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American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Police Comics 1946 & 1949

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC28th October 2024

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection this week, some true vintage from Quality Comics from 1946 & 1949 in the shape of Police Comics #51 & #86 in contrasting grades. Police Comics was the title in which Plastic Man first appeared (from #1) and although I don’t see many police involved, this bumper-sized anthology title contained a whole wealth of detective, mystery and super-hero strips, as well as a fair sprinkling of humour. In these issues you get Plastic Man by Jack Cole and the Spirit, funny girl Candy, Manhunter, the Human Bomb (in #51) and a number of comedy shorts.
PICTURED: POLICE COMICS BOTH SOLD
#51 GD £25 Some spine wear with small stain at lower right corner cover. A couple of fingernail+ size chips out at top towards the right edge. Otherwise decent copy with good colour.
#86 FN+ £80 Nice copy with good colour and gloss, white to off-white pages and tight staples. Small printed arrival date. 

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American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: ACG’s Unknown Worlds

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC28th October 2024

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: For some time ago, we’ve been mining a rich vein of ACG’s Silver Age series of horror/mystery/supernatural whimsy. Now we reach the end of this large batch with a final six issues of Unknown Worlds. We’ll doubtless feature more from ACG in the future, but for now, this is the conclusion.
IN THIS UPDATE: UNKNOWN WORLDS ALL SOLD
#10 FN p £18
#11 FN/VF p £27 (PICTURED)
#26 FN p £10.75
#29 FN+ p £13.25
#30 FN+ p £13.25
#32 VF- p £18.50

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American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Early issues of Girls’ Romances

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC28th October 2024

*Romance: For our final update of this inaugural Midas Collection release, we feature five issues of Girl’s Romances, one of DC’s longest running romance titles, which started in 1950. Our update features #4, #6 and #8-10. Although mostly drawn by unknown artists, DC’s romance comics from this period featured a good standard of appealing art, and often very well composed and executed covers. Here, #4 & #6 are photo covers, as was common with romance back then, but by #8 had changed to line-drawn art. Seldom seen, particularly over here in the UK, the Midas Collection is quite rich in this genre, with many more to follow.
PICTURED: GIRLS’ ROMANCES
#4 GD £22 Both staples neatly off.
#6 VG £44
#8 VG- £38 Off top staple SOLD
#9 VG- £38 Extra central staple
#10 GD- £19 Off top and centre staples; upper spine split

 

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British Comics Update: 2 incomplete Alan Class Marvel key issues

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC26th October 2024

*Alan Class Reprints: We don’t normally sell incomplete comics, but we think these Alan Class key issues are too good to throw away, so are offering them cheaply here to give you a chance to fill a gap until a better copy comes along.
PICTURED:
CREEPY WORLDS #38 INCOMPLETE £10. First leaf missing, which is pages 1 & 2 of lead story. Reprints Fantastic Four #8, 1st Puppet Master, 1st Alicia. Fairly ropey condition, with creases, tears and tape.
SUSPENSE #61 INCOMPLETE £10. First leaf missing, which is pages 2 & 3 of lead story (page 1 on inside front cover). Reprints Iron Man story from Tales Of Suspense #48, 1st red and gold armour, 1st Mr Doll. Decent enough copy otherwise.

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British Comics Update: Battle Picture Library: 20 issues from 1968-1969

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC26th October 2024

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: 20 issues of Battle Picture Library newly added from 1968-1969 between #364 and #386. All are in nearly uniform nice shape, FN/VF with a couple slightly lower, clean, bright and unmarked, with virtually no staple rust. Full details as always in our catalogue.

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Books Update: A Mixed Bag of Vintage Science Fiction and Fantasy

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC28th October 2024

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Four diverse selections this week: From Mark Clifton and Frank Riley, a rare novel of mind control and an underground machine; from Gardner F Fox, the second novel in his ERB-like Llarn sequence; from David Grinnell, the story of a miniature universe and from M John Harrison, the first in his celebrated Viriconium fantasy series. 
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
MARK CLIFTON & FRANK RILEY: THE FOREVER MACHINE Galaxy 1958 1st US PB VG £15
GARDNER F FOX: THIEF OF LLARN Ace 1966 1st US PB VG £8
DAVID GRINNELL: EDGE OF TIME Ace 1962 1st US PB FN £5
M JOHN HARRISON: THE PASTEL CITY NEL 1974 2nd UK PB GD/VG £10

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Books Update: Re-Working Our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: Sax Rohmer: Fu Manchu and Sumuru

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC28th October 2024

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category for the novels of Sax Rohmer and his most famous creations. Rohmer (real name Arthur Ward) was writing for most of the first half of the 20th Century up to his death in 1959. He was the creator of Dr Fu Manchu, the oriental criminal mastermind who shot to fame across the media; in the 1950s, he followed up with Sumuru, a female variation of his main character. He also wrote many novels of supernatural and mystery fiction in a long and illustrious career. We have just one of the Fu Manchu novels in stock (but it does have the distinction of being our only (non-pictorial board) hardcover without a dustjacket, and also the oldest book we have!) plus three of the five Sumuru novels. More information, including condition notes, in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY SAX ROHMER ALL SOLD
THE RETURN OF DR FU-MANCHU McBride 1916 1st US HC GD £15
SINISTER MADONNA Four Square 1963 UK PB VG £8 A Sumuru Novel
THE SINS OF SUMURU Digit 1964 UK PB GD £5
THE SLAVES OF SUMURU Panther 1960 GD £15

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Books Update: Steed & Mrs Peel – the Avengers 1967

