*DC: Leading this week’s Midas Collection features, Batman #49 from 1948 is quite an issue. The cover portrays an Arabian Nights version of the Joker and proclaims him as ‘the real thief of Bagdad’; inside, Batman & Robin travel back in time to ancient Bagdad (as you do) to confront the Crier, who is a dead ringer for the Joker, but who cries instead of laughs. The middle story features the debut of not only the Mad Hatter, but also reporter Vicki Vale, Batman’s Lois Lane. The lead story is a prison thriller. Cover by Bob Kane, stories by Bill Finger, art by Bob Kane, Jim Mooney & Lew Sayre Schwartz. This is a pretty good copy with a rich colour cover without creases which is virtually unmarked. Its worst defect is a bit of spine roll (more apparent on the back cover). There is a very short nick (without loss) to the left of the top edge and a tiny chip out centre right. There is also a tiny fragment off the bottom right cover and a slight nick without loss centre spine, which is otherwise solid. Staples are secure at spine and centrefold, although the cover is slightly pulled in the staple areas. Pages are an excellent white to off-white. Cover image really pops. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #49 VG £1,600

*DC: We explore the quirkier side of Golden Age DC from the Midas Collection this week with this selection of humorous titles from the 40s and 50s. From the sitcom-like stories of Ozzie & Harriet, to the newspaper strip reprints featured in Fat & Slat and Mutt & Jeff, to the cartoon antics in Leading Comics (Peter Porkchops and chums), and Real Screen Comics (Fox & Crow and chums), this is certainly an unusual bunch of material that you don’t see coming up for sale too often in the UK. A good taster of what DC was producing for laughs in this bygone era.
PICTURED:
THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE & HARRIET #3 VG £75 America’s favourite radio family.  A nice solid copy from 1950.
FAT & SLAT’S JOKE BOOK NN FA/GD £23 A collection of the funniest jokes in America from 1944. Cover detached with long upper and lower spine splits.
LEADING COMICS #39 GD- £10 Peter Porkchops and chums from 1949 (I particularly liked Plato Platypus). White spine, some wear, upper spine split.
MUTT & JEFF #18 VG/FN £40 Newspaper strip reprints from 1945. Nice copy of long-running series.
REAL SCREEN COMICS #113 GD/VG £10 Fox & Crow and chums from 1957. Reasonable copy with some creasing.

*Marvel: Sentinel of Galactus, Norrin Radd, aka the Silver Surfer, became a hugely popular guest character following his early appearances in the Fantastic Four, and one of his most sought-after guest-shots – still prior to the premier issue of his ongoing series – is Tales to Astonish #93, in which the Surfer and the Incredible Hulk face off, courtesy of Stan Lee and Marie Severin. Cosmic power and epic action with a poignant ending – and a Sub-Mariner story, too! Even though it’s the Surfer’s twelfth appearance, it’s his first crossover with the wider Marvel Universe, outside of the Fantastic Four series. This is a pence-printed copy towards mid-grade, with bright colours and some gloss. Colour-breaking creases at the corners, particularly across bottom right, with a short softer crease from the right edge to the Surfer’s shoulder. Staples are tight and firm and the pages are off-white, although there is a small chunk out of the back cover and a tear on the letters page with no loss.
PICTURED: TALES TO ASTONISH #93 VG- p £70

*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection, we’re filling a few gaps in our Thor inventory this week, with five issues between #137 & #167. There’s the debut of Ulik the Troll (all together now – ‘no, you lick the troll!’) in #137, the Enchanters in #143, the debut of the Wrecker in the two-part #148-149, which also features the origins of Black Bolt and the Inhumans, and a Thor/Loki tussle in #167. All good stuff!
IN THIS UPDATE: THOR
#137 FN/VF £35 1st Ulik
#143 FN+ £22.75 1st Enchanters
#148 VF- p £80 (PICTURED) 1st Wrecker; Black Bolt origin. Pence stamped. Bright reflective copy with strong colour, good staples and pages. Just minor edge wear and corner blunting. 
#149 VF £50 (PICTURED) 2nd Wrecker; Black Bolt origin concludes. Great colour and gloss, good staples and pages. Extremely minor edge wear. 
#167 FN+ £16.25 SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: From our fabulous Arch Collection this week, three lower graded issues of the long-running Blackhawk title from Quality, published in 1954-55 before DC took over the reins. Great art on these cracking adventure stories, starring our magnificent seven aviators (as long as you can turn a blind eye to the horribly racially stereotyped and caricatured Chop Chop). Often the Blackhawk comic has a bevy of curvaceous heroines and slinky villainesses not always obvious from the covers.
PICTURED: BLACKHAWK ALL SOLD
#73 GD- £22
#90 GD £18
#95 GD/VG £27

