*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: As the title suggests, our publisher of note this time is Belmont, founded in 1960, later subsumed into Tower Comics and hence becoming Belmont Tower. In the two decades of its existence it embraced Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror with a mix of well-known and aspiring authors. We have three Belmont double features (where could they have got that idea from?), Doomsman/Thief Of Thoth (Harlan Ellison/Lin Carter), an unusual combination of Doomsman/Telepower (Harlan Ellison/Lee Hoffman) and A Lamp For Medusa/The Players Of Hell (William Tenn/Dave Van Arnam). Harlan Ellison is also represented by From The Land Of Fear, while Dave Van Arnam’s solo work is Wizard Of Storms. In addition we have The Warriors of Terra (John Faucette), Doomstar (Edmond Hamilton), The Alien (Raymond F Jones) and After Some Tomorrow (Mack Reynolds), all designed to tempt you to the bookshelves.
Category Archives: What’s New
British Update: Cowboy Comics/Picture Library
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: It’s time to saddle up and ride the range once again with our latest influx of Amalgamated Press/Fleetway Cowboy Comics/Picture Library alongside Tim Holt, Kit Carson, Buck Jones, the Kansas Kid & Davy Crockett. This batch of a couple of dozen starts as early as #12, and finishes with #445, but are mostly within the #100-300 range. Collectors should note that they are mostly low grade reading copies, Poors, Fairs and a few Goods, but they’ll do to plug a gap until a better copy comes along (and these don’t come along too often!)
American Update: 1st Thor in Journey Into Mystery #83 FN+ (pence) £4000
*Marvel: One of the major milestones of the early Marvel Age, Journey Into Mystery – like several companion titles, previously devoted to what we’ve termed the “Big Panty Monster” genre of science-fiction stories – had an epiphany with its 83rd issue, and introduced timid Doctor Don Blake, who assumed (or, as it was later revealed, resumed) the mantle of Thor, God of Thunder. Although the creators hedged their bets by having Thor fight a decidedly sci-fi menace in his first issue – the Stone Men of Saturn – they needn’t have worried, as Lee & Kirby’s creation was an instant hit, and spawned countless more comics, plus an ever-increasing number of successful movies in later years. This copy is Pence priced, and graded as Fine+, but, it must be observed, it’s’ a much more attractive copy than that bald grade would seem to indicate. The most significant drawback is light discoloration, in the form of grubbiness, possibly even original over-inking in the printing process, which is present on the upper corner of the last page, which is ads-only; neither the lead story, nor the two fantasy back-ups (by Heck and Ditko, should you be wondering) are affected. All other interior pages are clean, off-white and flexible, and the cover scene is unimpaired, with excellent unfaded colour. A thin, marginal portion of the cover scene has been printed on the back cover edge due to an original printing misalignment; however, no key elements are missing from the cover scene. We attach scans of the front and back covers to illustrate this. In all other respects, this is an exceptionally bright and attractive copy for the grade, and is offered at £4,000. High resolution scans are available on request and, of course, this comic is eligible for a payment instalment plan if required. If you wish to view this comic at our shop, please contact us to book a viewing appointment.
Window Update: Gotta Make Way For Homo Superior?
Dr Evilla’s inspiration for this window came from listening to Bowie’s classic ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’, with its mention of Homo sapiens outgrowing its use. Pondering what the next level of evolution might be, she came up with this window, describing it as depicting her best guess for the future. We’ll leave it to our discerning customers to decide whether she’s right……
American Update: Batmania Max: Watching The Detectives – 1st Batwoman
*DC: Our Batmania Max event continues this week with a 1950’s key issue of Detective Comics. The Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder had their cozy world rocked by a curvaceous copycat who weaponised stereotypically female trappings – Tear-Gas Perfume, Expanding Hair-Net Traps – and, possessing skill and daring equal to Batman himself, eclipsed the Gotham Guardians’ style, saving their lives on several occasions! Kathy Kane, circus stuntwoman turned heiress and socialite, became a regular character in the Batman titles for several years before being supplanted by the Barbara Gordon Batgirl, but following her early 20th-Century revival, she’s once again a major player in the DC Universe, soon to be the star, once more, of her own ongoing series! This was her first appearance, in Detective Comics #233, and although the cover is virtually detached and there are considerable corner cover creases, the cover scene is unimpaired, and the interior pages clean and sound. We have graded it FA+, and it’s available for £200.
