*Horror 1940-1959: All six of the Atlas post code horror comics in this update have something wrong with them, but they’re cheap! Journey Into Unknown Worlds #59 is App. FA, trimmed top edge and glued spine £7; Marvel Tales #158 is App. VG, trimmed on three sides £28; Mystical Tales #4 is App. FA, trimmed on three sides £9; Spellbound #27 is App VG+, trimmed on three sides £34; Spellbound #31 is App GD-, trimmed on three sides and glued £11; and Spellbound #33 App FA/GD, trimmed on three sides £11. All stories complete; at these prices, we don’t expect these to hang around for long!

*Classics Illustrated: Another batch of American versions of the famous Classics Illustrated series this time, as we round up some recent incoming issues. Among the many included in this update are The Three Musketeers (#1), Ivanhoe (#2), A Tale Of Two Cities (#6), Robinson Crusoe (#10), Don Quixote (#11), Dr Jykell & Mr Hude (#13), The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (#18), Frankenstein (#26), The Mysterious Island (#34), 20.000 Leagues Under The Sea (#47), The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (#50), Joan Of Arc (#78), Daniel Boone (#96), William Tell (#101), Soldiers Of Fortune (#119) & The Invisible Man (#153). Our catalogue gives full information on the editions as well as grading and pricing. 
PICTURED: CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED
#26 FRANKENSTEIN FN £4.75
#119 SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE FN- £27

*Annuals: Mopping up a few miscellaneous annuals that have accumulated while we’ve been listing the ‘immaculate annuals’, a few nice items in this update: A low grade Beano 1954 (currently our earliest), Cor Book Of Gags 1975, TV Comic Annuals from 1968, 1972 & 1973 (the 1968 FN £25 has Patrick Troughton Dr Who and Adam Adamant stories) and Eagle Annual #3. 

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In 1968, Fleetway/IPC launched Jag, the third (after Lion and Tiger) of their ‘big cat’ anthologies – and this was the biggest, measuring 12″ by 14″. This awkward size, somewhere between TV 21 and Beezer, meant that it was usually displayed folded even when brand new in newsagents. Despite its imposing size, much of Jag’s content was surprisingly by-the-numbers, and it wasn’t until mid-year that it acquired a ‘star’ feature – ‘Football Family Robinson’ – ably illustrated by Joe Colquhoun, which went on to a much longer life in Tiger. Football strips are of course plentiful, but FFR had the familial angle to engage the readership, and the formidable presence of manager Ma Robinson, a classic battleaxe in the Peggy Mount/Giles tradition, gave the strip its comedy impetus. Our latest copies are no exception to the ‘newsagent rule’, in that the larger format issues are folded, but otherwise in excellent condition, mostly fine or VG. Included are the first issue (pictured), the debut of Football Family Robinson (27/7/68 FN £20), and the final (smaller format) issue (29/3/69 VG £10). Just a handful of issues missing from the complete run.
PICTURED: JAG 4/5/68 (#1) VG £35 ALL ISSUES OF JAG NOW SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Debuting in 1974, and lasting a respectable 393 issues until 1981, Jinty, although it featured many traditional girls’ strips, rapidly distinguished itself from the pack by having a large proportion of science-fictional or fantasy stories. Maladroit schoolgirl ‘The Jinx From St. Jonah’s’ and canine maid-of-all-work ‘Dora Dogsbody’ were leaders among the traditional fare, but some of the best-remembered stories are ‘The Human Zoo’, ‘Fran of the Floods’, ‘Land of No tears’, the genuinely unnerving ‘Worlds Apart’ (six schoolgirls find themselves in a succession of parallel worlds created by each girls’ hidden fear – and they can’t escape until that world’s ‘creator’ is killed!) and the notorious ‘Slave of Form 3B’. We have 85 new issues of Jinty for our inventory, beginning with the fifth issue, and running up to late 1976, including the 8th November 1975 issue in which Jinty absorbed its short-lived sister Lindy.
PICTURED: JINTY 13/7/74 VG £4

*Modern Reprints: Marvel’s new facsimile editions continue with Star Wars #1, about which we assume no more needs to be said. Also this update we introduce DC’s Dollar Comics and Marvel’s True Believers to our range, bargain-priced classic reprints at just £1 each. Dollar Comics has Swamp Thing #1, True Believers has two tales of Jean Grey as Marvel Girl and Phoenix, from X-Men #48 and What If #27 respectively. 
PICTURED STAR WARS #1 FACSIMILE NEW/MINT £4 

