (cancelled after #6) certainly turn up less often than almost all others from the dawn of the Marvel Age. Like buses this week, two have turned up at once: #4 & #5. Both feature two Lee & Kirby thrillers in each issue, as the Hulk comes up against Mongu, the Gladiator From Space, Tyrannus and the Hordes of General Fang, as well as the constant man or monster struggle in the wake of the gamma radiation exposure. Obviously not popular enough at the time to sustain an ongoing series (!), these classics are now highly prized and both these copies present very well.
PICTURED: HULK
#4 VG p £440 ‘Pence’ stamped at 1 shilling (Ireland?). Lovely bright cover with glorious colour and gloss. Great structural integrity with white to off-white pages, tight staples with everything firmly attached. A little bit of Marvel chipping to the right edge, a couple of short crease-like white lines across the logo, a small amount of what looks like impact damage at the base of the spine and a 1 cm tear at the bottom edge (no loss) that runs into the early pages. A fresh, vibrant copy. SOLD
#5 GD/VG p £375 Pence printed, with some spine wear (but none anywhere else) and the bottom staple loose at front cover. Small brown stain on upper blurb box and a small ‘6’ in biro beneath the Comics Code Box. The cover has reasonable gloss and good colour for all that. Staples firm at centrefold and nice white to off-white pages. SOLD
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Inhumans & Black Bolt in Fantastic Four #45/46
*Marvel: We kick off this week’s Good Doctor Collection listings with the first release from the second title we’ve tackled: Fantastic Four. 1965’s Fantastic Four #45 saw the culmination of a long-running subplot – and the introduction of a whole new family of supporting super-stars. Since #36, the mysterious Madame Medusa had been a thorn in the side of the FF, and latterly, from #44, she had been pursued by the equally mysterious Gorgon. Now, the pair’s true origin, and their royal heritage, was revealed, as the monarchs of the Inhumans made their debut in these two issues. Black Bolt, Crystal, Triton, Karnak and Lockjaw rounded out the Royal Family tree, and became long-running allies of the Fantastic Four. #46 featured the first full appearance of Black Bolt, having teased us with a cameo in the preceding issue. Great covers on these issues.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#45 VG+ p £215 Pence printed, minor spine, edge and corner wear, great central image with small faint stamp on the moon. Tight staples and vivid colour, very nice white to off-white pages. SOLD
#46 FN+ £265 Flat with great colour, tight staples and an unmarred cover image. A faint suggestion of a short crease at the logo with a tiny colour break, a little bit of corner blunting and very minimal wear at top edge; presents very well.
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: Amazing #18 & #19
*Marvel: Two consecutive Ditko issues of Amazing Spider-Man this week that seem to turn up less often than those around them. In #18 (with the returning menace of the Sandman), Peter Parker becomes disenchanted with the super-hero life and gives up being Spider-Man, only to bounce back at the end of the issue, leading into #19 where the Enforcers and the Human Torch join the fray. Low grade copies both, but of course that comes with very moderate price tags!
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#18 GD- £95 A bit of spine roll and a worn spine; 5 cm lower spine split. Staples are loose-ish but attached. Some edge wear but nice cover scene, with only a couple of small cryptic characters on the ‘D’ in Spider marring it. SOLD
#19 PR p £50 Pence stamped, this one’s a bit of a mess. The cover scene’s okay and reasonably bright, but it’s been restapled at top and bottom of spine, and several of the pages are loose and brittle. It’s all there, but not a nice copy. SOLD
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: Every issue of Amazing from #211 to #237
*Marvel: This week’s final visit to the Good Doctor Collection presents every issue of Amazing Spider-Man from #211 to #237. Characteristically these are in most cases very high grades and close to pristine copies. A packed time for Spidey (aren’t they all?) as he mixes it up with the Sub-Mariner, Hydro-Man (1st appearance), The Frightful Four, Madame Web, the Sandman, Moon Knight, Ramrod, Speed Demon, the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, the Vulture, Fool-Killer, Black Cat, Juggernaut, the Cobra and Mr Hyde, the Tarantula, Will-O’-The-Wisp and the Stilt-Man. Gosh, didn’t he come up against a lot of villains ‘belonging’ to other heroes? More from the Good Doctor next week!
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #212 NM £75
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Rogue in Avengers Annual #10
*Marvel: Ms. (later Captain) Marvel, Carol Danvers, had left the Avengers in issue #200, in a controversial and rather offensive departure which raised the hackles of fandom assembled, utterly subverting the character’s independent agenda. In Avengers Annual #10, Chris Claremont ‘fixed’ the storyline, with an amnesiac and powerless Carol being rescued by Spider-Woman, and the discovery of her escape and reawakening commencing. It was a rather skilful job, assisted by the moody, evocative, and too-seldom-seen art of Mike Golden, plus, when the villains of the issue arrived – the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants – they had a spanking-new member, Rogue, who was the reason for Carol’s confused and powerless state. Rogue, of course, swiftly moved to the ‘light side’, joining the X-Men and becoming a key character in the comics and on the silver screen – and this is where she got her start, but the issue has more to offer than only that! Ignore the rather messy and bitty cover; the interior’s a gem! This is a nice cents copy, tight, flat and glossy, with good staples and pages and just minor edge wear, marred a little by a very faint thumb-size stain mid-way down the edges front and back covers which is difficult to spot, and a little bit of grubbiness on the back cover.
