*DC: Another Golden Age Superman gem from the Midas Collection, this time #43. Beneath a typical amusing cover from Wayne Boring, there are three long stories, including a Lois Lane feature and another threat from Luthor. Stories by Jerry Siegel, Al Schwartz and Don C Cameron. Art by Joe Shuster and John Sikela. A reasonable copy that holds together well, despite the front cover being off at top staple. Narrow dust shadow at right edge and little bits of edge and handling wear with a couple of vertical creases that don’t break colour. A crease across bottom right corner does not break colour, but goes through the pages, which are a decent off-white. 
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #43 GD/VG £160 

*Marvel: All of the Marvel Silver/Bronze key issues have been through our hands multiple times over the years, except one that has always eluded us. We’ve had the British reprint a couple of times, the American reprint in Strange Tales Annual #1 and the 2nd appearance on a number of occasions, but here at last via the Bute Collection is the honest-to-goodness 1st appearance of Groot, the Monster From Planet X. Before Spider-Man, before the Fantastic Four, before Dr Droom even there was Groot. Little did Stan Lee imagine back in 1960, as he and Jack created the latest in a long line of Big Panty Monsters, that this particular one would go on to become a titan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Groot, by the way, says rather more in his cover speech balloon than I believe he has uttered in his MCU career. Main event of course by Kirby. Back-up stories by Kirby, Ditko and Heck. This is a lower graded copy, with a very reasonable cover image with good colours. A corner is torn off top right (see scan) with a short tear leading from it. There are a couple of long cover creases across the corners breaking colour, with smaller creases of spine and edge wear also breaking colour. There are two longer vertical creases, one just breaking colour and the other not. The staples are attached and okay, the pages are a nice supple white to off-white. High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: TALES TO ASTONISH #13 GD- £1,125

*Marvel: Earth X was Alex Ross’s vision of an alternative dystopian future for the Marvel Universe, where every being on Earth had super-powers, realised as a 14 issue series (#0-13 plus an epilogue called X) from 1999, written by Ross and Jim Krueger, with art by John Paul Leon. Covers and character designs by Ross, with art by him in sketchbook sections. A dark and uncompromising vision. We present all 14 issues in a complete set, all in fabulous condition. 
IN THIS UPDATE: EARTH X COMPLETE 14 ISSUE SERIES Av NM- £60; #0 pictured. 

*EC: For my money, the Gemstone EC reprints of the early 1990s represent the best available reprint editions of the classic EC line. These stories have been reprinted countless times in various formats and paper qualities, but I think these versions are the best for ease of reading, colour reproduction and authentic paper quality, giving the closest experience to reading the originals, at, of course, a fraction of the cost. Gemstone got it right, reprinting everything in the correct format and running order. Several additions to our stock from various series this update:
IN THIS UPDATE:
EXTRA!
#1 VF £3
#3 VF £2.50
#4 FN £2
#5 NM £3
SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES #8 VF £3
TALES FROM THE CRYPT #5 VF £5 (PICTURED)
TWO-FISTED TALES #3 VF £3
WEIRD SCIENCE #5 VF £3
WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY #4 NM £4

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: 25 newly-listed issues of War Picture Library between #1202 and #1228, averaging Fine/Very Fine condition, priced at £2 to £2.50. These are from a newsagent’s unsold inventory, never read or circulated, and while some have a tinge of staple rust or minor edge and corner shelf wear from long-term storage, they are all bright copies with firm, undamaged spines and no exterior markings. Superior examples of the vintage. See our catalogue for details. 

*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. Miss Marple, the elderly spinster, is surely her most famous character creation after Poirot. Four Fontana volumes starring the detective from St Mary Mead this week.
PICTURED: ALL BY AGATHA CHRISTIE
AT BERTRAM’S HOTEL Fontana 24th UK PB 1984 GD £3
4:50 FROM PADDINGTON Fontana 1972 12th UK PB GD £3
THE MIRROR CRACKED Fontana 1981 6th UK PB GD £3
MISS MARPLE’S FINAL CASES Fontana 1990 17th UK PB VG £4 Short stories

