*Marvel: Dozens of issues of Iron Man added to our listings from among the first 100 issues of Shell-Head’s own series that started in 1968, including very many issues previously missing from our listings. Highlights include: a nice FN+ pence copy of #2 (pictured) at £32, 1st Moondragon in #54, the anniversary issue #100 and the first annual. The Iron Man film franchise has arguably boosted the character to the popularity of Spider-Man, and many of this series do not hang around for long in our boxes. Mostly pence copies in a mix of grades.

*Comic Strip Books: They sure packed a lot into Titan’s 2009 James Bond Omnibus edition, featuring newspaper strip versions of all the best Bond books/films as serialised in the Daily Express from 1958-1962. Stories include: Casino Royale, Live & Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr No, Goldfinger, From A View To A Kill, For Your Eyes Only & Thunderball. With an introduction by Roger Moore. An absolute bargain in VF at £10.

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 file in our American section:
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Power Comics: From 1967, the earliest issues of Fantastic and Terrific, the two adventure anthologies launched by Power Comics after successful trials of the Marvel Super-Heroes in their comedy weeklies, Wham and Smash! These two were on whiter paper than their stablemates, and presented the early adventures of the Avengers, Sub-Mariner, Doctor Strange, Thor, Iron Man and the X-Men to a mass UK audience for the first time – carefully re-edited to eliminate all that confusing Yankee slang! Fondly remembered by a generation, these new issues are the first three Fantastics and the first two Terrifics, in very attractive condition. For grades and prices, see our catalogue.

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: Concluding (for the time being) our series of mammoth Millie the Model updates, we finish with her ‘New Look’ era, in which, from #154, she was revamped from a soap-opera romance into a career-girl comedy in the art style popularised by Archie Comics. Artist Stan Goldberg mimicked the Archie house style established by Dan DeCarlo so well that, in later years, he became one of the mainstay Archie artists – but in the meantime, the ‘New Look’ revitalised interest in Millie and her pals! We’re pleased to present every single issue of the ‘New Look’ Millie, from #154 straight through to the final issue of the series, #207. These compilations of ‘Groovy Gals and Gags’ were almost never seen in the UK, and are uncommon in any grade, but many of this consecutive run are in very nice condition, frequently achieving VF.

*Marvel: A handful of classic Marvel Silver Age issues in this week, all of which are in high demand, but these copies are mostly in low grade: Amazing Adventures #11 GD (Beast series begins with first mutated Beast), Avengers #15 VG+, Hulk Annual #1 FA (front cover detached, but classic Steranko cover), Silver Surfer #2 GD (1st Badoon) and #4 FA (vs Thor, but front cover detached), X-Men #49 VG+ (1st Lorna Dane – Polaris, Steranko cover) & #51 GD (Steranko cover and art). Check our catalogue for prices — these won’t be with us long!

*Memorabilia & Esoterica: In our brand new category, we turn our attention to UK comic related paraphernalia this week and offer two items associated with membership clubs for two very different comics. First up, a membership card (neatly filled in) of the Classics Illustrated Club of Great Britain, which, judging from its appearance and provenance that we know of is from the late 1950’s/early 1960’s; decent shape with a few age marks at £15. Secondly, a Princess membership Club Badge for readers of the famous Girls’ comic by that name, in silver-coloured metal in pristine condition; we got it direct from the original owner who was a member of the Princess Club in the early 1960’s! There can’t be many of these about, and £25 will make it yours!

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Small updates to several titles in this tremendously popular category: Judy, June & School Friend, Love & Life Library (a new one on us), Love Story (later Picture) Library, Schoolgirls’ Picture Library & True Life Library.

*Marvel: Today, we’re announcing the launch of a very special event in our schedules, which we’re calling ‘SLAB HAPPY!’. Each week, we’ll be listing one or more comics graded by either CGC, CBCS or PGX, the three American grading agencies, and encapsulated in their plastic cases (or ‘slabs’, as they’re commonly known). Whilst the majority of these will be Marvel issues, there will also be some key DC issues among them.
As collectors ourselves, we have long held the view that the primary purpose of a comic is to entertain and be read. However, we have to acknowledge that in today’s world, people collect comics not just to read and enjoy, but also for investment purposes, particularly with the record prices being achieved by key issues in high grade. Whilst we believe that our grading is at least as tight and conservative as any 3rd party grading company, we understand that some collectors/investors are happier with a slabbed copy, particularly when the time comes to move it on. Also, with more than a decade of 3rd party grading behind us, more and more desirable, collectable comics are ending up in slabs, and we of course want to bring you the best and widest selection of comics that we can, whatever your purpose in collecting.
So, our ‘SLAB HAPPY’ event will feature some of the very best comics ever to come through our hands: key issues, #1s, first appearances, high grades, signed copies – they’ll all be here in among the regular goodies in our weekly newsletter, and we’re kicking off with one of the most desirable comics of them all!

