*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following the success of 1969’s Whizzer & Chips launch, the USP of ‘two comics in one!’ with an inbuilt rivalry proved so popular that publishers IPC/Fleetway went back to the well with Score ‘n’ Roar, two football comics in one – neither of which had existed previously as an independent entity. The rivalry aspect was provided by brothers, ‘Jack of United’ and ‘Jimmy of City’, who played for opposing teams – and in rival halves of the comic! Other strips included young prodigy goalie ‘Peter the Cat’, supernatural striker ‘Phantom of the Forest’ and obligatory comedy team of ne’er-do-wells, ‘The Mudlarks’, and things ran comfortably along until the following year, when Scorcher took a decisive lead in the battle of Fleetway footie rags, and S’n’R (by then just ‘Score’) ended with the traditional ‘Great News, Readers!’ straplining the issue of 26th June 1971. ‘Jack’ and ‘Jimmy’, plus ‘Nipper’ and ‘Lord Rumsey’s Rovers’, moved into Scorcher, where they had respectable further runs. We have almost a full run of Score ‘n’ Roar, 40 issues, lacking only the third. Averaging Fine condition, this exceptionally nice run of a scarce niche series is a real opportunity for collectors. Issue #1 is GD/VG at £30; for the rest, grades and prices are shown in our catalogue.
Category Archives: What’s New
British Update: First Quenchers! Debut issues of esoteric Picture Libraries!
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Seven premier issues of various Picture Library series, horror, war and adventure, mostly in affordable low-mid grades: Action War, Attack!, Buster Adventure Library (featuring John Steel, Secret Agent), Nightmare Suspense (with “March of the Boneless Ones”… but if they’re boneless, would they be able to march anywhere?), Tiger Sports, Top Three, and Valiant (featuring “War Eagle”, a young boy raised by eagles who trained him to be a WWII fighter pilot – crack hands at gunnery, wild eagles – little-known ornithological fact). Nightmare Suspense (FN £12) and Top three (VG £10) are pictured – the rest you’ll have to seek out in our catalogue listings!
British Update: If You Knew Suzy…
*Girls’ Comics: If you did know Suzy, you’re apparently in quite a small and select club, as, for a series that ran at least 230-something issues from 1982 to 1987, it’s curiously un-remembered. A slick magazine from D C Thomson, a sort of half-way house between Bunty and Jackie, it featured a mix of traditional comic strips, photo-strips (adventure themed rather than romantic, from a more innocent time when photographers taking kids off to warehouses was less likely to be met with restraining orders) and pop features, never afraid to over-sell Adam Ant and Bucks Fizz! Along the way, it incorporated the companion paper Tops (sometimes known as TV Tops), making very little difference to its profile, as it was always media-heavy anyway. Eventually, after a perfectly respectable run, Suzy stumbled into the jaws of Bunty, in turn making very little difference to the ‘host’ title – the eponymous hostess co-starred on Bunty’s front page for five or six issues, and then every trace of Suzy was gone as if it had never been. We have 24 copies of this amnesia-inducing curiosity available for purchase, from 1982’s #2 to 1986’s #177. Check our online catalogue for details, before the Mists of Lethe overwhelm us all…
British Update: Long Hot Summer! Love Story Picture Library Holiday Special
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Our Summer/Holiday Specials event continues with a brace of Love Story Picture Library Holiday Specials from 1978 and 1981, bursting with no less than six stories a-piece!
What’s Old: Thriller Comics (later Thriller Picture Library) #1!
For this week’s foray into our previously listed stock, the spotlight falls on Thriller Comics # 1 from 1951. 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 such as Robin Hood, Rob Roy, and so on. One such was the Three Musketeers, who were chosen to lead off the series in this volume. The artists were all accomplished Fleetway professionals, and readers thrived on these beautifully-illustrated pocket adventures. This copy of #1 is GD-, structurally sound but with considerable spine wear, interior pages clean and flexible. On sale at £150.
American Update: Later Batman & related titles & more
*DC & Marvel: We don’t often make a song and dance about the more recent American comics on display in our basement, which are not listed in our catalogue, but we thought regular shop visitors might want to know that we’ve just done a massive update to our ‘downstairs’ boxes of Batman and related titles (plus a little Marvel) as follows: Batman, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Batman Chronicles (including hard-to-find Hitman story by Garth Ennis), Catwoman, Detective Comics, Flash, Robin, and Wolverine. Plus there’s a plethora of Batman-related mini-series, one-shots and specials. Next time you’re visiting, a browse in our basement would be recommended!
Clearance Corner: Early Younger Reader’s Comics: Playbox, Rainbow, Tiger Tim’s Weekly And More
*Clearance Corner: They’re too good to throw away, but we can’t support these Younger Reader’s Comics any longer, so it’s time for them to fly the nest! We have 78 issues of six early to mid-20th century titles: Harold Hare’s Own Paper, Playbox, Puck, Rainbow, Tiger Tim’s Weekly and Tip Top. Evoking a gentler, more innocent time, when children made their own entertainment and certainly didn’t use iPhones for teething, these will bring back many memories for readers of a certain age. We really want these to go to a good home, so they’re priced at less than 20p each, £15 all told. Postage (UK only) is an additional £13.50 if required. These fill a medium box, weighing just under 4 kg. Conditions vary from PR to VG. Details as follows:
Harold Hare’s Own Paper -2 issues 1959 and 1960
Playbox – 8 Issues dating from 1925 and 1949 – 1953
Puck – 2 issues from 1925
Rainbow – 26 Issues dating from 1925 and 1927 plus 1946 – 1952
Tiger Tim’s Weekly – 37 Issues dating from 1925 – 1929
Tip Top – 3 issues from 1948 and 1949
SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
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:
*War
*Western
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
American Update: Death of Superman Collectors’ Edition, and the first full appearance Doomsday!