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC28th October 2024

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: In 1967, at the height of popularity of the TV series, Panther published a uniform set of 4 Avengers novels, all by John Garforth. The eccentricity of the plots perfectly captured the feel of this classic of British television. Great photo covers of our two stylish protagonists.
PICTURED: THE AVENGERS, ALL BY JOHN GARFORTH ALL SOLD
THE FLOATING GAME Panther 1967 1st UK PB VG £8
HEIL HARRIS! Panther 1967 1st UK PB VG/FN £10
THE LAUGH WAS ON LAZARUS Panther 1967 1st UK PB VG £8
THE PASSING OF GLORIA MUNDAY Panther 1967 1st UK PB VG £8

Posted in What's New

Clearance Corner: Halloween Candy – 25 issues plus the 1967 Candy & Andy Annual for just £20

Posted on 26th October 2024 by 30CC28th October 2024

*Clearance Corner: Very occasionally, a lot comes our way which either does not justify its place in our catalogue (but is too good to discard), or is superfluous to our requirements. These lots are offered here on our What’s New page, but are no longer listed in our catalogue. Lots listed under Clearance Corner will be available for a short time only, and are offered post free to UK buyers only. They are not bagged and boarded as our normal stock, but will be securely packaged for transit. If you order a Clearance Corner lot, it may not be combined with another order in the same package. This time we’re offering 25 issues of Gerry Anderson’s Candy between #55 and #143 plus the Candy & Andy Annual from 1967 (pictured). The comics are mostly VG (with a few GD and a few FN) and the annual is a splendid VF. By issue #55 the stills from this TV show that never was had run out and the title offered more traditional younger readers’ fare, but the annual has those creepy pandas (enough to put the Halloween heebie-jeebies up the most stalwart of children – or even adults) and even a couple of Thunderbirds strips. Just right for your little ones this Halloween, although whether this lot is a trick or treat, we’ll leave up to them! £20 for the batch including free p&p (UK only). SOLD

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American Comics Update: Justice League Of America #21 & #22 — Crises On Earths-One & Two

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC19th October 2024

*DC: A pair of beauties that are among the closest to our collective hearts here at 30th Century – in Justice League of America #21 & #22, the ground-breaking ‘Crisis On Earth-One’ and ‘Crisis On Earth-Two’ the heroes of the Justice League met their parallel world counterparts, the Justice Society of America, for the first time, and an annual tradition was formed. Superbly created by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, the multiple heroes and villains of these stories were expertly juggled, with everyone getting their moment to shine. The DC palette of cover colours were superbly used here with deep purple and almost turquoise blue backgrounds making the figures seem to leap off the covers, and these two well-preserved examples are just right to appreciate that. I was blown away by the concept when I read these as a kid in 1963 — now’s your chance to be blown away too!
PICTURED: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA
#21 VG+ p £90 Pence stamped, a little edge wear, handling wear and corner blunting, but tight staples and nice page quality, with unmarred cover image. 
#22 VG p £55 Pence stamped, a little edge wear, handling wear and corner blunting, but tight staples and nice page quality, with unmarred cover image, apart from narrow reading crease between staples at spine.

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American Comics Update: V For Vendetta #1-10 Complete Series; Alan Moore/David Lloyd Masterpiece

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC21st October 2024

*DC: From 1988, the other ground-breaking series by Alan Moore, V For Vendetta — a seminal story of rebellion in an all too familiar dystopian Britain — a story for its time and, unfortunately, still very much with us. With wonderfully subtle art by David Lloyd and muted colour palettes by our late friend Steve Whitaker (among others), the series looks as good as it reads. It spawned an okay film, but more significantly, the V mask has been adopted by the ‘Occupy’ movement and is now internationally famous. This is the Complete Set, #1-10, all but one in pristine NM condition (#1 is VF+ due to tiny amount of handling wear at top edge).
PICTURED: V FOR VENDETTA #1; COMPLETE SET #1-10 £85 SOLD

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American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: Amazing #5: Spidey Vs Dr Doom

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC19th October 2024

*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection this week. There must have been something in the stars for Dr Doom and the number 5; after debuting in Fantastic Four #5, he turns up in Amazing Spider-Man #5 to take on everyone’s favourite friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler. How can Spidey beat the monarch of Latveria? Well… he can’t actually, but I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. This is a very respectable mid-grade pence printed copy featuring an unspoilt cover with good colour (faint blue smudge about the size of a 1p coin centrally above logo). There is some corner blunting and tiny bits of edge and spine wear. Staples are firm at cover, although the lower one only is off at centrefold. Single digit Spideys are highly prized. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #5 VG p £1,000

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American Comics Update: The Bute Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Rama-Tut in Fantastic Four #19

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC19th October 2024

*Marvel: From the Bute Collection this week, the Fabulous FF ‘Walk Like Egyptians’, as they face off against Rama-Tut, an ancient dictator who is so much more than he seems. Possessing power and technology far beyond his apparent means, Rama-Tut’s saga unfolded over the course of ensuing decades to disclose a multitude of alternate identities, including a close familial connection with one of the FF themselves – but ssh! spoilers! This is a pence printed, worn and slightly dingy lower-graded copy, but structurally integral with very few cover flaws but for tiny wear and creasing at edges and corners and a small tear around the lower staple, although both staples are still well attached. Off-white to cream pages are okay. 
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #19 GD p £85

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American Comics Update: The Mighty Thor x10

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC21st October 2024

*Marvel: Ten more rollicking adventures with the God of Thunder and his chums this week, with an array of villains and monsters in consecutive issues between #212 & #221, wherein Thor and the gang go all cosmic into outer space shenanigans and more.
IN THIS UPDATE: THOR ALL SOLD
#212 VG- p £4
#213 FN p £6.75
#214 FN p £6.75
#215 VG/FN p £5.75
#216 FN p £6.75
#217 FN p £6.75
#218 FN+ p £8.25
#219 FN/VF £10.50 With Mark Jewelers Insert
#220 FN+ p £8.25
#221 FN+ £9.75

