*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: This week, we return to the famous and long-running Sexton Blake Library. Often dubbed ‘the poor man Sherlock Holmes’, there’s still no doubting the popularity of Sexton Blake, who has probably had far more fiction written of him than the world’s greatest detective. Six consecutive issues new in this week from the 1950s. These are picture library sized, but mainly text. The series ran from 1915 to 1968, These issues follow the 1956 revamp by W Howard Baker when the covers took on a more gangster/sleazy mode and were drawn by notable artists such as David Wright (#359 here). Written by a ‘harem’ of notable writers including Wilfred McNeilly, W Howard Baker, Michael Moorcock (one of many moonlighting as house name Desmond Reid), Peter Saxon and Jack Trevor Story, the longevity of the series is testament to the quality of the plotting and writing. And a factoid: one of Sexton Blake’s arch-enemies was Zenith the Albino – who is widely acknowledged to have inspired Moorcock’s morose hero Elric.
PICTURED: SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY: ALL AMALGAMATED 1950s ALL SOLD
#359: FRIGHTENED LADY: W HOWARD BAKER GD £5
#360: FLIGHT INTO FEAR: PETER SAXON GD/VG £6
#361: DARK MAMBO: W HOWARD BAKER GD/VG £6
#362: BROKEN TOY: ARTHUR MACLEAN GD/VG £6
#363: FRONT PAGE WOMAN: PETER SAXON GD £5
#364: INCLINING TO CRIME: ARTHUR KENT GD £5

*DC: Also from the Bute Collection this week, two early issues of the try-out series Showcase from 1957/58. Issues #11 & #12 feature the Challengers Of The Unknown in their 3rd and 4th appearances, the last before they got their own series. Both issues have great covers and interior art by Jack Kirby in long multi-chapter stories. #11 is a story of alien invasion. #12 centres on the sinister magical effects of the opening of ancient vials. 
PICTURED: SHOWCASE
#11 VG+ £220 Clean copy with small stamped digits below logo (arrival date?). Centrefold loose, but otherwise staples are okay. Some edge wear, mainly at spine, within spidery creases breaking colour there. Cover image virtually unharmed. Nice white to off-white pages.
#12 VG+ £220 Bright copy with vivid colour. A couple of faint creases break colour diagonally across logo and upper image, but do not soil the cover scene. There is a further crease that breaks colour across bottom right cover corner. Little other wear. Staples firm at spine and centrefold. Nice white to off-white pages.

*DC: Nine months before the debut of Supergirl in Action Comics #252, an earlier Supergirl appeared in Superman #123 in 1958. Now, despite a strong resemblance to Kara Zor-El, this wasn’t her, although we don’t want to spoil the enjoyment of the story by revealing her true nature. Suffice it to say that this must have been a try-out for the real thing! Story by Orto Binder, cover by Curt Swan and art by Dick Sprang; unusual as far as I’m aware to see the Sprangster draw an entire issue of Superman, and he seems to have adjusted his famous Batman style to resemble more the classic Superman artists of the period. A three-part story both charming, poignant and thrilling. This Midas Collection copy is a lower graded copy with a good, strong cover image. There are spine splits from the top down to just above the upper staple and from the bottom up likewise to the bottom staple. However, both staples themselves are firmly attached at spine and centrefold. There is a tiny chip out bottom right cover and fairly minor edge wear apart from the spine as noted. Pages are off-white and supple.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #123 GD- £100

*Marvel: We’re always thrilled when an early copy by the ‘real’ Spidey artist, Steve Ditko, comes into our possession, and seldom more so than by this week’s acquisition, the second issue of Amazing Spider-Man, featuring the debut of one of his most enduring enemies, the Vulture! Despite his physically frail appearance, the airborne pensioner has survived numerous deaths, remodels, and replacements by younger counterparts, and the character retains an infamous popularity. This issue also features the premier appearance of the Terrible Tinkerer – no, really – who while less persistent than the Vulture, is still an occasional player in the Spidey mythos. Only Spider-Man’s third-ever appearance anywhere! This is a CGC Blue Label (no restoration) 4.5 (VG+ equivalent), with off-white pages, strong colours and a perfect case. CGC Code: 1269328001. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2 CGC 4.5 (VG+) £2,200

*Marvel: Five consecutive issues of the X-Men now available, from #216 to #220, all in a consistent VF+ grade. Lots of Storm, Rogue, Dazzler and Psylocke in these issues, and guest artists aplenty.
IN THIS UPDATE: X-MEN
#216 VF+ £4.50
#217 VF+ £4.50
#218 VF+ £4.50
#219 VF+ £4.50
#220 VF+ £4.50

