*Marvel: Having gained his own series following the 1968 break-up of Marvel’s shared titles, the Armoured Avenger was one of the first series not to be scripted by Lee; instead, Archie Goodwin penned a distinguished run on the series, illustrated with flair by EC alumnus Johnny Craig. This issue introduces Janice Cord, later the romantic interest for Tony Stark until her tragic demise, and pits Iron Man against the Demolisher, a creation of Janice’s Dad (a business rival of Tony Stark’s) in what was intended as a very hostile takeover indeed! This early issue of Shell-Head’s solo series is FN/VF, tight corners, vibrant colour and firm staples at cover and centrefold.
PICTURED: IRON MAN #2 FN/VF p £65 SOLD

*Marvel: Another listing from the Square Mile Collection for pre-hero Marvel. Before the advent of the Human Torch, Strange Tales was the home to myriad stories of space invasion and gargantuan menace in what we’ve come to describe as the ‘Big Panty Monster’ genre (the giant creatures, however fiendish, always being attired in stalwart bloomers to assuage the fears of the Comics Code.) Two such stories are featured this issue: “When the Thing Runs Amok!’ and ‘Earth Will Be Lost Tonight!’, both by Lee & Kirby, though neither graces the cover – perhaps it was thought that the ‘Thing’ might be confused with Bashful Ben Grimm, star of the then-new Fantastic Four? Instead, a Kirby/Ditko cover spotlights the Lee/Ditko twist-ender:  ‘The Wax People’, while the stylish Gene Colan-drawn ‘Mister Black’ rounds out the issue. This VG+ copy is marred only by a very small upper back cover tear, adjacent to the spine, which does not affect the content or structural integrity of the comic.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #93 VG+ p £57

More from the Square Mile Collection in two weeks!

*DC: The tabloid-sized Limited Collectors’ Edition/All-New Collectors’ Editions are always popular sellers, not having been extensively distributed in the UK, and we’re delighted to offer two seasonally-appropriate issues this update. 1976’s Christmas With The Super-Heroes (C-43) presents Yuletide-themed stories of Superman (by Jack Burnley), Wonder Woman (by H.G. Peter), and the Golden Age Sandman (by Simon & Kirby), plus 1970’s tales of Batman (by Neal Adams) and the House of Mystery (by Berni Wrightson). Two puzzle pages have been neatly completed, but otherwise this is a nice-looking VG copy. Our second entry flips around the traditional role of a festive favourite, as All-New Collectors’ Edition C-60 answers the question ‘What does Santa’s reindeer do for the rest of the year?’ with Rudolph’s Summer Fun, featuring previously-unpublished tales of Rudolph and chums written and drawn by classic creator Sheldon Mayer.
PICTURED:
ALL NEW COLLECTORS’ EDITION C60 VG+ £15
LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDTION C43 VG £15 SOLD

*DC: This week’s sweep through DC, concentrating on just part of the letter ‘S’, is rich in both #1 issues and first appearances. Titles covered are: Secret Society of Super-Villains (from #1), Sherlock Holmes (#1 and only), Showcase (inc. #57 – 1st Enemy Ace, #59 – 3rd Teen Titans, #60 – 1st Silver Age Spectre, #77 – 1st Angel & the Ape & #94 – 1st New Doom Patrol), Spectre (#1), Steel (#1), Strange Adventures & Strange Sports Stories (from #1).

*Marvel: As the premier series of the Marvel Universe, the Fantastic Four did seem to spend a lot of time incubating the stars of tomorrow, as their guests frequently spun off into their own titles. One of the most popular ‘break-out’ stars was the Silver Surfer, and in issue #50 the former Norrin Radd, having been introduced two issues previously as the minion of the planet-devouring Galactus, breaks away from his master and defends the threatened planet Earth. Cosmic menace, epic grandeur and, hm, college hi-jinks, as the Human Torch commences his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it struggle with higher education. The latter subplot introduces Johnny’s fellow student, Wyatt Wingfoot, soon a stanuch ally of the FF. (As well as She-Hulk’s favourite squeeze-toy, but that was a couple of decades later…). This defining issue for the Surfer is a FN+ cents copy with a beautiful unmarred cover, but two small ‘thumbnail’ tears on an interior margin, which do not impinge upon the story.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #50 FN+ £260

*Marvel: Four issues of old Green-Skin (or occasionally Grey-Skin) each with a certain significance. Issue #234 featured the first appearance of Quasar, alumnus of SHIELD’S super-soldier program as Marvel Boy, as he took on the mantle by which he would be known as a mainstay of the Avengers; #324 presented the return of the Grey Hulk, Bruce Banner’s original pigmentation, kicking off a whole new era of drama for our Jekyll & Hyde hero; #340 offered a spectacular battle between the Hulk and Wolverine, with one of the more memorable covers of the modern era and #347 introduced not only Hulk’s Vegas-ruling persona of Mr. Fixit, but also the statuesque stunner Marlo Chandler, who would in time become Mrs. Rick Jones.
PICTURED: HULK
#234 VF+ £45
#324 NM p £30
#340 FN/VF p £35 SOLD
#347 VF/NM p £25

*Marvel: Following Carol Danvers’ taking over the title of Captain Marvel, the name ‘Ms. Marvel’ was briefly up for grabs in the Marvel Universe – but not for long, as Kamala Khan, a Muslim-American teen from New Jersey, stepped up to fill the role. Seen briefly in Captain Marvel #14, Kamala’s first full appearance, and her first as Ms. Marvel, was in 2014’s All-New Marvel Now Point One, a clunkily-titled try-out book which also brought us the ‘pilots’ for two other cult strips, the Mike Allred Silver Surfer and the ‘Teen Loki’ series. Kamala, however, was the big breakout of ANMNP1, a courageous and geeky teen who fought fiercely against both super-villains and cultural misconceptions, in what could have been a heavy-handed ‘very special series’, but which, under the deft hand of scripter G. Willow Wilson, was a warm and humorous saga of friendship, family – and yes, quite a lot of super-villains. Kamala has a huge following, particularly among the ever-elusive female readership, and remains popular today, with a media adaptation imminent. We have her first costumed and powered full appearance, All-New Marvel Now Point One in VF and the first issue of her ongoing series in FN+, key appearances of a heroine embraced by the new millennium.
PICTURED:
ALL NEW MARVEL NOW POINT 1 VF £40
MS MARVEL #1 FN+ £20 SOLD

*Marvel: A top-up to our Daredevil stocks this week between issues #13 and #57; among others DD comes up against the Owl, Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (and Thor!) and the Jester. Full details as always in our catalogue.

*EC: By now, of course, you’ve been told so much about the EC line from so many sources that we don’t really need to stress the high quality of the artwork, the innovativeness of the storytelling, or the controversy surrounding them. We have Haunt of Fear #17, sporting one of the most notorious covers of the era, a FN+ copy, which superficially would grade higher, with only a couple of minor flaws. A previous owner’s name has been stamped on one interior page margin, then covered with opaque tape, and there’s a sealed tear on the upper back cover. Despite those points, this is an extremely well-presenting copy of one of EC’s infamous but meticulously-crafted horror classics. Macabre twist-ending tales illustrated, by the finest talents in the field at the time – what more do you need to know?
PICTURED: HAUNT OF FEAR #17 FN+ £300

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: The longest-lasting of Marvel’s black & white magazine-sized comics, Savage Sword of Conan entertained a generation of readers with its slightly-risky-for-the-Comics-Code adventures of evil sorcerors, terrifying monsters, swaggering warlords, impractically-garbed damsels, and of course everyone’s favourite brooding Cimmerian hero. Our SSofC stocks, following significant recent sales, are replenished this update with around 30 fresh copies , ranging from #3, through selected issues in the teens and 20’s, and a straggling latecomer in #65.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Launched in 1964, Hurricane is a short-lived but well remembered series (63 issues total) which launched the careers of Sword For Hire, HMS Outcast, Two Fists Against the World, footballer Harry Kane (in an amazing feat of prescience) and, most importantly, brawling adventurer Typhoon Tracy and racing driver Skid Solo. Despite being extensively advertised, even on its own front cover, as ‘A companion paper to Valiant’, it eventually merged into Tiger, where Messrs. Tracy and Solo enjoyed much longer careers – decades longer, in Skid Solo’s case – than in their parent paper. We have 26 issues in new to our lists, between May 1964 and April 1965. ALL ISSUES NEW IN SOLD
PICTURED: HURRICANE 30/01/65 FN £11

