*Marvel: Probably the most significant comics of the 1970’s this week, insofar as they feature the first three appearances of a character who was to redefine the Marvel Universe: Wolverine! Incredible Hulk #180 had Wolverine saying hello at the finale of a battle with the winsome Wendigo – and #182 saw Wolvy wave goodbye as our Jade Giant faced the threat of Hammer & Anvil! But in between, in #181, we were treated to a full-length, knockdown battle between the Hulk and Wolverine, establishing the Canadian mutant as one of the most formidable characters in the MU! Subsequently, of course, Wolverine went on to headline in 1975’s ‘New’ X-Men, as well as starring in hundreds of solo stories – but here’s where it all began, courtesy of Len Wein, Herb Trimpe and Jack Abel. (Hey, never mind the quality, feel the history!) These three key cents issues are all in exceptional condition, with glossy covers, vivid, unmarred cover colour, and creamy white interior pages. Possibly the most sought-after comics of the modern era, in prime condition, now in stock – but not for long! Hulk #180 VF £125, #181 VF £1000, #182 VF/NM £120 SORRY, THESE HAVE ALL NOW SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: A dozen or so issues of TV Century 21 1st series between #35 and #84, all in PR, FA or GD: affordable reading copies for Fandersons on a budget.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A titanic trio of Valiant Summer Specials from consecutive years adorns our What’s New page. 1971 (GD/VG £17.50) is Valiant & Smash, whereas 1972 (VG/FN £22.50) & 1973 (GD £15) are Valiant & TV21. Condition is best described as average on these, with spine and cover tears on 1971 & 1973 in particular, but these are always fiercely sought-after whenever we get them, so don’t dally long. Roll up to meet all your weekly pals inside!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1979, 21 out of the 22 issues of 2000 AD ‘spin-off’ Tornado fresh in, the fondly-remembered comic that featured Drago, the Mind Of Wolfie Smith, Captain Klep and Blackhawk among others before being subsumed into 2000 AD itself later that same year. Also featured Dave Gibbons in a super-hero suit as the Big E!

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: A small update to this immensely popular category for the following 1970’s Charlton titles: Ghostly Tales, Ghost Manor, Haunted Love, Many Ghosts Of Dr. Graves, Midnight Tales, Monster Hunters & Scary Tales.

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:
*Archie
*Charlton
*Dell
*Gold Key/Whitman
*Harvey
*IW/Super
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959
*Horror 1940-1959
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls
and from our British section:
*Alan Class Reprints
*TV & Film Related Comics
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: We make no apologies for re-using the same text as last time we had this gem through our hands: You’ve heard of the Rumble in the Jungle? You’ve heard of the Thriller in Manila? Now, get ready for the Uproarium in the Emporium as we bring you Superman Vs Muhammad Ali in the Treasury-sized All New Collectors’ Edition C56. Highly sought after by both comic and boxing enthusiasts, this one-off issue is gorgeously illustrated by the incomparable Neal Adams, whose art looks amazing at this size. In FN+ grade, marred only by minor spine wear and a soft-creased corner, this is an item set only to rise in price as the years go by. Yours currently for £40. And it won’t be here long, so float like a butterfly and get your order in, or you’ll be stung by a bee.

*Power Comics: When is a Power comic not a Power comic? After Odhams folded, the Smash title was taken over in 1969 by Fleetway IPC, and ran, with content more traditional to that publisher, until 1971. We have the first relaunch issue from 15/3/69 (which includes the first Cursitor Doom) and then a good selection new in right up until the last issue in 1971. Highlights along the way include the 1st Tri-Man strip and numerous issues with promotional flyers for Whizzer & Chips (I guess they were really pushing that!)

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: We present the large format Hawk Books hardcover of Tales From the Trigan Empire, published in 1989, featuring the sumptuous art of Don Lawrence. This edition is graded at VG and is clean and sharp. There are small splits either side of the base of the spine, and very slight water damage to the tops of the pages, but nothing horrible in this uncommon gem.

*DC: A small range of DC 100 pagers and other giants fresh in, comprising DC 100 Page Super Spectacular #4 (Weird Mystery Tales), #16 (Sgt Rock), #21 (Superboy) & #22 (The Flash), DC Special #5 (Joe Kubert), Shazam #8, Superboy #185 & #208 and Super DC Giant S23 (The Unexpected).

*Marvel: Continuing our grudging acknowledgment of the passing years, we admit to our catalogue listings another ‘modern’ series, but one whose popularity and appeal we can’t deny. Deadpool! Marvel’s Merc-with-A-Mouth, after the four-issue Circle Chase mini-series in 1993, became the Merc-With-A-Monthly when his own ongoing title debuted in 1997, establishing the irreverent, lecherous and bloodthirsty anti-hero that an entire generation has come to love. We have the entire Deadpool: Circle Chase mini-series, plus the first ten issues of the 1997 monthly, backed up by a selection of others from that run,  and the 2008 Deadpool ongoing from #1 upwards. As you would expect from comparatively recent comics, these are in high grade, with none dipping below VF-, and the majority NM or better, with many achieving the comparatively-rare grade of Mint – and you know how stingy we are with that grade! The ‘Pool’s prices have spiralled up over the last half-decade because of his popularity – but we predict they will escalate still further once his forthcoming movie starring Rhino Reynolds is released, so get ’em while they’re kind-of affordable! Because You Demanded It, Pilgrim!

*Modern Reprints: Our listings have been languishing for a while without the Silver Age Marvel Masterworks, the handsome full-colour volumes reprinting the early years of the Marvel Universe – but no longer! We’ve restocked with the paperback editions of popular series such as Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Sgt. Fury, Spider-Man, Thor, and the classic X-Men. While our inventory is far from complete, it does include several volumes now out of print, all brand new at £19 each!

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: “Spine-Tingling Tales of Perils, Passions and Plunder!” we are promised by the strapline of the first (and, alas, only) issue of Son of Sinbad, and by Cracky, they did what it said on the tin. In the Post-War years, superhero comics were in a slump, and publishers were looking around for new genres to try. One field explored was the quasi-historical fantasy movies which were big box-office, and Joe Kubert’s illustration in this all-Kubert issue is an evocative translation from the silver screen to the four-colour page. Kubert’s style was beginning to mature here, and his portrayal of our swashbuckling hero and his lovely companion, as they are pitted against a succession of rogues and villains, is among some of his finest early work. GD- at £38.

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: In the 1970’s adventuring crime fiction moved away from dashing and debonair characters such as The Saint and The Baron, becoming more hard-edged and action-packed. This change was marked by almost all protagonists being given a name ending in ~er or ~or. We have two fine examples of this: The Penetrator and Expeditor. Lionel Derrick’s Penetrator (Mark Hardin) was part Welsh and part Cheyenne, allowing him to combine the fighting skills of two heritages to become the ultimate action hero. Luckily he never encountered Paul Edwards’ Expeditor (John Eagle), who was part Scottish border fighter and part Apache, allowing him to combine the fighting skills of two heritages to become the ultimate action hero. Both characters have magnificent physiques, incredible stamina and an amazing capacity to meet villains and beautiful women in equal measure (but only one has a camel!). We have all 14 Expeditor books and 6 Penetrator books, including #1-5. We recommend that you read these books lying down, in case the pace proves to be too much for you.

*Marvel: New additions for several titles from Marvel’s Silver & Bronze Ages, including Black Panther (#1 from 1977), Captain America, Conan (#4), Dr. Strange (1974), Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1 (with Spider-Man), Hulk, Journey Into Mystery with Thor, Marvel Spotlight (with Son of Satan and Moon Knight), Marvel Team-Up, Giant-Size Spider-Man (#1 VF+ £40), Sub-Mariner, and low grade copies of Tales Of Suspense #41 (3rd Iron Man) and Tales To Astonish #36 (3rd Ant-Man).

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: Substantial stock added for two classic Marvel horrors from the 1970s: (Adventure Into) Fear, issues between #11 & #31 (final issue) and Werewolf By Night, issues between #2 & #36. Fear features Man-Thing and then Morbius, taking in along the way the first appearance of Howard The Duck in #19 (FN £25); Werewolf By Night features the earliest appearances of Moon Knight (#33, second app. in this update FN+ £18.50). A nice selection of both, mostly in high grade with many VF copies and all cents. SORRY, ADVENTURE INTO FEAR #19 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 file in our Books section:
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Mad Books: Even more Mad books have joined our collection, now placed on the bookcases near the stairs. Highlights include a NM copy of Don Martin’s second Captain Klutz (which includes his origin story), Sergio Aragone’s Mad As A Hatter! (VG) and The Self-Made Mad (VG), but there is also the eponymous It’s A World, World, World, World, World Mad as well as Mad In Orbit / Howling / Striking Back, Non-Violent /Polyunsaturated / Questionable Mad and many others.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Spinning off from the phenomenally popular DC comic of the same name, Warner Books produced two paperback volumes of the House Of Mystery in 1973. Written by Jack Oleck, each volume contains 8 short horror text stories in the same vein as the comic title, and exquisitely illustrated by the master of the genre Berni Wrightson with many full page black and white images. All contained within Wrightson colour covers, these two rare volumes comprise the complete series and we’ve graded them as Very Fine at £20 each, being in virtually as new condition. The only time we’ve ever seen these, and we don’t expect them to hang around!

*Annuals: A small update featuring Flash Gordon & UFO in TV/Film, Giant Holiday Fantasy Comic Album in Boys’ Adventure and, from the Wild West, 1950’s Buck Jones and Kit Carson.