American Comics Update: The Midas Collection/Batmania: A Two-Face Triple Bill
*DC: Three early Two-Face appearances lead off our Midas Collection releases for this week, one of the classic foes from Batman’s Rogues Gallery.
PICTURED: BATMAN
#50 PR £90 In the cover story (cover by Bob Kane), after Harvey Dent begins having nightmares of being Two-Face again, Two-Face returns to start a new crime spree. Once Batman and Robin capture him, they learn that it is Harvey’s butler Wilkins, who had masqueraded as Two-Face so that Harvey would be blamed for his crimes. Story by Bill Finger. There’s also a Vicki Vale story and a third story where Batman is training a young boy to be his new partner. All art is by Bob Kane (Batman & Robin figures only) and Lew Sayre Schwartz. This is a Poor copy with the front cover detached with many chips out and a long tear across top right corner. Extra staples have been added to the spine at the interiors. Pages are a reasonable creamy colour, tanning slightly at edges. SOLD
#68 GD/VG £400 In the cover story (cover by Win Mortimer) featuring Harvey Dent, a second Two-Face emerges, following an incident where an actor is playing the role of Harvey Dent for TV. Story by Bill Finger; art by Bob Kane and Lew Sayre Schwartz. Also features a story where crooks steal from atom bomb proof caves; art by Dick Sprang. Plus a story centring on Alfred. A reasonable copy with solid structure, some minor chipping to right edge. Historic water stain around lower staple, unobtrusive on cover, more visible on splash margin. Nice pages and staples.
#81 GD- £260 In the cover story (cover by Win Mortimer), Harvey Dent returns as the real Two-Face after he is caught in an explosion. He sets up the death trap for the Dynamic Duo as shown on the cover. Story by David Vern, art by Dick Sprang. In the second story, Robin reveals his secret identity at school. In the third story (written by Bill Woolfolk, art by Dick Sprang), the Caped Crusaders and Vicki Vale encounter the Phantom Bandit of Gotham City. This copy has a long crease down the centre, slightly diagonal and only very faintly breaking colour. 3 cm upper spine split, corner blunting and moderate edge wear. Cover off upper staple, but staples otherwise okay. Flexible cream-coloured pages.
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Their Name Is Legion: 2nd appearance of the LSH in Adventure #267
*DC: From the Midas Collection, Adventure Comics #267 from 1959. Twenty issues after their first appearance in Adventure #247, the Legion returned in ‘Prisoner Of The Super-Heroes!’ At this stage, Lightning Boy had become Lightning Lad in the costume he became famous for, and Saturn Girl had adopted her familiar red outfit (although I note she was a mousey-haired individual inside, whereas she was her proper blonde colour on the cover.) She was however, firing bolts from her eyes that shattered rock. Cosmic Boy’s outfit was more purple than the ‘pale scarlet’ it would evolve into. The story seems like one of those that was dreamed up to fit the cover scene which I assume came first. Superbly crafted stories of Aquaman and Green Arrow as back-ups. This is a very decent pence-stamped copy without any significant defects, just very minor edge and corner wear; tight staples, virtually no creases. A very presentable example of this milestone issue.
PICTURED: ADVENTURE COMICS #267 VG+ p £160
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Showcase #1 1956
*DC: From the Bute Collection this week, Showcase #1, starring the Fire Fighters featuring Fireman Farrell. Whilst Farrell didn’t go on to bigger things (unless you know something I don’t) he did make occasional subsequent appearances in the DCU, and was right here to launch this legendary series that gave birth to many DC super-stars, including Flash, Green Lantern, the Atom, Challengers of the Unknown and many more. Bearing in mind Farrell’s relative non-stardom in relation to those, completist collectors may be relieved to learn that this is only a Poor copy at the fraction of the price of a decent one. The front cover is taped on to the body of the comic with old tape along most of the spine, which also extends to seal cover tears; there is also tape reinforcement along top and bottom edges. The back cover is missing, but all pages are present and the staples hold the comic together fairly firmly.
PICTURED: SHOWCASE #1 PR £100 SOLD
American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debuts of Ka-Zar (& Zabu) and the Stranger in X-Men #10 & #11
*Marvel: Two significant debuts in consecutive issues of the X-Men this week. Issue #10 features the debut of Ka-Zar. Apart from a shared name and attribute of being ‘Lord of the Jungle’, there was little similarity between the Ka-Zar of Marvel’s Golden Age character from the pulps and his namesake introduced in X-Men #10. Unlike his predecessor, this Ka-Zar ruled over the Savage Land and had Zabu, a big pussycat of a sabre-tooth, as his companion. Ka-Zar has, of course, gone on to become a fixture of the Marvel Universe, with several of his own series under his belt; the long association of Marvel’s Merry Mutants with the Savage Land also started right here. In issue #11, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants accosted a mysterious figure who appeared to be a mutant possessing power to dwarf even Magneto’s own – but the Stranger was soon revealed to be much, much more, a cosmic entity rivalling the Watcher in might, but, unlike Uatu and his chums, all too willing to use that power! A chain of events began which led to the dissolution of the Brotherhood, and the beginning of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch’s road to heroic redemption, all in this Lee/Kirby classic – oh, and Chuck X. and his merry mutant students are in there too!
PICTURED: X-MEN BOTH SOLD
#10 VG+ p £150 Pence stamped. Some corner blunting, minor edge and handling wear, with small spidery edge creases just breaking colour, but a nice sound copy, with tight, firm staples and supple off-white pages. Delightful ‘MMMS Wants You’ box bottom right cover.
#11 VG/FN £195 Bright copy with minor edge and corner wear. Unmarked cover; tight, flat copy with firm staples and supple white to off-white pages.
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania: Amazing #80, #81, #93: Chameleon, Kangaroo, Prowler
*Marvel: Three quality issues of Amazing Spider-Man from the Good Doctor Collection this week, featuring some of Spidey’s less common antagonists.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#80 FN+ p £50 Chameleon. Pence printed. Nice sound copy with good colour and gloss. Just tiny edge wear and a minor amount of wear at the spine in the masthead box.