*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. This week, four issues of Daring Adventures with varying content including lots of super-heroes.
IN THIS UPDATE: DARING ADVENTURES ALL SOLD
#10 GD £3.50 Reprints Dynamic Comics #24, Superior 1947. New cover by Ross Andru.
#11 FN- £9.25 Reprints Dynamic Comics #16, Chesler 1945. New cover by Ross Andru.
#17 FN+ £13 Reprints Green Lama #3, Spark 1945. New cover by Ross Andru.
#18 VG/FN £15 (PICTURED) Not reprint. Believed to be the unpublished Atlas Comics #1. Cover by Ross Andru. 

*Alan Class Reprints: From the Alan Class Personal Archive, we’re delighted to present ten post decimal issues of Astounding this week, all in very high grade, never read or circulated, and each with a certificate signed by Alan Class.
IN THIS UPDATE: ASTOUNDING
#111 VF/NM £5
#115 VF+ £4.75
#119 NM £5.50
#130 VF £5.25
#134 VF/NM £5
#135 VF/NM £5
#139 NM £5.50
#142 VF/NM £5
#143 NM £5.50
#144 VF/NM £5

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: All the Queens Of Crime had their recurring detectives of course, and Margery Allingham’s was Albert Campion, a suave sleuth of noble blood, perfectly portrayed on TV by Peter Davison. Four Allingham Penguins in classic green and white stripe livery from the 1950s/60s fresh in this week, all featuring Campion in typically clever murder mysteries. Although perfectly readable, these copies are in mixed condition; full details, including condition notes, await you in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY MARGERY ALLINGHAM ALL SOLD
THE BECKONING LADY Penguin 1960 2nd UK PB VG £5
THE FASHION IN SHROUDS Penguin 1961 3rd UK PB VG £5
FLOWERS FOR THE JUDGE Penguin 1950 3rd UK PB GD/VG £7
MYSTERY MILE Penguin 1950 1st UK PB FA/GD £4

*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, four consecutive issues of Batman #101-105 from 1956 in a variety of grades.
PICTURED: BATMAN
#101 GD/VG £120 Clark Kent guests. Cover and art by Sheldon Moldoff; stories by Bill Finger and Edmond Hamilton. Edge wear and moderate spine wear. Staples firm, nice white to off-white pages. Faint diagonal cover crease.
#102 GD £67 Cover by Sheldon Moldoff; interior art by Moldoff and Dick Sprang. Stories by Bill Finger. Cover wear with faint staining; subscription-like crease. Discolouration on small part of logo. Staples tight and firm, pages off-white.
#103 FN+ £260 ‘Bat-Hound, Movie Star’. Cover by Sheldon Moldoff; interior art by Moldoff and Dick Sprang. Stories by Bill Finger and Arnold Drake. Superior copy with bright colours and sharp corners. Firm, tight staples and near white pages. Faint cover crease does not break colour. Tiny mark over ‘B’ in logo.
#104 VG- £115 Cover by Sheldon Moldoff; interior art by Moldoff and Dick Sprang; stories by Bill Finger and Edmond Hamilton. Decent copy with relatively minor cover wear. A couple of small tears top cover edge and a crease that only just breaks colour. Firm, tight staples and off-white pages.

*Marvel: We present in Amazing Spider-Man #13 the first appearance of a major member of Spidey’s Rogues’ Gallery. Peter Parker’s costumed alter ego faced one of his most baffling foes: Mysterio, whose inexplicable feats bordered more on the supernatural than the super-powered, and brought Spidey close to the edge of insanity. Steve Ditko’s artwork here transplanted a touch of his imagination from Doctor Strange to Spidey’s more urban environment, and from the visual evidence, Sturdy Steve was having great fun making both worlds collide! This is a serviceable pence printed copy, with good cover colour and a fair bit of handling and reading wear. There are faint-ish creases at spine, further in across Spidey’s head and at bottom right corner, with some colour breakage. Staples are tight and firm at spine and centrefold. Short back cover tear and nicks. Narrow sun shadow along right cover edge, with tanning (non-brittle) to inside covers, particularly at edges. Pages are a flexible off-white to cream. 
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #13 GD p £400 SOLD

