*Clearance Corner: In the limbo between the cancellation of their original series and the dawn of the international line-up, the X-Men were ghosts in the Marvel Universe, making only very occasional guest appearances. In 1999, writer/artist John Byrne set out to fill in the gap with all-new stories of what Scott, Bobby, Hank, Warren, Jean, Alex and Lorna Did Next, with a clever, fast-paced series that lasted 22 fun-packed issues evocative of classic Silver Age Marvel, and got cancelled despite respectable sales because a new Marvel editorial remit thought it would ‘confuse the readers’, boo hiss. All 22 issues, a brisk, breezy read, all NM, yours for £15. UK postage if required will be an extra £4

*Clearance Corner: As you may realise, the purpose of our Clearance Corner lots is to clear space in our shop by discontinuing titles we’re no longer carrying to make way for new and incoming stuff. As such, they will only be offered for a short time. This Clearance Corner lot, listed on 30th January 2019, has not been snapped up and is nearing the end of its time with us. If not purchased by the weekend, we will have to dispose of it. Here are the details from our original listing: ‘Our second and final clearance of Crisis features in Clearance Corner this week. A star of the late 1980s British comics boom and their attempt to produce intelligent, mature and politically and socially aware comics. Starting out with Third World War by Pat Mills & Carlos Ezquerra and New Statesmen by John Smith and Jim Baikie, it later featured The New Adventures of Hitler and other strips by Grant Morrison, Troubled Souls by Garth Ennis and John McCrea (Ennis’s start in comics) and many other noteable strips by British and European creators. The run lasted 63 issues from 1988-1991. This selection comprises 30 issues between #1 & #39, including 3 issues with free gifts (#15, #16 & #17). All on offer for just £20. UK postage if required will be a further £4.’

*DC: In 1973, the town of Metropolis, Illinois, petitioned to be affiliated with the Superman character, becoming the official ‘hometown’ of the Man of Steel for public relations purposes. Among the tie-ins for this event was this one-off tabloid comic – in the format later popularised by DC’s Limited Collectors’ Edition series and its spin-offs – featuring new and reprint Superman and Superboy comics stories, plus multiple features and a stapled-in poster, a Map of Krypton. Sadly, the proposed Superman theme park never materialised, the attractions in the real-life Metropolis being limited to a Superman Museum – but this is a fascinating read nonetheless. Of extremely limited distribution even in the US – and almost never seen in the UK – this rarity is a must for Superman completists. This copy is FN- £40, sound and tight, poster stapled firmly inside, with only minor breaks in spine colour and light corner and edge wear preventing a higher grade.

*DC/Marvel: In 1976, after some delicate negotiations, Marvel and DC decided to create a team-up between their two iconic characters which proved too big for a regular-sized comic – so the tabloid-sized format, as seen in Marvel’s Treasury Editions and DC’s Limited Collectors’ Editions, was co-opted for this event! Superman and Spider-Man (as well as guest-villains Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus) are note-perfect in this mega-sized saga. This triggered a series of cross-overs between the two companies, with DC and Marvel alternating on the publishing chores, and Marvel was at the production helm by 1981, when Marvel Treasury Edition #28 was released, with the follow-up Superman and Spider-Man team-up, this time co-featuring Wonder Woman and the Hulk and the villainy of Doctor Doom and the Parasite! We are delighted to have both these epic editions back in stock: Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, to give the first its full title, is a FN/VF cents copy, no pence price or overstamp, clean and bright with minimal corner and edge wear. Marvel Treasury Edition #28 is FN+, marginally more wear and slight corner ‘blunting’, but still clean interiors, vivid unimpaired cover scene. Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man is FN/VF £90; Marvel Treasury Edition #28 is FN+ £50.

*Marvel: This early Lee/Kirby (with a dash of help from Steve Ditko on the cover inking) pits the Sub-Mariner, once again, against the men of the Fantastic Four (Sue, typically, is rather on the fence in the matter… how many times does a gal have to get kidnapped before she makes up her mind?), provoked by the behind-the-scenes machinations of the perfidious Puppet Master! This copy is a CGC Universal Grade Blue Label, rated 4.5 (VG+ in real money) with no restoration, but – it must be noted – the name of a previous owner, ‘Brian’ scrawled across Namor’s shoulders (unless he was very forward-thinking in having a tattoo parlour in lost Atlantis!). That is the sole flaw, however, in a bright, tight-cornered copy which would easily grade FN or better otherwise. CGC 4.5 £130.

