*DC: Welcome to our special Batmania event this week. Star of the show from the Midas Collection is a very decent copy of Batman #7, with its iconic bullseye cover by creator Bob Kane as Batman and Robin overcome a ne’er-do-well. The lead story is a Joker tale by Bill Finger and Kane, with inks by Jerry Robinson, where the Joker recruits practical jokers for one of his nefarious schemes. The same creative team is responsible for all four Batman stories this issue. Plus Batman tackles a hypnotist swami, heads to the North Woods for a lumber operation tale, and Bruce Wayne is set up for murder. A decent, solid copy that presents well. A fresh and unmarked cover image. One small tear without loss by the logo at the right edge with a couple of tiny nicks lower down. Corner blunting with a tiny upper spine split and slightly longer lower spine split; only minor spine wear. The front cover is off the lower staple only and the back cover is off the upper staple only, so the contents are held firmly in place. Both staples are tight at centrefold and the pages are a supple off-white. Slight edge tanning to inside covers. A small triangle is off the back edge top left corner; this is detached but present. All-in-all, a really nice example of this prized issue. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #7 VG £1,850

 

*DC: From the Bute Collection, a consecutive run of Batman #291-299. In most of these issues, there’s an ongoing storyline trying to determine who killed Batman, featuring most of his major foes (and even Lex Luthor, moonlighting from Superman).
IN THIS UPDATE: BATMAN
#291 FN+ £45 (PICTURED) Multi-Villain issue starring Catwoman. SOLD
#292 VG/FN p £25 Pence stamped. The Riddler. 
#293 VG/FN p £20 Lex Luthor. Pence stamped. 
#294 VF- p £32 (PICTURED) Pence stamped. Joker cover and story. SOLD
#295 VF- p £12.25 Pence stamped
#296 FN+ p £19.50 Scarecrow. Pence stamped. 
#297 VF+ p £15.75 Mad Hatter. Pence printed. 
#298 VF p £10.75 Pence printed SOLD
#299 VF+ p £11.75 Pence printed SOLD

*Marvel: The Claremont & Cockrum New X-Men was already a critical hit when #101 turned up, and in a dramatic turn of events, Jean Grey, former weak sister of the team, was elevated into a powerhouse when a cosmic ray storm seemed to transform her into the entity known as Phoenix – and a major, ultimately tragic, story arc for the X-Men began. The legend was somewhat tarnished in later years by Marvel’s back & forth position on whether Jean actually was the Phoenix, or whether the Phoenix force just manifested itself in her form (with a swingin’ new costume), but nevertheless, this remains a key and highly sought after issue. For those on a limited budget, this is a chance to pick up a low grade copy of this key issue, pence printed, glossy, but creased and crumpled and has been through the wars a little. Pages and staples are okay. (For those of you looking for an investment grade copy, we also have a nice VF+ copy in our catalogue). 
PICTURED: X-MEN #101 FA/GD p £65

*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. All high grade; even the few that fall below VF (and most are above) are really good-looking copies – no duds here, and nearly all cents copies. We stray into Volume 2 of Amazing Spider-Man this week (the one that relaunched as #1, before resuming the original series numbering after #58). We have selected a nice range of significant issues from this series for your consideration. 
IN THIS UPDATE: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOLUME 2
#5 VF+ £11.50 1st Maddie Franklin as Spider-Woman
#18 NM £18 Green Goblin app. 
#25 NM- £11.50 Double-Sized holo-foil enhanced cover
#30 VF/NM £22.75 1st Straczynski script
#50 VF+ £10 Peter & MJ re-unite; Captain America and Dr Doom app. 
#51 NM- £24.25 Mary Jane cover by J Scott Campbell
#500 NM £37 (PICTURED) Anniversary issue
#600 VF/NM £24.25 Anniversary issue
#611 NM £48 (PICTURED) Deadpool cover and story
#654 NM- £29 Flash Thompson becomes Venom
#654.1 NM £24.25 Flash Thompson as Venom
#700 VF £24.25 Last regular issue of series; collage cover. 

