*DC: Another gem from the Midas Collection this week. If you were thinking of buying a single digit issue of Batman for your collection, I would certainly commend #9 to your attention. An iconic spotlight cover (Overstreet credits Jack Burnley, GCD Fred Ray) and four long and excellent stories written by Bill Finger with pencils by Bob Kane and inks by Jerry Robinson with George Roussos. A superbly atmospheric splash page to the first story of a mystic curse; we’re all at sea with the second story and a giant white whale sinking shipping; the Joker stars in the third story with another nefarious scheme and the final story is the first Batman Christmas tale. The condition on this copy is not at all bad: the cover colours are good, providing a bright contrast between the spotlighted figures of Batman and Robin and the black background. There is some wear breaking colour at the spine, right edge and bottom edge, but this is mostly at the very extremities and doesn’t hurt the image. The cover is detached at the lower staple, but still hanging on at the upper, although there is a 2 cm tear from the upper staple into the ‘B’ of the logo without loss. The centrefold is off both staples. Pages are a very decent quality, clean off-white, with a tiny hole in the background of the splash to the Joker story which is at the centrefold. ‘Classic’ is an often overused term for vintage comics, but here it really is. High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: BATMAN #9 GD/VG £2,300 SOLD
 

*Marvel: Wally Wood took over the artistic reins on Daredevil with #5, bringing his style, dynamism, superb sense of layout and all-round excellence to the title. Two very different villains made their debuts: the Matador in #5 and Mr. Fear (with recycled side-kicks the Ox and the Eel) in #6, the last outings for DD in his original yellow and black costume. Two beautiful copies from the Bute Collection. 
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL BOTH SOLD
#5 VF p £275 1st Matador. An outstanding pence-stamped copy, tight, flat and glossy. Cover colours really pop – among the most outstanding I’ve ever seen on a Marvel comic. Staples are firm throughout and lovely supple pages are white to off-white. Very minor corner blunting at top spine and also very minor wear lower spine and top edge. Amazing for 60+ years old!
#6 FN/VF p £135 1st Mr Fear. A really nice pence-stamped copy, tight, flat and reflective. Strong cover colours, firm staples and supple off-white pages. Minor corner blunting at top of spine. The inside covers are a little foxed, which is the only real blemish on this superior copy. 

*Marvel: Six more excursions with the X-Men this week. This sequence starts off with the X-Men in Genosha, with Wolverine and Rogue on the run, and ends with the opening chapters of the Inferno epic, with Mr Sinister, the Goblin Queen, Sabretooth and the Marauders. 
IN THIS UPDATE: X-MEN ALL SOLD
#235 VF/NM £5
#236 VF/NM £5
#237 VF- £4
#238 NM £6
#239 VF/NM £15 Inferno
#240 VF+ £17 Inferno

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: From 1969, and alongside its companion title, Chamber of Darkness, Tower of Shadows was intended to rival DC’s Houses of Mystery and Secrets, launching Marvel’s Bronze Age horror revival. Despite a star roster of creators (Romita, Craig, Adams, Smith, Wood, Wrightson and an absolute classic story by Steranko in #1), it didn’t really catch on and lasted nine issues and one special before being retitled Creatures On The Loose with #10. We present the entire run, #1-9 plus the Special, on sale as a complete set and nearly all in nice grade. 
PICTURED: TOWER Of SHADOWS #1; Complete Set #1-9 plus Special #1 £130 SOLD
#1 VG+ p (PICTURED)
#2 FN- p 
#3 FN+ p 
#4 FN
#5 FN/VF
#6 GD/VG Book shop stamp; small corner glued on
#7 VG/FN 
#8 FN+ 
#9 FN+ p 
Special #1 VF-  

