We’re taking a short break next week, after filling orders received up to 4 pm today (3rd May) and posting them next Wednesday (7th May). There will not be a Newsletter nor stock updates next Saturday, but they will be back on 17th May. After this coming Sunday 4th May, we’ll next be filling orders on 18th May. You may of course continue to place orders at any time; we will acknowledge them and reserve items for you wherever possible.

*DC: Five consecutive issues of Superman from 1959, #129-133, which is as high as the Midas Collection goes in date/issue number. By this time, the classic Silver Age lore of the Superman Family was really kicking in. Decent low grade copies all. 
PICTURED: SUPERMAN
#129 GD- £35 1st Lori Lemaris; centrefold loose.
#130 GD £47 2nd Krypto app with Superman
#131 GD £34
#132 GD £34
#133 GD £34

*Marvel: A significant latecomer to the Silver Marvel Age, the enigmatic synthezoid, the Vision premiered in Avengers #57 as a villainous pawn of the evil Ultron. Rapidly being discovered to be misguided, he was offered membership the next issue, in one of the most rapid reforms ever, and became a mainstay of the Avengers and the MU in general, particularly through his convoluted relationship with the Scarlet Witch. Based on a Simon & Kirby character from the 1940s, Roy Thomas’ love affair with all things Golden Age stood him in good stead, as the Vision captured the hearts and minds of readers worldwide… though the exquisite art by John Buscema doubtless didn’t hurt! This nice glossy copy is a little above mid-grade, pence stamped, tight and flat with good staples and flexible off-white to white pages. There is a small vertical reading crease along the middle of the spine, just breaking colour and a short crease diagonal from the top edge down to the logo of about 2+ cm; if there is a colour break from that, it’s invisible in most lights. Presents very well.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #57 FN- p £180 SOLD

*Marvel: This 1993 six-parter by Michelinie, Bagley and Lim was Venom’s first solo series, and saw the start of his transition from outright villain to reluctant anti-hero – though predictably, there were many mis-steps along the way! Establishing an uneasy truce with Spidey, Venom relocates to San Francisco, but his past deeds follow him, when the father of one of his victims enlists super-powered mercenaries to take revenge, plus he’s faced with five further symbiotes – Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher and Agony – in a highly dysfunctional family gathering! All six issues now available as a set, all in sparkling NM condition, including the foil enhanced cover to #1.
PICTURED: VENOM: LETHAL PROTECTOR #1; Set #1-6 All NM £80

*Horror 1940-1959: Beware Pre-Code Buyers Beware! There are actually two series bearing this title. From 1952, the first series only consisted of 3 issues (#10-12) published by Youthful in 1952 (previously Fantastic, subsequently Chilling Tales). The second series, published by Trojan/Merit in 1953 lasted for 14 issues, and continued the numbering from the first, before renumbering at #5 after the first four issues. Thus there are two Beware #11s. This is the first from 1952 published by Youthful and features a gruesomely lurid cover with rats by Ed Goldfarb; his and other artwork inside including Harry Harrison. Suitable horrific content. A solid copy with vibrant cover where the colours pop. Tight firm staples and white to off-white pages. Small amount off margin on one page, not affecting story. Slight mis-cut does not appear to impact on the issue. Corner blunting but only minimal amounts of edge and corner wear on this good-looking copy.
PICTURED: BEWARE #11 VG £225 

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following strong sales and a big influx of new stock, we’re totally overhauling and relisting our Eagle stock: many additions and deletions and new streamlined pricing. One of the icons of British comics’ history, Eagle started up in 1950; every issue of its twenty year run starred Dan Dare, its most famous son, as well as loads of other strips, featuring the cream of British artists and superior quality printing and paper. Volumes 11 and 12 are now processed and re-listed, continuing from earlier volumes previously done. Please refer to our catalogue for details. Volumes from 13 upwards will be dealt with over the coming weeks, but for now they remain at half the old prices in our half-price sale.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. This week, we reach the works of Keith Laumer who was a prolific American writer active in the second half of the 20th Century. Before taking up writing, he had careers in the US Air Force and the US Foreign Service, the latter inspiring perhaps his most famous works, the Retief series, which deals with the adventures of a cynical spacefaring 27th Century diplomat who constantly has to overcome the red-tape-infused failures of people with names like Ambassador Grossblunder. In the first part of our re-listing, we have several Retief books, as well as other novels and short stories. Part 2 of our Laumer re-working will follow soon.
PICTURED: ALL BY KEITH LAUMER
GALACTIC DIPLOMAT Berkley Medallion 1966 1st  US PB VG £10. Retief short stories
THE MONITORS Mayflower 1971 1st UK PB VG/FN £4
NINE BY LAUMER Sphere 1970 1st UK PB VG/FN £5 Short stories
ODYSSEY Baen 2002 1st US PB GD/VG £5
RETIEF AND THE WARLORDS Pocket 1978 US PB VG £4
RETIEF: EMISSARY TO THE STARS Pocket 1979 US PB VG £4 Short stories
RETIEF OF THE CDT Pocket 1978 1st US PB thus GD/VG £4 Short stories