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: From The Bute Collection, we are pleased to announce the arrival of the first two Millie the Model Annuals, plus #4 & #5, in which Miss Millicent Barbara Collins and her eternal ‘frenemy’ Chili Storm travel the world in romantic adventures, while finding time to change outfits and hairdos every few panels! Issue #1, released in 1962, is believed to be the second Marvel Annual ever. Millie always came over here to the UK in lesser quantities than the rest of the Marvel universe, so none of her issues are commonplace. Fun, folly, fashions, and even a tear-shedding wedding in Annual #4; what more can you ask?
IN THIS UPDATE: MILLIE THE MODEL ANNUAL ALL SOLD
#1 GD/VG £55 (PICTURED) Full of features. Slightly grubby, with small stain on spine splash and small splits top and bottom spine, but sturdy enough with firm staples. Small tear right edge cover. Decent pages. Edge wear and corner blunting.  
#2 VG- £20 (PICTURED) Full of features. Slightly grubby with small lower spine split. Firm staples. Decent pages. Edge wear and corner blunting.
#4 GD/VG £12.50 Queen Size. Colouring page partially done.
#5 VG £14.75 Queen Size. Pence sticker. 

*Girls’ Comics: A return to our listings for the traditional girls’ title Mandy, which ran from 1967.We have listed most of the first year from #2 upwards, plus an early issue from 1968 which includes a promo flyer for Diana. Please see our catalogue for full details. 
PICTURED: MANDY #2 GD £20 (free gift not included)

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: This week, we return to the famous and long-running Sexton Blake Library. Often dubbed ‘the poor man’s Sherlock Holmes’, there’s still no doubting the popularity of Sexton Blake, who has probably had far more fiction written of him than the world’s greatest detective. Six consecutive issues new in this week from the 1950s. These are picture library sized, but mainly text. The series ran from 1915 to 1968. These issues follow the 1956 revamp by W Howard Baker when the covers took on a more gangster/sleazy mode. Written by a crew of notable writers including W Howard Baker, Michael Moorcock (one of many moonlighting as house name Desmond Reid), Peter Saxon and Jack Trevor Story, the longevity of the series is testament to the quality of the plotting and writing.
PICTURED: SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY: ALL AMALGAMATED 1950s ALL SOLD
#393: THE VIOLENT HOURS: PETER SAXON GD/VG £6
#394: THE BLONDE AND THE BOODLE: JACK TREVOR STORY GD/VG £6
#395: THE LAST DAYS OF BERLIN: PETER SAXON VG £7
#396: WALK IN FEAR: W HOWARD BAKER GD/VG £6
#397: MURDER DOWN BELOW: JAMES STAGG GD £5
#398: REDHEAD FOR DANGER: ARTHUR MACLEAN GD/VG £6

*DC: Another slab of delight from the Midas Collection this week in the form of Superman #70, with an amusing cover as Lois jealously stares at a poster advertising a theatrical team-up of Superman with Annie Oakley (the famous cowgirl sharpshooter). Said story appears within with art by Wayne Boring, who also does the cover. Other stories include The Life of Superman by Edmond Hamilton and Boring again, with the same team responsible as Superman faces an old foe in The Pied Piper Prankster. This CBCS 4.0 (VG) graded copy is unrestored, with a perfect case and cream to off-white pages, serial number 17-244BEBC-064. 
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #70 CBCS 4.0 VG £215 

*DC: One of DC’s classic Silver Age adventure series was Cave Carson, the underground explorer and adventurer. Cave’s ‘gang’ included the usual four person set-up so popular at the time of the leader and brains (Cave himself, of course), his less smart but strong best friend (Bulldozer Jones), his love interest (Christie Madison) and, unusually, the role of love interest’s younger brother was here strangely split between Cave’s rival for Christie’s affections (Johnny Blake) and Lena the Lemur! Cave & chums never made it to a regular series, but went through 8 pilot try-outs in Brave & Bold and Showcase, more stories than many ongoing series! New in we have the second and third appearances of Cave and chums in Brave & Bold #32 & #33, lowish grade and a very affordable dose of high (or in this case low) adventure!
PICTURED: BRAVE & BOLD BOTH SOLD
#32 FA p £10 Worn but nice enough copy, unfortunately with the very top left corner clipped off (see scan)
#33 GD- £20 Structurally decent, but some water staining affecting bottom right cover corner. Pages okay. 