British Update: Tales to hold you… Spellbound!
*Girls’ Comics: In 1976, D.C.Thomson launched Spellbound, a new girls’ weekly with a supernatural/science-fiction twist, as every serial had elements of the unearthly. Lead feature, of course, was the interplanetary squad of adventuresses, “The Supercats”, who used their amazing powers to right intergalactic wrongs, while wearing skintight outfits and striking cheesecake poses, courtesy of artists the Romero Studios. But whether dealing with suddenly shrunken suburban families (“Dangerous Days for the Tiny Taylors”), Midwich Cuckoo-like intruders at a boarding school (“The Strange Ones”), spooky retail adventures (“The Shop at Shudder Corner”), or horror that was purely psychological (“Poison penny”), the Spellbound team pulled out all the stops and generated genuinely memorable stories – so much so that they inspired rivals IPC/Fleetway to launch their imitator, Misty! We have new stock in between issues 17 and 33 of Spellbound, and a couple of later editions, 18 additions in total.
American Update: Double Down with the New Mutants – Cable AND Deadpool premiere issues in mid-grade!
*Marvel: For the budget-conscious mutant aficionado, the chance to acquire the first appearances of recent key characters in affordable prices! Behind a cover by Rob Liefeld AND Todd McFarlane (Mr. Ambassador, you are spoiling us…), New Mutants #87 brought us the first full appearance of Cable, the time-travelling master of nobody’s-quite-sure-what-his-powers-are, who took over as the New Mutant’s mentor, spent a great deal of time traversing the aeons with sundry mutant babies, and is soon to co-star in the Deadpool 2 movie! Issue #98 of the same series brought us, in addition to the oft-overlooked debuts of Domino and the Gideon, the very first appearance of Deadpool, the Merc-With-A-Mouth who took comics – and, later, the cinematic world – by storm. Although very different from his later characterisation, this is nevertheless the very first Deadpool, and highly sought after. Both of these issues are graded as GD/VG, with the predominant drawbacks being multiple fine cover creases and pressure marks from long-term storage; the interior pages are fine. The #87 is a pence copy offered at £30; the #98 is a cents copy, on sale for £50.
American Update: Superman Vs. Spider-Man
*DC: From 1976, the ground-breaking cross-company crossover as the two greatest solo stars of DC and Marvel met for the first time in Superman Vs. the Amazing Spider-Man! This tabloid-size event united the creative teams of the two companies, and set a precedent for a number of subsequent, very lucrative, collaborations between the opposing bullpens! This cents copy is FN+ at £35, and we anticipate it will sell just as rapidly as every other one we’ve ever had in stock, so don’t dither – order today!
British Update: Valiant & Smash Summer Special 1971
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: This extra-thick Special edition of the popular weekly comic features most of the regular favourites from Valiant – ‘Captain Hurricane’, ‘Kelly’s Eye’, ‘Billy Bunter’, ‘Raven on the Wing’, et al – plus interlopers from the upstart Smash such as ‘His Sporting Lordship’ and ‘Erik the Viking’. This VG copy at £25 is a bulging bonanza of fun & thrills!
American/British Update: Reworking the Classics Part 3
*Classics Illustrated: We continue our ongoing reclassification of our Classics Illustrated stock, adding more identification information to the myriad of various editions of the British versions of this famous series, this time from #31-50. Along the way, we’ve added some new incoming stock, including Lorna Doone (#32), The Man In The Iron Mask (#36), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (#43) & The Bottle Imp (#45). Pictured is #37 (The Pioneers), new British cover edition.
