*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A dozen titles join the bookshelves, half of them 1st PB editions, and several in less commonly seen editions. First in this set are four titles by an unfairly overlooked author, Daniel F Galouye, consisting of Lords Of The Psychon, Project Barrier, The Last Leap And Other Stories Of The Super-Mind and The Lost Perception. Next is William Gibson with Burning Chrome, Count Zero and Neuromancer. M John Harrison is represented by The Centauri Device and The Pastel City (with Bruce Pennington cover art), and Raymond F Jones has The Alien and The Non Statistical Man. Ward Moore has Bring The Jubilee and, co-written with Avram Davidson, Joyleg, which has front and back cover art, and an interior picture, by Ed Emshwiller. Finally, the great John Wyndham with a classic Penguin edition of The Day Of The Triffids. 

*Clearance Corner: This week, we offer two separate complete mini-series of the famous Lee Falk creation: 2009’s The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks commenced with issue #0 and ran until issue #12, and Dynamite’s The Last Phantom ran 12 issues from 2011. Both complete series are in this package, averaging Near Mint condition, and as bonuses, you get an additional #1 (variant cover) of Last Phantom, plus Annuals#1 & #2 (2007 and 2008) of the Phantom’s ongoing Moonstone series. All this can be yours for a mere £20. UK postage (if required) will be a further £4. 

This Easter, our hours are as follows:
Good Friday 19th April Open Normal Hours 11-6
Saturday 20th April Open Normal Hours 11-6
Easter Sunday 21st April Closed
Easter Monday 22nd April Closed

*DC: Almost 100 issues of Batman added to our stock this week, in fact nearly all issues between #301 and #400, and nearly all in high grade. A very popular period for the Caped Crusader this, as can be attested by the previous paucity of these numbers in our catalogue. Plenty of appearances by classic villains in this time, with many Joker covers and lots of Catwoman. Perhaps the most significant event in this range is the debut of Jason Todd in #357 (shown here NM p £100); also pictured is the giant 400th Anniversary issue (NM p £27).

*Marvel: In 1972, Marvel launched many reprint titles, one of which, Jungle Action, featured 1950s stories of scantily clad white people bringing justice to the African wild, surrounded by grateful and subservient black folks. Realising belatedly this was a bit politically tone-deaf, Marvel abruptly swerved from #5, reprinting a Panther-centric issue of the Avengers, then from #6 presenting an all-new series starring T’Challa surrounded by political intrigue in his secret super-scientific society of Wakanda. Although writer Don McGregor’s style could charitably be described as ‘overwrought’, the series won loads of acclaim at the time, and introduced key characters such as Killmonger who would prove important later, not least in the Panther movie smash. We have a virtually complete run of Jungle Action new in, missing only #5 from the series, but including #6 (VF+ £160), the first Killmonger and the first new Panther solo, #8 (VF+ £55), Panther origin, plus an array of bizarre and disturbing villains, including Venomm (not that one), Lord Karnaj and a bunch of other people whose names are actually spelled correctly!

*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! Both are cents copies, no UK pricing; #23 is VF at £100, and #24 VF+ £100.

*Marvel: X-Men issue #129 introduced not one, but two, characters who were to become major players in the lives of the X-Men. Kitty Pryde, the young immaterial ingenue, made her debut as a pupil at Xavier’s school, and went on to become a central part of the series, eventually becoming the leader of the team, while Emma Frost, White Queen of the Hellfire Club, dedicated her telepathic prowess to the X-Men’s destruction – though that dedication hasn’t prevented her from occasionally joining the group herself, and seducing Cyclops whenever Jean Grey happens to be dead for a while! This copy of X-Men #129 is a sparkling NM-, with only a tiny lower corner crease, tight staples, bright covers with excellent gloss. A Pence copy, it is on sale at £120.

*Horror 1940-1959: While the huge Atlas collection we acquired months ago remains our ongoing project – plenty to come yet, folks! – it’s by no means our only source of vintage material, and some Atlas horror has arrived from other avenues, so we’re taking the opportunity to catch up with a selection of incoming items. We open with Journey Into Mystery, with three Post-Code issues added this week, move along to Journey Into Unknown Worlds #5, a Pre-Code sci-fi/horror hybrid, a selection of low-grade but extremely tempting Spellbound from #19 on, with gloriously lurid Pre-Code covers by the likes of Everett and Heath; and close with a single Suspense #27, which innovatively ‘trails’ an interior story with prelude panels on the front cover. Illustrated are Journey Into Mystery #27 GD/VG £100 and #43 VG £78; for all the rest, check out our online catalogue.