#81 FN p £40 1st Kangaroo. Pence stamped. Minor spine and handling wear, but decent copy.
#93 VG+ £35 Prowler. Minor spine and handling wear, but decent copy.
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Marvel Silver/Bronze Grab Bag
*Marvel: Six issues spanning the Silver & Bronze Ages, as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
CAPTAIN MARVEL #50 FN+ £5.50
FANTASTIC FOUR #148 FN- £9.25
POWER MAN & IRON FIST #50 VG/FN p £10
TALES OF SUSPENSE #93 VG £10
TALES TO ASTONISH #88 GD/VG £7
THOR ANNUAL #5 FN- £7
American Comics Update: The IW/Super Extravaganza: Daring Adventures Horror (ish) issues
*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. This week, two horror issues from the Daring Adventures series. The first, #9, is out and out horror, reprinting pre-code horror; the second, #15, features a KKK type gang from the old west, plus dark crime stories, all with horror undertones.
PICTURED: DARING ADVENTURES BOTH SOLD
#9 FN £40 Reprints Blue Bolt Weird Tales Of Terror #115, Star 1952. Redrawn cover of Avon’s Eerie #6. Art by Disbrow and others.
#15 FN £45 Reprints The Hooded Menace, Avon 1951. New cover by Joe Simon (?)
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: 1970s Charlton Horror/Mystery
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Six issues from Charlton’s 1970s horror line from different titles. As always, much Ditko work to be found in some. Cheaper than chips!
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
BEYOND THE GRAVE #6 VG p £4.75
GHOST MANOR (2nd series) #7 VG- p £4
HAUNTED LOVE #9 FA £1.75
MANY GHOSTS OF DR GRAVES #35 VG+ p £5.25 (PICTURED)
MIDNIGHT TALES #18 VG+ p £3.50
SCARY TALES #30 GD p £2.50
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Hopalong Cassidy
*Western: If you’re a fan of ageing Western TV and movie stars gadding about in fancy shirts in a Wild West that never quite was, then these four issues of Hopalong Cassidy from the Midas Collection will be just the thing for you. Hop (William Boyd) started out in comic form from Fawcett in 1943, moving to DC with issue #86 in 1954, lasting until #135 in 1959. Great art by the estimable Gene Colan and Gil Kane. Photo covers on early DC issues.
PICTURED: HOPALONG CASSIDY ALL SOLD
#86 GD £29 1st DC issue
#99 GD £12
#124 VG £10 Fabulous greytone cover
#131 VG £10
British Comics Update: Beano 1948 – New and Improved
*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we’ve now overhauled our stock of Beano for 1948, adding details of strip debuts and special issues; along the way we’ve added seven issues new in. Lots of debuts in this year: Winnie the Witch and Peter the Penguin in #326; Swanky Lanky Liz and Boy with the Magic Masks in #336, Smarty Smokum in #337, Hungry Goodwins and Hairy Hugh and his Cockatoo (really!) in #343.
PICTURED: BEANO
#326 VG £22 1st Winnie the Witch; 1st Peter the Penguin.
#343 GD/VG £19.50 1st Hungry Goodwins; 1st Hairy Hugh and his Cockatoo.
Books Update: Damon Knight x3
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Three more books by Damon Knight new to our listings this week, showing two sides to this multi-faceted stalwart of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Natural State is a book of three long stories; Turning On is a book of several of Knight’s short stories; A Pocketful of Stars is an anthology edited by Knight including short stories by Bova, Dickson, Ellison, Leiber, Laumer, and many more.
PICTURED: DAMON KNIGHT
NATURAL STATE AND OTHER STORIES Pan 1975 1st UK PB thus VG £3
TURNING ON Sphere 1969 1st UK PB VG £4
A POCKETFUL OF STARS Gollancz 1972 1st UK HC FN £10 With DJ FN in removeable archival film
Books Update: Cannon: the Heavyweight Detective from the TV Series
*TV/Film Tie-Ins: Frank Cannon was an overweight detective played by William Conrad, who starred in the American TV series for 122 episodes from 1971 to 1976, also shown on the BBC. Despite his large size, he was a man of action. While he preferred to use his wits to escape a difficult situation, he could engage successfully in fistfights and shoot-outs with bad guys. The series in its day was immensely popular on both sides of the Atlantic. There were nine tie-in novels published in the 1970s, of which we have seven in this update. Condition notes are shown in our catalogue.
PICTURED: CANNON ALL SOLD
THE DEADLY CHANCE: PAUL DENVER World Distributors 1973 1st UK PB GD £6
THE FALLING BLONDE: PAUL DENVER Star 1975 1st UK PB VG/FN £10
FAREWELL, LITTLE SISTER: DOUGLAS ENEFER Corgi 1978 1st UK PB thus GD £6
THE GOLDEN BULLET: PAUL DENVER World Distributors 1973 1st UK PB GD/VG £7
I’VE GOT YOU COVERED: PAUL DENVER World Distributors 1973 1st UK PB GD/VG £7
MURDER BY GEMINI: RICHARD GALLAGHER Lancer 1971 1st US PB VG £8
SHOOT-OUT!: DOUGLAS ENEFER Corgi 1979 1st UK PB VG £8
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Superman #14 (1942) with iconic patriotic cover
*DC: Probably the most famous cover in all the run on this week’s Superman release from the Midas Collection. From 1942, Superman #14 features the Man of Steel on the cover with an American eagle and a backdrop of the American flag in the form of a shield. The black background features weapons of war and indeed the USA was just on the brink of entering the war when this issue went on sale in November 1941; Pearl Harbour was just a month away. Cover by Frank Ray. Four stories here, all by Jerry Siegel with art by Leo Nowak (signed as by Joe Shuster). Clark Kent uncovers robbery by hypnotism over the radio; Superman investigates the schemes of an invention thief; he then encounters a mermaid whose father’s evil adviser is planning to invade the surface world; Superman responds to a lightning storm over Metropolis and the menace of the super-villain Lightning Master.
