*DC: This week’s foray into the Midas Collection continues with two issues of Batman from 1945. 
PICTURED: BATMAN
#28 VG- £425 A simple but dynamic cover from Jack Burnley, with stories by Don C Cameron, Bill Finger and Al Schwartz, art by Jerry Robinson. Three Batman stories plus an Alfred short. In the lead story, the Joker cons several rich playboys and Batman decides to visit the villain’s lair. Not a bad copy, with a rich red cover background. Some spine wear with small upper and lower splits, and a looseness at the staples, which are still reasonably firmly attached. Slightly miscut on production, so that the bottom edge has a thin white line, with a corresponding amount off the top edge, but not trimmed as far as we can tell. Supple pages are a nice white to off-white. 
#29 GD+ £240 Zany Batman & Robin on penny farthing bicycles cover by Dick Sprang. Stories by Bill Finger and Don C Cameron, art by Dick Sprang & Jerry Robinson.  Three Batman stories plus an Alfred short. In one story, two detectives investigate a robbery at Wayne Mansion in the guise of Batman & Robin; in another Batman becomes a postman to foil the crimes of the Scuttler. Nice bright cover with good colours; light water damage at right edge. Cover detached at bottom staple. Decent white to off-white pages. 

*Marvel: Before the coming of Thor, Journey Into Mystery, which had started out in the pre-code horror era, was in full Big Panty Monster mode, where said monsters were out to conquer or destroy the Earth, provided, in many cases, that they were equipped with sufficiently capacious panties. Dominated by Kirby and Ditko, this is a great period to collect for fans of these two titans of the Marvel Age of Comics.
PICTURED: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
#74 VG+ p £85 SOLD With an unusual (not T&P) pence stamp. 2 Kirby stories plus Ditko and Heck. Decent copy with some spine wear breaking colour and also a small colour-breaking crease across the bottom right cover corner. Rich colours and good reflectivity. Good staples and near-white pages.
#76 VG/FN £90 SOLD 2 Kirby stories (including the delightfully titled Genie with the Light Brown Hair) plus Ditko and Heck. Nice copy with only minor edge and spine wear inc a tiny bit of colour break, with a colour-breaking crease across bottom right cover corner. Strong colours, good reflectivity, good staples and white to off-white pages. Slight tanning to inside cover edges. 
 

*Marvel: A quality mix of Marvel titles from the Silver & Bronze Ages.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
DAREDEVIL #257 VG/FN £8 With the Punisher
HULK #117 VG p £7.50
MARVEL FEATURE #3 GD/VG £7.50 3rd Defenders
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #134 App VG/FN £15 1st Tarantula; 2nd Punisher (cameo). Marvel Value stamp out, story not affected.
TALES OF SUSPENSE #68 FA+ p £4.25 Iron Man & Captain America
TALES TO ASTONISH #76 FA/GD £5 Sub-Mariner & the Hulk

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: We get very few Chesler comics through our hands, so it’s a real pleasure to have a copy of Dynamic Comics from 1945 new in this week from the Bute Collection. An anthology title with super-hero Dynamic Man and Dynamic Boy (illustrated by Reuben Moreira), detective/humour with Ima Sloth, detective/gothic with Lucky Coyne and the Echo, crime with the Manhunters, occult adventure with Mister E and a couple of humour strips. A distinctive and unusual Lucky Coyne cover from Gus Ricca. From the outside this looks like quite a decent copy, good colours and not too much edge wear, with a small chip out bottom back cover. Unfortunately, on the inside the cover is taped down the spine of both inner front and back, suggesting that the pages have been off the staples at some point to apply the tape. However, it is questionable just how much this was needed since the staples are firm (and look original) at centrefold and may not have been loose on the outside spine. Pages are a nice supple off-white.
PICTURED: DYNAMIC COMICS #14 GD £125

*Alan Class Reprints: The pre-decimal priced Alan Class issues from the 1960s remain amongst the most sought-after from this famous British publisher. This week we feature 10 issues of Sinister Tales, commencing with #10, many of them awash with Kirby & Ditko, and featuring Captain America and that rarest of Marvel heroes Doctor Droom. These will be found in the regular stock section of this category, and don’t forget to check out our Rough Guide to Alan Class Reprints for more detail on the content of his issues. 
PICTURED: SINISTER TALES
#10 VG- £16.50 (PICTURED)
#11 VG+ £6.25 SOLD
#16 VG £16 Dr Droom
#17 VG+ £6.50 SOLD
#25 VG+ £5
#26 FN £6
#27 FN £5.75
#30 VG+ £6 SOLD
#37 FN £5.75
#39 VG £12.50 Captain America 

