*DC:  DC’s Enchantress – no relation to Thor’s beloved enemy of the same name – premiered in Strange Adventures #187. Artist June Moone wanders away from her escort while at a party in an old castle, and more or less stumbles into magical powers. An odd attempt at a modern witchcraft heroine, the Enchantress was created by Bob Haney (we might have guessed) and artist Howard Purcell, and fizzled out after only two more appearances, until revived in the 1980s as a Supergirl villain. Then drafted into the best and longest-running version of the Suicide Squad from 1987, she became a credible player in the DC Universe, a position only consolidated by her prominence in the flawed, but successful Suicide Squad movie of 2016. This first Enchantress appearance is a near-flawless VF+ cents copy, with tight staples, bright colour, off-white interiors and only minute corner blunting; an exceptional copy of a seldom-seen issue. On sale at £350.

*DC: After more than a decade of anticipation and demand, DC revived All-Star Comics, home of the Justice Society of America, in 1976 with #58 – continuing the numbering from the Golden Age. The veteran heroes were joined by three (relative) youngsters in the ill-named and short-lived ‘Super Squad’. One new addition was Power Girl, cousin of the Earth-2 Superman, who was a very different proposition from Earth-1’s Supergirl, and became the breakout star of the series, not just because of her zaftig appearance (though that didn’t hurt, especially as designed and illustrated by Wally Wood), but also because of her forthright, take-no-prisoners personality. Later, the ‘Super Squad’ nonsense was dropped, and #69 saw the first appearance in cameo of a mysterious female figure – well, not that mysterious, as the editors had carelessly previewed her on the cover! Helena Wayne, aka the Huntress (daughter of Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman), like Power Girl, became hugely popular, and for the next decade she and PG positively eclipsed their ‘originals’, Supergirl and Batgirl. We have copies of both these debut issues: Power Girl’s premiere in All-Star #58 is VF £70; the Huntress’ first brief appearance in All-Star #69 is VF £50.

*Marvel: In the fourth issue of Marvel’s Avengers series, the already formidable team of Iron Man, Giant-Man, Thor and the Wasp was augmented by one of the legendary heroes from the past. Captain America returned to action after years in Post-WWII suspended animation, and rapidly became the acknowledged heart and soul of the Avengers, who have never flourished for long without him! This copy of Cap’s iconic return to action is a pence priced copy in PR/FA; the cover is virtually detached, and there is moderate to heavy wear on all edges, with rounded corners. There is a light stain (approx. 1″) on the lower splash page, only mildly impacting a caption and not significantly affecting the image proper. There are also two small markings on the cover – a beige blob between the ‘R’ and ‘S’ of the logo, and a light red smear across the Sub-Mariner’s face in the insert. Interior pages are clean and readable, with light to moderate wear, but no markings or significant tears. More attractive than the PR/FA p grade makes it sound, this is on sale at £250.

*Marvel: In the wake of the hugely-popular movie, Marvel launched a highly successful Star Wars comic which ran 107 issues between 1977 to 1986, starting with a movie adaptation and continuing to new adventures. We are delighted have the first and final issues of this cult favourite in stock, both CGC Blue label copies with no restoration. Issue #1 is 9.0 VF/NM equivalent, on sale at £150. Issue #107 is 9.4 NM equivalent, at £100.

*Marvel: Following massive sales on all eras of Spider-Man – and thank you all for that – we’ve done a major top-up of just over 100 issues, ranging from #87 through to #297, including highlights such as the Hulk/Spidey clash in #120, the second ‘Full Punisher’ in #135 and other early Punisher appearances, the first Harry Osborn as Green Goblin in #136, the first Gwen-Clone in #144, the epic issue #200, and multitudinous clashes with Spidey’s Rogue’s Gallery – Doctor Octopus! Kraven! Mysterio! Black Cat! The Vulture! Mindworm! Rocket Racer! Grizzly! Gibbon! (Okay, so they weren’t all winners…) Illustrated is a suddenly-soaring issue, #212 FN/VF £30, the premier appearance of Hydro-Man, former B-Lister who’s been elevated to star status because of his ‘casting’ in the forthcoming Spider-movie, ‘Spider-Man: Home Alone’… or something like that. Anyway. You never know when it’ll be the turn of the White Rabbit, the Rose, the Ringer or the Spot to take the villainous lead in a future cinematic blockbuster, so snap up those first appearances, fanboys!