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: This week, the Saint by Leslie Charteris. Immortalised by Roger Moore on TV in the 1960s, Simon Templar is a smooth international adventurer/detective, getting involved in cases all over the world. Published by Hodder, these vintage books from the 1960s consist of long and short stories and novels. More information, including condition notes, may be found in our catalogue.
PICTURED: THE SAINT by LESLIE CHARTERIS ALL SOLD
THE SAINT’S GETAWAY Hodder 1968 2nd UK PB thus GD/VG £3
THE SAINT ON GUARD Hodder 1968 UK PB GD/VG £3
VENDETTA FOR THE SAINT Hodder 1964 1st UK PB GD £3
THE SAINT V SCOTLAND YARD Hodder 1964 2nd UK PB thus VG £4

*DC: Just like Superman & Batman, Wonder Woman didn’t start out in her own title. Her first appearance came in All-Star Comics #8, with her story continuing into the anthology series Sensation Comics from #1-106. Sightings of Sensation Comics in the UK are not common, so we’re very pleased to be able to present issue #85 (Jan 1949) from the Midas Collection this update, with a Wonder Woman cover and lead, backed up by Wildcat, Lady Danger- Crime Reporter, teen humour with Willy Nilly and more. In the lead story, financier Gresham raises his daughter to be a boy, so he won’t let her accept a scholarship to Holliday College until Wonder Woman intervenes. A bright copy with vivid colours and a few flaws: 2 cm upper spine split, three small chunks out upper and right edges, faint dust shadow along right edge. But a vivid and dynamic cover scene. Tight staples and supple, off-white pages.
PICTURED: SENSATION COMICS #85 GD+ £125 SOLD 

*Marvel: Marvel Super-Heroes #12 saw the debut of Captain Marvel, a warrior of the spacefaring Kree Empire who masqueraded as a human on Earth. Actually conceived as a copyright-protecting exercise (Marvel’s lawyers had recently seen off a short-lived ‘Captain Marvel’ from another publisher), Mar-Vell’s genesis may have been a bit less than sincere, but his impact remains enduring in the Marvel Universe, especially his participation in the cosmic events initiated by Jim Starlin later in Cap’s own series. These two issues present not one, but two Captains’ debuts: not only Mar-Vell in #12, but Carol Danvers – later Ms. Marvel, occasionally Warbird or Binary, and fifth holder of the Captain Marvel title – made her first appearance in #13 as part of Mar-Vell’s supporting cast. 
PICTURED: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES
#12 FN+ £90 Nice glossy copy with minor corner blunting and minor handling wear at spine. Firmly bound with glue and staples; supple white to off-white pages. 
#13 GD/VG p £50 Pence stamped. Reasonable copy with good colours. Reading crease at spine breaks colour. Long diagonal colour-breaking crease across bottom right corner. Short tear at centre right edge. A fair bit of edge wear breaking colour. Nice white to off-white pages.   

*Marvel: A key issue update to Marvel’s premier Blaxploitation superhero, Luke Cage (a.k.a. Hero For Hire, Power Man), who started as a mash-up of clichés but rapidly evolved into a mainstay of the Marvel Universe. Four key issues fresh in: Hero For Hire #8 & #9, featuring a two parter against Dr Doom, #17 (1st under the Power Man logo) guest-starring Iron Man and #24 with the first appearance of Black Goliath. NB all our Luke Cage issues are listed in our catalogue under ‘Power Man’.
IN THIS UPDATE: 
LUKE CAGE, HERO FOR HIRE 
#8 FN- £19 SOLD
#9 VG/FN £45 (PICTURED) SOLD
LUKE CAGE, POWER MAN
#17 VF+ £35 (PICTURED)
#24 VF- £40 (PICTURED) 

*Horror 1940-1959: Atlas always provided a consistent standard of thrills and chills! Whatever the grade (and these aren’t great), they provide quality entertainment. 
PICTURED: 
ADVENTURES INTO TERROR #9 PR/FA £20 Pre-Code. Taped ragged spine, lots of chips and chunks out at all edges. 
ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS #2 App FA £25 Pre-code. Very worn spine; severe subscription crease. Centrefold out – ad/text pages missing. Picture stories complete. 
MYSTERY TALES #43 FA £25 Cover detached. Lots of edge wear and nicks. 
MYSTIC #52 GD £38 Edge wear; diagonal corner crease and central vertical crease. 
Special Bonus: We have a copy of Astonishing #62 which is incomplete – centrefold out and story pages missing. This will be sent free of charge to the buyer of any two or more of the above.  

