*DC: The “Hot New Character” of 1960, Hal Jordan, Green Lantern, made his debut in Showcase and proved so popular that he was awarded the twin accolades of membership in the prestigious Justice League of America, and his own ongoing series! This debut issue dated July-August 1960, featured the first appearance of GL’s intergalactic mentors, the Guardians of the Universe, who previously had been operating ‘behind the scenes’. This specific copy has had its cover removed at some point, but the removal has been done neatly & without undue violence. The staples are still firmly attached, and while there is inevitably some wear to the spine, and a tiny tear at the top spine edge, the ‘guts’ are sound, clean, and the general condition may be estimated as a GD- equivalent. At £50, this is a relatively cheap opportunity to acquire a key issue of one of DC’s major players.

*Marvel: Flush with success at the dawn of the Marvel Universe, Stan Lee had an epiphany: if Iron Man, Thor and company were successful on their own – how much better would they be together? Thus was born the Avengers, in which Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp were brought together by the fiendish machinations of Loki and an heroic dynasty began which continues to this day! The Avengers has lasted myriad issues, with a plethora of spin-offs, and a veritable regiment of members (not to mention an extremely lucrative movie franchise), but this is the comic in which it all began! This copy is in Fair condition, pence-printed. Generally structurally sound, it does have tape on the interior spine, and significant colour touches around the spine area, but the interior pages are unmarred. £400 for this piece of comics history.

*Marvel: Following the success of Master of Kung Fu, Marvel looked around for another martial-arts themed series, and struck paydirt with Iron Fist, who made his debut in the fifteenth issue of the tryout mag Marvel Premiere. This copy of Danny Rand’s adventure to K’Un-L’Un is in generally excellent condition, an apparent FN/VF with tight staples and edges, and clean white interiors. The Marvel Value Stamp has been neatly cut out, but does not affect story pages. With the imminent debut of Iron Fist’s Netflix TV show (and his appearance in the Defenders spin-off), interest in the character has never been higher, so here’s a chance to grab his first-ever appearance at the relatively affordable price of £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Modern Reprints: A scattershot of classic compilations across a variety of publishers in this popular section. From DC, the full-colour paperback sequential reprinting of the acclaimed O’Neil/Sekowsky ‘New’ Wonder Woman. From Marvel, the first softcover Marvel Masterworks volume of the Rawhide Kid, reprinting his earliest Lee/Kirby adventures. And our ‘Miscellaneous’ update includes such treats as the hardcover Phantom Lady compilations, collecting the entire Quality/Fox/Ajax series most famously illustrated by Matt Baker; Nelvana of the Northern Lights, a complete anthology of the 1940’s Canadian heroine from Triumph Comics; Dark Horse’s hardcover reprint of Richard Hughes & Ogden Whitney’s Herbie and Checker Book’s paperback collection of the first eight issues of Gold Key’s Star Trek comics.

*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: Among the least common mags about US comics are the booklets produced in association with comics conventions. Usually limited to print runs of between a few hundred and at most a couple of thousand, they contain a plethora of features, articles, and most of all artwork from a multitude of comics creators, the vast majority of which has never been seen since the original publication. We’ve been lucky enough to obtain a selection from Britain’s leading event, the United Kingdom Comic Art Convention (and its spin-off, the Glasgow Comic Art Convention), handsome A4 booklets featuring Ian Gibson, Jamie Hewlett, John Bolton, Simon Bisley, Dave Gibbons, Frank Quitely…and that’s just a selection of the cover artists! Plus, the Tenth Anniversary Edition (1977) of Phil Sueling’s Phillycon (located in our listings under Comic Art Convention), a 100+ squarebound extravaganza featuring guest of honour Berni Wrightson, and a plethora of illustrations from a few other people – Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Trina, Dave Cockrum, John Severin, Gray Morrow, Neal Adams, Stan Goldberg, John Romita (Sr. & Jr.), Gil Kane, Nick Cardy, John Buscema, Frank Brunner, and many other legendary talents.

*Alan Class Reprints: Another split-screen effort for our ongoing Alan Class ‘events’: in our ‘Redux’ programme, we revisit one of Alan’s ‘Big Six’ titles, Creepy Worlds, for a selection of issues from #1 through to #39, around 30 issues new to our listings. These are Alan’s own file copies from his reference collection, each released with a signed certificate of authenticity from Alan Class, the publisher, himself. And in our ‘Marvellous Alan Class Reprints’ feature, we highlight those hotly-pursued issues which feature early cover-featured reprints – in many cases, the first reprint – of stories from the Marvel Universe. In this selection the keys are issues #32-38, which reprint the earliest issues of the Fantastic Four from #1 – though not quite in sequential order: issues #32-38 reprint, respectively, FF #1, #2, #4, #3, #5, #6, and #8. Grades on these range from Poor on the earliest numbers including #1, through to Fine or better on many of the later issues. In addition to the FF reprint sequence, highlights include many seldom-seen Ditko and Kirby mystery tales from the Pre-Hero Marvel years. Scans of issues #32 (PR £15), #33 (FN £50), #34 (VG/FN £40), #36 (VG £38), #37 (FN £40) and #38 (FN/VF £40) are reproduced here (some are also available in lower graded, cheaper copies) – for all grade and price details, see our website catalogue!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A further update to our stocks of classic 1950’s Eagles, mostly FA/GD affordable copies, running from Volume 8 through to Volume 11.