*Marvel: You know the one, right, where in Fantastic Four #57-60, Doctor Doom steals the Silver Surfer’s cosmic powers and uses them to defeat the FF in one of THE classic adventures of Marvel’s first family? Oh, and somewhere in there the Inhumans break free of the Great Refuge. This quartet from the Good Doctor Collection features a really nice copy of #57, with one of the great Dr Doom covers, plus lower graded copies of #58-60.
IN THIS UPDATE: FANTASTIC FOUR
#57 FN/VF £275 (PICTURED) Beautiful fresh copy with deep and vivid cover colours, tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. Solid spine, very minor corner blunting and just very slight edge wear. There is a tiny 2-3 cm crease across extreme bottom right corner which faintly breaks colour. 
#58 GD/VG p £11 SOLD
#59 GD/VG p £11 SOLD
#60 App VG/FN £9.25 Ad page out; story complete. SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s quite rare that we stray into the 21st Century for our stock, but for Alan Moore, we’ll make an exception. Moore created, in conjunction with artist Kevin O’Neill, a Victorian era combination of characters from famous literary works: Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and so forth. This unlikely and reluctant alliance faced down foes in two mini-series, then resurfaced periodically from various publishers in a number of one-offs, original graphic novels and spin-offs. The subject of a controversial film (which Moore publicly disavowed and condemned, and which is rumoured to have caused star Sean Connery to retire from acting!), the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics and graphic novels are of a much higher quality. Even if, over the intervening years, Moore’s narrative techniques have become ever more esoteric and oblique, there is much entertainment to be had in his shameless plundering of popular culture. This week we feature Volume 2 of the series, a complete six issues, which is inspired by the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs and H G Wells among many others, and essentially is a retelling of the War Of The Worlds.
PICTURED: LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL 2 #1 NM; Complete Set #1-6 all NM £20 SOLD

*Romance: Finally from the Midas Collection this week: Secret Hearts was a long-running DC romance title, lasting 153 issues until 1971, but it started here in 1949 with #1. As was usually the custom with most publishers romance titles around this time, a photo cover was used on early issues, here a very happy cycling couple. Interior art, as always with DC was of a high standard, including here a couple of stories possibly by Toth and Infantino, and a signed story by Kinstler. A nice clean copy with upper and lower short spine splits and tears without loss at top left and back right cover corners, including a loose chip top left.
PICTURED: SECRET HEARTS #1 GD- £60 SOLD

*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we’ve now overhauled our stock of Beano for 1950, adding details of strip debuts and special issues; along the way we’ve added about half a dozen issues fresh in (most of which bear the marks of having been removed from a bound volume). As well as the April Fool and Easter issues, we also have the debuts of Sinbad the Sailor (#400), the Wily Ways of Simple Simon (#412) and Bird Boy (#436). We’ve now also marked which years of Beano and Dandy in our catalogue have been checked and overhauled where necessary with new and enhanced information.
PICTURED: BEANO #402 VG/FN £35 April Fool issue

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: No introduction to arguably the greatest American detective writer is really needed from me here. Chandler’s books, such as The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye remain high in profile due to his fame and popularity, and their film versions are classics of film noir. He himself contributed screenplays to that genre such as Double Indemnity and Strangers On A Train. His creation, Philip Marlowe, is the quintessential American private detective, and the dry, sometimes laconic prose style of Chandler’s writing set the tone for generations of imitators to follow. He wrote seven novels and lots of short stories and we feature many of them in our catalogue. Four novels new in this week, all in distinctive Penguin Green livery:
PICTURED: ALL BY RAYMOND CHANDLER ALL SOLD
FAREWELL, MY LOVELY Penguin 1961 7th UK PB thus GD/VG £4
THE LADY IN THE LAKE Penguin 1954 2nd UK PB thus GD £4
THE LITTLE SISTER Penguin 1959 3rd UK PB thus GD/VG £4
PLAYBACK Penguin 1954 1st UK PB thus GD £4

*DC: Our star attraction from the Midas Collection this week is Batman #5; with an eye-catching ‘Scales of Justice’ cover, this issue features a classic Joker story, and is the first appearance of the ‘classic’ Batmobile with the bat head/shield design. (Previously, Batman had driven a succession of cars referred to as ‘the Bat-Mobile’, but they lacked this distinctive configuration). Cover by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson. All stories by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Joker story, The Riddle of the Missing Card, sees the clown prince of crime involved with a smuggling gang named after playing cards and a brief fling for the Black Queen with our hero. Book Of Enchantment features a magical adventure for Batman & Robin in Fairyland. The last two stories, The Case Of The Honest Crook and Crime Does Not Pay, are mobster encounters.  This is a decent lower-graded copy with bright cover colours and a fairly undamaged cover scene, although it’s a bit worn from handling with several mostly unobtrusive creases (some of which just break colour), particularly at the bottom right corner. The spine is more or less intact, although the bottom staple has pulled through the front cover (and is also loose at the centrefold). Top staple is not tight, but is still well attached. There is a small faint name above the logo and even fainter figures written near the spine to the left of Batman’s shadow. Pages are a remarkable near white, with just a little foxing at the very edges. Short back cover tear. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #5 GD £1,850 SOLD