*Power Comics: Following his success with Wham!, Leo Baxendale was drafted by Odhams to devise a companion, using skills honed by his many years on the Beano. Smash debuted in 1966 with the first appearances of Baxendale’s ‘Bad Penny’, ‘Grimley Feendish’, ‘The Nervs’ and ‘The Swots & The Blots’, and Ken Reid’s ‘Queen of the Seas’, and went on from strength to strength with both humour and adventure strips; Jordi Bernet’s ‘Legend Testers’, Baxendale’s ‘Man From BUNGLE’, ‘Rubberman’, Mike Higg’s ‘The Cloak’ are all some of the well-remembered strips which originated in this series, plus reprints of Marvel super-heroes (The Hulk, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man) and the Batman newspaper strip – making Smash! unique in its occasional later strapline, ‘The comic with Spider-Man and Batman!’. We have the first ten issues back in stock, and most of the 192-issue original series (before the title was taken over by IPC/Fleetway and relaunched as a pseudo-Valiant). Illustrated are the first three numbers: #1 is complete but Poor, with a long horizontal back cover tear and a small corner off the upper left back cover corner, on sale at £25. #2 is VG £30, with a small spine tear and #3 is also VG £30, with some lower edge wear and light creasing. SORRY, MOST ISSUES OF SMASH NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Alongside Air & Ace and War, Battle formed the other part of Fleetway’s triumvirate of long-running war-themed picture libraries, starting in 1961 and finally ending in 1984. New in this week, issues #1-9 of this classic title. Illustrated here are #1 (The Rats Of Tobruk) VG £50, #2 (Devil’s Cauldron VG £20) and #3 (Trained To Kill) FN £25. For grades and prices on the others, as always please refer to our catalogue. 

*Humour Comics: A light sprinkling of popular titles from recently received stock: Ally Sloper, Alan Class’ experimental 1970s anthology featuring a cornucopia of talent including legendary creators Frank Hampson, John Richardson and Harry Bishop; issues #2-4 restocked. The final Dandy, #3610, brought the venerable title to a close in 2012 with an extra-large finale including a Free Gift of a Facsimile of the very first issue. The anarchic Krazy is restocked from #3, and Sparky has additional issues listed from 1965 and 1970. Top of the shop, however, are early issues of Monster Fun from #5 upwards, all including ‘Badtime Bedtime Stories’ or other pull-outs and supplements.

*Girls’ Comics: Romeo, the romance weekly for older girls and ‘young ladies’, ran from 1957 to 1974, and remains a sought-after commodity today, having lower print runs than comics for younger girls, and the teens & twenties being more prone to chucking things out rather than saving them. Doubly scarce, of course, are the issues with Free Gifts, so we’re fortunate to have five such new in, spanning three decades. From 1957, issue #83 offers a rather sinister colour portrait of Frankie Vaughan – comic is FN gift VF at £30. By 1968, the comic had abandoned numbers for dates and the Feb. 17th issue promises a ‘Pop Key Ring with Six Pix of your Fave Raves’; comic is VG Gift is VF in original never-opened envelope for £25. September 19th 1970 brings us a free ‘Romeo Midi Bag, which the cover (rather unrealistically we feel) promises will ‘Carry All Your Gear!’; the comic is VG, gift VF in original unopened envelope, both for £25. February 6th 1971 displays a rather pretty Cameo Choker, VF with the comic itself FN, on sale together at £30; and the cornucopia empties with February 5th 1972’s ‘Signet Seal Ring, again in original never-opened envelope VF, with the comic itself FN, both on sale at £30. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Clearance Corner: On offer in our ‘bargain basement’ this week is a batch of 71 Girls’ text and photo libraries (like picture libraries with text or photos instead of strip art) for just £20. These are nearly all pre-decimal in nice condition with attractive illustrated covers. The emphasis is firmly on romance (in hospital and elsewhere) but there are also a small number of pop, film & TV libraries. Titles are: from Fleetway: Hospital Romances x6, Woman’s World x12, Oracle x2, Woman’s Weekly x2, Cameo Romances x1, Fans’ Star Library x4; from Pearsons: Hospital Romances x9, Silver Star x2, Doctor Library x1, Mirabelle x1; from D C Thomson: Secrets Story x6, My Weekly x2; from Newnes: Hospital Romances x13; from World Distributors: Photo Romance Novels x10.  UK Postage on these if required would be an additional £8. SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: One of the biggest hits of the 1980s was the New Teen Titans, in which Marv Wolfman and George Perez took a moribund Sixties franchise and revitalised it into DC’s sales powerhouse of the decade. Introducing three brand-new characters – Cyborg, Raven and Starfire – Wolfman & Perez hewed very closely to the X-Men model of angst-ridden young heroes, and scored big points not only with DC’s readers; NTT became the DC Comic even Marvel fans bought! But the team made their first appearance, not in their own series, but in a ‘Bonus Book’, a supplement included with another title, DC Comics Presents #26. Here, for the first time, we met the new team, as they were gathered together to face a fearful menace – and the Jim Starlin-drawn Superman GL team-up’s pretty nifty too! Now the stars of a live-action TV show, the New Teen Titans’ popularity is soaring, so we’re pleased to be offering an nice copy of their debut issue. DC Comics Presents #26 is VF/NM, cents copy with no pence price, at £100. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: A round-up of DC titles starting with the letter ‘A’, specifically: Action Comics (inc 1st Adult Legion in #289, Supergirl Giant #334), Adventure Comics (inc 1st Black Orchid in #427, pictured VF- £27, Death of Earth 2 Batman in #462, pictured VF £35), Aquaman and Atom (inc #19 with Zatanna appearance).