*Humour Comics: A sorely-needed update to our Dandy section, adding nearly all issues from 1971 and 1972, years which were previously missing. New Year, April Fool and Christmas issues all make an appearance together with a selection of promotional flyers, while Korky the cat continues his run-ins with mice, bullies and a zoo-ful of animals. Most in GD or VG grade.

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:
*EC
*Modern Reprints
*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: As regular readers will know, from time to time, vintage aficionados though we are, we do include some relatively more modern comics in our catalogue – if we deem them worthy! One such series is 1980’s New Teen Titans, in which Marv Wolfman and George Perez took a faded Sixties franchise and revitalised it into DC’s sales powerhouse of the decade. Introducing three brand-new characters – Cyborg, Raven and Starfire – Wolfman & Perez hewed very closely to the X-Men model of angst-ridden young heroes, and scored big points not only with DC’s readers; NTT became the DC Comic even Marvel fans bought! While we have had key issues listed before, the sheer quality of the title has caused us to expand our net to include the first 20 issues, including the series’ pilot in DC Comics Presents #26, the premiere issue of the new series and issue #2, which introduced Deathstroke the Terminator, who himself later became a breakout star villain. This high-grade consecutive run of the first twenty issues, around half of them (including the early keys) cents copies, may be found under ‘Teen Titans, New’ in our catalogue listing. Pictured below: DC Comics Presents #26 VF+ £50, New Teen Titans #1 FN/VF £30, #2 VF/NM £100. SORRY, ALL THREE PICTURED ITEMS NOW SOLD

*DC: The venerable World’s Finest Comics title originally featured Superman and Batman in separate stories, but page shrinkage in the 1950’s meant that the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader were teamed-up, issue after issue, in stories that required quite a bit of ingenuity to challenge the heroes’ very different skill sets. This selection ranges from the late 1960’s through to the mid-1970’s (#174 to #242), and offers, among others, the rather lovely #176 (an unusual four-way team-up involving Batgirl and Supergirl, illustrated by Neal Adams), the experimental period where Superman dumped Batman and started teaming up with other heroes, from #198 on – guests at this time included Flash, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, Dr. Fate and more – and the 100-Page era of the early ’70s, plus, from #215 on, the horror and disappointment that was… The Super-Sons! As is common with many of our larger recent DC updates, these are almost exclusively cents copies, with no UK pence price or overprint, and the grade skews high – a few VG’s, but many in FN/VF or better.

*Marvel: For this week’s selection in our Spider-Mania event, we turn to Amazing Spider-Man #151-200, with selections from the long, arid period of non-distribution. This update features issues previously unrepresented in our inventory, and includes clashes with classic villains Kingpin, Shocker and Green Goblin, as well as guest-appearances by Nova, Nightcrawler, and some of the Punisher’s earliest recorded gigs! The most significant item in this run, however – even eclipsing the double-thick special Anniversary #200 – is #194, with the first appearance of the larcenous lady who would become Spidey’s most beloved enemy – the Black Cat! Issue #194 is FN+ at £40; for grade and price details of the others, see our online catalogue. SORRY, SPIDEY #194 HAS NOW SOLD 

*Marvel: Strange Tales made for strange bedfellows from the August 1965 dated #135, as the supernatural adventures of Doctor Strange were joined by the high-tech, James-Bond inspired action thriller, Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD! Fury, the star of the WW II-era ‘Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos’, had been introduced to the modern Marvel Age as a CIA agent in Fantastic Four, and with this series, he was promoted to director of a new international agency, SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage Law-enforcement Division). By Lee and Kirby, this new series shamelessly exploited the super-spy craze, but retained its roots firmly in the Marvel Universe, as Nick and his team dealt with extra-terrestrial threats and rival agencies such as AIM and HYDRA, who were vying for domination of Earth! SHIELD’s premiere issue, #135, is a VG/FN pence copy at £60; we also have several of the follow-up issues, ranging from #137-147, averaging VG to FN, featuring additional high-octane excitement – and let us not forget the Lee/Ditko (Lee/Everett in that last issue) Doctor Strange suspense stories!

*Modern Reprints: A pot pourri of classic DC reprints in this popular category. Starting with Millenium Editions, we have Detective Comics #1, #27 (1st Batman, duh!), #38 (1st Robin) & Showcase #22 (1st Silver Age Green Lantern); Annuals that never quite were: Justice League of America 100 Page Super Spectacular and Wonder Woman; and promotional reprints from Toys R Us: Batman #121 (1st Mr Freeze), Detective Comics #38 & #359 (1st Batgirl) and from Pizza Hut Batman #122. Your chance to grab some classic material for usually just a few pounds each!  

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Well, a bit of colour; the publishers of this series of digest-sized European reprints cheaped out by only having the odd page in full-colour rather than black & white, but that alone made them stand out in those days! Top Three, so called because of its habit of running three separate and distinct stories in each issue, covered an astonishing variety of subject matter in its 100+ run: adventure, jungle, historical, detective thriller, and many more, with attractive painted covers luring in the readers. This selection of new issues (around 30 in all) fills in much of the early run, ranging from 1961’s #2 to 1964’s #40, averaging Fine or better, with many VFs. We’re finally coming towards the end of our massive CSD: Putney collection of picture libraries, with just a few weeks more to go!

*Girls’ Comics: The distaff counterpart to Eagle went through many changes in its run, but few as drastic as the last couple of years of its existence, 1963 and 1964. Girl shrank down to a smaller magazine size from its traditional half-broadsheet, and started running photo-covers, at first mild ‘battle of the sexes’ jokes, then later on, full-page pin-up covers as the magazine pandered shamelessly to the new pop scene of the time. In terms of comic strips, Belle and Mamie – formerly, famously, of the Ballet School – got a job as half of the ‘Telegang’, bright young things who toured the world making documentaries and having adventures. Schoolgirls ‘Wendy and Jinx’ were still active, as was ‘Lettice’, and there was also the odd (very odd) dash of genteel sci-fi, the strangest example of which ran from V12 #51 to V13 #13, ‘The Day of the Triffids’, adapting the famous novel, but replacing the adult heroine with two school-age girls. Needless to say, things didn’t pan out quite the way John Wyndham originally wrote them! Famous pop-persons frequently featured include the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Cilla Black, while many others – Eden Kane? Johnny Justice? Heinz? – have been lost in the mists of time. (Tell you what, though: that Shane Fenton’s a dead ringer for Alvin Stardust. Eerie resemblance…) The end seemed nigh when, in the latter days of ’64, Princess-alumni like Sue Day and Uncle Lionel started poking their faces in, and sure enough, with V13 #40, 3rd October 1964, (pictured below right) it was the final issue, as Girl slunk off ingloriously to be incorporated into Princess. This selection of around 100 issues new in (occasional duplicates) varies from Fair to Fine, but predominantly hits a solid VG grade throughout.

*DC: This week’s selection from Batman’s parent title, Detective Comics, runs from #271 consecutively to #279, and  straddles the breach between issues that were pre- and post-distribution in the UK – though all of these numbers, it must be averred, are unstamped Cents-priced copies. The usual tropes of the time – wacky bodily transformations (“The Zebra Batman!”), strange alien visitors (“The Jigsaw Creature!”) and wannabe crimefighters with an agenda (“The Crimson Knight!”) are very much in evidence. Significant issues include #273, in which the Martian Manhunter, having previously operated in secret, reveals his existence to the world at large; #274, the first appearance of the Human Flame, a villain who notoriously killed J’Onn J’Onzz (temporarily, as it transpired) in Grant Morrison’s Infinite crisis series; and #276, with not only the second ever appearance of Bat-Mite, but – hold on to your hats, pilgrims – his first Titanic Team-Up with that Battling Babe, Batwoman! (Sorry, it all went a bit Stan Lee for a minute; time for a cup of tea and a biscuit. The excitement’s all too much…) As always, full details of grades and prices to be found in our online catalogue.

*DC: From 1960 onward, the 80-page Superman Annuals, from #1 to #6 (except #3), are added to our stock. We’ve had these before, of course, and alternative copies in higher grades are available, but these ones… Well, they’re all there, nothing missing, but ‘cheap and cheerful’ is the way to describe them. Bargainaceous reading copies, with flaws including (but not limited to), creases, tears, heavy tape, detached covers, and myriad other signs of ‘distress’ which just prove how well-read and well-loved these thoroughly pre-owned items have been on their long, long journey to our shelves! Tons of reading in these ‘thick ‘uns’, with all the Superman Family – Lois, Jimmy, Lana, Lori, Krypto, Supergirl, Luthor, Brainiac and Supes himself – front and centre. From £2.50 to £13.50, these Poor-Fair copies are among the cheapest copies of these vintage compilations you’ll find! As a special bonus this listing, we also offer a copy of Superman #83, July-Aug 1953, with all story pages complete, but an idiosyncratic selection of flaws and foibles; poor at £15.

*Marvel: The short-lived ‘showcase’ phase of Marvel Super-Heroes saw the debuts of several interesting ‘pilots’, most of which went nowhere, being a bit too experimental for the period. Among these unadopted concepts was a sci-fi strip, the Guardians of the Galaxy, set in the future of an Earth under the scaly thumb of the vicious Badoon invaders, and a rag-tag band of heroes from various planets who formed a resistance movement to liberate the solar system. Created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan, it was stylish and fast-paced, but didn’t ‘take’, and languished for half a decade until fan-turned pro Steve Gerber revived the heroes as supporting characters in Defenders and elsewhere. Since then, they’ve had several successful series with various rosters, as well as a lucrative movie franchise soon to be enhanced by the imminent release of “Guardians Of The Galaxy 2” at a cinema near you! So now, before prices spike again, here’s an opportunity to purchase their very first appearance, MSH #18, in Fine condition at £100. With minimum corner wear and one upper staple protrusion (not uncommon in squarebound issues), this is a superior mid-high grade copy for collectors or investors.

*Marvel: In the Sizzling Seventies, the era of the E.R.A. and Women’s Liberation, Marvel decided to publish a comic celebrating the new, independent woman – and very nearly made a total pig’s ear of it, but with the best of intentions. Carol Danvers, a former supporting character of Captain Marvel, gained super-powers like his, (with an added psychic ‘Seventh Sense’, because ‘girl’) and, despite her clarion calls for equality, was reduced to being in the Captain’s shadow as an imitator of him wearing a skimpier, belly-baring version of his costume. Despite these drawbacks, the title was actually pretty decently written by first Gerry Conway, then Chris Claremont, with a ‘makeover’ issue giving Ms. M, under the artistry of Dave Cockrum, a sleek, chic and non-derivative look that established her as her own woman – only for the series to be cancelled a few issues later! Ms. Marvel had subsequent successful series, becoming a mainstay of the Avengers, and now, having acquired the title of Captain Marvel in her own right, is poised to become the prima diva of the Marvel Universe, and subject of Marvel’s first female-fronted film! This complete high-grade run of her entire first series runs from #1 to #23, highlights including the first issue which establishes the Ms. Marvel identity, the ‘relaunch’ issue #20, and, special bonus for X-Men fans, issues #16 & #17, with cameo appearances by the shape-shifting siren known as Mystique – though she was going by her other name of Raven Darkholme at the time -and #18’s first full appearance of the blue-skinned baddie we all love! Issue #1 is VF+ cents at £60; #16 NM pence £55; #17 VF/NM pence £27; and #18 VF+ pence at £50. For all other issues’ grades and prices, please see details in our online catalogue.

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Tower Comics lead the way in this mixed update, with several issues of Thunder Agents fresh in, plus spin-offs Dynamo, Noman & Undersea Agent. Fondly remembered, and with a stellar cast of artists such as Wally Wood, Steve Ditko, Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky, Reed Crandall and many more, these have a special place in comics’ history. Backed up here with the first three issues of Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot from Aardvark-Vanaheim, the bizarre Captain Marvel from M F Enterprises, Herbie the Fat Fury from ACG and issue #2 of the Walking Dead Survivors’ Guide. All strange bedfellows, I’m sure you’ll agree. Full details in our catalogue.   

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Don Lawrence’s beloved Trigan Empire strip started right here in Ranger #1, the short-lived (40 issues) tabloid from Fleetway which commenced on 18th September 1965. Other strips included ‘The Adventures Of Macbeth’, ‘Treasure Island’, ‘Rob Riley’ by Jesus Belasco and Space Cadet, among other features. Trigan Empire continued of course for many years after Ranger in Look & Learn. This is a GD condition copy with rusty staples, priced at £20. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD   

*TV & Film Related Comics: A selection of twenty issues of TV Comic from the year 1965 (numbers between #691 and #732), with early appearances of the Doctor Who comic strip adaptation starring the William Hartnell iteration of everyone’s favourite Time Lord. Also appearing in the series during this period were the rather lovely Space Patrol strip, and, in the latter part of this selection, television’s Avengers, with Mrs. Peel and John Steed fighting the forces of (carefully toned-down) evil. Plus Popeye, Mighty Moth, the Dickie Henderson Family, and others favourites of a bygone era. Full details, including grades and prices, as always, in our catalogue.

*Humour Comics: A chunky update to the UK’s favourite and longest-lived humour comic Beano, with lots of issues added for the years 1977 and 1978, plus 4 Summer Specials in low-mid grade from the 1990’s.