*DC: While ordinarily items from the 1990s are too recent to significantly cross our radar, there are inevitable special cases, and these items – key chapters in the ‘Death of Superman’ event which rocked fandom in the 1990s – are such exceptions. In Superman: The Man of Steel #18, readers were treated to the first full appearance of Doomsday, Superman’s genetically-engineered nemesis; in issue #19, there was the definitive Superman/Doomsday battle, which led directly into the notorious Superman (2nd series) #75, in which the Man of Steel met his demise. For a while, at least. In view of their importance and popularity, we’ve elevated these to catalogue status. Superman: Man of Steel #18 is NM p £30; issue #19 is NM p £10 and Superman #75, the Collectors’ Edition, First Print, still sealed in polybag with all premiums and extras, NM £25. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: Power Man and Iron Fist – Together Again For the First Time!
*Marvel: We have the separate first appearances of what would become Marvel Comics’ ‘Odd Couple’, Power Man and Iron Fist, new in this update. Luke Cage came first in 1972’s Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1, at the height of the 70s Blaxploitation craze, and clichés abounded in his origin, but co-creators Archie Goodwin and George Tuska were soon replaced with a more simpatico creative team, and he went on to become an integral fixture of the Marvel Universe. Similarly, in 1974’s Marvel Premiere #15, Daniel Rand became Iron Fist, Marvel’s second martial-arts hero (after Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu), cashing in on another cinematic craze of the day – though creators Roy Thomas and Gil Kane added in a heaping helping of older Shangri-La style mysticism for good measure. Both Luke and Danny transcended their derivative origins to become enduring popular characters, but their true synergy was released when their features were combined, and the two teamed up as very unusual private investigators – a partnership which continues today into other media as Luke Cage and Iron Fist, in addition to each having their own Netflix series, are teamed in the forthcoming Defenders TV show! Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1 is FN+ at £150; Marvel Premiere #15 is also FN+ at £150, but would probably grade slightly higher if not for two small discreet ’10c’ price stamps on the cover – below the issue number and on the Comics Code seal – which we direct your attention to in the accompanying scan. SORRY, LUKE CAGE NOW SOLD
American Update: First Appearances of Iron Man’s Fearsome Foes! Mandarin! Melter! Crimson Dynamo! Scarecrow!….Mr. Doll?
*Marvel: From the dawning days of the Marvel Universe, issues of Tales of Suspense featuring the premier appearances of some of Shell-Head’s vilest villains: in Tales of Suspense #46, he met the armoured might of the Crimson Dynamo; #47 featured his first encounter with the Melter; #50 presented the menace of the Mandarin, Iron man’s greatest foe; #51 brought us the sinister Scarecrow, and in #48, there was the debut of Mr. Doll. Yeah, we know, “Mr. Doll?” But the Poundland Puppet Master, though he did re-appear in the Marvel Universe (I think he split into two, became the Brothers Grimm, something of that ilk), he wasn’t the unique selling point of ToS #48; rather it was the debut in that same issue of Iron Man’s red & gold armour, which (with variations on a theme) has been the consistent look of Tony Stark’s armoured alter-ego ever since. Our newly-acquired #46 is VG+ p £80; #48 VG p £90 and #50 GD/VG p £60. Details of the others in our online catalogue.
American Update: Catalogue Expansion: Rom, Space Knight full series now added to our listings!
*Marvel: The 1979 launch of Marvel’s Rom, Space Knight could well have been just another throwaway, running a few issues then consigned to the scrapheap of history. Based on a Parker Brothers toy, it could be argued that series creators Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema didn’t have much to work with – but they made it into an unexpected hit! A mash-up between Iron Man, Green Lantern and the Invaders TV show, our armour-clad hero, Rom, and his fellow Space Knights scoured the Earth for the malevolent Dire Wraiths, who hid in human form and could only be detected and nullified by a range of accessories and equipment available at a supermarket or toy shop near you! (Well, if you were in America in the late ’70s). incorporating guest-appearances by the good and evil Marvel Universe superstars – Spider-Man, the X-Men, Galactus, Power Man & Iron Fist, the brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Torpedo (pardon?), Rom ran for 75 issues and four Annuals, 1979-1986, before his battle was won and the series was laid to rest. Rom #1 has been a frequent if ephemeral visitor to our catalogue listings, usually selling rapidly, but now we’ve expanded our stock to the entire series – well, what we have of it, the newly-added items ranging from #2 to #72, around fifty unique issues in total, most of which are very attractive VF copies.
American Update: Harvey Hits Part 2 — Devils, Little People and 1 Giant!
