*Clearance Corner: As you may realise, the purpose of our Clearance Corner lots is to clear space in our shop by discontinuing titles we’re no longer carrying to make way for new and incoming stuff. As such, they will only be offered for a short time. This Clearance Corner lot, listed on 19th April 2019, has not been snapped up and is nearing the end of its time with us. If not purchased by the weekend, we will have to dispose of it. Here are the details from our original listing:
‘This week, we offer two separate complete mini-series of the famous Lee Falk creation: 2009’s The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks commenced with issue #0 and ran until issue #12, and Dynamite’s The Last Phantom ran 12 issues from 2011. Both complete series are in this package, averaging Near Mint condition, and as bonuses, you get an additional #1 (variant cover) of Last Phantom, plus Annuals#1 & #2 (2007 and 2008) of the Phantom’s ongoing Moonstone series. All this can be yours for a mere £20. UK postage (if required) will be a further £4.’

*DC: After Superman’s first Annual in 1960, the Gotham Guardian followed suit in 1961, the first of many – oh, so many – reprint compilations, collections and compendia of the Dynamic Duo’s previous adventures. This 86-page tome (cover to cover) set the precedent for the 80-Page Giant series which rotated between various DC titles in the 60s, and this first collection hit on most of the key notes of the Batman mythos, bringing newer readers up to speed on the legend. This is a pence copy, and one of the nicer ones we’ve seen, as usually this issue, when available at all, is mid to low grade. This is a FN+, with only a small horizontal ripple – possibly exposure to moisture at some point, possibly glue ‘pucker’ – preventing a higher grade. On sale at £100.

*Marvel: By his 101st issue, Spider-Man had become temporarily encumbered with six arms, leaving him a true eight-limbed arachnoid hero; but more importantly, he met a foe who was destined to become one of the Marvel Universe’s prime anti-heroes. Following the 1971 relaxation of the Comics Code Authority (which had hitherto banned mention of vampires and werewolves in the wake of the 1950s horror comics scare), the floodgates were opened for all manner of supernatural beings; one of the first was Michael Morbius, tragic scientist who, while not a traditional vampire, gained many vampiric attributes after an experiment gone awry. Among said attributes: enhanced strength, speed, senses… and an uncontrollable craving for human blood. A big hit with the Spider-Man audience, Morbius the Living Vampire made a rapid reappearance in Marvel Team-Up #3, graduating to his own series in Fear thereafter. There have been several Morbius series in the intervening decades, and this very year, a big-budget movie starring Jared Leto as Morbius is now in post-production, leading to a heightened demand for his premier appearance. This copy of Spider-Man #101 is VG+; light to moderate wear and creasing at spine and cover corners, but no impediment of the cover scene, with bright unfaded colours and good gloss. Staples firm at cover and centrefold, interior pages off-white and flexible, with no stains, tears or markings. A cents copy, no pence price or overstamp. VG+, on sale at £200.

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: In the wake of the hugely popular TV show, back numbers of the already highly-acclaimed Walking Dead comic continue to acquire interest, so we’re happy to have a batch shamble back into our shop – even if are a bit ‘recent’ for our usual tastes!. In mid-grades, between VG to FN with a couple VF, a run from #134 to #156 that saw a dramatically different direction for Rick Grimes and his merry band of post-apocalyptic survivors.

*War: Ringing the changes on the warfront, several Atlas battle-themed series took the action to the seven seas, and Navy Action was one of the longer lasting, running twenty issues from June 1955 to October 1958. With battling submariner (not the Sub-Mariner – this guy was crew on a submarine!) ‘Torpedo’ Taylor as the lead character, backed up by other naval adventurers, this had a roster of stellar artists including Berg, Colan, Drucker, Williamson, Torres, Crandall and Powell, with inventive covers by Maneely, Severin and Everett. We have a virtually complete run of Navy Combat, lacking only issues #5 and #15 from the twenty-issue series. Illustrated are #1 GD/VG £44 and #2 VG+ £45. Details on the rest in our online catalogue.

*Annuals: Following on from our ‘Immaculate Annuals’ listing of 21st April this year, another range from the same source. A selection of 1960s and 1970s Annuals newly added to our listings, in virtually immaculate condition; no prices clipped, no gift dedications, ‘This Book Belongs To’ inscriptions or other interior markings, solid spines, tight corners and bright, vibrant colours, most of these could pass as brand new but for very slight tanning of interior pages due to age. Truly lovely items, all at least VF and with several white & bright NM among the new additions, these are the best copies of these we’ve seen in 25 years in business – and several of them, we’ve never actually seen before! Titles are Champion (from 1967), Hurricane (from 1969 on), Jag (1970), Lion Book of War Adventures (1962), Roy of the Rovers (from 1967), Smash! (from 1967 on), Tiger (from 1966 on), and Valiant (from 1966 on). Illustrated are: Hurricane 1969 VF/NM £22.50; Roy of the Rovers 1967 VF/NM £22.50; Smash! 1967 VF £25; Tiger 1967 VF/NM £22.50 and Valiant 1966 VF/NM £22.50. Details on the others in our online listings – and keep an eye out for further ‘Immaculate Annuals’ listings in the Girls’, Humour and TV/Film sub-categories in the near future! SORRY, MOST OF THESE HAVE 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:
*Archie
*Charlton
*Dell
*EC
*Gold Key/Whitman
*Harvey
*IW/Super
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: One of the least explored of Batman’s classic villains is the sinister Scarecrow, who appeared but once in the 1940s, then stayed in limbo until resurrected for Batman #189 in 1967. Psychology professor Johnathan Crane used the mechanics of fear in his crime sprees, and despite numerous appearances since his revival, remains – certainly by comparison with the ‘Big Four’ Batman villains -enigmatic and compelling. This copy of Batman #189 does have a UK distribution pence stamp, but is otherwise virtually immaculate, an easy VF with bright cover colours, off-white flexible interiors and tight staples; VF p £275. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: A large selection of DC titles from across the decades this update, including: Blackhawk, Black Lightning, Boy Commandos (1970s reprint), Challengers Of The Unknown, Steve Ditko’s Creeper, DC Comics Presents (#27 with 1st Mongul), DC Special Series (Swamp Thing), Jack Kirby’s Demon, 80 Page Giant (featuring Flash & Batman), Firestorm (#3 with 1st Killer Frost), First Issue Special (#1 with Kirby’s Atlas), From Beyond The Unknown (sci-fi reprints), Hellblazer, House Of Mystery (inc early horror/mystery, Martian Manhunter and 1st Dial H For Hero issue #156), Inferior Five (from #1, a personal favourite), Isis (DC TV Comic), Kirby’s Justice Inc and Justice League of America (inc low grade #21 & #22, Crisis on Earths One and Two).

*Marvel: Last year’s demise of both Stan Lee and Steve Ditko has reawakened interest in their founding years of the Amazing Spider-Man, and while of course we regret the circumstances, we’re delighted that people are coming to a new appreciation of this period, which we’ve always regarded as the ‘real’ Spidey. Following significant sales on the Lee & Ditko Spider-Man run, we’ve added in several from this period between #21 and #33, in a range of conditions from very affordable low grades to highly collectible upper grades. Depicted are #30 FN £65, #31 (with the double debuts of Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacey) VG/FN p £110, and the iconic #33 VG/FN p £90; for grades and prices on the others, as always, consult our catalogue listings. SORRY, #31 NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Following his 1976 return to Marvel, the legendary Jack Kirby was anxious not to get trapped in the cycle of just illustrating super-heroes again, and one of his conditions was that he would be allowed to write and draw his own concepts. How much of the Eternals concept was his is, politely, open to debate; heavily ‘influenced’ (ahem, ahem) by the popular Erich Von Daniken paperbacks, which postulated that mankind’s ancient ‘Gods’ were alien visitors, Kirby’s Eternals portrayed the return of ancient immortal extraterrestrials, and the cataclysmic repercussions for humanity. Originally intended to stand apart from the Marvel Universe, it was shoehorned in at editorial insistence, which resulted in Kirby eventually abandoning the strip mid-narrative. Because of this dissonance, the Eternals have been comparatively overlooked by all but the most diehard Kirby Kollectors, but with the confirmation of an Eternals movie franchise starring Richard Madden (Game of Thrones, The Bodyguard) as Ikaris, prices are spiralling. We have a complete run of all 19 issues of Eternals, plus the one and only Annual, newly in stock, averaging VF with many better. Issue #1 is VF/NM £115; prices and grades on all the others may be seen in our online catalogue.

*Marvel: Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars, the brainchild of then Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, was the first of the mega-crossovers in 1984, pre-dating even DC’s more famous Crisis On Infinite Earths, and setting a company-wide precedent for decades to come. The key issue of this series is of course #8, with the first in-timeline appearance of the black alien symbiote Spider-Man costume which would, eventually become Venom. (Its first chronological appearance was in ASM #252, but this flashback explained how Pete got it). However, other events this series included the first appearance of new heroine Spider-Woman II (Julia Carpenter, later Arachne) the premiere of two villainesses, Titania and Volcana, and the death of the Wasp! (It’s okay; she was only gone for a minute.) We have the entire original 12 issue series fresh into stock, averaging NM- grades, all but #3 pence copies, and being sold as a set for £160. Illustrated is issue #8  VF/NM p. SORRY, THIS SET HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Following his return from Limbo as part of the dynamic Defenders, a solo series for Stephen Strange was inevitably on the (tarot) cards, and Marvel duly obliged with Marvel Premiere #3, a book-length tale by Stan Lee and Barry Smith which re-established him as the Sorceror Supreme. Doctor Strange held the title until issue #14, when he spun off into his own long-running eponymous title, but here is where his much-acclaimed return got started. Issue #3 is a beautiful VF/NM, firm staples, unbroken cover colour, glossy with tight corners, on sale at £80; other early Marvel Premiere Stranges, in mid to high grades, have been added to our online listings. SORRY, PICTURED ITEM NOW SOLD

*EC: For EC Fan-Addicts, we present a creepy quintet of Vault of Horror, one of EC’s core (or should that be corpse?) titles! A nice consecutive run from #36 to the final issue, #40. Issue #37 introduced the Vault-Keeper’s shapely if mute assistant Drusilla, but even her charms proved insufficient to stave off the anti-comic crusade, and the forces of censorship triumphed. All with disturbingly elegant and evocative covers by Johnny Craig, the interiors sport superlative art by the likes of Craig, Ingels, Evans, Davis and more, featuring the combo of ghoulish horror and black humour that was often imitated, but seldom equalled. Issue #36 is an outstanding FN- with virtually unmarred black background expect for faint edge wear, on sale at £125. Issue #37 is GD at £55; it looks nicer, but does have a glued spine and cover colour touches, so the price has been adjusted to reflect this. Details of the rest, as ever, in the catalogue listing. SORRY, PICTURED ITEMS NOW SOLD

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: A long overdue top-up to our Tomb Of Dracula stocks, featuring many early issues (from #2 up) previously missing from our listings. Your chance to top up on issues of Wolfman and Colan’s gothic-esque masterpiece for your collection.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Technically a Holiday Special, but in a format like a paperback Annual, 1967’s Valiant Space Special was squarebound and 100 pages cover to cover, featuring original, non-reprint adventures of Valiant favourites with a space theme – Captain Hurricane, Kelly’s Eye, the Steel Claw, and yes, even Billy Bunter and the Nutts get into the act! Plus other sci-fi stories without leading characters: ‘The Kids from Kosma’, ‘The War Torn Planet’, ‘Invasion from Space’, and ‘The Space Freighters’. This is not a common item, and the paperback format means that even those copies which survive have usually sustained wear and creasing; this one is a lovely FN/VF, with no interior markings of any kind, tight squarebound spine, and only the tiniest bit of wear to the lower spine. On sale at £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Commencing in 1959, GM Smith/Micron’s Combat Picture Library, despite being relatively obscure compared to the more illustrious Commando, Battle, etc., nevertheless managed a very respectable 1,000+ issue run until 1985, outlasting many rivals. The early issues particularly are much less commonly seen than comparable Air Ace or Battle Picture Libraries, and have quite a bit of visual appeal, with intricate interior art and striking painted covers. We have 80 early issues – more than three-quarters of the first 100 – newly into stock, commencing with #8 and ending with #100, and in a truly superior grade; all of our new additions bar one are Fine – the singleton slips to VG – and to be honest, many of them are gleaming and virtually immaculate, no rust or staining and with only the very faint ‘pucker’ from spine glue preventing them from being VF. An astonishing average grade for their vintage. Pictured: #11 FN £15 and #23 FN £8.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A bevy of books by three authors who should need no introduction. Bob Shaw is represented by 1 Million Tomorrows, Cosmic Kaleidoscope, Other Days, Other Eyes, The Ceres Solution and The Palace Of Eternity (with a recommendation by A E Van Vogt). Norman Spinrad is responsible for No Direction Home (recommended by Theodore Sturgeon) and Agent Of Chaos (spookily /presciently this features a character called Boris Johnson, plotting to overthrow the government!). Van Vogt’s titles are Away And Beyond, Empire Of The Atom, Mission To The Stars, Slan, The Darkness On Diamondia, The House That Stood Still, The Man With A Thousand Names, The Pawns Of Null-A and two editions of The Weapon Makers. The majority of these are 1st PBs from the 1960s and 1970s. As an added bonus there’s some classic cover art from Jack Gaughan, Ed Veligursky, Bruce Pennington and Chris Foss.

*Clearance Corner: Here at 30th Century, we love the Beano — it’s a British comics institution and features classic, immortal characters. But there’s no doubting that with the decline of the UK comics industry in recent decades, its longest survivor has declined too, and later Beanos are less collected than their classic period. So the time has come for us to dispense with our 1981 upward stock. We have two lots for your consideration: first up, 16 issues from 1988-1995 inc 8 complete with original Free Gifts and also including the 50th Anniversary issue and a handful of Christmas and New Year issues — all just for £15 (UK postage if required will be an extra £4). 

*Clearance Corner: Starved of the real thing in the 1950s and early 1960s, the public sought out these faux American-sized comics published by Miller and others which featured original British strips (or European reprints) in black and white. We’re clearing out a whole bunch of them this week with adventure and war themes: 20 issues for just £20 (with an additional £4 UK p&p if required). Titles are: Battle (Anglo) x 2, Bulldog Brittain x 1, Captain Tornado x 4, Captain Vigour x 1, Charles Rand x 1, Dick Hercules x 1, Pango x 1, Sgt O’Brien x 7, Union Jack Library x 1 (an odd man out from 1918 with a Sexton Blake story) and Yarmak x 1. Your early attention is suggested, since we doubt these will last long at this price.  SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: This time we have three works by Abraham Merritt, a writer who cut his authorial teeth writing for Pulps, with the combination of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction that remains popular today. First up is a 1951 Avon edition of Burn Witch Burn, followed by one of his most famous novels, Seven Footprints To Satan. We have two editions of the final novel, Dwellers In The Mirage, one from Paperback Library (1962) and the other from Futura (1974).

*DC: The Forever People, five empowered youths each of whom reflected a middle-aged to elderly man’s perception of a hippie ‘type’, were intended to be a younger, fresher face for Jack Kirby’s Fourth World saga, but their relative inexperience didn’t stop them from getting embroiled with the heavy hitters – as witnessed by the fact that their first issue saw the first ‘in person’ appearance of Darkseid, who previously had only appeared on-screen delivering orders to various underlings. We have restocked our listing of the Super-Teens from Super-Town, including #1 FN/VF p £70 (first full Darkseid), #2 (with the double debuts of Mantis (not the Marvel one!) and Desaad, and some later issues with a surprising guest appearance by Deadman. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: One of the madder DC titles, outstripped only by its distaff counterpart Lois Lane, was Jimmy Olsen, the series in which Superman’s Pal gained and lost super-powers, underwent weird bodily transformations, and was romanced by a bewildering array of alien ladies who had a thing for ginger shortarses. Just everyday events in the life of a newspaper reporter, as I’m sure any journos of your acquaintance will attest. We’ve topped up our Jimmy inventory with issues ranging from #31 – the first appearance of one of Jimmy’s longer-lasting alter-egos, Elastic Lad – through to #146, a time when Jack Kirby had taken over the series and linked it into his Fourth World saga. Along the way, Jimmy romances Supergirl, becomes Colossal Boy, brings Beatlemania to the ancient past, and marries a gorilla while witch-doctor Superman conducts the wedding. As you do. Embrace the crazy!

*Marvel: Dire threats against the heroes’ loved ones had, of course, been a stock-in-trade of popular entertainment since time immemorial, but in 1973’s Amazing Spider-Man #121, when Peter Parker’s love Gwen Stacy was imperilled by the Green Goblin, readers were genuinely shocked and saddened when Spidey’s daring rescue simply didn’t work – and Gwen was no more. Heroes had often been inspired by the death of a loved one, of course, but they were usually off-panel and frequently before the series actually began. This was the first time that someone the readers had ‘known’ for years was killed, and it changed the tone of the series forever. Our latest copy of Spider-Man #121 is FN/VF, a bright, unmarred copy with no creasing, but a very few tiny nicks on the lower cover edge. On sale at £195. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: One of the more ground-breaking issues of the 1970s was Iron Man #128, in which creators David Michelinie and John Romita Jr. played out the plot they’d been building up for months; the dark underside of Tony Stark’s insouciant playboy façade, as his struggle with alcoholism was revealed. This was presented as an ongoing illness, rather than being wrapped up neatly by the issue’s end, and in fact even the current Tony Stark is still influenced by his addiction. Although the story caused controversy and outrage at the time of its release, over time it has received acclaim and respect as the first serious presentation of the subject in a mainstream comic. This copy of the ground-breaking issue is VF+ p, with only a few light spine ‘ticks’ preventing a higher grade, on sale at £40.