*Horror 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection this week, another dip into the entrails of Pre-Code Horror with two issues of Strange Tales, one of Atlas’s flagship titles for this stuff. Like Journey Into Mystery, Strange Tales is one of the Marvel titles that had its roots in the Atlas Pre-Code Horror days and survived via the Big Panty Monsters into the super-heroic Silver Age. It’s the Pre-Code Horror that concerns us here, with two early issues in decent shape. The usual high standards of Atlas horror are preserved in these excellent items.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES BOTH SOLD
#8 VG £325 Pre-Code. Great cover by Everett. Interior art by Colan, Stallman, Maneely and others. Great colour with some gloss. Corner blunting, solid spine, firm, tight staples at spine and centrefold, slight chipping wear to right edge. Supple pages off-white to cream. 
#17 GD+ £150 Pre-Code. Cover by Carl Burgos. Interior art by Sinnott, Robinson, Brodsky (?), Briefer and others. Upper spine split 2.5 cm. Unspoilt cover with spidery crease lines, mostly above logo. Minor edge and spine wear. Good firm staples and nice off-white to cream pages. This copy looks a little wonky and we suspect a trim to the right upper side; graded and priced accordingly.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: This digest-sized comics series, most famous under its later title of Thriller Picture Library, ran for 450 issues until 1963, and while it featured a plethora of characters during its lengthy run, the trend for the early years was for historical swashbucklers based on fictional (but serendipitously copyright-free) characters, but also featuring crime, war, western and science-fiction adventures. The artists were all accomplished Fleetway professionals, and readers thrived on these beautifully-illustrated pocket adventures. Issues #11-20 fresh in this week, all low grade with some taped spines and varying degrees of staple rust, but all complete with clean pages.
IN THIS UPDATE: THRILLER COMICS/PICTURE LIBRARY
11 FA/GD £22.50 The Black Arrow. Taped spine
12 GD £25 Musketeers Of The King.
13 FA/GD £22.50 Captain Flame. Taped spine.
14 FA £20 The Secret Of Monte Cristo. Cover loose.
15 GD £25 The Last Of The Mohicans. Pictured below
16 FA/GD £22.50 The Green Archer. Pictured below.
17 GD £25 The Outlaw Orphan. Pictured below
18 FA £20 Again The Ringer. Taped spine.
19 GD £25 Quo Vadis. Pictured below.
20 GD £25 Phantom Footsteps. Pictured below

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Edmund Crispin (real name Robert Bruce Montgomery) was a celebrated author, critic and composer (he wrote the film scores for several early Carry On films, among many others and edited science-fiction anthologies). His detective fiction featured his creation Gervase Fen, who starred in novels and short story collections, written mostly in the 1940s and 50s. Fen is a mercurial, eccentric university professor with a penchant for solving the most unlikely mysteries, which Crispin writes in a humorous, literary and sometimes farcical style. The plots are intricate, fantastic and almost unbelievable, but hugely entertaining. The Moving Toyshop was the first Fen novel I read, and I perceived that Fen was a likely inspiration for the character of Dr Who; I have since learned that others have also made that comparison. We’re delighted to have five Fen novels new in this week, all published by Four Square in a handsome matching edition in 1965/66. 
PICTURED: ALL BY EDMUND CRISPIN ALL SOLD
THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLY Four Square 1965 UK PB VG £6
FREQUENT HEARSES Four Square 1965 UK PB VG £6
HOLY DISORDERS Four Square 1965 UK PB GD/VG £5
THE MOVING TOYSHOP Four Square 1965 UK PB VG £6
SWAN SONG Four Square 1966 UK PB VG £6

