*Marvel: One of a series of Hologram Specials released to celebrate Spidey’s 30th Anniversary, the super-sized Amazing Spider-Man #365 bears a hologram re-creating the cover to Amazing Fantasy #15. Chock full of special features, this is a copy in great shape.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #365 NM £30
Category Archives: What’s New
American Update: Six Of The Best: Marvel Bronze & Beyond #1 issues
*Marvel: Another of those updates you love featuring six #1 issues from Marvel’s Bronze Age and beyond. This time we have Doc Savage, Inhumans, Marvel Premiere (a nice copy let down by a taped tear on the back cover), New Warriors, Nova & Skull the Slayer. Fill yer boots!
PICTURED:
DOC SAVAGE #1 FN £17.50 SOLD
INHUMANS #1 VF £40 SOLD
MARVEL PREMIERE #1 VG+ £55 SOLD
NEW WARRIORS #1 FN/VF £15
NOVA #1 VG+ p £35 SOLD
SKULL THE SLAYER #1 VF+ £17.50 SOLD
American Update: A Superior Pre-Code Horror Fest: Journey Into Fear
*Horror 1940-1959: Superior was a Canadian publisher active from 1945-1956 who mostly reprinted American comics from the same time period. They also published a number of original series that were distributed in the United States. Among these were three horror titles famous for their hallucinogenic covers and accomplished Fiction House style interior art. When you see a lot of these together, they have an almost hypnotic and uncomfortable effect. This week we feature Journey Into Fear #7-9; the defects on #7 are noted; #8-9 are mid-grade without specific defects other than general wear.
PICTURED: JOURNEY INTO FEAR
#7 FA £50 Cover almost detached and separated, barely hanging on SOLD
#8 GD/VG £145 SOLD
#9 VG £195 SOLD
American Update: 1970s Marvel Horror
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: A top up for the following titles from the House of Ideas: Chamber of Chills, Chamber of Darkness (from #1, inc. #7 1st Wrightson work at Marvel), Creatures On The Loose (with Man-Wolf), Dead Of Night (#11, 1st Scarecrow), Fear, Adventure Into (with Man-Thing inc. #17, 1st Wundarr & Morbius) & Frankenstein Monster. See our catalogue for details.
British Update: Alan Class Astounding inc. early & Marvelous issues
*Alan Class Reprints: A chunky update to our regular stocks of Astounding between #3 and #153, mostly pre-decimal issues, including a Human Torch reprint in #3 & #59 (the same one), and the Torch and Dr Strange in #6. See our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: ASTOUNDING
#3 VG £35
#6 FN £35
British Update: Near Complete run of Starlord
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1978, the sci-fi weekly Starlord, a quality item which featured a number of innovative strips – Strontium Dog, Ro-Busters, Planet of the Damned, Timequake and more – and with more colour pages and slicker paper, it seemed to be attempting to upgrade the 2000 AD model. Sadly, mass audiences didn’t care whether there were higher production standards or not, and after only 22 issues, Starlord was absorbed into 2000 AD, with Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters being the long-term survivors. A near complete run fresh in, 20 of the 22 issues including the first three and the final, nice copies which would grade higher except for a vertical ‘soft roll’ at centre which gives them a slight wavy effect.
PICTURED: STARLORD #1 VG £12
British Update: Your Wish Is Our Commando: The Stapled Collection #3-6
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Following on from #1 a couple of weeks ago (now sold), we’re now releasing issues #3-6 of Commando War Stories In Pictures from the same source. A previous owner at some point decided to place two to four reinforcing staples through the spine, quite skilfully so as to not hamper the opening of the item nor hide any of the content; there is minimal bleed from these staples and the page quality is really rather nice. Nevertheless these are low grade copies anyway with defects as noted. #3 (£25) is coverless but otherwise complete; it’s unusual for us to list a coverless item, but when it’s of this rarity, we figure someone will want it to fill a gap.
PICTURED: COMMANDO
#4 FA+ £65 Back cover detached; thumbnail size chip out right edge front cover centre.
#5 GD- £90 Long cover tear (7 cm); corner off back cover
#6 GD- £50 Back cover stain (5 x 5 cm)
British Update: TV Century 21
*TV & Film Related Comics: Our first update for a while to TV Century 21 (1st series). A handful of issues between #70 and #203 in a variety of grades, including several previously missing from our listings.