*Harvey: The Golden, Silver and Bronze Age publisher Harvey is probably best remembered today for its humour line that started populating the newsstands in the 1950s, and in the second part of our Harvey Hits event, we focus on more classic characters: Devil Kids, Harvey Hits itself with Stumbo the Giant, Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Hot Stuff Sizzlers, Little Dot, Little Dot’s Uncles & Aunts, Little Lotta, Little Max and Playful Little Audrey, all freshly added to our catalogue. Watch out for the third and concluding part of Harvey Hits coming soon!
American Update: Captain Savage & His Leatherneck Raiders
*War: Captain Savage had been an occasional guest in Sgt Fury and when, in 1968 as Marvel were expanding their line, they sought to capitalise on the success of the Sgt Fury title, they deemed the good captain worthy of his own series. Although short-lived (just 19 issues), with pencils by Dick Ayers and Don Heck, the art was enhanced by the inks of Syd Shores and John Severin. As you might expect, the series featured appearances by Nick and the Howlers, but, less expectedly, Ben Grimm, Baron Strucker and the origin of Hydra, no less. Most of the first 9 issues new in of this interesting backwater of the Marvel Silver Age.
American Update: Funny Girls & Teen Antics Galore – Millie, Bunny, Binky & all the gang, featuring #1 issues!
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: This eternally-popular and seldom updated section gets a refresh with a dozen new additions, half of which are the delightfully daffy debut issues. From DC, we have Binky’s Buddies, Debbi’s Dates, Swing With Scooter, and Windy & Willy; from Marvel, Chili, Harvey, Mad About Millie and Millie the Model; Harvey Comics provide us with Bunny, ‘Queen of the In-Crowd’, and the short-lived Atlas/Seaboard group of the 1970’s offers us the vivacious Vicki. The giant-sized Bunny #1 and Mad About Millie #1 (pictured) are both VG at £15 each; for the buzz on the rest, you’ll have to make the scene at our groovy online catalogue, cats & kittens!
American Update: Savage Sword of Conan – scarce later issues in high grades!
*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: The black & white magazine incarnation of Conan’s shenanigans, Savage Sword of Conan, was the longest-running hit of Marvel’s magazine line, lasting a staggering 235 issues from its launch in 1974 until 1995, when Conan hung up his sandals and parted company with the House of Ideas. While earlier issues, up to just below the first 100, got limited distribution in the UK, later ones were not seen on these shores except in specialist shops, and lower print runs means that fewer copies enter the market. We’re therefore delighted to have acquired 50 later issues, from #104 to #154, in high grade, averaging VF/NM, with many NM among the selection. These beautiful non-distributed copies are sure to appeal to Conan-chasers everywhere, so Crom and Mitra sez: “Get your orders in quickly, mortal scum!”
British Update: Marvellous Alan Class Reprints — more Marvel reprint classics, including Creepy Worlds #32 (Fantastic Four #1!)
*Alan Class Reprints: We continue our spotlight on Alan Class issues featuring reprints of the classic Marvel heroes, which are becoming ever-more sought-after as collectors realise that in many cases, these were the first reprints of these iconic issues, before they were ever repackaged in their native land! We have twenty new entries in this category, covering the AC series Astounding Stories, Creepy Worlds, Sinister Tales, Suspense, and Uncanny Tales, and featuring Spider-Man, the Avengers, Daredevil, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, the X-Men, and more! The stars of the selection, however, are probably a nice clutch of Creepy Worlds reprinting the very earliest issues of the Fantastic Four, and Suspense #55, with the first appearance of Ant-Man in costume, from Tales to Astonish #35! Creepy Worlds #32 reprints the legendary Fantastic Four #1 and is GD/VG £100 – the ‘shadow’ on the picture, it should be noted, is due to spine roll, not present on the comic. Suspense #55 is VG £30. Details on all the rest may be found, as always, in our online catalogue.
British Update: First Quenchers — Power’s ‘Fantastic Five’: all premier issues newly added!
*Power Comics: In our UK #1 ‘First Quenchers’ event this week, we’re especially chuffed to be able to offer all five first issues of the Power Comics line from the 1960’s. This small but well-loved company began when veteran comics creator Leo Baxendale broke away from D.C. Thomson, where he had been a mainstay of the Beano for many years, and launched his own weekly, Wham!, in 1964. Apart from a token reprint adventure strip, Baxendale created the entire line-up in his distinctive anarchic style, with characters such as “George’s Germs”, “The Tiddlers”, “Pest of the West”, “Eagle Eye” and more making their debuts. This was followed up by Smash! in 1966, and by Pow! in 1967 – though the latter started the trend for which Power Comics are best-remembered, i.e. reprinting the American Marvel Comics at a time when, thanks to the popularity of the Batman TV show, super-heroes were very ‘in’. The Power line-up was completed by Fantastic in February 1967, and Terrific in April that same year, and for a short time, they ruled the schools! Our copy of Fantastic #1 is VG+ at £35; Terrific #1, FN at £40; Pow! #1 is PR/FA at £25; it has a considerably worn spine, and a corner missing from the cover’s upper right, which does not impinge upon the stories. Saving the best for last, however, we have the founding father of the line, Wham! #1, in a remarkable FN grade at £100; and Smash! #1, in GD/VG but with the original Free Gift – a ‘Banging Gun’ (see that happening these days..) in GD; the comic and Free Gift combo is on sale at £175. SORRY, FANTASTIC, POW, SMASH & WHAM ALL NOW SOLD
British Update: Scream and Scream Again! Complete run of 1984’s “Horror 2000 AD” back in stock!