PICTURED: AVENGERS ANNUAL #10 FN £55 SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Marvel Premiere #47 – ‘Scott Lang, Scott Lang, Does Whatever an Ant-Man Can’
*Marvel: When the Ant-Man name was unclaimed in the late 1970s, a brainier-than-average sneak-thief, Scott Lang, stole Hank Pym’s old apparatus and became the second bearer of that title! But it’s okay – he did bad things for good reasons, specifically to find a cure for his dying daughter, as was revealed in Marvel Premiere #47, the tale which (after a non-costumed cameo in Avengers #181) was Scott’s first full appearance. John Byrne and David Michelinie created this different take on the hero, and since then, Scott has had his ups and downs – been in jail a few times, been dead a few more, been a love-slave of the Purple Man – but he’s fought his way back to respectability, and has achieved cinematic stardom in two eponymous movie hits, plus pivotal roles in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’; a third Ant-man film is in the works. Our latest copy is pence printed, high grade with just very minor handling wear.
PICTURED: MARVEL PREMIERE #47 VF+ p £110 SOLD
American Update: Gimme the Moon Knight…
*Marvel: We’re delighted to add to our catalogue this week the first issue of the first ongoing Moon Knight series from 1980. The multiple secret identity super-hero often considered an ersatz Batman has been around now since 1975, in various guest appearances and one-shots which led up to this. With Adamsesque art by the moody Bill Sienkiewicz on most issues and some stunning covers, this has very much become a fan favourite series in recent years. This is a decent pence printed copy of #1, with great cover colour and gloss, tight staples and nice pages. Minor corner blunting, a few spine ticks and tiny fine creasing at the extremity of the bottom right cover, plus unrippled water staining at the top of the inside front cover and back cover bring the grade down a bit, but still a very presentable copy.
PICTURED: MOON KNIGHT #1 FN p £50 SOLD
American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Mysterious Adventures
*Horror 1940-59: A couple of issues of Story’s Pre-Code Mysterious Adventures (1951) new in this week. #5 has a severed heads and bondage cover, but is in a poor state with detached and separated covers with multiple tears and chips out. The pages are quite nice (and gruesome); PR at £20. #23, with a great mummy cover, is structurally much more sound, and similarly gruesome with a quality Jay Disbrow story; very minor spine wear and a couple of colour-breaking creases across top and bottom of right cover, but glossy with nice staples and pages; its most noticeable defect is that the front cover is somewhat faded, muting the greens and reds, although this does give it a more atmospheric impact relating to the cover scene.
PICTURED: MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURES #23 VG+£175
American Update: Modern Reprints: DC, Marvel, EC, Frazetta, Wood
*Modern Reprints: A chunky update to this category which showcases classic material reprinted from all publishers. This time, from DC: DC Super-Stars #17 facsimile, with secret origins of the Huntress, Green Arrow and the Legion of Super-Heroes; from Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man #101 facsimile with 1st Morbius; Flashback #36, reprinting the Golden Age Flash Comics #15; from EC: a wide range of the East Coast EC Classic Reprints; from Eros: Baby You’re Really Something, a pin-up comic of classic Frank Frazetta Good Girl Art and an issue of Wally Wood’s Cannon. Full details in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #101 FACSIMILE MN £4
BABY, YOU’RE REALLY SOMETHING VF- £5
British Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Mystic #56, reprinting debut of Kang
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Len Miller was the premier UK publisher of ‘faux’ American-sized British comics in the 1950s and early 1960s. He published a wide range of material, both original and US reprint, perhaps most famously Marvelman and Young Marvelman. Although succeeded by Alan Class, there was a period in the early 1960s where both publishers overlapped and some of Miller’s titles (Mystic, Spellbound, Voodoo and Zombie) closely resembled the type of content also being used by Alan Class, reprinting Atlas, pre-hero Marvel and other early horror, with occasional forays into the Marvel Super-Hero Universe. For some reason (possibly page count?), in reprinting Avengers #8 (debut of Kang), Miller chose not to use the original, more dynamic cover and instead substituted the splash page on the cover, giving this version a unique look. It appears that Kang is about to explode into the MCU, so a great opportunity to get this version of his first appearance. This is a nice copy, with minor edge wear, intact spine with tiny nick at bottom, unmarked cover and white pages.
