*DC: In keeping with our programme to increase the range of our catalogue into the 1980s, we are pleased to add to our listings the later part of the first series of Barry Allen, the Flash (formerly listed up to #250) right up until the final issue, #350. Starting with the legacy of the Silver Age classics and ending with the famous and controversial trial of the Flash, these high grade additions of 100 issues tie up the adventures of Barry Allen, who was killed off in the Crisis On Infinite Earths which followed on shortly after this series. Of course, comics being what they are, Barry eventually came back from the dead, but that’s a whole other can of worms…
Category Archives: What’s New
American Update: Complete Silver Age Silver Surfer (#1-18) Back In Stock
*Marvel: Following his debut in Fantastic Four #48, readers clamoured for more of the Silver Surfer, originally winning him his own solo series in 1968 – and to do justice to the character’s cosmic adventures, Marvel took the unusual step of launching the Surfer as a double-length book, with Tales of the Watcher as the back-up. This series is frequently cited as one of the finest examples of John Buscema’s lyrical flowing artwork… and as one of the leading examples of Stan Lee’s affection for many, many words! Despite the reservations of those of us who thinks that Norrin Radd just Goes On A Bit Much, this series remains highly sought-after, especially the earlier issues before (with #8), it shrank down to a standard size. Of particular interest to collectors are the first issue, predictably, and issue #4, a spectacular crossover with the Mighty Thor, which had a low print run, and is notoriously hard to find in any grade. Lasting only 18 issues, all now in stock, the short first run of the Silver Surfer’s series is one of the Holy Grails of Silver Age Marvel collectors. Pictured are #1 FN+ p £175, #2 FN/VF £70 (1st Badoon), #3 FN/VF £75 (1st Mephisto), #4 FN- £150 (1st 2 signatures off interior staple), #5 VF/NM £140, #14 VF- £70, and #18 (Kirby art) VF+ £73. For details of the other issues, check the Marvel section of our online catalogue.
American Update: A Devilish Trinity – First Bullseye, First Elektra, and Bullseye/Elektra Battle in Daredevil
*Marvel: Three landmark issues for the Man Without Fear: everyone is familiar with the astonishing work done by Frank Miller with the psychotic villain, Bullseye – but a surprising number remain unaware that Bullseye was not created by Miller, but repurposed by him from Daredevil #131, in which Marv Wolfman and Bob Brown brought us the debut of the Man Who Never Misses! Elektra, of course, is a Frank Miller creation, and her premiere appearance was in Daredevil #168, bringing Matt Murdock his most beloved enemy/ally. And in Daredevil #181, a double-length Miller spectacular, Bullseye and Elektra battled to the death. All three issues now back in stock, but not for long; #131 VG+ £50, #168 VF- p £50, and #181 NM p £50. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: A Torrent of Marvel Treasuries – Conan, Thor, Spidey, Star Wars and more
*Marvel: Marvel’s tabloid-sized comic books, generally published as ‘Marvel Treasury Editions’, enjoyed a flurry of popularity in the 1970s, and are often the first format in which a certain generation encountered the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe. Now highly sought after collectibles, these always turn over quickly in our stock, and we’re pleased to have a new wave of Marvel tabloids. In Marvel Treasury Edition ‘proper’, we have a selection of numbers from issues #2 to #19, featuring the Fantastic Four, Thor, Spider-Man and Conan (including #4’s ‘Red Nails’ saga, in which Barry Smith’s art looks superb at the larger size). We also have a few one-offs and tabloid specials: Marvel Super Special #8, with the comics adaptation of Battlstar Galactica; Marvel Special Edition, with the conclusion of the Star Wars adaptation and a pair of Marvel Treasury Specials, 1974’s Giant Superhero Holiday Grab Bag (with no Giant Superheroes in sight! Swiz…), and 1976’s Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles, in which the Star-Spangled Avenger travels through time in a phantasmagoric odyssey of all-new (then) art by Jack Kirby!
American Update: Marvel Silver/Bronze Sweep with an emphasis on Spider-Man and X-Men
*Marvel: Another sweep through the Marvel Silver & Bronze ages, adding this time from the following titles: Astonishing Tales, Avengers, Captain America (Annual #4 by Kirby), Captain Marvel (#17 1st full app new costume), Conan (#5), Daredevil (1st Jester #42 and Annual #1), Dr Strange (1st series), Hulk (inc #141 1st Doc Samson), Iron Man (#100), lots of Spider-Man (mostly between #51 & #90), Strange Tales (#151 1st Steranko at Marvel), Tales Of Suspense and lots of X-Men (a couple of Neal Adams issues inc #58 1st Havok, then a conscutive run from #129 to #138, with several key issues: 1st Emma Frost, 1st Kitty Pryde, 1st Dazzler and the Death of Phoenix).
