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:
*DC
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

Our spotlight on previously listed stock this week turns to Hurricane #1, complete with its Free Gift, one of the rarest of all accompanying gifts. In February 1964 Fleetway/IPC released Hurricane, a companion to their highly successful Valiant. Featuring in the lead a lightly comedic bruiser – ‘Typhoon Tracy, as opposed to ‘captain hurricane’ in the lead slot, Hurricane ploughed the expected row of adventure, war, sports and historical strips, but allocating several of them a longer run (5 pages, rather than the two or three that were the weekly standard), and with its slightly larger size, seemed to be aiming a little higher age-wise. The most famous alumnus of Hurricane, apart from Tracy himself, was ace racing driver ‘Skid Solo’, who had a decades-long career after Hurricane’s eventual absorption into Tiger. Because it had a regrettably short run, a mere 63 issues, Hurricane is highly sought after today, and this first issue, in a gleaming Fine condition, is made extra precious by the presence of the Free Gift which originally accompanied it – a punch-out cardboard model of the TSR2 fighter plane, not punched out (in this instance), but still in its original ‘flat’ form, albeit with the card having sustained a light horizontal fold at some time; the original rubber band used to launch it is missing (but easily replaced). We’ve graded the free gift as Very Good, and together the pair are on sale for £200.  

*DC: Well, not quite the Teen Titans yet, as the name wasn’t coined at this time, but the ground-breaking Brave & Bold #54 teamed up three junior partners of DC’s major super-heroes – Kid Flash, Aqualad and Robin – against the villainy of the sinister Mr. Twister (no, not the twisted Mr. Sinister – that’s a different series!). Written by Bob Haney, Illustrated by Bruno Premiani, this proved to be such a hit that, with the addition of Wonder Girl, the resulting team enjoyed a long career that still continues today – and this is where it all got started! This is a VG/FN copy, bright cover colour and tight staples, with only a very small ‘scuff’ in the lower right cover corner (not affecting any crucial area of the cover image) preventing a still higher grade. VG/FN p £200. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In the fourth issue of Marvel’s Avengers series, the already formidable team of Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man 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 a very attractive FN+, virtually unmarred cover scene with only the faintest crease across Captain America’s face, just barely breaking the vivid, unfaded cover colour. With tight staples at spine and centrefold, sharp corners and superior interior page quality, this is a cents copy, with no pence price or overstamp, on sale at £1000 – you won’t find many better this side of the Atlantic! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Seven special issues which introduced heroes or villains (and sometimes folks who played both sides) who would later loom large in the Marvel Universe. Avengers Annual #10, from 1981, brought us the first appearance of Rogue, the skill-sapping Southern Belle who became a pivot of the X-Men. Fantastic Four #36 featured the debut not only of the villainous FF – the Frightful Four – but of their distaff member, Medusa, later to be revealed as a member of Inhuman Royalty. Marvel Super-Heroes #12 saw the coming of Captain Marvel, warrior of the Kree Empire (and copyright-saving hasty gamble, but that’s another story) later Cosmic Defender of the Universe, and Cap’s distaff counterpart Ms. Marvel’s 18th issue presented the first full appearance of Mystique, soon to become a thorn in the side of the X-Men. Marvel Spotlight #32 brought along another champion of copyright, Spider-Woman; produced in haste to counter a rival company’s proposed Spider-Woman comic, she proved unexpectedly popular and returned in several solo series. New Mutants #25 saw the first fleeting appearance of Legion, currently the star of his own Marvel TV series. #8 of Jack Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey presented the premiere of X-51, also known as Mister Machine and eventually Machine Man. Avengers Annual #10 is VF £25; Fantastic Four #36 is FA/GD p £25; Marvel Super-Heroes #12 is GD p £25; Ms. Marvel #18 is VF p £40; Marvel Spotlight #32 is VG/FN £15; New Mutants #25 is VF/NM p £15.75 and 2001 #8 is VF p £23.

*Marvel: [Back in February, we originally listed this post, but owing to a technical error, the corresponding comics were not added to our catalogue listing. That’s now been fixed, so here is the post again!]
“We’re always happy to see giant panty-wearing monsters” is a phrase one seldom expects to hear, but it’s certainly true here at 30th Century, as the pre-hero Marvel anthologies – usually featuring at least one enormous critter in a giant gusset bent on world domination – are spiralling ever upward in popularity and collectability. We have new entries for Journey Into Mystery (#78, a rare non-BPM issue starring a ‘Dr.Strange prototype’), Strange Tales (#95 with “The Two-Headed Thing” VG+ p £52, pictured) Tales to Astonish (#33, “Dead Storage”), and a selection of Tales of Suspense starring Monsterollo, the Creature From the Black Bog and Elektro, who graces the cover of TOS #13 right (VG+ p £70).”

*Alan Class Reprints: A further release of Alan Class certificated issues from the file copies of the publisher, each with a hand-signed certificate from Alan Class himself. This time it’s the short run title Out Of This World (1st series, which ran to 23 issues). Notable here is loads of Ditko content including some striking and memorable covers, plus, in #15, a Tale Of the Wasp reprinted from Tales To Astonish #52.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: The definitive Boys’ Adventure title of the later 20th Century, 2000 AD captured the hearts and minds of a generation, and we are delighted to have an unbroken run of the first 100 Progs back in stock, commencing with 1977’s premier issue and the debut of the series’ breakout character, Judge Dredd, in #2! Other highlights of the run include the debut of Tharg’s Future Shocks and Robo-Hunter, the first 2000 AD and Star-Lord amalgam, which brought long-running series Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters to the title, and the notorious – and banned for decades – ‘Burger Wars’ and ‘Jolly Green Giant’ issues! All this plus covers and interior art by Brian Bolland, Kevin O’Neill and Dave Gibbons, at the commencement of their careers! Issue #1 is FA/GD £50, sound, but with creasing and age-related discolouration; #2, the Judge Dredd debut, is an attractive VG/FN at £175 and #3, VG/FN with the original free gift – Red Alert Survival Wallet – at £100. Consult our catalogue listing for full details on all the others. SORRY, #2 HAS NOW SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: Ever mindful of the marketplace, we always do our best to keep an eye on values of stock in our inventory, and from time to time this will result in price reductions on some titles. Such is the case with Amalgamated’s ‘Fun’ trilogy: Film, Radio & TV. These series ran from the 1920s to the 1960s (Radio & TV starting later), and had their emphasis on celebrities of the time in comic adventures (although many non-humour adventure strips often featured as well). Our stocks extend from 1946-1960 and you’ll now find all of them reduced to half price (a small number a little more, a small number a little less). NB Radio Fun featured Superman reprints in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Absolute bargains can now be had for those who are quick off the mark — reduced price listings are now shown in our catalogue.

[Previously listed on 24th March, now relisted due to defaulting would-be purchaser]
Another batch of vintage goodies at a rock bottom price! Between 1909 and 1953, we have 12 comics of humour and adventure in a mixture of grades, featuring the following titles:
Boys’ Herald (1909), Larks (1929), Tip Top (1953), Wild West Weekly (1938) and 8 issues of Wonder from 1947-1952. On offer for just £10. These fit into a medium envelope weighing less than half a kilo. UK postage if required would be an extra £5.50.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: It’s a kurious koincidence that so many fantasy heroes have names beginning with K or a hard C. In this update alone we’ve got Kandar (Kenneth Bulmer), Carson and Carter (both Edgar Rice Burroughs), Kothar and Kyrik (both Gardner F Fox). And it’s not just heroes – Burroughs’ The Moon Men has Kalkars as villains while Jack Vance’s The Blue World has King Kragen as the featured baddie. Heroically bucking the trend are Thundar, Man Of Two Worlds (John Bloodstone) and the Goddess Of Ganymede (Michael D Resnick), while the editor of an anthology, Swordsmen And Supermen opted to remain anonymous despite featuring Cap’n Kidd in one story. Not kontent (oh, leave off! ed) with focusing mainly on K, many of these books have great cover artists, including Jeff Jones (Kandar, Kothar Of The Magic Sword and The Goddess Of Ganymede), Ken Barr (Kyrik Fights The Demon World), Romas (The Amazons Of Somelon, Raymond Kaminski) and Virgil Finlay (Swordsmen And Supermen).

A couple of years or so ago we had in a very high grade complete Silver Age run of Thor from Journey Into Mystery #83 upwards. Most of these, including the first appearance in JIM #83 are now long sold, but we’d like to draw your attention to the few that are left. Left: JIM #88 VF+ £625; Right: #92 VF+ £350, #93 VF/NM £540; Left to right below:  #95 VF+ £400, #97 VF+ £390, #99 VF/NM £380, #100 VF+ £265, #109 VF/NM £485. Plus there are a handful of other early issues at better than VF as well. Thor fans (and we know there are huge amounts of you out there) may never get another chance to own such lovely, superior copies. 

*DC: In 1960, DC assembled its all-star team, a revival of the Golden Age Justice Society; the Justice League of America has been consistently one of DC’s strongest sellers, and never out of publication. We are delighted to welcome a massive update of the first series of this classic title, issue numbers ranging from #6 to #200, with highlights including many cross-overs with the legendary Justice Society, and special issues where new members are admitted to the team (Phantom Stranger, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Zatanna and Firestorm in this sequence). This update of around 150 new entries skews heavily towards the #90 + range, many of which, owing to the spotty state of distribution in the 1970s and 1980s, are now hard to find in the UK. Condition tends to average VG.

*Marvel: In 1964, Peter Parker’s arachnid alter-ego was rewarded with his own Annual, and a thing of beauty it was; an all-new Lee & Ditko extravaganza, with a 41-page feature length lead story introducing the Sinister Six, an alliance of Spidey’s deadliest enemies; the Sandman, Mysterio, Electro, the Vulture, Doctor Octopus and Kraven the Hunter. As if that wasn’t enough, this massive tome also featured a plethora of pin-ups, a 9-page “Secrets of Spider-Man” feature, and the startling secrets of “How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man” – the latter presented with tongue firmly in cheek. Not a single reprint in the issue, folks! Ditko’s art is at its finest here, as he breaks free of the constraints of the standard comic format to indulge in full-page panels and epic action galore. This is a VG+ cents copy of this highly-sought item, on sale at £375. There is a 1″ tape to the lower spine, and a crease on the back cover, but these minor flaws in no way impinge upon the story, and merely prevent this highly attractive copy from being a still higher grade.

*Marvel: A chunky run through the rump end of the Marvel alphabet, with new additions for the Thing, Thor (lots of these from #181-225, including the first Firelord in #225 VF £35), Wolverine (1988 series, including classic grey Hulk cover #8 NM £28, Sabretooth battle #10 FN+ £10) and X-Men, including some reprint issues between #80 and #87, a handful of issues from #160 to #219 (#201 1st Cable as baby VF/NM £20.25) and a batch of annuals from #5 to #11.

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Although a bit ‘modern’ by our usual measure, the phenomenal multi-media success of the Walking Dead cannot be denied, as the hit TV show has shambled into its eighth series (or ‘season’, as our cousins in the New World term it), and the comic book adventures of Rick Grimes and his post-apocalyptic posse continue unabated. We have a selection of more recent issues in to augment our early inventory, issue numbers ranging from #136 to #176, with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s 2012 Liberty Annual – featuring a non-reprint Walking Dead story – as a ‘chaser’.

*Marvel UK: In the latter days of Marvel’s UK operations, they had pretty much strip-mined their longer-running series to reprint, but still needed new titles to be launched to stimulate sales. This resulted in some… eclectic combinations of characters, one of the most esoteric (or ‘desperate’, your mileage may vary) arose in Forces In Combat in 1980. Cut and pasted into three or four-page instalments, the bewildered readership was treated to, in rapid succession, Sgt. Fury, Rom Space Knight, Rawhide Kid, Machine Man, Kull the Conqueror, and Master of Kung Fu, a smorgasbord of series originally published in three separate decades, all linked ostensibly by the ‘Combat’ theme. With the free gift stickers of military vehicles, it’s as if they planned a war comic, but suddenly realised they didn’t have enough strips to fill it! Most inexplicable, though certainly not unwelcome, was the colour centre feature of ‘Wulf the Briton’ by Ron Embleton, originally presented in ‘TV Express’ the better part of thirty years previously. This cornucopia of curiosities can be yours: the first three issues (#1 VG, #2 FN, #3 FN), with original Free Gifts (#1 FN, #2VF, #3 VF) at £15 each. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: Continuing our massive restock of the classic Gerry Anderson-based weekly, TV Century 21, we move to its second year of publication, 1966 – or ‘2066’, as they cover-billed it – where Thunderbirds reigned supreme! Anderson’s greatest commercial TV show, ‘Thunderbirds’ was enhanced by the superlative artwork of Frank Bellamy in the lavish full-colour centrespread strip, and the lads of International Rescue dominated this year’s covers, particularly as they moved towards the release of the ‘Thunderbirds’ feature film. This is a substantial though not complete run, commencing with #54 and ending with #102, mostly in affordable mid grades, and with many duplicated copies to provide an option for different tastes and budgets. Illustrated is #77 FN at £25; all others may be reviewed in our online catalogue.