*Marvel: Jim Steranko, despite his comparatively small output, revolutionised the art of comics storytelling with his cinematic and design-oriented artwork, and while he is most famous for his work on Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, some of his most striking work was done on the Captain America issues he illustrated. We have two of these back in: #110 FN+ p £45, which features the first appearance of Madame Hydra, a.k.a. the Viper, who became a major villainous player; and #113 FN+ £35, with the conclusion of the ‘Death of Captain America’. Both of these stunning issues are highly sought after, and these affordable mid-high grade copies are extremely attractive purchases.

*Marvel: A big update this week to our Marvel Bronze Age stock, with the following titles featured: Astonishing Tales (#6 1st Bobbi Morse, later Mockingbird), Avengers, Captain Marvel, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Marvel Spotlight (2nd series), Thor and 2001 (from #1). Dozens of issues added.

*Horror 1940-1959: Don’t worry – ‘E’s ‘armless! The bizarre, but beautifully illustrated, Bill Everett cover to this issue has become notorious and highly sought-after because of its imagery – a gentleman apparently being strangled by his own disembodied arms while a ghoulish figure looks on. Even amongst the frequently wacko covers of the Atlas horror titles, this one is extraordinarily esoteric. The title of this story? ‘Sleep, My Love!’ Well, of course it is. This is a striking FN+ copy of a desirable item – deep unbroken black cover background, only very minor lower spine wear, vivid cover colour and gloss, firm staples, and off-white, flexible interior pages. An exceptional example of its vintage. FN+ £325.

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: In 1971 Marvel, still trying to broaden its readership, tried again to crack the black & white magazine market which Warren had successfully exploited. Savage Tales #1 was rated ‘M’ for the Mature Reader (translation; a bit of swearing and occasional boobs), and set out to slightly repackage some of their existing properties – Conan and Ka-Zar – and introduce some new concepts. Of the latter, ‘Black Brother’, a ham-fisted race relations piece, is best forgotten, and ‘The Femizons’, a cringe-making take on Women’s Liberation which served as the basis for Thundra, does at least supply some (albeit unintentional) laughs; but the very first appearance of Marvel’s ‘Man-Thing’ is stylish and evocative, despite the character being a shameless Swamp Thing rip-off. While the writing is hit & miss (though the Conan and Man-Thing stories are definitely hits) the artwork is gorgeous throughout: Barry Smith, John Romita, John Buscema, Gene Colan and Gray Morrow, all at their respective peaks. Never distributed in the UK, and far from commonplace in the USA, we’ve only seen Savage Tales #1 a handful of times in our 25 years of trading. This is a lovely Fine+ copy, unmarred cover image, only minimal spine & corner wear, with excellent interiors, on sale at £180.

