*Memorabilia & Esoterica: A long overdue update for this section for things that don’t fit in anywhere else, but are very much collectables in their own right. This week we feature two very different categories: vintage Corgi and Dinky Toys catalogues from the 1960s, plus books by John Lennon and a couple of copies of Monkees Monthly from 1967. Many of the catalogues feature vehicles from TV and film, including James Bond, Batman, Gerry Anderson, the Avengers etc. A selection is pictured below; full details in our catalogue listing with prices and pictures for each item.  SORRY, ALL TOY CATALOGUES NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A chunky update for several war-themed Picture Library titles, including Battle (between #21 & #200), Combat (between #26 & #399), Conflict, Lion (between #22 and #120), Valiant (between #29 & #142) and War (between #40 & #470).

*Humour Comics: A small but select batch of the founding DC Thomson humour weekly, Dandy, new in; issues #213, #278, #279, and #318 – the former three being the earliest issues now in our inventory. Home of well-remembered characters such as Korky the Cat, Desperate Dan, and Black Bob the wonder Dog (as well as some less well remembered – Danny Longlegs? Nellie Elephant?), Dandy was a part of the psyche of generations of British children, and despite having gone to its rest in 2015, is still recollected fondly. Pictured is issue #279 FN £55.

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our British section:
*Alan Class Reprints
*Annuals
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: Following his critically-acclaimed ‘Fourth World’ series of intersecting titles at DC, Jack Kirby branched out into three stand-alone series. (Lesser talents have subsequently tried to ‘link’ them, but we shrug dismissively at such efforts). The Demon told of Jason Blood, an innocent man possessed by a mediaeval entity, the malevolent Etrigan, and Blood’s struggles to subvert the Demon’s powers for good; Kamandi, in the wake of the Planet of the Apes phenomenon, showed a post-apocalyptic future in which all humanity has degraded to virtual beasts, oppressed by all manner of super-evolved animals and Omac – One-Man Army Corps – was a near-future upgrade of Kirby’s Captain America concept, as feeble Buddy Blank became the invincible superhuman warrior under the omniscient direction of Brother Eye, in a 1984-insipred surveillance-ridden future which has particular resonance in the present day. The first issues of these series, the premier appearances of each title character, are new in, in high grade Cents copies, no UK price stamp; Demon #1 VF £50, Kamandi #1 VF+ £50 and Omac #1 FN/VF £20.

*Marvel: This week’s entry in our Mighty Marvel Firsts event is Daredevil #1. After the successes of the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, Stan Lee enlisted his old colleague, Bill Everett, to co-create this acrobatic avenger of the streets. In a yellow and red costume intended to evoke the jester-style livery of the 1940s Daredevil, Matt Murdock lost his sight but gained phenomenal sensory powers, using them and his athletic skills to avenge the murder of his father…and the rest was history. Following his successful Netflix series, Daredevil has finally washed away the stain of the Affleck movie, and Marvel’s Sightless Swashbuckler has never been more popular! This copy of his premier issue is GD/VG, with minor foxing at the spine & top edge, minor corner and edge wear, and one diagonal cover crease at top right corner, but firm staples and excellent interior pages. A highly attractive mid-grade copy of an increasingly popular debut, pence copy on sale at £600. Stay tuned for another Mighty Marvel First next week! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A selection of extremely attractively graded Iron Man issues from the Seventies, numbers ranging from #41 to #60. Pence copies, the lowest grade on these beauties is VF, with many achieving the heights of NM; bright, glossy copies with vivid colour, tight staples and white interiors. This period also features, coincidentally, several of the goofier adversaries in the Golden Avenger’s Rogue’s Gallery: Demon-Queen, Firebrand, Raga Son of Fire, and most oddball costume of all, the Slasher! (IM #41; look it up online, we dare you) Pictured is the pick of the litter, #56 NM p £69, a Jim Starlin homage to the Big Panty Monsters of yesteryear.