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A small batch of picture libraries new in this week, including an exceedingly rare Paul Temple from Micron (1964), #6 of only 10 published of the famous detective. Super-Detective is represented by science fiction, the Saint and two Rick Randoms, including the first (#37) plus two classic stories from Thriller Comics/Picture Library. 
IN THIS UPDATE: 
PAUL TEMPLE #6 GD £20 (PICTURED) SOLD Some wear and waviness due to spine glue shrinkage. 
SUPER-DETECTIVE
#23 FA/GD £11 Kidnapped by Martians. 
#33 GD £10 Danger – Saint At Work! 
#37 VG £22 Crime Rides The Spaceways. 1st Rick Random
#48 FA £10 (PICTURED) The Riddle Of The Vanishing Spacemen. Rick Random.  Covers detached.
THRILLER
#109 FA/GD £7 (PICTURED) A Christmas Carol 
#180 GD £8 Around The World In 80 Days. 

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Four very different thrillers linked by great cover art this week. Girl Running is a private eye murder thriller of Americans in Paris. The Only Girl In The Game is a story of gangsters, entertainers and showgirls set in Las Vegas. The Crimson In The Purple is a taut psychological thriller of fear and deadly interplay. Opium Venture is a blend of the erotic and adventurous, on the trail of a queen of opium trafficking. 
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
ADAM KNIGHT: GIRL RUNNING Signet 1956 1st US PB VG £7
JOHN D MACDONALD: THE ONLY GIRL IN THE GAME Gold Medal 1964 2nd US PB VG/FN £6
HOLLY ROTH: THE CRIMSON IN THE PURPLE Pyramid 1959 1st US PB VG £8 
GERALD SPARROW: OPIUM VENTURE Great Pan 1960 1st UK PB VG £8

*DC: From the Midas Collection, issue #26 of Batman Dec 1944/Jan 1945. Despite those dates, it’s not a Christmas cover, but you can’t argue that Batman, Robin and Alfred on a Bat-Sled isn’t seasonal (and a bit of a novelty!). Jerry Robinson cover. Three stories, including a Cavalier appearance, an Alfred short and a story of a Batman from the year 3000. Stories by Cameron, Schiff and Greene, with art by Robinson & Sprang. This CGC encapsulated copy is graded at 5.0 (VG/FN), unrestored blue label, case perfect, white to off-white pages. CGC Serial number 1161405019. Faint pencil graffiti on the cover moon. 
PICTURED: BATMAN #26 CGC 5.0 VG/FN £450 SOLD

*DC: In 1973, it was DC’s turn to have a go at the classic pulp hero the Shadow, whose exploits have passed through many publishers over the decades. This 12 issue series was moody and atmospheric, enhanced greatly by the art of Mike Kaluta on several issues inc #1. Many issues fresh in this week as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE: THE SHADOW
#1 FN £20 (PICTURED) SOLD
#2 FN/VF £12.25
#3 FN/VF £14.25
#4 FN £7.50
#6 FN+ £9.25 
#10 FN/VF £8 SOLD
#11 FN+ p £6 SOLD
#12 FN- p £4.25 SOLD

