*Marvel: Seven consecutive issues of the Avengers from the Good Doctor Collection this week from #34-40, featuring the debut of the Living Laser (what would a dead laser be like, we wonder?), the alien Ultroids, Hercules becoming an Avenger, the Mad Thinker and the Sub-Mariner. Roy Thomas takes over on scripts from Stan Lee, and Don Heck’s dynamic pencilling is given greater depth and definition by the inks of George Bell.
IN THIS UPDATE: AVENGERS
#34 FN- £20 SOLD
#35 FN- £20 SOLD
#36 VG/FN p £16.50 SOLD
#37 VF £47 (PICTURED)
#38 VG p £13.25
#39 VF- £41 (PICTURED)
#40 VF £47 (PICTURED)

*Marvel: Five issues of the X-Men between #143 and #148 (exc. #144). Covering the last John Byrne issue, where Kitty has an alien encounter at Christmas and welcoming Dave Cockrum back to the artistic helm, with Dr Doom, Iceman, the Angel, Havok, Polaris, Arcade, Caliban, Dazzler and Spider-Woman all popping by with well wishes and otherwise.
IN THIS UPDATE: X-MEN ALL SOLD
#143 VF- £17.75
#145 VF- p £7.25 (PICTURED)
#146 FN/VF p £6.50
#147 VF p £8.25
#148 VF p £7.50
 

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Something a bit niche for your consideration this week, and a rarity that you won’t find many. if any, of on the market. This is a regular comic-sized supplement to the European edition of the New York Star Dec 1948, containing, beneath an admittedly nondescript cover, what appears to be a rebound copy of Blonde Phantom #19. As far as we have been able to ascertain, this supplement (called Jet Comics) rebound the interiors of a comic with a new generic cover, in much the same way as the later UK Double Double Comics, so there are probably several different comics lurking under this cover (one issue at a time). This appears to be a rebind rather than a reprint. Blonde Phantom #19 was dated September 1948, just three months before this. Three Blonde Phantom stories, probably by Ken Bald, and one Sub-Mariner story with Namora, probably by Mike Sewkowsky. Nice enough copy with small chip out top centre cover and small lower spine split. A fraction of the price of Blonde Phantom #19. Lots of images shown here. 
PICTURED: JET COMICS VG- £100 SOLD
 

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: A small showcase of the variety available in the UK in the 1950s/60s, reprinted from the American originals (almost always in black and white): Mike Shayne (Private Eye), a Motion Picture Comic (Mask of the Avenger), 2 x Nyoka the (sensibly clothed) jungle girl and two issues of Miller’s Robin Hood.   
IN THIS UPDATE:
MIKE SHAYNE #1 VG £10 (PICTURED)
MOTION PICTURE COMICS #56 GD £6 Mask Of The Avenger; Movie cover.
NYOKA THE JUNGLE GIRL #52 VG £6
NYOKA THE JUNGLE GIRL #64 FA/GD £3
ROBIN HOOD #31 GD £5
ROBIN HOOD #32 GD £5

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for this books category, with an image for each book. This week, two very different novels with distinctive art by celebrated artists. From John Jakes, the science fiction fantasy Master Of The Dark Gate, with cover art by Jim Steranko. From the master of gangster pulp, Hank Janson, a science fiction novel, The Unseen Assassin, blessed with cover art based on an original by Reginald Heade (figure) and Ron Turner (background).
PICTURED:
JOHN JAKES: MASTER OF THE DARK GATE Lancer 1970 1st US PB VG £8 SOLD
HANK JANSON: THE UNSEEN ASSASSIN Alexander Moring 1956 2nd UK PB VG £25

*Children’s Books: This week, we return to the adventures of Biggles. Written by Captain W E Johns, the wartime (and later) stories of James Bigglesworth gave us an iconic British hero, a highly competent fighter pilot with a characteristic gentlemanly air, who has gone on to represent an archetypal figure. Nearly 100 Biggles books were written and published and reprinted many times over, and we have a new selection now available, four Armada and two Knight paperbacks from the 1960s/1970s. And I wish Biggles, Algy, Ginger and Smyth were still up there now, looking out for us – we could do with them and their wizard prangs.
PICTURED: ALL BY W E JOHNS ALL SOLD
BIGGLES FLIES NORTH Armada 1966 UK PB GD £3
BIGGLES: FOREIGN LEGIONNAIRE Armada 1971? UK PB VG £4
BIGGLES IN THE SOUTH SEAS Armada 1975 UK PB FN £5
BIGGLES IN THE UNDERWORLD Knight 1971 UK PB VG/FN £4
BIGGLES SORTS IT OUT Knight 1979 UK PB VG/FN £4
BIGGLES WORKS IT OUT Armada 1971? UK PB VG £4