PICTURED: MYSTIC #56 VG/FN £75 SOLD
British Update: Alan Class Sinister Tales
*Alan Class Reprints: 10 issues of the long-running Sinister Tales added to our stock this week in our regular listing, both pre and post decimal. Chock full of marvel (inc Kirby & Ditko), ACG, Charlton and Atlas, including the odd Marvel super-hero (Captain America in #39, Dr. Strange in #119), plus other recurring characters such as Mandrake, the Fly and Magicman. Some of these we’ve never had in stock before, so we’ve updated our Rough Guide to content, which is where you’ll find details of what appears in each issue.
British Update: War Picture Library between #101 and #200
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Another batch of War Picture Library added to our catalogue this week, dozens of issues between #100 and #200. War PL was the first of the long-running war-themed Picture Libraries, starting in 1958 and lasting over 2000 issues until 1984. This week many of the numbers we’ve added are new to our listings.
British Update: Picture Romance Library x 10
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Ten more issues of Picture Romance Library added this week between #380 and #392, still in the mid 1960s and still in very nice condition generally. As I list these, it’s become a game of guess the pop star’s likeness on the cover. Can you guess this one (with cunningly disguised hair colour)?
PICTURED: PICTURE ROMANCE LIBRARY #381 FN £6
Books Update: Fantasies by Lord Dunsany
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: I’m well read in classic fantasy: Tolkein, Peake, Lewis etc, so when I say that Lord Dunsany is just about my favourite fantasy author, you can see he’s got some pretty stiff competition. The Irish nobleman in fact covered a wide range of subject matter in a huge body of work: novels, short stories, plays and poetry, but it is a couple of his fantasy works that concern us here. The King Of Elfland’s Daughter (1924) is his finest novel, a romance of love story, adventure, magic and a big ‘be careful what you wish for’ message. Its first paperback publication was in 1969 in Lin Carter’s Pan Ballantine Adult Fantasy series; here we have a Ballantine edition from a few years later with a gorgeous cover by Darrell Sweet. At The Edge Of The World is an anthology from the Adult Fantasy series, published in 1970, full to the brim with thirty of Dunsany’s short stories, polished gems of fantasy and imagination taken from his various original books; with an introduction by Carter and cover art by Ray Cruz. Dunsany wrote the finest prose in the medium, with beautifully constructed sentences and evocative, poetic imagery. His praises are sung here by L. Sprague de Camp, H P Lovecraft, W B Yeats and James Branch Cabell.
PICTURED: by Lord Dunsany BOTH SOLD
THE KING OF ELFLAND’S DAUGHTER FN £12 3rd US PB 1977. Lovely condition.
AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD VG £12 1st UK PB 1970. Nice copy with slight spine crease and short crease across bottom right cover.
American Update: DC Debuts: 1st Sinestro in Green Lantern #7
*DC: Although DC missed a trick by not including him on the cover, let me assure you that Green Lantern’s arch nemesis, Sinestro, does indeed make his first appearance within Green Lantern #7 (1961). Steeped in Green Lantern lore, the lead story introduced the renegade Green Lantern who would go on the plague the Emerald Gladiator throughout his career. Make no mistake if you’re considering adding this pence-stamped copy to your collection – it’s a bit of a wreck. The covers are detached and separated. The front cover has multiple small tears along the spine, a dog-eared bottom right corner, colour-breaking creases at the top right corner and much wear; the central image isn’t too bad. The back cover is worse, with heavy creasing, torn edges and a piece out top left. Pages have tanned edges and are a bit dingy, but they’re all there; centrefold is loose. Don’t say we didn’t warn you, but at least it’s an opportunity to acquire a key issue at a relatively affordable price.
PICTURED: GREEN LANTERN #7 PR p £95 SOLD
American Update: Up and Atom
*DC: A chunky update to the Atom this week, a favourite Silver Age series in these parts, with highly imaginative stories by Gardner Fox combining super-heroics, time travel and magical or fantasy settings. Artwork is from the flowing pencil of the wonderful Gil Kane, masterfully inked here by Murphy Anderson and Sid Greene for a visual feast. Mostly low grades copies on offer this update, but including Zatanna’s second appearance in #19, the Golden Age Atom in #29, Hawkman in #31 plus a couple of issues after the series became Atom & Hawkman and a whole lot more. Full details as always in our catalogue.