*DC: Three early Two-Face appearances lead off our Midas Collection releases for this week, one of the classic foes from Batman’s Rogues Gallery. 
PICTURED: BATMAN
#50 PR £90 In the cover story (cover by Bob Kane), after Harvey Dent begins having nightmares of being Two-Face again, Two-Face returns to start a new crime spree. Once Batman and Robin capture him, they learn that it is Harvey’s butler Wilkins, who had masqueraded as Two-Face so that Harvey would be blamed for his crimes. Story by Bill Finger. There’s also a Vicki Vale story and a third story where Batman is training a young boy to be his new partner. All art is by Bob Kane (Batman & Robin figures only) and Lew Sayre Schwartz. This is a Poor copy with the front cover detached with many chips out and a long tear across top right corner. Extra staples have been added to the spine at the interiors. Pages are a reasonable creamy colour, tanning slightly at edges. SOLD
#68 GD/VG £400 In the cover story (cover by Win Mortimer) featuring Harvey Dent, a second Two-Face emerges, following an incident where an actor is playing the role of Harvey Dent for TV. Story by Bill Finger; art by Bob Kane and Lew Sayre Schwartz. Also features a story where crooks steal from atom bomb proof caves; art by Dick Sprang. Plus a story centring on Alfred. A reasonable copy with solid structure, some minor chipping to right edge. Historic water stain around lower staple, unobtrusive on cover, more visible on splash margin. Nice pages and staples.    
#81 GD- £260 In the cover story (cover by Win Mortimer), Harvey Dent returns as the real Two-Face after he is caught in an explosion. He sets up the death trap for the Dynamic Duo as shown on the cover. Story by David Vern, art by Dick Sprang. In the second story, Robin reveals his secret identity at school. In the third story (written by Bill Woolfolk, art by Dick Sprang), the Caped Crusaders and Vicki Vale encounter the Phantom Bandit of Gotham City. This copy has a long crease down the centre, slightly diagonal and only very faintly breaking colour. 3 cm upper spine split, corner blunting and moderate edge wear. Cover off upper staple, but staples otherwise okay. Flexible cream-coloured pages.

*DC: From the Bute Collection this week, Showcase #1, starring the Fire Fighters featuring Fireman Farrell. Whilst Farrell didn’t go on to bigger things (unless you know something I don’t) he did make occasional subsequent appearances in the DCU, and was right here to launch this legendary series that gave birth to many DC super-stars, including Flash, Green Lantern, the Atom, Challengers of the Unknown and many more. Bearing in mind Farrell’s relative non-stardom in relation to those, completist collectors may be relieved to learn that this is only a Poor copy at the fraction of the price of a decent one. The front cover is taped on to the body of the comic with old tape along most of the spine, which also extends to seal cover tears; there is also tape reinforcement along top and bottom edges. The back cover is missing, but all pages are present and the staples hold the comic together fairly firmly. 
PICTURED: SHOWCASE #1 PR £100 SOLD

*Marvel: Three quality issues of Amazing Spider-Man from the Good Doctor Collection this week, featuring some of Spidey’s less common antagonists.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#80 FN+ p £50 Chameleon. Pence printed. Nice sound copy with good colour and gloss. Just tiny edge wear and a minor amount of wear at the spine in the masthead box.
#81 FN p £40 1st Kangaroo. Pence stamped. Minor spine and handling wear, but decent copy.
#93 VG+ £35 Prowler. Minor spine and handling wear, but decent copy. 

*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher 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. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. This week, two horror issues from the Daring Adventures series. The first, #9, is out and out horror, reprinting pre-code horror; the second, #15, features a KKK type gang from the old west, plus dark crime stories, all with horror undertones.
PICTURED: DARING ADVENTURES BOTH SOLD
#9 FN £40 Reprints Blue Bolt Weird Tales Of Terror #115, Star 1952. Redrawn cover of Avon’s Eerie #6. Art by Disbrow and others. 
#15 FN £45 Reprints The Hooded Menace, Avon 1951. New cover by Joe Simon (?)