*Clearance Corner: Very occasionally, a lot comes our way which does not justify its place in our catalogue but is too good to discard. These lots are offered here on our What’s New page, but are no longer listed in our catalogue. Lots listed under Clearance Corner will be available for a short time only.  Clearance Corner lots are offered post free to UK buyers only. They are not bagged or boarded. When you buy in a lot of collections, as we do, you often find Free Gifts that don’t have the comics to go with them. We’ve rounded up a lot of these totalling eight. In some cases, we haven’t had time to identify which comics they go with, but have given the best information we have to hand below.
ALL 8 GIFTS FOR £35 — UK ONLY, WITH FREE POSTAGE SOLD
LOVELY YOUNG DANCERS OF 1960. 9 ballerina cards in plastic wallet from early Judy. In nice condition with previous owner’s name on wallet and back of some cards.
MOONGLOW MASK From Topper in used but nice condition.
BUSTER GUY FAWKES BANGER From Buster 6/11/65 Grubby with some wear and tear.
THUNDERBIRDS POSTCARDS From TV Century 21. Set of 6 unused in great condition.
CAPTAIN SCARLET ALBUM From TV Century 21. Complete with all stickers fitted. Slight wear.
MY FAVOURITE SOCCER STARS ALBUM From Scorcher 1971. Complete with all photo-cards fitted.  Nice condition.
THE HORNET BOOK – BE A SUPER BOY From Hornet #420. Nice condition.
BLACK PANTHER TRANSFER STICKERS X 2 From Marvel Super Adventure. Unused.

*DC: Well, technically they returned, along with other Justice Society members, in Justice League of America #21, but this was the first time since the Golden Age that readers had had a chance to see these heroes as more than faces in a super-crowd, and with the talents of editor Julius Schwartz, scripter Gardner Fox and illustrator Murphy Anderson, you know you’re in for a treat. In #55, with the villainous Solomon Grundy and guest-hero Green Lantern (Alan Scott), this was a truly epic battle, as the supernatural Doctor Fate and the super-scientist Hourman joined forces against an eldritch menace which threatened to overwhelm them both! In #56, the super-team supreme came up against the Psycho-Pirate, whom readers will remember, if not from the Golden Age, then for his major role in Crisis On Infinite Earths. Comics as they should be! From an original owner collection and new to the marketplace.
PICTURED: SHOWCASE
#55 VG+ p £110 Pence stamped. Lustrous and glossy colour cover with the deep purple background colour that DC purveyed so well. Some handling wear and spine ticks, plus a short 2 cm crease at spine which barely breaks colour. Tight, firm staples and lovely supple white to off-white pages.
#56 VG + p £70 Pence stamped. Lustrous and glossy colour cover. Minor edge and corner wear; short and narrow colour-breaking creases at top and bottom right corners (1 at each). Tight, firm staples and lovely supple white to off-white pages. 

*Marvel: One of the most sought-after Marvel Comics of the 1960s is Fantastic Four #48, which introduced the Silver Surfer, a cosmic-powered being the equal of the combined FF… and the Surfer’s master, Galactus, an entity of even more monstrous might! Both became major figures in the Marvel Universe, with the Surfer repenting his role as Galactus’ herald and choosing the side of justice, while Galactus’ insatiable hunger drives him ever onwards to more heinous acts. This Good Doctor Collection copy is pence printed and in beautiful condition, with vibrant colour cover and a totally unmarked cover scene. Corners are fairly sharp, and staples firmly attached at spine and centrefold. Wear is minimal, mostly restricted to the top edge, but very narrow. There are small handling marks at top corners resulting in tiny creases. Pages are a lovely white to off-white, nearer the white end of that scale. Covers and pages are both beautifully supple and fresh. Just to the right of the Fantastic Four logo there is a soft, barely discernable crease of about 4 cm, with just a hint of a colour break. An iconic Silver Age comic in fabulous condition, which would be a high point of many a collection. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #48 FN/VF p £1,850

*Marvel: Filling our Marvel #1 slot this week is none other than Moon Knight. We’re delighted to add to our catalogue the first issue of the first ongoing Moon Knight series from 1980. The multiple secret identity super-hero often considered an ersatz Batman has been around now since 1975, in various guest appearances and one-shots which led up to this. With Adamsesque art by the moody Bill Sienkiewicz, this has very much become a fan favourite series in recent years. Our latest #1 is a high grade pence printed issue, glossy with rich colour, great pages and staples and a perfect spine. Just a suggestion of handling wear at top edge.
PICTURED: MOON KNIGHT #1 VF+ p £50