*Annuals: Around twenty new additions to our stock of the hardcover comics Annuals which remain a traditional Christmas gift in the UK. In Humour, we have vintage Dandy Annuals, from 1962 to 1964, and Dennis the Menace’s solo Annuals (technically bi-Annuals, as they were only published every second year) from 1962, 1964 and 1966. In TV & Film Annuals, we have new additions to Danger Man, Man From UNCLE, Thunderbirds and TV Century 21. And our sole Boys’ Annual addition this week is Valiant from 1965. Pictured are Dandy 1964 FN £40, Dennis the Menace 1964 FN £30, Danger Man 1965 FN £25 and Thunderbirds 1968 VG £20; for the rest, please consult our online listings.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: The first two issues of two popular Picture Libraries new in. In 1963, Lion Picture Library was launched, collecting serials of popular characters from the famous weekly, eventually branching out into new stories. In 1967, one of the three Fleetway Super Library series was Front Line, alternating stories of ‘Maddock’s Marauders’, a rag-tag team of international soldiers, and ‘Sgt. Ironside’, who, to absolutely no-one’s surprise, got the job done while disobeying military rules. These 100+ page Fleetway Super editions had glued spines, so are free of the staple rust problem, and are in exceptional shape for their years. For its debut issues, Lion PL pulled out maximum star power, with RAF aviator Paddy Payne in #1 and Robot Archie in #2. Our Lion PL #1 is generally excellent shape but a touch of rust around the staples – the bane of many Picture Libraries – bringing it ever so slightly down to VG/FN. Issue #2 is FN, clean and supple with bright cover. All four of these new additions are depicted: Lion Picture Library #1 VG/FN £35 and #2 FN £35; Fleetway Super Library Front Line #1 FN/VF £30 and #2 VF £25.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Early issues of long-running Girls’ Picture Library series grace our listings this week – Bunty #2, Judy #2 and the first four issues of Princess Picture Library. The Girl in the Red Mask, the Phantom Ballerina, Sue Day and Sally of the Ballet are the featured stars of these done-in-one stories gathered from the pages of the popular weeklies. Illustrated are Judy Picture Library #2 VG/FN £20 and Princess Picture Library FN/VF £40; for details on all the others, look on our website for grades and prices.

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 files in our American section:
*Western
*Modern Reprints
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there arose a craze for ‘Gothic Romances’, the covers of which depicted diaphanously-clad lovelies fleeing a darkened mansion/castle/palace at night, frequently pursued by beasts. Writer Denny O’Neil, clearly having had Enough Of This Sort Of Thing, parodied the genre in Batman #227’s ‘Demon of Gothos Mansion!’, casting Alfred’s niece Daphne as the ingenue and arranging a beautiful Neal Adams cover, which became one of the most sought-after iconic covers of the Silver Age – not least because it also ‘homaged’ a Golden Age cover, Detective #31. This copy of Batman #227 is a lovely FN/VF copy, pence priced but unobtrusively in the logo, with deep cover colour, tight staples, and only a few small spine ‘ticks’ preventing a better grade. On sale at £225.

*DC:  A nice range of classic Silver Age Superman fresh into stock this week, issues between #141 and #184, plus annuals #5, #7 and #8. Our favourite period this for the Man of Steel. Most copies are lowish grade and thus very affordable, plus a few better mid-grade examples.

*Marvel: By the time of Spider-Man’s 50th issue, ‘new’ artist John Romita had made the series his own, and this special issue was marked with the debut of a new villain, the Kingpin – so long associated with Daredevil, in the post-Miller years, that many people overlook the fact that he originally belonged to Spider-Man’s Rogues’ Gallery! The cover to #50, with Peter’s temporarily abandoning his Spider-Man identity, has become etched in the minds of a generation, endlessly imitated and ‘homaged’, in comics and other media. Our newest copy of ASM #50 is VG-, a cents copy with no pence pricing or overstamp. Largely unimpaired cover scene, but light to moderate corner and edge wear, particularly at the cover’s upper edge, and a tiny corner off the lower right cover corner. This is on sale at £195.

*Marvel: A selection of significant issues of Marvel’s Avengers: #54 (First Ultron cameo, FN/VF p £40), #55 (1st Full Ultron FN+ p £60), #62 (1st M’Baku/Man-Ape FN+ p £65), #67 (early Barry Smith artwork VF+ p £60), and #83 (debut of the Valkyrie – sort of – and Marvel’s violent voluptuaries, the Lady Liberators, VF- p £100). These bright & shiny new additions are characterised by higher-than average grades, tight flat copies with vibrant cover colour. Up against the wall, male chauvinist pigs!