British Update: Free Gift Farrago: Topper 1970 x2
*Humour Comics: From 1970, two consecutive issues of the tabloid format Topper, both with their Free Gifts. Both comics have been folded horizontally (we’ve yet to see a large Topper that hasn’t been), but despite that are in better than usual condition, with virtually no wear at the folds. #923 has the ‘Twin Spin’ toy, still sealed in its original envelope — this gift is quite rare; #924 has the ‘Topper Glow Mask’, still complete with original packet of eyelets for elastic headband still attached — slightly less uncommon, but we’ve never seen these before in 30 years.
PICTURED: TOPPER
#923 VG/FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £60 SOLD
#924 VG/FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £45 SOLD
British Update: Princess 1961
*Girls’ Comics: From 1960 to 1967, Princess weekly delighted a generation of proper young ladies, with its pretention to being a ‘magazine’ – photo-covers and lots of educational, historical and how-to features. But the comic strips kept the readers coming back for more! Nine issues fresh in this week from 1961, almost all in lowish Good grade. We had to prise the issues featuring the Kitten Calendar out of the hands of Dr. Evilla in order to list them — she’s always on the look-out for a familiar…
British Update: Bunty Picture Story Library For Girls…
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: …to give it its full title. A huge update to this popular title, with dozens of issues added between #7 & #300, including very many previously missing from our catalogue. These lovely done-in-one tales are great fun and great value.
PICTURED: BUNTY PICTURE LIBRARY #7 VG £12
Books Update: What’s Old: Hammer Horror Omnibus Volumes 1 & 2
*TV/Film Tie-Ins: What’s Old is our feature where we highlight stuff from our catalogue that you may have missed. This week, two mouth-wateringly rare Hammer Horror books, the elusive first UK paperback editions from 1966 and 1967, featuring John Burke’s gruesomely spine-chilling novelisations of classic Hammer films. The Hammer Horror Omnibus features a double double bill: The Curse Of Frankenstein, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Gorgon and The Curse Of The Mummy’s Tomb. The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus is even rarer and also features tales from four films: Dracula – Prince Of Darkness, Rasputin – The Mad Monk, The Reptile and finally The Plague Of The Zombies. Truly horror to make you drool. Prices reflect their rarity.
PICTURED:
THE HAMMER HORROR OMNIBUS by John Burke 1st UK PB VG £60
THE SECOND HAMMER HORROR FILM OMNIBUS by John Burke 1st UK PB GD £50
American Update: Batmania: A Pair of Penguins: 1st and 2nd Silver Age Appearances
*DC: Personally, I’ve always counted the four main villains from the 1960s Batman TV show (and film) as Batman’s main foes, the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman and the Riddler, so it came as no surprise when the latter three were revived in the Silver Age to tie in with their on screen appearances (the Joker never really having been away). This update we’re concerned with the first two Silver Age appearances of that fowl fiend the Penguin, which spanned both the old and new look in Batman. The first appearance of the Penguin in the Silver Age came in Batman #155, with its dramatic fire-breathing dragon cover. Our copy is a solid mid-grade pence stamped example, with some spine and edge wear, but good tight staples and decent off-white pages. One or two of the spidery wear marks at the spine break colour, as does a tiny crease across the bottom right cover, but all in all a very presentable copy. Pengy next appeared in #169, a favourite Carmine Infantino cover as I’ve mentioned before with a rich purple sky background. Our latest copy is a superior unmarked copy with just slight edge wear, pence stamped, flat and tight with staples firmly attached and nice off-white pages. What could be better than a pair of Penguins?
PICTURED: BATMAN
#155 VG+ p £200 SOLD
#169 FN/VF p £110
American Update: Wonder Woman #159 – Her True Secret Golden Age Origin
*DC: Wonder Woman #159 from 1966 boasted a return to comics’ Golden Age, and indeed the art from regular Ross Andru seemed to be attempting to mimic that of classic WW artist H G Peters. The lead story was a retelling of the ‘true secret origin’ of Wonder Woman for the first time since the Golden Age. The imaginative cover also proclaimed ‘another great collector’s item’ and that wasn’t just hyperbole! An unmarked pence stamped cover with DC’s trademark rich purple background, tight, flat and glossy with good staples and nice pages. Just a little handling wear and corner blunting on this landmark issue.
PICTURED: WONDER WOMAN #159 FN/VF p £70 SOLD
American Update: DC ‘F’ List: First Issue Special, Flash, Forever People, Freedom Fighters, From Beyond The Unknown
*DC: We continue our epic trawl through the DCU alphabet as we reach the letter ‘F’. Alongside almost a complete run of First Issue Special (featuring Kirby & Ditko try-outs), almost a complete run of Kirby’s Forever People, and top-ups to both the Bronze Age Freedom Fighters and reprint sci-fi anthology From Beyond the Unknown, there is a mammoth update to the Fastest Man Alive, with dozens of issues of Flash between #125 and #314, including lots of issues previously missing from our listings. See our catalogue for full details.
American Update: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Amazing Spider-Man #300 with Debut of Venom
*Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man #300 is just about the most sought after post Bronze Age comic, so we’re delighted to present a copy new to the marketplace this week. There were few more significant debuts, in the latter days of the 20th Century, than everyone’s favourite brain-eating symbiote Venom, who graduated from being a genetically modified costume in a jar to the Alpha Dog of Spidey’s Rogue’s Gallery! Having debuted in Secret Wars #8 as a semi-sentient blob which configured itself into Spider-Man’s new costume, the ‘symbiote’ became a regular feature in Spidey’s own series before being revealed as a malevolent alien parasite! Now more popular than ever, Venom has starred in his own solo film sans Spider-Man (with a sequel in the works) and the value of this comic has continued to rise significantly over the last couple of years. This is a lovely copy with no defects to the front cover which appears as new. The rear cover has a small number of stress marks at the spine; these are all tiny except for a faint one of about 2 cm towards the bottom. There are also some minor handling marks at the top edge. In common with many other copies we’ve seen, this copy has a printing defect to the right front cover edge, so that the finishing cut is a little rough (apparently, this is due to inexperienced staff in the printing plant, although it looks like a blunt guillotine has been used). As usual, the cover design disguises this. This is a known characteristic and we infer from information on the net that CGC, for example, regard this as a printing defect and do not factor it in to their grading below 9.8. Even so, we have tried to allow for it in our grading.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #300 VF+ £460
American Update: What’s Old: Steve Ditko’s Hulk #6 Square Mile Copy
*Marvel: What’s Old is our feature where we highlight stuff from our catalogue that you may have missed. Most collectors will be aware that the first six issue run of the Incredible Hulk is tough to come by; harder still is it to get them in decent shape, so we’re particularly pleased that the Square Mile Collection brings us a copy of #6 in FN+ (pence printed) grade. (You can read about the Square Mile Collection here.) Whilst the Hulk was very definitely a Kirby designed creation, you can get a real kick out of seeing how Steve Ditko tackled ol’ green-skin in this full length adventure up against the Metal Master. Great cover colour and gloss, tight, flat and fresh, excellent staples, sharp corners, with just minimal spine creases and a very faint suggestion of slight historic stain in a 5p sized area above the number box; there is also the slightest sign of a very faint small crease across the bottom right corner with just the faintest trace of a colour break across 1 cm of the Hulk’s foot, but I’m being really picky here! A beautiful addition to any Hulkophile’s collection! High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: HULK #6 FN+ p £750
American Update: Wolverine #1 (ongoing) 1988
*Marvel: Bearing in mind Wolverine’s meteoric rise to popularity following his debut in Hulk and subsequent starring role in the X-Men, it’s perhaps surprising that it took until 1988 for him to get his own ongoing series. By Chris Clarement and John Buscema (with inks by my favourite comics artist Al Williamson), this is a gorgeous copy of #1, tight, flat and glossy with no wear. Some purists may not like the fact that it is slightly miscut, the white spine showing a little wider at the top than the bottom, but this is a printing/finishing effect rather than wear and tear. This comic turns up reasonably frequently, not being that old in relative terms, but not usually as pristine as this.
PICTURED: WOLVERINE #1 NM- £50
American Update: Spider-Mania Extra! Black Cat in Amazing #226-227
*Marvel: Felicia Hardy AKA the Black Cat has become one of the most popular figures in Spider-Man’s corner of the Marvel Universe, and here we have a pair of high grade issues featuring one of her earliest appearances in a two-part storyline from Amazing Spidey #226 & #227. Great additions to your Spider-Man/Black Cat collection.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BOTH SOLD
#226 NM- £25
#227 VF+ £23.50
American Update: At last — the spectacular 100th issue of X-Men!
*Marvel: So proclaimed the anniversary issue of Marvel’s Merry Mutants. Back when it was stuck in the reprint doldrums, it seemed unlikely that the title would ever make #100, but Chris Clarement and Dave Cockrum revitalized the X-Men with their Bronze Age relaunch and turned them into Marvel’s most successful franchise. In this 100th issue, the new X-Men come up against the original X-Men… or do they? No spoilers here. A very nice pence printed copy with just minor spine wear, minor handling wear at bottom edge and a soft non-colour breaking crease across a small corner of the bottom right cover. Glossy with tight staples and nice page quality.