*Marvel: Also from the Bute Collection this week, Daredevil #10 & #11. The consummate craftsman Wally Wood concluded his run on the Man Without Fear in these issues, a two-parter introducing the Organizer and the Ani-Men. Wood scripted and pencilled #10, relinquishing the story to Smilin’ Stan for #11 and the pencils to Bob Powell, but Wood’s inks on #11 are so definitive that it looks just like a Wood issue.
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL
#10 VG+ p £45 Pence printed and stamped with ‘Pop Art’ logo in masthead. Decent mid-grade copy with good gloss and colour. Corner blunting with minor edge and spine wear. Very faint central vertical crease does not break colour. Printed without an upper staple, but lower firm and nice pages. 
#11 FN £40 Nice clean copy with good colour and gloss. Firm staples and nice white pages. there is a short cover crease along the ‘V’ in logo, barely noticeable. 

*Marvel: The New Mutants was Marvel’s second mutant title after the X-Men, before the rapid growth of ‘X-this’ and ‘X-that’ which was to follow in later years. Here we have a selection of various Annuals and Specials of this junior team, including the very first annual and Special Edition #1, with an adventure in Asgard drawn by fan favourite Arthur Adams. 
IN THIS UPDATE: NEW MUTANTS ALL SOLD
ANNUAL #1 VF £11.50 (PICTURED)
ANNUAL #3 VF/NM £4
ANNUAL #4 VF- £3.25 Part of the Evolutionary War
ANNUAL #5 VF £4.25 Part of Atlantis Attacks
ANNUAL #7 VF £3.50 Part of Kings Of Pain
SPECIAL EDITION #1 VF £8.25
SUMMER SPECIAL #1 VF £3.50

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Marvel’s Chamber of Chills started out in 1972 as an anthology title for new stories, horror and science-fiction with a horror edge. New stories continued in decreasing amounts to #7, after which the remaining issues (up to the final issue #25) featured reprints, mostly from the Atlas Pre-Code era. Thus the title featured many stories from the cream of artistic talent over two decades (1950s/1970s). We feature here the complete set from #1 to #25, all in nice condition, averaging FN with a handful dropping towards VG and some up to VF/VF+. 
IN THIS UPDATE: CHAMBER OF CHILLS Complete Set #1-25 Av FN £195; #1 PICTURED (FN) SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: 25 issues new in of Battle Picture Library from 1961-1965, one of Fleetway’s ‘Big Three’ alongside Air Ace and War. Numbers range from #37 to #214 (all but four from the first 100 issues). A previous owner at some point decided to place two to four reinforcing staples through the spine, which do not hamper the enjoyment of the stories. This is reflected in the grades and pricing.
 

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. Michael Moorcock is certainly one of the most productive and versatile Science Fiction and Fantasy authors around. I can fondly remember reading much of his output during my formative years. His characters, landscapes and scenarios are eccentric; haunting and memorable. Most of his work can be considered part of his Eternal Champion mythos (although I suspect some of it was retrospectively so declared). In this first part of a substantial re-working of our listing, we encounter Elric and Corum, two of Moorcock’s archetypal heroes, as well as the complete Dancers At The End Of Time trilogy. The Elric volumes include early short stories in The Stealer Of Souls and the final novel Stormbringer; the two Corum trilogies are represented by the first volume in each. 
PICTURED: BY MICHAEL MOORCOCK
THE BLOOD RED GAME Mayflower 1977 3rd UK PB thus VG/FN £4
CORUM 1: THE KNIGHT OF THE SWORDS Mayflower 1971 1st UK PB GD £3
CORUM 4: THE BULL AND THE SPEAR Grafton 1986 UK PB VG £3
DANCERS AT THE END OF TIME 1: AN ALIEN HEAT Mayflower 1974 1st UK PB GD £3 SOLD
DANCERS AT THE END OF TIME 2: THE HOLLOW LANDS Mayflower 1979 3rd UK PB VG £3 SOLD
DANCERS AT THE END OF TIME 3: THE END OF ALL SONGS Mayflower 1980 4th UK PB VG £3 SOLD
ELRIC: THE SINGING CITADEL Mayflower 1970 1st UK PB FN £9
ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS Mayflower 1968 1st UK PB VG £5
ELRIC: STORMBRINGER Mayflower 1968 1st UK PB VG £5

This is our last post of 2025, so we’d like to take the opportunity to thank you for your custom throughout the year. We’re looking forward to continuing to bring you the best in vintage comics and books in 2026. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Rob & Dr Evilla (and her Evil Minion and Feline Phalanx)

We’ll be back here on 3rd January 2026. 

