*Girls’ Comics: Another entry in our Poptastic! range, this time Valentine, the long-running pop/comic strip hybrid. More than 10 issues in from 1958-1960, when the cover feature gimmick was a comic strip illustrating the story of a hit song of the time, plus one stray issue from 1972, the New Year edition in fact.

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Just one book in this week’s update, but it’s a rare gem! From 2001, the very limited edition of Anthony Skene’s Monsieur Zenith, the Albino, published by Savoy Books, a chunky VF/NM hardback with a VF/NM dust-jacket. Although Zenith started out as a nemesis for Sexton Blake, and indeed went on to become his most famous opponent, he evolved into stories in his own right, published in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Monsieur Zenith has more than a passing resemblance to Sherlock Holmes, being a prodigious user of opiates, a master of disguise and a virtuoso violinist. Although Zenith operates on the wrong side of the law, he is morally on the side of justice, for all his amoral posturing. Savoy’s presentation here makes the volume nothing less than a paean to weird pulp in all its crazed glory. Not only is the original text incredibly obscure — the publishers are aware of only three extant copies of the 1936 edition — but Savoy have also included original Zenith illustrations, including a number of covers from the likes of Detective Weekly and Union Jack, as well as new illustrations, an exhaustively researched introduction by Jack Adrian and a fascinating foreword by Michael Moorcock in which he cites Zenith as the inspiration for his own creation Elric. A beautiful thing at £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: A terrific trio of titles in Marvel magazines this week, as we add several issues of Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu (from #1 onwards), Rampaging Hulk (later just Hulk) and Monsters Unleashed. Many issues new to our listings; consult our catalogue for full details.

This coming Thursday 16th June, our basement, where we have all our British comics and the vast majority of American back issues from 1976-2015 will be closed for a stock ‘shuffle’ to facilitate better access to certain areas. There will be no customer access to our basement on this day (one day only). Please take this into account if planning a shop visit!

*DC: Our second visit to our Batmania Max event this week features something different. In the mid-1970’s, when comics sales were at their lowest ebb, desperate publishers were trying new formats and wonky ideas, and Batman Family – on the surface, a silly idea – developed into a popular and well-produced title. Originally intended for an issue of the showcase title First Issue Special, a team-up of Batgirl and Robin by Elliot S. Maggin and Mike Grell languished in an inventory cupboard until someone decided to use it to front an extra-thick title of mostly reprints, focussing on the supporting cast of the Batman mythos. Batman Family #1, released in 1975, proved an unexpected hit, and after an all-reprint #2, subsequent issues featured the “Dynamite Duo”, as the Batgirl/Robin combo became known, either teamed up or in solo stories. The unlikely crimefighting partnership blossomed into an even less Likelier romance between the teenage (but legal) Boy Wonder and the twentysomething Dominoed Daredoll,and they found true lurve while battling the Cavalier, Killer Moth, and Joker’s Daughter – who made her debut in issue #6, before returning in #’s 8 & 9 – as well as teaming up with forgotten characters like Batwoman (#10 and subsequent) and the original Bat-Girl. The reprints were sidelined as the series went all-new in its teens, and a Man-Bat series was added, while some interesting art by (then) relatively new illustrators was featured; Marshall Rogers, Michael Golden, and some stunning Mike Kaluta covers being the highlight. When, with issue #17, the title went to ‘Dollar Comic’ size, and the Huntress series was added, it was a varied and intriguing read – but sadly, the infamous ‘DC Implosion’ of the late ’70s took its toll, and the title as cancelled with #20, with several features being absorbed into Detective Comics before it, too, shrank back to normal size. Great fun while it lasted, and often a quirky experimental read. This high grade complete run features as highlights a VF/NM first issue at £40, and all three early stories featuring the Joker’s Daughter character: #6 NM- £75 (pictured), # 8 VF/NM £15, and #9 NM £40 (pictured, first cover app). At best patchily distributed in the UK, and with many issues never released to newsagents, BatFam, as it’s familiarly called, is one of the scarcer DC’s on these shores in any grade.

*Marvel: Laura Kinney, the cloned daughter of Wolverine who has now succeeded to her almost-Dad’s name and role, made her debut in an inauspicious series called NYX (2003), which had already been cancelled and reconfigured once prior to its launch. A low-interest title, with few reader expectations and an extremely limited press run, the later popularity of the character has taken collectors by surprise, and back issue sales of her premiere, NYX #3, have gone crackerdog on the internet. We have NYX #3, with a cover featuring Laura in teenage hooker finery, new in in an exceptional Mint condition, offered at £175. And yes, that is a lot, but check out what’s being asked for it elsewhere! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: Normally Quirky Corner is reserved for the more outlandish and esoteric sectors of our beloved hobby, the titles or characters of which one says; “I can’t believe they did that!”. In this case, it’s a little different. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, by its eighth issue in August 1989, was already making waves around comics critics, but interest piqued when #8 introduced the sister of the hero, Morpheus, a.k.a. Dream of the Endless. Death, in the form of a chirpy goth maiden with far too much eyeshadow, introduced a much-needed humourous note into the series, and became a star of her own mini-series in due course. This particular version of #8, however, suffered from a rather peculiar printing error, in which editorial and advertising matter was transposed from other publications. The story pages are all present and in the right order, so the important content is unaffected, but for some reason this misprint, of which there are only approximately 600 copies known, has caught the collector’s eye, and is going for insane prices on the American collectors’ market, where slabbed NM copies have sold for as high as $1300+. This VF+ pence copy is a tough one to value, but we believe our asking price of £500 represents a good investment potential and compares very favourably with recorded sales of this esoteric oddity.

