*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Originally published fortnightly from 1967 to 1968, these extra-long digests provided 100+ pages of (as far as we know) all-new adventures, not reprinted from the weekly comics. Like its companion titles in the Fleetway Super Library family (Fantastic/Stupendous and Secret Agent), Front Line alternated its stars, odd-numbered issues featuring ‘Maddock’s Marauders’, a rag-tag team of international soldiers, and even-numbered copies starring ‘Sgt. Ironside’, who, to absolutely no-one’s surprise, got the job done while disobeying military rules. We have many, though by no means all, of the 26-issue series beginning with issue #3 and ending with issue #24. Like our recent additions in the Fleetway Super Library Secret Agent Series, this selection is in surprisingly high grade (given the propensity of the card covers to attract and hoard creases), with the majority being VF. Illustrated are #3 VF £15 and #4 VF £12.

*Humour Comics: The broadsheet-sized Topper proved a smash hit with young readers from the get-go in 1953, and we’re delighted to have two early issues back in stock; #9 (VG £30, Easter issue), and #10 (VG £20). Home of Mickey the Monkey, Beryl the Peril, The Fighting Frasers, Foxy, Nancy, Fritzi Ritz and, in these early issues, Dudley Watkin’s superbly-illustrated adaptation of ‘Treasure Island’.

On offer in our Clearance Corner slot this week is a job lot of Playhour, the comic for younger readers with the star power of Magic Roundabout and Sooty! We have 68 issues available running from 1960-1975 plus the 1969 Holiday Special. Previously on sale at £140, we’re clearing these out for a bargain £20 the lot! Grades range mainly from GD to FN. UK postage (if required) would be an extra £8. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: After #123 (‘Flash of Two Worlds’, as if you need telling), and the premier issue (#105), probably the most in-demand issue of the Silver Age Flash is #139, which featured the first appearance of Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash, Barry Allen’s super-swift nemesis from the far-flung future, whose appearances in the popular Flash television series have caused his early appearances to zoom (sorry) upwards in value. We are delighted to welcome the Reverse-Flash back into our inventory – though we anticipate not for long. Clean and sound, with moderate spine, edge and corner wear, but unimpaired cover scene, slight fading at top and right cover edges, but firm staples at cover and centrefold, this copy is GD p £75.

*DC: Holy Priceless Collection Of Vintage Tat! A massive update to our stock of the Gotham City Guardians, with issues ranging from #157 through to #190, taking in along the way visits from Mirror Man, Bat-Mite, Vicki Vale, the second Silver Age Penguin appearance, the second ever appearance of Poison Ivy, the egregious Eraser, a whole wad of 80-Page Giant issues – and can we ever forget the Joker’s sidekick, Gaggy? (Well, perhaps if we try very hard…) This selection also encompasses Annuals #6 and #7. Illustrated is #186 (FN-p £20.50), but a multitude of grades and prices await you in our Bat-Catalogue…

*Marvel: The 1972-launched Marvel Team-Up paired Spidey (and occasionally the Human Torch) with a different one of Marvel’s best and boldest each issue, providing readers with a chance to be exposed to new and unfamiliar characters – and, by happy coincidence, enable Marvel to retain copyright on heroes who didn’t currently have their own series! MTU #1 – never distributed in the UK – teams Spider-Man with the Human Torch against the sinister Sandman, with an (after-the-fact retcon) cameo debut by Misty Knight. This first issue of a popular and long-running series is a CGC Blue Label – no restoration – graded 9.2, an equivalent of NM-, and is on sale for £200. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A significant latecomer to Marvel in the Silver Age was the enigmatic synthezoid, the Vision, who premiered in Avengers #57 as a pawn of the evil Ultron. Rapidly being discovered to be in Ultron’s thrall, the Vision was offered membership the next issue, in one of the most rapid reforms ever, and became a mainstay of the Avengers and the MU in general, particularly through his convoluted relationship with the Scarlet Witch. Based on a Simon & Kirby character from the 1940s, author Roy Thomas’ love affair with all things Golden Age stood him in good stead, as the Vision captured the hearts and minds of readers worldwide… though the exquisite art by John Buscema didn’t hurt! Those of us old enough to be around at the time have indelible memories of the impact Vizh made, as something genuinely out of the ordinary in super-heroics, and these two issues, his debut and induction into the Avengers, represent the work of Thomas and Buscema at their peak. With the increasing prominence of the Vision in Marvel’s cinematic universe, demand for his earlier appearances has spiked – and if you’re going to have two, these are the two to get! Issue #57 is a sound, bright VG, small spine ‘ticks’ and one faint diagonal crease at right cover corner, bisecting the Wasp (sorry, Jan). A cents copy with no UK pence price or overstamp, on sale at £90. Issue #58 is an attractive FN p, clean and unimpaired cover scene, at £50. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Yes! It’s true! After several copies of this issue have passed through our hands, we’ve finally run out of ‘Allo, Allo’ themed openings! But while this issue is a frequent visitor to our shelves, it never languishes for long. In August 1990’s X-Men #266, while temporarily de-aged to childhood (don’t you hate it when that happens?), Storm met a charismatic thief named Gambit, who aided her in escaping from the Shadow King. Unlike many one-off guest-stars, however, Gambit caught on with the reading public, and stuck around to become a mainstay of the team – fortunately ditching his original costume of pervy knickers, stripey tights and flasher-mac in favour of a more conservative ensemble! The recently-wed ‘Mr.Rogue’ (oops, sorry, spoilers…) has been a hugely popular X-Man ever since, and his full debut is always a hot choice with buyers. This extremely attractive NM pence copy is on sale at £100. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In 1976, the House Of Ideas came up with Nova, designed originally to be an ‘everyman’ character like Peter Parker/Spider-Man, but quickly developing into a cosmic ‘soldier’ more akin to Green Lantern. Luckily, DC’s lawyers didn’t notice the parallels. Although the original run lasted a mere 25 issues, Nova has returned many times to the Marvel Universe, especially involved in the protracted cosmic crossovers of which Marvel is so fond. The Nova Corps having been namechecked in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, it can only be a matter of time before the man himself makes an on-screen appearance, so grab these while you can! New issues in stock between #2 and the final #25 of the original series, averaging FN/VF.