PICTURED: X-MEN #100 FN+ p £80 SOLD
American Update: Marvel ‘H’ List: Starter of Duck with main course of Hulk
*Marvel: We’ve reached the letter ‘H’ in our alphabetical run through the Marvel Universe, represented by a soupcon of Howard the Duck and a great big helping of Hulk between #266 and #350, including the runs by John Byrne and Peter David/Todd McFarlane, among many other creators. As always, check out our catalogue for details.
American Update: Post Code Horror Fest: Charlton’s Unusual Tales #11 Giant 68 pages with 4 Ditko stories
*Charlton: From 1958, the 11th issues of Unusual Tales is a Giant 68 pages, including four stories of mystery and fantasy by Steve Ditko. Shiny, vibrant colour with nice off-white pages, good firm staples with a tiny bit of rust to upper; intact squarebound spine with just a tiny dink to bottom; small faint watermark to upper back cover does not wrinkle. A lovely copy.
PICTURED: UNUSUAL TALES #11 FN- £75 SOLD
American Update: Four #1 issues – the cornerstone of Image Comics
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s a little hard to believe, but Image Comics is now nearly 30 years old, and their characters and early issues are virtually old enough to be considered vintage. We make no apology for adding a few of their #1 issues from 1992/93 to our catalogue, since there are doubtless fans out there who fondly remember them (even if we don’t count ourselves among them). There’s no denying the influence their creators had on both the DC and Marvel Universes post Image, even if Image today is a very different beast to how it started out back then. So, four #1 issues: Pitt by Dale Keown, Spawn by Todd McFarlane (with poster), Wildcats by Jim Lee (Gold Edition with trading cards) and Youngblood by Rob Liefield (also with trading cards), all in nice shape.
PICTURED:
PITT #1 VF/NM £10
SPAWN #1 VF+ £40
WILDCATS #1 (GOLD) VF/NM £30
YOUNGBLOOD #1 VF £10
American Update: The Great Western Round-Up: Marvel’s ‘Big Three’
*Western: Well, owlhoots, we’re reached the end of the trail of our Great Western Round-Up, and what better way to go out than with chunky updates to Marvel’s Silver Age trio of hombres, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid? All our listings for these titles substantially recharged. Now it’s time to wrangle that last steer and ride off into the sunset. Until we meet again, pardners…
American/British Update: X-Men #1 Hologram
*Memorabilia & Esoterica: Issued in 1992 to retailers as a thank you for their part in making the launch of the new X-Men series the ‘Best Selling Comic Of All Time’, this attractive comic-sized hologram (inc. card mount) features the cover scene’s homage to the original X-Men #1.
PICTURED: X-MEN #1 HOLOGRAM NM- £10 SOLD
British Update: Rare Australian My Greatest Adventure from #1
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Published by K G Murray (Aus), the title My Greatest Adventure reprinted early issues of DC’s My Greatest Adventure (aw, you guessed…). From 1955 onwards, we believe that this 37 issue series is particularly rare — we’ve only ever seen a couple of them before in 30 years. We have half a dozen early issues available including #1 (in nice shape, which so many comics with dark covers don’t turn out to be). Just listen to these evocative titles from #1: ‘My Cargo Was Death’, ‘I Was King Of Dagger Island’, ‘I Hunted A Flying Saucer’. At least a partial reprint of DC’s #1, #1 features art by Leonard Starr and Bill Ely. Details on subsequent issues available, as always, in our catalogue.
PICTURED: MY GREATEST ADVENTURE #1 FN+ £60 SOLD
British Update: Battle Picture Library
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Over a dozen issues of Fleetway’s Battle Picture Library added to our catalogue this week, all between #165 & #345, all filling gaps in our inventory.
British Update: Long Hot Summer: Countdown & TV Action Holiday Specials
*TV & Film Related Comics: We thought we’d warm up these chilly winter days (and nights!) for you with a couple of favourite Holiday Specials. The (one and only) Countdown Holiday Special from 1971 features UFO, Stingray, Fireball XL5, and the eponymous Countdown in extra-length stories as well as Dr Who (illustrated text story) and many features. TV Action Holiday Special (1972, first of two) features UFO, Hawaii Five-O and Captain Scarlet, as well as another Dr Who illustrated text story and lots of features and pin-ups (inc. the Persuaders). Both specials are in reasonable VG shape with some spine and handling wear.
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
COUNTDOWN HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1971 VG £40
TV ACTION HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1972 VG £40
British Update: Knockout 1955-1958 (Boys’ Adventure, really!)