*Humour Comics: Listen kids, it’s time for fun — it’s a great new comic and it’s No. 1! Yes it’s Oink #1, the irreverent Viz-like cult hit from 1986, complete with its Free Gift: a pig-shaped pink plastic record featuring The Oink Song and Oink Rap by the Oinklettes. Both comic and Gift are FN at a total of £15. And as a bonus, we also have a VG copy of Cracker #2 from 1975 also at £15 with a Fine Free Gift: the Cracker Big Bang. Both gifts guaranteed to make some noise!

*Humour Comics: A further update to our stock of Buster, one of our best-selling titles, this time a couple of hundred issues new in between the years 1972-1979, inc. many Christmas, New Year and Easter issues. Also included is the first ‘Leopard From Lime Street’ strip in the issue dated 27th March 1976.

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 British section:
*Girls’ Comics
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: From the early 1970’s, over a dozen new copies of Star Love Stories in Pictures fresh into stock. This always popular title is an attractive package, with a ‘done-in-one’ poignant picture story romance tale within a gorgeously painted full colour cover and a back cover and interior covers with pop pin-ups (I was delighted to spot personal favourites Dave Cousins, Medicine Head, Frank Zappa and the Edgar Broughton Band rather than the usual pop fare). All copies VG except a few FNs.

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: By its tenth issue, Wolfman and Colan’s highly-acclaimed run on Tomb of Dracula was in full swing, racking up plaudits from critics and fans alike, when suddenly there came a character who was to outstrip the success of his comic-book ‘parent’. Blade the Vampire Slayer debuted in issue #10, and, numerous comic-book appearances and a highly successful movie trilogy (Marvel’s first such, in fact) behind him, remains one of the more enduring breakthrough characters of the 1970’s. This VG/FN pence copy is sound, with strong staples, excellent page quality, unbroken cover colour, and only minimal fine creasing at the corners precluding a higher grade. Offered at £70. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A selection of premier issues from the 1970’s and 1980’s, including Black Goliath, Black Panther by Jack Kirby (rather startling people who’d been following the McGregor/Graham version over in Jungle Action), Godzilla King of Monsters, the Inhumans, Logan’s Run, the New Mutants, Rom Space Knight, and the ‘Original X-Men’, X-Factor. First issues are always highly sought-after, and with the Marvel media Empire happily strip-mining its own history for source material, who knows which one will be the springboard for the next cinematic blockbuster? (Okay, probably not Black Goliath, I’ll give you that…) Full details of grades and prices in our catalogue listings.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1978, the entire run of the sci-fi weekly Starlord, a quality item which featured a number of innovative strips – “Strontium Dog”, “Ro-Busters”, “Planet of the Damned”, “Timequake” and more – and with more colour pages and slicker paper, seemed to be attempting to upgrade the 2000 AD model. Sadly, mass audiences didn’t care whether there were higher production standards or not, and after only 22 issues, Starlord was absorbed into 2000 AD, with Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters being the long-term survivors. All 22 issues new in, in mid-high grades, plus the one and only Summer Special, also from 1978 (FN £30).

*Modern Reprints: A couple more of DC’s handsome hardcover Archive Editions added to our inventory: the one and only Blackhawk volume reprinting the early Golden Age adventures of Blackhawk from Military Comics #1-17, plus Volume 2 of the Justice League Of America, with true classic tales of the early days of the JLA by Gardner Fox & Mike Sekowsky. Check our catalogue for full details of these and other Archive Editions available.

*Mad & Other Parody: Following the success of Mad’s American incarnation, transitioning seamlessly from comic book to the parody mag which became an international institution, it wasn’t long before British publishers had an eye on borrowing some of Mad’s success. In 1959, Thorpe & Porter, who distributed many American magazines in the UK, launched a Mad #1 reprinting selections from the American mag, and started a series that would endure for decades and almost four hundred issues. This week, we have a highly attractive Fine copy of UK Mad # 1 fresh into stock, crisp, clean, unimpeded page images, with only moderate corner and edge wear belying a higher grade, and with a classic cover image of Alfred E. Neuman to boot!

