*Marvel: For this week’s slabbed comics event, a captivating quartet of early issues featuring Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four. We open with issue #6, in which Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner join forces; then the FF flees Earth to confront ‘The Master of Planet X’ in #7; Sub-Mariner leaves the FF homeless in issue #9 and Doctor Doom sets out to destroy the team from within in issue #10. All Lee/Kirby classics, and all CGC Blue Label (unrestored) copies. Issue #6 is 4.0 (VG) at £375, with a small hairline crack at the back of the case; #7 is 5.0 (VG/FN) at £200; #9 is also 5.0 VG/FN at £250 and #10 is 2.0 (GD) at £115.

*Marvel: The two popular and long-running tryout series, Marvel Premiere and Marvel Spotlight, have been restocked with over 50 new copies between both titles. This batch is almost without exception cents copies, no pence price or overstamp, and in higher than average grades, averaging VF with many NM. Focusing on the one-off or short-run ‘pilots’, this is a widely diverse range of characters from newly-popular heroes (Black Panther, Star-Lord, Deathlok and the first Marvel US appearances of Doctor Who) to off-beat concepts so obscure that even the film developers haven’t optioned them – yet! (Dominic Fortune by Chaykin, Seeker 3000, Caleb Hammer, 3-D Man and the Torpedo, anyone?) Premiere, issues between # 25 to #61, and Spotlight, (1st series) between #25 to #33, newly refreshed for your entertainment!

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: One of the most startling success stories in the back issue world is the ever-spiralling popularity of Moon Knight’s premier appearance. The series Werewolf By Night had been toddling along, chronicling the adventures of young lycanthrope Jack Russell (no, really), when the boat was suddenly rocked in WBN #32 by a vigilante whose only goal seemed to be the annihilation of our hero – and his silver armour and weapons seemed likely to achieve it! The man who would later be revealed as Marc Spector had a deeper back story, of course, and in his multitudinous appearances since, has developed a complex background oscillating between ‘Marvel’s Batman’ and ‘Multiple Personality psychotic possessed by Egyptian Gods’. Be that as it may, he remains hugely popular, and a near-future Moon Knight movie having been recently confirmed, demand for his debut is intensifying. This copy of Werewolf By Night #32 is a cents copy, no pence price or overstamp, an outstanding VF+ with tight staples, sharp corners, excellent interior page quality and only very faint stress marks at the spine. Now on sale at £900. Front and back covers and splash page are shown below; high resolution images are available on request.

*Power Comics: Following its conversion into a faux-Valiant when IPC/Fleetway took over Odhams, the Smash! Holiday Specials dropped their previous comedic livery – though ‘The Swots and the Blots’ valiantly kept the laughter coming despite the changeover. ‘His Sporting Lordship’, ‘Janus Stark’, ‘Cursitor Doom’ and ‘Sergeant Rock’ – not the famous American version – took over the heavy lifting on the all-action covers. Always popular and never commonplace, we’re delighted to have the only two Smash! Holiday Specials published back in stock. From 1969 and 1970 respectively, both are an extremely attractive VF grade, no trace of rust at the staples, covers firmly attached, at £50 each.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Strolling on through the romantic picture libraries which were targeted at the older female readership, we turn our rose-tinted glasses to D.C. Thomson’s Blue Rosette – painted covers wrapped around striking interior art – World Distributors’ Illustrated Romance Library (original covers with a plethora of reprints from US publishers inside), and a singleton from Pearson, Film Picture Library #2, with a photo-cover, but comic strip interiors adapting the cinematic epic ‘The Heart of a Man’, starring Frankie Vaughan and Anne Heywood. (No? Us neither.) We have a selection from Blue Rosette ranging from #1 to #75 and Illustrated Romance from #9 to #21. Depicted are Blue Rosette #1 VG £25, Illustrated Romance #10 FN £9 and lonely Film Picture Stories #2 FN £9. If you’re still searching for love after that, you’ll find plenty more in our online catalogue.

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re fortunate to have a further selection of Midwood paperbacks, the American publisher active from 1957-1968, specialising in sleaze for a male audience (although they published many lesbian novels aimed at a male audience which also proved popular with a secondary audience of real lesbians!). Their output suggested a seedy side of American life of the time, and their covers reflected that with superb art by the likes of Robert Maguire and Paul Rader, who are both featured in the six books listed here. With grades from GD to FN and prices ranging from £15 to £30, this selection of Midwood books are likely to prove as popular as our previous release some months back. Highly collectable and sought after, often just for the covers alone!

