*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Avon’s Strange Worlds is a keenly sought series, and one of the more hotly pursued issues is #5, with its winning combination of voluptuous, diaphanously clad lady in chains, slavering four-armed monster, and – oh, yes, the hero’s somewhere there in the background too! While the cover scene does not, of course, appear inside, the lead story is just as promising, pitting ‘Kenton of the Star Patrol’ against Lura, Queen of the Space Sirens, aided by plucky gal reporter Maeve Malloy, who composes her headlines while taking long, lingering showers. As you do. This Wally Wood drawn story is a bit of a cult item, and backed up by ‘The End of His Service!’, ‘Shining Sands of Death!’, and ‘The Abduction of Earth!’, for a clutch of retrofuturistic visions of yesterday’s tomorrows. This is a GD copy; light to moderate edge & spine wear, off lower staple, but sound and clean with no infringement on the glorious cover, probably our favourite of all the Atomic Sci-Fi covers.
PICTURED: STRANGE WORLDS #5 GD £175 SOLD

*Alan Class Reprints: The Alan Class line of reprints is well-loved and well-remembered by a generation of British comics readers, and we’re pleased to be able to add in substantial selections from most of Alan’s ‘Big 6’ titles. This week we look at Creepy Worlds – which, released simultaneously with Secrets of the Unknown, was the joint first AC release. This week, we add 55 issues to our CW listing, the vast majority of which are not already in our inventory. From the Alan Class Private Collection, we have copies of his file copies with Certificates of Authenticity signed by Alan himself, including two ‘Marvelous’ issues featuring reprints of Silver Age Spider-Man and Avengers issues; and new into our ‘general population’ are numbers ranging from #139 to the final issue, #249, plus one of the un-numbered ‘S’ Specials. The eclectic nature of the reprint schedule means that you’re likely to find Marvel, Charlton or Archie/Mighty super-heroes nestling next to pre-hero Marvel classics by Kirby & Ditko, ACG mystery tales, or a selection of even older and more bizarre material. You never can tell what you’re going to find – though we do have our ‘Rough Guide to Alan Class’ in our Extras section to help you along a little, and, as you might expect, we’ve updated it with new data from this influx of stock!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Two consecutive issues of Victor, home of among others ‘Braddock V.C.’, ‘Tough of the Track’ and ‘The Iron Hippo’ (pardon?) from 1973, each with their original Free Gift. Issue #764 is VG with the gift – two snap-together car models – in Fine (envelope a little battered, contents unharmed). #765 is Fine, with the free gift sheet of sticky badges VF.
PICTURED: VICTOR
#764 VG WITH FREE GIFT FN £30 SOLD
#765 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £35 SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: One of the ‘Big Three’ of Fleetway, War Picture Library lasted from 1958 to 1984, a total of just over 2,100 issues. Although often dismissed as a ‘Commando imitator’ it actually predated its more famous D.C. Thomson-published rival, which didn’t debut until 1961. War Picture Library, like its stablemates Battle and Air Ace, was initially often produced by writers and artists who had served in World War II, and frequently used real (though highly fictionalized) battles, locales and events in its stories. We have 81 newly-listed numbers this week, commencing with #511 and running through to #1271, all characterized by outstanding condition. A handful are FN and VG, but the vast majority are a splendid VF, with tight flat covers, excellent page quality, undamaged squarebound spines, vivid cover colour, and most critically, not a trace of the rusty staples which are so often the bane of comics of this vintage.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: The venerable romance picture libraries, ‘Love Story’ (launched 1952) and ‘True Life’ (launched 1954) had, like many other series, Holiday Specials, intended to while away the time of bored housewives with tales of adventure and romance in settings much more glamorous than the ladies themselves were enjoying! We have a selection of these 200+ page comics digests, each offering between four to seven tales of love in exotic vistas, from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s.
PICTURED:
LOVE STORY PICTURE LIBRARY HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1969 FN £20
TRUE LIFE LIBRARY HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1975 VG £15