British Update: Stand By For Action! – Later TV Century 21 (1st series) back in stock!
*TV & Film Related Comics: The definitive Gerry Anderson showcase of the 1960’s, TV Century 21 presented epic science-fiction adventures from the popular TV series ‘Stingray’, ‘Fireball XL5’, and ‘Thunderbirds’, by the top illustrators of the day – Embleton, Noble, Bellamy and more of the nation’s finest creators. For a while, we have been sadly deficient in the latter part of the series’ run, but we have just added 50+ issues from #137 through to #235, with the then-new ‘Captain Scarlet’ front and centre – to enrich our stock. Spectrum Is Green!
American/British Update: Hernandez Bros. Unleashed! Love & Rockets and Associated Titles
*Undergrounds: From 1982 onwards, the multi-talented Hernandez Brothers (Jaime, Gilbert and Mario) revolutionised indie/undergroung comics with Love & Rockets, telling tales of a diverse cast of gripping characters – Maggie & Hopey in “Locas”, the denizens of Palomar in “Heartbreak Soup”, Errata Stigmata and myriad others. The multiple-award-winning series continues today, in its third iteration, and there have been numerous spin-offs focussing on particular characters. We are pleased to have issues #2-50, virtually a complete run of the original series, averaging VF and all first printings, new to our stock, as well as a respectable run from the second series (#6-20), and several of the tie-in series: Luba, Luba’s Comics and Stories, Maggie and Hopey Color Fun, New Tales of Old Palomar and Penny Century. Those of you familiar with the Hernandez’ skills have a chance to fill in those elusive gaps in your collection, and if you haven’t discovered them yet, then there’s never been a better time to get started!
American Update: Bronze Age Marvel Annuals with First Appearances!
*Marvel: A trio of Bronze/Modern Age Marvel Annuals delight our palates this week. We open with Avengers Annual #10, a Claremmont & Golden extravaganza co-featuring the X-Men, Spider-Woman and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and bringing us the debut of the Brotherhood’s newest ‘sister’, Rogue, the Southern succubus who eventually joined the good guys. This copy is a sparkling NM at £70. New Mutants Annual #2 also featured the debut of a future Lady X-Man, in the form of Psylocke – not the first appearance of Betsy Braddock herself (she’d been a supporting character in Captain Britain for yonks), but in this Claremont & Davis thriller, she assumes the identity of Psylocke for the first time; FN/VF at £25, very minor wear at lower right corner, and one small ‘break’ in the mid-spine. Finally, Eternals Annual #1 (and only), not by Chris Claremont – shocker! – but from the mind of the legendary Jack Kirby, with Thena, Karkas and the Reject up against the menace of the Time Killers – bargainacious at VG £3!
American Update: The Bronze Age Flash – complete to the end!
*DC: We don’t normally make a song & dance about ‘modern’ comics (the ones usually consigned to our downstairs department), but this is one case in which we’ll happily make an exception. As part of our massive Flash update, we have issues from 1977’s #251 all the way through to 1985’s #350, the final issue of Barry Allen’s first series, and a farewell (at least until the effects of Crisis On Infinite Earth were nullified) to the Silver Age Flash! Along the way, highlights include the death of Iris Allen in #275, the debuts of several latter-day members of the Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery (Rainbow Raider #286; Colonel Computron #304; and Big Sir #338), George Perez’s artistic debut at DC #289, and the two-part epic demise of professor Zoom in issues #323 and #324! Many of these later issues were illustrated by the Flash’s original artist, Carmine Infantino, and, while not at his peak, they still show outstanding craftsmanship. This run is characterised by outstanding grades, averaging VF or better. You won’t find these in our catalogue, but downstairs in our shop. Enquiries welcomed.
British Update: Medallions, Mullets and Moustaches: Yes, it’s Bullet!
