*DC: As rare as hen’s teeth! In 30+ years of flogging comics, we’ve only ever had a couple of issues of the first series of Phantom Stranger through our hands before. In 1952, he appeared from nowhere, without explanation or origin to be DC’s mysterious omniscient and omnipotent being of mystery. Despite numerous theories in the DCU, no concrete information has ever been revealed about his true nature. Edited by Whitney Ellsworth, and created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, this series had the finest creators of the time working on it in a number of horror/supernatural stories. Here we get scripts by John Broome and Henry Kuttner with pencils by Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, John Giunta and Jerry Grandenetti. Whilst perhaps not as Pre-Code horrifically as the fare of other less polished publishers, the Phantom Stranger made up for that in the quality of substance and style of his stories. This low grade copy has covers that are cleanly detached and separated, with a reasonably strong cover image and some non-prominent colour-breaking creases towards right edge and in bottom right corner. Page quality is a nice, supple and non-brittle off-white and staples are firm at centrefold.
PICTURED: PHANTOM STRANGER #5 PR/FA £115
30CC
American Comics Update: DC Debuts: The complete Zatanna’s Search inc 1st appearance in Hawkman #4
*DC: Now we’re straying dangerously close here to my all-time favourite comics! Absolutely delighted to bring you all 6 parts of the Zatanna’s Search storyline – a crossover story arc before there were such things — commonplace now but unheard of in 1964! Zatanna is the daughter of DC’s Golden Age magician Zatara, first appearing in Hawkman #4 and taking her search for her missing father through the pages of Green Lantern, Atom, Detective Comics and the Justice League of America. This copy of Hawkman #4 is a lowish graded cents copy, with an unspoilt cover image. Decent staples, firmly attached, and reasonable off-white pages with minor page edge wear. Some corner blunting, with minimal colour-breaking creases to the bottom right edge. The spine is worn, but more or less complete. One or two small grubby logo marks and minor edge wear. Presents pretty well. The remaining five parts are shown below in order (completists should note that Zatanna only appears in disguise in Detective Comics #336, retconned into the Batman story, as we found out in JLA #51, in order to get Batman into that issue).
PICTURED:
HAWKMAN #4 GD £235 1 of 6
DETECTIVE COMICS #336 GD/VG £18.50 2 of 6
ATOM #19 FN p £105 3 of 6
GREEN LANTERN #42 FN- p £25 4 of 6
DETECTIVE COMICS #355 GD p £12 5 of 6
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #51 FN/VF p £85 6 of 6
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Blackhawk
*DC: Our latest Blackhawk update takes the team from their original blue uniforms through their red/green outfits right until they become super-heroes (!) towards the end of their run.
IN THIS UPDATE: BLACKHAWK
#168 GD p £4.50
#174 GD p £4.50
#181 GD p £4.50
#205 VG p £6
#222 GD/VG p £3.50
#235 GD p £2.50
American Comics Update: Warlock Week 1: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Him (later Warlock) in Fantastic Four #66 & #67
*Marvel: We begin a special Warlock two week event right here. As befits its status as the premier series of the Marvel Universe, the Fantastic Four has launched many secondary careers of the FF’s foes and friends who first appeared as guest-stars, then graduated to their own series. The Silver Surfer, the Inhumans, the Black Panther and many others have debuted this way, and in Fantastic Four #66, we were introduced to a mysterious cocooned figure who emerged the following issue as ‘Him’, a being of almost godlike power. Later, he would be named Warlock and would enjoy a chequered career of critical acclaim, but haphazard commercial success, coming into his own with Jim Starlin’s controversial series of the 1970s. These two issues see the first appearance and origin of the character, though he was not fully revealed until the second half of the two-part story.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#66 GD- p £35 A nice enough pence-printed copy with some edge wear which would grade higher but for a small corner off top right cover (see scan).
#67 FN £100 A sound copy with residual gloss, good colour and an unmarked cover. Excellent pages are off-white to white and staples are tight and firm. A handful of tiny creases at spine, only one of which breaks colour by about 1 mm.
American Comics Update: Warlock Week 1: Mighty Marvel Firsts: First Full Appearance Him (later Warlock) in Thor #165 & #166 Two-Parter
*Marvel: Created in a cocoon by scientists in Fantastic Four, the supernaturally gifted being known only as ‘Him’ made a couple of cameo appearances in previous issues of Thor, but #165 featured the first full appearance of the character, and the earliest inkling of the extent of his powers. Eventually, re-named Warlock, ‘Him’ would become a mainstay of Marvel’s cosmic sagas in the 1970s and beyond, but here was the first full outing, in a two-part battle with Thor for the hand (and other parts) of the warrior-maiden Sif, Thor’s main squeeze. More Warlock next week!
PICTURED: THOR
#165 VG+ p £75 A pence-printed copy, with excellent cover colour and gloss, good staples and supple off-white pages. Some edge wear, including small colour-breaking creases at top and bottom right corners.
#166 FN- p £40 A pence-printed copy, with good cover colour and gloss, good staples and nice page quality, ever so slightly grubby with minor edge wear.
American Comics Update: Spider-Mania Bonus: Strange Tales Annual #2: Spidey Vs The Human Torch
*Marvel: In 1963, the second Strange Tales Annual was not only a crossover between Spider-Man and the Human Torch, but it was also a crossover between their signature artists as well, as you get to sample the unique and quirky experience of Steve Ditko inks over Jack Kirby pencils, making this a very special issue. There’s plenty of reprint shorts in the science-fiction/fantasy genre to back up the main story as well. An uncommon issue.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES ANNUAL #2 GD/VG p £175 A reasonable pence-stamped copy with the squarebound spine more or less intact; there is a small nick at the top and 1.5 cm tear at the bottom with no loss. Some short-ish colour-breaking creases on the cover, most noticeably partially over the bodies of Spidey and the Torch, but these are not too bad. Minor wear to edges with corner blunting. Staples and binding are good and tight. Off-white to cream pages are supple and decent.