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Another visit this week to the dynamic world of James Bond. This week’s featured books need no introduction from me. Ian Fleming’s iconic creation is known worldwide thanks to the hugely successful movie franchise, but James Bond got his start in novels, so it is in this category that these books belong. And let me tell you, the books are darker and deeper than the films, less gadgety and more visceral. Three of the classic 1960s design covers from Raymond Hawkey this week, which are the ones I grew up with, plus a contemporary movie cover for From Russia With Love. More information, including condition notes, can be found in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL JAMES BOND BY IAN FLEMING ALL SOLD
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE Pan 1963 13th UK PB VG £7
LIVE AND LET DIE Pan 1963 12th UK PB VG £4
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME Pan 1967 1st UK PB VG £5
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE Pan 1966 3rd UK PB VG £4

*DC: I make no secret of the fact that Lobo isn’t my personal cup of tea; if I was writing the DCU, he most assuredly wouldn’t be in it. However, there’s no denying that the Main Man has a certain notoriety and popularity with a certain audience, and if you’re one of them, you’re sure to want his first appearance in your collection, which came in Omega Men #3 from 1983. I am amused that the skin-tight cat-suit of his original purple and orange outfit didn’t portray the hard man image he came to cultivate. I can’t find any defects worth recording with this immaculate copy.  
PICTURED: OMEGA MEN #3 NM £95

*DC: Along with Mystery In Space, Strange Adventures was DC’s leading science fiction title from the 1950s/60s. Six issues here from the early years of UK distribution, featuring top notch work from the best writers and artists in the business. This period continued with one of three much-loved recurring features in each issue: Star Hawkins, Space Museum and Atomic Knights. 
IN THIS UPDATE: STRANGE ADVENTURES ALL SOLD
#115 GD p £9.75 Extra staples. Space Museum
#116 VG+ £21.50 (PICTURED) Star Hawkins
#118 FA/GD £8 Space Museum
#119 GD £10.75 Star Hawkins
#121 FA p £4.25 Wide spine tape. Space Museum
#123 FA p £5.75 2 centrefolds detached. Atomic Knights

*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. All high grade; even the few that fall below VF (and most are above) are really good-looking copies – no duds here, and nearly all cents copies. Four spiffy issues newly listed this week!
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#114 VF+ £100 SOLD Doc Ock vs Hammerhead. Lovely glossy copy with only the most minimal edge wear. 
#125 VF- £50 The Man-Wolf Strikes Again. Fresh and glossy with some creasing at spine (particularly top and bottom), non-colour-breaking. 
#131 VF £50 Aunt May marries Doc Ock?? Lovely glossy copy with just minor stress marks at spine.
#139 VF £60 1st Grizzly. Lovely glossy copy with very minor edge wear.

*Gold Key/Whitman: From the Bute Collection, an update to our stocks of the Gold Key title Magnus Robot Fighter, issues #11-21. With superlative art by Russ Manning and gorgeous painted covers, this sci-fi extravaganza was a cut above anything else being published by Gold Key at the time and remains a timeless classic as Magnus takes on robots rebelling to overthrow mankind. 
IN THIS UPDATE: MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER ALL SOLD
#11 VG+ £9.25
#12 VG+ £9.25
#13 VG/FN £10.25 (PICTURED)
#14 VG £8.25
#15 VG+ £9.25
#16 VG/FN £10.25
#17 VG/FN £10.25
#18 VG/FN £10.25
#19 VG+ £9.25
#20 VG £8.25
#21 VG/FN £8.25

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: From 1961, Fleetway’s Battle Picture Library was one of their three long-running flagship titles in this genre (along with War and Air Ace). This week, we have more than 30 issues newly listed, running between #41 and #122, mostly in GD to VG condition.

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Three very different books in this category this week. comic book and science fiction writer Gardner F Fox (my favourite comic writer) contributes a tale of the high seas and the Queen of the Spanish Main. Ross MacDonald’s Lew Archer is a private eye very much in the Marlowe/Spade mould. Dacia Maraini’s barely fictionalised tale is of the life of a female Italian thief, here in a movie cover of the film version. 
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
GARDNER F FOX: MADAME BUCCANEER Fawcett Gold Medal 1953 1st US PB VG £12
ROSS MACDONALD: THE CHILL Warner 1990 1st US PB thus VG £5
DACIA MARAINI: MEMOIRS OF A FEMALE THIEF NEL 1975 1st UK PB FN £8