There are two main defects with this copy: the cover is detached (cleanly) at both staples and there is a slight mark over the ‘U’ and the ‘P’ (and the eagle’s wing) in the logo where a label had previously been attached – see scan. The spine is solid (tiny nick at base) apart from the staple holes. The cover’s black background would show every flaw, but fortunately there aren’t too many – just a couple of stress marks at spine, tiny nicks at edges and corners and a couple of chips out of the right edge. The year ‘1942’ has been written in pencil above the issue number in its circle. The centrefold is loose and a date and name have been written/printed in upper and lower margins on the splash page. Pages are a supple off-white to cream with some foxing at the very edges. Overall the copy presents very well for a lower-graded example. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #14 GD £2,000
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane in Showcase #9 & #10
*DC: From the Bute Collection this week. Perhaps surprisingly, Lois Lane was the first try-out series in Showcase to get her own title, chronologically, beating the Flash and the Challengers to that honour, both of whom got more try-out issues before graduating. Lois had been around a while, of course, debuting alongside Superman in Action Comics #1, 1938. But here in Showcase issues #9 & #10, she appeared for the first time in comics headlined by her.
PICTURED: SHOWCASE
#9 FA £250 Very much setting the tone for the series which was to follow, here we see Lois meeting Lana Lang for the first time, trying to discover Superman’s secret identity and dreaming of being married to him. A low grade copy with water damage, rusty staples with some migration and a spine split up to lower staple. The staples are however firm. There is discolouration damage, particularly to the bottom left of the cover (see scan), along the spine and top edge. Also corner creasing. Pages aren’t too bad, with some minor bits of small graffiti. Colour breaking creasing at edge of bottom right corner.
#10 GD £150 Here Lois tries to get Superman jealous by pretending to marry someone else, is blinded by an experiment and discovers a box of Kryptonian artifacts that give her super powers (as you do). It’s a busy life at the Daily Planet! Not a bad copy, with a solid spine, a little looseness at top staple, but both staples firmly attached at spine (lower off at centre). Cover creasing breaking colour in logo area, at spine and down left hand side; minor chipping to right and bottom edges. Nice off-white to cream pages.
American Comics Update: Slab Happy/Spider-Mania: Amazing #5: Spidey Vs Dr Doom CGC 3.0
*Marvel: There must have been something in the stars for Dr Doom and the number 5; after debuting in Fantastic Four #5, he turns up in Amazing Spider-Man #5 to take on everyone’s favourite friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler. How can Spidey beat the monarch of Latveria? Well… he can’t actually, but I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. This CGC copy is graded at 3.0 (GD/VG), a blue label unrestored copy with cream to off-white pages. Case perfect. Good colour cover. CGC Serial number: 3954525005. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #5 CGC 3.0 (GD/VG) £700
American Comics Update: Captain America by Lee & Kirby x3
*Marvel: Three lovely condition copies of Captain America from just after he took over Tales Of Suspense with #100, with Lee & Kirby both in fine form. In #101, Cap clashes with his nemesis the Red Skull as the 4th Sleeper emerges; in #104, the Skull strikes again as Cap falls under his control; in #107, Cap is forced to relive the horrors of the past by the machinations of Dr Faustus. A great period for the Star-Spangled Avenger.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN AMERICA
#101 VF- p £60 Pence stamped. Solid copy, tight and flat, with just a faint spidery crease down the masthead box and very minor edge wear. Great colour and gloss. SOLD
#104 FN/VF p £35 Pence stamped. Nice copy with brilliant white background, with just a touch of dinginess to the right edge and a barely perceptible small crease across the very bottom right edge corner. Tight and flat. SOLD
#107 VF- p £55 Pence stamped. Solid copy, tight and flat, with a very soft 3 cm crease at top edge barely breaking colour. Great colour and gloss.
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: X-Men Vs the Hellfire Club in #132/133
*Marvel: Two classic chapters in the X-Men’s confrontation with the Hellfire Club from the Good Doctor Collection this week. In #132, the X-Men fall one by one as Jean Grey becomes the Hellfire Club’s Black Queen, leaving Wolverine to fight alone in #133. Okay, so it might owe a lot to Emma Peel, but still two of the finest comics of the era.
PICTURED: X-MEN
#132 VF+ p £55 Jean Grey becomes Black Queen. Pence printed, superb copy with great colour and gloss, just very minor corner wear.
#133 VF+ p £65 Wolverine alone. Pence printed, superb copy with great colour and gloss, just very minor corner wear. SOLD
American Comics Update: Two Gold Key Movie Classics: King Kong and the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh
*Gold Key/Whitman: Two Classic movie adaptations this week: King Kong (‘The Greatest Adventure Story Of All Time’) and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (‘He rides the marshes like a demon ghost, striking terror into the hearts of evil men throughout the land!’) King Kong is a 64 page giant issue; Scarecrow is based on the character created by Russell Thorndike and filmed by Disney. Neither issue is common and both have glorious painted covers.