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Some classic DC reprints from the UK and Australia this week of material from the 1950s, as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE:
BATMAN
#97 VG £35
#98 VG £35 (PICTURED)
BLACKHAWK #35 VG £12 (PICTURED)
TOMAHAWK
#37 GD £10 (PICTURED) Small tear in cover with no loss
#37 FA/GD £8 Corner off bottom right
#41 VG/FN £13.50

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category for the third and final part of our Robert A Heinlein re-listing. Heinlein was a Grand Master of science fiction, and alongside Asimov and Clarke, considered to be one of the ‘Big Three’ of the genre. His works were innovative in terms of the science, the perspective on social mores and political themes, and in them he speculated how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion and sex. Seven books this week, including one with Heinlein as editor: Tomorrow, The Stars, featuring stories by Vonnegut, Leiber, Russell, Del Rey, Asimov and many others. A personal favourite is Podkayne of Mars, with its original ending. As always, more information, including condition notes, can be found in our catalogue.

PICTURED: ALL BY ROBERT A HEINLEIN
PODKAYNE OF MARS NEL 1969 1st UK PB VG £4
REVOLT IN 2100 NEL 1972 UK PB GD £3
SPACE CADET NEL 1973 2nd UK PB GD £3
THE STAR BEAST NEL 1972 UK PB GD £3
TIME FOR THE STARS Pan 1973 UK PB GD £3
WALDO + MAGIC INC Pan 1975 UK PB GD £4
(Ed) TOMORROW, THE STARS Berkley 1971 7th US PB GD £5

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: Just one entry here this week, but a dead historic one. In 1964, Doctor Who writer and Script Editor David Whitaker penned the very first Doctor Who novel: Doctor Who (In An Exciting Adventure With The Daleks), based on Terry Nation’s script for the first Dalek story. The following year, Armada brought out the first paperback version. This copy is only a reading copy, with several loose pages, lots of cover creases and worn spine with some tears and small loss. We would not sell many books in this sort of condition, but this one is rather special. Cover art and interior illustrations by Peter Archer. (Personal sidebar: David Whitaker was the uncle of our dear late friend Steve Whitaker. Will wrote this article back in 2009 following Steve’s death: Steve Whitaker – The Whitko Collection. When we were going through Steve’s collection, we found several early Doctor Who Annuals signed by David Whitaker and dedicated to Steve and his siblings. They were, of course, duly returned to Steve’s family).
PICTURED: DOCTOR WHO (IN AN EXCITING ADVENTURE WITH THE DALEKS) by DAVID WHITAKER Armada 1965 1st UK PB FA £15 SOLD

*DC: We lead off the Midas Collection releases this week with a classic issue of Superman. Surprisingly, #74 was only the second cover appearance of Lex Luthor in the Superman title. Inside, Luthor uses the secrets of Krypton to menace Superman and the world, and there are two other imaginative stories, with art by classic Superman regulars Wayne Boring and Al Plastino.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #74 VG- £160 Nice clean cover with some corner blunting, minimal edge wear and slight rust to upper staple. Centrefold loose. Inside cover edges are cream to tan. Supple pages are off-white to cream. 

*DC: Finally from the Midas Collection this week, two early issues of My Greatest Adventure in very decent shape. This off-beat title offered a different flavour to DC’s more famous science-fiction titles with its blend of horror, sci-fi, monsters and adventure. Some great art awaits you within these pages.
PICTURED: MY GREATEST ADVENTURE
#17 VG+ £52 Wash cover by Reuben Moreira. Story art by Jack Kirby, Nick Cardy & Moreira. Solid copy with blunted corners and minor creasing at bottom spine. Some indistinct creasing across bottom right cover. Good colour, staples and page quality. SOLD
#21 FN+ £87 Cover by Bob Brown. Story art by Jack Kirby, Bill Ely & Jim Mooney. Great reflective cover colour, tight and flat with only minimal edge wear. Good staples, white to off-white pages.