*DC: The second feature on our Midas Collection Hitler Double Bill is Superman #17, where the Man of Steel has Hitler and Tojo in his grasp on an iconic cover by Fred Ray. The lead story, ‘Man Or Superman’ is the only 1940s Superman story with the premise that Lois suspects Clark is Superman; art by Shuster and Sikela. In the second story, ‘The Human Bomb’ with art by Leo Nowak, a vicious criminal uses innocent people to rob, armed with a bomb apparatus. The third story is ‘Muscles For Sale’, where Superman must solve a series of bold crimes that were pulled by ungainly men who look anything but formidable; art by Sikela. The final story ‘When Titans Clash’ also features the distinctive art of John Sikela; Lex Luthor survives his execution in the electric chair, which only makes him more powerful. A wonderful issue with some memorable Superman art; all stories by Jerry Siegel. Unfortunately, only a low grade due to some degree of brittleness on the interior pages. The cover scene itself is fairly strong, with a faint dust shadow along the right edge. It appears to have been printed without an upper staple and the lower has pulled loose at the front cover. Not too much wear, although there are small chips and nicks to the right edge and a faint, thin brown line up a couple of cms from the bottom edge. Upper spine edge looks like it has had some work done to it on a thin strip left of the logo. A shallow vertical crease up from the bottom edge across Superman’s body does not break colour and is only faintly noticeable. The interior pages are all held securely at the spine, apart from the two centrefold wraps which are loose. The lower right corners and some of the right page edges have become brittle, and some corners are off (most included within the comic); this is generally restricted to the margins and does impinge significantly on the stories. Pages are cream with tanned edges. However, you’ll want to read this one carefully! High resolution images are available on request. 
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #17 FA+ £1,100

*Marvel: Not a dream! Not an imaginary tale! (How very DC-like of Marvel to use those blurbs!) How does Spidey get out of this one? Well, we’re not saying… In the 12th issue of Amazing, Spidey comes up again against the dastardly Doc Ock, with the results shown on the cover. This is a CGC graded copy at 8.0 (VF). Universal blue label (unrestored). Case perfect. Off-white pages. CGC Code: 3954512006. The cover has rich colours. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #12 CGC 8.0 £1,100

*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection this week, these classic issues pit the Green Goliath against Marvel’s First Family in a long-promised but oft-deferred fight to the finish. When three of the Four rapidly succumb to the Hulk’s irresistible force, it falls to the Thing, outclassed despite his own formidable strength, to hold the line in an epic, desperate struggle to protect the city. And when the combined powers of the FF fail, who better to step up to help out than the Hulk’s former teammates, the ever-Assemblin’ Avengers? Powerful and gripping, this remains, decades later, one of the best-remembered battles of the early Marvel Age!
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#25 FN/VF p £475 A gorgeous pence printed copy with rich colours and a vibrant purple background. Tiny bits of handling and edge wear, but no colour breaks and great eye appeal. Tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages.
#26 VG- p £110 Spine and edge wear with tiny colour breaks, corner blunting with slight nick at base of spine without loss. Small figure ‘6’ in biro below title box. Tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. 

*Marvel: Thor, Odin, Hela and Infinity are the main players in the grand saga told in these issues, all in pretty nice higher grade, with no less than three Hela covers featured.
IN THIS UPDATE: THOR
#185 FN/VF p £17
#186 FN/VF p £17
#187 VF p £22.75
#188 FN/VF £17
#189 VF p £22.75 (PICTURED)
#190 FN p £11 Small sticker over pence price printed in masthead box.

*Horror 1940-1959: From 1954, the final issue of Ajax Farrell’s Strange Fantasy, #14, with tombs, ghosts, a witch child, demons, hangings and monsters. Writers unknown, but all art by the Iger Shop, which gave it an accomplished, uniform look. This is a decent lower mid-graded copy with wear at the edges and a colour-breaking crease across top right corner. But nice white pages and secure staples.
PICTURED: STRANGE FANTASY #14 VG- £100

*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we have an overhaul of Dandy for the years 1954/55. We now provide details of special issues such as holiday numbers and also character debuts. Several issues new in for both years, including Easter issues for 1954 and 1955. 1954 also features the debuts of My Gang (#665) and Wee Black Scallywag (#673). For full details of our stock for these years (and all others) as always, consult our catalogue.
PICTURED: DANDY #647 (17/4/54) VG £15 Easter issue. 