American Update: “With One Magic Word – Shazam!” The original Captain Marvel
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: We turn our attention to Superman’s greatest imitator, who at one stage outstripped even the Man of Steel in sales – Captain Marvel! Issue #58 of Captain Marvel Adventures, dated April 12th, 1946 (yes, it was so popular it was published fortnightly!) features a three-part confrontation between Cap and his greatest nemesis, Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, a follically-challenged criminal genius who was no influence at all on later iterations of Lex Luthor, ahem ahem. In addition to this epic adventure, two further Cap stories are “Nature Goes Wild!” and “King of the Apes!” Paper salvage was still in effect at this time, so post-WWII copies are uncommon, and of course were never available in the UK, so the Big Red Cheese’s original series is seldom seen in the UK. This copy of CMA #58 is a VG-, with moderate wear at the lower corners, but unimpaired cover scene and interior pages, on sale at £45.
American Update: Charlton’s Ghostly Haunts
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Another classic 1970s title from Charlton extensively updated this week, with over 20 issues of Ghostly Haunts added to our listings, starting with #27 (series commenced with #20) right up to the final issue #58. First rate artists were let loose on Charlton’s horror line allegedly without much editorial rein in place, so a great chance to experience at relatively modest prices the unfettered artistry of Steve Ditko, Tom Sutton, Don Newton, Joe Staton and many other famous names whose work appear in the pages of this title.
American Update: Girls (and occasional Boys) Wanna Have Fun! 1940s to 1960s ‘Indies’
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: Previously in this series of Teen Humour/Funny Girls updates, we’ve focused on the merry maidens of Timely/Atlas Marvel, but following the smash success of Archie and his pals in the 1940s, every publisher wanted to get in on the act, and here’s a batch of what would, these days, be termed the ‘indie’ contingent from three decades: Candy (Quality), Cookie (ACG), Freckles & His Friends (Argo), Freddy (Charlton), Georgie (Timely – okay, that one slipped the net), Junior Hopp (Stanmor), Lucy the Real Gone Gal (St. John), Mazie (Harvey), Mopsy (St. John), My Little Margie (Charlton), and Thirteen (Dell). With artwork ranging from the gorgeous to the grotesque (no clues which!), these paint a picture of the evolution of the ‘teen-ager’ in popular culture.
American Update: “It’s Two-Gun Kid, But Not As We Know Him…” – Gunsmoke Western from Atlas/Marvel
*Western: New back issues added this week of the popular and long-running series Gunsmoke Western, which bridged the gap between Atlas and its transition into Marvel Comics. Co-starring Kid Colt Outlaw, and Wyatt Earp, the series welcomed a third hero in #57, when another of Marvel’s famous western ‘Kids’, the Two-Gun Kid, made his premier appearance in a John Severin-drawn adventure – though in a greatly altered form his later iteration! With mostly Kirby covers (and occasional interior art) and illustrations by Severin, Jack Keller, Matt Baker, and Joe Maneely, the series kept up a high artistic standard, and has gained in popularity in recent years as completists realise its connectivity to the greater Marvel Universe. Issue #57 (pictured) is FN+ at £40; for details of the rest, see the Western section of our online catalogue.
American/British Update: Going Underground! A Plethora of Counter-Culture: Wimmen’s Comix, Corben, Crumb, Spain and much more
*Undergrounds: We’ve topped up our Underground comics section with 75+ items from more than twenty series, including (deep breath) All-New Underground Comix (“Two-Fisted Zombies”), Arik Khan, Black & White Comics, Home Grown, San Francisco Comic Book (Crumb in all), Blood on the Moon, Red Raider and White Comanche (Jaxon), Doc Chaos, Doll (Guy Colwell’s outrageous erotic thriller), Fresh Blood, Fantagor, Jeremy Brood and Mutant World (all Corben), High Adventure, the rare and controversial Kids’ Liberation Coloring Book from 1971, Subvert Comix (Spain), Underground Classics, Teaching Through Trauma, Wet Satin, Wha..!? (Ditko), Yow and Zippy, and virtually complete runs of the cult series Star*Reach and Wimmen’s Comix. Illustrated: Kids’ Liberation Coloring Book VG/FN £15, Subvert #3 VF £12, Wimmen’s Comix #1 FN+ £15. For grade and price details on all the others, check out our Underground section in our burgeoning online catalogue!