*DC: It’s not often that we market a coverless comic, but even less often that we have something from the very dawn of the comics industry as we know it. In 1936, the forerunner of DC started publishing New Fun Comics, changing the name to More Fun Comics after the first six issues. The anthology title featured a wide range of characters from many genres in stories that ran in 1, 2 or 3 page instalments. By issue #19 in 1937, these included Dr Occult by Siegel and Shuster, Sandra of the Secret Service, Pep Morgan, Mark Marson of the Interplanetary Police, the Radio Squad and many others. This coverless copy is otherwise complete, except that a large corner is off the first page, affecting the first story. The general condition of the pages is okay, with some tape, tears and extra staple repairs at the spine. You probably won’t get too many chances to buy an issue from this series at this sort of price, so good luck to anyone who places an order!
PICTURED: MORE FUN COMICS #19 COVERLESS £50 SOLD

*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection, Strange Tales #159 saw the debut of Contessa Valentina Allegro De Fontaine (‘Val’ for short). Although Val’s origins, motives and indeed affiliations seem shrouded in contradiction and mystery with her later appearances, it was much simpler back in her first comic appearance, where she portrayed herself as an Italian noblewoman enrolled in SHIELD’s spy-school and created by the multi-talented Jim Steranko, in an issue guest-starring Captain America. (Also in this issue, a superb Dr Strange story by Roy Thomas and Marie Severin). This is a pence printed copy with great colours and just minor edge and handling wear; tight, firm staples and near white pages.  
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #159 FN p £50 SOLD

*Marvel: Five issues of the Mighty Thor with art in transition. #168 & #169 features Kirby art and the origin of Galactus. #181 is by Neal adams. #184 & #188 has art by John Buscema and feature the first and last parts of the Infinity saga.
IN THIS UPDATE: THOR
#168 GD+ p £33 Origin of Galactus
#169 VG- p £27 Origin of Galactus concluded
#181 GD/VG p £6.75  Neal Adams art
#184 VG+ p £6.25 1st Infinity
#188 GD+ p £4 Last infinity

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: From our fabulous Arch Collection this week, three early issues of the long-running Blackhawk title from Quality, published in 1946-48, long before DC took over the reins. Great art on these cracking adventure stories, starring our magnificent seven aviators (as long as you can turn a blind eye to the horribly racially stereotyped and caricatured Chop Chop). Often the Blackhawk comic has a bevy of curvaceous heroines and slinky villainesses not always obvious from the covers, and these issues are no exception, starring as they do the adventuress known as Fear, the Blackhawks’ ally, here in her second appearance in #13, plus subsequent in #14 and #22 (her final Golden Age appearance). Her romantic interest in Blackhawk himself was never requited.  
IN THIS UPDATE: BLACKHAWK
#13 VG+ £150 (PICTURED) Nice solid copy with some cover creases that don’t break colour, tight and firm staples and very minimal edge wear with some corner blunting. Pages are off-white with a little tan at edges and some margin foxing. We just had to show the Fear story splash page!
#14 INCOMPLETE Free with #13. Decent copy with centrefold missing, which just happens to feature the Fear appearance. Plenty of other femme fatales in evidence though. Buy #13 and you get this issue free.
#22 GD £42 (PICTURED) A lower graded copy with cover staining, creases and small tears sealed with tape on inside cover. Staples firm at spine but centrefold loose. Pages are okay but inconsistently cut.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following strong sales and a big influx of new stock, we’re totally overhauling and relisting our Eagle stock: many additions and deletions and new streamlined pricing. One of the icons of British comics’ history, Eagle started up in 1950; every issue of its twenty year run starred Dan Dare, its most famous son, as well as loads of other strips, featuring the cream of British artists and superior quality printing and paper. Volume 9 is now processed and re-listed, continuing from Volumes 1-8 previously done. Please refer to our catalogue for details. Volumes from 10 upwards will be dealt with over the coming weeks, but for now they remain at half the old prices in our half-price sale.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. This week, we reach authors with the surname Jones in our re-listing. D F Jones contributes two novels in his Colossus series (the first two) about the ultimate machine. Langdon Jones, himself an alumnus of the famous New Worlds magazine, presents an anthology very much inspired by that seminal publication, featuring stories by Brain Aldiss, J G Ballard, Thomas Disch, Michael Moorcock, John Sladek and many more. Neil R Jones has three novels of his Professor Jameson Space Adventure series. Raymond F Jones has two stories of psychological space opera. As always, more information, including condition notes, in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
D F JONES: COLOSSUS Pan 1968 1st UK PB VG £15
D F JONES: THE FALL OF COLOSSUS Berkley Medallion 1975 1st US PB GD/VG £10
LANGDON JONES (Ed): THE NEW SF Arrow 1970 1st UK PB GD/VG £7
NEIL R JONES :PROFESSOR JAMESON SERIES:
#1: THE PLANET OF THE DOUBLE SUN Ace 1967 1st US PB FN £6
#2: THE SUNLESS WORLD Ace 1967 1st US PB VG £5
#4: TWIN WORLDS Ace 1967 1st US PB GD £4
RAYMOND F JONES: THE ALIEN Belmont 1966 US PB GD £4
RAYMOND F JONES: THE NON STATISTICAL MAN Brown Watson 1965 1st UK PB VG £5