PICTURED:
KING KONG 30036-809 VG+ £40 Slight stress marks at spine and staples; corner blunting and minimal spine roll, but a sound copy with great colour and nice pages. SOLD
THE SCARECROW OF ROMNEY MARSH 10112-404 VG+ £40 Very minor spine wear. Corner blunting with tiny crease breaking colour across right bottom corner. Loose centrefold; great colour and nice pages. SOLD
American Comics Update: League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Complete Set of Volume 1
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s quite rare that we stray into the 21st Century (here late 20th) for our stock, but for Alan Moore, we’ll make an exception. Moore created, in conjunction with artist Kevin O’Neill, a Victorian era combination of characters from famous literary works: Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and so forth. This unlikely and reluctant alliance faced down foes in two mini-series, then resurfaced periodically from various publishers in a number of one-offs, original graphic novels and spin-offs. The subject of a controversial film (which Moore publicly disavowed and condemned, and which is rumoured to have caused star Sean Connery to retire from acting!), the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics and graphic novels are of a much higher quality. Even if, over the intervening years, Moore’s narrative techniques have become ever more esoteric and oblique, there is much entertainment to be had in his shameless plundering of popular culture. This week we feature the debut of the characters in the very first volume in the series, wherein the disparate group is assembled to stop a gang war between Fu Manchu and Professor Moriarty.
PICTURED: LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL 1 #1 NM; Complete Set #1-6 all NM £50 SOLD
American Comics Update: Elvira’s House Of Mystery
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: DC’s venerable long-running House Of Mystery finally closed its doors in 1983 after 321 issues, but just a few years later, it was revived for a further 11 issues and one special. There was a new host in the House: Elvira, famous from film and TV as the horror hostess with the plunging neckline and beehive hairdo (in real life actress Cassandra Peterson). She presided over the stories with a touch of humorous and self-aware commentary, introducing tales of horror using classic tropes like ghosts and monsters, but also period pieces and some sci-fi ones. We have two issues (including a sci-fi special) and the Haunted Holidays special. From here, Elvira has gone on to numerous comic series from various publishers.
PICTURED: ELVIRA’S HOUSE OF MYSTERY ALL SOLD
#4 FN/VF £8
#7 VG/FN £6 Sci-Fi Special
Special #1 FN+ £12 Haunted Holidays
British Comics Update: Love Story Picture Library – 10 issues from 1968
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: This week’s release of Love Story Picture Library, the longest running romance picture library from Fleetway, comprises 10 issues from 1968, between #666 to #684. The series always maintained a high standard and the very accomplished art reflected the fashions and mood of the times. Virtually no touch of rust on the staples of these nice copies, but some creasing or puckering on a few copies.
IN THIS UPDATE: LOVE STORY PICTURE LIBRARY ALL SOLD
#666 VF £7
#667 VF £7 (PICTURED)
#668 VG/FN £4.50
#669 FN £5
#670 FN/VF £6
#680 FN/VF £6
#681 VF £7
#682 FN £5
#683 VG/FN £4.50
#684 VG £4
Books Update: Six Of The Best: Maigret by Georges Simenon
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: The Belgian author Georges Simenon was a very prolific writer. He aspired to be known as a serious writer and produced nearly 400 novels plus short stories, memoirs and autobiographies. His most famous creation, the French detective Jules Maigret, featured in 75 novels and 28 short stories and has become immortalised in international film, TV and radio. I remember growing up with the 1960s BBC TV series starring Rupert Davies. This week we have six Maigret novels, early 1960s editions, for your delectation, all in green Penguins and in English translations (natch). These have varying degrees of wear and tear, as described in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY GEORGES SIMENON ALL SOLD
MAIGRET AND THE BURGLAR’S WIFE Penguin 1961 3rd UK PB FA/GD £3
MAIGRET AND THE HUNDRED GIBBETS Penguin 1963 1st UK PB GD £4
MAIGRET AND THE LAZY BURGLAR Penguin 1966 1st UK PB FA £3
MAIGRET MEETS A MILORD Penguin 1963 1st UK PB GD £4
MAIGRET MYSTIFIED Penguin 1964 1st UK PB thus FA/GD £3
MAIGRET STONEWALLED Penguin 1964 2nd UK PB FA £3
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Batmania: Detective Comics #61 1942
*DC: An historic issue of Detective Comics from 1942 from the Midas Collection this week. As well as the long Batman & Robin lead story The Three Racketeers, by Bill Finger and Bob Kane (Batman’s creator who also did the cover), there’s a whole variety of other sleuths at work, some perhaps names well-remembered and other lost to time: Spy, Cliff Crosby, the Crimson Avenger, Larry Steele, Air Wave & Slam Bradley. Nice Batplane cover. This copy comes originally from the Jerome Wenker Collection, as marketed by American dealer Terry O’Neill and comes with a certificate to that effect. It has a clean and sharp cover image with very few tiny marks. The spine is a bit worn but intact, except that the front cover is off at the lower staple. There are small tear marks in that area and similar at the upper staple, although this is still attached. The centrefold is also detached, but other than that the staples are fine. Pages are towards off-white and in good order. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: DETECTIVE COMICS #61 GD/VG £600
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: All Star Comics #6 1941
*DC: From the Bute Collection this week, we’re really pleased to have an early issue of All-Star Comics, #6 from 1941 starring of course the Justice Society of America. After being a guest in #3-4, Johnny Thunder replaces the Flash as a member in this full-length tale of initiation written by Gardner Fox, in multiple chapters by various artists: E E Hibbard (inc cover), Stan Asch, Cliff Young, Bernard Baily, Ben Flinton, Irwin Hasen & Sheldon Moldoff. This is a lower graded copy with a worn but virtually intact spine, several colour-breaking creases around the edges (but a decent cover image), and two short pieces of tape over inside front and back covers and adjacent pages at staple level. Other such pieces of tape appear occasionally inside, but the staples, as far as can determined, are sound. An 8 cm piece of tape on the back cover seals a medium tear. There is a small, fingernail size hole in the back cover and two tiny puncture holes in the front cover in the logo area which penetrate a few pages into the comic. Reasonable off-white to cream pages. Fairly solid if a bit worn.
PICTURED: ALL STAR COMICS #6 GD £325 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: House Of Secrets #22-26
*DC: Unlike its sibling title House Of Mystery, House of Secrets started in 1956 after the Comics Code Authority came in, and thus has no pre-code issues. What it does boast is clever horror/mystery/science fiction stories by some top artists and often classic covers. These early issues from the Midas Collection are not often seen on these shores and we have a quintet of consecutive issues in mixed grade issues available. Among these issues are the earliest appearances of Mark Merlin, later Prince Ra-Man.