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Pondering how to celebrate Valentine’s Day, Dr Evilla declared that the only option was to release four short story collections, ranging from outright horror to swords & sorcery & more than a soupcon of terror. So here they are, four terrific and terrifying books. L Sprague de Camp edits The Spell Of Seven (stories by himself, Leiber, Lovecraft and Howard among others), Ray Russell writes all of Sardonicus And Other Stories (the title story of which was made into a film), Clark Ashton Smith provides Lost Worlds Volume 2 and finally Manly Wade Wellman contributes Who Fears The Devil? Never mind broken hearts, after reading some of these stories you’ll just be glad yours is still in your chest!
PICTURED:
L SPRAGUE DE CAMP (ED) THE SPELL OF SEVEN VG £7
RAY RUSSELL SARDONICUS AND OTHER STORIES GD £20
CLARK ASHTON SMITH LOST WORLDS VOLUME 2 VG £15
MANLY WADE WELLMAN WHO FEARS THE DEVIL? VG £15

Our site hosting and email problems continue, with our suppliers trying to fix the problems, so for the time being, stock updates here are postponed. We hope to start updating the site again as soon as possible.

*Clearance Corner: As you may realise, the purpose of our Clearance Corner lots is to clear space in our shop by discontinuing titles we’re no longer carrying to make way for new and incoming stuff. As such, they will only be offered for a short time. This Clearance Corner lot, listed on 16th January, has not been snapped up and is nearing the end of its time with us. If not purchased within the next few days, we will have to dispose of it. Here are the details from our original listing:
‘From the later years of the doyenne of girls’ weekly comics, a selection of 40 issues of Bunty dating between 1994 and 1996, numbers ranging from 1901 to 2024. Condition averages Fine. Home of the ‘Four Marys’, Nikki-alumna ‘The Comp’, photo-strip ‘Luv, Lisa’, and many other picture strip stories – not counting our eponymous heroine, whose half-page adventures also adorn the inside – plus hobbies, craft pages, and swoonsome pop & TV pin-ups of years gone by, including Take That, East 17, Joey Lawrence, David Charvet, and loads more, some well remembered today, some… not so much! This panoply of pastel-pink nostalgia can be yours for a mere £20, plus UK postage of £8 if required.’ SOLD

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:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics  E – J
As of the time of writing, this section is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

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 American section:
*DC/Marvel
*Marvel  T – Z
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Marvel: The Skrulls, of course, had been plaguing the FF ever since the team’s second issue, but this ish brought the focus to the Skrull homeworld, as the FF became involved in the Skrull’s internal politics and we meet for the first time the Skrull Princess Anelle, whose offspring would later become a major hero in the next generation of the Marvel Universe. This copy of a Lee/Kirby classic is a glowing VF-, with deep, lustrous cover colour with only the faintest of creases unobtrusive in the lower right corner.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #37 VF- p £95

*DC: Having made his debut a couple of years earlier, only one thing was impeding the popularity of Kid Flash (Wally West) – the fact that his costume was indistinguishable from his elder mentor’s, so that readers got confused in a given panel as to whether they were looking at the Flash himself, or his ‘Mini-Me’. Problem solved in Flash #135, where enjoyable pseudo-scientific hokum gave Wally a makeover, with a distinctive (and to be honest, way cooler) new costume. This FN+ copy is in lovely shape, with only minor spine ticks and very faint top edge wear.
PICTURED: FLASH #135 FN+ p £100

More from the Square Mile Collection next week!

*DC: DC’s Limited Collectors’ Edition tabloids of the 1970s, most of which were non-distributed in the UK, are highly sought after now, their extra dimensions not lending themselves to long-term storage, and being more prone to damage than the average comic book. Among the most prized, we’ve found, is Limited Collectors’ Edition C-37, featuring vintage stories of the Caped Crusader versus the Joker, Catwoman, the Penguin and Two-Face, a popular line-up which always results in this issue selling very quickly! This is an exceptional VF+, with only a tiny ‘scrape’ at the upper left cover edge, not impeding the image, preventing a still higher grade.
PICTURED: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION C37 VF+ £50

*DC: The Julius Schwartz helmed period of Strange Adventures in the early 1960s is fondly remembered, both for the superior science fiction shorts by top creators and also for the recurring characters such as Star Hawkins, the Atomic Knights and the Space Museum. Fresh in we have a new batch of very presentable copies between #112 and #155, including the first appearance of the Faceless Creature in #124 and the only Atomic Knights cover (vs the Mole People) on #144. Here we also love giant frogs (#155)! Full details as always in our catalogue.