*Marvel: Like most major Marvel characters who have been around for decades, the High Evolutionary has a long and convoluted history; for the purposes of this update, suffice it to say that genetic manipulation is at the core of his work ethos, and that he first appeared in Thor #134, where the Thunder God pursues a kidnapped Jane Foster to Wundagore and encounters the High Evolutionary and his knights/men-beasts. The second part of the story is also included in #135, and in #136, the story of Jane Foster concludes (for the time being, at least) in Asgard, also re-introducing Sif. All three here from the Good Doctor Collection.  
IN THIS UPDATE: THOR
#134 VF- £110 (PICTURED) Nice glossy copy with rich colours. No creasing apart from a very narrow soft crease along bottom half of right edge which is tough to spot and does not break colour. Other than that, just a tiny bit of corner blunting. Tight, firm staples and lovely white pages. 
#135 FN- £20
#136 FN/VF £35

*Miscellaneous 1940-59: From the Bute Collection this week, the second issue of Ace’s anthology title Super-Mystery Comics from 1940. Super-Mystery was one of those titles that changed volume number every year; it lasted eight volumes, so there are in fact eight #2 issues, but this is the first. The title featured super-hero, horror, suspense, crime and adventure etc, changing its emphasis to fit the mood de jour. In this second issue, the featured super-heroes are Magno the Magnetic Man (cover featured) and Vulcan. There are also crime, adventure, aviation and spy stories. Cover and Magno story art by Harry Lucey. A great example from America’s early comic years. A bumper 68 pages including covers. This is a reasonable copy with good colours and a classic cover scene, virtually unmarked apart from a small scuff over Magno’s chest. Spine is worn, with upper 1.5 cm and lower 5 cm splits; tiny chip out top spine back cover.  Small creases across bottom right corner do not break colour. Small faint pencil marks to the right above logo. Staples are attached at spine and centrefold. Rear and inside covers are a little foxed/grimy. Page quality is decent, flexible and creamy coloured. High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: SUPER-MYSTERY COMICS VOL 1 #2 GD/VG £600 SOLD

 

*Romance: …if you happened to be a young woman in 1950s America, that is… Also from the Midas Collection this week, we feature five issues of Girls’ Romances, one of DC’s longest running romance titles, which started in 1950. Although mostly drawn by unknown artists, DC’s romance comics from this period featured a good standard of appealing art, and often very well composed and executed covers. Seldom seen, particularly over here in the UK, the Midas Collection is quite rich in this genre, with many more to follow.
PICTURED: GIRLS’ ROMANCES
#21 VG £24
#23 VG- £21
#24 VG- £21
#29 VG+ £27
#30 GD £12

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. This week, the final of three updates devoted to the work of H P Lovecraft. H P Lovecraft is now seen as a natural successor to Edgar Allan Poe, but his life followed the tragic arc typically expected of artists. The bulk of his work was originally published in pulp fiction, most notably Weird Tales, so it was usually considered not be ‘literature’. Lovecraft is most famous for his Cthulhu stories, and the literary group that gathered around him, notably Robert E Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, August Derleth and E Hoffman Price all contributed to that mythos. During the 1960s Lovecraft’s work was revived and re-evaluated, becoming far more popular, and granting him cult status as a highly influential author. This final HPL update features his collaborations with August Derleth (one novel in three different editions and a book of short stories) and two anthologies of stories originating from other authors in Lovecraft’s circle where he edited or re-wrote their work. For many books about H P Lovecraft, see our Books About Books category.
PICTURED: 
BY H P LOVECRAFT AND AUGUST DERLETH
THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD Panther 1970 1st UK PB VG £15
THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD Panther 1973 2nd UK PB VF £15 
THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD Carroll & Graf 2003 US PB VG £6
THE SHUTTERED ROOM Panther 1974 3rd UK PB VG/FN £10
BY H P LOVECRAFT AND OTHERS
THE HORROR IN THE BURYING GROUND Panther 1975 1st UK PB VG/FN £12
THE HORROR IN THE MUSEUM Panther 1975 1st UK PB GD £7 