*Marvel: Our Tabloid Headlines feature continues with three Conan issues of the Marvel Treasury Edition. #4 (alas, a damaged copy) features two glorious long tales by artist Barry Smith at his peak, including Red Nails, here for the first time in colour.  By contrast grade-wise, #15 and #19 are high grade; #15 features the first full Red Sonja story also by Smith, plus stories from Kane, Adams and Buscema; while #19 has long stories by Buscema and Nino, reprinted in colour for the first time from Savage Sword. By Crom, they did Robert E Howard proud!
PICTURED: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION ALL SOLD
#4 GD £5 Thumbnail-sized chip out bottom edge.
#15 NM- £30
#19 VF/NM £25

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: In the 1940s and 50s, the jungle genre was de rigueur in comics, fuelled no doubt by the multi-media sensation of Tarzan Of The Apes. Nowhere was this more prevalent than at Fiction House, who had Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and their flagship Jungle Comics, where Ka’a’nga, Jungle Lord and his shapely companion Ann held sway, ably backed up by such jungle denizens as Simba, Tabu, Wambi, Captain Terry Thunder and Camilla. Three issues of adventure from the Bute Collection in varying grades. 
IN THIS UPDATE: JUNGLE COMICS
#81 FN+ £80 (PICTURED) Beautiful clean copy with vivid colour, firm staples and supple off-white to cream pages. Just minor creasing at base of spine, not breaking colour. SOLD
#91 GD/VG £33 Spine roll with centrefold off top staple, but otherwise only minor wear.
#113 FA £10 Covers detached with holes at staple regions and at base of spine.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: This week, we’re rounding up some loose ends we’ve acquired in this category, including issue #3 of 2000 AD, an early Victor, an uncommon Jag, a promotional issue of Battle (Action Force) and the Marvelman special.
IN THIS UPDATE:
BATTLE 8/10/83 VG £4.50 The first issue where this title joined with Action Force; this promotional variant was given away free at Hamleys
JAG 7/9/68 GD £5 Tabloid-sized SOLD
MARVELMAN SPECIAL #1 VG £10
2000 AD #3 VG £30 (PICTURED)
VICTOR #152 (1964) GD £2.50 Some cover foxing SOLD

*Mad Books: This week, reinforcements for our Mad Books category, celebrating those fondly remembered paperback books featuring the best of Mad. Wit, sarcasm, parody and irony never go out of style. Eight volumes new in (including many devoted to specific creators) as follows:
SERGIO ARAGONES: MAD MENAGERIE Warner 1983 1st US PB GD/VG £6
DAVE BERG: MAD’S DAVE BERG LOOKS AT MODERN THINKING Signet 1969 1st US PB GD £3
AL JAFFEE: MAD’S AL JAFFEE SPEWS OUT SNAPPY ANSWERS TO STUPID QUESTIONS Signet 7th US PB VG £6
AL JAFFEE: GOOD LORD! NOT ANOTHER BOOK OF SNAPPY ANSWERS TO STUPID QUESTIONS BY MAD’S AL JAFFEE Warner 1980 1st US PB VG £6
THE MAD WORRY BOOK Warner 1980 1st US PB GD £4
DON MARTIN: MAD’S DON MARTIN COMES ON STRONG Signet 1971 1st US PB VG £6
THE SELF-MADE MAD Signet US PB VG £4
SON OF MAD Signet 15th US PB VG £6

*DC: Leading this week’s selections from the Bute Collection is World’s Finest #20, Winter 1945. An amusing Jack Burnley cover typical of the period, featuring Superman, Batman & Robin. In these early days for the title, Superman and Batman appeared in separate stories and had a variety of back-ups, in this case Green Arrow, Zatara, the Boy Commandos and others in its 76 squarebound pages. The Superman story features the Toyman. The spine is more or less intact, but has several pieces of tape around it. There is a 4 cm tear vertical from the top edge near the spine going through the letter ‘W’ in the logo. There are also several tears to the right edge sealed by tape, in some cases both inside and out. Some tape also on back cover. Other than all that, the comic holds together pretty well;  the pages have some grubby edges but are okay and there is a small stain top of back cover.
PICTURED: WORLD’S FINEST #20 FA/GD £120 SOLD