*Marvel: We’re delighted to present a cornerstone of the Marvel Universe this week: Amazing Spider-Man #1 from 1963. This first issue of just about the most famous and in-demand run in comics’ history features the origin of Spidey re-told, and the first appearances of J. Jonah Jameson and the Chameleon, as well as the first ever Fantastic Four crossover.

It’s a lower graded UK pence printed variant, with supple creamy pages. The spine is worn, with the bottom staple off, and also off at centrefold. The top staple is weak at spine but still attached, and is firm at centrefold. Tiny pieces out at top and bottom spine. Corners blunted with some chipping along the right edge (not severe). There are two short tears at the right edge with no loss; one of 1.5 cm and one of 2 cm (the latter extends to a lessening degree to the first three pages). There are no marks or stains on the cover, other than a fair few creases. Most of these are to the right side of the cover; there is a long reading crease at spine and a long vertical crease down the comic (off centre) which is not too apparent. Most of these creases break colour. Inside covers are slightly tanned at edges, but there is no sign of brittleness. The comic is not fresh and is a little limp, but it is a reasonable and relatively affordable copy of this icon. Many images are shown here. High resolution images are available on request.   

PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 FA/GD p £3,950

*Marvel: Marvel’s First Family came up against their nemeses the Frightful Four in this gripping trilogy of betrayal, love, action and emotion from the Bute Collection this week. A fitting ending to the era of the FF before Reed & Sue’s wedding and the cosmic adventures that would follow, this storyline spotlighted the relationships at the heart of the team.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#41 VG+ £29 Printed without a lower staple, this is a nice flat copy with unmarked cover and great colour. Near white pages; just slight corner blunting and a touch of rust at the firm upper staple. 
#42 VF- £75 A Marvel Pop Art Production. Lovely clean copy with vivid colour unmarked cover. Tight and flat with firm staples. Very minor edge wear and a tiny dink at the top of the spine. White to off-white pages.
#43 VF £90 A Marvel Pop Art Production. Fabulous copy with stunning colour and gloss. Tight and flat with firm staples and near white pages. Just very minor wear along top edge and slight stress at spine with no colour breaks.

*Horror 1940-1959:  Although the vast majority of Crestwood/Prize’s Black Magic was published in the 1950s, the series lasted until 1962. We’ve decided to feature all issues of Black Magic in this category for consistency, even though some of them are later than 1959. These four issues are from the early 1960s. The stories inside are very competently executed horror/mystery tales typical of the post code era.
IN THIS UPDATE: BLACK MAGIC ALL SOLD
V7#6 GD/VG p £12.25
V8#1 VG £18 (PICTURED)
V8#2 VG £15 Ditko art
V8#5 GD p £7

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: This week’s release of Love Story Picture Library, the longest running romance picture library from Fleetway, comprises 10 consecutive issues from 1967, between #632 to #641. 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, with just a little creasing or puckering in some cases.
IN THIS UPDATE: LOVE STORY PICTURE LIBRARY ALL SOLD
#632 FN/VF £6
#633 VF £7
#634 VF £7
#635 VF £7
#636 VF £7
#637 VF £7
#638 FN/VF £6
#639 FN £5
#640 FN £5
#641 FN/VF £6

*Children’s Books: We’re delighted to announce the debut in our listings for Malcolm Saville, a favourite author for many. Saville wrote from 1943 until his death in 1982, primarily about different groups of adventuring children. His work emphasises location, particularly in Shropshire and Sussex, with which he was familiar; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns. We have four excellent hardcovers in this update, all with good quality original dust jackets in removable archival film, from three of his different series.
PICTURED: ALL BY MALCOLM SAVILLE
THE BUCKINGHAMS AT RAVENSWYKE Collins 1971 1st UK (revised) edition HC FN £10
The 2nd Buckinghams story
THE MASTER OF MARYKNOLL Collins 1971 1st UK (revised) edition HC FN £10
The 1st Buckinghams story
SAUCERS OVER THE MOOR Children’s Book Club Undated; late 50s/early 60s UK HC VG £15
A Lone Pine adventure
YOUNG JOHNNIE BIMBO Children’s Book Club Undated; late 50s/early 60s UK HC VG £6
A Michael & Mary book