*Modern Reprints: Two more Marvel Epic Collections, collecting the earliest adventures of Marvel’s pantheon of heroes. This week: the Avengers (reprinting Avengers #1-20) and the Hulk (reprinting Hulk #1-6, Fantastic Four #12, #25-26, Amazing Spider-Man #14, Tales To Astonish #59 and Journey Into Mystery #112). Your chance to build an entire library of the classic Marvel stories!
PICTURED:
AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION NEW/MINT £32
HULK EPIC COLLECTION NEW/MINT £32

*Collected Editions: From Lion & Thunder 1971/72 comes the classic Mummy/Egyptology tale Dr. Mesmer’s Revenge, wherein the aforesaid resurrects a five thousand year old mummy to recover artefacts stolen from him. Terror and destruction ensue (well, they weren’t just going to have a tea party, were they?). Written by Donne Avenell and illustrated by Carlos Cruz, the complete story is now collected in one of Rebellion’s handsome softcover editions. Brand new at £15.
PICTURED: DR. MESMER’s REVENGE £15

*Collected Editions: Following a sell-out success, we’re pleased to announce two classic volumes now back into stock. Rebellion, in conjunction with the Book Palace, have expanded their compilations of classic British comics to include these collections of characters from the Picture Library series, each focused on one key character. Volume 1 features Larrigan, the Western Hero Arturo Del Castillo, from Lone Rider and Cowboy Picture Libraries; to quote David Roach’s introduction, ‘Del Castillo’s Larrigan strips were dark and atmospheric, seemingly set in an eternal twilight which seemed to prefigure the Spaghetti Western genre by several years.’ Volume 2 stars science-fiction adventurer Jet-Ace Logan, a long-running feature in Comet and later Tiger, but this collection is of the specially-drawn Thriller Picture Library issues, illustrated by Ron Turner and Kurt Caesar. These smaller format hardcovers (6 1/2″ by 9″, 272 interior pages) are on white paper and reproduce the artwork to the highest possible standard. Each is brand-new at £25.
PICTURED:
LARRIGAN £25
JET-ACE LOGAN £25

This is an early Silver Age Collection from an original owner notable for the freshness and vibrancy of the cover colours and page quality; even those with minor reading and handling wear are vastly superior to the majority of comics that have been in circulation since the 1960s. The average grade is well above Fine, with many much nicer.

We’ll be adding selections from this collection for sale here each week across the range of titles represented. These will be over a range of prices each week to suit most budgets, so that all interested collectors have an opportunity to purchase something from this special collection. Each comic will come branded with a special label and certificate of authenticity verifying it as part of the Square Mile Collection. Here’s this week’s:

*DC: After the original Bat-Girl was swept away out of continuity with her aunt Batwoman following a change of direction for Batman in the 1960s, a new Batgirl was introduced, co-created by DC and the producers of the hit Batman TV show, as a boost to the third series of that iconic series. Barbara Gordon proved a hit as Batgirl both in comics and TV. Her comic debut came in Detective Comics #359, (1967) where she tangled with Killer Moth, just as she did in the pilot for her debut on TV. Barbara Gordon, amidst a history of adventure and misfortune, has gone on to become a mainstay of the DCU to this day. We present a VG/FN pence stamped copy of her debut, with some spine wear and corner blunting, plus a small diagonal crease across the bottom right of the cover, but with a rich, glossy unspoilt cover, excellent staples and page quality.
PICTURED: DETECTIVE COMICS #359 VG/FN p £385

*Marvel: The name Ka-Zar was first used in pulp magazines of the 1930s, and then re-invented in the Marvel Silver Age (with a different identity) as Marvel’s shameless rip-off of Tarzan, right down to his alter ego in the English nobility. And the Savage Land (a regular feature of X-Men continuity from then on) was an unabashed homage to an Edgar Rice Burroughs lost realm. One should not forget that X-Men #10, as well as featuring the debut of Ka-Zar, was also the debut of Zabu, his cute pet Sabretooth. This nice pence copy has minor edge wear, a few spine ‘ticks’ and a small crease at top logo, with a diagonal crease across bottom right corner, colour-breaking but relatively unobtrusive; there is also a very small pen mark above the logo. Nevertheless, it has good staples, great page quality and presents very well.
PICTURED: X-MEN #10 FN p £100