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies & Sleaze category, for the third and final part of our inventory for the formidable crime, mystery and thriller author Edgar Wallace. Edgar Wallace died at 56 in 1932 (during the script drafting for the original King Kong film), but despite his relatively short life, had a reputation for being very prolific. One of his publishers claimed that a quarter of all books in England were written by him. As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace’s work. I can remember growing up with re-runs of his characters The Four Just Men (who had their own TV series), plus the Edgar Wallace Mystery Hour, an anthology series of his mysteries and thrillers. Later, there was The Mind Of Mr J G Reeder, a detective series in 1969-1971. So Wallace’s popularity continued way beyond his death, although it has faded somewhat in the 21st Century, with few of his books still in print. His output earned him the title ‘The Man Who Wrote Too Much’ and I can recall in one of Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence novels, there was a reference to a bookshelf with a ‘yard of Edgar Wallace’. We conclude our inventory of Wallace in our re-listings this week, including an edition published in his lifetime, which is among the oldest books we have, plus a couple of adventures with the off-beat detective Mr J G Reeder. Condition notes and more about each book in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY EDGAR WALLACE ALL SOLD
MR JUSTICE MAXWELL Ward Lock 1928 1st UK PB? FA £10
ON THE SPOT Avon 1948 US PB GD £6
RED ACES Great Pan 1962 2nd UK PB VG £4 J G Reeder
THE RINGER Pan 1957 5th UK PB VG £5
TERROR KEEP Pan 1964 UK PB FN £6 J G Reeder
THE TRAMP Pan 1965 1st UK PB thus VG £5
THE VALLEY OF GHOSTS Great Pan 1960 2nd UK PB thus VG £5

*DC: By my reckoning, Detective Comics #37 from March 1940 is the 11th comic to feature the Batman; it’s also the last to feature him solo before Robin debuted in the following issue. The story advertised for the next issue in the last panel of the Batman story here was in fact re-routed to Batman #1, published after this. Thus Detective #37 is the earliest Batman comic in the Midas Collection. Beneath a moody yet action-filled Bob Kane cover, Kane and writer Bill Finger produce a harrowing tale of crime, smuggling, torture and death. Numerous other detectives fill out this 68 page (including covers) issue including Slam Bradley, the Crimson Avenger, Speed Saunders and many others of varying lengths. This is a low grade copy (which at least renders it relatively within reach financially). The spine is heavily (and amateurishly) taped, holding the cover in place, which otherwise appears to be off staples. The cover itself is relatively unscathed; there are a few small white marks a couple of nicks and tears at edges, with one longer tear of just over 2 cm at top right. The centrefold is loose, but otherwise the staples hold the pages together; the pages are off-white to cream. The tops of both inside covers are tanned, with lots of chipping along the back cover top. Small graffiti along the margin only at the top of the Batman story. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: DETECTIVE COMICS #37 PR/FA £2,200 SOLD
 

*DC: Three of my personal favourite comics this week: Justice League Of America #14-16. In #14, the Atom joins the team. In #15, the JLA face the threat of giant stone aliens who are untouchable. In #16 , they face the menace of the Maestro; in a series known for its ingenious plotting, #16 has to be the best and cleverest of them all (don’t want to give too much away here).
IN THIS UPDATE: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA
#14 GD/VG p £26
#15 VG+ p £31 (PICTURED)
#16 VG+ p £39

*Marvel: Three consecutive quality issues of the Fantastic Four from the Bute Collection this week. #29 features an adventure with the Watcher and the Red Ghost & his Super-Apes; #30 has the first appearance of Diablo; #31 is a return engagement with the Mole Man, introducing Sue and Johnny’s father.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#29 FN- p £105 Nice glossy pence printed copy with strong cover colours, tight, firm staples and supple, near-white pages. Minor edge wear, very minor corner blunting and just a few spine ticks that break colour. 
#30 VG/FN p £55 1st Diablo. Glossy unmarked cover with strong colours; pence printed. Tight, firm staples and supple, near-white pages. Minor edge and spine wear. Some soft creases extend horizontally from the spine for a few cms, but only break colour on the spine itself.
#31 FN/VF £150 Beautiful clean glossy copy with black background. Great colours. Tight, firm staples and supple, white to off-white pages. Very minor wear to top edge, with a very faint indentation over the logo. Tiny chips off top right corner margins of rear pages.