*DC: Although some take the view that the Silver Age Justice League were past their best after the first twenty or so issues, I totally refute that, maintaining that author Gardner Fox was still at his most imaginative and innovative right up to his final issue on the series (#65). Here are six shining examples to bear testament:
IN THIS UPDATE: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA ALL SOLD
#34 VG/FN p £18.25 Joker cover
#35 FN p £22
#37 GD/VG p £13.25 Annual JSA Crossover part 1
#38 GD/VG p £11 Annual JSA Crossover part 2
#39 GD+ p £11 80 Page Giant reprinting 3 early stories
#40 GD- p £12.75 Off lower staple

*Marvel: Key issues don’t come much more key these days than Iron Man #55, wherein the cosmic arch-villain Thanos, nemesis of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, made his first appearance, the brainchild of fan favourite writer/artist Jim Starlin. Thanos has of course gone on to plague Marvel’s heroes in comics and movies ever since, but here is where it all started. This landmark issue also features the debuts of Drax the Destroyer, Mentor, Eros (later Starfox of the Avengers) and Kronos. We have a lovely clean pence printed copy fresh in this week, glossy with rich colour, staples firm and tight at spine and centrefold. Supple pages are off-white to cream. Minor corner blunting and a small number of very minor spine ticks just break colour. From an original owner collection and new to the marketplace. 
PICTURED: IRON MAN #55 FN+ p £400

*Marvel: This week’s Marvel #1 feature is two 1970s #1 issues of ongoing Spider-Man series. First up. Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #1 (as it was then called) from 1976, which was launched as the second main Spidey title after Amazing; secondly, Spidey Super Stories #1 from 1974, aimed at younger readers and others learning to read.
PICTURED:
SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1 VF+ p £35
SPIDEY SUPER STORIES #1 FN £35

*Horror 1940-1959: Also from the Bute Collection this week, issue #3 of Fawcett’s Worlds Of Fear from 1952. Beneath a striking and garish cover, possibly by Shelley Moldoff, interior art is by George Evans, possibly Moldoff and others. Stories include monstrous life-forms, zombies and a ghost pirate and are quite intense. The black background cover has fine creases at spine and edges which break colour. The staples have a spot of two or rust with minor migration; the cover is off at top staple. There is a spot about the size of a small coin on the central head’s forehead that looks like it was a handwritten price, crudely covered over by green pen, but looks better than it sounds. Overall, not too bad.
PICTURED: WORLDS OF FEAR #3 GD+ £140 SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: This week, we have a super-hero with a difference – Radar, the Man From The Unknown! Launching in 1962, these English-language reprints of an Italian (we think) series featured a Strange Visitor From Another Planet, Radar, who exhibits mighty powers (flight, a ‘danger sense’, enhanced strength and the ability to turn into really oddly-drawn animals, among others). Taking the alias ‘Rock’, he lives a civilian life on Earth accompanied by his lovely girlfriend Brenda, who somehow fails to notice that Rock and Radar are one and the same despite the fact that they have identical features and even wear the same sweater! (Maybe she just thought Rock was a fanboy…)  Radar’s, er, radar-sense enabled him not only to sense danger to himself, but also if anyone in the world needed his aid, so his adventures spanned a wide variety of locales. Radar is an oddity; it’s like a vague memory in the minds of a generation of Brits of a certain age, many of whom remember seeing one or two issues in their childhood, but without much recollection of details. We have 14 of the 26 issues in stock of this uncommon series. Of note are the striking and lovely painted covers on many issues – folks expecting the same high standard of interior artwork should, well, brace themselves for disillusionment. Oddly, from about the middle of the run, Radar’s costumed persona and super-feats were replaced on the cover by beautifully-executed but generic illustrations which could come from any number of spy/detective series, but he carried merrily on with his trademarked super-stunts within. Rare in any grade, and this collection is in astonishingly good nick, with only a few bringing down the VF average. Three examples pictured below; for full details, please see our catalogue.
PICTURED:  RADAR
#4 VF £15
#11 VF £15
#12 VF £15 SOLD