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Why yes, we did just have a substantial run of the short-lived cult title Scream in recently – but you can never have too much of a good thing, and we’re not going to turn away a complete series if it falls into our lap! Scream was launched in 1984 as a deliberate attempt by IPC/Fleetway to for for the horror genre what 2000 AD had done for science fiction; with talented contributors including Eric Bradbury, Gerry Finley-Day, Jesus Redondo, Mike Western and a novice writer named Alan Moore, the series seemed set to catch on; but public outcry against the horrific nature of the stories in a ‘children’s comic’, coupled with internal wranglings at the publisher, meant it had only a short shelf-life, ending with its fifteenth issue, without even so much as a ‘Great News, Chums!’ to warn readers. “Thirteenth Floor” continued, in much tamer form, into the second series of Eagle, but the series lived on for five years in the form of glossy Holiday Specials. The full run of Scream is back in stock, in low to mid grade, and therefore very affordable copies, together with the 1985 and 1986 Holiday Specials – the latter of which includes a substantial amount of new artwork from superstar artist Dave Gibbons!
British Update: Action, War, Heroes, Sci-Fi, Espionage, Sports & more in Boys’ Picture Libraries
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A miscellany of titles in this popular category, this week, covering a wide range of subjects. New stock added for: Action, Conflict, Eagle, Gemini 2000, Secret Service, Thriller, Tiger Sports, Top Secret & Top Three.
British Update: Long Hot Summer – Anyone for the A-Team?
*TV & Film Related Comics: A trio of Film & TV themed Holiday Specials, connected by the A-team, a media phenomenon of the 1980’s. The hugely popular TV show starring a quartet of ex-Special Forces Soldiers, framed and on the run from the military police, had our heroes stopping to perform random acts of high-profile kindness (and high-profile violence, though with no fatalities and barely any injuries) on a weekly basis, and ran for close to 100 episodes. In addition to the A-Team’s own Holiday Special from 1983, FN at £10, we have the Look-In Holiday Special from 1986 in FA/GD £4, with Hannibal Smith’s chums heavily featured, and TV Comic Holiday Special from 1984 FN £6, with Mr. T. nestling uneasily among Popeye and chums. We pity the fool who don’t buy these!
British Update: A bundle of Look-Ins!
*TV & Film Related Comics: A (Cheryl) Baker’s dozen of the hugely popular Look-In added to our catalogue this week, from the years 1979-1986. Notable inclusions are: the 1st Worzel Gummidge strip (#16/17 1979), 1980 Christmas issue, the Royal Wedding Special (#31 1981) and, if you wanna see some more, three Bucks Fizz cover issues from 1985/86.
British Update: Are you a Beezer geezer? Issues #2-5 from 1956 now in stock
*Humour Comics: The Beezer, which, together with its stablemate Topper, exploited the broadsheet format for far longer than most folks would have believed practical, ran from 1956 to 1990, (though it did succumb to a smaller format from 1981 on) introducing a variety of much-loved strips including frontman ‘Ginger’, ‘Baby Crockett’, ‘The Banana Bunch’, and superbly-illustrated adventure series such as ‘The Voyage of the Bushwacker’ and ‘Lone Wolfe’. We have four of the first five issues of this long-lived and much-loved series back in stock. Issue #2 is VG £60, #3 VG- £40, and #4 & #5 VG/FN £40 each.
British Update: Long Hot Summer – – It’s A Knockout!
*Humour Comics: Although it only lasted two years and 106 issues, the second series of Knockout weekly, from 1971 to 1973, launched a number of series and characters that are still well-remembered (partly because many of them were taken up by other series such as ‘Whoopee’ and ‘Whizzer & Chips’ after Knockout’s dissolution) and most of them are represented in these two Knockout Holiday Specials from 1972 (VG at £12), and 1973 (FN £15). Join ‘Fuss pot’, ‘Joker’, ‘Sammy Shrink’, ‘The Toughs and the Toffs’, ‘Pete’s Pockets’ and more for seaside-based fun and thrills!
British Update: Long Hot Summer – Bobo Bunny! Bonnie! Toby! The Power, the Fury – Unleashed!
*Younger Readers’ Comics: Even the pre-schoolers had their own extra-thick versions of their weekly comics to entertain them while Mum and Dad hit the bar & bingo during the summer months, and we have four popular Holiday Specials back in stock: Bobo Bunny from 1970, in FN at £7; Toby, the loveable pup, from 1976 GD £6 (the first Toby Holiday Special), and from 1974 and 1975, Bonnie! Bonnie was Fleetway’s answer to the hugely successful Twinkle, the only other weekly dedicated specifically to pre-school girls, and while even the star power of the Magic Roundabout gang didn’t help Bonnie to ultimate victory, she did give old Twinkle a fair old run for her money. These new-in Holiday Specials are VG £9 (1974) and FN £12 (1975).
British Update: The ever-changing face of Love… Romeo from 1957 to 1970!