*Marvel: The Black Panther’s series in Jungle Action, which attracted a lot of acclaim at the time, was known for being verbose, introspective, reflective and philosophical. When the character’s co-creator, Jack Kirby, took over as writer and artists on T’Challa’s follow-up solo series, the results were… a considerable contrast. Shouting! Explosions! Aliens! Time-Travel! Implausibly-muscled ladies with black lipstick! Cosmic critters! All were here, and all playing at full volume all the time, in the crazed kinetic frenzy that Kirby was renowned for. Since the major movie hit, the King of Wakanda’s star is ever-ascendant, and this issue especially always sells very briskly. This copy of Black Panther #1 is a cents copy, with no pence price or overstamp, fine lines at upper and lower right cover corners, but unmarred glossy cover with vivid, unfaded red background. VF+ on sale at £80. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Following Kirby’s tabloid-sized Treasury Special, liberally adapting the Kubrick cinematic blockbuster, Marvel green-lit an ongoing series exploring the milieu of 2001: A Space Odyssey, giving artist/writer Kirby a free hand to explore all of time and space – perhaps too free a hand, as while time-transcending spectacle there was in abundance, the lack of a central cast left the readership feeling ‘unanchored’ to the series. This was remedied to an extent with issue #8, and Kirby’s introduction of X-51 (later known variously as Mister Machine and Machine Man), a humanoid robot in search of his soul, who became the protagonist for the rest of the series, spinning off into his own title and becoming part of the main Marvel Universe. The entire 10-issue series of 2001: A Space Odyssey is now restocked: illustrated is issue #8, X-51’s premier appearance, NM at £65. SORRY, PICTURED ITEM NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A small update for Johnny Blaze (1973) this week from #2 (1st full Son Of Satan) and issues up to #10, plus the final issue of the series #81, plus Marvel Spotlight #8, with the adventures of Ghost Rider before he got his own series.

*Horror 1940-1959: Mystery Tales was one of Atlas’ longest-running horror/mystery series, to the extent that we had to split our stock over two updates; previously, we brought you the Pre-Code issues, up to #26, and with this update we add in the Post Code numbers, from #27 in 1955 to the series’ conclusion in 1957 with issue #54. This strong run, lacking only 5 issues, features the usual plethora of top-ranking artists: Heath, Morrow, Orlando, Maneely, Powell, Everett, Romita, Severin, Williamson, Krigstein and a rookie named Steve Ditko. Illustrated: #28 GD/VG £53, #31 GD/VG £53, #32 GD/VG £53, #36 GD/VG £53, #47 VG £72, #52 FN £105, #53 VG £71 and #54 VG+ £79. While the illustrated items are remarkably consistent mid-high grades, the rest of the title is in a variety of conditions, including many complete but low-grade issues to suit all budgets. Full details of all issues, as always, in our online catalogue.

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Following the romance comics boom in the American comics industry in the late 1940s, it didn’t take long for the UK to climb aboard with re-packaged American stories for the British audience, at that time denied distribution of the US product. Arnold/Strato (sometimes listed as separate companies, but they were linked in some way we haven’t been able to fathom) were a leading repackager of US material, and they shrewdly licenced the three Simon & Kirby titles which had kicked off the ‘love boom’: Young Brides, Young Love and Young Romance, which they released as 68-page squarebound compilations. However, with a fine disregard for intellectual property, the publishers mixed & matched material, so while the titles may have been from the Prize stable, the content could contain any old love from a myriad of publishers: ACG, Atlas, Ajax/Farrell, Quality and, yes, Prize, are among the ones we’ve positively identified, along with many more that we have to shrug helplessly and say “We don’t really know, Vera…” These 68-page squarebounds, dating from 1954 to 1955, have a distinctive yellow & red livery that made them easy to pick out at the newsagent’s, but also a bugger for acquiring stains and marks, so we’re delighted to have a nice selection of all three ‘Young’ titles in clean bright condition, averaging Fine or better. As a bonus, we also have the first Album of each series, 128-page stonkers with more tearstained moonlit fantasies than before! Depicted are Young Brides #1 FN+ £25 and Album #1 FN+ £40; Young Love #9 FN £12 and Album #1 FN+ £40; and Young Romance #14 (three Simon & Kirby, 1 Matt Baker) FN £17.50, and Album #1 FN+ £40.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: World Distributors were re-packagers of American comics material from the 1950s to the 1970s, but occasionally they produced original material, and they had a knack for bandwagon-jumping, exploiting lucrative franchises with zeal and vigour. In the 1960s, they launched a number of digests called World Adventure Library, each series of WAL focusing on a different star. Chief among them were the Man From UNCLE, the longest-lasting of the WAL’s at 14 issues from 1966 to 1967, and Batman, who launched for 11 issues in 1967. These are not commonplace in any condition, and we’ve been exceptionally fortunate to have a number of these two series in high grades. A selection of Man From UNCLE World Adventure Library (initially repackaging of the Gold Key comics, moving on to original material) is available from #1 to #11; our range of Batman World Adventure Library (original text stories with illustrations) goes from #3 to #6. Illustrated; Batman WAL #3 VF £20 and Man From UNCLE WAL #1 VF £25.