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: 1st full Wolverine in Hulk #181
*Marvel: This week the most sought-after comic of the 1970s. Hulk #181 features the first full appearance of Wolverine, the Canadian super-hero who, outstripping everyone’s expectations, became the most popular Marvel character created since the dawn of the Marvel Age. Created by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe (from a John Romita design), Wolvy was revived by Wein when he put together the ‘New’ X-Men who debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1, and since then, Wolverine has become the star of the lucrative X-Men franchise, and a multi-media darling in his own right. This issue, where it all really kicked off following a one-panel cameo in the preceding ish, is a nice mid-grade copy with brilliant cover colour and gloss, firm, tight staples and white to off-white pages. There are minor spine ticks and corner blunting, and relatively minor wear along the right edge which occasionally breaks colour. There is a very small horizontal 1 cm crease above the MCG banner. The front cover bears a slight trace of what might have been a subscripton crease down the centre, but this is quite faint and not at all pronounced (it’s a little more noticeable on the back cover); on the front it only breaks colour for about 0.5 cm above the MCG banner. Most crucially, the Marvel Value Stamp (probably the most important appearance of Shanna the She-Devil, bless her!) is still in place. This promotional coupon is the blight of Marvels from a certain period, often clipped and missing – but not in this instance! Between the frequently-missing Marvel Value Stamp, and the fact that this issue was never distributed in the UK, intact copies of Hulk #181 are keenly collected, and over the last year or so, prices have soared. Not the rarest Marvel key by any means, but the most in demand and fastest-selling. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: HULK #181 VG+ £3,250
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Amazing #10 with the Big Man & the Enforcers
*Marvel: We kick off this week’s visits to the Good Doctor Collection with Amazing Spider-Man #10, another Lee & Ditko gem. In Spider-Man’s tenth issue, the mysterious ‘Big Man’ sought aid in his goal to become the king of the underworld, and enlisted the assistance of a trio of career criminals known as the Enforcers. One of them, the Ox, went on to become a nemesis of Daredevil, and enjoy a villainous career in his own right, but still ‘got the band together’ from time to time with his cohorts, Dapper Dan and Montana to battle the Human Torch, Dazzler and multiple clashes with Spider-Man and Daredevil. This is a nice pence printed copy with a clean cover, good tight staples and off-white to white pages. The spine is a little worn, with minor nicks only at top and bottom. Some very faint creases around the right edge which barely break colour; there is one vertical colour-breaking crease from the top edge down to the ‘P’ in the logo and more apparent back cover creasing. The date ‘MAR’ has been handwritten in the number box. Overall this copy presents very well.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10 VG/FN p £350 SOLD
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: The Horns of the Rhino
*Marvel: Issue #41 of the Amazing Spider-Man saw the first new villain of Jazzy Johnny Romita’s artistic tenure, as he and Swingin’ Stan Lee brought us the curiously endearing Rhino, a virtually unstoppable behemoth whose sheer power and tormented soul made him an instant hit, and a popular recurring villain, showing up everywhere from the Defenders to the Unstoppable Squirrel Girl! (No, really…). Not only do we have his first appearance, but also his rapid return in #43 just two issues later, in one of those issues that came out during the UK dock strike of 1966, which made all Marvels for a two month period the very devil to get hold of here in the UK.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#41 GD+ p £170 1st Rhino. Unusual 1 shilling stamp. Quite a bit of cover creasing, both colour-breaking and non. Tight, firm staples and nice white to off-white pages. A solid enough copy. SOLD
#43 VG+ £165 2nd Rhino. Nice copy; minor reading creases at spine and one very small colour-breaking crease across the very edge of the bottom right corner. Faint stamped arrival date by Spidey’s head. Good colour, firm, tight staples and white to off-white pages.
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania: Every issue of Amazing from #196 to #209
*Marvel: Another consecutive run from the Good Doctor Collection, all in high grade, from #196 through to #209. There’s a lot going on in this sequence, including an encounter with the Kingpin, a tussle with Mysterio, the giant-size anniversary #200, a Punisher two-parter (including the fabulous cover to #201), a Dazzler guest appearance, the second Black Cat two-parter, a fight with Kraven, introducing Calypso, and much more besides. Full details in our catalogue.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #201 NM- £70
American Update: Slab Happy: The Origin of Captain America in Cap #109
*Marvel: Soon after the inception of Cap’s debut Silver Age series (#100), Stan and Jack chose to retell his origin in #109. With its distinctive cover of Cap bursting through a newspaper front page dated 1941, this issue has steadily risen in collectability. This week we offer a CGC 5.0 (VG/FN) copy, pence stamped, blue label unrestored, case perfect, white pages.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN AMERICA #109 CGC 5.0 VG/FN p £110
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android in Fantastic Four #15
*Marvel: This early Lee & Kirby classic saw the introduction of one of the Fantastic Four’s nemeses, the malevolent Mad Thinker! A strategic genius, criminal mastermind and brilliant scientist in multiple fields, the Thinker’s intellect is believed to be the equal of Reed Richards himself. Despite being a thorn in the collective sides of the FF and multiple other Marvel heroes, the Thinker’s background and origin remained entirely unexplored for more than half a century. Also premiering here, the Thinker’s Awesome Android, initially just a near-mindless artificial henchperson, who over the years blossomed into an endearing supporting character as a co-worker of the She-Hulk in her later series. No, really. This is a low grade pence printed copy with a small book shop stamp between the masthead and the logo and a short sealed tear below the number box (sealed with tape on the inside front cover). Spine and edge wear, chipping to right edge (not too bad) and a tiny scuff over the Thing’s head in the masthead box. Bottom staple is coming loose at the front cover. Pages are decent, except for a ragged corner off the top right splash about the size of a £2 coin, which eats into the caption of the first panel on page 2. Tape is also evident by the staples on the inside back cover. For all that a bright copy with reasonable eye appeal.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #15 GD- p £85 SOLD
American Update: Amazing Adventures starring Killraven in War Of The Worlds
*Marvel: After 17 issues of super-heroics, Marvel tried something new with their Amazing Adventures title in 1973, rebranding it as ‘Amazing Adventures Featuring War Of The Worlds’ from #18. (Very) loosely based on H G Wells’s novel of the same name, the Martians invade Earth in the far future and the warrior Killraven and his chums are our planet’s last defenders in this sprawling science fiction epic. Good enough to last until issue #39, due in no small part to the wonderful artwork of P. Craig Russell which adorned most issues. A selection of high grade copies fresh in between #20 and #39; full details as always in our catalogue.
American Update: Atomic Sci-Fi: EC’s Weird Science-Fantasy x 2
*EC: EC’s Weird Science-Fantasy carried on the numbering, appropriately enough, from both Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, both of which ran up to #22. Weird Science Fantasy started therefore at #23 and lasted until #29, thereafter being rebranded as Incredible Science Fiction. One thing that didn’t change was the quality of the stories and art. This update, we have the first issue (#23) and the penultimate (#28), chock full of the superb work of Wally Wood, Al Williamson, Bernie Krigstein, Jack Kamen and Joe Orlando, with wonderful covers by Wood and Feldstein. Original EC’s don’t come up as often as we would like, and are eagerly sought; personally, I’m a bigger fan of their science fiction (as here) than I am of their horror, although their horror line is excellent as well. Both these issues present fairly well.
PICTURED: WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY
#23 GD/VG £130 Minor edge wear with faint colour-breaking creases at right edge; worn spine with bottom staple just off; a little grubby but nothing too bad. SOLD
#28 VG £130 Spine a little worn with bottom staple coming loose at front cover. Tiny nick to right edge of cover.
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #2
*Vintage Magazine -Sized Comics: Marvel’s first foray into the magazine market in the late 60s, despite featuring its flagship character, didn’t last beyond two issues. But it was ahead of its time since a few years later, Marvel had much more success with its magazine line. Having said that, Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine was a quality item. #2 (which concerns us here) even upgraded to full colour interiors after the black and white #1, and featured none other than the Green Goblin, with creators Stan Lee and John Romita on board. This is an okay copy, some spine wear, top spine dinking and bottom right creasing throughout, but reasonably sound. More from the Good Doctor Collection next week!
PICTURED: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN MAGAZINE #2 VG £15
British Update: Early Marvel UK (4 titles) inc Avengers #1
*Marvel UK: It’s about time we had some early-ish issues of Marvel UK new into stock, so we tickle four titles this week: Avengers (from #1), Dracula Lives (from #2), Mighty World Of Marvel (from #58) and Spider-Man Weekly (from #12). Full details in our catalogue.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #1 GD £10 SOLD
British Update: Air Ace Picture Library
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A further update to our catalogue of several issues of Fleetway’s Air Ace Picture Library, always a top seller for us, between #61 & #198, in a mixture of grades, filling many gaps in our stock. Glorious painted covers. As a result, our stock of this title is particularly strong for this period at the moment, but we don’t expect it to stay that way for too long!
British Update: Free Gift Farrago: Mandy 1971 & 1973
*Girls’ Comics: Two more issues of Mandy complete with their original Free Gifts this week. #243 from 1970 has the Golden Star bangle, still sealed in its original envelope; #347 from 1973 has the Rainbow Ring, also still sealed in its original envelope. Both comics are FN, both gifts VF.
PICTURED: MANDY BOTH SOLD
#243 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £35
#347 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £35
British Update: Love Story Picture Library x 20+
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: A further update to our catalogue for this long-running series, with new issues of Love Story Library listed between #234 and #250 (with some duplicates). Attractive interior art and lovely (if a little repetitive) painted covers. Mostly graded as GD, though it should be pointed out that the general condition would justify a higher grade if not for the insidious staple rust which has beset them in long-term storage.
PICTURED: LOVE STORY LIBRARY #241 GD £4
Our Weekly Ordering and Shipment Cycle
Now that we’re running smoothly from our new warehouse, we thought it timely to set out how we process and ship orders.
When you place an order, we will automatically reserve the items for you (assuming they’re available). We prepare the paperwork for all orders received during a week (Sunday to Saturday, with a 4 pm cut-off on Saturday), fill them from our warehouse every Sunday and email invoices then. We ask for payment no later than 4 pm the following Tuesday in order to catch our weekly post on Wednesday. If you can’t pay by 4 pm Tuesday for any reason, please contact us; otherwise items in your order will be available for others to buy. Orders are then despatched on Wednesday. Please note therefore that orders placed after 4 pm on Saturday will be filled a week later and posted the following Wednesday, so, for example, if you order on Sunday morning, you will receive your package around 12 days later (if you’re a UK buyer).
This is how things work in a normal week. Occasionally, there may be seasonal adjustments or other extenuating circumstances that cause variations.