*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. This copy of Shang-Chi’s debut is an attractive VG/FN, with unbroken cover colour, tight staples, and only light spine wear. Never distributed in the UK, and therefore doubly sought after, this is on sale at £80. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: The culmination of Claremont and Byrnes ‘Fate of the Phoenix’ storyline, following the cosmic empowerment of the former Marvel Girl, her gradual temptation to the dark side as Phoenix, and the heinous acts committed by her other persona. Arrested by cosmic peacekeeping force the Imperial Guard and put on trial for her crimes, Jean Grey and her teammates battle for her life – and lose, in a story that was genuinely shocking and epic at the time of its publication, and has lost only a little of its impact with Jean’s subsequent two (to date) resurrections. This square-bound extra-length issue was never distributed in the United Kingdom, as the distributors refused to handle non-standard copies, and has thus constituted an annoying gap for many British fans. This copy is VF+ at £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A small but tasty update to Marvel’s famous Strange Tales series: starting off with the uncommon Annual #2 from 1963 in low grade, featuring a Human Torch/Spider-Man encounter by Lee, Kirby and Ditko, we move on to a low grade #135 with the debut of Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, then several later issues with SHIELD by Steranko, including #151, the first Steranko art at Marvel, with the unverified signature of the man himself on the splash page. We conclude with #168, the final issue of the original series, before it was reborn as Dr Strange with the next issue.

*IW/Super: IW/Super is a strange side street on the highway of comics history, Launched by Israel Waldman in the late 1950s, he acquired content for his comics line by buying out a defunct printer’s stock of printing plates, which included the interiors, but not the covers, of a few hundred 1940s comic books, from dozens of publishers. With a fine disregard for copyright – since most of the publishers had gone under anyway – he simply reprinted the comics under new covers, with a bizarre non-sequential numbering scheme that no-one’s quite figured out to this day. Since these were distributed, three to a bag, as ‘novelties’ to toy and drug stores, they weren’t treated as periodicals, and weren’t subject to the Comics Code, so the 1940s horror titles, unabridged, might have caused an extra frisson to kids raised on the Code-Approved era. This is a selection of the great, the good and the grotesque of the Golden Age, with new listings this update for Black Knight, Danger, Fantastic Adventures, Fantastic Tales, Firehair, Frontier Romances, Jungle Adventures, Robin Hood, Space Detective, and Strange Planets.

*Horror 1940-1959: When Rugged Action – added to our lists last week – growled its last with issue #4, the title transmuted into Strange Stories of Suspense from #5, treading the rather safer commercial path of aliens, robots and weird happenings, in done-in-one mystery twist-enders by some distinguished artists. Gray Morrow, Al Williamson, Reed Crandall, Angelo Torres, Bernie Krigstein, Bob Powell and the Atlas trifecta of Everett, Maneely and Severin – a lot of talent for a short-run series that ended with #16. Seven issues of SSofS are new in this update, commencing with #6 and ending with #15. Depicted are #7 VG/FN £75, #10 VG/FN £73, #11 VG/FN £65, and #15 VG £54.