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1976 onwards, in the decade that taste forgot, we have extensive new stocks of D.C. Thomson’s hard-edged Bullet weekly, starring medallion man Fireball, Wonder Mann, Survivor, and a host of other action heroes. This influx commences with the 5th issue, and replenishes our stock up to 1977’s issue #99, adding 30+ copies to our lists in affordable mid-grades.
British Update: A Small Flock of Eagles
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A small update to our stock of classic Eagle from the 1950’s and 1960’s, with new copies from Volumes 6, 7, 19 & 20.
Books Update: UNCLE’S Girl
*TV/Film Tie-Ins: So popular was the Man From UNCLE on our screens in the mid-1960’s that a spin-off series was called for, starring Stefanie Powers as the Girl From UNCLE (and her side kick Mark Slate, played by Noel Harrison). Like the TV show, the book series from the franchise didn’t last as long as its parent; whereas a total of 23 books of the Man From Uncle were published (7 only in the US), Girl From only accounted for 5, bizarrely only 2 in US editions, and 4 in the UK, including #2, #3 and #4 which are UK originals. We have all three of those fresh in, plus #2 in the American series, The Blazing Affair, never published in the UK. Like the Man From UNCLE books, quality varied according to author, but Michael Avallone and Peter Leslie carried over their good work from the parent series.
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:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
American Update: Flash #175 – Flash/Superman Rematch!
*DC: After the precedent-shattering events of Superman #199, in which the Man of Steel and the Vizier of Velocity squared off for the title of Fastest Man Alive, ecstatic fans craved a rematch, and in Flash #175, the two raced again – with the entire Justice League of America as cheerleaders! But who won? Hey – buy the book, urchins! This copy of the historic issue is a remarkable VF, cents copy, with tight corners, firm staples, unimpeded cover scene and excellent interior page quality. offered at £80.
American Update: Avengers Re-Assemble!
*Marvel: A substantial sweep through the first 100 issues of the World’s Mightiest Heroes, commencing with #2 (debut of the ever-phunky Space Phantom) and progressing to #96, incorporating many issues previously missing from our listings. Approximately 50 copies new in, highlights including the debuts of the Swordsman, the Sons of the Serpent, the Squadrons Supreme AND Sinister, Arkon, the Invaders (though to be fair, they didn’t call themselves that then…), Red Wolf & Lobo, and Nighthawk, plus two issues poorly distributed in the UK; #25, in which Cap’s Kookie Quartet go up against Doctor Doom, and issue #58, in which, one issue after his debut, the origin of the Vision was told for the first time. In a wide range of grades and prices to match, there’s something to suit the taste and budget of every Avengers fan! Highlights pictured below (left to right) are: #2 VG p £135, #3 VG £120, #7 VG+ p £55, #21 VF+ p £65 & #24 VF+ £62.
American Update: Harley’s In The House! Issues #1 & #2 from 2000
*DC: All Aboard The Roller Coaster of Love! Harleen Quinzel, M. D., aka Harley Quinn, the Joker’s sidekick and inamorata, proved such a hit when she debuted on the Batman Animated Series TV show that she was quickly transplanted into the DC Universe proper. With this series, commencing at the turn of this very century, she spun off into her own wild and wacky adventures, in the very capable hands of Karl Kesel and the Dodsons. This title – from when Harley had a brain and wore clothes, to distinguish her from later iterations – is highly sought after, and we anticipate an early departure for our #1 (VF £40), and #2 (NM £20), so move – move! – like the Joker was right behind you if you want to get ’em!
American/British Update: Reworking The Classics Part 2
*Classics Illustrated: A second instalment of our overhaul of this popular category, this time giving full identification information for our stock of UK versions between number #17-30. Included are copies of #17 (the Deerslayer) with new British cover image (pictured); we’ve also added some newly arrived issues such as #24 (A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth).
British Update: IPC Smash!