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Six Of The Best: X-Men #43-48
*Marvel: In 1968, Marvel began to really shake things up with the X-Men. First they brought in new individual costumes for our heroes, then they killed off their mentor Professor X (but only for the first time), and next they had a series of changing logos, as seen on the six issues presented here from the Good Doctor Collection from #43-48. There were focused team issues as well, first an Angel solo in #44, then the Beast & Iceman in #47 and then Cyclops and Marvel Girl in #48. Along the way there were clashes with Magneto, the Avengers and the Juggernaut, so quite e lot of changes going on. There were many more to follow…
IN THIS UPDATE: X-MEN
#43 FN p £60 (PICTURED) Classic John Buscema cover. Pence stamped
#44 FN- £50 (PICTURED)
#45 FN+ £47 (PICTURED)
#46 FN- £50 (PICTURED)
#47 VG £31
#48 VG- £19
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: The Bute Collection: Pre & Post Code Horror Fest: Atlas Spellbound
*Horror 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection this week, six issues of one of Atlas’s prominent horror titles, Spellbound, 1 pre and 5 post code. Atlas always provided a consistent standard of thrills and chills!
IN THIS UPDATE: SPELLBOUND
#19 FA £30 Pre-Code. Cover detached with long spine splts. Everett cover. Massey, Powell, Fujitani and others.
#30 PR £10 Covers detached and separated. Everett cover. Wildey, Reinman and others.
#31 VG £60 (PICTURED) Maneely cover. Roussos, Williamson, Sale, Ecerett, Forte and others.
#32 GD/VG £45 (PICTURED) Burgos cover. Powell, Torres, Tartaglione, Forte, Pakula and others.
#33 VG+ £70 (PICTURED) Burgos cover. Forte, Torres, Sale, Maneely, Tartaglione and others.
#34 VG+ £70 (PICTURED) Burgos cover? Williamson, Roussos, Sale, Bolle, Forte and others.
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: ACG’s Unknown Worlds
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Following Adventures Into The Unknown and Forbidden Worlds, which both started earlier, Unknown Worlds was ACG’s third venture into the horror/mystery/whimsy field of the 1960s, offering much the same fare by the same creators as its two elder siblings. Six examples fresh in this week.
IN THIS UPDATE: UNKNOWN WORLDS
#16 VG p £8.75
#17 VG+ p £10
#23 FN p £11
#27 GD/VG £5.75 Off bottom staple
#32 VG p £6 (PICTURED)
#41 VG- p £5.25
British Comics Update: Alan Class Spider-Mania: Amazing #5 reprinted in Sinister Tales #38
*Alan Class Reprints: In Sinister Tales #38, Alan Class reprinted Amazing Spider-Man #5, in which Spidey tackles Dr. Doom, the earliest Spidey story cover featured in his publications. This above average copy, despite some back cover creasing and a tiny nick at the top of the spine, presents very well, with great unmarked cover colour including the white background and firmly attached nice quality pages.
PICTURED: SINISTER TALES #38 FN- £100
British Comics Update: 2 Beezer Annuals: 1958 (1st) and 1964
*Annuals: 2 Beezer Annuals added to our stock this week, including the first ever from 1958. Ginger, Pop, Dick and Harry, Calamity Jane and Baby Crockett star alongside many other comedy and adventure strips.
IN THIS UPDATE: BEEZER ANNUAL
1958 GD/VG £40 (PICTURED) A very nice copy with mostly minimal edge and corner wear and firmly attached white pages. The spine is intact except for a peculiar 3 cm chunk out about one quarter of the way down. No gift dedication or markings.
1964 FN £20 Beautiful copy with only very minor edge rubbing at spine and corners. Crisp and clean with no gift dedication; price unclipped.
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Spotted: Philip K Dick Part 4
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category for Philip K Dick, one of our best-selling authors; many would consider him the finest exponent of science-fiction of the late 20th century. I guess his themes of religion, drugs, counter culture and destructive relationships hold wide appeal. We are blessed with an excellent stock of his works, the enhanced re-listing of which will be spread over several updates. This fourth part, like its predecessors, features a choice of edition for many novels, including The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch, where Dick explores all his signature themes, and Radio Free Albemuth, his final novel. We’ll be spotting more Dick soon…
PICTURED: ALL BY PHILIP K DICK
RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH Avon 1987 1st US PB VG £4
THE SIMULACRA Magnum 1977 1st UK PB VG/FN £8
THE SIMULACRA Methuen 1987 UK PB VG £6
SOLAR LOTTERY Arrow 1972 1st UK PB GD £8
SOLAR LOTTERY Arrow 1979 2nd UK PB VG/FN £8
THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH MacFadden-Bartell 1966 1st US PB VG £17
THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH Gollancz 2003 UK PB VF £7
TIME OUT OF JOINT Belmont 1965 1st US PB FN £12
Books Update: A romance with wonderful dust jacket by Reginald Heade
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: I’ve banged on here before about the quality of work by Reginald Heade, dubbed ‘England’s Greatest Artist’ for his book covers in the 1940s and 1950s, so of course we’re pleased to have a new examples fresh into stock this week. Harbour Lights by Anne Duffield is a first hardcover edition from 1953 and a fine specimen of Heade’s romance cover work. (Yes, we know romance isn’t exactly crime, spies or sleaze, but whilst we don’t plan on having a romance category, we’re not letting that stop us stocking anything by Heade!). A VG/FN book in a GD/VG dust jacket, with minor creasing at the bottom spine and a slight loss at the top spine and back cover, but the art is totally undamaged.