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: 25 issues of True Life Library fresh to our catalogue this week between #701 and #743, close to the end of this long-running series (it finished with #769). The standard of art by mainly European illustrators is very accomplished. These are lovely items, their appeal enhanced by the fact that they are from a newsagent’s reserve stock, never sold or circulated, with white pages, bright covers and very little if any rust in the staple areas. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: TRUE LIFE LIBRARY #739 FN/VF £5.50

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies & Sleaze category for authors between Dibner & Duperrault. Martin Dibner’s Showcase tag-line is ‘bedroom and boardroom scenes alternate in this outspoken novel of department store life.’ There are two classic mysteries from Carter Dickson (a pseudonym of John Dickson Carr) featuring Sir Henry Merrivale: A Graveyard To Let and She Died A Lady. Something For Nothing by H Vernor Dixon is about a ruthless gambler. Stick or Bust by Ricky Drayton is one of those classic British gangster pulps of the 1950s with a typical good girl cover by Roger Davis. Finally, two sleazy volumes in one edition: Backwoods Shack and Spotlight On Sin, with heroines who would ‘stop at nothing’.
PICTURED:
MARTIN DIBNER: SHOWCASE Pan 1961 1st UK PB VG £4
CARTER DICKSON: A GRAVEYARD TO LET Berkley Medallion 1968 US PB GD/VG £5 (new in) SOLD
CARTER DICKSON: SHE DIED A LADY Penguin 1959 3rd UK PB VG £6 SOLD
H VERNOR DIXON: SOMETHING FOR NOTHING Hamish Hamilton 1953 1st UK PB GD £4
RICKY DRAYTON: STICK OR BUST Scion 1953 1st UK PB GD/VG £40
DOUG DUPERRAULT – SPOTLIGHT ON SIN / HARRY WHITTINGTON – BACKWOODS SHACK Lancer 2 for 1 1950s US PB VG/FN £20

*DC: The prestigious DC title House Of Mystery went through many changes in its 321 issue history. This week, we’re concentrating on just three distinct phases, all from the Silver Age. Issues #120 & #123 feature horror/mystery tales typical of Jack Schiff’s editorship, #148 & #154 star the Martian Manhunter in the middle of his transfer run from Detective Comics, and #156 & #160 feature Dial H For Hero, #156 being the first of those stories, and #160 with Robby Reed in the role of Plastic Man, sort of as that hero’s first DC appearance.
PICTURED: HOUSE OF MYSTERY ALL SOLD
#120 FA £4 Worn spine and small erosion upper right.
#123 VG p £11
#148 GD- £5.25
#154 VG- p £6.50 Loose centrefold
#156 GD/VG p £11 1st Dial H For Hero
#160 GD p £6.75 1st Silver Age Plastic Man; loose centrefold, bookshop stamps

*Marvel:  Although the ‘modern’ Nick Fury had appeared in Fantastic Four as a CIA Agent, giving readers of Sgt. Fury their first clue that he’d survived World War II (and ‘spoiling’ the rest of the series for them…) the height of the spy craze in 1965 meant that when Nick took over the second slot in Strange Tales, he had his very own acronymic agency in SHIELD, which made its debut in Nick’s second starring series. ‘Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD’ brought the character firmly into the Swingin’ Sixties, with fantastic gadgets, high-stakes melodrama, megalomaniacal villains, and lovely lethal ladies who switched from kissing to killing at the drop of a plot twist. Contrasted with the stunning Lee & Ditko Doctor Strange, this spies & sorcery mishmash delighted the readership. This Good Doctor Collection copy of Strange Tales #135 is a cents copy with an unmarked rich colour cover with residual gloss. There is minor wear at corners and top edge, but nothing really breaks colour. There are a couple of very soft creases in the masthead area. Staples are tight and firm; pages are supple and white to off-white. 
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #135 FN- £125