*Horror 1940-1959: Although you may not be able to tell from our recent swathe of updates, other people besides Atlas did venture (often quite successfully) into the horror field in the 1950s, and we’re happy to turn a grisly spotlight on some of those publishers this week. From Fawcett, home of the cheery sunshiny Captain Marvel and Family, comes Beware Terror Tales and This Magazine Is Haunted, two horror anthologies hosted respectively by the Mummy and Doctor Death, which presented a considerable contrast to the Shazam Squad; one Beware and three new Haunteds grace our listings this week. Meanwhile over at Harvey, Lee Elias, Howard Nostrand and Bob Powell turned out finely-crafted shockers in Witches’ Tales, two additional issues of which join our ranks. Lastly for this update, comes Ace’s Challenge of the Unknown, a 1950 one-off (numbered #6) which fell in the transition between Love Experiences and Web of Mystery. A sort of ‘pilot’ for Web of Mystery, this issue features ‘Villa of the Vampire’, ‘High Priestess of the Snake People’, and other such wholesome romps. Illustrated are Beware Terror Tales #2 VG+ £82 and This Magazine Is Haunted #11 GD+ £47. Details of the others can be found in our online listings.

*Western: Sadly lost among the dusty trail of the 1950s Western boom was this four-issue run of Six-Gun Western, an anthology with the same quality contributors as the rest of the line – Crandall, Williamson, Woodbridge, Maneely, Orlando, Powell, Pakula, Romita and Shores (that’s a lot of talent for a short run!) – but which just got lost in the stampede of others flooding the newsstands of the late 1950s. All four of the title are now in stock: Issue #1 is VG £33, issue #2 is FN £36 (Well, of course ‘His Guns Hang Low’, if he’s got six guns – he needs a stronger belt!). SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: In 2000, From The Tomb was launched, a fanzine expressing love for all things horrific in the comics field, and it grew into a semi-pro ‘zine with full-colour interiors by the time of its 28th issue in 2009 – the final number to date, though FTT has returned from the grave, in the best horror tradition, more than once, so don’t count it out! Covering a plethora of subjects, from EC to Matt Fox, Basil Wolverton to the ‘Skywald Horror-Mood’ and beyond, we are pleased to have a virtually complete run of this cult ‘zine back in stock, lacking only issue #3 from the set.