PICTURED:
HARBOUR LIGHTS by Anne Duffield VG/FN in GD/VG DJ 1953 £15
Books Update: Chocks Away with Biggles (and Worrals)!
*Children’s Books: This week, we return to the adventures of Biggles. Written by Captain W E Johns, the wartime (and later) stories of James Bigglesworth gave us an iconic British hero, a highly competent fighter pilot with a characteristic gentlemanly air, who has gone on to represent an archetypal figure. Nearly 100 Biggles books were written and published and reprinted many times over, and we have a bew selection now available, all hardcovers with dust jackets And I wish Biggles, Algy, Ginger and Smyth were still up there now, looking out for us – we could do with them and their wizard prangs. And if they aren’t enough, there’s Worrals too! Joan Worralson and her sidekick Betty ‘Frecks; Lovell, presenting the distaff side of aviation adventure; note the dust jacket illustration by Reginald Heade on our single Worrals addition.
PICTURED: ALL BY W E JOHNS
BIGGLES DELIVERS THE GOODS Hodder & Stoughton 1952 5th UK HC FN £6 With DJ VG
BIGGLES FAILS TO RETURN Hodder & Stoughton 1951 3TH UK HC FN £5 With DJ GD
BIGGLES FLIES SOUTH Oxford University Press 1951 7th UK HC VG/FN £7 With DJ GD
BIGGLES FLIES TO WORK Dean & Son 1963 6th UK HC VG £4 With DJ GD
BIGGLES IN THE ORIENT Hodder & Stoughton 1949 3rd UK HC VG £8 With DJ VG
BIGGLES’ SECOND CASE Hodder & Stoughton 1950 3rd UK HC VG/FN £9 With DJ GD/VG
WORRALS GOES AFOOT Lutterworth Press 1949 1st UK HC GD £10 With DJ PR
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Batmania: Batman #34 (1946)
*DC: We’re very pleased to present another Golden Age Batman from the Bute Collection this week. This time it’s #34, with a dynamic action-packed cover by Dick Sprang and three Batman crime stories by Sprang (including cameos by the Joker and the Penguin) plus an Alfred story by Jerry Robinson. Structurally, a very nice copy with bright colours and little wear (just slightly blunted corners and a tiny chip out at centre right edge). There is a tiny corner off one interior page (margin only). Staples are tight, firm and clean and comic lies flat. Page quality is an excellent and very supple off-white. The grade is kept to VG due to enthusiastic signatures in pen by a previous owner in four places on the cover (over the backgrounds rather than the figures) and further such incursions on inside page margins.
PICTURED: BATMAN #34 VG £360
American Comics Update: Green Lantern #40 – Crisis On Infinite Earths ‘Prequel’
*DC: We know, it sounds a bit weird, but two decades after the publication of this 1965 issue, DC linked it retroactively to their blockbuster crossover ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’, by declaring the major events therein (no, we’re not going to tell you what they were – spoilers!) as the retconned kick-off to Crisis. This nifty team-up between the Green Lanterns of Earths One and Two has therefore acquired an historic value beyond that seemingly justified by its (admittedly considerable) merits. And it’s a great read too! This is a reasonable pence-stamped copy with good cover colour and gloss, marred by some spine creasing and a faint-ish bookshop stamp over Alan Scott’s legs. If you can live with that, this is a copy which would otherwise grade higher.
PICTURED: GREEN LANTERN #40 VG- p £49 SOLD
American Comics Update: DC Debuts: 1st Modern Black Adam in Shazam #28
*DC: Issue #28 of Shazam from 1977 featured the return of one of Captain Marvel’s most powerful nemeses, Black Adam, who gained his mighty powers from the same source as the Captain himself. Having only appeared previously in the Golden Age Marvel Family #1 (1945), this modern-day debut was the second-ever appearance of Teth-Adam and his super-powered alter ego. This is a decent pence-stamped copy getting towards mid-grade, flat and unmarked, with tight and firmly attached staples. Some corner blunting and a little edge wear, but nothing serious. Nice pages; perhaps just a little bit tired, keeping the grade down.
PICTURED: SHAZAM #28 VG+ p £50
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Tales Of The Unexpected
*DC: Like many long-running titles, Tales Of The Unexpected went through many changes in its lifetime. Starting out in 1956 with horror/mystery/sci-fi stories, the Space Ranger feature was added between #40 and #82, replaced in due course by other features such as Automan and the Green Glob, before changing title to The Unexpected with #105 and joining DC’s 1970s horror line-up. Six issues this week from the recurring feature period.
IN THIS UPDATE: TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED ALL SOLD
#75 VG- p £12.75 (PICTURED)
#77 FA/GD p £3.25
#81 GD p £4.25
#89 VG p £8.75
#90 VG p £7.50
#97 GD+ £6.25
American Comics Update: ‘Demon In A Bottle!’ – Iron Man #128
*Marvel: One of the more ground-breaking issues of the 1970s was Iron Man #128, in which creators David Michelinie and John Romita Jr. played out the plot they’d been building up for months: the dark underside of Tony Stark’s insouciant playboy façade, as his struggle with alcoholism was revealed. This was presented as an ongoing illness, rather than being wrapped up neatly by the issue’s end. Although the story caused controversy and outrage at the time of its release, over time it has received acclaim and respect as the first serious presentation of the subject in a mainstream comic. The cover has become regarded as a classic. This is a superior copy, with some spine ticks which do not break colour, and a tiny crease across the bottom right corner which faintly does break colour. White pages, tight staples.