*Humour Comics: 1970 was a transitional year for the Beano Summer Special, as Dennis the Menace took over front cover prominence from the former featured character, Biffo the Bear, marking a new era for the veteran title. The format remained unchanged, however: oversized pages (13″ x 10″) with more colour and better paper than the weekly, making for an extra-sized treat for the traditional British family Summer break. This is a remarkably clean and bright copy, no sign of the horizontal folding often plaguing these larger items, very minor corner and edge wear, but firm spine and tight staples, with all the regular features from the weekly; Dennis the Menace, Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx, Billy the Cat, General Jumbo, the Q-Karts and more are waiting inside for you! FN- £40.

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our British section:
*TV & Film Related Comics
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: After a long and chequered career as a back-up in Action Comics and a lead in Adventure Comics, Supergirl was finally deemed ready to fly solo in 1972, with her new start being chronicled by then hot new writer Cary Bates and established Good Girl Artist Art Saaf. An oddball hybrid between the superhero and romance genres, the frankly loopy covers often showed our heroine crying over some romantic mishap which threatened disaster, or engaging in undignified tug-of-wars with other women for some random bloke – or Yeti, if there were no other males around! We have new stocks of this short-lived strangeness available, including the depicted issue #1 VF+ £75; believe it or not, a killer bulldozer is one of the least crazy situations our gal had to face…

*Marvel: One of the later breakout characters of Marvel, Frank Castle, aka bereaved urban vigilante the Punisher, became one of the company’s super-stars in the 1990s, but had spent most of the previous two decades ‘bubbling under’ as a guest-starring anti-hero, his media presence – and commercial appeal – being heightened by the recent Netflix TV series. The Punisher’s first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129, February 1974, is rare in the UK, where, owing to the presence of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, the US title was embargoed for several years. This is a cents copy (there are no pence copies, of course), in remarkable condition; unmarred cover scene with bright, unfaded colour and excellent gloss. Staples are firm at cover and centrefold, interior pages off-white, flexible with no hint of brittleness or browning. A small hint of wear at the upper left cover corner and extremely faint blunting at the lower right corner are the only items precluding a still higher grade for this exceptional copy of a key issue, on sale in VF at £850. Front and rear covers and splash page are shown here; high resolution images are available on request.

*Marvel: Three early and significant issues of the ever-assembling Avengers this week: issue #8 saw the first appearance of Kang, the Lord of Time, who in his various guises and incarnations has plagued every hero in the Marvel Universe for decades (and as the Lord of Time, he’s got decades to spare!). Issue #28 brought us the debut of the Collector, the cosmic being obsessed with acquiring unique objects – including our heroes! And between these two, the ground-breaking #16, in which the entire line-up of the Avengers save for Cap quit the team, leaving the Avengers’ future in the hands of three reformed villains – and if you need me to tell you who they were, you really oughtn’t to be reading this! Issue #8 is GD p, off top staple and with minor wear at corners, £50. Issue #16 has unbroken deep cover colour, but a small puncture near lower staple where a superfluous staple has been removed VG+ p £55. And #28 is a lovely FN+ pence, bright and white with minimal corner wear, on sale at £75. SORRY, #8 & #16 NOW SOLD

*Marvel: 1982 is a bit ‘recent’ for our palates, as we tend to focus on all things Gold, Silver & Bronze in our backstock, but occasionally a newer comic catches the public interest, and this is one such exception. In Hulk #271, the Jade Giant hosted a guest-star who at the time was treated as a joke, but who has since become a major player following his starring role in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers movie franchises. Yes, Hulk #271 is the second appearance – and the first full-length, full-colour comic-book appearance – of Rocket Raccoon, and has skyrocketed in collectible and commercial importance over the last few years. This copy is an attractive FN+, pence priced, with very light corner and edge wear but tight staples, bright colour and clean interiors, and features all the quality you’d expect from the creative team of Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema. FN+ p £55.