*Humour Comics: Although starting out in 1939 as mostly a Humour title and rival to Dandy & Beano (which is why we list it in our Humour category), after the second World War more and more adventure strips started appearing, so that by the time of the issues featured in this update (1955-1958), it was really what we would term a Boys’ Adventure & War title. Many stories featured known media characters such as Davy Crockett, Hopalong Cassidy and Sexton Blake, and there were quality originals as well, such as master pilot Johnny Wingco, science fiction thrills with Space Family Rollinson, Thunderbolt Jaxon, Firebrand the Red Knight and more. Of course, some humour strips remained, most famously Billy Bunter, but by 1956 the adventure stories had taken over the cover and set the tone for the remainder of the series. In this update, a handful from 1955, two from 1956, one from 1957 and lots from 1958.
PICTURED: KNOCKOUT #1027 (1958) FN £6
British Update: Free Gift Farrago with Twinkle 1968, 1971-73
*Girls’ Comics: Four issues of Twinkle, ‘the picture paper specially for little girls’, all complete with their original Free Gifts, which are all items of jewellery. From 1968, a VG copy of #29 with VF Free Gift, a ‘dainty twinkle ring’, still sealed in its original envelope. From 1971, a VG copy of #196 with VF Free Gift, a ‘rainbow bracelet’, again still sealed in its original envelope. From 1972, a FN copy of #224 with VF Free Gift, a ‘pretty pearl-drop bracelet’, mounted on original card. And from 1973, a FN copy of #265 with VF Free Gift, a ‘bobbity bead bracelet’, still in its original envelope. These gifted issues of a publication intended for younger girls are even rarer than those aimed at their older sisters and your early attention is suggested.
PICTURED: TWINKLE
#29 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £40 SOLD
#196 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £40 SOLD
#224 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £40
#265 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £40 SOLD
British Update: Confessions/Romantic Confessions
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Just a tiny update to this category this week with three issues of Amalgamated/Fleetway’s Confessions/Romantic Confessions Library: #5, #14 & #59.
Books Update: Sherlock Holmes: His Last Bow
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Just one book this week – a handsome hardcover edition of the penultimate Sherlock Holmes collection: His Last Bow, published in 1974 by John Murray/Jonathan Cape. It includes an introduction by Julian Symonds and features eight Holmes stories, including The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge, The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans and the title story. An ex-libris copy presented with illustrated dust jacket and in archival film which has been taped to the inner covers. This version is my chosen version for my personal Holmes hardcover collection.
PICTURED: HIS LAST BOW by SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE VG in VG DJ £10
American Update: DC Debuts: Flash #139, 1st Professor Zoom
*DC: After #123 (‘Flash of Two Worlds’, as if you need telling), and the premier issue (#105), probably the most in-demand issue of the Silver Age Flash is #139, which featured the first appearance of Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash, Barry Allen’s super-swift nemesis from the far-flung future, whose appearances in the popular Flash television series have caused his early appearances to zoom (sorry) upwards in value. We are delighted to welcome the Reverse-Flash back into our inventory – though we anticipate not for long. This pence stamped copy is a relatively affordable lower grade with spine roll and wear (it looks like the spine may have been glued at the rear), edge wear and minor creasing, but a colourful, unmarred cover image and decent page quality; staples are attached.
PICTURED: FLASH #139 GD p £125
American Update: DC Debuts: 1st Nightwing in Tales Of The Teen Titans #44
*DC: The already critically-acclaimed New Teen Titans series by Wolfman and Perez took a surprising and significant turn right in the middle of the ‘Judas Contract’ storyline, when Dick Grayson, having decided to put away childish things, stepped out of Batman’s shadow and abandoned the Robin identity, taking on the mantle of Nightwing, an identity which – setting aside a couple of ‘wobbles’ – he’s maintained ever since! Tales of the Teen Titans (a minor title change from its original New Teen Titans designation) #44 saw the first appearance of Dick as Nightwing, and we have this important issue new in, in high grade, tight, flat and glossy, with just very minor stress marks at the spine.