American Update: Batmania/DC Debuts: 1st Harley Quinn in Batman Adventures #12
*DC: Introduced as a last-minute afterthought in the Batman Animated TV Show, a curvaceous minion of the Joker brainstormed to do a task thought inappropriate for ‘Mr. J’ himself, Harley Quinn caught on like wildfire, and after several reappearances in the show, crossed over into the comic books with Batman Adventures #12 in 1993. Since then, of course, she’s transferred from the DC Comics Animated Universe to the main DCU, had her own series and several spin-offs, cracked the big time of movie success and is now regarded as one of the big-earning ‘pillars’ of the DCU, alongside Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Our latest issue of the beginning of her comic life is a VF copy, flat with great colour and gloss, sharp corners, tight staples, spine clear of reading ‘ticks’. Held off NM only slightly by very small white marks at top edge above upper banner and bottom edge on Batgirl’s knee, which look like handling marks, and a couple of short white lines (about 1 cm each) at top and bottom spine, but that’s being very picky. A lovely copy of a ‘modern’ classic.
PICTURED: BATMAN ADVENTURES #12 VF £400 SOLD
American Update: Adventure Comics with the Legion of Super-Heroes
*DC: The Legion of Super-Heroes gave birth to 30th Century Comics (you can read about that here) so we make no secret of our love of the 1960s series of Adventure Comics wherein the LSH made their name. Lots of issues new in this week, mostly in low, affordable grades. Includes debuts for classic Legion foes Computo, Dr Regulus, the Hunter and the Dark Circle, the death of Ferro Lad and Triplicate Girl (two of whose bodies survived as Duo Damsel), the 1st Tornado Twins and many other wonderful adventures. See our catalogue for full details.
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Mighty Marvel Firsts/Spider-Mania: Amazing Spider-Man #4 – debut of the sinister Sandman
*Marvel: Leading the charge of the Good Doctor Collection this week is the fourth issue of Amazing Spider-Man, a Lee & Ditko classic which introduced Spidey to the gentleman who would become one of his most vehement enemies – and occasionally, a reluctant hero – the shape-shifting Sandman, whose molecular mastery came close to baffling our hero. In addition, this issue features the debut of Betty Brant, a lady who was to become very important in the Wall-Crawler’s life. This is a low grade copy with spine roll and a worn spine. The original staples look loose but okay; someone had added additional staples at the top and bottom of the spine and the cover has come off the bottom one of these at the front. Lots of edge wear and small colour breaking creases at the edges. There’s a small number ‘263’ in biro above Spidey’s head in the first cover panel and some smallish white scuff marks on the word ‘Spider’ on the cover logo. Internally, there is a fine 2 cm tear which goes through most pages up from the bottom edge, but which does not affect the covers. Cover colour and central image are pretty good on this cents copy, although there is minor back cover staining. There’s a previous owner’s name above the splash page; pages are an okay off-white with some wear to right edges. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4 GD- £750
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania: Amazing #121 & #122: Deaths Of Gwen and the Goblin
*Marvel: One of the most sought-after storylines in Spidey’s history from the Good Doctor Collection this week. I don’t think anyone saw this coming back in 1973! In Amazing Spider-Man #121, Gwen Stacey died at the hands of the Green Goblin, and that villain perished himself in the very next issue. These landmark stories still resonate to this day, and although perhaps somewhat diluted by the return of both characters (hey kids, this IS comics!), the impact at the time was momentous and both issues still attract much collector interest. Both our latest issues are cents copies of course, since these issues were not distributed in the UK. However, some copies came to these shores as ship’s ballast, and this appears to be the case here. #121 is glossy with great colour, tight staples and white to off-white pages, but has the wavy rippling effect of water exposure throughout. #122 also has this, a little more severely, and has ballast ink marking at page edges, which does not intrude on to the cover; again, it has nice colour, gloss, pages and staples.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#121 VG £270 SOLD
#122 VG- £130 SOLD
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: every issue of Amazing from #259 to #297, the Black Costume Years
*Marvel: Our last visit to the Good Doctor Collection this week features every issue of Amazing Spider-Man from #259 to #297, when Spidey sported the black costume later revealed to be Venom. Many classic stories and characters are included in this sequence, including tussles with, and the final defeat of, the Hobgoblin, the debut of Silver Sable, Secret Wars II tie-ins, the Sinister Syndicate, Peter proposing to Mary Jane and the Amazing chapters of the epic ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’. Very high grades on almost all of these, and more excitement than you can sling a web at! More from the Good Doctor next week!
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ALL SOLD
#270 NM- £44
#281 NM- £60
#294 NM £55
#297 NM- £44
American Update: X-Men #6 with the Sub-Mariner
*Marvel: Interest in the Sub-Mariner is currently high with strong rumours regarding his imminent debut in the MCU, so we’re delighted to have this classic early X-Men issue new in this week where Subby joins the Evil Mutants and thus encounters our heroes. Lee & Kirby at the height of their powers, and featuring of course, the third appearance of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. This is a solid pence printed copy, with brilliant unmarked cover image, minor spine and edge wear, some corner blunting, supple with tight staples and nice white to off-white pages; a little bit of fine creasing just in the very bottom right cover corner.