*Western: If you’re a fan of ageing Western TV and movie stars gadding about in fancy shirts in a Wild West that never quite was, then these four issues of Hopalong Cassidy from the Midas Collection will be just the thing for you. Hop (William Boyd) started out in comic form from Fawcett in 1943, moving to DC with issue #86 in 1954, lasting until #135 in 1959. Great art by the estimable Gene Colan and Gil Kane. Photo covers on early DC issues.
PICTURED: HOPALONG CASSIDY ALL SOLD
#86 GD £29 1st DC issue
#99 GD £12
#124 VG £10 Fabulous greytone cover
#131 VG £10 

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Three more books by Damon Knight new to our listings this week, showing two sides to this multi-faceted stalwart of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Natural State is a book of three long stories; Turning On  is a book of several of Knight’s short stories; A Pocketful of Stars is an anthology edited by Knight including short stories by Bova, Dickson, Ellison, Leiber, Laumer, and many more.
PICTURED: DAMON KNIGHT
NATURAL STATE AND OTHER STORIES Pan 1975 1st UK PB thus VG £3
TURNING ON Sphere 1969 1st UK PB VG £4
A POCKETFUL OF STARS Gollancz 1972 1st UK HC FN £10 With DJ FN in removeable archival film

*DC: Probably the most famous cover in all the run on this week’s Superman release from the Midas Collection. From 1942, Superman #14 features the Man of Steel on the cover with an American eagle and a backdrop of the American flag in the form of a shield. The black background features weapons of war and indeed the USA was just on the brink of entering the war when this issue went on sale in November 1941; Pearl Harbour was just a month away. Cover by Frank Ray. Four stories here, all by Jerry Siegel with art by Leo Nowak (signed as by Joe Shuster). Clark Kent uncovers robbery by hypnotism over the radio; Superman investigates the schemes of an invention thief; he then encounters a mermaid whose father’s evil adviser is planning to invade the surface world; Superman responds to a lightning storm over Metropolis and the menace of the super-villain Lightning Master.
There are two main defects with this copy: the cover is detached (cleanly) at both staples and there is a slight mark over the ‘U’ and the ‘P’ (and the eagle’s wing) in the logo where a label had previously been attached – see scan. The spine is solid (tiny nick at base) apart from the staple holes. The cover’s black background would show every flaw, but fortunately there aren’t too many – just a couple of stress marks at spine, tiny nicks at edges and corners and a couple of chips out of the right edge. The year ‘1942’ has been written in pencil above the issue number in its circle. The centrefold is loose and a date and name have been written/printed in upper and lower margins on the splash page. Pages are a supple off-white to cream with some foxing at the very edges. Overall the copy presents very well for a lower-graded example. High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #14 GD £2,000

*Marvel: There must have been something in the stars for Dr Doom and the number 5; after debuting in Fantastic Four #5, he turns up in Amazing Spider-Man #5 to take on everyone’s favourite friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler. How can Spidey beat the monarch of Latveria? Well… he can’t actually, but I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. This CGC copy is graded at 3.0 (GD/VG), a blue label unrestored copy with cream to off-white pages. Case perfect. Good colour cover. CGC Serial number: 3954525005. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #5 CGC 3.0 (GD/VG) £700

*Marvel: Two classic chapters in the X-Men’s confrontation with the Hellfire Club from the Good Doctor Collection this week. In #132, the X-Men fall one by one as Jean Grey becomes the Hellfire Club’s Black Queen, leaving Wolverine to fight alone in #133. Okay, so it might owe a lot to Emma Peel, but still two of the finest comics of the era.
PICTURED: X-MEN
#132 VF+ p £55 Jean Grey becomes Black Queen. Pence printed, superb copy with great colour and gloss, just very minor corner wear.
#133 VF+ p £65 Wolverine alone. Pence printed, superb copy with great colour and gloss, just very minor corner wear. SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s quite rare that we stray into the 21st Century (here late 20th) for our stock, but for Alan Moore, we’ll make an exception. Moore created, in conjunction with artist Kevin O’Neill, a Victorian era combination of characters from famous literary works: Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and so forth. This unlikely and reluctant alliance faced down foes in two mini-series, then resurfaced periodically from various publishers in a number of one-offs, original graphic novels and spin-offs. The subject of a controversial film (which Moore publicly disavowed and condemned, and which is rumoured to have caused star Sean Connery to retire from acting!), the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics and graphic novels are of a much higher quality. Even if, over the intervening years, Moore’s narrative techniques have become ever more esoteric and oblique, there is much entertainment to be had in his shameless plundering of popular culture. This week we feature the debut of the characters in the very first volume in the series, wherein the disparate group is assembled to stop a gang war between Fu Manchu and Professor Moriarty.
PICTURED: LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL 1 #1 NM; Complete Set #1-6 all NM £50 SOLD