PICTURED: HOUSE OF SECRETS
#22 VG+ £28 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Bill Ely, Lee Elias, Martin Naydel & Mort Meskin. Nice quality copy with a reading crease breaking colour at spine and a little wear at top of spine. SOLD
#23 GD- £15 Cover by Bernard Baily. Interior art by Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Bernard Baily. Debut of Mark Merlin, occult detective. large corner off back cover; small chunk off top spine. Some colour breaking cover creases.
#24 FA/GD £10 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Mort Meskin, Bill Ely, Nick Cardy. Spine split 2/3rd of the way down. SOLD
#25 VG+ £28 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Bernard Baily, Bill Ely, Mort Meskin. Nice quality copy with just very moderate edge wear.
#26 FN £37 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Mort Meskin, Bob Brown, Nick Cardy. Nice clean, sharp copy with a couple of tiny stress marks at spine.
American Comics Update: Spider-Mania: Amazing #66 with Mysterio
*Marvel: Always a very popular issue, Jazzy Johnny Romita really excelled himself with the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #66, one of my favourites of his tenure on the wall-crawler. Appropriately enough for a special effects artist and illusionist, Mysterio is one of the most visually striking of Spidey’s Rogues’ Gallery, and this great-looking issue does not disappoint. A glossy cover, unmarked but for a pence stamp and a narrow dust shadow along the right edge (without which it would be a higher grade). A couple of small spine ticks in the masthead box are barely visible. Square corners, firm, tight staples and supple white to off-white pages.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #66 FN p £100
American Comics Update: Tales Of Suspense with Iron Man x4
*Marvel: From the period before Captain America joined Tales Of Suspense, where Iron Man was virtually the solo star, we present four early issues featuring debuts and early appearances of famous villains. The long Iron Man stories were backed up by fantasy/science fiction shorts, including the Tales Of The Watcher series.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE ALL SOLD
#51 VG- p £60 1st Scarecrow. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Corner blunting, minor to moderate edge wear with some chipping to right edge. Faint dust shadow to upper right edge. Cream coloured pages with some edge tanning, as is the case with inside covers. Decent tight staples.
#53 GD/VG p £60 2nd Black Widow, following Natasha’s debut in the previous issue. Also features the Origin of the Watcher. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Corner blunting with fairly minor edge wear, except that there are two small chunks off back cover, one in bottom right corner, and one at the top of the spine, resulting in an upper spine split of about 3 cm. Cream coloured pages with some minor edge tanning, as is the case with inside covers. Decent tight staples at centrefold; lower a little loose at spine. A couple of faint creases across top right cover which do not break colour.
#54 VG p £50 2nd Mandarin. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Very narrow dust shadow along right edge. Only very minor edge wear. Cover and centrefold off lower staple. Upper spine split of less than 2 cm. Cream coloured pages. Slight tanning at edges of inside covers.
#55 VG+ p £60 3rd Mandarin. Contains extra 5 page feature ‘Inside Info About Iron Man’. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Very narrow dust shadow along right edge. Only very minor edge wear. Decent tight staples. Off-white to cream pages, minor to moderate tanning to inside covers.
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Avengers Assemble x5
*Marvel: With stories by Roy Thomas, and great art by John & Sal Buscema and Gene Colan, these five Avengers issues are the last to go on sale from this title in the Good Doctor Collection. There’s a lot going on, with Diablo and the Dragon Man (#42), Whirlwind and the return of Ant-Man (#46), Egghead and the story of Hawkeye’s brother (#64), Ultron (#68) and the debut of Valkyrie and the Lady Liberators (#83).
IN THIS UPDATE: AVENGERS
#42 FN- p £14.25 SOLD
#46 FN p £25 SOLD
#64 VF+ £65 (PICTURED) SOLD
#68 VF £40
#83 FN+ p £70 (PICTURED) SOLD
American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: 1st full appearance of Daimon Hellstrom in Ghost Rider #2
*Marvel: In the wake of other Marvel hits starring occult characters, and with the Exorcist movie taking big box-office, Stan Lee had originally proposed a series starring Satan himself, but Roy Thomas commuted it to Satan’s offspring, a demon/human hybrid who used his evil-spawned power for good, in rebellion against his father. Daimon Hellstrom duly appeared in Ghost Rider #2 as an antagonist before moving into his own solo series in Marvel Spotlight, and then progressing to his own book. Daimon remains a prominent character today in the Marvel Universe, though he doesn’t use the Son of Satan soubriquet any more, and in these more sensitive times his origins are usually politely glossed over. We have a superb copy of Ghost Rider #2 new in from an original owner collection, pence printed, with bright colours and high gloss. No wear or marks, except for the tiniest dink at top of spine. Staples are tight and firm at spine and centrefold, and supple pages are white to off-white.
PICTURED: GHOST RIDER #2 VF/NM p £120 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Arch Collection/L B Cole Miasma: Terrors Of The Jungle #4
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: L B Cole was one of the most famous of Golden/Atomic Age cover artists. He drew in a variety of genres, and was artistic director at Star, illustrating 95% of the company’s covers; his lurid, feverish style, almost hallucinogenic, graced horror, science-fiction, jungle and romance alike. Terrors Of The Jungle was a sort of hybrid jungle and horror title. From our fabulous Arch Collection this week, issue #4 has great content, featuring a new story by the stylishly attractive Jay Disbrow illustrating the tale of the cover image, and two Fox reprints: a Jo-Jo Jungle King adventure with his mate Tanee and Jungle Goddess Rulah in The Harem Of Horror. Of course it’s the wonderful L B Cole cover for which this issue is prized, a primeval scene with a jungle princess in the grip of a fearsome monster out of time. A reasonable copy, with the cover scene mostly undamaged with decent colours; there is some wear breaking colour towards the bottom of the right edge, with a lesser amount in the very top corners. The spine is worn, but both staples are still attached, although the cover has small tears around the lower staple. Corner blunting. Nice off-white to white page quality.