Our Christmas and New Year trading arrangements are as follows:

Today – Saturday 13th December: Last day for orders for pre-Christmas delivery. You need to place your order no later than 4 pm. Orders placed after this deadline will not be posted until the New Year. 
Tuesday 16th December: Last posting before Christmas for all orders placed by 4 pm on Saturday 13th and paid for by 4 pm on Monday 15th December.
Saturday 3rd January 2026: Newsletter resumes. All orders placed after 4 pm on 13th December (up to 4 pm on 3rd Jan) will be filled this weekend and bills issued on 4th Jan.
Wednesday 7th January 2026: Posting for all paid orders outstanding.

*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, two low grade issues of World’s Finest from 1955, featuring Superman & Batman together, with back-up stories of Green Arrow and Tomahawk.
IN THIS UPDATE: WORLD’S FINEST
#76 FA £32 (PICTURED) Cover detached and almost entirely split; otherwise not too bad with decent pages. 
#78 PR/FA £24 Heavy stain to top right quarter of cover; graffiti under stain. Chunks out bottom front cover and narrow strip off back cover. 

*Marvel: 2 non-UK distributed Giant-Size #1 issues from 1974 starring Spider-Man this week: 
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
GIANT SIZE SPIDER-MAN #1 VF- £90 Double-length new story with Spidey facing off against Dracula, plus classic Torch/Spidey reprint from Strange Tales Annual #2. Lovely condition copy apart from slight chipping to upper edge. 
GIANT-SIZE SUPER-HEROES (FEATURING SPIDER-MAN) #1 VG/FN £20 Book length new story with Spidey faced by Morbius and the Man-Wolf. Decent copy with just some handling wear.

*Marvel: Inferno is a sprawling storyline across the Marvel Universe, but the central parts of it occur in five issues of the the X-Men from #239 to #243. It is the story of a demonic invasion of New York and features the transition of Magik, the final fate of Madelyne Prior/the Goblin Queen, the menace of Mister Sinister and lots more. All five issues here, in tip-top shape.
IN THIS UPDATE: X-MEN ALL SOLD
#239 VF £6.75
#240 VF £6.75
#241 VF/NM £8.25 (PICTURED)
#242 VF/NM £8.25
#243 VF/NM £8.25 

*Western: From the Bute Collection this week, four Western issues rarely seen in the UK, all dating from the early 1950s. Best Of The West is an anthology title from Magazine Enterprises featuring its Western stars Tim Holt, The Ghost Rider, Straight Arrow and the Durango Kid. Border Patrol (the only issue we’ve ever seen), the third of three issues, is from PL. Ziff Davis’s Kid Cowboy (again the only issue we’ve ever seen), has a rich painted cover, a youthful vigilante protagonist and a singing cowboy; art by Andru, Colan, Matt Baker and Sparling. Prize Comics Western centres on Indian characters. 
IN THIS UPDATE:
BEST OF THE WEST #8 VG- £22.50
BORDER PATROL #3 GD/VG £25 (PICTURED)
KID COWBOY #5 VG+ £26
PRIZE COMICS WESTERN #99 GD- £10 SOLD
 

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze:  No introduction to arguably the greatest American detective writer is needed from me here. Chandler’s books, such as The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye remain high in profile due to his fame and popularity, and their film versions are classics of film noir. He himself contributed screenplays to that genre such as Double Indemnity and Strangers On A Train. His creation, Philip Marlowe, is the quintessential American private detective, and the dry, sometimes laconic prose style of Chandler’s writing set the tone for generations of imitators to follow. He wrote seven novels and lots of short stories and we feature many of them in our catalogue. This week, we’re adding two books of short stories, the eighth novel Poodle Springs (incomplete on his death but masterfully finished by Robert B Parker) and an anthology of stories by others featuring Marlowe, which includes the last Chandler story. More information, as always, in our catalogue. 
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
RAYMOND CHANDLER: SMART-ALEC KILL Penguin UK PB VG/FN £5
RAYMOND CHANDLER: TROUBLE IS MY BUSINESS Penguin UK PB VG/FN £5 
RAYMOND CHANDLER & ROBERT B PARKER: POODLE SPRINGS Futura 1991 1st UK PB thus GD £4
BYRON PREISS (Ed): RAYMOND CHANDLER’S PHILIP MARLOWE Futura 1990 2nd UK PB VG £4