*DC: Leading off the Midas Collection this week, a war-time issue of Superman, #18 from 1942, with an iconic Fred Ray cover, depicting the Man of Steel riding a bomb through the skies, surrounded by (presumably) bombers while the caption advises ‘War Savings and Bonds do the job on the Japanazis!’ Four Superman stories within, all written by Jerry Siegel, with art by  John Sikela, Leo Nowak & Ed Dobrotka (all signed as by Joe Shuster). The very timely (no pun intended) lead story has Clark Kent, concerned that the people of Metropolis seem oblivious to the Nazi threat in the world, approaching editor White about writing a series of stories that will wake the citizens up to the realization that they are in danger as well. There’s also a Lex Luthor story and a couple of tales of intrigue and murder. This is a nice mid-grade copy, with a clean mostly white background cover, but for a faint dust shadow along the right edge and a small pencil ‘x’ in the sky above Superman’s head. Wear is minimal with no creases. The staples are secure at spine with a little wear around the upper and a detached centrefold. Page quality is a supple off-white. A well-preserved example. High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #18 VG+ £1,000 SOLD

*DC: Lastly from the Midas Collection this week, issue #16 of Wonder Woman features a three part story in which Wonder Woman travels to the planet Pluto, here portrayed as the kingdom of the mythological King Pluto, who attempts to use her and the Holiday Girls to light his world before mounting an assault on Earth. Written by Joye Hummel (under the house name of Charles Moulton) and drawn by Harry (HG) Peter.
PICTURED: WONDER WOMAN #16 CGG (PGX) 4.0 (VG) £295 This copy is slabbed and certified by CGG (which was the original name used by PGX before CGC presumably said ‘Oi!’) Case perfect, off-white pages. There is a central vertical crease down the top half of the comic which does not break colour, but I must say that it presents very well in its slab, with strong imagery. The image suffers a little from glare on the plastic case.

*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection, we’re filling a few gaps in our Amazing Spider-Man inventory this week, with half a dozen issues spread from the 1960s into the 1980s. There’s Spidey up against Kraven and the Vulture in #49, a prison story in #65, Iceman in #92, Jigsaw in #188, the Fly in #193 and the dramatic last page cameo of Venom in Todd McFarlane’s #299.
IN THIS UPDATE: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#49 VG- p £35
#65 VG p £30
#92 FN/VF £43 (PICTURED)
#188 VF £18.75
#193 FN/VF £10
#299 VF £55 (PICTURED) 1st cameo Venom. Lovely clean, square and flat copy with just one stress mark at masthead spine. SOLD

*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, the #1 and only Dr Fu Manchu, which reprints the Avon 1951 one-shot, the Mask Of Dr. Fu Manchu with art by the wonderful Wally Wood, assisted by Joe Orlando and Sid Check; the new cover is by Carl Burgos. Back up is a Flash Harper, news photographer story by A C Hollingsworth. This is a nice clean copy with minimal edge wear and some small stress marks at the spine which don’t break colour.
PICTURED: DR FU MANCHU #1 FN £45 SOLD

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: An update with a mixture of Gold Key and Archie/Red Circle horror/mystery tales.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
GOLD KEY
BORIS KARLOFF THRILLER #2 VG p £8.75 (PICTURED)
GRIMM’S GHOST STORIES #7 VF £9
RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT #49 FN+ p £5.25
ARCHIE/RED CIRCLE
CHILLING ADVENTURES IN SORCERY
#3 FN £9 (PICTURED)
#4 VG £6
MADHOUSE #97 GD £2

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: This digest-sized comics series, most famous under its later title of Thriller Picture Library, ran for 450 issues until 1963, and while it featured a plethora of characters during its lengthy run, the trend for the early years was for historical swashbucklers based on fictional (but serendipitously copyright-free) characters, but also featuring crime, war, western and science-fiction adventures and sometimes (almost) real people! The artists were all accomplished Fleetway professionals, and readers thrived on these beautifully-illustrated pocket adventures. Nine issues between #99 and #118 featured this week, mostly towards mid-grade.
IN THIS UPDATE: THRILLER COMICS/PICTURE LIBRARY
#99 GD/VG £12.50 Claude Duval
#100 GD/VG £12.50 Buffalo Bill and the Battle of Sun Valley
#104 GD/VG £10 Musketeers At Bay
#105 GD £8 Captain Kidd of the Spanish Main
#111 GD £8 Strongbow the Mohawk
#115 GD £8 Guns at Broken Bow
#116 GD £8 The Cavalier and the Crown
#117 GD £8 (PICTURED) Dick Turpin and the Phantom of the Highway.
#118 GD/VG £10 Robin Hood against Norman Foes

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze:  From the Golden Age of crime fiction, we present four mysteries by one of the ‘Queens Of Crime’ (and the only non-British one), Ngaio Marsh, the New Zealand Dame who wrote of Inspector Roderick Alleyn, the gentleman detective, in a series of novels from 1934 to 1982. She was passionate about the theatre and art (she was also a Shakespearian producer) and these themes often appear in her work. Despite her nationality, the vast majority of her books are set in England and have a distinctive British air about them. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY NGAIO MARSH ALL SOLD
ARTISTS IN CRIME Fontana 1967 2nd UK PB thus GD £4
OVERTURE TO DEATH Fontana 1967 2nd UK PB thus VG £5
SWING, BROTHER, SWING Fontana Circa 1967 Probably 2nd UK PB thus GD £4
VINTAGE MURDER Fontana 1964 2nd UK PB thus GD £4

Our good friend Nick Neocleous has written a new book about Alan Class and his wonderful publications, which are such a nostalgia fest for us UK collectors who encountered them in newsagents and on newsstands as we were growing up. Profusely illustrated with many of the most famous covers on Alan’s publications, there are also numerous features and an extensive in-depth and brand new interview with Alan Class, touching on both his personal history and how his comics came about. Produced with the full co-operation of Alan Class, this A4 size book is in full colour, 124 pages, softcover. 

The regular edition sells for £19.99. There’s also a limited edition of 250 signed and numbered copies with a gold sticker on the front and an embossed feature inside. They will be numbered and signed by both Alan and Nick and will retail at £30.

The book should be available by mid-December. It can be pre-ordered up to 30th November on the project’s Kickstarter page at this link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funkydates/secrets-of-the-unknown-alan-class?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=alan%20class&total_hits=1

We’ve seen an advance copy of many of the pages and can say that Nick’s done a tremendous job and we thoroughly endorse this project and are very happy to give a shout out to it here. It’s going to be a tremendous entertainment and resource to Alan Class collectors everywhere.

*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, a wartime issue of Adventure Comics, #96, with a Jack Kirby and Joe Simon Sandman cover. Inside are stories of Sandman, the Shining Knight, Starman and others. Not a bad copy, with a solid spine, good colour, tight, firm staples and supple off-white to cream pages. Wear is minimal; there is a tiny nick just inside the top of the spine, a 1 cm sliver out of the right edge towards the bottom, a previous owners’s name in what looks like wax crayon above the logo and white label residue over the Jap in the foreground (see scan). There is a small back cover tear with no loss.
PICTURED: ADVENTURE COMICS #96 GD/VG £150 

*Marvel: Following his debut in Fantastic Four #48, Norrin Radd, Herald of Galactus, gained popularity as a recurring guest star, and his status was confirmed when Marvel launched the Silver Surfer’s own series in the double-sized format in 1968. This premier issue featured, for the first time, John Buscema’s illustrations on the Surfer, a body of work generally acknowledged to be among his finest, and presented also for the first time a 38-page account of the Surfer’s origins, plus (in the back) a 13-page tale of the Watcher, detailing the reasons behind the Watcher’s oath of non-interference. The first run of the Surfer’s solo series has achieved cult status, with the first seven double-sized issues in particular being keenly sought out. This is a decent mid-grade copy, pence stamped, with rich colour and some gloss. The squarebound spine is intact, apart from an unobtrusive 3 cm split at the base. There is some wear to the right edge, slightly breaking colour, with a narrow 7 cm colour breaking crease across the top right corner down through the logo right border. Inside, the first wrap is not attached at the staple (Stapling on these is always a little hit and miss), but it is a clean flaw. Beautiful supple off-white page quality.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER #1 VG/FN p £350