PICTURED: X-MEN #6 VG/FN p £285 SOLD
American Update: Complete 7 issue set of Logan’s Run
*Marvel: Logan’s Run was a 1976 film starring Michael York and Jenny Agutter and, as you probably remember, had the plot of a society where people were exterminated when they reached the age of 30. Marvel didn’t take long to put out their adaptation the following year, featuring the art of George Perez. The film adaptation took five issues, with a new sequence commencing in #6, but not completed when the series was cancelled after #7. Notably, #6 featured a Thanos back-up story with art by Mike Zeck. We’re pleased to present the entire 7 issue series, all VF or VF+, all pence printed copies, for one price.
PICTURED: LOGAN’S RUN #6 VF; COMPLETE SET #1-7 p £60 SOLD
American Update: Marvel Silver/Bronze Sweep
*Marvel: A small selection of Silver & mostly Bronze Age material this update. Titles include: Alpha Flight, Avengers (#35), Daredevil, Moon Knight, Rom, What If (1st series) & X-Men (double-sized #150 and 1st Rogue in title #158)
American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Dick Briefer and a Tale of Two Frankensteins
*Horror 1940-1959: Dick Briefer was a talented writer/artist who worked in a variety of fields and media and although most of his work is largely forgotten today, his fame lives on through his series of Frankenstein for Prize Comics, which ran from 1945-1954 (with a gap); the character also appeared by him in the Prize Comics anthology series. Our update this week fully illustrates the difference between the pre and post gap publications. The first 17 issues had a juvenile, spooky humour content, as shown by #4 here. After a three year gap, Briefer revived the series with a more adult, horrific content with #18 (also available here), finishing off in 1954 with #33 (again, available here). Briefer’s sweeping lines and iconic imagery deserve to be remembered and celebrated.
PICTURED: FRANKENSTEIN
#4 FA+ £40 Pre-code. Long spine splits and off both staples at front of comic. Small chips out of front and back covers. Nice pages.
#18 PR £50 Pre-code. 1st adult horror issue. Covers detached and separated; chips out, tears and creases. SOLD
#33 GD/VG £105 Pre-code. Final issue. Small chip out bottom spine; edge wear, minor tears and fine creases. SOLD
American Update: A Trio of Straight Arrow
*Western: Straight Arrow was a Commanche warrior raised by ranchers and had an honest-to-gosh secret identity. His long-running series (55 issues) from Magazine Enterprises started in 1950 and spun out from the 1948 radio series of the same name. We have three issues for your consideration this week: two early low grade issues (#12 and #20) and one better, later issue (#41). A quality series, with art on the Red Hawk back-up by Bob Powell. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: STRAIGHT ARROW #41 VG £15 SOLD
British Update: Alan Class Plate Sets Final Phase: Spidey, X-Men, Thor, Daredevil, SHIELD, Kirby, Ditko
*Alan Class Reprints: For many years now, we’ve been scouring the personal archives of legendary publisher Alan Class (who is still very much with us) and with his full co-operation, releasing for sale sets of the original printing plates that were used to print the covers of his comics from 1959-1989. We have now reached the final phase of these plate set releases, which will last us into 2022. These sets are time-consuming to prepare, so our release schedule will be staggered. But the good news is that all the sets we have left are among the best, either featuring a classic Marvel comic reprint, or else a very early fantasy/mystery issue. So, this final phase represents your last opportunity to add one or more of these unique pieces to your collection. Each set comprises the lead printing plates used in the original comic’s colour printing, a copy of the comic printed with these plates and a signed certificate of authenticity signed by Alan Class himself. These are packaged in a special protective presentation case. Several sets (as noted) have additional historical artefacts such as colour proofs, interior page plates, printers’ photostats etc. (Please be aware that these weigh a lot and postage will be expensive. Also note that due to the onerous paperwork required for customs declarations following Brexit, we can no longer post these Plate Sets outside the UK.) Five new sets available this week, each with a variety of Extras, including a superb package in Suspense #58.