From an inauspicious beginning – as an antagonist of the Hulk, seemingly no more significant than the Bi-Beast or the Gremlin – a certain Canadian hero emerged from the unlikely talents of Len Wein and Herb Trimpe to become the most significant figure of the latter-day Marvel Universe. Created by Wein as the first Canadian super-hero, Wolverine was designed by John Romita Senior, although Trimpe was the first artists to draw him for publication. Debuting in a cameo at the close of Hulk #180, he emerged in full-blown fury in Incredible Hulk #181, his first full-length appearance, alternately battling with and beside the Hulk against the menace of the Wendigo, and the comics world would never be the same again! Our newly-acquired copy of Hulk #181 is from the CGC Signature Series, and features two cover signatures in silver ink: one of John Romita, visual designer of Wolverine, and one from Stan Lee, Editor Emeritus of Marvel and the joint inspiration behind the entire Marvel Universe! A stunning 8.0 (VF), this has off-white to white pages, and exceptional purity of the cover image. Uncommon in the UK in any grade due to the additional collectors’ complication of never having been distributed here, we anticipate strong demand for one of the most sought after comics ever published.

Watch for more from our ‘SLAB HAPPY!’ event in the weeks ahead.

*DC: – Well, not quite the Teen Titans yet, as the name wasn’t coined at this time, but the groundbreaking Brave & Bold #54 teamed up three junior partners of DC’s major super-heroes – Kid Flash, Aqualad and Robin – against the villainy of the sinister Mr. Twister (no, not the twisted Mr. Sinister – that’s a different series!). Written by Bob Haney, Illustrated by Bruno Premiani, this proved to be such a hit that, with the addition of Wonder Girl, the team enjoyed a long career that still continues today – and this is where it all got started! This beautiful VG+ cents copy is offered at £125.

*Marvel UK: For this week’s Free Gift Farrago extravaganza, we turn to Marvel’s British division for a handful of first issues, each with their free gift – mostly bound-in posters. The three 1975 premiere issues with posters are Savage Sword of Conan Weekly, The Super-Heroes, and The Titans (a title DC might well object to Marvel using these days…), plus – breaking away from the poster parade, 1977’s Fury #1, with a ‘model war plane to make and paint’ adorning its Dave Gibbons cover!

*Romance: Almost all Baker, but whichever way you look at it, these twelve beauties from St. John publishing show the 1950’s romance boom at its finest! All but one featuring covers or artwork – usually both – from the superlative Matt Baker, definitive ‘Good Girl Artist’ of the 40’s and 50’s, these densely-plotted tales of love and betrayal – the majority from the pen of the under-rated Dana Dutch, an unsung hero of the genre –  often carried surprisingly adult themes of the time – including infidelity, adultery, and unscheduled pregnancy – in among the more innocuous fare, but Baker’s exquisite control of the characters’ body language and facial expression meant that the stories always came across as sympathetic rather than sleazy. There are other artistic surprises as well, such as stunning work by Ric Estrada (I know, right?), and the cover of Teen-Age Romances #29, the only non-Baker issue in this update, features an absolutely lovely cover by an artist we haven’t been able to identify. From the top, the new additions are: the ‘showcase’ title Blue Ribbon Comics #4 (left), ‘being’ Teen-Age Diary Secrets; Teen-Age Romances #27, #29, and #42: Teen-Age Temptations #7 (right) True Love Pictorial #2, #7, #8, #9, #10 and #11 (all but #7 across the bottom row here); and Wartime Romances #8. In a variety of grades and prices; as always, full details may be seen in our online catalogue. For many years the romance genre was disregarded by collectors, and never in the UK in any significant quantities, but now these have very much come into their own, and Matt Baker’s work is regarded as the top of the heap!

*Memorabilia & Esoterica: Although we’re foremost (and will remain) dealers in vintage comics and books, occasionally, items of memorabilia come our way related to the stuff we sell, so we’ve decided to devote a new section to such items and have located it in our American/British section, since it will feature both US and UK comic related items, plus other oddities. We’re kicking off this category this week with some Merry Marvel Memorabilia from the sizzling seventies. We have the Bronze Conan Medallion issued in 1974, in immaculate condition with chain at £100, plus a set of Marvel Super-Hero Badges (£50 for the set of 5) and a large Red Sonja Badge by Frank Thorne at £25. All pictured below. Plus we have moved our range of vintage Marvel Colouring Books to this new category where they rightly belong. Soon we’ll be adding some UK comic related items, so look out for these.

*DC: Two high grade Silver Age Penguin issues in this week’s Batmania Max outing. Batman #169 (VF+ £160), 2nd Silver Age Penguin app.  with a deep purple background and #190 (VF+ £90). Both sport wonderfully executed covers by Carmine Infantino and would grace any serious Bat-fan’s collection, with excellent investment potential; lovely plumage, squire. Feeling p-p-p-peckish?

*Marvel UK: Judging from the way they’ve been selling lately, these cheap and cheerful 1970’s reprints of Marvel classics have grown tremendously in popularity recently. Customers are walking out of here with armfuls of all they can carry (and at our prices, that’s quite an armful or two!). This week, we replenish our Avengers stocks with about half of the first 20 issues, including #1 & #2.