PICTURED: TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #44 VF/NM £50
American Update: Batmania: Watching the Detectives: The New Look/Elongated Man Years
*DC: Our stock updates to Detective Comics continue, this time focusing on the ‘New Look’ for Batman which commenced with issue #327 in 1964. Editor Julius Schwartz took over the title, bringing with him the creators he had worked with elsewhere in the DCU. Gone were the aliens, monsters and most of the Batman ‘family’, replaced with more ‘down to Earth’ storylines with gangsters and super-villains. There was an emphasis on mystery: gone too was the Martian Manhunter (to House Of Mystery), replaced in the back-up feature slot by the Elongated Man. Personally, although I enjoyed Carmine Infantino’s art on the Batman strip (where he did many of the stories), and his covers were often spectacular, it was the Elongated Man stories that were the highlight for me. Infantino again, usually self-inking, which lent the series a nuance unseen in his work elsewhere; the Elongated Man stories were perfect little vignettes of mystery and ingenuity penned by the masterful Gardner Fox. And the banter between Ralph and Sue was spot-on and a vital element to the strip’s success. Most collectors I expect buy these issues for the Batman stories — I have them in my personal collection for the Elongated Man. Ralph lasted until #383, after which he was replaced in the back-up slot by Batgirl, but that’s a story for another update; here we are concerned with the Elongated Man years. In #331, Bats & EM joined forces in a ‘triple treat thriller’.
PICTURED: DETECTIVE COMICS #331 FN+ £21.25 SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Gambit in X-Men #266 NM
*Marvel: While this issue is a frequent visitor to our shelves, it never languishes for long. In August 1990’s X-Men #266, while temporarily de-aged to childhood (don’t you hate it when that happens?), Storm met a charismatic thief named Gambit, who aided her in escaping from the Shadow King. Unlike many one-off guest-stars, however, Gambit caught on with the reading public, and stuck around to become a mainstay of the team – fortunately ditching his original costume of pervy knickers, stripy tights and flasher-mac in favour of a more conservative ensemble! Despite persistent rumours of a Gambit solo film having finally, it seems, fizzled, he remains a hugely popular figure in the lucrative X-Men franchise, and his full debut is always a hot choice with buyers. We’ve had many copies of this debut through our hands, but never one as nice as this; virtually as good as new, with just the merest suggestion of stress marks at the spine and the tiniest ‘blunting mark’ at the spine bottom. We’re very picky about using grades above NM, but this one came close.
PICTURED: X-MEN #266 NM £160 SOLD
American Update: Silver Surfer #1 & #4 (low grade)
*Marvel: It’s been a little while since we’ve had these most coveted issues of the Silver Surfer (1st series 1968) through our hands. And while you won’t find the grades and conditions of these copies exciting, you should like the prices… Following his debut in Fantastic Four #48, Norrin Radd, Herald of Galactus, gained popularity as a recurring guest star, and his status was confirmed when Marvel launched the Silver Surfer’s own series in the double-sized format in 1968. This premier issue featured, for the first time, John Buscema’s illustrations on the Surfer, a body of work generally acknowledged to be among his finest, and presented also for the first time a 38 page account of the Surfer’s origins, plus (in the back) a 13 page tale of the Watcher, detailing the reasons behind the Watcher’s oath of non-interference. Issue #4, with its iconic cover featured the Surfer encountering Thor, Loki and co in an adventure in Asgard; the Asgardians have never looked better. The first run of the Surfer’s solo series has achieved cult status, with the early double-sized issues in particular being keenly sought out. #1 sadly suffers from a faded cover and a front spine split half way along from the bottom; remarkably it still retains some cover gloss! The page quality is quite decent and it’s also a cents copy. #4, a pence stamped copy, has vibrant cover colour with some gloss and good off-white pages; the spine is split about 3/4 of its length from the bottom, where a narrow piece of tape has been used which is no longer functioning; some edge wear and creasing, but the cover image is largely unmarred. So, non-beautiful copies of beautiful comics but great gap-fillers if you’re on a budget.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER BOTH SOLD
#1 FA £110
#4 FA/GD p £115
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: 2001: A Space Odyssey #8 Kubrick via Kirby, premiering X-51 (later Machine Man)
*Marvel: Following Kirby’s tabloid-sized Special, Marvel green-lit an ongoing series exploring the milieu of 2001: A Space Odyssey, giving artist/writer Kirby a free hand – perhaps too free a hand, as while time-transcending spectacle there was in abundance, the lack of a central cast left the readership feeling ‘unanchored’ to the series. This was remedied to an extent with issue #8, and Kirby’s introduction of X-51 (later known as Mister Machine and his final (so far) identity of Machine Man), a humanoid robot in search of his soul, who became the protagonist for the rest of the series, spinning off into his own title and becoming a prominent part of the main Marvel Universe. This copy of 2001 #8 is a high grade cents example.