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: This week’s release of Love Story Picture Library, the longest running romance picture library from Fleetway, comprises 10 issues from 1968, between #666 to #684. The series always maintained a high standard and the very accomplished art reflected the fashions and mood of the times. Virtually no touch of rust on the staples of these nice copies, but some creasing or puckering on a few copies.
IN THIS UPDATE: LOVE STORY PICTURE LIBRARY ALL SOLD
#666 VF £7
#667 VF £7 (PICTURED)
#668 VG/FN £4.50
#669 FN £5
#670 FN/VF £6
#680 FN/VF £6
#681 VF £7
#682 FN £5
#683 VG/FN £4.50
#684 VG £4

*DC: An historic issue of Detective Comics from 1942 from the Midas Collection this week. As well as the long Batman & Robin lead story The Three Racketeers, by Bill Finger and Bob Kane (Batman’s creator who also did the cover), there’s a whole variety of other sleuths at work, some perhaps names well-remembered and other lost to time: Spy, Cliff Crosby, the Crimson Avenger, Larry Steele, Air Wave & Slam Bradley. Nice Batplane cover. This copy comes originally from the Jerome Wenker Collection, as marketed by American dealer Terry O’Neill and comes with a certificate to that effect. It has a clean and sharp cover image with very few tiny marks. The spine is a bit worn but intact, except that the front cover is off at the lower staple. There are small tear marks in that area and similar at the upper staple, although this is still attached. The centrefold is also detached, but other than that the staples are fine. Pages are towards off-white and in good order. High resolution images are available on request.  
PICTURED: DETECTIVE COMICS #61 GD/VG £600

*DC: Unlike its sibling title House Of Mystery, House of Secrets started in 1956 after the Comics Code Authority came in, and thus has no pre-code issues. What it does boast is clever horror/mystery/science fiction stories by some top artists and often classic covers. These early issues from the Midas Collection are not often seen on these shores and we have a quintet of consecutive issues in mixed grade issues available. Among these issues are the earliest appearances of Mark Merlin, later Prince Ra-Man.
PICTURED: HOUSE OF SECRETS
#22 VG+ £28 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Bill Ely, Lee Elias, Martin Naydel & Mort Meskin. Nice quality copy with a reading crease breaking colour at spine and a little wear at top of spine. SOLD
#23 GD- £15 Cover by Bernard Baily. Interior art by Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Bernard Baily. Debut of Mark Merlin, occult detective. large corner off back cover; small chunk off top spine. Some colour breaking cover creases.
#24 FA/GD £10 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Mort Meskin, Bill Ely, Nick Cardy. Spine split 2/3rd of the way down. SOLD
#25 VG+ £28 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Bernard Baily, Bill Ely, Mort Meskin. Nice quality copy with just very moderate edge wear. 
#26 FN £37 Cover by Dick Dillin. Interior art by Mort Meskin, Bob Brown, Nick Cardy. Nice clean, sharp copy with a couple of tiny stress marks at spine.

*Marvel: From the period before Captain America joined Tales Of Suspense, where Iron Man was virtually the solo star, we present four early issues featuring debuts and early appearances of famous villains. The long Iron Man stories were backed up by fantasy/science fiction shorts, including the Tales Of The Watcher series.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE ALL SOLD
#51 VG- p £60 1st Scarecrow. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Corner blunting, minor to moderate edge wear with some chipping to right edge. Faint dust shadow to upper right edge. Cream coloured pages with some edge tanning, as is the case with inside covers. Decent tight staples. 
#53 GD/VG p £60 2nd Black Widow, following Natasha’s debut in the previous issue. Also features the Origin of the Watcher. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Corner blunting with fairly minor edge wear, except that there are two small chunks off back cover, one in bottom right corner, and one at the top of the spine, resulting in an upper spine split of about 3 cm. Cream coloured pages with some minor edge tanning, as is the case with inside covers. Decent tight staples at centrefold; lower a little loose at spine. A couple of faint creases across top right cover which do not break colour.
#54 VG p £50 2nd Mandarin. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Very narrow dust shadow along right edge. Only very minor edge wear. Cover and centrefold off lower staple. Upper spine split of less than 2 cm. Cream coloured pages. Slight tanning at edges of inside covers. 
#55 VG+ p £60 3rd Mandarin. Contains extra 5 page feature ‘Inside Info About Iron Man’. Pence printed. Nice unmarked cover image with good colour. Very narrow dust shadow along right edge. Only very minor edge wear. Decent tight staples. Off-white to cream pages, minor to moderate tanning to inside covers.