*Girls’ Comics: D.C.Thomson’s pioneering romance weekly, Romeo, launched in 1957 to a rapturous reception from the love-starved audience, and spawned scores of imitators aimed at older teen girls and young housewives not yet disillusioned with domestic drudgery. With its stories of bright young career girls in exotic locales, it offered escapism to a generation, but was frequently discarded after reading, meaning that despite its substantial print runs, few copies survive today. Our acquisitions of Romeo in the past have ranged from a handful to a couple of dozen, but we have been extremely fortunate in gaining our largest selection of Romeo issues ever – approximately 200, from issue #5 in 1957 to 1970. The changing façade of the Battle of the Sexes is reflected in the front cover styles, flicking from one trend to another as the decades pass! Many special holiday issues are included in this stellar selection. For price and condition details, see our online catalogue.
British Update: First Quenchers! Schoolgirls’ Picture Library and Schoolgirls’ Adventure Library
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: From 1957, IPC/Fleetway published Schoolgirls’ Picture Library, a pioneering digest-sized comic which took the same themes as had been running in the Schoolgirls’ Own Library text digests, but added the exciting new dimension of a pictorial narrative. From Autumn 1963, Micron, a small publisher of picture libraries and story magazines, put out Schoolgirls’ Adventure Library, the content, format, title and even logo of which were strikingly familiar to those of Schoolgirls’ Picture Library. We are, of course, sure this resemblance was entirely coincidental and in no way intended to mislead consumers. Ahem. Be that as it may, we are pleased to have the first issues of both series in stock; Schoolgirls’ Picture Library #1 is FA/GD £50, featuring the adventures of Silent-Three wannabes in “Leader of the Secret Avengers”, while Schoolgirls’ Adventure Library #1 catches the zeitgeist of the day with “Penny Pop-Star Pupil”, and is an extraordinary VF/NM at £75.
Adam West RIP
We were greatly saddened to hear today of the death of Adam West. 30th Century’s Rob Rudderham writes:
‘When I was a lad, we didn’t have much in the way of comic book TV shows and films (as you young people do now!), so when I heard of the upcoming Batman TV show in 1966, I remember being very excited. I used to settle down to watch it (with a packet of crisps as a special treat) twice a week and thrill to the exploits of Batman & Robin as they came up against a whole gallery of dastardly rogues. But the young me, I fear, felt that the series was spoilt because it didn’t take itself seriously – for all the joy of seeing my heroes on TV, I didn’t like the campy antics they got up to.
‘Watching in later years, my attitude changed entirely and it was the very nature of the comedy of the show that endeared it to me. No more was this typified than in the performance of Adam West in the lead role, whose timing and line delivery was so funny because he appeared to be playing it absolutely straight. The years went by, and it seemed those three series of Batman (and the one film) were never far from our TV screens. Adam remained associated with it for the rest of his life, in books, voicing Batman in animated features, and in the recent DC Batman 66 comic series celebrating the show.
‘For me, and I suspect for a whole generation, the best Batman ever. He will carry on dancing the Batusi and sliding down the Bat Poles every time I watch an episode, which I intend to do frequently. I may even treat myself to a packet of crisps, and I’ll never be disappointed again.’
Clearance Corner: Buffalo Bill Library
*Clearance Corner: Our latest bargain lot is an unusual one: 11 issues of the vintage Buffalo Bill text story library. This series featuring the classic Western icon ran from 1899-1932 and our lot is timed around the First World War, between #132 & #168. In conditions ranging from FA to VG, the lot is available for just £5. UK postage (if required) would be an extra £3.50. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
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 file in our British section:
*Girls’ Comics
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
What’s Old: All-Star Comics #50 1949
In our What’s Old feature this week, where we spotlight items from previously-listed stock, we showcase the December 1949 #50 issue of All-Star Comics in which the original super-team, the Justice Society of America, battle “The Prophecy of Peril!”. The Justice Society finds they must capture Mr. Alpha, a new villain with a connection to Jay Garrick, the Flash, who uses his scientific knowledge to commit seemingly foolproof crimes. The definitive JSA lineup – Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite and the Black Canary – pools all its resources to thwart the master villain, in a tightly-plotted adventure courtesy of writer John Broome and the art team of Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs. This is GD+, an attractive copy with above-average interior page quality. The cover has been glued at the spine, and the back cover has suffered a long tear which has been carefully taped, but neither of those drawbacks impinges on the cover scene, and the interior pages, as noted, are above average quality for the vintage. On sale at £140.
American Update: “The Name Is Bond…” Showcase #43, with Fleming’s Doctor No!
*DC: One of the more oddball entries in the DC annals, Showcase #43 began as a projected issue of Classics Illustrated. The story was ultimately rejected by the Classics publishers as ‘too adult’, and its only first printing appeared in the insanely-rare UK Classics Illustrated #158a. This material was re-packaged by DC as issue #43 of its ‘tryout’ series Showcase with a new cover by Bob Brown, but – being released before the film, it was a bit of a flop, and DC lost the license which, decades later, several other publishers took up to good effect. Subsequent popularity of the James Bond character in multiple media has made this issue highly sought-after in retrospect. We have a newly-acquired Showcase #43, a highly attractive VG- for £59. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Flash Annual #1 – Origin Stories of Heroes and Villains!