*Modern Reprints: In the days before the Marvel Universe, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko provided scores of collaborations for the ‘Big Panty Monster’ series such as Strange Tales and Tales to Astonish, twist-ending fables with a sting in the tale. These proved so popular that one of the newer BPM titles, Amazing Adventures, was, with its seventh issue, rechristened Amazing Adult Fantasy (in the days when Adult had a more innocent connotation), and devoted entirely to the Lee & Ditko twist-ending short stories. Despite raves from the fans, the new format was not a success with greater America, and with its final issue – renamed again, to just Amazing Fantasy – Stan & Steve tried a roll of the dice to achieve commercial success with an offbeat character called Spider-Man, of whom you may have heard. This lavish hardcover full-colour volume, published in 2007 and now long out of print, re-presents the entire series in all its permutations, Amazing Adventures to Amazing Adult Fantasy to plain Amazing Fantasy, a parade of many of Marvel’s finest early moments. This is a superior copy, at first glance virtually as new, but closer examination does reveal minor wear at the top and bottom of the dustjacket, and two creases in the lower dustjacket. Therefore we have graded it VF and priced it at £120.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In the field of comics collecting, first issues are almost always the most in-demand of a long run, and prices tend to be proportionately higher, but we’re pleased to offer several first Boys’ Adventure issues from the 1960s and 1970s in affordable low to mid grades, for your reading enjoyment! While all of these have some wear and blemishes, all are complete, with all pages and part pages intact. This band of battered brothers are: Bullet #1 VG £15, Jet #1 FA £10 (with #2 FA £5), Super DC #1 PR/FA £6, Tornado #1 GD £15 and Warlord #1 FA £7.50. SORRY, THESE ARE NOW SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Many issues from #3 right up to the final issue (#81) of the short-lived but well regarded comic Emma, including the Christmas issue (#45) and a Valentine issue (#52). Our favourire strip, ‘the White Mouse’ stars a plucky mam’selle of the resistance who dons a giant mouse outfit to outwit the Nazis. As you do. 

*Clearance Corner: Cracked Magazine, a cheerfully blatant imitation of Mad, was published from 1958 to 2007 before reinventing itself as a website which bears little resemblance to its print incarnation. In its heyday, however, it was popular enough to launch both British and Australian editions, which reprinted the US material but often in different configurations. Satires of popular TV series and movies were a staple – frequently illustrated by EC and Marvel veteran John Severin, a mainstay of the magazine for most of its first run – and lifestyle ‘interview’ segments, conducted by the unfeasibly behootered Nanny Dickering (illustrated by definitive ‘Good Girl’ artist Bill Ward) were frequent. This bargain selection of British Cracked – with a couple of Australian editions thrown on the Barbie – is offered at £15 for 45 issues averaging VG condition (including Collectors’ Editions, King-Size issues, Giant issues and a Super issue), with postage (UK only), if required, costing an additional £13.50. SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*Clearance Corner: This week’s bargain lot comprises 7 of those giant Marvel reprint titles from the 1960s, which carried reprints of the earliest Marvel super-hero stories. 2 x Marvel Collectors’ Item Classics (#9 & #12), 1 x Fantasy Masterpieces (#11) and  4 x Marvel Tales (#4, #6, #18 & #20). Average GD/VG condition. Great bargain reading at just £12 for the lot. These fit into a stiff mailer and UK postage if required would be an additional £3.50. SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our American section:
*Modern Reprints
and in our American/British section:
*Tarzan/E R Burroughs
*Phantom
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: In the third issue of their 1987 company-wide crossover Legends, DC introduced, as one of a fistful of new concepts they were generating post-Crisis, a new iteration of the Suicide Squad concept. While the name ‘Suicide Squad’ had been used twice in the DCU before – once for a team of non-superpowered adventurers in Brave & Bold, and once for a series of stories in the war titles, this was the one which caught fire. Comprised of reluctantly reformed super-villains, the team took on insanely hazardous missions with the dangling promise of freedom if they earned enough ‘time’ off their sentences – or the alternative of a swift and brutal death at the hands of their governmental captors if they crossed the line. This Suicide Squad was a massive hit, spinning off into several acclaimed series and featuring, of course, in the recent cinematic blockbuster which, though flawed, was nevertheless a huge commercial success. This debut appearance is an NM pence copy on sale at £25.