British Update: Storm – Complete hardcover collection of Don Lawrence’s sci-fi spectacular
*Collected Editions: Following his departure from the famous ‘Trigan Empire’ strip in 1976, illustrator Don Lawrence looked for new worlds to conquer – and found them in Europe, where his work had long had a huge fanbase. Liaising with a Dutch publisher, he started the sprawling saga ‘Storm’, about an eponymous astronaut who, in the best tradition of John Carter and myriad other heroes, finds himself marooned in a strange fantasy world, and has to make his way through it with only the aid of a gorgeous redheaded warrior woman and a chunky red-skinned alien prince. The ‘Storm’ series continued for decades, but not in English (save for a single paperback volume in 1982 and two Titan albums in the late ’80s), leaving fans frustrated. But at the beginning of this century, a determined collective started issuing sumptuous large-format, full-colour hardcovers reprinting not only all 22 Don Lawrence ‘Storm’ adventures, (two to a book) in English, but also sketches, designs, and a huge amount of ‘behind-the-scenes’ material. Produced in extremely limited numbers, these volumes are now vanishingly scarce, and we are fortunate enough to have a series of all twelve (including a couple of duplicate numbers) in stock. For details on price, please see the Collected Editions series of our online catalogue.
British Update: First Quenchers and Free Gift Farrago – Super DC #1 (1969) with Free Gifts!
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In 1969, despite the fact that Power Comics’ UK reprinting of the Marvel super-heroes was waning by then, the publishers and distributors Top Sellers were inspired to try something similar, launching a black & white monthly, ‘Super DC’. Batman, Superman, Superboy, Jimmy and Lois were the featured players, and, not having to be reprinted in sequence like the continuity-tight Marvel stories were, bewildered readers could experience tales from the late 1940s to the late 1960s in the very same issue. High grade copies of Super DC are extraordinarily rare, and we have never actually seen a #1 with free gifts before in our almost quarter-century of trading, so we are disproportionately chuffed to bring you this FN/VF Super DC #1 with all three free gifts in their original manila envelope (all in VF/NM condition), on sale for £120! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
British Update: Off On A Comet 1957/58
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A small update to the hugely popular Comet title, 4 issues from 1957 inc. the Christmas issue and 6 from 1958, a year previously unrepresented in our listings.
British Update: Bring On The Buster! 1975 and 1976, including first Leopard From Lime Street
*Humour Comics: Continuing our monster top-up of Buster, we hit the years 1975 and 1976, which saw the debuts of comedy series ‘Kid Gloves’, which ran more than a decade, and one of the last – and certainly the most successful – adventure series to run in Buster, ‘The Leopard from Lime Street’, illustrated by veteran artists Mike Western and Eric Bradbury, and written by…well, no-one’s actually confessed to it, which may be because it’s a tad…familiar. Plucky orphan? Check. Radioactive critter giving strange powers? Check. Ailing aunt? Check. Part-time job as a newspaper photographer? Check. Ah, but this do-gooder – variously known as ‘Leopardboy’, Leopardman’, or ‘The Beast’ – is a 13-year old schoolboy who has an abusive uncle as well as an ailing aunt, so that’s completely different. Whatever the similarities, ‘Leopard’ was a huge hit, running almost ten years, and beating out previous record holder ‘Fishboy’ for the title of Buster’s most enduring adventure series. This period also saw Buster snap up the ailing ‘Monster Fun’, fully half of whose contents found new homes, so it was more a true merger than most such, with ‘Kid Kong’, ‘Martha’s Monster Make-Up’, ‘Teddy Scare’, ‘Draculass’, ‘Gums’ and more adding to the antics. The Leopard debuts in the 27/3/76 issue VG £10.
British Update: Long Hot Summer – More from Princess Tina/Tina
*Girls’ Comics: In the real world, summer may be drawing to a close, but here at 30th Century our Long Hot Summer rolls on! More from Princess Tina, the pan-European girls’ anthology which, in a spirit of egalitarianism circa 1971, dropped its royal title and became plain ‘Tina’ for its final couple of years. Two more new entires in the Special stakes – Princess Tina Summer Extra 1971, GD/VG £40 and Tina Holiday Special 1979 VG/FN £45, the latter with a free bonus – an incomplete copy of the 1978 Holiday Special! Among the features are Sue Day and the ‘Happy Days’, ‘Alona the Wild One’, ‘Chairman Cherry’, ‘Milly the Merry Mermaid’, peripatetic popstress ‘Jackie and the Wild Boys’, and, a personal favourite here at 30th Century, ‘Jane Bond’, the curvaceous blonde secret agent for ‘Worldpol’ whose main method of combat seems to be rugby-tackling her foes and then rolling around on them; astonishingly, very few ever seem to raise an objection! SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
What’s Old: A bit of a Cheeky Monster Fun #1 Free Gift Farrago
In our “Another chance to see” slot this week, a pair of premier issues from IPC/Fleetway’s comedy line, each with their original free gift! 1975’s Monster Fun #1 introduced the world to ‘Kid Kong’, ‘X-Ray Specs’, ‘Martha’s Monster Make-Up’, ‘Draculass’, ‘Tom Thumbscrew, Torturer’s Apprentice’, and more. This copy is an attractive FN, with the ‘Badtime Bedtime Story’ supplement and the Plate Wobbler Free Gift (VF), on sale at £100. Cheeky #1, from a couple of years later, is only Fair, with significant tears to the back cover and inside back page. Our eponymous hero’s comic co-starred ‘The Six-Million-Dollar Gran’, politically-incorrect ‘Mustapha Mi££ion’, token adventure strip ‘Space Family Robinson’ (yet another version), and ‘Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner’, among others. Despite its modest grade, all pages are present and readable, and the free gift – ‘Red Jet Rattler’ – in excellent condition, VF/NM. On sale at £30.