PICTURED: TERRORS OF THE JUNGLE #4 GD- £160
American Comics Update: Frank Miller’s Sin City: The One-Shots and Specials
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Frank Miller’s Sin City burst on to the comics scene in 1991, firmly establishing the neo-noir mood he had built on in his earlier classic run on Daredevil and the seminal Dark Knight Returns. The original Sin City series (later entitled The Hard Goodbye) originally appeared in serial form in Dark Horse Presents, and in-between the series of mini-series that followed, there were a number of one-shots and specials, chock-full of the dark, seedy characters that inhabit the city and the locations that form it. The film noir influence on the series’ artwork is seen in its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. Black and white are the sole colours most of the time, with other colour used sparingly to highlight certain characters. The writing style also draws heavily on detective and crime pulp fiction. We’re delighted to present all six one-shots and specials, of varying length, in pristine condition from an original owner collection.
PICTURED: SIN CITY: ALL SIX SPECIALS NM £35 THE SET SOLD
THE BABE WORE RED
A DECADE OF DARK HORSE #1 (contains Sin City, plus Predator & Grendel)
JUST ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT
LOST, LONELY AND LETHAL
SEX AND VIOLENCE
SILENT NIGHT
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: The 3D Zone/Pre-Code Horror Fest: The House Of Terror
*Horror 1940-1959: Also from the Bute Collection this week, House Of Terror #1 (and only) published by St John in 1953 in glorious 3D. This unique item features art by Joe Kubert and Matt Baker and comes complete with 3D glasses bound in. Structurally sound, tight and flat, it is mis-cut at the bottom edge so that the comic protrudes slightly beneath the cover (this is a common aspect of this issue and is not a trim).
PICTURED: HOUSE OF TERROR #1 (3D) VG/FN £60
British Comics Update: Alan Class Creepy Worlds x10
*Alan Class Reprints: 10 issues of Alan Class’s premier title Creepy Worlds fresh in this week, both pre and post decimal. These will be found in the regular stock section of this category.
IN THIS UPDATE: CREEPY WORLDS
#44 GD/VG £4.75 1st Captain Atom by Ditko
#78 VG £5.25
#92 FN £7.25 (PICTURED) Fly Special by Simon & Kirby
#135 VG £1.75
#137 VG £2
#138 VG £2
#147 GD/VG £1.75
#151 GD £1.75
#153 VG/FN £2
#155 FN £3
British Comics Update: Beano 1949 – New and Improved
*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we’ve now overhauled our stock of Beano for 1949, adding details of strip debuts and special issues; along the way we’ve added an issue fresh in (#365) Just one debut present: Wandering Willie in #362.
PICTURED: BEANO #362 GD/VG £20 1st Wandering Willie
Books Update: Re-Working our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Kornbluth, Kuttner, Lafferty
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. This week, we reach authors from Kornbluth to Lafferty. C M Kornbluth is represented by a book of short stories and a collaboration with Frederik Pohl, with whom he wrote many books. Henry Kuttner, a cornerstone of the Golden Age of science fiction, died tragically young, and was another frequent collaborator, with his wife C L Moore; we have here four of his solo works, including three books of short stories and his famous novel Fury. Lastly, two novels of good reputation by R A Lafferty. More details, including condition notes, in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
C M KORNBLUTH: THE EXPLORERS Ballantine 1963 US PB GD £3 Short stories
C M KORNBLUTH & FREDERIK POHL: SEARCH THE SKY Digit 1959 1st UK PB VG £8 SOLD
HENRY KUTTNER: AHEAD OF TIME Four Square 1967 3rd UK PB GD/VG £4 Short stories
HENRY KUTTNER: FURY Mayflower Dell 1966 2nd UK PB GD £4 SOLD
HENRY KUTTNER: THE PROUD ROBOT Hamlyn 1983 1st UK PB GD/VG £5 The complete Galloway Gallagher short stories
HENRY KUTTNER: RETURN TO OTHERNESS Mayflower Dell 1965 1st UK PB GD £3 Short stories
R A LAFFERTY: FOURTH MANSIONS Ace 1969 1st US PB VG/FN £15
R A LAFFERTY: PAST MASTER Ace 1977 US PB 1st thus VG £12
Books Update: The Game’s Afoot! Sherlock Holmes
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Like Superman and Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes is a household name, one of the literary iconic characters. Though not the first example of a literary ‘consulting detective’, Holmes is undoubtedly the most famous. These days we know him from countless film, TV and radio versions, and it is perhaps strange to realise that there were just four novels and fifty-six short stories penned by his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, over a hundred years ago. New in we have three of those four novels, including A Study in Scarlet, the first, and The Hound Of The Baskervilles, the most famous. If you’ve never read these ask yourself ‘should you?’ The answer is, of course, rather elementary…
PICTURED: ALL SHERLOCK HOLMES BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE ALL SOLD
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES John Murray 1965 UK PB VG/FN £5
A STUDY IN SCARLET Pan 1975 UK PB GD £3
THE VALLEY OF FEAR Pan 1975 UK PB FA/GD £3
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection/Batmania/Slab Happy: 2 Batman issues from 1955
*DC: Leading our Midas Collection updates this week, two encapsulated issues of Batman from 1955.
PICTURED: BATMAN
#89 CGC 3.5 VG- £175 Cream to off-white pages. Universal blue label (unrestored). CGC Serial Code 1018102025 Strong colour cover. NB this case has the Newton’s Rings aspect, where an apparent rainbow oily visual effect is caused between the outer and inner holder due to the refractive processes of two pieces of plastic coming together. The comic itself is, of course, unaffected. This is not considered to be a holder defect by CGC; more information is available on the internet. Nevertheless, for some people, this effect is unappealing and we have priced this issue to reflect that. Cover by Win Mortimer, interiors by Dick Sprang and Sheldon Moloff. Stories by Bill Finger. River Rogues – a Prof Nichols time travel story; The Seven Wonders Of The Underworld – criminal inventions; Bruce Wayne’s Aunt Agatha – Bruce’s aunt unmasks Batman.