*Collected Editions: A pair of collected editions spotlighting yesterday’s super-stars: the 1975 Daily Mirror Book of Garth collects Frank Bellamy’s spectacular work on the eternal warrior who lived many lifetimes – inexplicably pairing up with implausibly shapely ladies in every one of them, a feature Bellamy emphasised with gusto! This copy has minor staining on the front cover and moderate wear, but the interior images are unharmed: FA/GD £10. And 1982’s Best of Eagle, edited by Marcus Morris, presents Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, by Frank Hampson, as well as other Eagle stars, in a full-colour hardcover, VF at £10.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Originally published fortnightly, these extra-long digests provided 100+ pages of (as far as we know) all-new adventures, not reprinted from the weekly comics. Like its companion titles in the Fleetway Super Library family (Fantastic/Stupendous and Front Line, Secret Agent alternated its stars. One issue would feature Johnny Nero, debonair cosmopolitan who travelled the world thwarting wrongdoers with the aid of his amanuensis Jenny Bird, a resourceful maiden who once skied a bad guy to death (No, really). Alternate issues presented Barracuda, a code-named tough guy possessed of superhuman strength whose main vendetta was against the agents of WAM (War Against Mankind). His assistant was the rather less appealing (though YMMV, as the young folks say) man-brute Frollo, who must have been a bugger to keep under wraps on stealth missions. Much of this new stock is in surprisingly high grade considering its vintage (given the propensity of the card covers to attract and hoard creases, as collectors know), with the majority averaging VF. Most issues are available from #1 to #26, including some duplicates, but we expect strong demand for these. Illustrated are #1 VF £25 and #2 VF/NM also £25.

Way back in the 30th Century, four friends gathered together in their clubhouse to take a solemn oath, to use their powers only for good and to take the world of comics back to a place it had never been before and set up a comic shop with a retro futuristic outlook. Thus in 1994 was born 30th Century Comics, and in the course of the ensuing 25 years, through trials, tribulations, fires, hardships and joys a legend was forged. Although one of the friends fell along the way, the remaining trio like to think he would be proud of the enterprise we have become, the sort of shop we’d all like to shop in. Join us as we celebrate 25 years of 30th Century Comics with stylish new blinds and a banner adorning our window, and dedicate our celebration to Peter, who is doubtless looking down from Shanghalla with a smile.    

Please note that due to refurbishment work the shop will not be open until 1 pm on Wednesday 6th February (only). We apologise for any inconvenience caused. All other days remain as normal.

*DC: In 1992/93, DC produced the much-publicised ‘Death of Superman’ story arc that made international headlines; us old and jaded cognoscenti of the comic world knew better than to think DC would kill off one of their major iconic characters, but the general public were fooled just the same. When issue #75 of Superman came out, you had to queue round the block outside comic shops to get your hands on a copy as Superman fell victim to the power of Doomsday. Here’s your chance to relive the entire saga, preludes, spin-offs and so on all in this 12 issue set, all VF+ to NM grades, comprising (in sequence) Superman the Man of Steel #17, Superman #73 (2nd print), Adventures of Superman #496 (2nd print) , Action Comics #683 (2nd print), Superman the Man Of Steel #18 (2nd print), Superman #74, Adventures of Superman #497, Action Comic #684, Justice League of America #69, Superman the Man Of Steel #19 and finally Superman #75 (sealed collectors’ edition with all the extras (pictured), and, because we’re too good to you, the newsstand edition as well (2nd print), so you can read the conclusion without opening the sealed copy. SORRY, THIS SET HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A wonderful acquisition in our Slab Happy event this week! The debut of ‘Earth’s Mightiest Super-Heroes!’ – as they were straplined on their very first issue – is one of the most sought-after Marvel keys, as Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp – inspired, doubtless, by the recent success of DC’s Justice League of America – came together to battle the threat of Loki in this Lee/Kirby extravaganza. This copy of Avengers #1 is a cents copy, no pence price or overstamp, and has been graded by the American CGC company as a 4.0 purple label indicating a Restored grade – an Apparent VG equivalent, but with a note that the bottom edge of the cover has been trimmed. As you can see from the picture, however, this does not impact on the cover image at all, and honestly, if you didn’t know what to look for, then in the words of a wise man, ‘You can’t see the join, Ern.’ The Avengers, of course, are the commercial juggernauts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the comics have generated thousands of issues and multitudinous spin-off series, all of which began from this ground-breaking premier issue. On sale at £1,350.