*DC: Another pair of Golden Age Penguin stories in Batman #48 & #51 (1948/49) from the Midas Collection. 
PICTURED: BATMAN BOTH SOLD
#48 FA £150 Famous ‘1,000 Secrets of the Batcave’ cover and story. In the lead story, the Penguin escapes from prison to embark on a new series of crimes not relating to birds, not having had much luck with the bird-themed ones. In the cover story, an escaped convict stumbles across the entrance to the Batcave and uses the Dynamic Duo’s weapons and trophies against them. Plus Batman and Robin pursue a gang of thieves who use futuristic tech in their robberies. Cover by Win Mortimer. Stories by Bill Finger and Al Schwartz. Art by Jim Mooney. Spine taped full length with clear tape. Three extra staples. Chips out top and bottom right corners and bottom edge. 5 cm tear down from top across ‘B’ in logo. Small water stain back cover. Worn right edge with interior tape. Some colour breaking creases. Sharp cut/score across opening pages without loss. 
#51 VG+ £275 The lead Penguin story features Pee-Wee the Talking Penguin (it really takes all sorts, folks!) whom the Penguin recruits for show business purposes. Then a criminal hires a troupe of older performers to perform as a cover for his crimes. In the cover story, a handyman at a wax exhibit at a local carnival, who dreams of being a crime-fighter who can help Batman and Robin fight crime, unexpectedly gets a chance to make his dream come true. Cover by Bob Kane. Story authors unknown. Art by Bob Kane & Lew Sayre Schwartz. This is a fairly nice copy, with great colour and reflectivity. Small tear at base of spine sealed by tape on the inside. Other wear very minor. Faint arrival date (?) stamped on logo. A further small printed set of numbers with a line through below logo. Nice firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. 

*DC: From Beyond The Unknown was a 25 issue series from the 1970s, reprinting many of DC’s earlier science fiction stories from titles such as Strange Adventures and Mystery In Space. As such, there are no key issues, so it seems strange that someone would have gone to the trouble of slabbing a copy of issue #16, although it is a nice high grade. Still, an interesting curiosity for slabbed comic collectors, or, if you fancy dipping a toe in the water, a good entry level example. 
PICTURED: FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN #16 CGC 9.0 VF/NM £30 Unrestored Universal Blue Label, case perfect, white to off-white pages. CGC Ref: 0700324002 

*Marvel: In the final pre-hero months of Tales Of Suspense before the debut of Iron Man, the Big Panty Monsters were not as prominent on the issue covers as they had been previously, but were still pretty heavily featured inside, and the comic remained a Kirby/Ditko fest.
IN THIS UPDATE: TALES OF SUSPENSE
#30 PR/FA p £12.75 SOLD Pence printed. Kirby, Ditko, Heck. Front cover cleanly detached. 
#33 FA/GD £27 SOLD Kirby, Ditko, Heck. (I love Kirby’s ‘Tax Collector From Space’). Chipping to right edge, scuff mark top left cover.  
#34 GD/VG £65 (PICTURED) Kirby, Ditko, Heck. Nice solid copy with edge and corner wear, some crinkling effect to right edge front cover centre and left edge back cover centre. 
#35 GD £35 Pence printed. Kirby, Ditko, Heck, Reinman. Okay copy with lots of handling wear and non-traumatic creasing. 

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Also from the Bute Collection this week, two early issues of Quality’s Plastic Man, #7 from 1947 and #10 from 1948. 
PICTURED: PLASTIC MAN 
#7 GD- £45 Cover and most art by Jack Cole. A lower grade copy with rusty staples, firm throughout but the cover is detached. Edge wear, particularly to right edge. Reasonable page quality with a little bit of staining. Upper and lower spine splits.
#10 GD/VG £75 Cover and all art by Jack Cole. Towards mid-grade with some vertical cover creasing breaking colour and a small tear without loss at right edge. Firm staples and solid spine with just tiny split at bottom. Nice near-white pages with just a little foxing. 