PICTURED: IRON MAN #128 VF p £85
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania: Amazing #136-137: The Green Goblin Lives Again!
*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection this week, a landmark storyline from the 1970s. Harry Osborn took up his father’s villainous identity as the Green Goblin in this two-parter in Amazing Spider-Man #136-167, with repercussions for all the denizens of the Spider-verse.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#136 FN+ £70 Nice copy with great colour and an unmarked cover. Just minor handling/reading wear at edges.
#137 VG/FN £30 Decent copy with great colour and an unmarked cover. Light to moderate handling wear at spine. For those that are bothered, the Mark Jewelers insert is present. SOLD
American Comics Update: Avengers #5 with the Hulk and the Lava Men
*Marvel: An early issue of everyone’s favourite assemblers. Avengers #5 features the regular team, plus the newly-revived Captain America with Rick Jones and the Hulk up against Thor’s old foes the Lava Men. This is a lowish graded pence printed copy, with a fair amount of creasing and edge wear, particularly to the top edge. Someone has written the month below the issue number in its box, a frequent defect. There is also a long colour-breaking crease horizontally down the centre, like a subscription crease. The bottom staple is off the front cover. Page quality isn’t bad, reasonably clean. A chance to get an early issue at a very affordable price.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #5 GD p £85 SOLD
American Comics Update: X-Men #1 (1991) Complete set with all 5 versions
*Marvel: Here’s your chance to grab a complete set of all five versions of the biggest selling comic of all time. According to the most recently available data, the best-selling American single-issue comic is X-Men #1 (second series), which was published in 1991 and has since sold almost 8.2 million copies. We just have the five of them here, one of each variant cover. Four issues spotlight different characters, while the fifth has a double fold-out cover (front and back), with all four covers joined into one vista. Every issue has the same story, of course, with art by fan favourite Jim Lee, but each has a different pin-up across the centrefold. 3 x VF, 1 VF/NM and 1 FN.
PICTURED: X-MEN #1; set of all five variant covers £65
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: It’s A Jungle Out There: Sheena #4 1948
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle starred in Jumbo Comics from its #1 issue in 1938, and spun off into her own title in 1942, thus becoming the first female comic character to star in her own title (just beating Wonder Woman). This was the time of jungle supremacy following the success of Tarzan, and Sheena was the first of a horde of Jungle Queens who were to follow. Jumbo was an anthology title which Sheena had to share, but here in her own series we have wall-to-wall Sheena in #4 with four long stories. A nice copy with little wear except for a tiny chip off top right corner. An unmarked cover, slightly miscut, but only slightly, tight firm staples, supple off-white pages. Flat with no creases and very insignificant signs of edge wear. Presents very well. From the Bute Collection.
PICTURED: SHEENA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE #4 FN- £145
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Atlas Seaboard Horror(ish) titles inc. 3 #1 issues
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: In the 1980s and 1990s, new universes were quite commonplace (Valiant, Ultraverse, Defiant etc), but back in 1975 a whole new comic group launch competing with DC & Marvel was quite a bold and innovative move. Sadly, this project helmed by Marvel’s founder Martin Goodman was doomed to failure, and none of the 28 comic and magazine titles lasted more than 4 issues, despite having stellar names involved such as Wood, Ditko, Chaykin, Adams, Heath, Severin, Toth and more. This week we feature three titles (all with horror overtones), including #1 issues for all.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
FRIGHT FEATURING SON OF DRACULA
#1 FN £7.50 (PICTURED) Only issue
TALES OF EVIL FEATURING THE BOG BEAST
#1 FN/VF p £8
#2 VF p £9.75
WEIRD SUSPENSE FEATURING THE TARANTULA
#1 VG £3.50
#2 VF- p £7.25
#3 FN- p £4.25
British Comics Update: Collected Editions join our Mega British Half-Price Comics Sale!
*Collected Editions: Our Mega British Half Price Comics Sale continues apace, now in its third month, with some titles now sold out and many running low in stock, so we’ve expanded the scope of the sale to include the entire contents of this category (with the sole exception of Modesty Blaise). Collected Editions are vintage British comic and newspaper strips collected in modern editions, and you’ll find many famous names in British comics listed in this category now reduced to half price: Charley’s War, Dan Dare, Jet Ace Logan, Halo Jones, Jinty, Judge Dredd, The Leopard From Lime Street, Wham, Smash & Pow, Misty, Trigan Empire, Zenith and many, many others. Full details as always in our catalogue. A selection is shown here.
Still thousands of items on sale at half price in the following categories:
Power Comics
Collected Editions
Boys’ Adventure & War Comics
TV & Film Related Comics
Humour Comics
Girls’ Comics
Magazines/Books About Vintage UK Comics
British Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Rick Random in Super-Detective Library
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Rick Random was one of the best of the 1950s spacemen prolific in British comics. Debuting in Super-Detective Library #37 and created by Edward Holmes (writer) and Bill Lacey (artist), many subsequent stories were graced with the wonderfully stylish artwork of Ron Turner; the famous American science fiction author Harry Harrison had a hand in writing several. This week, we are delighted to present six of Rick’s adventures in a mix of grades.
PICTURED: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY: RICK RANDOM
#64 VG £15 The Five Lives Of Mr Quex
#66 GD £12.50 The Gold-Rush Planet
#75 FA £10 The Secret Of The Ocean Planet
#97 GD £12.50 The Mystery Of The Time Travellers
#101 GD/VG £12 The Riddle Of The Vanishing People
#105 GD/VG £12 The Mystery Of The Man Who Put Out The Sun
British Comics Update: Beano 1967 – New and Improved!
*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we have a new batch of Beano in this week from 1967, a year totally unrepresented in our listing for some time prior to this. Noteworthy highlights from this selection include #1277 & #1280 with Bimbo and Beezer promotional flyers respectively, #1288 (Easter issue) and #1289 with the 1st Billy The Cat. All in decent grades between GD and VG/FN. Full details as always in our catalogue.
Books Update: 4 by Poul Anderson
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: This week, we feature more from Poul Anderson, award-winning American science fiction and fantasy writer of Scandinavian descent. Anderson came to fame as a writer of so-called ‘hard’ science fiction, which, although rooted in technology, was shot through with humanity. Later perhaps, he produced many works of fantasy of great merit. Four of his works fresh in this week. The Byworlder is a novel where 21st century tension is complicated by the presence of an alien spaceship with unknown intentions. The Corridors Of Time is a time travel tour de force. Shield is about the ultimate protection device and Twilight World is a novel of tomorrow’s children.
PICTURED: ALL BY POUL ANDERSON
THE BYWORLDER Coronet 1974 1st UK PB VG/FN £3
THE CORRIDORS OF TIME Panther 1975 UK PB GD/VG £3
SHIELD Tandem 1969 1st UK PB VG/FN £3
TWILIGHT WORLD Panther 1964 1st UK PB VG £4
Books Update: Re-Working Our Crime, Spies and Sleaze Category: Mike Shayne by Brett Halliday Part 2
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies and Sleaze category for the second of a two-part re-listing of the adventures of Mike Shayne by Brett Halliday (the first part selection completely sold out). Halliday was the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, who wrote in a number of genres, but whose major work were the Mike Shayne private eye novels for which he used the name. It’s a bit more complicated than that, since it’s believed that most or even all of the Shayne novels after 1958 were ghost-written by others (there are around 70 novels in all). The world of Mike Shayne was cool, tough, sexy and full of mystery and action. Our second selection dates from the late 1950s to late 1960s and is blessed with fabulous covers by the famous artist Robert McGinnis.
PICTURED: ALL MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERIES BY BRETT HALLIDAY ALL SOLD
MURDER AND THE WANTON BRIDE Dell 1965 1st US New Edition PB VG £5
MURDER BY PROXY DEll 1963 1st US PB FN/VF £5
MURDER SPINS THE WHEEL Dell 1966 1st US PB GD/VG £5
MURDER TAKES NO HOLIDAY Dell 1961 1st US PB VG/FN £5
THE PRIVATE PRACTICE OF MICHAEL SHAYNE 1959 2nd US New Edition PB GD/VG £8
SO LUSH, SO DEADLY Dell 1968 1st US PB VG/FN £5
VIOLENCE IS GOLDEN Dell 1968 1st US PB GD/VG £5
Books Update: Books About H P Lovecraft
*Books About Books: You’ll find a couple of items listed under ‘About HP Lovecraft’ added to this category this week. The first is a learned work on Cthulhu by the famous writer, editor and enthusiast Lin Carter with a complete bibliography. The second is a fasinationg record of Lovecraft’s correspondence with a teenage fan in the 1930s in a beautfully presented tome.
PICTURED:
ABOUT H P LOVECRAFT: LIN CARTER: LOVECRAFT: A LOOK BEHIND THE CTHULHU MYTHOS Panther 1975 1st UK PB FN £15 ‘The story of the century’s greatest myth and myth-maker – the legend of dread Cthulhu’ ABOUT H P LOVECRAFT: H P LOVECRAFT AND WILLIS CONOVER: LOVECRAFT AT LAST Carollton Clark 1975 1st US HC VF £60 With DJ VF in removable archival film Large ‘coffee table’ book; profusely illustrated with facsimile documents and art. Prints the eight-month (July 1936-March 1937) correspondence between fifteen-year old Conover and forty-six year old Lovecraft (terminated at the latter’s death), with narrative continuity.
American Comics Update: Batmania: Six Of The Best (reading copies)
*DC: Six issues of Batman covering a wide period between #115 (the era of aliens and monsters), through to the New Look in #164, with an 80 Page Giant starring Robin, then a Joker cover and story (#186) from the height of popularity of the Batman TV show, concluding on the brink of the darker Batman with Neal Adams in #219. These are all low grade copies in various states of damage and disrepair, great for a read but probably not pride of place in your collection.
IN THIS UPDATE: BATMAN ALL SOLD
#115 PR/FA £22.50 Spine worn, partially split and taped. Cover scuff the size of a small coin covering one giant’s face.
#164 PR £8 Water damage, spine split and cover detached. Heavy wear.
#185 FA p £4.75 Eighty Page Giant starring Robin. Long bottom spine split; edge wear and tear.
#186 GD p £32 (PICTURED) Joker cover and story. Corner creasing, minor wear top and bottom spine and in upper staple area.
#217 GD- p £4.75 Water marks central right edge
#219 FA/GD p £5.75 Adams art. Small upper spine split; edge wear and tear.
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: The Atom, the World’s Smallest Super-Hero
*DC: Six quality issues of the Atom this week, from the mid-period of his Silver Age run, with highly imaginative stories by Gardner Fox and stylish artwork from Gil Kane and Sid Greene. Covers feature the Atom in action and in dire predicaments (including being ironed in #16!) and there are some delightful back-up stories including a couple of Time Pool features, where the Atom travels back in time. These are all fresh and clean pence-stamped copies in excellent condition.
IN THIS UPDATE: ATOM ALL SOLD
#16 VG/FN p £12.75
#17 FN+ p £20
#18 FN p £14.25
#20 VF- p £29
#21 FN p £13
#22 FN/VF p £21.50
American Comics Update: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Amazing #10 with the Big Man & the Enforcers
*Marvel: This week’s dip into Spider-Mania features Amazing Spider-Man #10, another Lee & Ditko gem. In Spider-Man’s tenth issue, the mysterious ‘Big Man’ sought aid in his goal to become the king of the underworld, and enlisted the assistance of a trio of career criminals known as the Enforcers. One of them, the Ox, went on to become a nemesis of Daredevil, and enjoy a villainous career in his own right, but still ‘got the band together’ from time to time with his cohorts, Dapper Dan and Montana to battle the Human Torch, Dazzler and multiple clashes with Spider-Man and Daredevil. The Big Man, of course, in other guises featured heavily in the Ditko period of the title. This pence-printed copy is structurally very sound, nice and flat with virtually no creasing except one or two minor spine ticks; there is a tiny chip out centre cover right edge. Staples are tight and firm, pages a supple off-white to cream. Cover colour is strong. Inside covers have some tanning at edges, but are not brittle. The main defect is a narrow dust shadow which runs along the length of the right cover edge (see scan). If you can live with this, you can get a really nice copy of this early issue at a good price.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10 VG+ p £315
American Comics Update: X-Men #7: The Return of the Blob
*Marvel: By the time the Blob appeared for his second outing in the nascent X-Men title, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil You-Know-Who’s (as the cover dubbed them), were becoming ever-present, this issue trying to recruit the Blob to their cause. Lots of lovely moments in this Lee/Kirby classic. This copy of X-Men #7 is a reasonable lower-graded cents copy, with an unmarked cover, good tight staples and excellent off-white pages. There is a ragged 3 cm tear at centre right edge with no loss, a colour breaking crease across the bottom right cover corner, a 4 cm lower spine split and a bit of colour fading to the cover.
PICTURED: X-MEN #7 GD+ £110
American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Red Sonja in Conan #23 & #24
*Marvel: Forget the Frank Thorne drawn daft ha’p’orth in the chainmail bikini – the proper Red Sonja, who, you know, wore clothes and had a brain, made her first appearance in issue #23 of Conan’s title (Marvel rather dropping the ball by not having her on the cover, but we promise you, she’s in there) and co-starring in #24’s epic ‘The Song of Red Sonja!’ – though our heroine does a great deal more than just sing, proving herself Conan’s equal, if not superior. Sadly, the popularity of Sonja’s appearances in these two issues led Marvel to produce a more sexualised and less competent version of the character for her solo series – but these two issues, by Roy Thomas and superbly drawn by Barry Smith, remain as good as ever!
PICTURED: CONAN
#23 FN/VF p £90 1st Red Sonja. Very nice pence-printed copy with great gloss and colour. A few horizontal spine ticks do not break colour. Sharp corners, tight, firm staples, supple white to off-white pages. SOLD
#24 FN/VF p £70 1st Red Sonja cover. Very nice pence-printed copy with great gloss and colour. Very minor spine wear. Very soft, non colour-breaking crease across bottom right corner is barely discernable. Very tiny tear at right edge with no loss. Sharp corners, tight, firm staples, supple white to off-white pages.
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Six Of The Best: Avengers Assemble
*Marvel: Six issues of the Avengers between #60 and #76, a popular period with lots of events and debuts; scripts by Roy Thomas, pencils by John and Sal Buscema. All lovely, superior condition copies.
IN THIS UPDATE: AVENGERS
#60 VF+ p £60 (PICTURED) Wedding of Hank & Jan. Outstanding copy with great colour and gloss; just a small dink at base of spine. Pence stamped. SOLD
#62 FN+ £60 (PICTURED) 1st Man-Ape. Great copy with excellent colour and gloss and just minor edge/handling wear.
#69 FN/VF p £95 (PICTURED) Kang and Growing Man; 1st brief app. Squadron Sinister. Very colourful and glossy copy with just minor handling wear. Pence printed.
#70 FN £55 (PICTURED) 1st full Squadron Sinister. Nice glossy copy with quite moderate handling wear.