*Clearance Corner: Very occasionally, a lot comes our way which either does not justify its place in our catalogue (but is too good to discard), or is superfluous to our requirements. These lots are offered here on our What’s New page, but are no longer listed in our catalogue. Lots listed under Clearance Corner will be available for a short time only, and are offered post free to UK buyers only. They are not normally bagged and boarded as our normal stock, but will be securely packaged for transit. If you order a Clearance Corner lot, it may not be combined with another order in the same package. This lot comprises eight 2000 AD Sci-Fi and Winter Specials, all in at least FN or VF condition, as follows:
Sci-Fi Specials 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988
Winter Specials 1988, 1990
All for £30 with Free UK Postage and packing SOLD

*DC: Two classic issues of Wonder Woman from the Midas Collection this week. #45 is a special issue re-telling and updating the origin of Wonder Woman in a long two-part story. In a whimsical third story, a leprechaun wins a scholarship to Holliday College, and Wonder Woman, as acting dean, must endure his pranks while protecting him from gangsters attempting to steal his pot of gold (!). The final story features a western wedding when Wonder Woman travels to the New West. Three longer adventures feature in #46. All stories by Robert Kanigher with art by Henry Peter; covers by Irwin Hasen.
PICTURED: WONDER WOMAN BOTH SOLD
#45 GD+ £200 Good colour to cover, with damage restricted to edges, apart from a subscription crease breaking colour down the centre. Small upper spine split below 2 cm. Chips out at bottom spine and right corners (see scan). Minor chipping to right edge. Firm, tight staples. Pages are off-white to cream. 
#46 GD/VG £125 Great clocks cover with nice colours. Small handwritten monogram in between logo words, small stamped ’10’ on background. Some wear along top edge (with tiny corner off right edge) and spine, with small chunk out back cover at spine base with small split. Reading creases break colour a little near spine. Firm, tight staples. Pages are off-white to cream. 

*Marvel: Iron Man’s very first appearance, in the pages of Tales of Suspense #39; abducted by Reds behind the Bamboo Curtain and forced to manufacture advanced weapons to crush capitalism, Tony Stark turned the tables on his captors by devising a cybernetic suit of armour which transformed him into an unstoppable juggernaut of justice – but at the cost of a near-fatal injury to his heart, which required constant contact with his robotic armour to keep beating! Under the artistic talents of (usually) Don Heck (who devoted special attention, bless him, to the many shapely ladies Tony Stark romanced), the sophisticated world of Tony Stark vied with the action-adventure of his Iron Man persona for the readers’ attention. With two fantasy back-ups, one by Steve Ditko.
This is a pence printed copy with an unmarked cover and good colours. The spine is worn, with small splits along its length, an upper split of about 3 cm and a much shorter lower split with slight creasing at the corner of the spine base. The body is secured well at the staples, which are also firm at centrefold. There are a couple of small chips out at cover right edge. Minor tanning on inside covers, particularly along bottom edges, but decent off-white page quality. Plenty of images shown here; high resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE #39 GD p £3,850