CREEPY WORLDS #52 £70 Comic: FA/GD (some loose pages) Reprints Daredevil #3 inc cover (1st Owl), ACG. Extra: 1 interior plate SOLD
CREEPY WORLDS #101 £90 Comic: VG- Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #51 inc cover, & #52, Atlas, Charlton, pre-hero Marvel, 1 Ditko. Extra: Cover colour proof (torn and taped) SOLD
SUSPENSE #58 £250 Comic FN Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #10 by Ditko inc cover, Thor story from Journey Into Mystery #86 by Kirby (1st full Odin, 1st Tomorrow Man), Charlton, Atlas, pre-hero Marvel (1 Kirby). Extras: 2 interior plates (inc ASM #10 splash), 3 cover colour proofs in various conditions. What a package! SOLD
SUSPENSE #100 £60 Comic: VG Reprints Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #11 inc cover, Charlton, ACG, 1 Archie Jaguar. Extra: Cover colour proof SOLD
SUSPENSE #107 £60 Comic: VG Reprints X-Men #48 inc cover, Charlton, 2 Ditko. Extra: Cover colour proof (slightly taped and stained) SOLD
British Update: Lion 1952 inc Christmas issue
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: We round out the year 1952, the first year of Lion’s publication, with every issue from 4th October (#33) to December 27th (#45), including the Christmas issue for 20th December. Nice flat copies from an original owner collection where mostly they’re VG. The inevitable rusty staples are not too much in evidence with only minimal bleed. See our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: LION 20/12/52 CHRISTMAS ISSUE VG £12 SOLD
British Update: Early Battle Picture Library from #4 upwards
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A small update this week to Fleetway’s Battle Picture Library, mostly consisting of issues from the first 20 (with a handful of later issues). Too many of these earlier issues have been missing from our catalogue for too long, but you’ll find many of them listed there now.
PICTURED: BATTLE PICTURE LIBRARY #4 GD £15
British Update: True Life Library x 20+
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: True Life Library has been quite a hit with our customers, so we’re delighted to have a further addition of over 20 issues to our catalogue, in four number ranges: #37 on its own, #448-453, #609-614 and #653-659.
PICTURED: TRUE LIFE LIBRARY
#37 GD £8 SOLD
#453 VG/FN £5 SOLD
#657 VF £6
Books Update: Six Of The Best: Sexton Blake Library
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Often dubbed ‘the poor man’s Sherlock Holmes’, there’s still no doubting the popularity of Sexton Blake, who has probably had far more fiction written of him than the world’s greatest detective. This week, we have added six digests from the famous Sexton Blake Library. These are picture library sized, but mainly text. The series ran from 1915 to 1968 and this selection follows on from editor William Howard Baker’s 1956 revamp of the character.
PICTURED: SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY ALL SOLD
#363 GD/VG £6 Front Page Woman by Peter Saxon
#365 GD/VG £6 Night Beat by Arthur Maclean
#405 FA £4 High Heels and Homicide by Desmond Reid (small corner off bottom right cover)
#445 VG £7 Mission To Mexico by Arthur Maclean
#453 GD/VG £6 Man On The Run by Arthur Kirby
#462 GD/VG £6 Journey To Genoa by F. Dubrez Fawcett
Books Update: Relist: Blitz Books: Tuck’s Better Little Books
*Childrens’ Books: Occasionally, payment doesn’t come through after something is ordered; such is the case with these highly popular items, so we’re offering them again this week. A further update from this quirky sidebar in publishing history this week. ‘Blitz Books’ is a generic name for various publishers’ series of miniature books (approx 8.5 x 12 cm, usually around 16-32 pages, and published 1940-1944), these booklets helped distract children in air-raid shelters and Underground stations during bombing raids over London. They became known as ‘Blitz Books’, and, like many publications from the years of World War II, are quite scarce, particularly in as nice condition as the examples we have here (although there is some staple rust on these). Three from the unnumbered Tuck’s Better Little Books series, illustrated text stories with colourful, evocative covers. None of these have ever passed through our hands before.
PICTURED:
BIG BOY’S BOW VG £6
THE KILLER OF CARRICKBURN VG £6
TRUE SON VG £6
American Update: DC Debuts: 1st Deadman in Strange Adventures #205
*DC: Although Neal Adams is probably the artist most associated with Deadman, I’m sure many people forget that he was created by Carmine Infantino (with writer Arnold Drake) in Strange Adventures #205, before Adams came along a little later. A unique figure in DC’s supernatural heroes pantheon, Deadman has long been a stalwart of the DCU. Although this is the first copy we have seen of this issue for some time, we can only offer you a Poor copy, spine rolled, with many cover creases (including a long one horizontally across the middle) this pence stamped copy is marred by a spine split halfway up from the bottom and a tear from the bottom staple with an almost concertina-like creased segment. In addition there is a previous owner’s small sticker over the Comics Code box. There is also some staining to a page or two of the science-fiction back-up story. Not great for a Deadman collector, but perhaps ideal for a Strange Adventures completist who doesn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for this issue to help complete their run.
PICTURED: STRANGE ADVENTURES #205 PR p £50 SOLD
American Update: Quirky Corner: My Greatest Adventure #84 with the Doom Patrol: inspiration for Roy Lichtenstein?
*DC: Never let it be said that we don’t come up with the weird and the wacky here at 30th Century. It’s well known that famed pop artist Roy Lichtenstein was noted for his comic art-like paintings, and a panel in My Greatest Adventure #84 is now being touted as a possible source for one of his works. We’ve reproduced the panel and the painting below alongside the comic in question, so you can make up your own mind. My Greatest Adventure #84, one of the earliest Doom Patrol issues, is a low grade pence stamped copy, with the cover off the top staple.
PICTURED: MY GREATEST ADVENTURE #84 GD+ p £25 SOLD