*DC: In 1963, the Scarlet Speedster was at the height of his popularity, and this fact was recognized by DC’s issuing him his own 80-Page Annual, in which the first appearances and origins of his most famous friends and foes were related. On the Good side of the ledger were Flash himself, his protégé Kid Flash, and his malleable chum, the Elongated Man; while representing the powers of Evil were Gorilla Grodd, Mr. Element, Katmos the Metal Monarch, and – in an exciting twist at a time when the Golden Age was an unknown country to most – a Golden Age Flash story with the first appearance of the 1940’s villainess, the original Star Sapphire! Our copy of this treasure trove is an attractive VG+, with virtually no impediment to the cover scene, and is on sale at £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: DC Silver/Bronze Sweep – Swamp Thing, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, World’s Finest & more!
*DC: We conclude, for the time being, our sweep through the Silver/Bronze age stock of DC with additions to the short-lived Super-Team Family (a brand new Flash/New Gods team-up), Swamp Thing (the classic Wrightson-illustrated first series, including #7 co-starring the Batman), Teen Titans from #15 to #46, many of which are gloriously illustrated by Nick Cardy, Wonder Woman (a range from #139 through to #202, the latter co-starring the Catwoman), and World’s Finest Comics (from 1958’s #95 to #198 & #199, the third Superman/Flash race). For grade and price details, see the website catalogue. That wraps up our alphabetical sweep of the DCU, but of course there will be many, many more DC comics in our future updates. Keep watching!
American Update: Avengers #4 – the Sentinel of Liberty Returns!
*Marvel: In the fourth issue of Marvel’s Avengers series, the already formidable team of Iron Man, Giant-Man, Thor and the Wasp was augmented by one of the legendary heroes from the past. Captain America returned to action after years in Post-WWII suspended animation, and rapidly became the acknowledged heart and soul of the Avengers, who have never flourished for long without him! This copy of an iconic issue is an attractive VG-, virtually unmarred cover scene with only a faint diagonal crease across Cap’s head and torso. Very nice nice page quality, tight staples at spine and centrefold. A pence priced copy, it is on sale at £300. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: A Dozen Dynamic Debuts – Marvel #1’s!
*Marvel: Another in our highly-anticipated and well-received selections of Marvel premier issues! This week we span the years from 1968 to 1980. Kirby Kraziness with the Black Panther and 2001, A Space Odyssey; liberated ladies Red Sonja and Spider-Woman; media mayhem with Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica; toy tie-ins Rom, Micronauts and Shogun Warriors; mighty-thewed barbarianism with King Conan; the multi-faceted Moon Knight, with acclaimed work by Moench and Sienkievicz and the Silver Age solo debut of the Sub-Mariner – the latter in admittedly fairly ropey condition, but all there! A selection of these lovelies is displayed below; for grading and prices, as always, visit our captivating online catalogue.
American Update: Harvey Hits! Baby Huey and Casper the Friendly Ghost
*Harvey: The iconic, and often overlooked, Harvey Comics comedy universe will be the subject of a spotlight for the next few weeks, commencing with Baby Huey, the Baby Giant (who’s also a duck; why don’t they ever draw attention to that?) and Casper, the Friendly Ghost (who’s all very adorable until you consider that he’s the departed spirit of a dead child; buzzkill or what?) Regardless, the Harvey Comics stable of dead babies, infant demons, duck and human giants, and children with obsessive-compulsive disorders delighted generations of Americans, and we’re happy to have more in stock! Our selection of Baby Huey comprises 11 issues between #11 and the giant-sized #88, plus additions to our extant stock of Baby Huey and Papa. Casper is resurrected (sorry) with issues from both his first and second series, plus the first issue of the 1972 spin-off Casper Space Ship, an extra-length giant (but not a baby giant).
Return of the Walking Dead! Issues from #37-#109 restocked, including debuts of key characters!
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Now having passed its suppurating seventh series on TV (and with an eighth on the way), still only a small proportion of the Walking Dead’s televisual audience realise that it was a comic book before it hit the small screen. Nevertheless, clued-up zombie-fanciers have been eagerly snapping up the low-print-run issues from Image Comics, and Robert Kirkman’s saga of a plucky band of survivors hanging on to life in a radically changed world continues to enthral a mass audience. We’re delighted to have many new issues added to our inventory, commencing with issue #37 and enjoying a substantial majority (though not quite all) of the issues up to #109. This includes the death of Tyrese in #46, the dual demises of Lori and the Governor (didn’t they have a Top 10 hit in the 1970’s?) in #48, and the first preview of the TV show in #75, plus the debuts of Abraham (#48), Father Gabriel (#61), Ezekiel (#108), and the coming of Jesus in a cameo in #91, followed by the first “Full Jesus” in #92! All kidding aside, these issues have never been extensively printed, so swift action is advised to stop them shambling off! Issue #48 is NM+ at £50, #53 is NM at £65 and #92 NM+ £50. For details on the others, please see our online catalogue.
American Update: Mighty Marvel Western concludes with Two-Gun Kid
*Western: It’s the last round-up! Our special event to tie-in with our Western comics window display concludes this week with the previously most underrepresented member of Marvel’s big three cowboy heroes, the Two-Gun Kid. About a dozen new issues in between #66 & #109, including #89, guest-starring both Kid Colt and the Rawhide Kid.
American Update: Showcase Editions – DC Horror/Mystery Classics!
*Modern Reprints: Paperback collections of the very best of DC’s late-60’s horror/mystery revival, which came to be a major aspect of their line in the 1970’s. House of Mystery, House of Secrets and the Witching Hour were in the forefront of innovation for a once-torpid genre. With stellar talents such as Gil Kane, Joe Orlando, Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Alex Toth and Gray Morrow, to name but a handful, these paperbacks collect 500 pages in each volume, and are now out of print. NM copies of House of Mystery Volumes 1-3, House of Secrets 1 & 2, and the one & only Witching Hour compilation newly in stock. Volume One of House of Secrets reprints #92, which was the first appearance of the Swamp Thing, an additional bonus for the discerning collector.
British Update: Jackie Annuals from the 1970s to the 1990s
*Annuals: Pop! Fashion! Beauty! Love Stories! Pin-Ups! So the 1975 edition of the iconic Jackie Annual promised on its cover and so the interiors delivered. These days, perhaps the most fondly remembered publication for teenage girls, we have a lucky 13 Jackie Annuals new in, nearly all in a pristine FN or VF grade from 1975-1993. At prices from £6 – £10 each, great value for a big nostalgia hit!
British Update: First Quenchers/Free Gift Farrago! Ranger #1 1965 – debut of the Trigan Empire with Free Gift
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A classic in our latest First Quenchers (UK #1 issue) event! 1965 saw the debut of the oversized Ranger, an adventure weekly with an educational bent which was caught up in the enthusiasm of the Space Age. Among the features was the debut, in sumptuous full-colour, of Mike Butterworth and Don Lawrence’s Tales of the Trigan Empire’, the story of an outer-space realm full of sinister machinations, exotic locales and strange creatures. A companion paper to the more scholastic Look & Learn, Ranger only lasted forty issues before being absorbed into its sibling, but ‘Trigan Empire’ continued in L & L for a decade and a half of imaginative scripts and superb illustrations, and this is where it all began. This copy of Ranger #1 is a nice solid VG, with moderate corner wear at the lower right cover corner; the Free Gift, a booklet on the BOAC VC 10 – ‘Wonder Aircraft of the Age’ – is also VG, with a light ‘scuff’ at the left edge where it was originally attached to the comic. The comic and the Free Gift are on sale for £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
British Update: Long Hot Summer! Whizzer & Chips Summer/Holiday Specials, complete from 1970-1982!
*Humour Comics: Among the last of the great and long-running humour launches, Whizzer & Chips began in 1969 with the inexplicable but oddly effective concept of having two rival ‘comics’ in the same magazine, and locked in a deadly rivalry. Whether you were a ‘Whiz-Kid’ or a ‘Chip-Ite’ caused many a playground scuffle back in the day! From 1970, this friendly rivalry was expanded into extra-length Holiday Specials (some called ‘Summer Specials’), and we are delighted to have a sequential run from 1970 – the very first W & C Special – through to 1982, in varying grades. Popular and long-running features include ‘Sid’s Snake’, ‘Shiner’, ‘Wear ‘Em Out Wilf’, ‘Odd Ball’, ‘The Toughs and the Toffs’, ‘Fuss Pot’, ‘Sweet Tooth’, and scores more. Our copy of the first Whizzer & Chips Holiday Special (pictured) is VG at £25; details of the others may be found in our online listings.
British Update: June & School Friend – the Epic Update!
*Girls’ Comics: We’ve had quite a few Junes through our hands lately, but recent updates pale by comparison with the leviathan influx of stock we have this week – this is the big one! From 1965 through to 1971, we have approximately 150 issues new in stock, and from the 30th January 1965, the title absorbed the veteran School Friend weekly to become June & School Friend, the title by which it is best remembered and best-loved by a generation. No token amalgamation, the addition of School Friend to June’s roster brought the star power of popular features, ‘Bessie Bunter’, ‘Vanessa From Venus’, ‘Lucky’s Living Doll’, ‘Cherry and the Children’ and ‘My friend Sara’, plus the expansion to 44 pages meant that readers of both weeklies didn’t necessarily feel short-changed or ‘crowded out’ by the amalgam. In addition to the more conventional fare such as ‘Nursing Is My Life’, or ‘Laura at Ballet School’, this period also saw a lot of fantasy and sci-fi themed series, including ‘Serena From Space’, ‘Mimi the Mesmerist’, ‘Fourth-Form Wonder’, and Glory Knight, Time-Travelling Courier’, on the latter of which more can be found in our fabulous features section. Previous updates to June have been very well-received, but we anticipate keen competition for what is regarded as her ‘peak’, so make sure your orders get in early!