*Marvel: The Black Knight has a long and distinguished history at Marvel. Originally, a heroic knight at the court of King Arthur in the Atlas series of the 1950s, the name was revived in the Silver Age, first as the villainous foe of Giant-Man, and later as the new Black Knight (Dane Whitman) in the Avengers and elsewhere in the Marvel Universe (both US & UK). Interest in the character has recently peaked with the announcement of the Black Knight’s debut in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. Avengers #48 features the first full appearance of the Dane Whitman Black Knight and this is a FN+ pence stamped copy, tight and flat with great page quality and a glossy cover, with just a little wear at the top edge and left corner.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #48 FN+ p £175 

*DC: When the Justice League of America debuted in Brave & Bold #28, they were presented as fully established, and it wasn’t until some time later that we fans found out how they came to team up for the first time. In this tale retrospectively told by the members themselves, we learn how they came together to combat an invasion of meteor beings and decided to form a permanent league against evil. Notable for the sight of Wonder Woman in a pinny taking charge of cleaning up the Secret Sanctuary for a party! This pence copy of Justice League of America #9 from 1962 is a solid VG+ copy, with minor edge wear and corner blunting, and some chipping on the back cover (mainly along the bottom edge), but with an unmarred cover, good staples and nice page quality. A very acceptable copy.
PICTURED: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #9 VG+ p £85

More from the Square Mile Collection next week!

*DC: Jack Kirby’s Fourth World saga at DC has its detractors, but the fact remains that its epic grandeur caught the imagination of a generation, and the characters it generated continue to resonate throughout the DC Universe today. Cornerstone of the Fourth World was the series New Gods, the story of dual worlds – Apokalips and New Genesis – locked in an internecine struggle for the galaxy, one world striving to protect it, and the other to rule it. The first issue of this series introduced Orion, Lightray, Metron and other key figures, and the second issue brought us the second full appearance (after a series of cameos) of Darkseid, ruler of Apokalips and seeker of the Anti-Life Equation. Subsequent issues featured other debuts. Issues #1-5 and #8-10 fresh into stock. See our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: NEW GODS #1 FN p £55 SOLD

*Marvel: In the early 1970s, with the supernatural craze at its height, Marvel sought ever-more ingenious ways to produce horror/mystery series which got around the then-Draconian censorship of the Comics Code Authority. One such was Ghost Rider, a retooling of a former Western hero as a stunt-riding Satanic minion (obviously!). After a short but successful run in Marvel Spotlight, Ghost Rider moved to his own series under the aegis of Gary Friedrich, Tom Sutton and Syd Shores, achieving a very respectable 80+ run, and despite two disastrous movies starring Nicolas Cage, has continued to appear regularly ever after. This is a CGC slabbed copy, unrestored blue label, graded at 8.5 VF+.
PICTURED: GHOST RIDER #1 CGC 8.5 £325

*Marvel: Ms Marvel, spinning out of Captain Marvel, former background character Carol Danvers got her own set of super-powers and a whole new supporting cast (including new boss J. Jonah Jameson) as she attempted to discover the mystery behind her own origins. Although moderately successful, the series was attacked by critics who derided Carol’s derivative costume, which made her look like Captain Marvel’s sidekick, and the fact that Marvel were offering a ‘powerful, confident’ heroine who suffered from blackouts and amnesia. Despite these jibes, Ms Marvel has been a prominent member of the Marvel Universe for nearly forty years in one guise or another – whether as Ms Marvel, Binary, Warbird, or most recently the latest Captain Marvel, her chequered history has provided many intriguing plotlines. With the Captain Marvel movie, starring Carol Danvers, being a blockbuster hit worldwide, early appearances of the character are hotting up. This is a VF+ pence copy of her debut issue.
PICTURED: MS MARVEL #1 VF+ p £70

*Marvel: Dozens of issues of the Hulk added to our catalogue this week, between issues #104 and #152. Featured in this run are the first appearances of many famous villains and characters: the Missing Link (#105), the Glob (#121), Barbara Norris (later Valkyrie) (#126), Jim Wilson (#131) and Doc Samson (#141). Consult our catalogue for detailed listings. 

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Yes, much more modern than our usual fare, but we recognise quality when we see it and there’s no denying that Saga, Brian K Vaughan’s and Fiona Staples’ epic space opera/fantasy is a hit series and a modern classic. It depicts a husband and wife, Alana and Marko, from long-warring extraterrestrial races, fleeing authorities from both sides of a galactic war as they struggle to care for their daughter, Hazel, who is born in the beginning of the series and who occasionally narrates the series as an unseen adult. This first issue, in the Star Wars/Game of Thrones zone, is the debut of Alana, Marko, Hazel, the Will and Lying Cat and is in a sparkling NM grade.
PICTURED: SAGA #1 NM £150

*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: Launched in 1961 by Jerry Bails as ‘On The Drawing Board’, by 1962 the pioneering comics news magazine had changed its name to The Comic Reader, and over the ensuing decade gained influence, becoming known as ‘The TV Guide of comics’, and featuring early work by many people, including Paul Levitz, Don Rosa, Paul Kupperberg, Neal Pozner and Tony Isabella, who would go on to professional careers in the field. Street Enterprises, publishers of the Menomonee Falls Gazette, took over TCR from issue #100, bringing news of forthcoming projects, hirings, firings and more to a breathless fandom on a monthly basis in those pre-Internet days, as well as articles, features, newly-commissioned cover artwork not seen anywhere else, and a selection of newspaper strip reprints including Howard the Duck, Star Hawks (Goulart & Kane), Superman, Batman and more. We have 50 issues of this long-running series new in stock, from 1979’s #167 to 1984’s #219, the final issue – though the cancellation appears to have been sudden, as #219 makes no mention of the title’s end, and in fact was still soliciting ads for future issues which never happened!

*Annuals: Over the last few months, we’ve been bringing you a range of ‘Immaculate Annuals’ from a newsagent’s inventory, never circulated or read, no prices clipped, no gift dedications, ‘This Book Belongs To’ inscriptions or other interior markings, solid spines, tight corners and bright, vibrant colours. A few have minor edge wear from long-term storage, or occasionally light breaks in the laminate, but all have exceptional eye appeal, and some could almost pass for new! Today we reach the final batch of these, all Girls’ Annuals, mostly previously unrepresented in our listings. Over 25 new listings, including Bunty, the rare medical drama of Calling Nurse Abbott! from 1963, Girl, Girls’ Crystal, Judy, Penelope, Princess, Princess Tina (& Pony Book), Sally, Sandie, Tammy & Tina. 
PICTURED:
BUNTY 1964 VF with FN DJ £15
CALLING NURSE ABBOTT! 1963 FN £10
SALLY 1971 VF £20

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Launched in 1961 and running a grand total of 1,657 issues until 1992, the Victor was home of Alf Tupper, ‘The Tough of the Track’, flying ace ‘Braddock V.C.’, Tarzan-wannabe ‘Morgyn the Mighty’, and a plethora of other strips hewing firmly to the trope set of ‘score the winning goal against the Nazis while eating fish n’ chips’. Until late in life its covers were dominated by true stories of wartime heroism, with comic-strip versions of how real-life British, Empire or Commonwealth forces won particular medals, a trend emulated by its siblings Hornet and Hotspur, and explaining its enduring popularity among gentlemen of an age to remember World War II. We have slightly more than 100 issues of Victor newly listed, commencing with #8 from 1961, the first year of publication, then leaping forward in time from 1969 through to 1976.

*Girls’ Comics: Although little remembered these days compared to its more famous stablemates Bunty, Judy and Mandy, Debbie, launched in 1973, had a very respectable run, lasting until 1983 with 500+ issues. Published by Dundee’s D.C. Thomson, it featured a plethora of strips including ‘Daisy Dean, Little Beauty Queen’, ‘Kitty & Jo – They’re Sisters But Don’t Know’, aspiring gymnast ‘Little Miss Feather Feet’, ‘Sherlock’ (a horse, not a detective), and a personal favourite, ‘Slave of the Temple Dogs’ in which a young girl assigned to protect the sacred Pekingese uses her herbal knowledge to heal the sick and merrily poison her enemies! Great moral compass there, kid… Our new 100 issues of Debbie listed ranges from 1973’s #7 to 1976’s #199.
PICTURED: DEBBIE #7 VG £4

*Modern Reprints: The latest facsimile from Merry Marvel reprints the full debut of Gambit from X-Men #266. Although appearing initially to be a dodgy guy in a mac, the Ragin’ Cajun quickly became a firm fan favourite and a mainstay of the X-Men franchise.
PICTURED: X-MEN #266 FACSIMILE NEW/MINT £4

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 D – L
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.