*Marvel: Among the most sought after comics of the 1970s, Hulk #180-182 featured the first appearances of Wolverine, the Canadian super-hero who, outstripping everyone’s expectations, became the break-out Marvel character of the 1970s. Created by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe (from a John Romita design), Wolvy was revived by Wein when he put together the New X-Men who debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1, and since then, Wolverine became the star of the X-Men, and a media darling in his own right. We have acquired all three of Wolverine’s earliest appearances; Hulk #180 is technically Wolverine’s debut, though he only appears in a couple of panels to threaten Jade-Jaws and guest-monster Wendigo. This is a FN+ copy, the only significant flaws being very minor wear at cover corners and a partially erased black squiggle in the upper left cover corner, over the issue number and price. #181 is The Big One for the Little Guy: the first ‘Full Wolvy’, in which he battles both beside and with the Hulk against the menace of the Wendigo. This is VG+, sound and clean, but with one long diagonal cover crease from the mid-cover edge to the base of the cover; if you can live with the crease, this is a great chance to grab a copy of this most prized Bronze Age comic before the prices spiral even higher. Wrapping up the trilogy, we have #182, in which Wolverine says a fond farewell to the Hulk while being picked up by his handlers for his next mission. This is VG+, with only one specific localised flaw, creasing to the lower edge, underneath the boot of the implausibly-named guest-villain Anvil. All three of these key issues have the Marvel Value Stamp (that pernicious cut-out which blights collectors of 1970s Marvels) present and intact. None of them were ever distributed in the United Kingdom – thanks once again, Marvel UK – so while they’re not commonplace anywhere, they’re especially scarce in our green and pleasant land. High resolution images for #181 are available on request.
PICTURED: HULK
#180 FN+ £325 SOLD
#181 VG+ £1300 SOLD
#182 VG+ £50 SOLD

*Marvel: By his 101st issue, Spider-Man had become temporarily encumbered with six arms, leaving him a true eight-limbed arachnoid hero; but more importantly, he met a foe who was destined to become one of the Marvel Universe’s prime anti-heroes. Following the 1971 relaxation of the Comics Code Authority (which had hitherto banned mention of vampires and werewolves in the wake of the 1950s horror comics scare), the floodgates were opened for all manner of supernatural beings; one of the first was Michael Morbius, tragic scientist who, while not a traditional vampire, gained many vampiric attributes after an experiment gone awry. Among said attributes: enhanced strength, speed, senses… and an uncontrollable craving for human blood. A big hit with the Spider-Man audience, Morbius the Living Vampire made a rapid reappearance in Marvel Team-Up #3, graduating to his own series in Fear thereafter. There have been several Morbius series in the intervening decades, and the trailers for the Jared Leto-starring Morbius flick are out on the web as I write, leading to a heightened demand for his premier appearance. This copy of Spider-Man #101 is FN; one small and very faint diagonal cover crease, from lower mid-spine to approximately 15mm in from cover edge, barely perceptible. Light ballast ink markings lower spine and bottom edge of book, but no impediment of the cover scene, with bright unfaded colours and good gloss. Staples firm at cover and centrefold, interior pages off-white and flexible, with no stains, tears or markings. A cents copy, no pence price or overstamp.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #101 FN £300

*Marvel: We’re always happy to welcome an early Spider-Man issue illustrated by Steve Ditko (the only ‘proper’ Spider-Man artist, excellent later contributors notwithstanding), and this one’s a bit special, featuring as it does the first guest appearance of the then-fledgling Man Without Fear, Daredevil, and, we believe, his only guest-appearance in his original black & gold costume! Teamed with Spider-Man against the menace of the Ringmaster (against whose hypnosis DD’s blindness gives him an unexpected immunity) and his Circus of Crime, this action-packed issue is an attractive VG, structurally very sound, but it has been exposed to moisture at some point in its career. This results in ‘rippling’ to the lower quarter of the book, and a faint discolouration (just barely perceivable under DD’s right foot) in the lower cover corner.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #16 VG £160

*Marvel: At the turn of the century, Marvel decided to ‘reboot’ its entire universe by creating the ‘Ultimate’ line – reader-friendly, ground-floor entry series refreshing the classic characters with younger protagonists and modernised backgrounds for the 2000s. Although these ‘Earth-2’ series ultimately fizzled out, they had a very respectable run, racking up hundreds of issues for more than a decade, and one character ‘broke through’ to the mainstream Marvel Universe as we know it. In a shocking twist, Peter Parker, the Spider-Man of the Ultimate Universe, died and his mantle was taken by one Miles Morales, who subsequently emerged in the MU, and is active today, the star of his own popular series. This transition occurred in issue #4 of the 2011 mini-series Ultimate Fallout, where Miles takes up the Spider-Man identity for the first time, and we have the first printing of this now sought-after item in stock in NM-. If you just fancy reading the story, we also have as a bonus a second printing available in FN-.
PICTURED: ULTIMATE FALLOUT #4 NM- (1ST PRINT) £65 SOLD

*Marvel: This triple-threat for Thor saw him fighting the menace of Tana Nile and the Colonisers of Rigel, an alien race who were expanding ever outwards into the galaxy – and planned to make Earth their next housing project, whether the Thunder God liked it or not! Tana had been ‘teased’ as Jane Foster’s enigmatic room-mate since #129, but these were the issues in which she revealed her true form and agenda – and, along the way in this cosmic drama, we were introduced to two more popular and well-loved characters: Ego the Living Planet (later played by Kurt Russell in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies) and the Recorder (Recorder 211, to give him his full name). All three parts now back in stock, with the main event, #132, in an outstanding FN/VF.
PICTURED: THOR #132 FN/VF £55

*Gold Key/Whitman: This oversized oddity proved an eye-opener for us pundits here at 30th Century; all along, we’ve been thinking DC pioneered the tabloid/treasury sized comic book, when it turns out to have been the brainchild of Gold Key/Whitman, who produced this tabloid-sized treat back in 1968! With a cover painting by George Wilson and interior art by Giolitti (long-time artist on Gold Key’s Star Trek), this hews strongly to the narrative of the 1933 film, a done-in-one adaptation, and more importantly, a cracking read, with the page size, for once, perfectly suited to the subject matter! This is a VG copy, page quality okay, but the edges and corners have taken a bit of a beating, as is not uncommon in these oversized items.
PICTURED: KING KONG WHITMAN TREASURY (1968) VG £20 SOLD

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Marvel’s mystery line mushroomed during the horror boom of the 1970s, with several anthology titles converting to showcase ongoing monstrous super-stars and a lot of experimental titles. We have new listings for Arrgh!, Marvel’s horror/comedy anthology released in response to DC’s Plop: Chamber of Darkness from #1 onward, Creatures on the Loose, variously starring Thongor of Lemuria and the Man-Wolf, Dead of Night #11, with the debut of the sinister Scarecrow (no, not the Iron Man villain – nor the Batman villain either!), Fear, with the macabre Man-Thing and Morbius the Living Vampire, Monster of Frankenstein/ Frankenstein’s Monster, from the first issue upward, Giant-Size Chillers from #1, Giant-Size Creatures #1 & only, starring Werewolf By Night and featuring the debut & origin of Tigra the Were-Woman, Supernatural Thrillers, with stunning Steranko cover and Tower of Shadows from #1 (with Steranko art) onward. This selection of chilling tales includes many first issues, many high-grade copies, and a whole lot of items that were never distributed in the United Kingdom, so it’s a treasure trove for fear-fanatics!
PICTURED:
GIANT-SIZE CREATURES #1 VF £85
TOWER OF SHADOWS #9 NM £75 SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Hotspur #257, home of, among others, crippled soccer player ‘Limp-Along Leslie’, island-bound feral child ‘Lonely Larry’ and ‘Zigimar – Master Spy’, offered, in addition to the usual array of thrills, a ‘Wing-Ding Glider’ promising hours of fun until your parents made you throw it away. This copy of Hotspur #257 is VG – would be fine, but there is one long vertical cover crease – and the gift itself is VF, a surprising grade for its age, never assembled or even pressed out of its supporting card.
PICTURED: HOTSPUR #257 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £35 SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: The long-lived Polystyle publication, TV Comic, is restocked this week with 52 newly-listed issues, scattered between 1968 to 1976. Big ‘draws’ of the title are TV’s Avengers, Tarzan, and Dr.Who (the latter represented both pre- and post- his ‘sabbatical’ in companion title Countdown/TV Action), but other popular features include Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Pink Panther, Tom & Jerry and Basil Brush. Boom-Boom!

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: The hugely popular Schoolgirls’ Picture Library series is refreshed this week with 56 new issues, none of which were previously listed with us. These done-in-one digest-sized stories, many one-offs but a large number featuring recurring characters such as Zanna of the Jungle, the Peewits, the Rolling Stones, (not those ones) Miss Adventure and the Silent Three! This selection is generally in nice shape, averaging VG – would be an easy Fine, but for rusty staples – but with several legitimate Fine among their number.
PICTURED: SCHOOLGIRLS’ PICTURE LIBRARY #58 GD £15