*Power Comics: When IPC took over the Smash title from Odhams in 1969, it changed tack completely, not just becoming normal IPC size, but also losing the American reprints and the humour and featuring ‘traditional’ fare for a Boys’ Weekly, albeit of a high standard with strips such as Cursitor Doom, Janus Stark, Simon Test and Tri-Man. The series lasted a respectable two further years before being subsumed into Valiant, and we have almost a complete run fresh into stock to delight you.
British Update: Pre-Ban Actions from #1
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following extensive sales on the famous Action from 1976 onwards, we’re pleased to have sourced some additional copies between #1 (14/2/76) and the last issue of the ‘first run’ (16/10/76), before the comic was infamously banned and went on hiatus for a couple of months. See what all the fuss was about with Hookjaw, Hellman and all their chums. #1 VG/FN £32.50; most other issues a nice Fine; see catalogue for full details.
British Update: A whirlwind of TV Tornado
*TV & Film Related Comics: A chunky update to our stocks of the ever-popular TV Tornado (1967/68), with most issues from #18 upwards added to our stock, mostly in a very collectable Fine grade. As well as all the regular TV favourite strips, this run also features many issues with Gerry Anderson’s Mysteron series, as well as cult TV favourite covers such as The Prisoner #48, Dr Who (Patrick Troughton) #59 and The Avengers (Patrick Macnee) #64. Full details as always in our catalogue.
Books Update: Classic Dr Who Novelisations: Hartnell, Troughton & Pertwee inc 1st Armada Daleks
*TV/Film Tie-Ins: Some classic Dr Who stories novelised this update, featuring the 1st three Doctors. Star of the show is the first ever Dr Who book from 1965, published by Armada: Dr Who In An Exciting Adventure With The Daleks, GD £18, written by David Whitaker, uncle of our late friend Steve Whitaker (who you can read about in our Extras section). The other books are all Target versions, including the 1st Doctor’s first encounter with the Cybermen, the 2nd Doctor’s monster ‘favourites’ in The Abominable Snowmen, The Ice Warriors and The Web Of Fear and the 3rd Doctor’s tussle with The Sea Devils.
American Update: More Marvel Treasuries
*Marvel: A further small update to our stocks of the immensely popular over-sized Marvel Treasuries from the 1970’s. Just three this time: #2 with the Fantastic Four and two specials: Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag and Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles.
American Update: Amazing World Of DC Comics
*Magazines & Books About Vintage US Comics: Lest often seen, and with quite low distribution, we are pleased to present eight issues of DC’s self-published ‘house’ fanzine of the 1970s from #3 to #10, all in VF or better condition. Each issue focuses on a particular character or creator; #3: Julius Schwartz, #4: Batman, #5: Sheldon Mayer, #6: Joe Orlando, #7: Superman, #8: Carmine Infantino, #9: Legion Of Super-Heroes, #10: DC behind the scenes production team. A fascinating insight into DC in the mid 1970’s.
Books Update: A Sett Of Badgers With Added Fox
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Unlike many farmers and the government, we’re very fond of Badgers – so much so that we have taken in a substantial number of Badger Books. As usual, most are written by Lionel Fanthorpe in various guises (Bron Fane, Lionel Roberts, John E Muller, Pel Torro and Karl Zeigfreid), but The Brain Stealers is written by Murray Leinster. All of the books have distinctive Badger cover art, mostly by Henry Fox, and the grades are mainly in the GD – VG area, although Micro Infinity stands out as a FN/VF copy.
British Update: Tiger 1966 & 1972-75
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A further large update to our stocks of the long-lived Tiger weekly. This time we add a few issues from 1966, then all issues from 1972 & 1973 previously missing from our listings, followed by the first half of 1974 and just a few from 1975.