*DC: We’re highlighting four more Golden Age issues of Batman from the Midas Collection this week, published in the year 1954.
PICTURED: BATMAN 
#82 FN £500 SOLD A very nice copy of a classic cover issue of Batman, featuring a flying Batman caught in a spotlight against a night sky.  Great use of colour on a cover with nice reflectivity, with the trademark deep blue DC sky. Three classic crime stories, including the cover story. A flat, tight copy with only minimal wear at edges and corners. No marks on cover. Great staples with supple white to off-white pages. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane and Dick Sprang. High resolution images are available on request.
#83 GD/VG £200 A decent copy with an average impact subscription crease. Cover detached at top staple, bottom staple is a little loose but okay. Both staples attached at centre. Nice cover colours and reflectivity. Crisp and sound near white pages. A duplicate Batman, a murder mystery and a psychological trial for the Dynamic Duo. Cover by Dick Sprang; art by Sprang and Sheldon Moldoff. 
#85 VG+ £200 A very reasonable copy with minor waviness at spine. Bright colours and relatively little edge wear. Firm tight staples and nice white to off-white pages. Great lead Joker story where Batman and the Joker swap personalities following a lab accident. Back-up stories featuring the Bat-Signal and a murder among Batman impersonators during a photo-shoot arranged by Vicki Vale. 
#86 GD £90 A lower-graded copy which is a bit tired, with the ghost of a dust shadow at the right edge. Cover off top staple with bottom staple loose; staples okay at centrefold. Creasing and handling wear, nice off-white pages. Features the debut of the Batmarine, Batman as an Indian Chief and another Joker story wherein he is inspired by a baseball game to become a manager of crime. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Dick Sprang and Sheldon Moldoff.  

*DC: My Greatest Adventure was one of a series of science fiction/weird mystery adventure titles from DC, which presented a consistent standard of story and art. The six issues in this update from 1961 span the changeover from 10 cent to 12 cent pricing, in lowish to mid-grade. 
IN THIS UPDATE: MY GREATEST ADVENTURE ALL SOLD
#54 GD p £10.25 
#55 FA £6 Ragged spine with chips out. 
#56 GD- p £9 
#59 GD- p £9 Some scuffing/erosion along right edge. 
#61 VG p £20.25
#62 VG+ £22 PICTURED

*Marvel: Roy Thomas and Barry Smith’s comic book recreation of Robert E Howard’s Conan the Barbarian was a breakout hit for Marvel in the early 1970s, but yet another fantasy comics star made her debut in Conan #23 (Feb 1973), when Conan encountered Red Sonja, a female brigand and adventurer who was every bit his equal – even though Marvel missed a step by not cover-featuring her! Sonja rapidly caught the public’s imagination and spun off into her own series (regrettably with a skimpier and more impractical outfit than her earlier look), and more than fifty years later – being a licensed character not linked to a specific publisher – continues her comic-book career to this very day. This is structurally a decent pence printed copy, with nice spine, great cover colours except for a small faded area above the logo to the left, where the red has become orange (see scan), tight, firm staples and supple off-white pages. There is some creasing breaking colour, one at the right edge with a tiny tear with no loss, and one across the bottom right corner. 
PICTURED: CONAN #23 VG p £40 

*Horror 1940/59: Two more issues of Mystic from the Bute Collection, #27 and #28 from 1954, when zombies, ghosts and ghouls were very much de rigueur (or should that be rigor?), as can be seen on the really moody and almost amusing covers shown below.
PICTURED: MYSTIC BOTH SOLD
#27 VG+ £180 Pre-code. Cover by Sol Brodsky, interior art by Russ Heath, Al Eadeh, Art Peddy, Vic Carrabotta and Harry Anderson. A clean and glossy cover with great colours. Very small upper spine split, minor spine and edge wear, tiny creasing bottom right corner. Beautiful near white pages and tight, firm staples. 
#28 FA/GD £75 Pre-Code. Cover by Joe Maneely, interior art by Vince Colletta, Doug Wildey, Vic Carrabotta, Tony Dipreta and others. The cover has a couple of gouges at the base of the logo with one small hole; plenty of colour-breaking creases across the cover with upper and lower spine splits, the spine well worn with small chips out. Tear at the upper central front cover with further tears and creasing on the back. But the staples are good and firm and the pages reasonably nice.
  

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Cartoon Art Productions of Glasgow, here masquerading as Transatlantic Press, were going all out to make you think this one and only issue of Four Deuces was an American comic, well, about as much as their budget would allow. Apart from their name, they printed a big 10c price on the cover (with a very small out of the way 3d price much lower). The publication details were only given in tiny print on the bottom of the back cover, and the comic’s 8 pages were all printed in colour (if you can define colour here as just red, white and blue). All stories, pencils, inks and letters by the inimitable Dennis M Reader, who was responsible for a lot of Cartoon Art’s output. Two features: Ace Britto, private eye and Rick Larson of the Interplanetary Police. Great names for female characters too: Caresse Savage, Sable  and Mink. A superb copy, flat with brilliant white pages and only a miniscule amount of wear.
PICTURED: FOUR DEUCES VF £40 SOLD

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: This week, we return to the famous and long-running Sexton Blake Library. Often dubbed ‘the poor man’s Sherlock Holmes’, there’s still no doubting the popularity of Sexton Blake, who has probably had far more fiction written of him than the world’s greatest detective. Six consecutive issues newly listed, from Fleetway from 1962, by which time they’d taken over publication. These are picture library sized, but mainly text. The series ran from 1915 to 1968. These issues follow the 1956 revamp by W Howard Baker when the covers took on a more gangster/sleazy mode. Written by a crew of notable writers, the longevity of the series is testament to the quality of the plotting and writing.
PICTURED: SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY: ALL SOLD
#505: WHITE MERCENARY: PETER SAXON FA £3
#506: THE RELUCTANT GUNMAN: W HOWARD BAKER VG £6
#507: KILLER PACK: WILFRED MCNEILLY GD/VG £5
#508: MOSCOW MANHUNT: PHILIP CHAMBERS VG £6
#509: DEATH AND LITTLE GIRL BLUE: V J HANSON VG £6
#510: DANGEROUS PLAYMATE: PHILIP CHAMBERS GD/VG £5

*DC: This week’s Batman gem from the Midas Collection is #66, featuring a wonderful Joker cover from Dick Sprang, as the Joker’s head leers down on the Dynamic Duo from the top of a falling totem pole; a feast of symbolism, colour and menace. Three long stories inside: The Joker’s Comedy Of Errors wherein the Joker is ridiculed when one of his crimes is foiled by his own mistake, so he decides to launch a crime spree based on famous mistakes in history (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Lew Sayre Schwartz); The Movie Stars Who Died Twice where Batman and Robin investigate when a series of movie actors die in real-life just as their deaths depicted in film (by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang); and Batman II and Robin Jr, where Robin dreams of the future of the next generation of the Dynamic Duo, which eventually turned into an ongoing series of stories (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Lew Sayre Schwartz). This is a decent clean copy with nice colours, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. There is a touch of ‘white spine’ due to some very minor spine roll, some minor spine creasing, edge wear with a couple of tiny nicks and a short colour-breaking crease across the bottom right corner. Structurally very sound. High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: BATMAN #66 VG £780 SOLD

*DC: In the wake of the Justice League/Justice Society crossovers, interest was revived in the 1940s heroes of the JSA, and one of several revivals was the Spectre, a literal ghost who wandered the Earth, battling evil with mighty supernatural abilities. Brought back for solo try-outs in Showcase #60, by the superb team of Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, the Ghostly Guardian’s powers were elevated to almost godlike levels, to the point where the writer must have strained to come up with credible opposition for him – but the epic clashes between mystical and demonic forces pioneered ‘cosmic’ themes in comics. The Spectre swiftly graduated to his own title in 1967, begun by Fox and Anderson, before Neal Adams took over on art until #5. Accomplished art was a prime feature for this series and in this update we have an almost complete run, barring #2 & #3. 
IN THIS UPDATE: SPECTRE ALL SOLD
#1 GD/VG p £25 Pence stamped
#4 VG+ £15 (PICTURED) Neal Adams art. Pence stamped
#5 GD- p £6 Neal Adams art. Pence stamped
#6 VG- p £9 Pence stamped
#7 FN p £15.50 Pence stamped
#8 FN p £15.50 Pence stamped
#9 VG/FN p £14.75 Pence stamped
#10 VG p £10.50 Pence stamped