*Marvel: Following the mammoth success of Venom, Marvel tried to make the lightning strike twice by introducing yet another symbiotic murderous villain into the Spider-Man universe – and, against all odds, succeeded, as Carnage proved every bit as popular as his ‘daddy’ Venom! Amazing Spider-Man issues #361 to #363 brought us “The Carnage Trilogy”, featuring the premier appearance and first major story arc of, well, you know who, one of the major villains of the Marvel Universe. #361 is NM- p at £50, #362 NM- p £10 and #363 NM p £12.50. SORRY, #361 NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A bit modern by our normal criteria, but a keenly-sought issue, 1988’s Hulk #340 was early in the acclaimed Peter David run, and featured a crossover with the X-Men’s hot ticket Wolverine, including an admittedly striking cover image (Hulk reflected in Wolverine’s claws) which has helped this to become a collector’s item. Art by Todd McFarlane, about whom we can only shrug helplessly and say, in the words of Miss Brodie, “If you like that sort of thing, then this is the sort of thing you like”. Plenty of people do like it (lucky us) and this VF- pence copy is on sale at £25. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Western: The history of the Two-Gun Kid is a tad confusing – making his debut as a black-clad, golden-haired troubadour named Clay Harder, who was as prone to burst into song as use his weapons, then unexpectedly metamorphosing in 1962 into Matt Hawk, mild-mannered attorney at law, who was purportedly inspired by dime novels of the Clay Harder character to assume the masked alias of the Two-Gun Kid! How very postmodern of Stan and Jack. Confusingly, both versions of the Kid shared the same numbering sequence, the second version premiering in issue #60. We are pleased to have a selection of both versions of TGK new in, beginning with issue #11 and running through to #100. His Rogue’s Gallery includes ‘prototypes’ the Purple Phantom (for the Western Ghost Rider) and the Panther (for Black Panther), Goliath, Jesse James, the Rattler, Geronimo, and Billy the Kid, and other highlights include team-ups with fellow Marvel gunslingers Rawhide Kid and Kid Colt. Pictured are issue #34 VG+ £20, #59 (final ‘old’ TGK) VG £15.25 and #75 FN £18. For prices and conditions on the others, check out our rough-ridin’ online catalogue!

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: As is typical of this category, this update features a few dozen issues covering a wide range of genres: War with Battleground, Science-Fiction with Fantastic Tales & Race For The Moon, Super-Heroes with Flash, Western with Kid Colt & Kid Slade, Crime with Mr District Attorney and the Saint, Horror with Mystic, Spellbound & Zombie. Something for everyone! 

*Annuals: Just in time for the festive season, and helping to celebrate our Christmas window, we have a new selection of Beano annuals in stock from the 1970s to the 1990s, plus some Gerry Anderson related annuals: Countdown from 1972/73 (72 pictured), TV Action from 1974 and UFO from 1971. A very traditional Ghristmas gift to delight your loved ones!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: D C Thomson’s late entry into this category, Champ, lasted a very respectable 87 issues from 1984/85 and offered traditional fare in the shape of football and adventure strips with comedy relief. We have the entire run from first to last (except #53) fresh into stock including the sole Christmas issue. #1-4 include Free Gifts as follows: #1 VG/FN £17.50 with NM Free Gift (Super Soccer Slide Guide); #2 FN £15 with NM Free Gift (Soccer Star Pics and display wallet); #3 FN £9 with NM Free Gift (Soccer Star Pics); #4 FN £10 with NM Free Gift (Snappy Sticker Badges).

 

As celebrated in our special Christmas window, don’t forget that one of the categories in our ever-growing book department focuses on classic Childrens’ fiction, both paperback and hardback, including famous volumes and beloved characters. The Famous Five, Billy Bunter, Just William, Alice, Biggles, Jennings, Narnia and many more adorn our shelves and we’re particularly blessed at the moment by a collection of the girls’ favourite Monica Edwards, whose Punchbowl Farm and Romney Marsh sequence of novels have enthralled generations; many in stock including first editions. These very much embody the spirit of nostalgia that is what we’re all about, and of course make great Christmas presents for your loved ones! Some highlights are shown here:

As you may be aware, we only stock the first 500 or so issues of 2000 AD, so when we recently bought in a collection that goes a little beyond that, it turns out to be a bit of good fortune for some lucky punter out there, since we have some 45 Copies (1 duplicate) between #523 & #589 up for grabs in our latest bargain pack for the first taker. These are available for just £15; they weigh 2.7 kg and if UK postage is required, this will cost an additional £7 (sent as 2 packages) SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: We conclude our current Batmania event with two high demand issues. Batman #227 has a classic Neal Adams gothic cover (interior art by Irv Novick) swiped from Detective Comics #31. We have a nice FN+ pence stamped copy at £125, with the only defects being some very slight foxing at the top of the inside front cover and splash page and a very tiny chip out of the bottom of the spine. Adams is rampant on Batman #251, THE classic Joker cover and story with his art on cover and throughout. This new-in copy is also pence stamped and graded at GD-, with worn spine and a 1/2″ tear running through the book from centre spine; but at £25, it’s sure to be gone before you can say Bruce Wayne. That’s all the Batman for now, but we’ll have more offerings here very soon, in our most sensational sequence of Batmania ever! SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: The popularity of the ol’ web-spinner continues unabated and this week we have an issue seemingly everyone wants — #50 with its iconic “Spider-Man No More” cover (John Romita with surely one of the most powerful images in comics) and the 1st appearance of the Kingpin. This copy, sadly, has seen better days, off both staples with worn spine and edges (a couple of minor spine splits), but complete and with the cover image relatively unspoilt; graded at FA+ (a cents copy) and priced at £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD