*DC: Another Joker gem from the Midas Collection this week, with a classic cover portraying the Joker undergoing a series of unlucky mishaps – walking under a ladder, a broken mirror, a black cat and Friday 13th (a copy of the Daily Bugle with that date – an early inter-company crossover? HHOK). Cover by Jack Burnley. All art on the three Batman stories by Dick Sprang. Lead story by Bill Finger, where the Joker attempts to make money out of the 13 Club, who debunk superstition. The second story by Don C Cameron is about a successor to Batman following Bruce Wayne’s apparent death, and the third story by the same author concerns a murder mystery at the Grand Opera. A reasonable copy with strong cover colours and a nice image. There is some spine wear with a narrow colour-breaking reading crease close inside the spine and a 3 cm lower spine split. The cover is off at the lower staple; the upper staple is firm, although the centrefold is loose. Some corner blunting and a couple of small faint stains on the Joker’s arm and leg. Supple off-white pages. 
PICTURED: BATMAN #40 GD/VG £475

 

*Marvel: A few years before the coming of the Human Torch and Dr Strange, Strange Tales had entered the Big Panty Monster phase, where said monsters were out to conquer or destroy the Earth, provided, in many cases, that they were equipped with sufficiently capacious panties. Dominated by Kirby and Ditko, this is a great period to collect for fans of these two titans of the Marvel Age of Comics.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES BOTH SOLD
#86 FN+ £160 Cents copy. All Kirby and Ditko issue, with long Kirby Mechano story. Tight and flat copy, unmarked with good gloss. Minimal wear at staples, which are firm throughout. Square corners, lovely white to off-white pages. Tiny tear at top edge back cover. 
#91 FN- p £90 Pence printed. Kirby monster lead, with shorts by Reinman, Ditko and Heck with an iconic Heck ‘big head’ splash page. Rich colours and gloss on this black background cover, with just a few stress marks breaking colour at spine and very minor handling wear. Tight, firm staples and nice off-white pages.  

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: One of the prized rarities from the Bute Collection this week.  Despite not strictly being a pre-code horror title, the third issue of Crime Does Not Pay (Silver Streak to #21), the first ever crime title, has a cover every bit as infamous as its more ‘purist’ horror brethren, and content full of horror overtones. The ‘charming’ image of a woman’s head on fire being pushed on to a hot stovetop burner is, um, burned into the mythos of the American horror comic; copies are sought after at a hefty premium. Intro and first appearance of your host Mr Crime. Published by Lev Gleason in 1942. Cover by Charles Biro, with interior art by Dick Briefer, Frank Giacoia and many others. This is a lower graded copy, with the spine split from the top down to the upper staple, which is off the cover. Lower staple is firm, but the spine has wear weaknesses the rest of the way down, although in one piece. There is edge wear with small amounts of chipping and a small piece of tape around the cover at bottom spine. The cover image has good colour and reflectivity and is not damaged. Staples tight throughout including at centre. Page quality is solid, off-white to cream. If this is your thing, you won’t get too many chances to own a copy. High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: CRIME DOES NOT PAY #24 GD £3,250    

*Alan Class Reprints: Long-time visitors to our site will remember that we’ve been selling the Printing Plates from Alan Class’s Private Archive for many years. Although they ran out in 2023 (apart from two high-end key issues shown in our listings), there has always been the possibility of a few more being located with the co-operation of Alan himself. Such has now happened with an issue of Suspense, starring the Human Torch reprinted from Strange Tales #111 but please note that only two plates have been located. Suspense #33 has two of the cover colour plates, including the main plate with most of the image. The set comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by Alan Class himself, and a copy of the comic which these plates were used to produce. These are packaged in a special protective presentation case. Full details follow (please remember that these sets are not available for postage to addresses outside GB).
PICTURED: SUSPENSE #33 £100 SOLD
Comic VG Reprints Human Torch story from Strange Tales #111, plus Atlas and Charlton, inc. 1 Ditko story. Pre-decimal priced. 
Colour cover plates: 2 inc main plate. 
Signed certificate of authenticity
Presentation case

We’re taking a short break next week, after filling orders received up to 4 pm today (27th September) and posting them next Wednesday (1st October). There will not be a Newsletter nor stock updates next Saturday, but they will be back on 11th October. After this coming Sunday 28th September, we’ll next be filling orders on 12th October. 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 the Midas Collection this week, from the cusp of the Silver Age and pre-UK distribution 1958-59. Art by Plastino, Schaffenberger, Boring and Swan, with classic covers by Swan as the stories developed into the classic Silver Age mythos. 
IN THIS UPDATE: SUPERMAN
#124 VG- £65 (PICTURED) Solid copy with good cover colours and some minor creasing.
#125 GD/VG £60 (PICTURED) Nice, but heavy subscription crease.
#126 PR £11 Beat-up copy with lots of tears and heavy creasing.
#127 VG £75 (PICTURED) Nice bright copy with good colours; minor spine wear, small pen graffiti below logo.
#128 VG- £65 (PICTURED) Solid copy with some edge and spine wear.  

*Marvel: Mac Gargan originally appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #19, but it was in the following issue that he was transformed into the Scorpion, driven to a life of crime by his mutation. He has proven a formidable foe for Spidey over the years. Here’s your chance to nab the Scorpion’s first appearance, slabbed for posterity. CGC 4.0 VG, unrestored universal blue label. Pence stamped. White pages. Case perfect. CGC serial number 3954511007.  
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #20 CGC 4.0 VG p £275 SOLD

*Marvel: Four excellent issues of the Fantastic Four from the Good Doctor Collection this week. The Inhumans roster expands in #44 with the introduction of Gorgon. The origin of the Black Panther is revealed #53, his second appearance, also featuring the debut of Klaw. In #54, guest-starring the Inhumans and the Black Panther, the Torch and Wyatt Wingfoot encounter Prester John. And there’s a return engagement with Klaw in #56. 
IN THIS UPDATE: FANTASTIC FOUR
#44 VG+ p £23 1st Gorgon. Pence printed. Marvel Pop Art production logo.
#53 GD/VG p £45 (PICTURED) 1st Klaw, 2nd Black Panther. Pence printed
#54 VG+ £20.75 Pence printed
#56 VG £21  

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: Hipsville, Daddio! We present from the Bute Collection the final four issues of Swing With Scooter, #33-36 from 1971/72. Seldom seen on these shores, issues #33-35 are 64 page giants, with the final issue reverting to normal size. Swing With Scooter starred a British teenage musician nicknamed Scooter (due to his chosen method of transport) who lived in the US. The series was DC’s attempt at cash in on the popularity of young British musicians such as the Beatles, and the teen humour market served by Archie Comics. Supporting characters included Cookie, Kenny, Malibu, and Penny, and in the course of his series, Scooter met aliens as well as Batman, Superman and other members of the Justice League of America. 
IN THIS UPDATE: SWING WITH SCOOTER
#33 VG+ £7.50 SOLD 64 page giant; off top staple.  
#34 VG/FN £8.25 SOLD 64 page giant.
#35 FN £17 Superman app. 64 page giant
#36 VF £17 (PICTURED) Bat signal reference to Batman. Final issue

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. Short stories by Katherine MacLean, hard sci-fi and time travel from Charles Eric Maine, suicidal paranoia from Barry N Malzberg, and a new twist on time travel by Laurence Manning. More details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: 
KATHERINE MACLEAN: THE DIPLOIDS AND OTHER FLIGHTS OF FANCY Avon 1962 1st US PB VG £6
CHARLES ERIC MAINE: SPACEWAYS Pan 1954 1st UK PB VG/FN £15
CHARLES ERIC MAINE: TIMELINER Corgi 1968 1st UK PB VG £10
BARRY N MALZBERG: GUERNICA NIGHT NEL 1979 1st UK PB VG £10
LAURENCE MANNING: THE MAN WHO AWOKE Sphere 1977 1st UK PB FN £10

*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