*Clearance Corner: Very occasionally, a lot comes our way which either does not justify its place in our catalogue (but is too good to discard), or is superfluous to our requirements. These lots are offered here on our What’s New page, but are not listed in our catalogue. Lots listed under Clearance Corner will be available for a short time only, and are offered post free to GB buyers only (i.e. England, Scotland, Wales). They are not normally bagged and boarded as our normal stock, but will be securely packaged for transit. If you order a Clearance Corner lot, it may not be combined with another order in the same package. This lot comprises 8 Marvel key issue facsimiles issued a few years ago, all in as new condition. This lot is in fact individually bagged and boarded. Some sample pictures below.
INCLUDED: SOLD
HULK #1
HULK #180 (1st Wolverine cameo)
NEW MUTANTS #98 (1st Deadpool)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #252 (1st Black Costume in title)
SPIDER-WOMAN #1
STAR WARS #1
WOLVERINE #1 (1982 Limited Series)
WOLVERINE #1 (1988 Ongoing)
All 8 for £25 with FREE GB postage 

*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, we haven’t seen a copy of Mystery In Space #53 for a very long time. This is the title selected for Adam Strange after his hugely successful try-outs in Showcase. At this time, the Adam Strange stories took up just over one third of the comic, with science fiction shorts as back-ups. Beneath a Gil Kane cover, the beautiful pencils of Carmine Infantino illustrated a clever and intriguing tale of adventure on the planet Rann with our displaced Earthman hero, who went on to be there whenever Rann was threatened by one of many menaces. This copy has a vivid colour cover with some nice gloss and a striking robot image. Very little wear, but a small, clear stain in the region of the robot’s mouth, only visible in a certain light. The top right hand corner has a faint water stain, which doesn’t appear to have caused any damage and is more easily seen on the inside cover. The staples are firm and tight and the pages are a nice white to off-white. A few pages have small ink blots, almost all in the margins, which look as if they may have gotten there in the production process. All in all, a very presentable copy of such a key issue. 
PICTURED: MYSTERY IN SPACE #53 VG+ £200 SOLD

*Marvel: Back in the Silver Age, Spidey guest appearances in other characters’ series weren’t all that common, and thus were rather special when they did occur. Spider-Man clashed with the X-Men in #35 of the merry mutants’ title (I guess he was just misunderstood). This issue also features the second appearance of the Banshee and the burgeoning menace of Factor Three. A very nice pence printed copy with minor corner and handling wear and a narrow reading crease breaking colour just in from the spine. Good cover colours and reflectivity, firm, tight staples and white pages. 
PICTURED: X-MEN #35 FN p £125

*Marvel: Four consecutive issues of the Fantastic Four from the Good Doctor this week, from #68-71, featuring an extended storyline with the menace of the Mad Thinker. Another betrayal by Ben (due to the Thinker’s machinations), another powerful android, lots of Crystal and the debut of Sue’s short-lived mini-skirt costume – plenty to savour in this compelling adventure.
IN THIS UPDATE: FANTASTIC FOUR 
#68 VF- p £34 Pence printed
#69 FN- £18
#70 VG/FN p £14.75 Pence stamped
#71 VG+ p £13.25 SOLD Pence stamped; book shop stamps

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Marvel’s Fear, commencing in 1970, started life as a Big Panty Monster reprint title, showcasing those memorable monster stories by Lee, Kirby, Ditko and others before the dawn of the Marvel Age of Comics. The first six issues were in giant format, with extra page count, before converting to normal format by issue #7. Notably, #9 featured the first non-reprint story in the series, a Bill Everett horror tale. The cover title changed with #10 to Adventure Into Fear, and it began to run new stories with recurring characters, but it is with those bumper reprints from #1-9 that this update is concerned.
IN THIS UPDATE: FEAR ALL SOLD
#1 VG+ £16.50 (PICTURED) Giant
#2 GD+ £4.75 Giant
#3 GD £4.25 Giant
#4 VG+ £9 Giant
#5 VG+ £9 Giant
#6 VG/FN £10.25 Giant
#7 FN £7.50
#8 FN- £7
#9 GD £2.75