*DC: Arguably the first DC super-hero of the Silver Age – and for many years unjustly overlooked by comics historians – Captain Comet made his debut in 1951, in the 9th issue of the sci-fi anthology Strange Adventures. Adam Blake, a young man born with powers and abilities he didn’t comprehend, was revealed as a mutant (Ha! And you thought Marvel did it first!), not a throwback but an evolutionary ‘flashforward’ to humanity at its peak of physical perfection, with heightened intellect and the powers of telepathy and telekinesis in addition to his tireless physical prowess. Adopting the identity of Captain Comet, Blake vows to protect humanity against extraterrestrial menaces. By the time of issues #40 & #44 (1954) writer John Broome had been joined by artist Murphy Anderson to create some of the most exquisite science fiction/super-hero adventures ever, with the rest of the comic being filled out by equally lovely work by top-notch writers and artists. 
PICTURED: STRANGE ADVENTURES BOTH SOLD
#40 VG £50 A reasonable copy with some edge and handling wear. Intact spine and good staples. Pages are a nice white to off-white. 
#44 VG- £45 Cover slightly dingy at spine, with edge wear and small stamped arrival date above logo. Good staples and nice white to off-white pages. 

*Marvel: One of Marvel’s most successful attempts at diversifying their line in the 1970s was their cash-in on the Martial Arts craze, with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu! His inauspicious debut in Special Marvel Edition, a series previously devoted to reprints, indicated that there wasn’t much faith in Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin’s co-creation, but readers took him to their collective hearts, and more than 100 issues ensued, with a star roster of creators including Doug Moench, Gene Day and Paul Gulacy. Here, however, was where it all started, in Special Marvel Edition #15, December 1973, with the Son of Fu Manchu discovering his villainous heritage, and setting out to oppose his father. Never distributed in the UK, and therefore doubly sought after on these shores. This is an outstanding copy from an original owner collection, bought new in 1973 on a New York newsstand, and carefully preserved ever since. This is a sharp copy, with superb colour (solid black cover background) and gloss, square corners, tight, firm staples. The pages are off-white, with edges a very light shade of tan. Just very minor handling wear at top and right edges. 
PICTURED: SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #15 VF+ £200 SOLD

*Marvel: The Silver/Bronze Age series of Sub-Mariner that started in 1968 featured from 1972 the last hurrah of creator Bill Everett on Sub-Mariner. Everett rejoined the character he had created for issues #50-55 & #57 (all featured here). He made contributions for a few later issues up to #61, but the issues in this update are essentially the last of this classic artist who died at 55. His work here was every bit as good as anything he had produced in the Golden Age and before this in the Silver Age. Particularly notable are the first appearance of Nita (later Namorita) in #50, and the revival of Venus (a character he had drawn in the Golden Age) in Everett’s masterpiece #57, pictured here. As you may have guessed, a great favourite here at 30th Century. 
IN THIS UPDATE: SUB-MARINER ALL SOLD
#50 VG £20 1st Nita (later Namorita)
#51 FN £5
#52 VG p £3.25 Sunfire
#53 VG £3.50 Sunfire
#54 VG/FN p £4
#55 FN+ £6
#57 FN+ p £20 (PICTURED) Return of Venus  

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Midnight Tales 1972-1976 was a relatively short run Charlton horror series, but one of the best. Created by writer/artist Wayne Howard, whose art was heavily influenced by Wally Wood, the hosts and protagonists were Professor Coffin (aka the Midnight Philosopher) and his attractive niece Arachne, who introduced and took part in every issue, which followed the familiar sequence of framing sections around short stories. We have a complete set of all 18 issues available, averaging FN grade; recommended. 
IN THIS UPDATE: MIDNIGHT TALES Complete Set #1-18 Av. FN £100; #1 PICTURED.   

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’ll soon be presenting all our Michael Moorcock stock in our newer format, with a picture for every book, but to whet you appetites, we present an item new in: James Cawthorn’s graphic adaptation of the climactic last adventure of Moorcock’s most famous and most tragic hero Elric. Published by the ‘underground’ and controversial Savoy Books in 1976, Moorcock said this: “Jim Cawthorn and I have been inseparable for over twenty-five years, sometimes to the point where I can’t remember which came first—the drawing or the story. It is his drawings of my characters which remain for me the most accurate, both in detail and in atmosphere. His interpretations in strip form will always be, for me, the best.”
PICTURED: MICHAEL MOORCOCK: STORMBRINGER SOLD
Savoy 1976 1st UK Over-sized softcover VG £20
Graphic adaptation by James Cawthorn of the final Elric tale
31 x 44 cm; black and white with colour covers
Spine has many ticks and small creases, breaking colour. Colour breaking creases across right bottom cover corner.