*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: We begin a new event this week, featuring Timely/Atlas/Marvel’s famous funny girl. Created by Stuart Little and Ruth Atkinson in the second issue of Miss America Magazine in 1944, teen comedy star Patsy Walker proved so popular with the readership that she not only shoplifted Miss America’s own book from her, but was awarded her own magazine the next year, running for more than twenty years.

A distaff ‘Archie’, well-meaning everygirl Patsy, her ‘frenemy’ Hedy Wolfe, her sweetheart Buzz Baxter, and other friends and foes in the town of Centerville starred in Patsy & Hedy, Patsy and Her Pals, A Date With Patsy… well, you get the idea. She was a female Archie in more ways than one, carrying an entire line of spin-offs and sustaining the ailing publisher through the dark days of the Fifties.

Adopted into the Marvel Universe proper in 1976 as the super-heroine Hellcat, Patsy’s been an Avenger, a Defender, a hero, a villain, a victim of domestic abuse, a werecat, a demon, mad, bald, crippled, occasionally dead and wedded to the Son of Satan – and she’s still standing in the Marvel TV Universe, as a regular on Jessica Jones!

We kick off this Patsy extravaganza with her first solo flight, Patsy Walker #1, the start of her long-running eponymous series. Cover by Mike Sekowsky, interior stories by Ruth Atkinson and Chris Rule. Formerly a CGC blue label unrestored copy graded at 7.0 (FN/VF equivalent) it has been released from the slab by a previous owner (though the CGC slip remains with the copy). We must say that we agree with the grade applied by CGC. The deep black cover background is unmarred, with no cracks or breaks. Pages are off-white, flexible and firmly attached, staples firm at cover and centrefold, no interior markings, creasings, tears or disfigurement of any sort. The only mark on the cover is a small pencilled ‘A’ on Patsy’s upraised left calf. Truly extraordinary condition for a comic of this vintage. Given the unusually high grade for a Timely Golden Age item, and Patsy’s significance in all three eras of the Timely/Atlas/Marvel eras, the price is  £3,000 for this beautiful item. Front and back covers and splash page are shown here; high resolution images are available on request. Please note that this comic is not kept at our shop; viewing is strictly by appointment only and requires a minimum of 48 hours’ notice.