American Update: Batmania Max: Watching the Detectives #401-449
*DC: Another chunky instalment in our ongoing Batmania Max event. This time we focus on Detective Comics from #401-449, an exciting time in the development of the Batman mythos. The run commences with a range of Neal Adams drawn issues, including key issues in the Ras Al Ghul introduction, in particular #405 VF £55 (not Adams – 1st League Of Assassins), and #411 VF- £95 (not Adams – 1st Talia Al Ghul); the highest graded Adams issue is #408 VF+ £73. All three of these are pictured below. Batgirl continues her adventures in these issues, and later, in #437, there is the first appearance of the Modern Age Manhunter, followed by a string of 100 Page issues from #438-445. This run is characterised by sparkling high grade conditions, with VF+ being the average, and many higher, including some of the 100 Pagers, which hardly ever turn up as nice as this. All cents copies.
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:
*Religious
and in our American/British section:
*Tarzan/E R Burroughs
*Phantom
*Flash Gordon
*Spirit
*Modesty Blaise
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
British Update: A Miscellany of Boys’ Adventure & War
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A real mash-up of odds and ends in this update, including Baker’s Half-Dozen (a compilation of the classic strip from Speed), a Boys’ Own Paper from 1956, a stray issue of Buddy, Dan Dare, Pilot Of The Future (Hamlyn compilation), Lion 19/1/63 (1st Zip Nolan), a Miracleman from 1965 (Spanish reprint), the Revolver Horror Special from 1990 and Volumes 1 & 2 of Slaine the Horned God, the Fleetway compilation of Mills’ and Bisley’s classic strip.
American Update: Silver/Bronze Marvel sweep: early Daredevils and more
*Marvel: Another round-up of waifs and strays that have recently come in from Marvel’s Silver/Bronze Age, including Captain America, Champions (scarce last issue #17 NM £20), early Daredevils (#6, #8 & #16, low grade with book centre stamps), Power Man & Iron Fist (#57 with the X-Men), Super-Villain Team-Up, What If, X-Factor & X-Men (#142 Days Of Future Past).
American Update: Flash Bulletin! – Early Adventures of the Wizard of Whiz
*DC: Continuing its numbering from the 1940’s Flash Comics, the Barry Allen-helmed Flash title launched in 1959 with issue #105, and we have some of the earliest tales of the Scarlet Speedster, including epic clashes with Captain Cold, the Mirror Master and the debut of his antipodean arch-enemy, Captain Boomerang, in #117! This range, selections from #107 to #118, features a variety of conditions from FA/GD to VG/FN, many pictured below, so there’s a chance for all budgets to sample some classic work by Fox, Broome and Infantino. Lots more Flash to follow in the weeks to come – never more timely, given the popularity of the Flash on both the big and small screen, so keep your eyes glued to the website for future instalments!
American Update: An Annual Event! Fantastic Four Annual # 1 and other early Marvel Specials
*Marvel: In the early 1960’s, DC’s Annuals were reprint compilations of stories that had appeared only ten years or so before, but when the new and dynamic Marvel Comics Company hit the stands, they decided to go one better! Their early Annuals featured all-new, extra-length adventures created by the monarchs of the Marvel Bullpen, in which major events occurred in stories still fondly remembered today. We have half-a dozen such events new to our listings: Avengers Annual #1 (a mammoth battle teaming the Old and New Avengers against six of their deadliest foes) and #2 (a powerful ‘parallel world’ adventure, in which our heroes face their own dictatorial counterparts); the much-underrated Daredevil Annual #1, with the sightless swashbuckler tackles Electro and his Emissaries of Evil, with superbly dynamic Gene Colan art; Hulk Annual #1, with the Green Goliath discovering the land of the Inhumans, behind a classic Jim Steranko cover; Fantastic Four Annual #3, with the wedding of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl guest-starring every Marvel hero and villain of the day; and – the Big One – Fantastic Four Annual #1 from 1963, by Lee & Kirby, featuring an epic struggle with the Sub-Mariner and his Atlantean armies! This VG- pence-stamped copy is in excellent condition with only moderate spine & corner wear, good page quality, offered at £75.