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American Comics Update: IW/Super Extravaganza: Space Detective

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC21st October 2024

*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, both issues of Space Detective, #1 and #8 (as we always say, IW’s numbering system was esoteric, to put it mildly). Unusually, both issues feature reprints of original Space Detective covers from 1951 by Wally Wood and Joe Orlando. #1 actually has content (mostly by those same artistic luminaries) from the original series (and the cover to #2); #8 has the cover from #1, but peculiarly, the content from Famous Funnies #191, featuring a different Space Detective. Got that?
PICTURED: SPACE DETECTIVE
#1 GD £25 Reprints cover and content from Space Detective #2 (Avon 1951). Okay copy with short upper spine split, small label mark by logo and book shop stamp with handwritten price. SOLD
#8 VG £60 Reprints cover: Space Detective #1 (Avon 1951); content: Famous Funnies #191 (Eastern Color 1950). Nice enough copy with mild wear, the worst being a short crease across bottom right corner which just breaks colour.

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American Comics Update: The Arch Collection: Atomic Sci-Fi: Captain Rocket #1 (1951)

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC19th October 2024

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Well, more of a Canadian Update really. Captain Rocket #1 (and only) was a Canadian venture into Atomic Sci-Fi from PL Publishing. All the trademarks are here: square-jawed heroes, slinky space gals in bikinis, space ships with rivets, ray-guns, devious and ugly aliens and the odd monster. A decent example of this much-loved genre. This is a reasonable copy with a nice cover image (small faint stain over spaceship does not detract much at all). Moderate edge wear, with a small corner off top right (see scan); lies fairly flat. Staples firm at spine and centrefold; pages are a nice white to off-white. From the Arch Collection.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN ROCKET #1 GD/VG £200

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American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Charlton Horror: Ghostly Tales, Ghost Manor, Scary Tales

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC21st October 2024

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Half a dozen more distinctive gems from Charlton’s 1970s output in this vein.
IN THIS UPDATE:  ALL SOLD
GHOSTLY TALES
#99 VG p £6
#107 VG p £4.50
#132 VF p £8
GHOST MANOR
#39 GD p £2
#77 VF p £6.75 Final issue
SCARY TALES
#37 FN p £4.75

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British Comics Update: Jag #1 1968

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC19th October 2024

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In 1968, Fleetway/IPC launched Jag, the third (after Lion and Tiger) of their ‘big cat’ anthologies – and this was the biggest, measuring 12″ by 14″. This awkward size, somewhere between TV 21 and Beezer, meant that it was usually displayed folded even when brand new in newsagents. Despite its imposing size, much of Jag’s content was surprisingly by-the-numbers, although later in its run it acquired a ‘star’ feature – ‘Football Family Robinson’ – ably illustrated by Joe Colquhoun, which went on to a much longer life in Tiger, which absorbed Jag after less than a year. Jag, owing to its unusual dimensions, hasn’t generally been stored carefully or survived the years well, and our latest copy is only a Good, with  a heavy horizontal newsagent’s fold, wear to right and bottom edges and, sadly, without the Free Gift. Still, a less common and interesting backwater in UK comics’ publishing history.
PICTURED: JAG #1 4/5/68 GD £30

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Books Update: Re-Working our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC21st October 2024

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category for the novels of Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze. Doc Savage first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a polymathic scientist, explorer, detective, and warrior. He was raised by scientists to become the perfect human, righting wrongs worldwide with the aid of his five associates – and a sixth, if you included Doc’s shapely cousin Pat Savage, an Amazonian lady with a deft line in snappy patter. The series’ main writer, was Lester Dent. Doc Savage stories were published under the Kenneth Robeson name, as were the paperback series of novels published from the 1960s to the 1990s, which reprinted the 181 stories from the pulp magazine. You can start, or add to, your collection right here with 8 of these novels, well presented with attractive painted covers.
PICTURED: ALL DOC SAVAGE BY KENNETH ROBESON ALL SOLD
THE AWFUL EGG Bantam 1978 US PB VG £5
THE GREEN EAGLE Bantam 1968 1st US PB GD £4
LAND OF ALWAYS NIGHT Bantam 1966 1st US PB GD £4
THE MAGIC ISLAND Bantam 1977 US PB VG/FN £6
METEOR MENACE Corgi 1975 1st UK PB GD £4
PIRATE OF THE PACIFIC Bantam 1977 US PB VG/FN £6
THE SARGASSO OGRE Bantam 1967 1st US PB VG £5
TUNNEL TERROR Bantam 1979 US PB VG/FN £6

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Starting Next Week: The Midas Collection, for a Touch of Gold

Posted on 19th October 2024 by 30CC19th October 2024

Be here next Saturday for the beginning of a Dazzling Cornucopia of Golden Age Goodness!

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American Comics Update: The Bute Collection/DC Debuts: The Adam Strange Trilogy in Showcase #17-19

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC15th October 2024

*DC: In 1958, DC Comics presented a new science fiction hero, the latest in a line that stretched back to John Carter of Mars and Flash Gordon. Like his famous predecessors, Adam Strange was a contemporary Earthman transported through space for adventures on an alien world. Indeed, the banner heading for Adam’s first appearance in Showcase #17 was ‘Adventures On Other Worlds’ (it wasn’t until #19 that it changed to ‘Adam Strange’, the one and only time in the classic Silver Age that his name appeared at the masthead on a comic cover, since all subsequent appearances came in Mystery In Space).

Adam Strange was created by editor Julius Schwartz and (visually) Murphy Anderson. It was Schwartz (himself a veteran of science fiction magazines) who conceived the idea of an Earthman repeatedly traveling to a planet in the Alpha Centauri star system using a ‘Zeta-Beam’.  Since Adam Strange was the first Earthman on another planet, he named his character Adam after the Biblical first man. Schwartz assigned the scripts to Gardner Fox (although the plots were dreamed up between them) and the artistic duties to Mike Sekowsky. Schwartz, being a science major, gave Fox scientific pointers which lent the series a plausibility far greater than other science fiction comics of the time.

In Showcase #17, Adam Strange is presented as an archaeologist, an Indiana Jones-type figure searching for a lost city of the Incas in the Andes. Pursued by natives, he risks a twenty-five foot leap across a chasm, but never lands. Instead he is struck by a mysterious beam from space and transported to the planet Rann of the star system Alpha Centauri 25 trillion miles from Earth. There he meets the lovely Alanna and her scientist father Sardath in the city of Ranagar. They explain that their ‘Zeta-Beam’ was a communication device sent to Earth four years previously in an attempt to establish contact; due to some unnamed ‘space radiation’, they postulated that the beam had somehow been converted into a teleportation beam. No sooner is Adam starting to settle in than Rann is invaded by a race called the Eternals (!) who are after a rare metal for their home world. Using his spacecraft piloting skills (where did he get those from?) and his wits, Adam is able to trap the Eternals permanently in the fourth dimension, as you do. Just as he succeeds, however, the Zeta-Beam charge wears off and he is teleported back to Earth.

Never fear though because Sardath had previously been able to advise where and when all subsequent Zeta-Beams would strike the Earth (they took four years, but he’d already sent loads!), so Adam was able to beam back to Rann in time for his second adventure and the second alien invasion in the second story in Showcase #17, wherein Adam got the spacesuit, rocket jets and ray-gun by which we came to recognise him.

We’re delighted to present, from the Bute Collection, all three of Adam Strange’s adventures in Showcase.

PICTURED: SHOWCASE
#17 GD/VG £500 Cover has excellent colour and gloss and is virtually unmarked. It’s off the lower staple and the spine is cleanly split to slightly above that. Remainder of spine is attached, but a little weak with a few small holes. There is some corner blunting and edge wear, but little of note except for a 3 cm crease top centre which breaks colour. There is a slight puckering along a few cms of the right edge. Both staples are firm at centrefold, and the top firm at cover as well. Supple pages are a very clean white to off-white. High resolution images are available on request. SOLD
#18 VG+ £160 Nice unspoilt cover image with just reading wear, corner blunting and a couple of diagonal creases across bottom right, one of which faintly breaks colour. Solid spine with staples firmly attached, and at centrefold. Supple pages are a very clean white to off-white.
#19 VG+ £170 Nice unspoilt cover image with just reading wear, corner blunting and a short 2 cm crease across bottom right, which just breaks colour. Solid spine with staples firmly attached, and at centrefold. Supple pages are a very clean white to off-white.

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American Comics Update: A Supernatural/Science Fiction Selection

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC14th October 2024

*DC: Five classic DC issues this week, all in either the supernatural or science-fiction genres. Brave & Bold #48 has science-fiction sports stories by Infantino, the giant-size From beyond The Unknown #10 has vintage reprints from Mystery In Space and Strange Adventures, House of Secrets #80 has mystic characters Eclipso and Prince Ra-Man, Mystery In Space #80 has an excellent Adam Strange lead with a quality Star Rovers back-up, Spectre #9 from his first series features art by Bernie Wrightson.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
BRAVE & BOLD #48 FA/GD p £5.25 Covers detached
FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN #10 VG- p £5.25
HOUSE OF SECRETS #80 GD p £4.50
MYSTERY IN SPACE #80 GD/VG £17 Figures traced on cover
SPECTRE #9 GD/VG p £9

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American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection:/Mighty Marvel Firsts: X-Men #64-66

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC12th October 2024

*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection this week, X-Men #64-66 were the last three issues of the original series to feature new material (issues #67-93 were all reprint), but each of these three issues has great significance. #64 featured the debut of short-lived X-Man but recurring character Sunfire; #65 (the last issue drawn by Neal Adams) featured the return of Professor X back from the dead and #66 guest-starred the Hulk, who Marvel always seemed to wheel out for the final issue of a series. 
PICTURED: X-MEN
#64 VF- £175 Nice clean glossy copy with vibrant colours, tight, firm staples and white to off-white pages. Minor wear at spine and very slight handling wear.
#65 FN/VF £65 Nice clean glossy copy with vibrant colours, tight, firm staples and near white pages. A very narrow 4.5 cm crease at top right corner breaks colour.
#66 VF- p £150 Pence-printed. Glossy and vibrant, with tight, firm staples and near white pages. Just minor handling edge wear.

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American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts/Spider-Mania: 1st Mary Jane cameo in Amazing #25

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC12th October 2024

*Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man #25 features the first of several cameo appearances of Mary Jane (her face was not shown until #42), as well as the debuts of Professor Smythe and his Spider Slayer, the first incarnation of which was a marvellously fluid Ditko invention. Virtually every issue of Amazing from these early years was a landmark! This pence stamped copy is a very reasonable mid-grade, with average but unobtrusive edge wear and a tiny colour-breaking crease across bottom right cover corner. A reflective cover with good colour, tight firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. The inside covers have narrow tan strips at the edges and there is a 1 cm nick at bottom spine.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #25 VG+ p £140 

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American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: ‘This Female Fights Back!’ – Ms Marvel #1 from 1977

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC14th October 2024

*Marvel: Ms Marvel, spinning out of Captain Marvel, former background character Carol Danvers got her own set of super-powers and a whole new supporting cast (including new boss J. Jonah Jameson) as she attempted to discover the mystery behind her own origins. Although moderately successful, the series was attacked by critics who derided Carol’s derivative costume, which made her look like Captain Marvel’s sidekick, and the fact that Marvel were offering a ‘powerful, confident’ heroine who suffered from blackouts and amnesia. Despite these jibes, Ms Marvel has been a prominent member of the Marvel Universe for nearly fifty years in one guise or another – whether as Ms Marvel, Binary, Warbird, or an incarnation of Captain Marvel, her chequered history has provided many intriguing plotlines. This is a nice cents copy with great cover colour and gloss and just minor handling wear at edges, with a very soft non colour-breaking crease across the edge of the top right corner. Supple off-white pages and tight, firm staples.
PICTURED: MS MARVEL #1 VF- £35 SOLD

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American Comics Update: The Arch Collection/L B Cole Miasma: Terrifying Tales #14

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC14th October 2024

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959:  L B Cole was one of the most famous of Golden/Atomic Age cover artists. He drew in a variety of genres, and was artistic director at Star, illustrating 95% of the company’s covers; his lurid, feverish style, almost hallucinogenic, graced horror, science-fiction, jungle and romance alike. Terrifying Tales was a sort of hybrid jungle and horror title; the content on #14 (1953) was pure reprint Rulah, Jungle Goddess from #20 of her own Fox series 1948. (NB As Fox featured the splash page of the first story on the inside front cover, this is not included in this reprint). The Rulah stories are noted for their extreme violence and horror overtones, but of course it’s the wonderful L B Cole cover for which this issue is prized, with a jungle queen bondage foreground, black panthers, a voodoo priestess and glittering idols. This is a decent copy, with great cover colour which truly sets off the design, firm staples and nice just off-white pages. There are small amounts of edge wear with a couple of small chips and minor creases at right corners, including one 6.5 cm colour-breaking crease across bottom right edge. Short 1.5 cm tear at centre right with no loss. Cover slightly off-centre so that staples are just on reverse and corresponding narrow white edge at right (see scan), but overall an attractive and appealing copy from our new Arch Collection.
PICTURED: TERRIFYING TALES #14 VG £200 SOLD

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American Comics Update: Frank Miller’s Sin City: The Big Fat Kill Complete Set

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC14th October 2024

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Frank Miller’s Sin City burst on to the comics scene in 1991, firmly establishing the neo-noir mood he had built on in his earlier classic run on Daredevil and the seminal Dark Knight Returns. The original Sin City series (later entitled The Hard Goodbye) originally appeared in serial form in Dark Horse Presents, and The Big Fat Kill (a five part mini-series) was the third instalment of these stories of Basin City and its denizens. It continues the story of photographer Dwight McCarthy from the previous A Dame To Kill For. It’s chock-full of the dark, seedy characters that inhabit the city and the locations that form it. The film noir influence on the series’ artwork is seen in its use of shadow and stark backgrounds. Black and white are the sole colours most of the time, with other colour used sparingly to highlight certain characters. The writing style also draws heavily on detective and crime pulp fiction. We’re delighted to present all five parts of The Big Fat Kill in pristine condition from an original owner collection.
PICTURED: SIN CITY: THE BIG FAT KILL #1; COMPLETE SERIES #1-5 All NM £25 SOLD

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British Comics Update: Two early and obscure Alan Class issues

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC12th October 2024

*Alan Class Reprints: As well as the major long-running series, Alan Class also published, mostly early in his history, a number of one-off and short run series. A couple of the less often seen examples here. The second (unnumbered) and final issue of Amazing Stories and the only (unnumbered) issue of Eerie Tales. Great collector’s items in our regular listing. 
PICTURED:
AMAZING STORIES NN (#2) VG/FN £22
EERIE TALES NN (#1) VG- £17.50

 

Posted in What's New

British Comics Update: Love Story Library – 10 issues from 1967

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC12th October 2024

*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 #622 to #631. 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
#622 VF £7
#623 FN/VF £6
#624 FN £5
#625 FN £5
#626 FN/VF £6
#627 FN/VF £6
#628 FN/VF £6
#629 FN/VF £6
#630 VF £7
#631 FN/VF £6

Posted in What's New

Books Update: Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC14th October 2024

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: The 87th Precinct is a series of police procedural novels and stories by American author Ed McBain (a writing pseudonym of Evan Hunter), many of which have been adapted into films and TV. The books feature a large ensemble cast, often but not always centered on about half a dozen police detectives and other supporting characters. Detective Steve Carella is a major character in the series. The 87th Precinct has 16 detectives on its regular roster and is said to have the highest crime rate in the city (a fictitious version of New York). There are over 50 books in the sequence, published between 1956 and 2005; here are six of them, all in Penguin editions.
PICTURED: ALL BY ED McBAIN ALL SOLD
AXE Penguin 1969 2nd UK PB GD £4
THE CON MAN Penguin 1963 1st UK PB FA £3
COP HATER Penguin 1964 2nd UK PB VG £5
KING’S RANSOM Penguin 1965 1st UK PB GD/VG £4
THE MUGGER Penguin 1960s UK PB GD/VG £4
GIVE THE BOYS A GREAT BIG HAND Penguin 1965 UK PB GD/VG £4

Posted in What's New

Books Update: H P Lovecraft Volumes: Essays and Letters

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC12th October 2024

*Books About Books: You’ll find a couple of items listed under ‘About H P Lovecraft’ added to this category this week, although these are in fact essays and letters by the man himself, two sturdy and learned volumes.
PICTURED:
ABOUT H P LOVECRAFT
H P LOVECRAFT (Ed by S T JOSHI)
COLLECTED ESSAYS VOLUME 5: PHILOSOPHY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY & MISCELLANY
Hippocampus Press NY 2006 1st US PB, 1st printing VF £18
H P LOVECRAFT (Ed by S T JOSHI & DAVID E SCHULTZ)

LETTERS TO JAMES F MORTON
Hippocampus Press 2011 1st US PB FN £15

Posted in What's New

Coming Soon – The Midas Collection

Posted on 12th October 2024 by 30CC12th October 2024

For a Touch of Gold… Watch this space!

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: Their Name Is Legion: Adventure Comics #300 – LSH series begins

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC14th October 2024

*DC: A significant milestone in the history of the Legion of Super-Heroes is a decent copy of Adventure Comics #300, in which Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes replaced Tales of the Bizarro World as the regular back-up feature to Superboy and starred on the cover. Although the Legion had been around as supporting characters for a few years, it was really here and in the 80 issue run that followed that the lore of the Legion, so beloved by its fans (of which I’m one) really started. A nice cents copy with good colour and minor edge wear, okay staples and pages, marred only by a short spine split between the staples.
PICTURED: ADVENTURE #300 VG- £70 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: Five Silver Age Green Lantern

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC7th October 2024

*DC: Five consecutive issues new in featuring the Emerald Gladiator between #21 and #25. Green Lantern divides his time between fighting super-villains and having science fiction adventures, as well as courting Carol Ferris and hanging out with his brothers. Villains on patrol here include Dr Polaris, Hector Hammond, the Tattooed Man, The Shark and Sonar.
IN THIS UPDATE: GREEN LANTERN ALL SOLD
#21 FA p £5.50 1st Dr Polaris. Restapled; half ad page torn out.
#22 VG p £16
#23 FA p £6.25 1st Tattooed Man. Off lower staple
#24 VG p £40 (PICTURED) 1st Shark
#25 VG+ p £23

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Thanos (& others) in high grade Iron Man #55

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC5th October 2024

*Marvel: Key issues don’t come much more key these days than Iron Man #55, wherein the cosmic arch-villain Thanos, nemesis of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, made his first appearance, the brainchild of fan favourite writer/artist Jim Starlin. Thanos has of course gone on to plague Marvel’s heroes in comics and movies ever since, but here is where it all started. This landmark issue also features the debuts of Drax the Destroyer, Mentor, Eros (later Starfox of the Avengers) and Kronos. This is a beautiful pence printed copy, clean and bright with reflective cover colour. Firm, tight staples and supple white to off-white pages. No cover marks except for a faint and tiny soft dink at base of spine and a couple of minor stress marks centrally at spine; none of these break colour. High grade images are available on request.
PICTURED: IRON MAN #55 VF+ p £600

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania: Amazing Spider-Man #82-87

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC5th October 2024

*Marvel: Six mid-grade consecutive issues of Amazing spider-Man from the Good Doctor Collection, issues #82-87. These feature Electro, the Schemer and the Kingpin, John Romita’s redesign of the Black Widow in #86 and a big unmasking in #87.
IN THIS UPDATE: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#82 VG+ p £45 (PICTURED) Pence stamped
#83 FN- p £50 (PICTURED) Pence printed
#84 VG+ £35
#85 VG+ p £32 Pence stamped
#86 VG+ p £50 (PICTURED) Pence stamped. John Romita’s new design for the Black Widow
#87  FN- £55 (PICTURED)

 

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Fantastic Four #24, #40, #66

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC7th October 2024

*Marvel: From the Bute Collection this week, three issues of Fantastic Four, linked only by being in the same grade. In #24, the FF come up against an alien child. In #40, guest-starring daredevil, the powerless FF encounter Dr Doom in a battle royale. And in #66, we learn something of the background to the origin of Him, later Warlock.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#24 VG+ p £50 Pence printed. Nice solid copy with only minor edge wear and very slight chipping. 
#40 VG+ p £40 Pence stamped. Nice solid copy with some corner blunting and spine ticks. SOLD
#66 VG+ £50 Fresh copy with minor wear at right corners.

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: IW/Super Extravaganza: All 3 Phantom Lady issues

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC7th October 2024

*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, all three IWs featuring reprints of the famous Fox Phantom Lady series, with sumptuous good girl art by Matt Baker.  Please note the IW numbering system was a law unto itself! Prospective collectors should also note that IW did not reprint the original splash page for these issues, which Fox printed on the inside front covers; so therefore the first story starts at page 2. This is not a fault, but as they were published. There are many modern reprints of this celebrated series, but these represent an opportunity to get true vintage versions at a fraction of the price of the originals.
PICTURED:
DARING ADVENTUES #12 FN+ £75 Reprints Phantom Lady #14 (1947). New cover by Joe Simon. Solid, sound copy with no marks or notable creases, just slight spine and edge wear. 
GREAT ACTION COMICS #8 GD/VG £50 Reprints Phantom Lady #15 (1947). New cover by Carl Burgos. Spine wear with cover corner creases breaking colour, but nice enough copy. SOLD
GREAT ACTION COMICS #9 FN £80 Reprints Phantom Lady #23 (1949). New cover by Carl Burgos/Sol Brodsky?  Really nice copy with just small dink at base of spine. SOLD

 

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: Speed Carter, Spaceman, all six issues

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC14th October 2024

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: In the 1950s, Atlas, like most publishers, was scrambling around different genres to find the next ‘big thing’, and one such experiment was 1953’s Speed Carter, Spaceman, Flash Gordonesque space opera as Speed, accompanied by plucky sidekick Johnny and the shapely Stellar Stone, went where no man had gone before. These pulpy adventures were high on action and tinged with horror, as the publisher tried to cover all bases, but Speed Carter Spaceman, (technically, in the indicia, ‘Spaceman’: On the cover, ‘Speed Carter Spaceman and the Space Sentinels’ – no possible confusion there…) didn’t catch on with the public despite some quality work, and had only a short 6-issue run, initially illustrated by the superb Joe Maneely. All six issues of the run fresh in, admittedly mostly in very low grades, but at least that makes them affordable!
PICTURED: SPEED CARTER, SPACEMAN ALL SOLD
#1 FA £55 Pieces of tape reinforcing worn spine, chunk off bottom left cover, wear and tear, pages okay.
#2 FA £27 Wrinkled and stained by water damage.
#3 FA/GD £35 Colour touches and edge wear.
#4 GD £47 Small amounts of edge wear. Not a bad copy.
#5 FA/GD £35 Edge wear, chips out top left cover, bottom spine.
#6 PR/FA £13 Heavy colour touches, spine glued, corners off back cover.

Posted in What's New

American Update: From the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Complete Set of Nemo hardcovers

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC7th October 2024

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s quite rare that we stray into the 21st Century for our stock, but for Alan Moore, we’ll make an exception. Moore created, in conjunction with artist Kevin O’Neill, a Victorian era combination of characters from famous literary works: Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and so forth. This unlikely and reluctant alliance faced down foes in two mini-series, then resurfaced periodically from various publishers in a number of one-offs, original graphic novels and spin-offs. The subject of a controversial film (which Moore publicly disavowed and condemned, and which is rumoured to have caused star Sean Connery to retire from acting!), the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics and graphic novels are of a much higher quality. Even if, over the intervening years, Moore’s narrative techniques have become ever more esoteric and oblique, there is much entertainment to be had in his shameless plundering of popular culture. This week we have the complete three volume set of the solo adventures of Nemo, the Indian captain of the submarine Nautilus, three separate stories magnificently presented in high quality hardcover editions. From an original owner collection.
PICTURED: NEMO, COMPLETE SET OF 3 All Mint £30 SOLD
HEART OF ICE, THE ROSES OF BERLIN, RIVER OF GHOSTS

Posted in What's New

British Comics Update: Thriller Comics/Picture Library #82-95

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC5th October 2024

*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. Ten issues between #82 and #95 featured this week, mostly towards mid-grade.
IN THIS UPDATE: THRILLER COMICS/PICTURE LIBRARY
#82 GD £10
The Swordsman
#83 GD £10
The Apache Curse
#84 GD £10
The Chronicles Of Captain Blood
#85 GD £10 Dick Turpin – For Justice and the Right
#86 GD £10 (PICTURED) Rob Roy
#87 GD/VG £12.50 D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers
#92 GD/VG £12.50 Dick Turpin and the Lost Heir
#93 GD £10 Forward, the Musketeers
#94 GD £10 The Highway Blade
#95 GD/VG £12.50 Sabre and Tomahawk

 

 

Posted in What's New

British Comics Update: Dandy 1967 – New and improved

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC5th October 2024

*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we have an overhaul of the year 1967. Despite several issues new in, and there being many strip debuts in 1967, they all seem to have eluded us. What we do have though is a handy Dandy with Mandy. Issue #1313 has a flyer included advertising Mandy #1. For full details of our stock for 1967, as always, consult our catalogue.
PICTURED: DANDY 1967 GD £3.75 with Mandy flyer.

Posted in What's New

Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Harry Harrison Part 2

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC5th October 2024

*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 Part 2 of the works of Harry Harrison. A very prolific writer, Harrison was an American long resident in both Ireland and the UK. His most famous works are probably the Stainless Steel Rat novels (a series of 11 books), the novel of overpopulation Make Room, Make Room (the basis of the film Soylent Green) and Deathworld (which started out being serialised in the UK Eagle comic and ended up with later volumes co-written with Eastern European authors and only published there; Harrison was apparently something of a cultural icon in Russia). Although known for his satire and humour, Harrison was equally adept at serious stuff. Before his writing career, Harrison was a comics illustrator for EC comics, where he worked on their science fiction titles with Wally Wood. Later he became a close friend of Brian Aldiss, and they jointly produced a series of SF anthologies under the title The Year’s Best Science Fiction. We’ve split our Harrison inventory into two parts for up to date presentation. Part 2 follows: 
PICTURED: BY HARRY HARRISON
PRIME NUMBER Sphere 1987 7th UK PB GD £3
SKYFALL
Corgi 1977 1st UK PB VG £3
THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT Sphere 1974 2nd UK PB thus VG £3

STAR SMASHERS OF THE GALAXY RANGERS Orbit 1976 1st UK PB VG £3
WAR WITH THE ROBOTS Pyramid 1962 1st US PB VG £3
(As Editor) :
SF: AUTHOR’S CHOICE Berkley 1968 1st US PB VG £5
(As Editor with BRIAN ALDISS) :
THE YEAR’S BEST SCIENCE FICTION NO 7 Sphere 1975 1st UK PB GD £5
(With Gordon R Dickson):
LIFEBOAT Orbit 1985 UK PB VG/FN £3

 

Posted in What's New

Books Update: Re-Working Our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: Hell’s Bells – It’s Freewheelin Frank

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC7th October 2024

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. Straddling the genres of Crime and Sleaze is this extremely rare book, touted as the first about Hell’s Angels by a Hell’s Angel. Frank Reynolds, Secretary to the San Francisco chapter in the 1960s recounts his adventures to Michael McClure, confirming all of Middle America’s worst fears. Interestingly, Frank emerged from this part of his life to become a Zen hermit!
PICTURED: FRANK REYNOLDS as told to MICHAEL McCLURE: FREEWHEELIN FRANK NEL 1971 2nd UK PB GD/VG £35 SOLD

Posted in What's New

Books Update: Six Of The Best: Join The Professionals #1-6

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC7th October 2024

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: The Professionals was a TV crime-action series from the late 1970s/early 1980s, created by Brian Clemens who had been a driving force behind the Avengers. Unlike the latter’s unique and surreal quirky eccentricities, the Professionals was an all-action hard-hitting crime series, with a trio of memorable male leads. 15 books were published from the series, each one adapting one to four of the scripts for the TV show. We have the first six of these new in as follows:
PICTURED: THE PROFESSIONALS by KEN BLAKE ALL SOLD
#1: WHERE THE JUNGLE ENDS Sphere 1981 UK PB VG £4
#2: LONG SHOT Sphere 1981 UK PB VG/FN £5
#3: STAKE OUT Sphere 1978 1st UK PB FN £6
#4: HUNTER HUNTED Sphere 1981 UK PB VG/FN £5
#5: BLIND RUN Sphere 1981 UK PB VG/FN £5
#6: FALL GIRL Sphere 1981 UK PB VG £4

Posted in What's New

Coming Soon – The Midas Collection

Posted on 5th October 2024 by 30CC5th October 2024

Stay tuned…

Posted in What's New

Taking A Break

Posted on 21st September 2024 by 30CC21st September 2024

We’re taking a short break next week, after filling orders received up to 4 pm today (21st September) and posting them next Wednesday (25th September). There will not be a Newsletter nor stock updates next Saturday, but they will be back on 5th October. After this coming Sunday 22nd September, we’ll next be filling orders on 6th October. You may of course continue to place orders at any time; we will acknowledge them and reserve items for you wherever possible.

It’s unfortunate that unforeseen personal matters came up for us so near our upcoming holiday that this will be the second break for us in a short space of time. After this, you’ll be pleased to know that we have no more scheduled breaks until Christmas.

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: High Grade All Star Comics #15 (1943)

Posted on 21st September 2024 by 30CC23rd September 2024

*DC: A real corker of an issue from the Bute Collection this week: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a comic now over 80 years old in such splendid condition, particularly so when you consider the black background cover. In All Star Comics #15, featuring the debut of the villainous Brain Wave, every member of the JSA miss their regularly scheduled meeting, leaving Wonder Woman with only letters from each member stating that they hate to miss, but they are working on very important cases. So, the Princess gathers together the girlfriends of the members and has them costume themselves as their boyfriend’s heroic identity, then head out to capture the man behind the crisis. As is the way with the plots of the times, our heroes each star in their own chapter, usually drawn by signature artists e.g. Jack Kirby on Sandman, Bernard Bailey on Spectre, Sheldon Moldoff on Hawkman, before meeting up to conclude their adventure.
The cover of this gem is bright and reflective, with great colour. There are virtually no marks or flaws: just a little corner blunting and a very few stress marks at the spine, with only the tiniest suggestion or two of white dots against the black background, which is sharp and unadulterated. The staples are tight and firm, and the pages are both supple and strong and not very far off being white. Our grading may be considered conservative. We did check that the graduated beige colour at the bottom right corner of the white text box at the cover bottom was exactly how the comic was printed and not a stain. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: ALL-STAR COMICS #15 VF £1,200 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: Their Name Is Legion: LSH #287-300 inc Great Darkness Saga

Posted on 21st September 2024 by 30CC23rd September 2024

*DC: As a long-time LSH fan, (and I go back to Adventure Comics #293, which I read as it came out), I will always consider that the issues in Adventure Comics #300-380 are the greatest stories of these wonderful characters ever told. But if I had to pick a second favourite, it would be this run in their own title from #287 to #300, where Levitz and  Giffen (with earlier issues in the run by other artists) were able to capture and convey both the epic scale that the futuristic universe demanded and also the detail of the very personal relationships between the Legionnaires, making this a standout series for DC in the early 1980s. This sequence includes both the Great Darkness Saga (vs Darkseid) in #290 to #294 and the giant-sized anniversary issue #300. I remember waiting anxiously for each issue to come out every month, feeling just like a kid again and relishing the excitement. Highly recommended; full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES
#294 VF+ £4.50
#300 VF+ £4 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Comics Update: The Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Molten Man in Amazing #28 & 2nd Scorpion in #29

Posted on 21st September 2024 by 30CC21st September 2024

*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. All high grade; even the few that fall below VF (and most are above) are really good-looking copies – no duds here, and nearly all cents copies. Well, here are a couple that actually do fall below VF just a little… Even the high grade collector who assembled this lot couldn’t locate a better copy of Amazing #28 than this one, the debut of the Molten Man. This was the second issue of Spidey I ever read, and the black cover, with just the red lines of Spidey’s costume shown, plus the gleaming Molten Man with his Ditko leer is a real stand-out image. The black background makes this a really tough comic to find in high grade. Amazing #29 features the second appearance of the Scorpion, one of Spidey’s most enduring foes.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#28 FN+ p £350 Marvel Pop Art Productions logo. 1st Molten Man. Nice clean copy with some gloss and unblemished image. Very minor corner blunting and edge wear. There are some stress marks along the spine where ticks just break colour; they show up more in the scan than in real life. Excellent tight staples and near-white pages.
#29 VF- £250 Marvel Pop Art Productions logo. Very slight discolouration in bottom right corner, barely shows at all. Very slight corner blunting but no other faults. Tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages.

Posted in What's New

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