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:
*DC
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Marvel & Marvel UK: An odd couple of debuts this update, with characters who wouldn’t become retroactively linked until decades afterward! In June 1971’s Astonishing Tales #6, an un-named mystery woman with brown hair turns up on Ka-Zar’s doorstep, uttering dire warnings of future events with mysterious psychic powers never after referred to. All evidence to the contrary, this is the first appearance of Dr. Barbara ‘Bobbi’ Morse, biochemist and Agent of SHIELD, who would later enter the superheroic life as the Huntress (one time, before DC said ‘Oi’), and then as Mockingbird. Bobbi’s endured a great deal in her time, serving with the Avengers, dying and coming back from Hell, and marrying Hawkeye, but her greatest visibility is being incarnated by the lovely Adrienne Palicki in the hit TV show “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD”, and this issue is where the character’s lengthy career kicked off. And to be fair, a girl could have a worse start in life than being drawn by Barry Smith at the peak of his talent. This highly attractive VF- Cents copy is offered at £25. Joining Ms. Morse is her televisual hubby (well ex.), SHIELD agent Lance Hunter, who made his debut in the Feb. 16th, 1977 issue of Captain Britain Weekly, Marvel UK’s first attempt to create an indigenous British super-hero. From a very incidental supporting character, the improbably-named Lancelot Hunter’s prominence spiked when played by the equally implausibly-monickered actor Nick Blood in SHIELD’s TV iteration. This FN copy is offered for a scant £20.

*TV & Film Related Comics: Free Gift Farrago! 1971’s launch of Countdown was a spiritual successor to TV Century 21, featuring strip adaptations Doctor Who and the Gerry Anderson oeuvre – Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, UFO et al. Though some of the Anderson features were outright reprints of TV 21’s earlier efforts, the new material was of a high standard, including the eponymous ‘Countdown’ strip, superbly illustrated by John Burns. Sadly, the hard-core SF audience didn’t sustain, and by the mid-#30’s, Countdown broadened its remit to TV adventure, with the addition of The Persuaders and Hawaii-Five-O to the lineup, followed by its conversion, with issue #59, to TV Action, with Dr. Who and UFO holding the fort against an invasion of other detective/adventure series. We have many issues of this excellent series back in stock. The first eight are high grade, among the nicest we’ve ever seen, with issue #1 possessing its original Free Gift – a giant Space Chart with Stick-On Stamps (not stuck). The comic is VF- and the Free Gift (an unused and sparkling VF/NM); the price for the #1 plus gift is £140. We also have a selection of lesser-seen issues from the 40’s and 50’s, the first few of the TV Action iteration, and the Countdown Holiday Special from 1971 – the latter admittedly only in Fair condition, but complete!

*Charlton: At the beginning of his career, in the early 1950’s, Steve Ditko did a huge amount of work for the lesser-known publisher Charlton, and we have here three early examples that are highly sought after from Space Adventures: issues #10, #11, and #12 of that series, each with an iconic Ditko cover. Watch the Robots Revolt on #10! See the Space Squid Attack on #11! And marvel at the rubbish peripheral vision of the lady astronaut on #12! These classic covers are among Ditko’s most sought-after works. Issues #10 and #11 are also graced by Ditko interior art, whereas issue #12 is not – but the notorious cover of issue #12, plus its remarkable condition of FN+, means that it will probably go fastest! Check out our catalogue for grades and prices.

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: The Marvel 1970’s horror title Supernatural Thrillers went through a variety of adaptations of classic texts (by Thoedore Sturgeon, H G Wells, Robert E Howard, Robert Louis Stevenson etc) before settling (with #5 as pictured and then #7) to recount the adventures of the Living Mummy up to its final issue #15, a moody and atmospheric quality strip with superior art mostly by Val Mayerik. We are pleased to present the entire Living Mummy saga, plus the earlier one-off other stories in the entire 15 issue run, in nicer grades, all cents copies.

*Modern Reprints: New in, all four volumes of DC’s Green Lantern Chronicles. The Chronicles softcover series reprints classic characters from the beginning in full colour, and promises ‘all the stories in the exact order they were published’. So the Silver Age iteration of Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, is here right from his first appearance in Showcase #22 right up to #20 of his own series. Classic, inventive sci-fi super-hero adventure at a fraction of the price of the originals.

*Marvel: Astonishing Tales was a Marvel title from the 1970’s that went through a lot of changes in its brief 36 issue span. Starting off as a ‘split’ book between Ka-Zar & Dr Doom (with star creators on board such as Jack Kirby, Wally Wood & Barry Smith), the bad doctor was soon dropped and Ka-Zar took over the title, before ceding to It, The Living Colossus from #21 for a few issues (including a tangle with our old pal Fin Fang Foom), and finally to Rich Buckler’s futuristic machine/assassin Deathlok in #25 who saw the title out apart from a reprint of the first Guardians Of The Galaxy story in #29. An almost complete run in this week, in mixed grades, all cents copies, including the first Deathlok (pictured) VF+ at £45.

*Marvel: From 1982, the first Wolverine solo comics in the shape of Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s classic 4 issue mini, all now available in high grade. See our catalogue listing (which you can jump to from the link at the beginning of each post here) for exact grades and pricing information.