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Creatures On The Loose (affectionately known here as Creatures On The Loo) was one of Marvel’s 1970s reprint series of the Big Panty Monster era. However, the title took a few detours in its run. One such featured Gullivar Jones, Warrior Of Mars, based on the character created by Edwin Lester Arnold, a British writer, in 1905, seven years before the publication of the first John Carter novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Although Gullivar was not a physically heroic adventurer in the novel, he was ERB-ised in the six issue series in issues #16-21. Art by Gil Kane and Gray Morrow, with an outstanding cover by Steranko on #21. All six issues available as a set here.
IN THIS UPDATE: COMPLETE SET OF GULLIVAR JONES, WARRIOR OF MARS IN CREATURES ON THE LOOSE #16-21 Av VG £25 (#21 PICTURED) SOLD

*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 Eric Frank Russell, a British science fiction/horror writer often assumed to be American since his novels and stories were usually first published in the US, often in the pulps. Russell wrote in an American style, partially influenced by the American hard-boiled detective genre, and one of his recurring themes was of the individual up against authority and bureaucracy. He was often regarded as a sometimes humorous writer, but with a satirical edge. We have four of his books here this week, ranging from the horror-edged anthology Dark Tides, a chunky Best Of anthology, his second novel Dreadful Sanctuary, a conspiracy theory thriller, to the satirical Next Of Kin. 
PICTURED: ALL BY ERIC FRANK RUSSELL ALL SOLD
DARK TIDES Panther 1963 1st UK PB VG/FN £15
THE BEST OF Del Rey 1978 1st US PB VG £12
DREADFUL SANCTUARY Four Square 1967 1st UK PB GD £5
NEXT OF KIN Mandarin 1989 UK PB VG £4

A lot of Comic Art Convention Booklets/Programmes. 2 US from the 1970s and 4 UK from the 1990s. A4 size and chock full of art original to them from the guest attendees and other features and details. All in decent shape. 
US CAC 1977 (PICTURED) & 1979
UK CAC 1991, 1995, 1997 (PICTURED) & 1998
All 6 for £25 SOLD
Post Free to GB addresses

*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, a slabbed Golden Age Superman from 1945, graded at 2.5 (GD+) by CBCS. Unrestored, case perfect, white to off-white pages. CBCS Ref: 162A893C6082. Three Superman stories and a Lois Lane short. Another in the series of amusing covers by Jack Burnley. Stories by Don C Cameron, Bill Finger and Whitney Ellsworth. Art by Ira Yarborough and Sam Citron. 3rd appearance of Mr Mxyztplk as Superman attempts to rescue Lois from the imp’s home world. Plus Superman is involved in a story of a country doctor and a murder mystery, while Lois goes on the hunt for a lost piggy bank. 
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #33 CBCS 2.5 GD+ £225

*Marvel: A quirky offering from the Bute Collection this week! This Thor Golden Record Reprint (28-pages inc covers, full-colour, standard comic format) was produced in 1966 and reprints the first Thor story from Journey Into Mystery #83. Rather than reprint the filler stories from that issue, the publishers chose the Thor story from #97, introducing the Lava Man. Although the reprint, at first glance, looks like the original, there are differences. There is no cover price on the reprint, and the back cover promotes the Golden Record LP series of which this is a part. (The inside covers reprint the first page of the first story and the last page of the back story in black and white). Otherwise, it’s a very faithful rendering, and probably the closest thing to owning the real McCoy, with colouring and page quality virtually identical to the first printing, so it’ll look really impressive in your collection. Originally issued as a record and comic set, this is just the comic. This is a bright and colourful copy, with great staples and supple near white pages. Just a couple of wear issues: minor spine wear and a couple of thin creases breaking colour across the bottom right corner. If this were the real thing in this condition, it would be likely priced in the region of £8,000+.
PICTURED: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83 GOLDEN RECORD REPRINT FN- £300 

*Marvel: Following Kirby’s tabloid-sized Special, Marvel green-lit an ongoing series exploring the milieu of 2001: A Space Odyssey, giving artist/writer Kirby a free hand – perhaps too free a hand, as while time-transcending spectacle there was in abundance, the lack of a central cast left the readership feeling ‘unanchored’ to the series. This was remedied to an extent with issue #8, and Kirby’s introduction of X-51 (later known as Mister Machine and his final (so far) identity of Machine Man), a humanoid robot in search of his soul, who became the protagonist for the rest of the series, spinning off into his own title and becoming a prominent part of the main Marvel Universe. This copy of 2001 #8 is a high grade pence-printed example, with just the faintest of marks at spine and top right corner, not breaking colour. 
PICTURED: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY #8 VF/NM p £55