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:
*Horror 1940-1959
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s
*Romance
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls
*War
*Western
and in our American/British section:
*Undergrounds
and in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics (V)
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: Following the success of DC’s revivals of the Flash and Green Lantern, another Golden Age hero was reinvented in Showcase #34 (October 1961). Whereas the Golden Age Atom was decidedly B-List – just a short guy who overcompensated by punching people a lot – the Silver Age Atom was given a sci-fi spin. Writer Gardner Fox created Ray Palmer, who upon discovering white dwarf matter, makes a suit out of it which enables him to control his size and density, shrinking as far as subatomic level (though his usual ‘fighting height’ was around 6″), while retaining his full-grown strength. It was a nonsensical concept, but Fox’s imagination and creativity – not to mention the glorious artwork of Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson – sold it to readers, and the ‘Tiny Titan’ gained his own series in short order, joining the Justice League of America soon after and becoming a mainstay of the DCU to this very day, where he helms the ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ TV series. This copy of the Atom’s premier appearance is a superior FN- cents copy with no UK price stamp or overprint, firm staples, deep cover colour with one short, light diagonal crease mid-cover edge. Flexible off-white interior pages. While many dealers would grade this even higher, we have marked it down slightly because of a minor pen mark on the bottle of our hero’s opponent on the front cover, which may be seen in the illustration. Nonetheless, a superior copy of a key issue, on sale at £300. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: “In the Sensational Fantastic Four Style”, boasted the cover of X-Men #1, and they weren’t kidding – Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit the ground running with the fast-paced, addictive tale of a school for the gifted, a place for young mutants to train to serve and protect the greater world, primarily against less scrupulous mutants with equal or greater powers. Very different from the X-Men as they are internationally known today, this issue brought us the First Five X-Men – the Angel, the Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl – their mentor Professor X, and their greatest enemy, the malevolent Magneto! While suffering a bit from ‘early instalment weirdness’ (the Beast talks like a bruiser, a la the Thing, without his legendary locquacious logorrhea; Marvel Girl is one of the more powerful and competent members of the team, quite unlike the wimp she swiftly became), the pieces were in place for the multi-media phenomenon the team would later expand into. One of the most in-demand debuts of Marvel’s Silver Age, this is a Fair copy, cents, with no UK stamp or overprint. There is tape on the front and back covers, it has been restapled, and there is a small piece off the lower back cover corner. Interiors are clean and unmarred. FA at £800. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Ah, the 1990s, when all taste and reason fled. An age of speculation, with publishers printing multiple variants in a gaudy kaleidoscope of embossed, metallic and hologramatic flummery. Viz and to wit: Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man, with allegedly over 2 million copies shifted of the #1. With the enormous sales of this issue, Marvel decided to reward retailers with a “Platinum” variant and chose a thicker cover for a “quality” feel; ironically, the paper stock did not work well with the printing process, giving rise to multiple problems, including colour breakage on the spine. The estimated print run for the Platinum variant is around 10,000, with 7,000 given as gifts to retailers for making Spider-Man #1 “the most successful comic in history” the other 3,000 were apparently sold off in bulk later. This copy does not have the letter of thanks from Marvel, and, while a perfectly presentable copy, it has some notable wear at the spine and the back cover bears several ‘scuff’ markings in its otherwise all-black background – nothing a Poundland bingo marker wouldn’t fix. Nevertheless, the interiors are immaculate, and the front cover scene unimpeded except for very minor colour cracks in the upper left cover corner. Given that this can go for insane money elsewhere, we’ve elected for moderation, dubbing it VG at £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Our Marvel boxes are invigorated this week by a Silver & Bronze age sweep primarily of classic Marvel titles in affordable mid to low grades, featuring the assembled talents of Adams, Wood, Steranko, Kirby, Colan, Ditko and Smith, in series such as Avengers (from #21), Captain America (from #111), Daredevil (from #11), Fantastic Four (from #74), Hulk (from #107), Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD (from #8), Tales to Astonish (from #52, 1st villainous Black Knight), Thor (from #155, and Journey into Mystery Annual #1, in which Marvel’s Hercules makes his roistering debut!), and the X-Men (from #53), as well as light touches on later titles such as Ghost Rider, Marvel Spotlight (2nd series), and Marvel Classics Comics from #1!

*Alan Class Reprints: Well, here’s an oddity. Alan Class issues with reprints of the early Marvel super-hero sagas tend to go for higher prices, as very often they’re actually the first reprintings of the stories. Here we have Sinister Tales #23, which reprints Iron Man’s origin from the illustrious Tales of Suspense #39, including a signed Alan Class certificate. However, while the Iron Man tale – and a Lee & Ditko mystery short, “Little Green Men” – are complete, most of the rest of this issue’s contents have been cut out of the comic, presumably having been deemed irrelevant by a space-saving previous owner! What remains would otherwise pass as Fine condition, and it is historically important, but unlike most of our inventory this is being sold as an incomplete item, so let the buyer be aware. We are selling this for £30, and frankly a bit cheeky asking even that, but in a world where individual slabbed pages from Hulk #181 sell regularly, well, who are we to fight the insanity? SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Annuals: Following the smash success of Eagle weekly, the first Eagle Annual was released in 1951 (for 1952) in time to catch the lucrative Christmas gift market. These hardcover volumes were initially numbered, rather than dated, to set them aside from the rank & file, and the first nine volumes had identical cover livery, with only the numbers differentiating them to the casual eye. Inside, new stories of Dan Dare, PC 49, Harris Tweed, Riders of the Range and more abounded, mixed with the educational and ‘How To’ features that were Eagle’s stock in trade. We have all but volumes 2 and 5 of the first ten Eagle Annuals back in stock, a splendid representation of the most prestigious boys’ weekly of the 1950s. Volume 1 (pictured) is VG at £50; details of the others may be viewed in our online catalogue.