*Marvel: We continue our recurring feature on tabloid-sized comics with two more Marvel Treasury editions starring the Mighty Thor, both in high grade (which is uncommon for these over-sized items). #3 reprints a complete six-issue saga guest-starring Hercules and introducing the Greek/Roman pantheon, as chronicled by Stan & Jack. #10 has reprints of the original Mangog story, an epic masterpiece from Thor #154-157, with Stan & Jack at the height of their grandeur.
PICTURED: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION BOTH SOLD
#3 VF+ p £20
#10 VF/NM p £25   

*Marvel UK: We hop across the Pond for this week’s dose of Spider-Mania, with issues #2-10 of Spider-Man Comics weekly from 1973, the second series from Marvel UK. The early issues of Amazing Spidey were reprinted in Mighty World Of Marvel, so the reprints in this series start with #9 i.e. #2 reprints Amazing #10. Spidey’s co-star, the Mighty Thor, starts here from his second story from Journey Into Mystery #84. These are the nicest copies we’ve ever seen, with no creases, tears or marks; you never see this with white pages, but the slight creamy pages are, we believe, as nice as when they were printed. Carefully read once by the original owner and then stored away for 50 years; just what look like printing marks on the spine margin of #9. Complete with all coupons intact to enable you to send off for the Free Gift, but I doubt you’d have much success trying that now.
IN THIS UPDATE: SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY ALL SOLD
#2 VF £25 (PICTURED)
#3 VF £15
#4 VF £12
#5 VF £12
#6 VF £5
#7 VF £5
#8 VF £5
#9 FN/VF £4
#10 VF £5

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Super-Detective Library (Told In Pictures), originally published by Amalgamated (later Fleetway) from 1953, concentrated in its early issues on stories of established detectives from across literature, radio and film. We have added issues #11 to #19 this week, mostly in low to mid grades, with rusty staples to varying degrees, but okay conditions with a couple with loose covers.
IN THIS UPDATE: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY
#11 VG £15 The Saint: The Menace Of The Poison Pen (PICTURED)
#12 FA/GD £11 Dick Barton: City Under The Sea
#13 FA £10 Bulldog Drummond: The Final Count
#14 FA/GD £11 Rod Collins, Special Agent In Space: The Men From The Stars (PICTURED)
#15 VG/FN £17.50 The Saint & The Vanishing Policeman (PICTURED)
#16 FA/GD £11 Lesley Shane: The Riddle Of The Race Gang
#17 GD/VG £13.50 The Phantom Of The Fun-Fair (PICTURED)
#18 FA £10 Ernest Dudley, the Armchair Detective: The Mystery Of The Hooded Man
#19 FA/GD £11 Lesley Shane: The Last Jest Of Angelo Yates

*TV/FIlm Tie-Ins: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our TV/Film Tie-Iins category for the Man from UNCLE.  I wrote an appreciation of the Man (and Girl) from UNCLE novels during lockdown, which says (I think) everything you need to know about them. You can read that here. Our Man from UNCLE stock comprises eight of the sixteen UK novels, including #9 The Vampire Affair, my personal favourite.
PICTURED: THE MAN FROM UNCLE ALL SOLD
#4 THE STONE-COLD DEAD IN THE MARKET AFFAIR by JOHN ORAM Souvenir Press/Four Square 1966 1st UK PB GD £3
#5 THE FINGER IN THE SKY AFFAIR by PETER LESLIE Souvenir Press/Four Square 1966 1st UK PB GD £7
#8 THE MAD SCIENTIST AFFAIR by JOHN T PHILLIFENT Souvenir Press/Four Square 1966 1st UK PB GD £5
#9 THE VAMPIRE AFFAIR by DAVID McDANIEL Souvenir Press/Four Square 1966 1st UK PB GD/VG £5
#10 THE DIVING DAMES AFFAIR by PETER LESLIE Souvenir Press/Four Square 1967 1st UK PB VG £8
#11 THE THINKING MACHINE AFFAIR by JOEL BERNARD Souvenir Press/Four Square 1967 1st UK PB GD/VG £7
#13 THE CORFU AFFAIR by JOHN T PHILLIFENT Souvenir Press/Four Square 1967 1st UK PB VG £17 Scarce
#14 THE SPLINTERED SUNGLASSES AFFAIR by PETER LESLIE Souvenir Press/Four Square 1967 1st UK PB GD £4