#75 FN/VF £27 1st Arkon. Beautifully glossy, just minor wear at spine and staples area. SOLD
#76 VF £37 Great colour and gloss. Just the slightest sign of reading wear at the spine. SOLD
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Strange Tales #3 & #4
*Horror 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection this week, another dip into the entrails of Pre-Code Horror with two issues of Strange Tales, one of Atlas’s flagship titles for this stuff. Like Journey Into Mystery, Strange Tales is one of the Marvel titles that had its roots in the Atlas Pre-Code Horror days and survived via the Big Panty Monsters into the super-heroic Silver Age. It’s the Pre-Code Horror that concerns us here, with two early issues in low grade, but very affordable shape. The usual high standards of Atlas horror are preserved in these rare items.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES
#3 FA+ £90 Pre-Code. Atom Bomb panels. Art by Burgos, Maneely, Romita, Sekowsky & others. Spine split almost down to the one central staple (as printed) with a small chip out top spine. Long, spidery colour-breaking creases vertically at centre cover and right edge. Three small chips out at edges; short edge tear right of logo with no loss. Central staple is firm. Pages are a reasonable creamy colour and not brittle. Inside covers tanned at edges. Cover colour quite decent. SOLD
#4 GD- £125 Pre-Code. Cosmic Evil Eye story by Bill Everett. Other art by Brodsky, Romita & others. Cover detached at central staple. Small split at top spine and small staple-sized hole in spine in staple area. Strong cover colour. Edge wear relatively minor. Pages are a decent, supple off-white to cream. SOLD
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: A Charlton Silver/Bronze Horror Mix
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Six issues of various Charlton horror/mystery series from the 1960s and 1970s. Lots of Ditko in these.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
GHOSTLY TALES #67 GD- £3.75 Ditko cover and art
HAUNTED #16 FN+ p £8 Ditko cover and art
HAUNTED #19 FN+ p £5
BARON WEIRWULF’S HAUNTED LIBRARY (continuation of Haunted) #22 FN £5
HAUNTED LOVE #4 VG/FN p £5.75 Ditko art
MANY GHOSTS OF DR GRAVES #46 FN p £4
British Comics Update: Alan Class File Copies inc. Tales Of The Underworld #1
*Alan Class Reprints: From the personal archives of Alan Class, we’re delighted to present another selection of copies certificated by Alan himself. Five copies of various pre-decimal titles, including Tales Of The Underworld #1, a rarer crime title that lasted 10 issues. The file copies were used by Alan Class for reference and are sometimes in variable condition, but usually quite good. A reminder that you can view some detail of the contents in our Rough Guide to Alan Class Reprints.
IN THIS UPDATE:
OUT OF THIS WORLD (1ST SERIES) #4 VG+ £12.50
OUT OF THIS WORLD (1ST SERIES) #23 FA £4
OUTER SPACE #4 GD/VG £10.50
TALES OF THE UNDERWORLD #1 (PICTURED) GD £19.75 Small section at bottom cover covered by white stuck patch from another publication; see scan.
WEIRD PLANETS #3 VG- £13.50
British Comics Update: When You’re A Jet…
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: …well, it’s not long before you become a Buster, as it happens; but Jet, the 1971 adventure weekly launch from IPC/Fleetway, started strongly, with a line-up of well-crafted series along the well-trod path of war, sci-fi and sport, along with Ken Reid’s superb Faceache. For some reason, however, the series just didn’t ‘take’, despite other stellar contributors such as Solano Lopez and Eric Bradbury, and after a short run of 22 issues, it was inexplicably merged with the humour weekly, Buster, rather than another adventure series. The Sludgemouth Sloggers, Von Hoffman’s Invasion, Faceache, and The Kids From Stalag 41 made the leap. For a long time Jet languished forgotten. Recent interest in short-run titles has increased, however, and here we have an opportunity for you to sample Jet with 12 of the 22 issues new in. See our catalogue for full details. We can’t resist the giant frog cover!
PICTURED: JET 12/6/71 VG £4
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Spotted: Philip K Dick Part 3
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category for Philip K Dick, one of our best-selling authors; many would consider him the finest exponent of science-fiction of the late 20th century. I guess his themes of religion, drugs, counter culture and destructive relationships hold wide appeal. We are blessed with an excellent stock of his works, the enhanced re-listing of which will be spread over several updates. This third part, like its predecessor, features a choice of edition for many novels, plus the classic Martian Time-Slip, where Dick explores the material and mental problems of the struggle for survival on the red planet. We’ll be spotting more Dick soon…
PICTURED: ALL BY PHILIP K DICK
MARTIAN TIME-SLIP NEL 1977 1st UK PB VG/FN £10
A MAZE OF DEATH Pan 1973 1st UK PB VG £10
A MAZE OF DEATH Pan 1977 2nd UK PB VF £15
NOW WAIT FOR LAST YEAR Panther 1975 1st UK PB VG £8
OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8 Ace 1970 1st US PB VG £7
OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8 Panther 1984 UK PB VG £6
THE PENULTIMATE TRUTH Penguin 1970 1st UK PB GD/VG £10
THE PENULTIMATE TRUTH Triad Granada 1984 UK PB FN £8
Books Update: 3 green hardcovers by Peter Cheyney
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We return to the thrillers of English author Peter Cheyney, who flourished between 1936 and 1951. Three hardcovers are just in, each with a distinctive green background cover. Two of these are in Cheyney’s Lemmy Caution series, ersatz American detective mysteries, with wonderful cover art by John Pisani and these editions are rare, particularly with their dust jackets. The third is a non-series novel, Try Anything Twice, set in England and featuring Nicholas Gale, private investigator. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY PETER CHEYNEY ALL SOLD
DAMES DON’T CARE Collins 1951 8th UK HC VG/FN £25 With DJ (GD)
POISON IVY Collins 1952 UK HC VG/FN £30 With DJ (VG)
TRY ANYTHING TWICE Collins 1948 UK HC VG/FN £10 With DJ (VG)
Books Update: 2 1950s UK version sci-fi pulps with classic covers
*Pulp Fiction: We’re delighted to feature this week two 1950s UK versions of famous American pulp titles with classic covers.