#93 CGC 5.0 VG/FN £200 Off-white pages, case perfect. Universal blue label (unrestored). CGC Serial Code 0792847002 Cover by Win Mortimer, all interiors by Dick Sprang. Stories by Bill Finger and Edmond Hamilton. Journey To The Top Of The World – Batman & Robin must recover a valuable microfilm from a mountain top; Batman, Baby-Sitter – Bruce’s cousin Jane drops off her child for Bruce to care for, whilst fighting crime; The Caveman Batman – Prof Nichols (again) sends Batman and Robin back in time to investigate evidence of man co-existing with dinosaurs (!).
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection/Slab Happy: 3 Superman issues from 1953
*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, three encapsulated issues of Superman from 1953.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN
#80 CGC 5.5 FN- £200 Off-white pages, case perfect. Universal blue label (unrestored). CGC Serial Code 1361746001 Strong cover colour. Cover by Al Plastino; interiors by Plastino and Wayne Boring. Stories by Edmond Hamilton and Bill Finger. Superman’s Big Brother – Superman meets his brother from Krypton, or so it appears, plus The Big Noise Of Metropolis and The Men Of Fire.
#81 CGC 3.5 VG- £160 Cream to off-white pages, case perfect. Universal blue label (unrestored). CGC Serial Code 0319357007 Strong colour cover. Cover by Win Mortimer; interiors by Wayne Boring and Al Plastino. Superman’s Secret Workshop – with Lex Luthor, plus 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea With Superman and The Superwoman from Space.
#83 CBCS 3.5 VG- £160 Off-white to white pages, case perfect. Unrestored. CBCS serial number 17-33CC7DE-064 Strong colour cover. Cover by Win Mortimer, interiors by Al Plastino and Wayne Boring. Stories by Bill Woolfolk and others. Destination X – Superman falls victim to a Kryptonite trap set by the Brain, plus The Search For The Bravest Woman and Clark Kent, Convict – Clark infiltrates a prison to report on riots.
American Comics Update: Take Five: A Mixed Bag of DC Silver Age Super-Heroics
*DC: Some loose ends of favourite titles this week in very affordable, lowish grades.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
ADVENTURE COMICS #354 GD £6 The Adult Legion; small cover scuff
GREEN LANTERN #31 GD- p £7.25 Power Rings For Sale
INFERIOR FIVE #5 GD p £2.50 The French Revolution
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #40 GD- p £6.50 Indestructible Creatures Of Nightmare Island
TEEN TITANS #10 FA/GD p £4 Scramble! The Scorcher Is Making The Scene
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of the Green Goblin in Amazing #14
*Marvel: ‘Does the Green Goblin Look Cute To You?…’ The rather twee opening line of the blurb on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #14 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! This lower-graded copy from the Good Doctor Collection looks pretty nice, with a clean, virtually unmarked cover with bright colours. There is a shallow 2 cm chip out bottom edge and an upper spine split of almost 7 cm which goes over the upper staple, which is thus loose at the front cover only; a small diagonal loss at top back cover goes slightly into the masthead box at the front. Corner blunting with miniscule corner off bottom right and a small colour-breaking crease there. Lower staple is loose at front cover, but like the upper, secure at the back. Tiny lower spine split with a couple of small nicks out bottom back cover. Very short tear through upper margin of comic. Staples firm at centre; nice off-white pages. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #14 GD- £775
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Two excellent issues of the Fantastic Four
*Marvel: This week from the Bute Collection, we feature two excellent issues of the Fantastic Four from their heyday. #27 features another clash with the Sub-Mariner, which also features the first Dr Strange crossover. #35 has the dynamic debut of Dragon Man, as manipulated by the dastardly Diablo. Lee and Kirby at their best, in the opinion of this commentator.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#27 VG+ £110 Bright cover with good colour. Some crease marks over Sue’s legs don’t break colour. Edge wear at top and bottom. Staples firm at spine, lower off at centrefold. Off-white to cream pages.
#35 FN- P £75 Pence stamped. Strong colours with minimal edge wear. Tiny chipping at right edge of a couple of pages. Firm staples and white to off-white pages.
American Comics Update: Wolverine Vs Sabretooth: A Heavyweight Bout in 3 Rounds
*Marvel: In the mid-1980s, it became a thing for Wolverine and Sabretooth to face off in fierce confrontations, first in X-Men #212, quickly followed in #213 and later in #222. These fan favourite issues have gathered quite a following.
PICTURED: X-MEN
#212 VF+ £25 Cover by Barry Windsor-Smith
#213 VF/NM £30 Guest artist Alan Davis
#222 FN/VF £12 Would grade NM but for two short crease lines from spine not breaking colour.
American Comics Update: The IW/Super Extravaganza: Eerie #1
*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. This week, quite a package in Eerie #1 from 1958. The cover is by Wally Wood, and although originally from Avon’s Strange World’s #6, the cover monster and some backgrounds were redrawn. Inside, the content is from Baily’s Spook Comics #1 (1945), often regarded as the first horror comic. Of the four stories, two are horror/suspense (inc. a Mr Lucifer story), two are horror/humour.