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Marvel/Atlas Venus is a tough cookie to categorise. Part romance, part funny girl, part super-hero, part science fiction, part horror – and often a combination of these at the same time. Many of these are evident in the third issue as presented here from the Bute Collection. Beneath a typical funny girl cover by Ken Bald, who was also responsible for much of the interior art, two long Venus stories, one short feature and one Hedy Devine story await, all full of the elements that comprise this series (except the horror stories came later). There are many appearances by Venus’s fellow gods from the Roman pantheon. The main drawback with this otherwise attractive copy is that the covers are neatly detached and separated. The cover image is unspoilt (slight chipping along the right edge) and the colours are good. Staples are firm throughout the body of the comic and the pages are a clean and supple off-white. Issues from this series don’t come up for sale too often. 
PICTURED: VENUS #3 FA £75

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Pocket Chiller library is a notorious series published by Top Sellers between 1971 & 1977, running to 137 issues. With content definitely not aimed at children, the series featured art by both Spanish and British creators (including Ian Gibson and Dave Gibbons). All issues after #85 were reprints. This series has always been elusive and difficult to collect, and over the years demand seems to have grown and pushed up prices. We certainly don’t see them very often, so it’s a pleasure to be able to present a few of them this week.
PICTURED: POCKET CHILLER LIBRARY ALL SOLD
#9 VG/FN £20
#26 FN £20
#27 VG/FN £17.50
#29 FN/VF £22.50

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason, used the nom de plume of A A Fair to chronicle the cases of the mismatched pair of detectives Donald Lam and Bertha Cool. In this update we have updates of both.
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
A A FAIR: ALL GRASS ISN’T GREEN Corgi 1973 1st UK PB thus GD £4
A A FAIR: CUT THIN TO WIN Corgi 1967 1st UK PB GD/VG £5
ERLE STANLEY GARDNER: THE CASE OF THE FUGITIVE NURSE Pocket 1957 1st US PB thus GD £7 

*DC: From the Midas collection this week, two early Batman issues from 1943/44. The Joker is on the loose!
PICTURED: BATMAN
#19 VG- £450 A classic issue and a joy for Dick Sprang fans, as he illustrates not just the cover, but all four stories as well. The inventive cover scene has Robin mixing up a batch of chemicals, in the fumes from which we see the story titles displayed. Batman Makes A Deadline is a tough thriller focusing on a crime reporter; Atlantis Goes To War involves a Nazi submarine base hidden in lost Atlantis (!); The Case Of The Timid Lion has someone using the Joker’s calling card to perpetrate jokes and robberies, which doesn’t amuse the Joker, nor Batman & Robin; and in Collector of Millionaires, Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and replaced by a lookalike in a dastardly plot. Four very different but equally absorbing stories. A solid copy with a moderate spine roll. Nice cover scene with some small tears bottom edge, sealed on the inside. There are a couple of long diagonal creases from top centre across to upper right edge; these are quite hard, but barely break colour. Vertical reading creases at spine break colour. Staples are okay, a little rusty but firm. Good supple page quality, white to off-white. 
#24 FA £100 SOLD An almost all Dick Sprang issue, on all three Batman stories, with Jerry Robinson on an Alfred short. Stories by Joe Samachson & Don C Cameron. Batman and Robin are sent back to ancient Rome (as you are). Bruce Wayne pretends to juggle the books to lure out a clever gang. Alfred attends a police line-up. Batman & Robin and encounter Tweedledum and Tweedledee. This is a low grade copy with a ragged spine, very worn with many tears and holes, narrowly holding on to the rest of the comic by the lower staple at the rear cover only. Chips are out at all four corners. The cover image is pretty good though, apart from small, faint graffiti above Robin’s head. Staples, apart from being virtually detached at spine, hold the comic together firmly at centrefold. Back cover has a couple of chips out, and the corner (margin only) is torn off one of the internal pages. Not great, but complete and readable. 