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: We’re very pleased to present a complete run of Fantastic Tales, published in 1965/66 by Thorpe & Porter under their Top Sellers imprint. Full colour covers with black and white interiors. Fantastic Tales trod much the same ground as the more famous Alan Class range reprinting American science-fiction, horror and fantasy and supernatural stories, but with differences. There were no Marvel Super-Heroes in FT (although there were mystery stories from Tales Of Suspense and Tales To Astonish), and there were very many DC reprints in FT (none in Alan Class) from Strange Adventures, Mystery In Space, Tales of the Unexpected, My Greatest Adventure & the Houses of Mystery and Secrets, alongside Charlton and ACG material. Also, FT sported new British drawn covers, generally inferior to the interior art which was very often by the greatest artists working in American comics in the early 1960s. This is a very rare chance to acquire a complete set of this relatively obscure title, including a couple of issues which are notoriously hard to track down. This set is in superior grade, averaging FN-/FN, with nothing below VG, overall much better condition than these 68 pagers usually turn up in. Prospective buyers should note: issues #8 & #10 have the same cover (although different content) and issue #16 has one panel where a woman’s dress has been coloured in; a previous owner has included an unadulterated copy of that page. The first three issues are pictured below.
IN THIS UPDATE:
FANTASTIC TALES Complete Set #1-21 Av FN-/FN £165 SOLD
  

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was surely between the 1920s and the 1950s, and in this period several women dominated the genre. We refer to them collectively as the Queens of Crime, but of them all, Agatha Christie is surely the High Queen. The most read author in the English language, her works continue to populate our media, whether on TV, in films and theatre and, of course, books. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more books by her in circulation than anyone else. A diverse range of offerings from Ms Christie this week in classy Pan and Great Pan editions from the 1950s: Poirot, Miss Marple and more, novels and short stories. 
PICTURED: ALL BY AGATHA CHRISTIE ALL SOLD
APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH Pan 1957 UK PB GD/VG £5 Poirot
THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT Pan 1957 4th UK PB GD/VG £5
A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED Great Pan 1959 UK PB GD £4 Miss Marple
MURDER IS EASY Pan 1951 1st UK PB GD/VG £7
POIROT INVESTIGATES Pan 1955 1st UK PB GD/VG £6 Poirot short stories

*DC: In Justice League of America #21 & #22, the ground-breaking ‘Crisis On Earth-One’ and ‘Crisis On Earth-Two’, the heroes of the Justice League met their parallel-world counterparts, the Justice Society of America, for the first time, and an annual tradition was formed. Superbly created by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, the multiple heroes and villains of these stories were expertly juggled, with everyone getting their moment to shine. Reader response was such that a year later, in issues #29 and #30, we were brought the two-part, ‘Crisis On Earth-Three’ and ‘The Most Dangerous Earth of All!’ respectively, which introduced the Justice League’s evil counterparts, the Crime Syndicate of America, from yet another parallel world. After a period in limbo, the CSA were revived in later decades, and have become major antagonists in subsequent DC Universes. The Justice Society went from strength to strength, and have starred in several ongoing series since. #29 and #30 featured in this update.
PICTURED: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA BOTH SOLD
#29 VG p £80 JSA crossover; 1st Crime Syndicate. Nice glossy copy with some handling wear and minor spine and edge wear. Small colour-breaking crease across bottom right cover corner. Staples are firm at spine with lower off at centrefold. Just above the bottom staple there are two tiny staple holes where an unnecessary staple has been removed. Very nice white to off-white pages. 
#30 VG/FN p £40 JSA crossover. Glossy copy with minor edge and handling wear. Staples firm and tight at spine and centrefold. Very nice white to off-white pages.