*DC: In Brave & Bold’s 57th issue, DC ‘piloted’ a hero quite unlike any other. Adventurer Rex Mason was exposed to an ancient artefact in a tomb and gained the power to transform his entire body, or parts thereof, into any chemical element – but at the cost of his own human appearance, becoming disfigured. The combination of implicit pathos and broad-strokes comedy, generated by writer Bob Haney’s depiction of the supporting cast and artist Ramona Fradon’s sleek, almost animation-style artwork, set the series apart from anything else, and Metamorpho quickly gained his own series. Sadly, it didn’t last, as replacement artists lost the uniqueness, but Metamorpho himself has been a mainstay of the DC Universe ever since. This copy of Rex’s premiere is a sparkling VF-, tight & bright with only a hint of wear at the very top cover edge. A cents copy, no pence price or overstamp, on sale at £120. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: One of Marvel’s most successful attempts at diversifying their line in the 1970s was their cash-in on the Martial Arts craze, with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu! His inauspicious debut in Special Marvel Edition, a series previously devoted to reprints, indicated that there wasn’t much faith in Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin’s co-creation, but readers took him to their collective hearts, and more than 100 issues ensued, with a star roster of creators including Doug Moench, Gene Day and Paul Gulacy. In Special Marvel Edition #15, December 1973, the Son of Fu Manchu discovers his villainous heritage, and sets out to oppose his father, and in #16 he faced his childhood friend and now evil opposite number, the man named Midnight. Only two issues of Special Marvel Edition featured Shang-Chi, as with #17 the title was rechristened Master of Kung Fu in his honour. With the recently-announced arrival of a Shang-Chi film, these issues – never distributed in the UK, and therefore already in high demand – are gaining traction rapidly; issue #15 is VF+, with only a few very light breaks in spine colour, selling at £300; issue #16 is (at the moment) a comparatively bargainaceous FN £20. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Not a ‘key’ issue; not a fabulous first appearance; not a universe-rending battle for reality. Just a simple, poignant and masterful example of done-in-one storytelling without the bloated ‘epics’ of today, as a man with a scheme for revenge against Reed Richards steals the identity of one of Reed’s closest friends, and discovers the truth. It’s a tale of revenge, loss and redemption, and proves that while Lee & Kirby’s output is often emulated, at their peak it is truly inimitable. VG+ p £40 SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A captivating quartet of key issues from Jade-Jaws’ solo series. In #168, Bruce Banner’s beloved, Betty Ross, fell foul of gamma radiation (it was her turn that week) and became the Harpy, a venomous virago with incredible power and a hate-on for the Hulk; recently revived in the current Hulk series, the Harpy’s debut is rapidly climbing in value. #271 saw the second-ever appearance of Rocket Raccoon, a formerly moribund character who had appeared only in a black & white mag back-up; this was Rocky’s first appearance in full-colour in the Marvel Universe proper, and paved his way for later superstardom on the big screen with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Issue #340 is a little later than we normally list, but the Hulk/Wolverine clash featured therein, with its often-homaged iconic cover image, is always sought after. And venturing even closer into (shudder) modern times, Hulk #449 saw the first official appearance of the Thunderbolts, the villain-turned-hero team… or had they really reformed? The T-Bolts were stars of their own series for more than 100 issues, and remain pivotal players in Marvel Comics today. Hulk #168 is VF+ £40; #271 is FN- £40; #340 is VF p £40 and #449 is NM £30. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Among the many innovations of Frank Miller’s hugely-acclaimed reinvention of Daredevil was the addition to the Matt Murdock mythos of our hero’s long-lost love, Elektra, who came back into his life as a tormented and conflicted ninja assassin. (We’ve all had bad break-ups…) This time, we have three CGC Blue Label (no restoration) Miller Daredevils, all featuring Matt’s most beloved enemy. #174 features her battling side-by-side with DD and a reformed Gladiator, CGC 9.6 (NM+) at £60; #181 is CGC 9.6 again, with her battle with Bullseye leading to her (first) death at £50 and #190, with her first resurrection – not a phrase you often use outside the comics world – is 9.8 (NM/M) at £40. #174 is a cents copy, the other two, unusually for CGC slabbed items, are pence. SORRY, #181 NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A round-up of stray issues from the era of the All-New, All-Different X-Men, starting with the second issue (#95, Death Of Thunderbird) and ending at #268, taking in along the way many chapters of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga which is a much heralded sequence in this award-winning period of Marvel’s lead title of the time. For further details, take a look at our online catalogue.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Continuing its numbering from distaff Archie-clone Cindy Smith, Crime Can’t Win launched with issue #41 in 1951, and would have marked quite a departure for loyal readers. A shameless imitation, down to the logo and layout, of Gleason’s hugely successful Crime Does Not Pay, the first issue offered the cover come-on, ‘The Girl Who Planned Her Own Murder’, and things only got more lurid from there, with an early horror story in #43, the third issue. After that, the title switched back to conventional numbering with #4, before running afoul, like all other Crime series, of the newly established Comics Code Authority, and closing with #12. We have all but #6, for a virtually complete run. Depicted is said final issue, #12 FN £34 – say hello to ‘The Sewer Rat!’ (Don’t get too attached…) Details of the others in our online catalogue.