*Marvel: A handful of additions to the very popular What If title: three issues featuring Conan (1 vs Thor), one starring Phoenix (#27) and #31 ‘What If Wolverine Had Killed The Hulk?’. For grades and prices, take a look at our catalogue.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: A lovely Golden Age item this week: from Quality, Doll Man #4 (1942), starring the diminutive super-hero in most strips with a couple of other features. Created by Will Eisner, Doll Man was the first super-hero to have shrinking powers, preceding the Atom and Ant-Man by two decades. This copy is GD and presents well, with a strong, unmarked cover image and nice page quality; off both staples at front, but connected at the rear. These certainly don’t come up for sale too often! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*War:  Shortly after the revival of Captain America in Avengers #4, fans started clamouring for ‘untold adventures’ of the hero in his WWII heyday. There were several such ‘flashback’ stories in Cap’s own series in Tales of Suspense, but perhaps the most memorable one was this crossover with Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos in issue #13 of Nick Fury’s own title. This item is less common than many early Marvel Age landmarks, as the war books, like the westerns, tended to be overlooked by fledgling Marvelites, so copies in any condition are uncommon. This GD/VG copy has moderate edge & spine wear, but a cover scene completely unimpeded apart from the pence stamp, colours still bright and vivid. GD/VG p £65.  SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: From the Fear-Fraught Fifties to the shuddersome Seventies, these magazine-sized comics did their best to circumvent the Comics Code Authority and bring tales of terror to the populace! New this week, Chilling Tales of Horror from Stanley, a cheerfully trashy reworking of trashy old Pre-Code horror stories behind new trashy covers; 1959’s first (and possibly only?) issue of Monsters and Things, from Magnum Publications, a Famous Monsters of Filmland rip-off with a small amount of comics content; two mags from the short-lived Atlas/Seaboard line of the 1970s, Thrilling Adventure Stories and Weird Tales of the Macabre: and 1970’s Web of Horror from Major, a Creepy-wannabe with the distinction of Berni Wrightson’s first professionally-published artwork. Illustrated is Web of Horror #1 (Dec 1969, FN/VF p £27), with the others, as always, detailed in our online listings. SORRY, PICTURED ITEM NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Launched in 1963 with a rotating feature remit, Valiant Picture Library at first presented a wide variety of features, including adventure, western, crime, historical, sci-fi and at least one super-hero – but within thirty or so issues, it had settled into the well-trodden World War II genre, albeit with superior artists and writers to many of its contemporaries. It ran for 144 issues, ending in 1969 (Oddly, because they were released two-a-month, both #143 and #144 carried the announcement that they were the final issue on their inside front covers; don’t be deceived.). We’re pleased to have many, though not quite all, of VPL back in stock, from the first issue to the very last, averaging FN, and with many achieving the grade of VF, bright, shiny and vivid, a grade seldom award to items of this vintage. Pictured are #1 FN £35, #2 FN £20 and #3 VF £25. Details on the rest? You know where to look by now, surely?

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our American section:
*War
and in our American/British section:
*Classics Illustrated
and in our Books Section:
*Childrens’ Books
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: DC’s Limited Collectors’ Edition tabloids of the 1970s, most of which were non-distributed in the UK, are highly sought-after now, their extra dimensions not lending themselves to long-term storage, and being more prone to damage than the average comic book. Among the most sought-after are the several issues featuring Batman, of which we have three new to our lists: C-25, with a selection of the Darknight Detective’s stellar artists from all eras, including Robinson, Infantino and Adams; C-37, an ‘All-Villain Special’ featuring vintage tales of the Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face, the Penguin and the Scarecrow and C-59, with an original Adams cover fronting ‘Batman’s Strangest Cases’, including contributions from Giordano, Novick, Wrightson and that Adams boy again. C-25 and C-37 are both VF- at £35 each; C-59 is FN+ £30. SORRY, THESE HAVE ALL NOW SOLD

*DC: A collection of misfits with strange powers, hated and feared by the world they protect, led by a paraplegic genius in a wheelchair. Sound familiar? Well, guess again – almost simultaneously with the debut of the X-Men at Marvel, DC made their moribund title My Greatest Adventure the home of the ‘Doom Patrol’, created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. The tone was altogether darker than the X-Men, with our heroes’ abilities ostracising and potentially destroying them. The Doom Patrol was long one of the under-regarded classics of the Silver Age, but a recent successful Netflix series, spinning out of the ‘Titans’ TV show, has brought the DP back into the ascendant. We have a selection of early DP issues, from #87 (the re-named title having quietly assumed My Greatest Adventure’s numbering) to #99, the latter being the first appearance of Beast Boy, green-skinned shapeshifting orphan who became the series’ breakout character owing to his affiliation with the 1980s New Teen Titans. The Doom Patrol #99, pictured, is VG+ p, a clean bright copy with good eye appeal and minimal corner and edge wear, one light lower diagonal cover crease. On sale at £100.