*TV & Film Related Comics: Following their comics debut in Marvel’s short lived ‘younger readers’ Star imprint, the Thundercats, TV phenom of the late 80s, graduated to an ongoing series from Marvel UK, quickly outstripping the US-originated material and generating all-new stories. Three Marvel UK Thundercats issues are newly added this week, each bearing their original Free Gift. Issue #1 (21/3/87) has a ‘Prismatic Badge’, issue #3 (4/4/87) has six Panini Thundercats stickers in the original package, taped inside the comic: and issue #95, April 1989 (monthly by that time) has three ‘Thunder Stickers’, with Lion-O, Cheetarah and the Thundercats emblem respectively. Full details in our catalogue listing.
PICTURED: THUNDERCATS #1 VF WITH FREE GIFT NM £20 SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Although ‘strange stories’, with a genteel supernatural element, had been a staple of girls’ weeklies since the mid-1960s, Spellbound was the first girls’ weekly to devote itself to the theme. While many of its series, including its best-remembered serial ‘Supercats’, with four young super-heroines dispensing justice throughout the galaxy, were science-fiction, the majority featured ghosts, witches, curses and mysterious creatures and apparitions to terrify its young audience. Launched by D.C. Thomson in 1976 – and lasting a mere 66 issues before yielding the field to its IPC-published successor and imitator, Misty – Spellbound is fondly remembered and keenly sought these days because of the quality of its scripts and artwork. Only eight issues new to our stock this time, but they’re all from the first 11, and commence with #1, mostly numbers previously unrepresented in our lists!
PICTURED: SPELLBOUND #1 GD £25

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Philip Jose Farmer created the Riverworld series for a competition in 1952. His novel, Owe For The Flesh, won first prize, but he abandoned the novel (and nearly gave up writing) when the prize money vanished. Farmer took up the idea again in the early 1970s, to great acclaim, and the original novel was eventually found and published more than two decades after it was written. We have the first four Riverworld books, To Your Scattered Bodies Go (#1), The Fabulous Riverboat (#2), The Dark Design (#3) and The Magic Labyrinth (#4), as well as a collection of Farmer’s short stories (Riverworld And Other Stories) which includes the revised and extended novelette that was the first published appearance of the Riverworld. All except The Magic Labyrinth are 1st UK PB.

Orders paid for by 4 pm on Saturday 14th December will be posted on Monday 16th December and should arrive in time for Christmas. Our next (and last) post out day before Christmas will be Thursday 19th December for orders paid for by 4 pm on Wednesday 18th December; if you want a delivery before Christmas from that posting day, you will need to pay for either first class post or Special Delivery.

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: Three books from the UNCLE franchise new in this week: one Man From and two Girls From. Man From Uncle #2 (The Doomsday Affair) by Harry Whittington is one of the strongest in the series with a Bond-esque flavour; we have added a US edition to our stock. April Dancer, the Girl from UNCLE, gets tangled up in Carnaby Street and swinging London in ‘The Global Globules Affair’ (#1 in her series by Simon Latter), and in #2 (‘The Birds Of A Feather Affair’ by Michael Avallone), she’s out to rescue her partner Mark Slate from the sinister hands of THRUSH. These books were as popular as the TV series when they came out in the 1960s, and are fondly remembered today. 