*Western: Of the many real-life Western characters, good and bad, adapted into comics and other media, Wyatt Earp, lawman and gambler, is one of the most popular, having starred in highly-fictionalised adventure series from at least three publishers. Atlas’ series launched in 1955, with a superior artistic pedigree, contributors including Maneely (who did several astonishingly intricate covers), Everett, Severin and Williamson, and the first run lasted until issue 1960’s #29, on the cusp of the Marvel Age. We have the first 14 of that series now in stock, a nice consecutive run in mostly respectable mid-grades. Illustrated are #1 VG £40 and #2 FN- £31; for the others, round up our catalogue listing! SORRY, PICTURED ITEMS NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: The 1978 debut of 2000 AD companion, Starlord, produced a swath of science-fiction series – ‘Timequake’, ‘Planet of the Damned’, ‘Ro-Busters’ and ‘Strontium Dog’ among them – on slick paper with more colour pages than its more famous sibling. Starlord was created as a ‘feeder’ title, intended to hopefully produce a couple of ‘star’ strips and give 2000 AD a quickie circulation boost when it was absorbed by the older weekly. After only 22 issues, it duly became part of 2000 AD, with ‘Strontium Dog’ and ‘Ro-Busters’ (later rebranded ‘ABC Warriors’) leading much longer lives than they had in their original home. The importance of those two series, and Starlord’s short achievable run status, means the series is highly sought-after today, and we’re delighted to have a virtually complete run, lacking only the antepenultimate number, but including the one-off Summer Special and five of the six first issue Free Gift variants, plus the Free Gift issues #2 & #3 – So this is a First Quenchers, Long Hot Summer, Free Gift Farrago Combo Extravaganza! Depicted are issue 1# VF with Free Gift VF (Time Warden Badge); issue #1 VF with Free Gift VF (Skateboard Strike Force Badge) ; issue #1 VF with Free Gift VF (Pilot Badge); issue #1 VF with Free Gift VF (Robot Regiment Badge) and issue #1 VF with Free Gift VF (Laser Specialist Badge) – all the first issue VF with Free Gift VF combos are £45 each. Also shown; #2 FN with Free Gift VF (Space Calculator) at £35; #3 VF with Free Gift VF (Starblast game) £35 and 1978 Summer Special VF £40.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Up to 100 different issues of the popular done-in-one digests starring the Four Marys, Moira Kent and other regulars from the weekly title, plus a myriad of one-off schoolgirls, ballerinas, detectives, equestriennes, gymnasts and girls from outer space. This swathe of new additions begins with the third issue and stretches all the way to #148, averaging FN grades, very clean and collectable copies. Illustrated are #13 FN £12 and #20 FN £12.

We’ve barely had time lately to feature items from our existing stock that you may have missed, but we couldn’t resist reminding you of this classic: Justice League of America #1 (1960), graded by PGX at 6.5 (FN+), now offered at £1900. An iconic Murphy Anderson cover featuring the Flash playing chess with Despero in  his first appearence, with the other Justice Leaguers as the pieces. You can see why over at Marvel Marty Goodman asked Stan Lee to come up with something as good (he invented the Fantastic Four); for our money, as great as the FF were, the JLA were first and best!

*Clearance Corner: Our second Beano bargain this week comprises 80 regular issues from 1981-1986, on offer for just £20; UK postage on these if required would be an additional £8. SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

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:
*DC (A – J)
*DC/Marvel
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: In Batman #232, the creative team of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams created one of Batman’s most significant villains: Ra’s al Ghul, a.k.a. the Head of the Demon, leader of the League of Assassins, and father of Talia, the only woman who ever posed Catwoman a serious threat for the Caped Crusader’s affections. Both Talia and the League had made a couple of appearances before this, but this issue was the first time the readers saw the mysterious head of the League, and this issue kick-started an epic saga that continues to unravel to this very day, as well as opening the way for Ra’s appearances in the DC TV Universe and other media crossovers. This landmark issue, with gorgeous Neal Adams artwork throughout, is represented in our stock by a highly attractive FN/VF copy, no pence price or overstamp, unimpeded cover scene with off-white, flexible interior pages and tight staples and corners. On sale at £275. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: Newly added, more than 60 issues of Brave & Bold’s second half – a solid run of Batman team-ups with the super-stars and the super-obscure heroes from the DC Universe. Popular and frequently recurring partners for the Caped Crusader – despite not having their own series at the time – were Metamorpho, Wildcat and the Metal Men, while most of Bat’s Justice League colleagues were frequent attendees. More oddball team-ups included Lois Lane, Rose & the Thorn, Swamp Thing, Kamandi, Man-Bat and the Riddler! Almost all issues illustrated by Jim Aparo, and almost all done-in-one stories. Highlights include two issues where Batman teamed up with the Joker rather than opposing him – #111 and #191 – and the classic and poignant ‘Interlude on Earth-Two’ from #182 – but almost any given B & B from this period was a reliable jolt of fast paced super-hero action without the need to get involved in a universe-spanning saga.

