*Marvel: Back in 1961, impressed with the success of DC’s Justice League Of America, Marvel charged Stan Lee to come up with something to emulate it. He didn’t (that would happen a little later with Avengers); what Stan Lee did instead was to create a new super-hero team book with a very different feel, because they were a family. Okay, so the basic premise of the brainy leader, his strong but dim best friend, his girl-friend and her younger brother had been done before (particularly at DC — Rip Hunter, Sea Devils, anyone?), but never with such resounding success as with the Fantastic Four. This week, a major update to Marvel’s First Family! Commencing with #16, guest-starring the Astonishing Ant-Man, and featuring a number of issues with significant Silver Age crossovers: #25, with the definitive Hulk/Thing battle; #28, co-featuring the X-Men; #39 & #40, the classic ‘Battle of the Baxter Building’, co-starring Daredevil; and  #55 and #75 with the Silver Surfer. But not content with those milestones, we have also the debuts of the Frightful Four, the delightful Dragon Man, and mysterious beldame Agatha Harkness, and a more than thirty other issues in which our gang of four (sometimes five!) clash with the great, good and grotty of the Marvel Universe, culminating with the 100th edition, a Lee & Kirby free-for-all starring the FF’s entire Rogue’s Gallery! Many of these new issues are in excellent grade, and are cents copies, without the British price stamp or overprint. Selected scans below: #16 VF- £310, #28 VF p £225, #39 FN+ £59, #40 FN+ £59, #55 FN+ p £50.

*Modern Reprints: We’re delighted to re-introduce the Marvel Masterworks series to our stock, commencing with a range of the softcover editions from the Golden Age and the Atlas Era at £22.50 each. Thrill to the forerunners of the Marvel Universe as we know it, with these quality reprints from the 1940’s and 1950’s: All-Winners, Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and more.

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: A very mixed bag indeed this week in this very popular category, including Marvel’s Bizarre Adventures, a couple of Epics, the three Warriors of the Shadow Realm Marvel Super Specials and Unknown Worlds Of Science Fiction; a Psycho from Skywald, a Blazing Combat, an Eerie and a 1994 from Warren, a scarce Castle Of Frankenstein Monster Annual 1967 film mag from Gothic castle and finally two of the UK editions of Stark Terror from 1980.

*Gold Key/Whitman: In the mid-1960’s Gold Key (later Whitman) virtually took over from Dell in publishing both titles derived from TV and Film, as well as their own line of super-heroes, even inheriting some titles from Dell. This update touches both bases, with the Invaders, Magnus Robot Fighter, the Man From UNCLE, MARS Patrol, Mighty Samson, the Owl, Lost In Space (Space Family Robinson) and Turok, Son Of Stone.

*Girls’ Comics: New in, nearly every issue of Bunty from May 1989 to September 1991, including the 1st New Look issue from 1989 and an April 1991 Free Gift issue with gift (Barbie Sticker Album). Nearly all in FN grade.

*Girls’ Comics: Approximately 50 of the long-running D.C. Thomson girl’s weekly new in; a select batch from the first year of publication, 1960; then a dash of the mid-70’s; and a long swathe of issues between 1983 to 1989, in the latter days of which Judy encompassed the defunct Tracy. In very affordable low-mid grades, the early issues are particularly bargainacious!

*Annuals: Twenty-Five new Annuals listed in our Humour subdivision, from four enduringly popular titles: Shiver & Shake (1979-1984), Topper (1977-1988); Whizzer & Chips (1975-1991), and Whoopee (1983-1986). This selection is in very nice condition, mostly with prices unclipped and no interior markings even on the “This Book Belongs To” page; they average VF, with only a handful falling to Fine. Join ‘Sweeny Toddler’, ‘Moana Lisa’, ‘Beryl the Peril’, and company for more laughs and frolics!

*Marvel: Another scintillating selection of your friendly neighbourhood wallcrawler fresh in this week. Issues of Amazing Spider-Man between #24 & #148, plus Giant-Size #5. Although mostly low to mid-grade copies, this range does feature the first appearances of the Rhino, The Shocker and the Prowler, as well as a lovely VF (p) copy of #97 (£40), with the non-code approved Green Goblin drugs story.

*DC: More adventures of the Man of Steel, as we add in approximately fifty new Silver Age issues! Opening with #98, in VG- at £75, we then have a substantial run from #151 to #230, taking us through the Sixties and into the early Seventies. These are mostly mid-low grades, but feature the Swan/Klein and later Swan/Anderson art teams at their peak, with the cavalcade of oddness that we veteran comics fans love: Luthor, Brainiac, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bizarro, mermaids, aliens, bottle cities, the Legion of Super-Heroes (and Super-Pets!), ‘Imaginary Tales’, ‘Untold Stories’, the Future Superman, the first Nightwing & Flamebird, and the first all-out race between Superman and the Flash. Prime reading, with a quirky ingenuity and an eternally optimistic atmosphere that’s a blessed relief to all of us who’re tired of the grim & gritty.

*Alan Class Reprints: Topping up our boxes after our recent signing by Alan Class, we are pleased to have new stock on all of his ‘Big Six’ titles (Astounding Stories, Creepy Worlds, Secrets of the Unknown, Sinister Tales, Suspense and Uncanny Tales) , as well as the short-run series Journey Into Danger, Weird Planets, and the first issue of Out Of This World’s first series! Several of this selection are in remarkable preservation given their vintage, with many VF/NM and even the occasional coveted NM added.  Re-presenting material from a number of sources, including the early years of the Marvel Universe, this selection alone features Captain Atom, Thor, Thunderbolt, NoMan, Nemesis, Son of Vulcan, the Avengers, the Mighty Crusaders and many others, with tons of Kirby & Ditko, and Big-Panty-Monsters a’plenty!

*Marvel: More from our Trove of Treasuries released this week, with Marvel Treasury Editions from #1 (Spider-Man) through #4 (Conan, with the Barry Smith art even more spectacular at the larger size) to #12 (Howard the Duck, with a brand-new Gerber & Colan lead story). Plus, MGM’s Marvelous Wizard of Oz, adapting the classic 1930’s film (the first ever DC/Marvel co-publication), and Special Marvel Edition, with the two-part adaptation of the first Star Wars movie.

*Girls’ Comics: The ‘sister’ publication to Eagle is restocked this week from 1958-1961; we feature dozens of issues of Girl in high grade, mostly FN with the occasional VG and just one GD. Starting with the Christmas issue from 1958, we have a fair representation of the following 3 years of this evocative and memorable favourite.

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:
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s
and from the following in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries
*Girls’ Picture Libraries
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

We’ve added a page on Allan Harvey, writer, artist and friend to our Extras section. You can read about him here.

*Marvel: With interest increasing all the time in the Bronze Age Of Comics, we offer no fewer than eleven premier issues from the House of Ideas: Astonishing Tales, co-starring Ka-Zar and Doctor Doom; Black Goliath; Captain Marvel; Devil Dinosaur and the Eternals, by Jack Kirby;  cult-favourite Howard the Duck; Ka-Zar’s solo title from 1974; short-lived TV star, The Man From Atlantis; Micronauts, illustrated by Mike Golden; the New Mutants; and Rom, Spaceknight! Just short of a dozen dazzling debuts from the outskirts of the Marvel Universe, usually in high grade.

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: 2 High Grade copies of classic 1970’s Marvel Horror #1’s: Tomb Of Dracula FN/VF £50 and Werewolf By Night VF+ £80. Both copies are characterised by rich red cover colour backgrounds and are unmarked, highly desirable issues, with the Dracula just showing a few stress marks along the spine.

*DC: Flash is undergoing a resurgence in popularity at the moment, due in part no doubt to the successful TV show, so what better time for us to feature two 1959 issues published prior to regular UK distribution? These are #108 & #109 (the series followed on the numbering of the Golden Age Flash series since DC weren’t sure about the sales-worthiness of a #1 issue at the time!) and thus are two of the earliest Barry Allen adventures. #108 (a solid GD/VG with no major defects at £100) features Gorilla Grodd and #109 (FA/GD with some central water-staining on the front cover and minor graffiti to the Flash figure at £40) features the Mirror Master, so two of the most famous members of Flash’s Rogues Gallery are present. Wonderful comics!

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:
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

We’ve had a few technical problems with the website this morning, but these are now resolved and normal service is resumed. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Previously the most underrepresented volume of classic Eagle in our listings, we’ve now rectified that with a complete run of all 52 issues of Volume 13 new into stock. A run of particularly nice condition, with many Fines & Very Goods and only a few Goods and Fairs. Notable in this volume are the debuts of two famous strips by Frank Bellamy: Montgomery of Alamein and Heroes of Sparta.

*Modesty Blaise: We are pleased to update our listings for one of our fictional favourites, Modesty Blaise, in the current Titan series of sequentially reprinted stories, three per volume. We’ve included many volumes previously missing from our listings, plus, for the first time, we’ve given them volume numbers for collector information (which is more than the publishers do!)

*Marvel: The first six issues of Daredevil new in, Marvel’s Sightless Swashbuckler, currently enjoying a major revival of interest thanks to the Netflix TV series. The #1 at VG (£390) is actually a better copy than the grade might indicate, with only faint tracing marks on the central figure precluding a grade of Fine or better. In addition to the debut and origin of the Man Without Fear himself, the first sextet of issues also brings us the first appearances of the Owl (#3), Killgrave the Purple Man (#4), the Matador (#5), and Mr Fear (#6), as well as, in issue #5, the first art by Wally Wood on the series. Wood, a couple of issues later, was to revise DD’s look to a more suitably demonic all-red appearance, but these six issues are in DD’s original red & yellow garb, which, to be fair, is a costume a blind man may very well have designed! Issues #1 & #2 are UK-distributed pence stamped copies, while #3-6 are US cents issues, and in nice grade. Scans of #1-5 below.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A big update to the biggest of our categories, with issues of the following titles new in: Speed 1980, Spike 1983 (inc #1), Star Lord 1978, Thunder 1970/71, a whole pack of Tigers from 1969, 1970, 1976-1984 and Holiday Specials and 2000 AD from 1978 and 1983/84.

*Marvel: From 1971, the debut of Werewolf By Night in Marvel Spotlight #2, with distinctive art by Mike Ploog. A FN/VF copy with unblemished cover and deep colour and gloss, marred only by minor creasing at top edge and right bottom corner, and just a suspicion of a central cover crease (but nowhere as pronounced as a subscription crease). Flat and tight with a good spine. And for those of you with broad tastes, there is of course the gorgeous Venus back-up reprint strip drawn by the incomparable Bill Everett.

*Annuals: Nine new annuals in to suit a wide range of tastes, inc. Beezer 1959 (2nd annual), Knockout 1953, TV Century 21 1967, Eagle 1962 and Best Of, Famous Five 1982, the first 2000 AD annual from 1978, Rawhide (with Clint Eastwood) from 1962 and Fab 208 1974.