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

*Marvel: Most collectors will be aware that the first six issue run of the Incredible Hulk is tough to come by; harder still is it to get them in decent shape, so we’re particularly pleased that the Square Mile Collection brings us a copy of #6 in FN+ (pence printed) grade. Whilst the Hulk was very definitely a Kirby designed creation, you can get a real kick out of seeing how Steve Ditko tackled ol’ green-skin in this full length adventure up against the Metal Master. Great cover colour and gloss, tight, flat and fresh, excellent staples, sharp corners, with just minimal spine creases and a very faint suggestion of slight historic moisture stain in a 5p sized area above the number box; otherwise this would be a lovely VF copy.  A beautiful addition to any Hulkophile’s collection! High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: HULK #6 FN+ p £650

*DC: Flash #137 was a landmark issue in Gardner Fox’s reintroduction of Golden Age characters into the Silver Age DC Universe. Not only did it feature the third appearance of Earth II (the parallel world that Barry Allen read about in comic books when he was a kid!), and Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, it was also the first Silver Age appearance of the villainous Vandal Savage and the first in-continuity appearance of other members of the erstwhile Justice Society (following a flashback sequence in Flash #129) who decide to get the gang back together in this very issue! This absolute corker of an issue is a sensational VF+ pence stamped copy with just the most minor wear at corners, great cover gloss and white pages, tight and flat with excellent staples. The condition truly matches the quality of the story, art and subject matter!
PICTURED: FLASH #137 VF+ p £295

*Marvel: The early issues of Fantastic Four were characterised by the many encounters with their arch-nemesis, Dr. Doom. Typical of this is issue #17, where our heroes clash for the umpteenth time with the monarch of Latveria. Stan & Jack at their absolute best, in the humble opinion of yours truly. This is a FN+ pence printed copy of this early issue, with minor edge wear along the top, and very tiny creasing below the issue number box, but flat and tight, with excellent staples, great page quality and cover image. A very superior copy.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #17 FN+ p £175 SOLD

*DC: This week’s listing in our ongoing event featuring third party graded ‘slabbed’ comics is DC 100 Page Super Spectacular #6 from 1971, proudly headlined ‘World’s Greatest Super-Heroes’. Sporting a new wraparound cover by Neal Adams, this 100 pager reprints a host of stories featuring the JLA and the JSA, including the inaugural Crisis on Earths 1 & 2, as well as a previously unpublished Golden Age Wildcat story. This is a CBCS graded copy at 7.5 VF- and a bumper bargain bundle for the price!
PICTURED: DC 100 PAGE SUPER-SPECTACULAR #6 CBCS 7.5 VF- £60

*DC: What’s that I hear you cry? A comic published just last week in our listings? Ah yes, but rather a special one. It’s the one-per-retailer promotional variant of the Year of the Villain Joker with a striking cover by fan favourite Brian Bolland. Blink and you’ll miss it – don’t let someone else have the last laugh!
PICTURED: YEAR OF THE VILLAIN JOKER BOLLAND PROMOTIONAL VARIANT MINT £20 SOLD

*Marvel: Well, I don’t think anyone saw this coming back in 1973! In Amazing Spider-Man #121, Gwen Stacey died at the hands of the Green Goblin, only for Gobby himself to perish in the following issue. These landmark issues still resonate to this day, and although perhaps somewhat diluted by the return of both characters (hey kids, this IS comics!), the impact at the time was momentous and both issues still attract much collector interest. Our latest copy of #121 is VF, tight flat and glossy, while the #122 is FN+, a little more worn and tanned, but complete with jeweller’s insert. Both are cents copies of course, since these issues were not distributed in the UK.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#121 VF £260 SOLD
#122 FN+ £120 SOLD

*Marvel: Not one, but two debuts from Marvel Super-Heroes this week. First up, in #12, Captain Marvel (the first one), the Kree born space-faring super-hero; a VG pence copy with a small lower spine split. Secondly, in #18, the original Guardians Of The Galaxy in their first outing, a lower grade FA/GD copy with worn spine and edges and small cover tear.
PICTURED: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES
#12 VG p £55
#18 FA/GD £55

*Marvel: A big chunk of the Master of the Mystic Arts added to our catalogue this week. First up, from the good doctor’s first (1968) series issues between #170 & #183, with art mostly by the wonderful Gene Colan. Then, a complete run of Doctor Strange stories from Marvel Premiere from #3 to #14, starting off with art by Barry Smith and winding-up with the equally superlative Frank Brunner; many of these are in excellent high grades.  Consult our catalogue for full grading and pricing details.