*Marvel: In the wake of other Marvel hits starring occult characters, and with the Exorcist movie taking big box-office, Stan Lee had originally proposed a series starring Satan himself, but Roy Thomas commuted it to Satan’s offspring, a demon/human hybrid who used his evil-spawned power for good, in rebellion against his father. Daimon Hellstrom duly appeared in Ghost Rider #2 as an antagonist before moving into his own solo series in Marvel Spotlight, and then progressing to his own book. Daimon remains a prominent character today in the Marvel Universe, though he doesn’t use the Son of Satan soubriquet any more, and in these more sensitive times his origins are usually politely glossed over. We have a superb copy of Ghost Rider #2 new in from an original owner collection, pence printed, with bright colours and high gloss. No wear or marks, except for the tiniest dink at top of spine. Staples are tight and firm at spine and centrefold, and supple pages are white to off-white.
PICTURED: GHOST RIDER #2 VF/NM p £120 SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Frank Miller’s Sin City burst on to the comics scene in 1991, firmly establishing the neo-noir mood he had built on in his earlier classic run on Daredevil and the seminal Dark Knight Returns. The original Sin City series (later entitled The Hard Goodbye) originally appeared in serial form in Dark Horse Presents, and in-between the series of mini-series that followed, there were a number of one-shots and specials, chock-full of the dark, seedy characters that inhabit the city and the locations that form it. The film noir influence on the series’ artwork is seen in its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. Black and white are the sole colours most of the time, with other colour used sparingly to highlight certain characters. The writing style also draws heavily on detective and crime pulp fiction. We’re delighted to present all six one-shots and specials, of varying length, in pristine condition from an original owner collection.
PICTURED: SIN CITY:  ALL SIX SPECIALS NM £35 THE SET SOLD
THE BABE WORE RED
A DECADE OF DARK HORSE #1 (contains Sin City, plus Predator & Grendel)
JUST ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT
LOST, LONELY AND LETHAL
SEX AND VIOLENCE
SILENT NIGHT

*Alan Class Reprints: 10 issues of Alan Class’s premier title Creepy Worlds fresh in this week, both pre and post decimal. These will be found in the regular stock section of this category.
IN THIS UPDATE: CREEPY WORLDS
#44 GD/VG £4.75 1st Captain Atom by Ditko
#78 VG £5.25
#92 FN £7.25 (PICTURED) Fly Special by Simon & Kirby
#135 VG £1.75
#137 VG £2
#138 VG £2
#147 GD/VG £1.75
#151 GD £1.75
#153 VG/FN £2
#155 FN £3

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. This week, we reach authors from Kornbluth to Lafferty. C M Kornbluth is represented by a book of short stories and a collaboration with Frederik Pohl, with whom he wrote many books. Henry Kuttner, a cornerstone of the Golden Age of science fiction, died tragically young, and was another frequent collaborator, with his wife C L Moore; we have here four of his solo works, including three books of short stories and his famous novel Fury. Lastly, two novels of good reputation by R A Lafferty. More details, including condition notes, in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
C M KORNBLUTH: THE EXPLORERS Ballantine 1963 US PB GD £3 Short stories
C M KORNBLUTH & FREDERIK POHL: SEARCH THE SKY Digit 1959 1st UK PB VG £8 SOLD
HENRY KUTTNER: AHEAD OF TIME Four Square 1967 3rd UK PB GD/VG £4 Short stories
HENRY KUTTNER: FURY Mayflower Dell 1966 2nd UK PB GD £4 SOLD
HENRY KUTTNER: THE PROUD ROBOT Hamlyn 1983 1st UK PB GD/VG £5 The complete Galloway Gallagher short stories
HENRY KUTTNER: RETURN TO OTHERNESS Mayflower Dell 1965 1st UK PB GD £3 Short stories
R A LAFFERTY: FOURTH MANSIONS Ace 1969 1st US PB VG/FN £15
R A LAFFERTY: PAST MASTER Ace 1977 US PB 1st thus VG £12