PICTURED:
AMAZING STORIES (UK) MAY 1953 GD/VG £15. Cover by Lee Ramon Summers. US version November 1952. Cover is one of the most memorable images from Brian Aldiss’ book Science Fiction Art, on sale in our Books About Books category
STARTLING STORIES (UK) Undated #5 VG £12. Complete novel The Seed From Space by Fletcher Pratt. Material from US version May 1951. Fabulous classic retro sci-fi cover and great interior art too!
Taking A Break
We’re taking a short break next week, after filling orders received up to 4 pm today (17th Feb) and posting them next Wednesday (21st). There will not be a Newsletter nor stock updates next Saturday, but they will be back on 2nd March. After this coming Sunday 18th, we’ll next be filling orders on 3rd March. You may of course continue to place orders at any time; we will acknowledge them and reserve items for you wherever possible.
American Comics Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Phantom Stranger #4 1953
*DC: As rare as hen’s teeth! In 30+ years of flogging comics, we’ve only ever had a couple of issues of the first series of Phantom Stranger through our hands before. In 1952, he appeared from nowhere, without explanation or origin to be DC’s mysterious omniscient and omnipotent being of mystery. Despite numerous theories in the DCU, no concrete information has ever been revealed about his true nature. Edited by Whitney Ellsworth, and created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, this series had the finest creators of the time working on it in a number of horror/supernatural stories. Here we get scripts by John Broome and Manly Wade Wellman with pencils by Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson and Gene Colan. Whilst perhaps not as Pre-Code horrifically as the fare of other less polished publishers, the Phantom Stranger made up for that in the quality of substance and style of his stories. This lower-graded copy has a narrowly taped spine, but the staples seem to hold it together firmly regardless. Cover colours are strong, with some short colour-breaking creases at edges and corners only. Page quality is a nice off-white to cream.
PICTURED: PHANTOM STRANGER #4 GD £190
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Green Lantern #46-51
*DC: Six consecutive issues of the Silver Age Green Lantern for your delectation, featuring The Guardians, the Green Lantern Corps inc Katma Tui, Dr Polaris, Goldface, the Dazzler (no, not that one) and Hal Jordan’s split with Ferris Aircraft, a turning point in our hero’s development.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
GREEN LANTERN
#46 FA p £4 Restapled
#47 FA/GD p £5.75 Loose centrefold
#48 VG p £13
#49 FA £4.25 Spine part re-glued
#50 GD p £7.50
#51 GD+ p £7.50
American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Agatha Harkness in Fantastic Four #94
*Marvel: Agatha Harkness has long been a staunch ally of the Fantastic Four and a mentor to the Scarlet Witch, but has occasionally shown darker tendencies and a mordant sense of humour. In her debut in Fantastic Four #94, she’s hired by Reed and Sue to look after ‘Little Franklin’, but her role develops into more than just a baby-sitter, particularly when the Frightful Four make the scene. This is a nice, glossy black background pence-stamped copy with very minor wear around the upper staple area and a tiny dink at the base of the spine. Near white pages and firm, tight staples complete this very attractive package.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #94 FN/VF p £110
American Comics Update: Spider-Mania/The Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection: Annuals #2 & #3
*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. This week, lovely copies of the second and third Amazing Spider-Man Annuals. #2 features a lovely 20 page new story co-starring Ditko’s other co-creation Dr Strange (and reprints of early Spidey stories and a Rogues’ Gallery pin-up section). Steve Ditko was given full rein on his two major Marvel co-creations and was equally at home in moody cityscapes and fantastic mystical realms. A real treat. #3 where the new story is drawn by John Romita and Don Heck, features Spidey auditioning to join the Avengers by bringing them the Hulk; as you can imagine, guest stars galore (plus reprints of the Dock Ock classic from Spidey #11/12).
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL
#2 FN+p £180 This is really nice copy. Although a lower grade than usual for this collection (and also unusually pence-stamped), the collector couldn’t find a better copy. Totally intact spine, with corners that are virtually square, staples are tight and firm. The only defect is a slight puckering of the front cover near the spine, probably due to slight shrinkage of the glue that binds this squarebound together. This is fairly minor.
#3 VF £235 An exceptional copy for a squarebound annual. Spine totally intact, square corners, supple off-white pages, tight and firm staples, flat and glossy. Just the merest hints of edge wear preclude a higher grade. SOLD
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Absorbing Man in Journey Into Mystery #114/115
*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection this week: One of Marvel’s long-running and more beloved villains, Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man, premiered in Journey Into Mystery (with Thor) #114, with his ability to absorb and replicate the properties of any person, object or substance causing quite a headache for our favourite Thunder God! Despite his surly mien, many folks feel that Crusher Creel is, to quote the Shangri-Las, ‘Good-bad, but not evil‘, and he has quite the fan-base, especially in latter decades since he married Titania. This initial two-part encounter concluded in #115, an issue which also revealed the detailed origin of Loki.
PICTURED: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
#114 GD+ £45 A solid copy with strong colour despite a small hazy stain in the bottom left corner over Thor’s calf, which may be water damage as the lower staple is rusty but firm (upper staple fine). Strong spine and reasonable page quality, marred by wear to the right edge margins only which extends through the comic, and affects the right edge of the cover.
#115 FN p £55 Nice pence-stamped copy with great colour, staples and nice off-white pages. Just minor reading wear at spine.
American Comics Update: Wolverine 1988
*Marvel: A quartet of issues from Wolverine’s first ongoing solo series new in this week as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE:
WOLVERINE
#18 NM £6.75
#22 FN+ £3.50
#42 VF £15 (PICTURED) Sabretooth proved not to be Wolverine’s father.
#50 VG £5 Die-cut cover with Wolverine claw marks. Some wear.