PICTURED: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY #8 VF/NM £60
American Update: Spider-Mania: Joint 1st appearance of Black Costume in Spectacular Spider-Man #90
*Marvel: There were few more significant debuts, in the latter days of the 20th Century, than everyone’s favourite brain-eating symbiote Venom. The joint first appearances of the black costume that would become Venom happened in ‘real time’ in Amazing Spider-Man #252, Marvel Team-Up #141 and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #90, all released the same month, with the latter two often overlooked by collectors. It’s the Spectacular Spider-Man #90 that concerns us here; ostensibly an issue starring the Black Cat, Spidey doesn’t appear until the last full page panel, but what an entrance, unveiling the black costume. A lovely high grade copy, with just very minor spine stress marks on the back cover.
PICTURED: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #90 VF/NM £40 SOLD
American Update: Hey Kids – Brain-Sucking Symbiote: Anti-Venom
*Marvel: It’s another of those Venom mini-series that (some of) you love. In this one, apparently, Eddie Brock is Anti-Venom! Eddie is cautiously walking the line between the darkness and light while trying to find his place in a world marked only by grey. The absolute last person he needs to run into is the Punisher… All three issues of this mini now available – enjoy!
PICTURED: ANTI-VENOM #1 VF £17.50
American Update: Marvel ‘F’ list: Fantastic Four
*Marvel: We continue our alphabetical additions to our Marvel stock with just one title beginning with ‘F’, but we’ve got a lot of it! Fantastic Four between #68 and #298, from Kirby to Byrne and all points in between. Over 100 issues added, with several new to our listings, and several others now available in a choice of grades. If you’re looking for FF within that huge span, chances are we’ve got it — check out our catalogue.
American Update: Post Code Ditko Horror Fest: Tales Of The Mysterious Traveler
*Horror 1940/1959: Tales of the Mysterious Traveler was a series from Charlton that ran from 1956-1959 (with a short 1980s revival) that is best remembered as a showcase for Steve Ditko’s little weird mysteries, the like of which were soon to festoon the pages of the nascent Marvel. We have three new issues in this week: #5, with Ditko cover and three stories (lowish grade with spine wear, particularly around the lower staple area); #6, all Ditko issue with cover and 4 stories (a lovely copy with good colour and gloss, just a spine stress mark or two and an unobtrusive book shop stamp lower right cover); and #12 (no Ditko, but a nice copy FN at £44).
PICTURED: TALES OF THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER BOTH SOLD
#5 GD+ £60
#6 FN £145
American Update: Our Final Date With Patsy: Patsy & Hedy
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: We celebrate the conclusion of our long-running ‘Date With Patsy’ event with a selection of Patsy & Hedy, which ran for 110 issues between 1952 and 1967. All things Patsy Walker have come through our hands this past year or two, and this long-running series showcased her friendly rivalry with Hedy Wolfe (all Betty & Veronica-like if you ask me). It’s fascinating to look through these and see how times, moods and fashions changed in the 15 years of the series duration, ending up as ‘Gals On The Go-Go’ in ‘Beach-Party Bombshells’. It’s been a delight sharing this corner of the Marvel Universe with you. Goodbye Patsy, until you cross our path again!
PICTURED: PATSY & HEDY #108 VF £21
American Update: The Great Western Round-Up: Charlton & other publishers
*Western: Well, do we have a passel of oddities in this week’s instalment of our Western extravaganza. From a variety of publishers and decades: Magazine Enterprises’ Best Of The West & Bobby Benson’s B-Bar-B Riders (#13 of the latter with Frazetta cover and interiors by Bob Powell and Dick Ayers on Ghost Rider), Skywald’s Butch Cassidy, and from Charlton: Billy The Kid, Cheyenne Kid, the curmudgeonly Gabby Hayes, Six-Gun Heroes and Wyatt Earp. The Cheyenne Kid issues (7 between #66 and #73) feature the bizarre Wander ‘The Great Western Hero From Outer Space’, with art by Jim Aparo, including the first appearance of this genre-busting character in #66 (I can remember an episode of the bonkers US series of Robin Hood where an alien landed in Sherwood Forest, but I digress…). Both issues of Six-Gun Heroes have an added bonus with black and white printer’s proofs enclosed; these come from the vaults of Alan Class and were part of the process in getting these stories reprinted in his publications. So there you have it, more side-winding bang for your buck in this week’s (frankly) weird Western goings-on…
PICTURED: BOBBY BENSON’S B-BAR-B RIDERS #13 VG £55
American Update: What’s Old: Spider-Man Original Art by Ross Andru — now at reduced price!