*Humour Comics: A big update for the ever-popular Sparky, from 1967-1976, but concentrating on the years 1969-1972. In addition to many issues now added previously missing from our listings, many issues are now listed in a choice of grades and prices for your comfort and convenience. Christmas, Easter, New Year and April Fool issues abound, as well as the first appearances of a couple of key strips. Check out the full listings in our catalogue.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following strong sales on the first two years of the long-lived prestigious war and adventure title Victor, we’re pleased to present just a small restock from those 2 years, 1961 & 1962.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: 1976’s notorious weekly, Action, while groundbreaking in the levels of on-panel violence it permitted, was very traditional in one aspect, that of presenting ‘free gifts’ with selected issues to boost circulation or pique interest. We have here a fine pair of examples: 21st Feb 1976 – the second issue – with the original free gift, a t-shirt transfer of cuddly man-eating shark Hookjaw, and 29th May ’76, which proffers a Battleships-style ‘Invasion!’ game card. The 21/2 issue is a sparkling FN at £60, with the gift as VG (just slight wear around the edges, no damage to image), and the 29/5 is a remarkable VF, with the gift also VF.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: We’re rounding up a couple of dozen miscellaneous Picture Libraries that have come our way in recent weeks. Just one or two of each added: Action, Air Ace, Combat, Cowboy, Lion, Secret Agent Holiday Special, Super Detective, Suspense Holiday Special, late Thrillers with Jet Ace Logan, Valiant & Wild West.

*Tarzan/ERB: Comic versions of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic creations from both sides of the pond added this week, inc (US) Marvel’s John Carter, Warlord Of Mars (from #1 up), Gold Key’s Korak #1 from 1964, Marvel’s Tarzan (from #1 up) and (UK) from the 1970’s Top Sellers’ Korak, Tarzan Bumper Album and Tarzan Of The Apes Fortnightly, plus from the 1950’s, Westworld’s Tarzan Adventures.

*Marvel UK: A substantial update to our stock of Marvel’s UK division running through the 1970’s, primarily of their inaugural title Mighty World of Marvel – with dozens of new issues ranging from the #60’s to the early #200’s – and thirty or so issues of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, but also touching on Avengers, Punisher, Marvel Team-Up, Dracula Lives, Savage Sword of Conan (weekly and monthly versions), the Super-Heroes, Titans, and the Complete Fantastic Four, all of which have between six and twenty new additions! These re-packaged black & white reprints of classic Marvel stories are an entire generation’s first exposure to these heroes, and are very fondly remembered. A bonus for completists is that, as the stories had to be re-formatted for the serial form preferred by UK weeklies, there are many, many new covers and new splash pages, by then-neophyte artists, some of whom went on to greater things (viz. Jim Starlin, Esq.), and many of whom…didn’t. All told, a shade over 200 new issues stuffed into our bulging boxes!

Dr. Evilla’s latest window-dressing extravaganza features a panorama of British comic covers from the 1930’s to the 1980’s, with many of the most famous British comics of the 20th century featured. Six glorious decades when the British comics industry was a publishing phenomenon, and a range of graphic storytelling that will never be seen again — but you can experience it right here at 30th Century!

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:
*Marvel UK
*Power Comics
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Humour Comics: As a coda to our big Buster update last week, we’ve added several dozen more of this long-lived title between the years 1981-1987, all new to our listings.

*DC : A very special segment of our Batmania Max event this week. The breakout character of the late 20th Century, Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel began as the Joker’s therapist, but – in a case of transference gone wild – assumed the identity of Harley Quinn, and became his partner in crime, taking over entire episodes of the Batman Animated TV show and spinning off into DC’s comic-book adaptation of same with its 12th issue in 1993. This was followed by the groundbreaking ‘Mad Love’ one shot by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, filling in Harl’s backstory, and her place in comics history was assured, eventually transferring from the animated kiddie’s line to the mainstream DCU and solo stardom. This update, we are pleased to present Harley’s first five appearances in comics: Batman Adventures #12, Batman Adventures: Mad Love (1st printing), Batman Adventures Annual #1, Batman Adventures #28, and Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1, a Quinntette of criminal coquetry and craziness! Not content with that, we have the first three issues of Harley’s first solo series in 2000, by Kesel and the Dodsons, and the hard-to-find Batman: Harley & Ivy three-part mini-series from 2004. Grades and prices as follows:
Batman Adventures #12 is a gorgeous VF/NM pence copy at £400, a gorgeous copy with just a minor non-colour breaking 1″ crease across bottom right corner precluding NM grade or higher.
Batman Adventures Mad Love is the first printing, NM- pence at £85.
Batman Adventures Annual #1 is NM pence £25.
Batman Adventures #28 is NM pence £20.
Batman Adventures Holiday Special is NM pence £15
Harley Quinn #1 is NM/M £50
Batman: Harley & Ivy #1 is NM/M £35, #2 NM £20, #3 VF/NM £15.
With Ms. Quinn’s imminent big-screen debut in the Suicide Squad movie, her star is steadily rising, so prices on her earlier appearances are only going to increase. SORRY, BATMAN ADVENTURES #12 NOW SOLD