American Update: Gimme the Moon Knight…
*Marvel: After his appearances as guest-villain in Werewolf by Night, Marc Spector, a.k.a. Moon Knight, proved so popular that he was rushed into a solo tryout in Marvel Spotlight #28, to the delights of fans of nocturnal crime-fighting billionaire vigilantes everywhere. We have a FN/VF cents copy of that issue new in at £30, and with Marc Spector’s name popping up with increasing frequency in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, now’s the time to purchase his early appearances, before the price spirals ever higher!
American/British Update: Reworking the Classics Part 1
*Classics Illustrated: We’ve always stocked a wide range of both US and UK versions of Classics Illustrated, but have not always listed all the information necessary to identify editions. Having delved into the arcane arts of Classics identification, and mindful of serious Classics collectors’ need for this information, we have now commenced to rectify this, starting with the UK versions, which are notoriously the most difficult to pin down. In addition to issue number and title, we are now listing HRN (Highest Reorder Number) together with Filled In Number, country of printing, which printing each issue is and other identification notes such as ‘line drawn cover’, ‘Australian edition’ ‘stiff cover’ etc. It’s a weird and wacky journey, but we hope you’ll bear with us as we progress this in instalments. Along the way, we’ll be adding some newly received issues to our stock. This time we’ve added all the information for issues #1-16 and added titles like #4 (Macbeth), #6 (A Tale Of Two Cities – line drawn stiff cover 1st printing), #10 (Robinson Crusoe), #13 (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde – line drawn stiff cover 1st printing), and #15 (Uncle Tom’s Cabin – line drawn cover 1st printing). Many more instalments to come!
American Update: Dell Super-Heroes – and more!
*Dell: A surprisingly consistent update from one of the 1960’s more diverse publishers. The theme is heroic, whether super-heroic with telekinetic mutant Brain Boy, irradiated airman Nukla, or power-pilfering teenagers The Super-Heroes: historically heroic with Naza Stone Age Warrior or El Cid (Movie Classic): or, oops, heroine…ic?, with fashion model turned shutterbug Friday Foster, the first woman of colour to have her own comic book – albeit for only one issue in 1972!
American Update: Richie Riches’ Pals & Gals plus…
*Harvey: Our stocks of the World’s Most Affluent Brat are enriched (ahem) this week by new additions to no fewer than ten Richie Rich titles – RR & Casper; RR & Dollar the Dog; RR & Gloria; RR Billions; RR Dollars & Cents; RR Inventions; RR Millions; RR Riches; RR Success Stories; and RR Vaults of Mystery. Phew! Descending from these lofty fiscal heights, we also add Chamber of Clues – the short-lived Post-Code successor to Chamber of Chills – Harvey Pop Comics #2, starring Bunny and a cast of thousands (but not, alas, Fruitman) in a “Rock Happening” – and a rather lovely copy of 1958’s Race For The Moon #2, with beautiful Kirby/Williamson artwork, in a highly attractive VG+ for £40.
Books Update: Some Ace Books With Quite A Nice Comic Shop Attached
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: In the first of an occasional series we’re planning to release books from a particular publisher, and where better to start than Ace, with their long and illustrious history in Science Fiction publishing. Founded in 1953 it soon had Donald A Wollheim as editor, and some of the best writers of the period, including Samuel R. Delany, Philip K. Dick, Ursula K Le Guin and Robert Silverberg. The Ace Doubles, with their tête-bêche format were a popular innovation. The Ace books that have been added range from the 1950’s (First On The Moon, Jeff Sutton) to the 1970’s (I..Alien, J Michael Reaves) and include Endless Shadow/The Arsenal Of Miracles (John Brunner and Gardner F Fox), The Einstein Intersection (Samuel R Delaney), The Radio Planet (Ralph Milne Farley), four Star Wolf novels by Edmond Hamiton and Monsters In Orbit/The World Between (Jack Vance). Many have covers by artists such as Jack Gaughan and Emsh(willer). Ace passed through a succession of owners, but still continues to be an assurance of quality.
British Update: Free Gift Farrago! Early High Grade Countdown issues inc. #1 with Free Gift
*TV & Film Related Comics: We’re spoiling you this week with a second Free Gift Farrago. This time it’s the turn for Countdown; #1 (FN+) comes with its Free Gift (Giant Space Fact Wall Chart FN) with the four stamps from issue #1 stuck in (comic and gift both illustrated here); offered at £110. We also have issues #2, #4 & #5 in VF and #6-7 in lower grades. For the uninitiated, Countdown was very much the successor to the classic TV Century 21 and featured classic strips such as Lady Penelope, Dr Who, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet, UFO, Thunderbirds and more, many in full colour.
Books Update: Thunderbirds Are FAB!
*TV/Film Tie-Ins: John Theydon’s Thunderbird books were hits when they were first published, and remain very popular today. We are very excited to add three novels: Calling Thunderbirds, Ring Of Fire and Thunderbirds, ranging from GD to VG in grade.
British Update: Free Gift Farrago! Complete run of Spike #1-67
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1983/84, we present one of D C Thomson’s later Boys’ Adventure weeklies, Spike, all 67 issues, fearturing the strips Iron Barr, Starhawk and many more. Our fine copy of #1 (£25) comes with its Free Gift, still sealed in its original bag, the Lockheed P38J WW2 Glider, #7 in a series of 12, and one of the less common numbers. This series was previously poorly represented in our stock, so here’s your chance to get the whole lot in one go!
British Update: Super DC
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1969, DC’s attempt to repackage some of their classic Silver Age Superman & Batman stories for the UK market, in UK comic size, with black and white interiors and new covers. We have the first 12 of the short-lived 14 issue series; #2 includes an advertising flyer for DC’s UK Annuals, and #9 reprints the first Brainiac story from Action #242.
Books Update: Aspects Of Asimov
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Isaac Asimov was never known for his modesty, but this update demonstrates that he had a lot to be immodest about: the Foundation series, his Space Ranger series (targeted at younger readers), short stories, work as an editor and collaborator with other authors are all represented here. We have Foundation itself, Second Foundation, Space Ranger and The Big Sun Of Mercury, Nightfall One as well as one of his anthologies of early Science Fiction, Before The Golden Age 4 and The Positronic Man, written with Robert Silverberg and based on Asimov’s short story The Bicentennial Man.
American Update: ‘X’ Marks the Spot!
*Marvel: A selection of Marvel key issues of titles beginning with ‘X’. First up, X-Factor #5 & #6, featuring the first appearances of Apocalypse, then X-Force #2, with the second appearance of Deadpool (of whom we need to say no more!), and finally, sundry issues of X-Men, including #129 with the first Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost, #131 (1st WHite Queen cover), and #141 & #142, the classic Days Of Future Past storyline, featuring the 1st Rachel Summers in what many consider the greatest X-Men story ever told. Grades and prices in our catalogue.
British Update: Diana 1967-1972
*Girls’ Comics: A healthy update to our stocks of the girls’ tabloid Diana, adding many issues from years previously poorly represented in our listings. We have a few from 1967, most of 1968 and 1969 and just a handful from 1970 and 1972.
American Update: Batmania Max – Batman #115-#126
*DC: We return to the main Batman title for this week’s Batmania Max instalment, this time adding issues between #115 & #126 (most added). Batman was just getting into the swing of sci-fi adventures with aliens at this time, mixed in with more traditional crime and super-villains. Bat-Hound features in #123, which also has a Joker story, and #126 has a Batwoman cover. A mix of grades from FA to FN and prices from £25 to £125. A range of the nicer-graded issues are shown below. Check out our catalogue for full details of grades and prices.
British Update: Starblazer
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: D C Thomson’s Starblazer, the done-in-one science-fiction picture library adventure series, ran for a very respectable 281 issues between 1979 and 1991 and we have several dozen issues new in between #10 & #187. We’ve seen a huge increase in popularity of this series in recent years, and in addition to our new stock, we’ve taken the opportunity to bring our Starblazer listing bang up to date, but it won’t stay that way for long!