*Marvel:  First issues are always popular and fast-selling choices for our valued punters, so we’re chuffed to have not one, not a handful, but a full dozen #1 issues from Marvel’s Bronze Age. Eyes down: Battlestar Galactica, Howard the Duck (sumptuous Frank Brunner art), Machine Man (King Kirby karries on from 2001!), Micronauts (1st series, drawn by Mike Golden), Nightcrawler (the superlative Dave Cockrum drawing one of his favourite characters), Nova, Shogun Warriors, Son of Satan, Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man, Spider-Man by Todd McFarlane, Spider-Woman, and the first issue of Wolverine’s first ongoing series. Depicted: Nova #1 FN+ p £40, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #1 FN+ £25, Spider-Woman #1 FN £20 and Wolverine #1 VF+ p £35. For details on the rest, check out our online listings – but you’d better be quick!

*Marvel: A new range in this week of Journey into Mystery between #88 and #124 plus Annual, when Thor had taken over the title but before it officially changed to just ‘Thor’ . Included are #88 (2nd Loki PR £15), #118 (1st Destroyer FN- p £43), #119 (1st Warriors Three VG/FN p £34) and Annual #1 (1st Hercules FN p £61, pictured) plus lots of others from this formative period for the God of Thunder.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: An offshoot of the crime comics genre, as previously noted, was the Spy Thriller, of which Atlas had several, one of the more notorious being Kent Blake of the Secret Service, a 14-issue run from 1951-1955 in which our square-jawed hero faced off against the ghastly Commie threat. We have five of the series new in stock, ranging from #2 (Hey kids! Drug use issue!) to #13, in grades ranging from PR to FN+. Illustrated is issue #12 FN £32 – cover by Carmine Infantino – which illustrates the gunplay, violence, and emotionally conflicted ladies which typified this series.

*War: Atlas’ Combat ran for 11 issues from 1952 to 1953, and we have in stock the first ten of this violent and lurid Pre-Code series, which, from #7 onwards, featured Combat Casey, the jolly red-bearded killing machine who subsequently got his own title. Combat’s clashes with ‘The Gooks’ do perpetuate some appalling ethnic stereotypes, but we must rigorously apply the filter of Historical Context to most of Atlas’ war output, and perhaps focus on the stellar artwork – Heath, Maneely, Romita, Krigstein – which proliferated. Illustrated are #3 FN- £37 and #5 VG £27; for more examples of beautifully-illustrated mayhem, see our online catalogue.

*Marvel UK: In 1976, Marvel UK’s first attempt to generate a British-based super-hero was placed into the hands of Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe, whose comic-opera interpretation of the UK has become a source of hilarity for generations. But after a shaky start, CB became inextricably linked with the mainstream Marvel Universe, not least because of his psychic sister, Betsy, who – years later and after many, many changes – turned Japanese and became the X-Men’s scantily-clad ninja mind-warrior Psylocke. As you do. This is Betsy’s first appearance in Captain Britain Weekly #8, a copy in FN/VF condition; the rather flimsy stock of the Marvel UK weeklies has endured well in this instance, with no tears, creases, or marks, and the puzzle page (often completed, to the later chagrin of collectors) is pristine and untouched. FN/VF £125.

*TV & Film Related Comics: The 1967/1968 run of TV Tornado is a favourite among collectors, with popular features including Tarzan, the Phantom, Flash Gordon, the Saint and many others. The major selling point for Gerry Anderson completists, however, is the addition of The Mysterons, antagonists of Captain Scarlet, in their own series from issue #36, following the absorption of TV Tornado’s companion, Solo. Another phenomenon of recent years is fierce competition for certain covers featuring various media figures. TV Tornado had for a period presented a TV-star ‘Cover Man’ portrait, and while folks were largely indifferent to Simon Dee, Leslie Crowther or Harry Secombe, covers associated with cult TV shows – such as The Prisoner, Doctor Who or John Steed from TV’s Avengers – have spiralled massively in price, owing to interest from, generally, collectors outside the comics-reading world. We have been fortunate in acquiring a substantial run of TV Tornado, 55 of the 88 published issues, including the first and final numbers, in generally low-to-mid grade affordable copies. Highlights include issue #1 VG £50, # 3 VF £45 and, pictured, #48 (Prisoner cover) GD £20, #59 (Patrick Troughton/Doctor Who cover) FA £30 and #64 (John Steed/Avengers cover) VG £25.