Housekeeping Update
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:
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards
and in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics (H-K)
and in our Books Section:
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Books Update: More Classic SF Collections
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Today we’ve added eleven collections by nine great authors, published in the quarter century between 1962 and 1987. Represented twice are Alan E Nourse with The Counterfeit Man and Tiger By The Tail and Theodore Sturgeon with Caviar and E Pluribus Unicorn. Also represented are Brian Aldiss (The Canopy Of Time), Frederic Brown (Nightmares And Geezenstacks), Arthur C Clarke (Tales From The White Hart), Avram Davidson (Or All The Seas With Oysters), Harry Harrison (Prime Number), Damon Knight (Natural State And Other Stories) and C M Kornbluth (The Explorers). All experts in their field, these are guaranteed to entertain – don’t say we don’t spoil you!
Books Update: R is for Rocket, S is for Space, and B is for Bradbury
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: The most poetic of SF writers has just been restocked, with gems such as Fahrenheit 451, Machineries Of Joy (the The went missing for this edition), R Is For Rocket, The Golden Apples Of The Sun and The Silver Locusts (also known as The Martian Chronicles). Most are in the Corgi edition with the stylish cover shown by Something Wicked This Way Comes. Who can resist a story set in space that begins with ‘ “South”, said the captain.’?
American Update: Golden Age DC Greats! A Quartet of Sensation Comics, with Wonder Woman, Wildcat and more
*DC: Ranging from 1942 to 1947, four issues of Sensation Comics, the DC anthology in which the Amazing Amazon, Wonder Woman, was the lead feature. Created by H.G. Peter and William Moulton Marston, the dynamic diva’s derring-do caused not only Sensation, but Comics Cavalcade and WW’s own series, to be top sellers during this decade, and these issues feature her at her prime, before censorious cretins and creator illness caused her to become a shadow of her former self. Other popular and long-running features in Sensation were her fellow Justice Society members, crusading pugilist Wildcat, and show-off polymath Mr. Terrific, and the trio were backed up by some of the odder series in DC’s history – the Black Pirate, the Gay Ghost and Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys. No, really. Sensation Comics #11 is GD/VG £165; #49 VG+ £125; #51 VG/FN £135 and #61 GD+ £65. With the recent blockbuster Wonder Woman movie, and her reappearance in the upcoming Justice League film, interest in Diana’s doings has never been keener, so now’s the time to grab yourself a slice of Amazon justice! SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: Y The Last Man #1 NM
*DC: “What?” we hear you gasp, “A twenty-first century comic in the listings?” Well, even though we’re famous for crumbly old comics, we do sometimes admit a deserving modern item to the catalogue, and 2002’s Y The Last Man #1 is such an exception. After a devastating event which eliminates all men – and all male mammals – from planet Earth, society must restructure itself with an all-female paradigm. But not quite all-female. Two males survive: Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand. Some factions of the surviving women want to rescue Yorick, some to study him, some to use him, some to eradicate him; but with literally all the women in the world seeking him, Yorick wants only one woman: his girlfriend, who was across the globe when the cataclysm hit. Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi series was a huge hit for DC/Vertigo, winning shedloads of awards, and is being adapted into a TV series, so interest will only climb. This first issue is NM at £150. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Fantastic Four #3 – First Fantasti-Car and Costumes
*Marvel: While the first couple of issues of the Fantastic Four were an unqualified success, it wasn’t until the third issue that the team’s rough edges were smoothed out, and they became the familiar First Family we know and love. Issue #3, in addition to the menace of the Miracle Man (no, not that Miracle Man), had the team in costume for the first time, and the debut of their unique transportation the Fantasti-Car (aka ‘The Flying Bathtub’), as well as showing the readers in detail the team’s Baxter Building headquarters. With this issue, all the foundation for the FF’s future of high adventure and exploration were in place. Our newly-acquired FF #3 is a GD/VG cents copy, with only very minor ‘Marvel chipping’ at the cover’s edge precluding a higher grade. On sale at £390.
American Update: Secret Wars #8 – Suddenly, A Symbiote!
*Marvel: From 1984, a little later than most fare in our catalogue, the famous Marvel series which launched a sequence of crossover ‘events’ that still reverberate through the Marvel Universe today. Secret Wars was the first of its kind, and featured many landmarks, but most famously the origin of Spidey’s black costume (later revealed to be the alien symbiote Venom) in #8. Cuddly brain-eating symbiotes remaining eternally popular with the kiddies, this origin issue is keenly sought-after, and our incoming Secret Wars #8 is a highly attractive NM/M p copy at £75. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Avengers #112 – First Appearance of Mantis
*Marvel: Although she was not cover-featured, the enigmatic woman known as Mantis made her debut in Avengers #112, and rapidly became both a thorn in the side of the Avengers and a crucial ally, deploying her empathic skills and her martial-arts mastery in a succession of adventures, primarily the ‘Celestial Madonna’ story arc written by Steve Englehart, before marrying a sentient plant inhabited by the ghost of her dead boyfriend and becoming one with the cosmos. As you do. Having been reiterated (albeit in somewhat altered form) as one of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the second GOTG movie, Mantis’ early appearances are spiralling up in value, so this FN/VF cents copy is relatively bargainaceous at £50. Buy it now – ‘This one’ says so! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends – Marvel Team-Up from #1, with many ND issues
*Marvel: The 1972-launched Marvel Team-Up paired Spidey (and occasionally the Human Torch) with a different one of Marvel’s best and boldest each issue, providing readers with a chance to be exposed to new and unfamiliar characters – and, by happy coincidence, enable Marvel to retain copyright on heroes who didn’t currently have their own series! We have around twenty issues of MTU newly listed, from #1 (VG £20 pictured) to #100 (1st Karma – later of the New Mutants – by Frank Miller), but primarily focused on the first 23 issues – prior to the series’ distribution in the UK.
American Update: Back to Infinity! Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War Restocked
*Marvel: Remember when we got a set in of Jim Starlin’s ‘Infinity’ trilogy – Gauntlet, War, and Crusade – a couple of weeks back? Well, following sales of several issues, we’re delighted to have another run of Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War in stock! These cosmic epics are fondly remembered by a generation whose first exposure to Thanos was as a nigh-omnipotent force of destruction in the Marvel Universe. The Infinity Gauntlet saga is soon going to be reprised in the Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy movie crossover, so prices on these are only going to rise.
American Update: Catalogue Expansion – Conan the Barbarian to end of first series, plus King Conan
*Marvel: With the ongoing popularity of the Marvel Conan the Barbarian series, we’ve now, rather than just listing the first hundred as previously, elevated our entire stock of the first run into our catalogue stock. In addition, we’re now listing the 1980 spin-off King Conan, dealing with our hero’s more mature years (though his only concessions to his regal status seem to have been getting a Prince Valiant ‘do and putting a vest on, otherwise it’s mighty-thewed barbarian hijinx as usual.). Buy them all, by Crom!
American Update: Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: A classic 1970s title from Charlton extensively updated this week, with over a third of the run of the Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves added to our listings, as early as #6 and as late as #75, the final issue. First rate artists were let loose on Charlton’s horror line allegedly without much editorial rein in place, so a great chance to experience at relatively modest prices the unfettered artistry of Steve Ditko, Tom Sutton, Don Newton, Jim Aparo, Pete Morisi. Mick Zeck, Joe Staton and many other famous names whose work appear in the pages of this title.
American Update: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – My Friend Irma – and Her Friends
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: From the Timely/Atlas/Marvel stable of funny girls, My Friend Irma, the comics adaptation of the popular B-movie and radio series from the 1940s starring Marie Windsor as possibly the dumbest ‘dumb blonde’ ever. What brought the Irma comic out of the crowd of similar titles, though, was the artwork by Dan DeCarlo, delightful and engaging, establishing his reputation as the definitive ‘funny girl’ artist. Half a dozen new issues of Irma, all complete, but in very affordable low to mid grades, are new to our stock, as well as a handful of fellow-travellers: Cindy Smith, Nellie the Nurse, and a relative latecomer at the beginnings of the Marvel Universe, Kathy the Teen-Age Tornado!
American Update: EC Reissues – Haunt of Fear, Tales From The Crypt and Vault of Horror
*Modern Reprints: A ghoulish gathering of classic EC horror and sf from both the Gemstone and Gladstone reprint lines of the 1990s. The top titles, Haunt of Fear, Incredible Science-Fiction, Tales From the Crypt and Vault of Horror, featuring the talents of Craig, Wood, Ingels, Davis, Kamen and all the usual suspects. These full-colour reproductions of the original issues give everyone an affordable chance to see why the EC line is generally regarded as one of the crowing achievements of the comics medium.
American/British Update: Mad About Mad! Massive Restock of UK Mad (from #4 to #202), plus a scattering of US
*Mad & Other Parody: Mad Magazine, the parody anthology founded by William Gaines, has become a byword in satirical commentary, and we are delighted, after too long a gap, to announce a significant influx of new stock. We have a scattering of the American edition, between 1975 and 2016, and a soupcon of Sick, one of Mad’s many imitators, but the main thrust of this update is close to 100 copies of early UK Mads, beginning with #4 (illustrated VG £30) and ending with #202. Dave Berg, Don Martin, Sergio Aragones, Wally Wood, Mort Drucker and a plethora of parody stars can be found in these issues at various points, and the satirical targets range from politicians, world leaders and public figures to popular media hits of years agone, including ‘2001’, ‘Peanuts’, and an obscure thing you may not have heard of called ‘Star Wars’. Check out the ‘Mad & other Parody’ section of our online catalogue for all the details!
British Update: An octet of Battle & War Annuals
*Annuals: In our Boys’ Adventure Annuals sub-category, 8 new entries: Battle Picture Weekly Annual for 1977 & 1978, plus War Picture Library Annual (full-size) for the years 1976-1981, the first three of which are softcover editions.
British Update: Long Hot Summer – 2000 AD Special Editions
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Three unusual Specials for 2000 AD, the galaxy’s greatest science-fiction comic! From 1977, the very first 2000 AD Summer Special, featuring several of the iconic series and – because the weekly hadn’t been going that long – some other features that looked decidedly quaint to the discerning reader. From 1992, the 2000 AD Action Special, in which some of Britain’s most outlandish comic talents turned their hands to reinventing classic series like the Spider, Kelly’s Eye, the Steel Claw and Mytek – many of which the publishers didn’t actually own, oops, so this puppy’s never going to be reprinted! And finally, the 1988 Winter Special, featuring, among others, the cult slacker superhero strip ‘Zenith’, by Grant Morrison. The 1977 Summer Special ‘Supercomic’ – to give it its full title – is VG at £15; for details of the others, see our online catalogue. SORRY, 1977 SPECIAL NOW SOLD
British Update: Eagle Vol 11 Complete
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A further update to our Eagle stocks, with nice copies of Volume 11 complete, mostly in VG or FN. This volume features the last Bellamy Dan Dare, before he switched to Fraser of Africa, and the Dan Dare assignment was passed to the team of Harley & Cornwell.
British Update: Wizard Prangs! 1949-76
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A massive update to our stock of the long running story paper Wizard, with lots of issues of the first series from 1949-60 and lots of the second series from 1970-76 (from #3). First series features include the Boyhood of Desperate Dan and the story of Charles Darwin; the second series is much more football orientated. Christmas and New Year issues included, with many gaps filled in our stock for both series.
British Update: TV Century 21, early and late issues, with the cream of UK comics creators
*TV & Film Related Comics: Our Gerry Anderson celebration concludes (for now…). TV Century 21’s serendipitous launch in 1965 (or 2065, if you believe its covers) brought together one of the creative juggernauts of Children’s television, Gerry Anderson, with the greatest British comics illustrators of the Sixties. Frank Bellamy, Ron Embleton, Mike Noble and more told lavishly-drawn adventures of Fireball XL5, Lady Penelope, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, and of course Thunderbirds. Often imitated but never equalled, TV Century 21 holds a special place in the hearts of a generation. We are delighted to add twenty new issues to our lists, numbers ranging from #10 through to #229.
British Update: Massive Humour Sweep – Beano, Dandy, Shiver & Shake, Nutty and more
*Humour Comics: Taking a break from our ‘Bring on the Buster’ marathon, we bring you a cornucopia of chuckles from three decades, with new stock in for Beano (from 1962), Buster (a small run from 1976), the Cor! Christmas issue from 1973, Dandy from 1976 to 1979, Magic (a facsimile of the first issue of Dandy and Beano’s forgotten sibling, launched in 1939), Nutty from #1 (first Bananaman!) to #71, Shiver and Shake from 1973, Whoopee #1 in PR/FA, a dash of Whizzer & Chips from 1972, and two publications oriented towards the older-but-immature: Oink! from 1988, with that year’s Summer Special, and Viz, restocked between #34 and #54. Biffo, Korky, Buster, Gus Gorilla, Tom Thug, Pete and His Pimple, Bananaman and the Fat Slags – all present for a cavacade of fun, frolics, and occasional filth!
British Update: First Quenchers with Free Gift Farrago! Tina #1 (and her Troll)
*Girls’ Comics: From 1967, the trans-European Tina, launched in multiple language editions, was so heavily pre-sold prior to its launch that it could legitimately claim, even on the front of its debut issue, “More copies sold than any other girl’s paper in the world!” With a strong adventure-oriented line-up, curvaceous secret agent ‘Jane Bond’ illustrated by Michael Hubbard, was the lead, and the ‘Space Girls’ (in colour, by Dan Dare illustrator Keith Watson) added a sci-fi touch. Other features which debuted here were exotic island drama with Brenda Burn and ‘My Chum Yum-Yum’, pop musicians ‘Jackie and the Wild Boys’, western adventuress ‘Glory Gold’, and ‘Barbie’. Yep, that Barbie. After thirty issues, Tina merged with Princess and lived a long and happy life as Princess Tina, but the pre-Princess issues remain scarce, and we have never before, in our years of trading, encountered a Tina #1 with the free gift, of a ‘Gold Plated’ Troll Brooch!(bear in mind that in 1967, phrases like that didn’t necessarily imply that there was any actual gold involved…) Our copy of Tina #1 is in a remarkable FN/VF condition, and the brooch is VF/NM. Both comic and brooch can be yours for £80. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
What’s Old: First Doctor Strange in Strange Tales #110
Our previously-listed spotlight this week falls on a Marvel landmark! An unassuming back-up story in Strange Tales #110 saw the debut of Doctor Strange, a man of mystery and master of magic who was probably not originally conceived as a series star. After all, just a short while prior, the very-similar, though lesser-powered, Doctor Droom had crashed and burned in the first Marvel series of Amazing Adventures. But Doctor Strange had a secret ingredient that Doctor Droom had not: the illustrative powers of Steve Ditko, who conferred upon the Doctor and his environs a genuinely otherworldly quality, eerie and evocative, which kept the readers coming back for more. Rising to the challenge, scripter Stan Lee soon developed the Doctor’s adventures from short twist-ending one-offs to phantasmagorical sagas, and the Doctor has been the mystic nexus of the Marvel Universe, culminating in the hugely successful film starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Not that you could have predicted any of that from this issue’s cover, which doesn’t even mention Doctor Strange, but focuses solely on the Human Torch battling the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete, in their pre-Frightful Four days! Never mind, we do promise you it’s in there! This copy of a landmark issue is a CBCS slabbed copy, graded at 5.5 (FN-), with minimal corner and edge wear, and deep vivid cover colour and gloss. On sale at £1,500.
Clearance Corner: The Horror Of Guy N Smith – 16 Books for £10
*Clearance Corner: Guy N Smith is most famous for ‘Night Of The Crabs’, but he was no slouch when it came to writing horror stories. On offer are 16 books (no duplicates) for just £10 for collection from the shop. Titles to give you a flavour of what to expect include:
Sabat 1
Carnivore
Satan’s Snowdrop
Alligators
The Slime Beast
UK postage, if required, is an additional £3.50. The books fit into a shoebox, weighing just under 2 Kg.
Clearance Corner: Hank Janson, premier UK pulp gangster digest author – 32 books for £10
*Clearance Corner: The most famous name in the post-war boom in British gangster ‘pulps’ (curiously, mostly set in the both seedy and glamorous USA) was Hank Janson. Written by ‘Hank’ and telling his adventures as a journalist and later general adventurer, these were in reality written by Stephen D Frances, although by the late 1950s and early 60s, Hank Janson was very much a house name and his novels were written by myriad hands. We have on offer a selection of later Hank Janson novels published by Compact, with titles like ‘Visit From A Broad’, ‘Voodoo Violence’, ‘Dateline Debbie’ etc; these are hard-boiled examples of the genre, with covers featuring scantily clad women drawn with varying degrees of quality. We got rather more of these in from a huge collection than we have room for on our shelves, so we’re clearing them in a great opportunity for bulk reading. 32 books (with one duplicate) for just £10; mostly Good condition, with some Fair and some Poor. (UK postage if required would be an additional £13.50 — these fit in a box weighing 4.5 kg).
Housekeeping Update
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 British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics (E – G)
*Magazines/Books About Vintage UK Comics
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
British Update: The British Are Coming! The Pride of Lions 1959-1963
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: The latest in our sequence featuring the best of British Comics! A huge pride of Lions joins our stock this week for the years 1959-1963 (from the end of ’59 to the beginning of ’63). 169 issues fresh into our boxes, with just a few gaps in numbers, and in nice shape, the vast majority being nice VG or even FN grades, with just a handful of GD. Paddy Payne, Warrior of the Skies, cover-starred throughout this period, and familiar favourites such as Robot Archie, Captain Condor, Karl the Viking (by Don Lawrence), Rory Macduff & Bruce Kent awaited the reader inside (I was such a reader, having the Lion delivered at the time!). One of the best of British Boys’ Adventure Comics, and very welcome additions to years previously under-represented in our stock. Illustrated are 24/10/59 (1st Lion & Sun, 1st Rory Macduff) and 29/10/60 (1st Karl the Viking as Sword Of Eingar).
Books Update: Penguin SF Over 4 Decades
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Another SF update by publisher brings us to Penguin, known for their good taste in books. Our earliest book is a venerable 1946 copy of H G Wells’ Island Of Dr Moreau, only FA, but deserving a special mention for reaching it’s eighth decade. From the 1960’s comes Ballard’s The Terminal Beach, Bester’s Tiger! Tiger!, Boardman’s Connoisseur’s S.F., Judd’s Gunner Cade and Pangborn’s A Mirror For Observers. Finally two published in the 1970’s, Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange and Peake’s Titus Alone. Excellent books and some stunning covers, as the images show; what more could you ask?
American Update: Golden Age DC Greats! All-Flash #21 and #23, from 1945/46
*DC: Continuing our trip through the DC Golden Age of Comics! Following his successful run in the anthology Flash Comics, Jay Garrick – the first Fastest Man Alive – gained his own solo quarterly, rather awkwardly entitled All-Flash, bringing more hyper-speed adventures to an eager public. We have two of these rarities new in. Issue #21 from 1945 is VG- at £110, with the only significant flaws being a small corner off the upper right cover, and a tiny bit of rodent damage immediately below that – see picture – which does not encroach upon the stories. Issue #23 from 1946 is an unabashed FN, with clean unimpaired cover scene, minimal corner and edge wear, and attractive undamaged interiors for £165.
American Update: Batman: Harley Quinn – Harley Steps Into The Mainstream DCU
*DC: Following her debut in the Batman Adventures TV show, and her subsequent appearances in the DC Younger Readers’ Comics – fans were clamouring for the love-blinded loon to ‘cross over’ into the mainstream DC Universe, and in 1999’s Batman: Harley Quinn one-shot, that’s exactly what she did. Written by her creator Paul Dini, illustrated by Yvel Guichet and featuring a superlative Alex Ross cover, this squarebound stand-alone tells Harley’s origin, including her dalliance with the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker. First Printing, a superb NM, on sale for £130. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Seconds In! Second appearances of Ant-Man, Iron Man and Thor
*Marvel: The second appearances of three iconic Marvel characters are the focus of this update: Journey Into Mystery #84 pits the newly-minted God of Thunder against the Executioner (not that Executioner, but obviously Stan & Co. liked the name so much they recycled it soon thereafter); Tales of Suspense #40 has the Armoured Avenger become the Golden Avenger for the very first time, blinging up his formerly leaden-grey armour and up against Gargantus (who?) and Tales to Astonish #35 features the return of Hank Pym (who in TTA #27 was merely a nerdy scientist) as the costumed adventurer Ant-Man for the very first time! All three of these classics are illustrated below; JIM #84 is VG cents £350, but with a possible very slight trim at the right edge – we are not conclusive on the issue; TOS #40 is an attractive VG+ cents copy at £335, with very minimal chipping at the cover edge; the first ‘proper’ Ant-Man in TTA #35, is a VG+ pence copy at £440. SORRY, TALES OF SUSPENSE #40 & JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #84 HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: Black Panther debut in Fantastic Four #52
*Marvel: Ruler of the mysterious African nation of Wakanda, the Black Panther was introduced by Stan lee and Jack Kirby in FF #52, and rapidly became not only one of the FF’s staunchest allies, but a major figure in the Avengers and elsewhere in the Marvel Universe. His popularity was enhanced by his cinematic debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and he is set to star in his own movie spectacular in the very near future. This copy of Fantastic Four #52 is VG p at £165. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Deadpool’s Ongoing Debut! 1997 series launch new in
*Marvel: The Merc-With-A-Mouth struck such a chord with readers in the 1990s that, following his New Mutants #98 debut and a mini-series, he gained his own ongoing book in 1997 – having transmuted from a frankly rather dull and bog-standard Guy-With-A-Gun to the wisecracking multiple-personality-psychotic we all know today. This is what may be regarded as the start of the ‘real’ Deadpool – the one beloved by movie fans worldwide. Our copy of the 1997 #1 issue is VF- at £25, and to back it up, we also bring you #2 NM £15. These won’t stick around for long, so maximum effort, people! SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: Marvel Silver/Bronze Sweep F-M
*Marvel: Another ride through the Silver/Bronze Marvel Universe, this time with issues added to our stock for Fantastic Four, Howard the Duck, Hulk (inc 1st Wendigo #162, 1st Gremlin #163), Iron Man (inc 1st Controller #12), Jungle Action with Black Panther, Ka-Zar (inc #1), Machine Man (inc #1), Marvel Premiere, Marvel Spotlight (both series inc. Moon Knight & Deathlok issues) and Marvel Team-Up.