*Marvel: One of Marvel’s most successful attempts at diversifying their line in the 1970s was their cash-in on the Martial Arts craze, with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu! His inauspicious debut in Special Marvel Edition, a series previously devoted to reprints, indicated that there wasn’t much faith in Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin’s co-creation, but readers took him to their collective hearts, and more than 100 issues ensued, with a star roster of creators including Doug Moench, Gene Day and Paul Gulacy. Here, however, was where it all started, in Special Marvel Edition #15 & #16 1973/74, with the Son of Fu Manchu discovering his villainous heritage, and setting out to oppose his father. Never distributed in the UK, and therefore doubly sought after on these shores. With issue #17, the series changed its title to Master Of Kung Fu. These are outstanding copies from an original owner collection, bought new in 1973/74 on a New York newsstand, and carefully preserved ever since. 
PICTURED: 
SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #15 VF £175 1st Master Of Kung Fu. A superb copy with great gloss and colours, tight, firm staples and white to off-white pages. Minimal spine marks. Brought down from a potential higher grade due to a tiny tear and crease at the right edge.
SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #16 VF+ £50 2nd Master Of Kung Fu. A superb copy with great gloss and colours, tight, firm staples and white to off-white pages. Just minimal spine marks and wear at corners. 
MASTER OF KUNG FU #17 VF- £20 SOLD 3rd app. Very sound copy with great gloss and colours, tight, firm staples and white to off-white pages. Small marks at spine and minimal corner wear. 

*Marvel: Although she made faceless cameo appearances in earlier issues, it wasn’t until #4 of the 2014 series of Amazing Spider-Man that Cindy Moon made her first full appearance as Silk, the Korean-American student who gained her spider super-powers by being bitten by the same radioactive spider that had bitten Peter Parker. From there, Silk went on to have an increasingly significant role in the Marvel Universe. This relatively modern comic is as near to perfect condition as you could want.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4 (2014) NM £50

*Marvel: Those of you thinking of dipping a first toe in the water of collecting slabbed comics could do worse than considering these entry level examples from the fine 1980 Moon Knight series by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz. The multiple secret identity super-hero often considered an ersatz Batman has been around now since 1975. With Adamsesque art and some stunning covers, this has very much become a fan favourite series. Here are four CGC copies, including #1, at prices that won’t break the bank.
PICTURED: MOON KNIGHT
#1 CGC 6.5 FN+ £25 SOLD Blue label universal unrestored grade, case perfect, white pages, CGC Ref: 4110898001 Origin Moon Knight; 1st app Raoul Bushman
#14 CGC 7.5 VF- £13 Blue label universal unrestored grade, case perfect, white pages, CGC Ref: 4110898002
#25 CGC 7.0 FN/VF £18 Blue label universal unrestored grade, case perfect, white pages, CGC Ref: 4110898003 Double-Sized issue; origin and 1st app. Black Spectre
#30 CGC 8.5 VF+ £21 Blue label universal unrestored grade, case perfect, white pages, CGC Ref: 4110898004 Werewolf By Night app.
 

*IW/Super: IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. This week, all 8 issues of Strange Mysteries, which reprinted classic horror from Star, Farrell, Toby, Master & Avon, mostly pre-code. The series started at #9 and finished at #18, with no #13 or #14.  
IN THIS UPDATE: STRANGE MYSTERIES
#9 VG+ p £60 (PICTURED) Pence stamped. Reprints Spook #28 Star 1953. Jay Disbrow cover. 
#10 VG £33 Reprints Strange #2 Farrell 1957, which itself was reprinted from Farrell’s Voodoo and Haunted Thrills. New cover by Ross Andru.
#11 VG £33 Reprints Strange #1 Farrell 1957. New cover by Ross Andru.
#12 VG/FN £68 (PICTURED) Reprints Tales Of Horror #5 Toby 1953. New cover by Ross Andru.
#15 GD/VG £18 Reprints Dark Mysteries #23 Master 1955. New cover by Ross Andru.
#16 Double Cover: Outer VG, Inner GD+ (PICTURED) Reprints The Dead Who Walk Avon 1952. New cover by Ross Andru.
#17 GD+ £15 Reprints Dark Mysteries #22 Master 1955. New cover by Ross Andru. 
#18 GD- £13 Reprints Witchcraft #1 Avon 1952. New cover by Ross Andru. 

 

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: With issue #81, House Of Secrets changed its emphasis from super-hero/supernatural mysteries to horror, as DC rebranded its output in that genre. Joe Orlando took over the editing and brought on board a new range of writers and artists, including Neal Adams (cover), Mike Friedrich, Jerry Grandenetti, Bill Draut, Gerry Conway and Jack Sparling. This issue featured the debut of the new series host, Abel (with his brother Cain over at House Of Mystery). This is a lovely fresh copy, with great colours and gloss, some edge and spine wear, but nothing worrying, nice tight staples and crisp off-white pages. Dust shadow across top of back cover. 
PICTURED: HOUSE OF SECRETS #81 FN £90