*Marvel: From Journey into Mystery #103, when the Asgardian landscape was still ‘settling down’ in the relatively new Thor strip, two figures debuted who were to make a lasting impact in the life of the God of Thunder: The Executioner, a menacing figure whose might almost equalled that of the God of Thunder himself; and the Enchantress, mightiest of sorceresses, who was to become Thor’s most beloved enemy, occasionally doing good deeds because of her unrequited feelings for Thor – but never for long! Two of the most powerful characters in the Marvel mythos, the diabolical duo have bestrode the four-colour cosmos for decades, and this is where their infamous careers began! A FA/GD pence copy, with moderate spine wear and a lower spine split, marked creasing at edges and corners, but the central cover image is unimpaired. On sale at £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: With issue #25 of Captain Marvel, Jim Starlin took over the series and kicked up what had been a failing series to a stratospheric level – beyond the stratosphere, in fact, as Starlin threw in all the elements he’d recently introduced in Iron Man #55 – Thanos, Mentor, Eros and the other denizens of Titan – to create a star-spanning cosmic saga with major consequences for the Marvel Universe in general. The contrast was marked, and readers responded, setting a precedent for cosmic crossover sagas which, for better or worse, have been with us ever since. Starlin’s run on Captain Marvel lasted from #25 to #34, and we have all but two of them new in (lacking only #32 and #34) including early appearances by Thanos, who became a major villain not only in the comics, but on the big screen. Depicted is #28 FN p £30; others, including some non-distributed issues scarce in the UK, may be found in our online listings. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Given her peculiar origins, Dazzler’s longevity as a comics heroine has been remarkable. Conceived as a disco tie-in by Casablanca Records in the late 1970s, Marvel was to create a singing super-heroine and Casablanca was to recruit a live singer to ‘be’ Dazzler. Originally intended to resemble Grace Jones, the design was considerably altered to resemble then-hot actress Bo Derek. When the record company withdrew, leaving Marvel with an ‘orphaned’ character, she was introduced as a fully-fledged mutant in X-Men #130. Alison Blaire, with the ability to transmute sound into light, has been an unlikely mainstay of the Marvel Universe ever since, and we have a copy of her premiere appearance in X-Men #130, a near-flawless cents copy, NM at £75.

*Marvel: A small update to this favourite title from 1968: issues #2, #4, #5 & #7 of Nick Fury, Agent Of SHIELD, all with art by the incomparable Jim Steranko. Covers on all four, interiors on #2 & #5. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Horror 1940-1959: Launched in 1950, taking over from the failed series Teen, Journey into Unknown Worlds initially delivered sci-fi shockers to the paranoid populace that thrilled to ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ and other Cold War cinematic thrillers. Aliens and robots, however, rapidly gave way to ghosts, vampires and monsters, as JIUW became a fully-fledged horror title – at least until the advent of the Comics Code Authority! Our recent influx of Journey Into Unknown Worlds is so huge that, as previously noted, we’ve had to break it into two chunks, and this is the Pre-Code section, where Everett, Maneely, Sale, Sekowsky and other stellar artists brought shocks and shudders to the comics-reading populace. Illustrated are #8 (VG £120), #9 (GD £84), #25 (VG £73), #29 (VG+ £82), and #30 (GD/VG £55), but as with many of our long-running Atlas series, issues are in a wide variety of grades, and many ‘readers’ can be found in our online listings.

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: In 1970, after the Warren horror comic magazines, Creepy and Eerie, had been successful for half a decade, the bandwagon jumpers were circling, and one of them was Skywald Publishing. Throwing together a bunch of Pre-Code reprints – artistically amended for added gore – and the occasional new story, they launched Nightmare, followed the next year by its companion Psycho. Successful enough to switch to all-new material, stories initially read like ersatz Warren tales, illustrated either by newcomers to the field – Jeff and Bruce Jones, Doug Wildey, Ralph Reese – or by folks whose professional careers were, by then, largely behind them (Syd Shores, Bill Everett). However, within a very few issues, writer/editor Al Hewetson’s – let’s call it ‘unique’ – writing style came to the fore, and the paranoid and often largely incoherent ‘Horror-Mood’, as he referred to it, became the norm. With a new, largely South American stable of artists, he created a miasmatic air of formless menace that challenged Marvel and Warren enough that they, according to Hewetson himself, colluded to deny Skywald distribution. We are delighted to have more of this oddball footnote in comics history in stock, with new listings for Nightmare from #6 to #21 (and its short-lived British reprint incarnation) and Psycho from #2 to #22. Illustrated are Nightmare #6 FN £13.75 and Psycho #2 VG/FN £11.50, with plenty more listed in our online catalogue!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: An attractive run of the earlier Victor Summer Specials, from the second Special in 1968 to 1976. Victor, home of ‘The Tough of the Track’, ‘Morgyn the Mighty’, ‘Braddock VC’ and many more, is fondly remembered by a generation of readers, and these tabloid-sized editions of the comic, predominantly new material created for the holiday market, were frequently lost or discarded on the way home, so fewer of them survive than their weekly siblings. In addition, this selection is in absolutely superb condition, almost no wear, no creasing, writing, yellowing, tears or staining, vivid and unfaded, showing no sign of the horizontal folds often inflicted on these oversized editions by careless newsagents. Highly sought-after items, these are absolutely the best copies we’ve seen in our quarter-century of trading, and we’re confident you’ll feel the same. 1968 is VF £80, 1970 VF £80, 1971 VF £50, 1972 FN/VF £45, 1973 FN/VF £45, 1974 FN/VF £45, 1975 VF £50 and 1976 VF £50. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD