*Girls’ Comics: As the tradition of weekly comics waned in the UK during the last years of the 20th Century, so too did the extra-sized Summer/Holiday Specials – once ubiquitous, they became less and less commonplace as print runs dropped. This, from 1984, is the antepenultimate Tammy Special, published in the same year as the final weekly issues, and is in an extraordinary state of preservation, graded at FN/VF, a grade we rarely append to British items. Gymnast ‘Bella’, ‘Pam of Pond Hill’, and all the regulars are there, pluckily performing just as if their extinction were not imminent! This high-grade and uncommon item is on sale at £45. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Clearance Corner: This week’s bargain lot comprises 5 complete Batman mini-series from the 1990s and 2000s: Batman Gotham Knights (1992) 4 issues by John Ostrander & Mary Mitchell; Batman Gotham Knights II (1995) 4 issues by the same team; Batman Dark Detective (2005) 6 issues by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers (the sequel to the Silver St Cloud sequence from the 1970s); Batman It’s Joker Time (2000) 3 issues by Bob Hall (prestige format); and Batman GCPD (1996) 4 issues by Chuck Dixon & Jim Aparo. All yours for just £20 (UK postage if required will be an extra £3.50), but better move fast for your fix of Bat-Action!  SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Over the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting Robert E. Howard’s immortal creation Conan the Barbarian in a series of updates to various titles starring the famous Cimmerian adventurer. We kick off with the first and most notable Conan series, Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian which debuted in 1970 and lasted 275 issues, ending in 1993. Art by first of all Barry Smith, then John Buscema before the art duties passed to other hands. We have almost the whole series fresh into stock, including #1 (VG+ £60 pictured) the first appearance of Conan in comics, and then from #8 up to the end, including the very final issue #275. Along the way we take in both the first and first full appearances of Red Sonja in #23 (VF £37 pictured) and #24 (VG/FN £30 pictured). We seldom see much of this long run — certainly those issues from the late 1980s and 1990s don’t turn up for us very often and we have several regular Conan customers, so early enquiries for these are expected. More from Conan very soon!
 

*Marvel: From 1985, two extra-long issues comprise the X-Men/Alpha Flight mini-series team crossover where they come up against Loki. Written by Chris Claremont with superb art by Paul Smith, both issues are NM p for £10 the pair; a quality read.  

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Over a dozen issues of Valiant in its final year, 1976, fresh into stock, including the very last issue 16th October VG £12 (pictured). A comic that maintained its quality content throughout its long life, if the nature of that content changed with the times. Arguably the big star of Valiant in this final year was One-Eyed Jack, a tough New York detective. 

To celebrate our special Conan event, Dr Evilla has festooned our window with images of everyone’s favourite barbarian, taken from iconic comic, magazine and book illustrations. And the more cerebral visitors to our shop can read Robert E Howard’s timeless description of Conan and his world that used to appear at the beginning of every Conan comic. I suspect we’re going to be saying ‘By Crom’ quite a bit over the coming weeks… 

*Clearance Corner: Our bargain basement offerings are back with a difference this week! Rather than bundling up a lot for your consideration, we’re offering you a chance to pick any issues you want from our listing of Adventure, the UK comic story paper that ran for 1878 issues between 1921 and 1961 for just 50p each! Ignore the individual prices shown in our catalogue. We have hundreds in stock from 1934-1960, all listed in our Boys’ Adventure & War Comics category. One of D C Thomson’s Big Five, Adventure thrilled generations of boys through the middle of the 20th Century. Shop visitors can of course pick up any quantity; mail order is for a minimum of 20 issues (£10) plus p&p. As with all Clearance Corner lots, this is only available by mail order to UK addresses, since the cost of shipping elsewhere is unviable. This offer will remain available while stocks last but once they’re gone, they’re gone!
 

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 file in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics A – R
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: DC’s 1987 company-wide crossover Legends, introduced a fistful of new concepts they were generating post- Crisis On Infinite Earths. Issue #1 saw the first appearance of the formidable Amanda Waller, and the final issue, #6, saw the introduction of the ‘new’ Justice League, as manifested in their own series by Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire. The later breakout issue of this series, however, was #3, which brought in the most successful version to date of the Suicide Squad, under the direction of the aforementioned Ms. Waller. While the name ‘Suicide Squad’ had been used twice in the DCU before – once for a team of non-superpowered adventurers in Brave & Bold, and once for a series of stories in the war titles, this was the one which caught on. Unwillingly reformed super-villains, the team took on insanely hazardous missions with the dangling promise of freedom if they earned enough ‘time’ off their sentences – or the alternative of a swift and brutal death at the hands of their governmental captors if they crossed the line. A massive hit, this Suicide Squad spun off into several acclaimed series, and, of course, a flawed-but successful major film release in 2016. This entire 6 issue set of Legends is NM pence copies, on sale at £55 (#1 pictured). SORRY, THIS SET HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: A duet of derring-do from two of DC’s classic anthologies – Action Comics #192 (from 1954) features the Man Of Steel facing his greatest threat yet – an efficiency expert? 1950s wackiness, backed up by long-running features Vigilante and Congo Bill, plus relative newcomer Tommy Tomorrow. Adventure Comics #180 (from 1952), features the Boy of Steel plagued by an underworld Academy Awards organisation, plus super-heroic support from Johnny Quick, Aquaman and the Green Arrow! Affordable copies of vintage series: Action #192 is FA £30; Adventure #180 GD- £34.

*Marvel: In August 1990’s X-Men #266, while temporarily de-aged to childhood (as the X-Men often were – maybe scripter Chris Claremont was feeling the passing years?), Storm met a charismatic young thief named Gambit, who aided her in escaping from the clutches of the Shadow King. Unlike many one-off guest-stars, however, Gambit caught on with the reading public, and stuck around to become a mainstay of the team – fortunately ditching his original costume of pervy knickers, stripey tights and flasher-mac in favour of a more conservative ensemble! The Ragin’ Cajun has gone from strength to strength since, and with persistent rumours that lumbering thespian beefcake Channing Tatum is to embody him on-screen, now’s the time to grab the early appearances of the newly-minted ‘Mr.Rogue’ (oops, sorry, spoilers…) before they soar even higher in price! This extremely attractive NM pence copy is on sale at £100. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Following his debut in Fantastic Four #48, readers clamoured for more of the Silver Surfer, 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 think that Norrin Radd 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. Lasting only 18 issues, the short first run of the Silver Surfer’s series is one of the Holy Grails of Silver Age Marvel collectors. We have new copies from #2 (1st appearance of the bellicose Badoon) to #15 of the original series, taking in clashes with Spider-Man, the Abomination and the Human Torch, as well as two later short series – the John Byrne one-off from 1982, and the 1989 two-parter illustrated by the legendary Moebius! Issue #3 of the first run, with the premier appearance of the malevolent Mephisto, is pictured (VG p £35); for details on the others, as always, check our online catalogue.

*Marvel: From 1983, the complete mini-series featuring Storm and Illyana from the X-Men up against the demon Belasco; along the way, Illyana Rasputin (sister of Colossus) ages from a six-year-old child to a thirteen-year-old mutant/sorceress named Magik. Written by Chris Claremont with pencils by John & Sal Buscema & Ron Frenz and finishes by Tom Palmer, so a quality creative team. The complete series of all four issues (all NM p) is offered here for just £15.   

*Western: John Albano and Tony DeZuniga’s co-creation, Jonah Hex, rocked the sedate pages of All-Star Western when he debuted in 1972; a scarred, brooding anti-hero, heavily influenced by the then-new trend of ‘spaghetti westerns’, he was a far cry from the squeaky-clean cowpokes who had previously hung around the DC corral. But he proved such a hit that All-Star Western was renamed Weird Western Tales with #12, headlining his adventures, and he gained his own eponymous series in 1977. We have issues of Jonah’s solo book ranging from #1 (FN+ £30, pictured) through to #54, casting a dark and grim shadow on the Western legend – no ‘shooting the guns out of the bad guys’ hands’ for our Jonah! As a bonus, we have the ‘first’ issue of the renamed Weird Western Tales, #12. Since then, he’s had his own film, and made appearances in other media, including the TV series Legends of Tomorrow – round up a few of his adventures and see what all the fuss is about!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Victor, the well-remembered home of ‘Bernard Briggs’, ‘Tough of the Track’, ‘Craddock VC’ and others, is topped up with a seldom-seen selection from its first year, commencing with the second issue and running unbroken up to #18. This selection of low-to-mid grade copies is enhanced by the presence of free gifts in the early issues – a partial free gift (football photo cards) in #2 and the complete free gifts (three further photo cards per issue) in #3 and #4. Issue #3 (FA/GD with Free Gift VG £40) and #4 (FA/GD with Free Gift VG £40) are depicted; for details on the others, see our online catalogue. SORRY, THESE HAVE ALL 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 file in our Books section:
*Pulp Fiction
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Recognising that the pulps were difficult to browse in their previous location in the shop, we’ve now moved them to a new location opposite the bookcases at the rear of the shop in the Picture Library area, so that they can be comfortably browsed at a height that doesn’t involve stooping and bending!

*Clearance Corner: Our latest bargain is another of our Vintage Marvel reprint selections from the 1960s. This one features 10 copies of Marvel Tales from #3-10 & #15 & #16, Special Marvel Edition with Thor #1, 1 copy of Marvel Super-Heroes #21 and 2 copies of Fantasy Masterpieces (#6 & #9); all in pretty good shape and yours for just £20. A wealth of reading in these giant-sized issues with Spider-Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Human Torch, Marvel Boy, the Avengers, the X-Men, Golden Age Captain America and more. These would fit in a small parcel and UK postage if required would be an extra £3.50.  SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: ‘Stop! This is the new Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow!’ So proclaimed the 76th issue of what was the Emerald Gladiator’s Silver Age series. With sales falling as GL’s traditional sci-fi adventures began to look a bit dated, editor Julius Schwartz turned to the creative team of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams to add Green Arrow to the title and re-invigorate the series. And that’s just what they did, bringing in contemporary ‘relevant’ storylines dealing in issues such as drugs, racism, pollution, and modern life in 1970s USA – not that we’re significantly better off these days…. The fame of their run extends to this day, and it is avidly collected, but it all began here in #76, as Social Justice Warrior Green Arrow (himself only newly made over by O’Neil and Adams in Brave & Bold #85) confronts GL with the issues arising on Earth while Green Lantern’s off among the stars. This copy of GL/GA #76 is a very appealing pence copy, with unimpaired cover scene and only light corner and spine wear. FN- at £180. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: One of the later breakout characters of Marvel, Frank Castle, aka bereaved urban vigilante the Punisher, became one of the company’s super-stars in the 1990s, but had spent most of the previous two decades ‘bubbling under’ as a guest-starring anti-hero. His first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129 is rare in any condition, and especially so in the UK, where, owing to the presence of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, the US title was embargoed for several years. This is a FA cents copy (there are no pence copies, of course), complete but with considerable wear at the edges and spine, especially the upper and lower spine where there are small splits and a corner tear at top. An achievable opportunity to obtain perhaps the most significant Bronze Age Spidey issue at a relatively affordable price of £110. We would anticipate much interest in this issue, but please remember that only one person can be successful in obtaining it! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Early issues of the Avengers are always in high demand, and issue #8, featuring the premier appearance of Kang, Lord of Time, is a tense drama, with the World’s Mightiest Heroes all but helpless in the face of his futuristic technology. In this Lee/Kirby classic, the powerhouses of the team are effortlessly immobilised, leaving the fate of the Avengers, and the world, in the hands of the Wasp and Rick Jones! Kang, of course, became, and remains, a thorn in the side of multiple Avengers teams, but this is his first appearance in the Marvel Universe. This is a VG/FN pence copy, moderate spine and corner wear but unmarred cover scene and extremely presentable interiors, on sale at £140.

*Marvel: From the pages of the X-Men, fan favourite Nightcrawler spun off into his own four issue mini-series in 1985, written and drawn by his co-creator, the stylish Dave Cockrum in a swashbuckling interplanetary pirate adventure with the X-Men on board, natch; clearly a labour of love. We have all four issues on sale as a set, averaging VF/NM condition, pence copies, for just £17.50. Bamf!  SORRY, THIS SET HAS NOW SOLD

*EC: EC themselves always said that they were proudest of their science-fiction titles, Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, and with some justification; the finest artists working in the field during the 1950s – Orlando, Wood, Kamen, Williamson – and a wider imaginative canvas than their groundbreaking horror and crime titles led to some truly outstanding work. We are delighted to have a selection of Weird Fantasy back in stock at affordable low to mid grades, in the number range #14 to #18. Issue #15, pictured, is GD+ at £54. Details of the others may be found, as always, in our online catalogue.

*Western: Two very different series from Marvel’s Corral this week: Ghost Rider, the all-new Western superhero merrily shoplifted from the 1950s series published by a different company, blazed a brief trail across the firmament before being reinvented as the Phantom Rider once Johnny Blaze came on the scene. In his seven issues, he fought quite a Rogue’s Gallery: the Cougar, Tarantula, Sting-Ray, and Native American anti-hero the Flaming Star, to name a few. We have issues #2 to #7 of his series new in. A few years later, Marvel decided to try a stealth relaunch of one of their own 1950s properties, the Ringo Kid; the 1970-launched series reprinted vintage but classy artwork by Severin, Maneely and others, and proved so successful that Marvel started producing all-new Ringo Kid tales – at which point sales plummeted, and they had to revert to the reprints! Oops. Issues #2 to #6, and #9 to #19 of Ringo Kid now in stock.

*Alan Class Reprints: More than 50 issues added to our listings of five of the Alan Class ‘Big Six’ this week – Astounding Stories (from #111-190), Creepy Worlds (#22-236), Secrets of the Unknown (#34-243), Suspense (#12-235) and Uncanny Tales (#39-179), as well as early issues of the short-run series Weird Planets from #1 onward! Join us for the characteristic AC melange of Pre-hero Marvel, Atlas, Charlton, Archie, THUNDER Agents, and some features that even surprise and bewilder people of our experience!