*DC: Along with Mystery In Space, Strange Adventures was DC’s leading science fiction title from the 1950s/60s. Six issues here from 1961, when comics were still 10 cents, featuring top notch work from the best writers and artists in the business. This period continued with one of three much-loved recurring features in each issue: Star Hawkins, Space Museum and Atomic Knights. 
IN THIS UPDATE: STRANGE ADVENTURES ALL SOLD
#124 GD- p £11 1st Faceless Creature. Space Museum.
#127 GD+ p £10.25 Space Museum
#128 GD- p £7.25 Star Hawkins
#130 GD+ £11.50 (PICTURED). Giant Frog cover. Space Museum
#131 GD+ p £10.25 Star Hawkins
#132 VG- p £15.25 Atomic Knights

*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. All high grade; even the few that fall below VF (and most are above) are really good-looking copies – no duds here, and nearly all cents copies. From his earliest super-villain foe in Amazing #80 (the Chameleon, who debuted in Amazing #1) to his then latest (the Kangaroo) in this Mighty Marvel First Amazing #81.  
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BOTH SOLD
#80 FN/VF £70 Chameleon. Lovely bright copy with great colours and gloss. Just very minor handling and edge wear. Great staples, near-white pages. Unverified John Romita signature at bottom splash page margin. 
#81 VF £80 1st Kangaroo. Beautiful copy with excellent colours and gloss. Just a trace of wear at edges. Great staples, white pages. Unverified John Romita signature at bottom splash page margin.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection, a rather special issue of Nedor’s Startling Comics, #41 from 1946, graced with a cover by Alex Schomburg, featuring super-hero Pyroman carrying an atomic bomb, bursting through a backdrop of atomic newspaper headlines. Inside, many features including Pyroman, the Fighting Yank, Trouble-Shooter and the debut of ‘Front Page’ Peggy, girl reporter. A lower-graded copy, with a nice, clean cover image. Slight spine roll, lower spine split (3.5 cm), small tears central (on spine only), nicks and nibbles along top and right edges, with tiny chip out upper right. Staples are good, creamy-coloured pages. 
PICTURED: STARTLING COMICS #41 GD £70 SOLD

*Tarzan/E R Burroughs: Like all the categories in our ‘Characters’ section, Tarzan/ERB features both American and British versions. From the Bute Collection, we turn to America for the first John Carter of Mars comics ever published. In 1952/53, in their Four Color series, Dell produced three John Carter comics, telling the story written 40 years earlier by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first two issues had line-drawn covers by Jesse Marsh, the interior artist; the third had a glorious painted cover. All available here as a complete set.
PICTURED: JOHN CARTER OF MARS Complete Set of 3 £130 SOLD
FC#375 VG
FC#437 VG/FN
FC#488 VG-

 

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Keith Roberts is one of my absolute favourite writers, and I’m delighted to at last list a good and varied selection of his works. Writer, artist and editor, Roberts excelled at all three. He was known as a ‘difficult’ author, with a history of disputes with publishers, editors and colleagues. However, a lot of his works are set in the south of England, many in locations I know (including one short story set in a London riverside pub I have frequented), and he comes across to me as a chap I could share a chat and a couple of pints with. As evidenced by the six examples here, his works are varied, with multiple themes and formats, often subtle and always clever. The Chalk Giants is a tale of a future setting where Man is reverting to his prehistoric past, a collection of linked short stories. The Furies is his first novel, featuring an invasion of alien giant wasps, Wyndham/Wells-esque, set across Salisbury Plain and the Mendips. The Grain Kings is a set of science fiction short stories, displaying his wide range of storytelling. Kaeti On Tour is another short story collection, the second featuring Roberts’s muse in the shape of a young girl who portrays different lead characters in a range of settings, chatting with the author in-between. Kiteworld is another set of linked stories in a parallel universe. The Lordly Ones is one of his later short story collections. It’s been 26 years since his death from MS, but I’m pleased to note that interest in his work remains high. Highly recommended. 
PICTURED: ALL BY KEITH ROBERTS ALL SOLD
THE CHALK GIANTS Panther 1975 1st UK PB VG £10
THE FURIES Pan 1969 1st UK PB GD £8
THE GRAIN KINGS Panther 1977 1st UK PB VG £8
KAETI ON TOUR Sirius 1992 1st UK HC NM £11 (with NM DJ in removable archival film)
KITEWORLD Penguin 1986 1st UK PB VG/FN £10
THE LORDLY ONES Gollancz 1986 1st UK HC NM £30 (with NM DJ in removable archival film)