Books Update: A Luxury SF Selection
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Here’s an update brimming with classic authors and titles, often 1st PB – like a box of chocolates, it’s hard to know where to start! Asimov’s I Robot joins Biggle’s Watchers Of The Dark, Farmer’s The Stone God Awakens, Le Guin’s The Dispossessed and The Wind’s Twelve Quarters (Vol. 1), Moorcock’s The Knight Of The Swords, Stewart’s Earth Abides and Swann’s Green Phoenix. Other highlights of this collection consist of Leinster’s Planet Explorer, Davidson’s Mutiny In Space (with Jack Gaughan cover art), two excellent works by Keith Roberts, Pavane and The Chalk Giants. In the first he imagines an alternate history of Britain if the Armada had succeeded, while in the latter he conjures up a fearful future. Hal Clement represents the best of hard SF, conjuring up a completely believable planet and aliens in Mission Of Gravity, and another, but very different alien in Eye Of The Needle. Saving the best for last (unlike a box of chocolates) we have Spinrad’s The Iron Dream aka Adolf Hitler’s blockbuster SF hit. All of these books are guaranteed to give you hours of reading pleasure; your only problem will be choosing.
What’s Old: Super Coloured Comic Annual (1951) – Swift Morgan by Dennis Mcloughlin
Our latest spotlight on our previously listed stock is from 1951, the second of Boardman’s Super Coloured Comic Annuals. Boardman issued faux-American comics featuring reprints of American material such as Blackhawk and original material, the latter primarily illustrated by the talented Dennis McLoughlin. Stars of the Boardman line were space adventurer Swift Morgan, western hero Buffalo Bill, and ace detective Roy Carson, all of whom have devoted followings. The Super Coloured Comic Annuals were softcover albums collecting and rebinding unsold copies of the comics, with a large proportion of material created especially for the Annuals. In this case, a full-colour Swift Morgan lead strip and new text stories starring Carson, Blackhawk and Morgan are the additional material, together with several rebound comics. Of the three Super Coloureds published, all are incredibly rare, but the second volume is believed to be the rarest. 140 interior pages – or as the cover would have it, 1,000 Action pictures, though I confess I haven’t counted – with new McLoughlin illos. on the cover and throughout the text stories. This copy is graded as VG+; light spine and corner wear, minor lower right cover creasing, on sale at £350.
Clearance Corner: Boys’ Own Papers
*Clearance Corner: Our latest clearance lot is a collection of the famous Boys’ Own Paper: 35 issues for a bargain price of just £10. Includes a facsimile of the very first edition from 1879, plus 34 other issues from 1956-1964 (one duplicate) inc 2 Christmas issues and 15 with supplement. Although having no comic strip content, there are plenty of illustrations in this long-lived publication full of stories, features, competitions etc — even the vintage advertising makes for very entertaining reading! These fit into a large shoe box, weighing just over 3.5 kg and UK postage (if required) would be an additional £13.50.
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 file in our American section:
*Marvel
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Clearance Corner: X-Men complete minis and one-shots
*Clearance Corner: A bargain bundle of complete X-Men mini-series and a couple of one-shots as follows:
Prelude to Schism 2011 #1-4
Schism 2011 #1-5
Death Of X 2016 #1-4
Odd Men Out one-shot 2008
True Friends 1999 #1-3
The First X-Men 2012 #1-5 (Neal Adams)
X-Infernus 2009 #1-4
X-Club 2012 #1-5
Regenesis 2011 one-shot
Manifest Destiny 2008 #1-5
X-Men & Micronauts 1984 #1-4
Hellfire Club 2000 #1-4
All these, 45 comics, with a value of approx. £125, all in VF/NM condition, for just £20! Your earliest attention is recommended to bag this lot! UK postage (if required) will be an extra £13.50.
American Update: A Torrent of DC Tabloids! Batman Vs. Hulk, Superman Vs. Wonder Woman, Welcome Back Kotter (!?!) and Many More!
*DC: During the 1970’s and early 1980’s, both major companies experimented with tabloid formats, and DC’s was the Limited Collectors’ Edition, selected reprints in oversized format, which proved popular enough to spread to several subsidiary series – Famous First Editions (reprinting in full iconic issues such as Action Comics #1), All-New Collector’s Edition (with, as the name implies, non-reprint stories of major characters) and occasional forays into normally regular-sized titles such as DC Special Series. We have selections from all these gargantuan behemoths new in. Their unusual dimensions meant that they were not well-distributed by newsvendors in the States, nor have they generally fared well in long-term storage. Added to that the fact that barely saw any distribution in the UK at all, and their rarity will be appreciated. From Limited Collector’s Editions itself, we have the Batman All-Villain Special, The Bible, with stunning all-original Nestor Redondo artwork, Superman, Secret Origins of Super-Villains, Super-Friends, (with an original Alex Toth framing sequence), Batman: Baffling Mystery Stories, More Secret Origins of Super-Villains, Superman Salutes the Bicentennial, and the rare but peculiar Welcome Back Kotter – one for John Travolta completists – including material intended for the never-published WBK#11! From Famous First Editions, we have giant-sized facsimiles of Whiz Comics #2 (debut of original Captain Marvel) Flash Comics #1, Superman #1, and Action Comics #1, with Superman’s premier appearance. All-New Collectors’ Edition – which confusingly shared a numbering sequence with Limited Collectors’ – brings us Superman the Movie, and not one, but two copies of the epic Superman Vs. Wonder Woman battle, with superlative Jose Luis Garcia Lopez artwork. And a title that’s ordinarily more modest in stature, DC Special Series, brought us Superman II, Superman and His Fortress of Solitude, and – most awesome of all – Batman Vs. The Incredible Hulk, featuring the Joker, with Garcia Lopez illustrations! A selection of these super-sized stunners is reproduced below for your delectation.