*Western: We’re heading way out West for this week’s third party graded experience. Three slabbed milestones – or more appropriately for the death-dealing Mr. Hex, tombstones! The first appearance of DC’s misanthropic scar-faced anti-hero was in 1972’s All-Star Western #10, marking a decided departure from the largely anodyne DC Western milieu. Heavily inspired by the grim n’ gritty ‘Spaghetti Western’ movement in cinema, Hex’s popularity proved so great that the series’ title was changed to Weird Western Tales with #12, reflecting the decidedly darker turn of the series. Completing the trio, Jonah was awarded his own solo series in 1977, bucking the trend to become an authentic Western superstar in an era almost completely dominated by the panties ‘n capes crowd! We have copies of all three newly in: All-Star Western #10 is CBCS verified 7.5 (VF- equivalent), at £175, Weird Western Tales #12, first issue of series, is CGC blue label (no restoration) 8.5 (VF+) at £75 and Jonah Hex #1 is CGC blue label 9.4 (NM) at £100.

*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: A virtual torrent of comics nostalgia and esoterica, with around 80 new entries ranging from fanzines of the 1960s to the ‘Prozines’ and scholarly paperbacks of recent times. Hailing both from the UK and the USA, this cornucopia includes (but is not limited to) Bemusing, Comic Art Convention Programmes, Comic Book Profiles, Comics Feature, Comics Forum, Comics Journal, Comics Unlimited, Fantasy Advertiser, Golden Age of Comics, Graphic Story Magazine, Heroines Showcase, Panels, Thing, Wonderworld, and a splendid selection of pioneering US fanzine, the Rocket’s Blast Comicollector, from 1966 to 1978.

*Collected Editions: Two iconic characters from British newspaper strips grace our listings today. Modesty Blaise is the creation of Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway; a classy reformed criminal with a crusading streak, Miss Blaise (and her platonic life-partner Willie Garvin) roam the world righting wrong and sometimes doing very bad things – but for very good reasons! Described by the lazy as ‘A female James Bond’, Modesty’s adventures have a sight more warmth, wit and humour than Ian Fleming’s famous creation. This collection, The Gabriel Set-Up, dates from the late 1980s and collects Modesty’s earliest adventures in paperback form, VG £8. By way of considerable contrast Andy Capp, Reg Smythe’s epic Geordie slacker (no, American fans, he’s not a Cockney; there are regions of the UK outside London, you know…) is paradoxically the world’s most beloved chain-smoking, heavy-drinking layabout on record. Gracing the Daily Mirror since 1957, this is a collection of his strips from 1967 FN £5.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Launched in 1960, Air Ace Picture Library proved one of the more successful series from IPC/Fleetway, lasting a full decade, till 1970’s #545, before merging with stablemate War Picture Library. We have a huge influx of incoming Air Ace, too many for just one update, so we’re beginning with the first 100 – or rather 75 of them, as this run, while substantial, is not complete. We do, however, have issues #1 and #100, and the majority in between, characterised by generally high grades. Many of them, sadly, do have a degree of rust on the staples, but would otherwise grade around VF, so we have compromised on an average grade of VG or FN, with a handful falling to Good, and a reasonable amount at VF. Illustrated are the first five; #1 VG £60, #2 VG £25, #3 FN £30, #4 FN £30 and #5 FN £30. Details on the rest may be found in our online listings, but Air Ace flies out pretty quickly, so you’d better scramble to make sure of your choices! SORRY, #1-3 NOW SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Launched as a stablemate to Tammy in 1972, IPC/Fleetway’s Sandie mined all the topics beloved by pre-teen girls; enslavement, cruelty, betrayal, rejection and loneliness, in serials with titles like ‘The School of No Escape!’, ‘No-One Cheers For Norah!’, ‘Lornas’s Lonely Days!’ and ‘Anna’s Forbidden Friend!’. Despite this angst-sodden line-up, and some top-notch talent, Sandie never really caught fire, and after 89 issues folded into June, with ‘Wee Sue’ (plucky mite who despite her tiny stature is irritatingly good at everything) being the only long-lasting ‘transfer’. Nowadays, though, Sandie is highly collectible precisely for its woe-laden narratives. We have twenty new issues of Sandie in stock, from 4th March 1972 to 29th September 1973. Illustrated is 6th May 1972, (FN £4) with ‘Captives of Madam Karma’, one of the earliest IPC gigs of legendary writer Pat Mills.