*Marvel: In 1962, following the smash success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel were casting around for their next hit. Synthesising elements from popular TV shows of the time, Lee & Kirby brainstormed a ‘mash-up’ of Frankenstein and Jekyll & Hyde – the old Universal horror movies going great guns on late-nite horror shows – and threw in a jive-talking teenager a la ’77 Sunset Strip’s ‘Kookie’ for good measure, leavening the mix with a hearty dose of ever-popular Cold War paranoia.

The result was the Incredible Hulk; mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner runs out into a gamma-bomb test to save the life of a feckless teen who’s wandered into the kill zone, and in consequence Banner becomes the Hulk, a bestial monster of incalculable strength and uncontrollable rage… and one of the Marvel Universe’s leading figures was born!

All the key components of the Hulk were introduced in this issue: Banner and the Hulk himself, perpetual hero groupie Rick Jones, Bruce’s unrequited love interest Betty Ross, and Betty’s overbearing Dad, General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross – but several elements needed to be refined, including our hero’s skin colour. In this first issue only, he was grey, like the monsters in the black & white TV horror shows; from #2 onwards, without explanation, he became the emerald-hued behemoth we love today. But the main theme of the character – intelligence and compassion triumphing over brute strength – was evident even at this early stage, as Bruce, not the Hulk, turns an enemy into an ally and ultimately saves the day.

Curiously, the Hulk was a flop in his first series, cancelled after a mere six issues, and condemned to a few years as a guest-villain or a back-up strip until the revival of his solo title in 1968, but this is where his long and chequered career began.

Hulk #1 is regarded by many authorities as the second-rarest Marvel key issue (behind Amazing Fantasy #15, with Fantastic Four #1 in third place); we have only been lucky enough to have three or four copies through our hands in our quarter century of trading.

This is a pence priced copy, with clean, unmarred interiors, supple and unusually white for a comic of this vintage, no browning or brittleness. The cover, as you can see from the photos attached, is still very glossy, with the deep blue background vivid and unfaded. There are very fine, barely perceptible lines in the vertical centre of the cover image, not breaking the cover colour or impeding the image. Moderate spine wear and some corner blunting. The staples are firm at cover and centrefold, but the staples do have some rust, particularly the lower, which has caused some discolouration to a very small area adjacent to the staples at the interior. This discolouration is neither deep nor widespread. There is a 1 cm tear to the right cover edge, going through the ‘ER’ in the word ‘Monster’ on the cover blurb.

Despite these minor drawbacks, this is a highly attractive and eminently collectable copy of an exceedingly rare item. We have graded it VG, pence copy as previously noted, and it’s priced at £8,000.

Front and back cover images are shown below, plus splash page; high resolution images are available on request. Please note that this comic is not stored at our shop premises, and viewing is STRICTLY by appointment only and subject to 48 hours notice.

*DC: While they have a great deal of charm filtered through the veil of nostalgia, most folks agree that Batman in the late Fifties and early Sixties got a bit goofy, with monsters, aliens, robots, unexpected super-powers, and a host of Bat-caped ladies, imps and critters running around an increasingly bizarre Gotham City. This was all swept away by the ‘New Look’, which re-established Batman as serious detectives and crime-fighters – but you know what? Here at 30th Century we celebrate the nonsensical, and there’s plenty of that in this selection of Batman’s own title, from #150 to #163, the last issue before the ‘New Look’ took over. This unbroken consecutive run features – in addition to all the above mentioned tropes – some of the classic villains: the Joker, Clayface, and the Silver Age return of the Penguin in #155, the Bumbershoot Bandit having taken a sabbatical for a few years prior. Pictured are #152 FN+ £50 (Joker story, but blink and you’ll miss it) and #155 FN+ £250, the Penguin’s Return; for everything else – including a fire-breathing Ace the Bat-Hound, because why not? – check out the online lists.