PICTURED: EERIE #1 VG+ £80 Nice clean copy with striking cover image. Solid spine with minor wear. A little creasing, just breaking colour at corners and edges. Firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. SOLD
American Comics Update: Keen Detective Funnies 1939
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: It’s rare for us to get an American comic into stock that predates the name of this category, but here’s an amazing item from 1939. Keen Detective Funnies was an anthology detective/mystery title that ran from 1938 to 1940 for a series of 24 issues, published by Centaur. Loads of detective stories within the 68 (inc cover) pages, mostly in full colour with some in black and white or duotone. Great girl sacrifice cover by Harry Campbell, illustrating the Dean Denton story by him within. Other features include Spy Hunters by Lochlan Field, Dan Dennis – FBI by Sam Gilman, Crane of Scotland Yard by Paul Gustavson, Dan Dix, Ship Detective by George Brousek, Dave Dean by Fred Guardineer, Captain Steve Ransom by Arthur Hoffman, Boomerang by Rafael Astarita, Hammer Donovan by Will Eisner, Lucky Coyne by Craig Flessel, Gabby Flynn by Ken Ernst and Detection Notes by Wallace Baldwin. This copy is in a remarkable state of preservation, with a clean, unmarked cover with excellent colours. The staples are firm at spine with just a hint of rust; centrefold is loose. Some relatively minor spine and right edge wear. Page quality is a good off-white. Your chance to obtain a rare antiquity from the dawn of American comics as we know them.
PICTURED: KEEN DETECTIVE FUNNIES VOL2 #6 VG £450 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Falling In Love
*Romance: Finally from the Midas Collection this week, six 1950s issues of DC’s Falling In Love. Although mostly drawn by unknown artists, DC’s romance comics from this period featured a good standard of appealing art, and often very well composed and executed covers. Having said that, you’ll find the work of Forte, Sekowsky, Colletta and even Matt Baker in these pages (Baker in #21). Seldom seen, particularly over here in the UK, the Midas Collection is quite rich in this genre, with many more to follow.
PICTURED: FALLING IN LOVE
#11 GD £13
#12 GD+ £16
#14 VG £26
#21 GD/VG £17
#23 GD+ £14
#30 GD- £10
British Comics Update: Eagle Overhaul: Volume 10 (1959)
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following strong sales and a big influx of new stock, we’re totally overhauling and relisting our Eagle stock: many additions and deletions and new streamlined pricing. One of the icons of British comics’ history, Eagle started up in 1950; every issue of its twenty year run starred Dan Dare, its most famous son, as well as loads of other strips, featuring the cream of British artists and superior quality printing and paper. Volume 10 is now processed and re-listed, continuing from earlier volumes previously done. Please refer to our catalogue for details. Volumes from 11 upwards will be dealt with over the coming weeks, but for now they remain at half the old prices in our half-price sale.
British Comics Update: Mick Anglo’s Captain Miracle
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: After the conclusion of the Marvelman series (himself a copy of the American Captain Marvel), British artist Mick Anglo moved on to give us just nine issues of Captain Miracle from 1960, who was really just Marvelman with a costume symbol change). There was even a Miracle Junior too. (Of course, we know of a later context where the words Marvel & Miracle were interchangeable, don’t we, kiddies?) Anyway, in the same format as Marvelman, accompanied to varying degrees by American back-up strips, we present three of the nine issues, including #1. We haven’t seen issues of these before, and believe them to be uncommon.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN MIRACLE
#1 FN £40 Bright, fresh copy.
#5 GD £10 Worn spine; book shop stamps SOLD
#7 GD/VG £15 Small tear at right edge (no loss); sealed by tape inside cover.
Books Update: Heinlein Double Bill
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Two books by Robert A Heinlein fresh to our listings this week. Tunnel In The Sky is the story of survival in an alien environment, aimed perhaps at a younger audience. By contrast, The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag is a book of short stories of the macabre. Both of these are less common.
PICTURED: BY ROBERT A HEINLEIN
TUNNEL IN THE SKY Pan 1968 1st UK PB VG £10
THE UNPLEASANT PROFESSION OF JONATHAN HOAG NEL 1980 UK PB GD/VG £7
Books Update: British Library Crime Classics
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’ve been fortunate enough to acquire a selection of British Library Crime Classics, a contemporary series which reprints classic novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, bound in attractive uniform editions which feature period paintings as their covers. A celebration of famous and forgotten authors and a milestone in publishing for the British Library. All books are in like new, unread condition at a uniform price of £5 each. Further information is shown in our catalogue. Here’s four more of them:
BRITISH LIBRARY CRIME CLASSICS ALL SOLD
FREEMAN WILLS CROFTS: THE HOG’S BACK MYSTERY British Library Crime Classics 2015 UK PB Originally published 1933 Like New £5
MARTIN EDWARDS (Ed): SERPENTS IN EDEN British Library Crime Classics 2016 1st UK PB Like New £5 Countryside Crimes: Conan Doyle, Chesteron, Allingham, Gladys Mitchell, many more.
ALAN MELVILLE: DEATH OF ANTON British Library Crime Classics 2015 UK PB
Originally published 1936 Like New £5
RAYMOND POSTGATE: VERDICT OF TWELVE British Library Crime Classics 2017 UK PB Originally published 1940 Like New £5
Books Update: Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven
*Children’s Books: Not far behind her Famous Five series in fame and popularity, Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven trod much the same ground in their adventures under the guise of a secret society of child detectives (of course). Consisting of Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam and Colin, the Secret Seven also included the obligatory canine (but unofficial) member, Scamper the golden spaniel. (Poor Scamper – Timmy was an official member of the Famous Five!) Three hardcover editions new in, all in dust jackets with removable archival film covers, one first edition, and two later printings from the 1950s/60s.
PICTURED: ALL BY ENID BLYTON
SECRET SEVEN #2: THE SECRET SEVEN ADVENTURE Brockhampton Press 1952 3rd UK HC FN £14 With DJ (GD/VG)
SECRET SEVEN #3: WELL DONE SECRET SEVEN Brockhampton Press 1967 11th UK HC VG/FN £12 With DJ (VG/FN)
SECRET SEVEN #9: SECRET SEVEN MYSTERY Brockhampton Press 1957 1st UK HC VG/FN £25 With DJ (GD)