*Marvel/Memorabilia & Esoterica: What’s Old is our feature where we highlight stuff from our catalogue that you may have missed. On instruction from our consignment client, we’re now offering our one remaining piece of original comic art by long-serving Spidey artist Ross Andru at a reduced price, down from £1500. This is page 12 of Marvel-Team-Up #3 featuring the Human Torch and Peter Parker changing into Spider-Man. Ross Andru was THE prominent Spider-Man artist of the 1970s, drawing many famous issues including the deaths of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin, the debut of the Punisher and the whole clone saga, among many others. This represents a very rare opportunity to grab a piece of original art from the most popular comic character of them all, seldom if ever offered for sale from a UK dealer. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: MARVEL TEAM-UP #3 PAGE 12 £1,250
British Update: More Alan Class Printing Plate Sets for Creepy Worlds & Uncanny Tales
*Alan Class Reprints: We’ve unearthed a few more Alan Class Printing Plate Sets for your collection. Each of these unique items from the personal archive of Alan Class comprises the lead printing plates used in the original comics’ 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 case. Several sets (as noted) have additional historical artefacts such as colour proofs, interior page plates, printers’ photostats, additional comics reprinted later in the series, original American comic featured etc. Some sets also feature handwritten anecdotes on separate cards with Alan Class’s reminiscences about a particular comic. As Class collectors will be aware, the same plates and covers were used for several issues in the series, and we include wherever possible as many examples of this in each set to present the publishing history of the use of the printing plates. (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.)
This update, 2 sets each featuring early issues of Creepy Worlds and Uncanny Tales. Fans of Kirby & Ditko will find much to delight them in the Creepy Worlds sets. Full details as always in our catalogue. For more guidance on the content of each comic, please refer to our Alan Class Rough Guide.
PICTURED:
CREEPY WORLDS #30 SET £20
CREEPY WORLDS #31 SET £26 SOLD
UNCANNY TALES #10 SET £37 SOLD
UNCANNY TALES #11 SET £29 SOLD
British Update: Retro Futures: Science-Fiction Albums from the 1950s and 60s
*Annuals: If you’re like me, you just love these imagined futures from the 50s and 60s, when spaceships had rivets, saucers were flying, women were princesses and aliens were green. Four great examples in this update. The All Worlds Album (softcover), had a mixture of sci-fi, western, adventure, funnies and features, the star attraction being Swift Morgan and the Feathered Serpent by Dennis McLoughlin. The one-off Planet Adventure Book from Atlas 1962 (card covers) reprinted classic sci-fi from the pages of Fiction House’s Planet Comics, the leading US science-fiction comic of the 40s and 50s. Space Kingley and the Secret Squadron (hardcover 1954) had a mix of illustrated text and picture strips, on superior paper with many glossy colour plates and stylish art from R W Jobson. Little is known about Whopper Space Stories (hardcover), another mix of illustrated text and picture strip, but it has a very evocative cover.
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
ALL WORLDS ALBUM GD/VG £15
PLANET ADVENTURE BOOK FN £35
SPACE KINGLEY AND THE SECRET SQUADRON VG/FN £22.50
WHOPPER SPACE STORIES GD/VG £10
British Update: Your wish is our Commando: #1
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Probably the most valuable and prized of all Picture Libraries, we’re pleased as punch to present a copy of Commando War Stories In Pictures #1 from 1961: ‘Walk Or Die!’. We don’t see many copies of this coveted collectable — perhaps this is the third to come through us and the last one (six years ago) had 8 pages missing. The good news is that this one is complete, although the front cover is detached, with a couple of small tears at left and right edges. However, the cover image is only marred by two small stains around the foot and knee regions of the commando and Nazi respectively. At some point, four reinforcing staples have been placed through the spine, quite skilfully so as to not hamper the opening of the item nor hide any of the content; there is minimal bleed from these staples and the page quality is really rather nice. So, a low grade and far from perfect copy, but far from the price of one as well!
PICTURED: COMMANDO #1 FA £250 SOLD
British Update: Dandy 1955 inc Christmas & New Year issues
*Humour Comics: More than half a year of Dandy new in from 1955, including the Easter, Christmas & New Year issues. From a time when the comic was in its prime with a heady mix of humour and adventure stories. On average, decent copies, coming in a little above GD/VG overall.
PICTURED: DANDY BOTH SOLD
#735 VG £20 Christmas issue
#736 VG £15 New Year issue
British Update: Long Hot Summer: Tammy Holiday Special 1984
*Girls’ Comics: We’re always delighted to get a Girl’s Holiday or Summer Special in, since not too many of these seem to have survived. Tammy had an amazing run of Specials from 1971 right through to 1986, and this example from 1984 is third from last, in nice shape. Loads of varied content in its 64 very full pages.
PICTURED: TAMMY HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1984 VG/FN £30