*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Love is in the air in this small update as we feature two titles new to our listings: Picture Romance (Illustrated World Library Series) and Romantic Adventure Library (Micron), all from the early 1970’s except one 1960’s edition of the latter (#3). Plus a small bonus, a late Schoolgirls’ Own Library (text) #381.

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/British section:
*Classics Illustrated
and in our British section:
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material
and in our Books Section:
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Annuals: A swatch of TV & Film favourites new in from the 1960’s to the 1980’s, including the Beverley Hillbillies, Buck Rogers, Dick Barton, Flash Gordon, Star Trek, Tarzan and Tom & Jerry.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: About 100 issues of Victor added to our catalogue, all previously unlisted, from the years 1980-1986. 32 pages of action each issue for £1.50-£2 each on average.

*DC: We start a new sub-set of our Batmania Max running feature this week as we embark upon a long run of Detective Comics, and what better way to start than with the 225th issue of the comic that gave DC its name, wherein featured the debut of J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Opinions differ on which comic started the Silver Age; many consider that Showcase #4 with the debut of the Barry Allen Flash was the first Silver Age comic, but Detective Comics #225 from November 1955 preceded that by almost a year and featured a brand new super-hero rather than a re-invented one, so you pays yer money and you takes yer choice. Anyway, our issue of Detective #225 is a bright attractive copy, with nice page quality, graded at FN-; the defects comprise a small back cover tear (about 1″), minor spine wear and a very minor crease at the bottom right corner of the cover. It’s the first copy we’ve ever had in stock in our 23 years of trading and is seldom seen for sale. The price is £2,500 and represents a solid investment; front and back cover scans shown left and right here. For those craving the Martian Manhunter, but on a more modest budget, we also have his next five appearances in consecutive issues of Detective Comics as follows: #226 FA £80, #227 FA £30, #228 GD £60, #229 GD/VG £90 & #230 VG+ £195 (as a bonus, #230 features in the Batman story the 1st Silver Age appearance of the Mad Hatter). All pictured below and rare in the UK. More from Batmania Max (and Watching the Detectives) in the weeks to come.

*Marvel: Issue #4 seemed to have a resonance in Marvel’s key team books of the early 1960’s. First, in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962) the classic Golden Age character Sub-Mariner was revived and has gone on from there to be a major player in the Marvel Universe. Then, in Avengers #4 (March 1964), Captain America was revived, ‘disinterred’ from a block of ice, and has gone on to even greater heights of fame in the Marvel comic and film world since. We’re very fortunate, in our Slab Happy event, to have third party graded slabbed copies of both these landmark issues now available. Fantastic Four #4 is CBCS 6.5 (FN+) at £1,250; Avengers #4 is CGC 7.5 (VF-) at £2,000. Issues such as these, preserved as they are, are only going to continue to go up in value and represent serious investment potential. More from our Slab Happy event soon!

*DC: In this week’s entry in our regular Batmania Max feature, we celebrate the release of the Suicide Squad movie and proudly present the first appearance of Harley Quinn in regular DCU continuity, following her appearances in the Batman Adventures animated series. From 1999, this prestige format edition sports a stunning Alex Ross painted cover and is written by Paul Dini, Harley’s creator and co-features Poison Ivy and, of course, the Joker. This copy is VF with very minor edge wear and a tiny dink at the bottom of the spine keeping it off NM, but a lovely copy. Priced at £100.

*DC: A very nice selection of Silver Age Aquaman issues just in, ranging between #2 and #30, all pence copies, but mostly in grades well above average, around the Fine mark. Two key issues with first appearances are included: #11 (1st Mera) VG+ at £80, and #29 (1st Ocean Master FN- also at £80). Both Mera and Ocean Master went on to play significant but very different roles in Aquaman’s life (wife and brother respectively) and the whole DCU, and are both slated to appear in the Aquaman movie, of course. All this and the gorgeous art of Nick Cardy gracing the pages of this series makes it a highly desirable run.

*Girls’ Comics: The fondly-remembered tabloid size Diana is in the Girls’ Comics spotlight this week, with a large update which includes the very first issue from 1963, although sadly incomplete with 2 pages missing, apparent VG at £5; we don’t normally sell incomplete issues, but make an exception for such a significant issue as this. There are a handful of other issues new in from the 1960’s, before we settle into a good run of decent condition issues from 1970 and 1971, very many new to our listings. Full details in our catalogue.

*Marvel: Just a quickie update for Marvel’s Bronze Age, including Astonishing Tales with Deathlok, Champions, Marvel Team-Up (#53 with 1st John Byrne art on X-Men), Not Brand Echh, Red Sonja and the Savage She-Hulk.

*Modesty Blaise: Lots of Modesty Blaise collections in new this week, from both the Titan first and second series, the Ken Pierce series & the Manuscript Press series plus a magazine version of the first novel in text form in the Bestsellers series, with John Burns illustrations and film and feature articles. Modesty remains a firm favourite here at 30th Century, and we’re proud to carry her well-told adventures in all their various publication guises. Check our catalogue for details.

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Last week, we featured a large batch of Westerns in this category, so here’s a similar-sized batch of non-Western titles, from both the UK and Australia. UK titles (as published by Miller, World Distributors, Streamline, Strato etc): Adventures Into The Unknown, Big Shot, Blackhawk, Bob Son Of Battle, the Buccaneers, Captain Marvel Jr (#1 pictured), Crime-Buster, Fightin’ Air Force, Flash, Justice Traps The Guilty, Lassie, Laurel & Hardy, Lorna the Jungle Girl, Mr. District Attorney, Moby Dick, Mystery In Space, Nature Boy (#1 pictured), Nyoka the Jungle Girl, Police Comic, Popeye, Race For The Moon, Sea Hunt, Sgt Preston of the Yukon, Spellbound & T-Man; Australian titles: Batman, Foxy Fagan, Giant Flash Album, Mighty Comic, Super Adventure Comic, Superboy & Superman. A whole bucket-full of nostalgia!

*DC: For this week’s instalment of our ongoing Batmania Max feature, we return to the main Batman title for issues #251-300 (complete). Starting off with the classic Neal Adams Joker cover and art issue (#251 — here sadly only in GD, with a worn spine, off top staple, but with an unverified Neal Adams signature on the splash page and, apart from the spine, an unblemished cover image; offered at £40), this is a solid, entertaining run of the title, with many appearances by most of Batman’s classic foes, a run of 100 page issues between #254 & #262, and the first Arkham Asylum in #258. A mixture of grades, but mostly on the high side. More from Batmania Max next week.

*DC: John Constantine, everyone’s favourite chain-smoking drunken lecher and defender of the mystic underworld, has had a lengthy career in his own title (mostly called Hellblazer, sometimes Constantine on editorial whim), but he got his start in the hugely-acclaimed Alan Moore run on Swamp Thing in the mid-1980’s. This update, we are pleased to present his first two appearances in that title – a walk-through in Swamp Thing #25, being all enigmatic about forthcoming cataclysmic events, and then the first “Full Constantine”, so to speak, in Swamp Thing #37, a year later. Issue #25 is VF+ p at £20, issue #37 FN p £25. Moore’s groundbreaking work on Swampy is well worth anyone’s perusal anyway, and the first appearances of JC add an extra layer of appeal.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A huge update to our stocks of Commando between issue #1000 & #2700, with over 250 issues added fresh to our listings. With prices at £1.25-£1.50 each, these are among the biggest bargains in all our stock, for a series that is quite fanatically collected by its followers.

*Girls’ Comics: Several dozen issues of the ever-popular Debbie added to our stocks for the years 1976, 1977 & 1980 in a range of grades.

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: A miscellany of additions to this wacky category, including Marvel’s Chili (Queen-Size Special), Millie the Model and Patsy & Hedy, DC’s Binky (see under Leave It To Binky) – final issue & Swing With Scooter and from 1975, 3 out of the 4 issues of Atlas Seaboard’s Vicki, including the scarce #3 (pictured) VF at £21.

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: For all you cotton-pickin’ owlhoots out there (and we know who you are), here’s another round-up of geezers in big hats with the British versions of American Westerns hugely popular in the 1950’s. Dozens of new additions this time, as published by Miller, World Distributors, Strato etc. Titles include: Bill Boyd, Billy The Kid, Buck Jones, Cisco Kid, Davy Crockett Western Tales, Gabby Hayes, Gene Autry & Champion, Gunsmoke Trail, Hopalong Cassidy, Indian Chief, John Wayne, Kid Colt Outlaw, Kid Slade Gunfighter, Lone Ranger, Outlaws Of The West, Red Ryder, Rocky Lane, Roy Rogers, Television Favourites, Texas Rangers In Action, Tonto, Western Hero, Western Round-Up, Wringle Wrangle (Movie Classic) and Wyatt Earp. Check our catalogue for full details and fill yer boots!

*DC: A small selection of issues of Brave & Bold, from its relatively brief life as a try-out title between a high adventure series and a Batman team-up series. We have a couple of appearances of the original Suicide Squad (#38 & #39) with Rick Flag, a couple of the magnificent Joe Kubert Hawkman try-outs (#43 & #44), a couple of Strange Sports Stories (#46 & #47), the 1st Teen Titans by name and 1st Wonder Girl in #60, the superb Starman/Black Canary team-ups in #61 & #62 (personal favourites here), and an early non-Batman team-up in #73 (Aquaman & Atom). Check our catalogue for grades and prices.

*Marvel: Literally, in this case, the Marvel Super-Heroes ‘tryout’ title that flourished for a couple of years in the late 1960’s, which we turn to for this week’s entry in our third party graded Slab Happy event. This extra-thick squarebound presented new concepts to a waiting audience – backed up by vintage reprints! Issue #13, the second in the showcase format, presented the second appearance of Captain Marvel, the Space-born warrior from the Kree Empire – but more importantly, at least in retrospect, it featured the first appearance of Carol Danvers – then a mere security chief, but later Ms. Marvel, and herself current holder of the Captain Marvel title. Issue #18, meanwhile, gave us the first (and for half a decade, only) appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy, extraterrestrial adventurers banded together to liberate Earth from the all-conquering Badoon in the 31st Century. A failure at the time of launch, the Guardians went on to have a successful career in the 1980’s and 1990’s, before a radically different line-up was concocted for the cinematic version. #13 is a CGC Blue Label 7.0 (FN/VF) at £225; #18 is PGX 8.5 (VF+) at £350.