*Marvel: Hulk #180 featured the first appearance of Wolverine, the Canadian super-hero who, outstripping everyone’s expectations, became the most popular Marvel character since the dawn of the Marvel Age. Co-created by Len Wein, Wolvy was revived by Wein when he put together the New X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1; subsequently Wolverine became the star of the X-Men and a media darling in his own right. Having said that, it wasn’t a lengthy first appearance – in the final panel of #180, Wolverine popped up to make dire threats to both Jade-Jaws and guest-monster the winsome Wendigo – but it’s still the first on-panel appearance of the decade’s mega-hot star. Wolvy’s first major appearance was in #181, of course, but in #182, he appeared on most of the first page, being extracted by his mysterious handlers before the story rolled along without him. Neither of these issues was ever distributed in the UK, but these gaps in your Wolverine history can now be filled! Our new copy of #180 is a shiny VF+, with excellent cover colour and gloss, tight corners, firm staples and only very light, almost imperceptible creasing in the upper right cover corner. The #182 is still nicer at VF/NM, sharp corners and deep unfaded cover colour. Most crucially, both Marvel Value Stamps (the cut-’em-out curse of 1970s Marvels) are firmly in place! Both cents copies (no pence variants on these)), #180 is VF+ £575 and #182 is VF/NM £150. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Iron Fist’s 1977 title, though critically acclaimed and well-received, failed to catch a mass audience, and was cancelled with its fifteenth issue. But in retrospect, its next-to-last issue, #14, has become hugely sought after as the debut of Sabretooth, one of the X-Men’s most popular enemies, and sometimes related to Wolverine in some sense – depending on what continuity was in force in a given week. Ironically, it’s only Sabretooth’s premier appearance by accident – he was intended to appear first in Ms. Marvel #24, but that series was cancelled with issue #23, so here he is, in all his feral glory! This is a CGC Blue Label (no restoration) copy, graded 9.6 (NM+ equivalent), but – full disclosure – there is a crack in the ‘shell’ of the CGC casing, at the lower rear left of the case. The case remains intact, with no exposure of the comic, and the comic itself is untouched, but nevertheless, in view of the case not being pristine, we have adjusted the asking price to £400. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: One of the forerunners of the ‘second wave’ of the Marvel Universe in 1968 was Captain Marvel, warrior of the mighty Kree Empire, which had featured in the Fantastic Four and elsewhere. Exiled on Earth and forced to live among humans, Mar-Vell found his loyalties strangely shifting. Originally created as a cynical exercise in copyright protection (a minor publisher had produced a short-lived ‘Captain Marvel’ series a few years before, and Marvel Comics didn’t want their ‘brand’ hijacked by another company!), Captain Marvel, as well as the Silver Surfer, expanded the Marvel Universe beyond the confines of Earth and put the Marvel heroes firmly on the cosmic stage. We have the good Captain’s premier appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 new in, in an attractive VG p copy, with very light wear at top and bottom of the squarebound spine, but tight, flat and clean with considerable eye appeal. On sale at £40. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In the early 70s, with Women’s Lib being a hot topic, Stan Lee brainstormed some titles aimed at women. Jungle girls had, in the 1950s, scored big with a female readership, so Marvel attempted to buy the rights to the Fiction House character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, but when that failed, Marvel simply created their own taste-alike version. Raised in Africa, statuesque redhead Shanna O’Hara had had a tragic life, beginning when her father accidentally shot her mother when the latter’s pet leopard went on the rampage. Should’ve gone to Specsavers, Pop. Educated back in the USA, Shanna became a veterinarian and eco-activist, but became increasingly disillusioned with the cruelty of western man, whereupon she returned to Africa to defend wildlife while wearing a few strips of leopard fur which barely covered her ya-yas. Despite her ludicrous origin, Shanna went on to become a major character, primarily through her association with Ka-Zar, and has evolved into a level-headed pragmatist whose intelligence and common sense belie her stripperific outfit. The entire five-issue run is now available in high grades, with gorgeous Steranko covers on the first two and the villainous debuts of Mandrill and Nekra, respectively, in #4 & #5. #1 VF+ £37 is shown; the rest may be found in our catalogue. SORRY, PICTURED ITEM NOW SOLD