*Dell: Although heavily influenced by film and TV, for which they produced thousands of adaptations and spin-offs, Dell actually produced comics in a wide range of genres, as shown here. Looney Tunes features the beloved Warner Bros cartoon characters, Naza and Nukla represent opposite ends of the heroic spectrum, the former a stone age warrior and the latter a futuristic space age hero, Peter Gunn is a TV crime drama starring the titular detective, the Phantom Planet is a pure space opera film and Twice Told Tales is an adaptation of the Vincent Price horror film. 
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
LOONEY TUNES #103 VG- £13
NAZA #7 VG p £6.75
NUKLA #2 FA £2
PETER GUNN Four Color #1087 GD/VG p £7.25
PHANTOM PLANET Four Colour #1234 VG £11.50
TWICE TOLD TALES Movie Classic 12840401 FA+ £3

*Western: Also from the Midas Collection this week, two early issues of Western Comics, one of DC’s most prominent western titles from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Star of the show was the Wyoming Kid, who we think appeared in every issue; but there were lots of other recurring cowboys along the way, including Vigilante in #3 and Nighthawk in #8, the two issues on offer here. Both in pretty nice nick for comics from the 194os.
PICTURED: WESTERN COMICS
#3 VG+ £60 Clean, square copy with nice colours and little wear. Tight, firm staples and white to off-white pages. Tiny nick without loss to centre right edge of cover.
#8 VG £55 Origin Wyoming Kid; 2 pages of Rodeo Queens pin-ups. Clean, square copy with nice colours, firm staples and towards off-white pages. Tiny nick at bottom spine and a very small amount of chipping at right edge.

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A very rare horror title. Bubastis (now called Zagazig) is a city in Egypt that was a centre for the worship of the cat-headed goddess of the home, Bast. Many mummified cats have been found within the ancient city. Taking a lax approach to archaeological and theological accuracy, Derek Hyde-Chambers’ story has a small group of actors reviving the worship of Bast with terrifying results. A prime example of real schlock horror. Featuring the worst example of feline taxidermy ever on the cover, this is the first UK edition of the book in paperback. The few copies we’ve seen on sale have been priced between £80 (low grade) up to £150.
‘The Ancient Egyptians were among the first practitioners of the Black Arts. Obsessed with death and its trappings, so much still survives from those days: the images of Egyptian animal gods, mummies, and burial chambers. Bubastis was one of the important gods. Its form was that of a black cat with powerful jaws and claws, and a small group of actors in southern France find that the old legends of Bubastis’ power are not fantasy. The ancient evil is not yet dead, and can still reach a finger into today, possessing many with dark secrets.’
Nice firm copy with just minor wear at edges and a reading crease at spine.
PICTURED:
DEREK HYDE-CHAMBERS: THE ORGY OF BUBASTIS NEL 1974 1st UK PB VG/FN £50

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: I’m sure many of you will remember the series V  from the 1980s, where reptilian aliens in human guise invaded and took over Earth, leading to a running battle with the resistance. Really just the second world war in occupied France transposed into a contemporary American setting, with plenty of action and adventure and a minimum of science fiction. I can recall both the gross-out moment of the aliens in human guise swallowing mice whole, plus the alien leader Diana, who was particularly nasty. We have four of the spin-off novels from the series fresh into stock.
PICTURED:
V#2: EAST COAST CRISIS: HOWARD WEINSTEIN & A C CRISPIN NEL 1st UK PB 1985 VG £4
V#3: THE PURSUIT OF DIANA: ALLEN WOLD NEL 1st UK PB 1985 FN £4
V#4: THE CHICAGO CONVERSION: GEORGE W PROCTOR NEL 1st UK PB 1985 VG/FN £4
V#5: THE FLORIDA PROJECT: TIM SULLIVAN NEL 1st UK PB 1986 FN £4

*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, three consecutive issues of Batman from 1952.
PICTURED: BATMAN
#70 FA £55 Robot cover. Features a Penguin story, the Crime Academy and a robot cop. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane with Lew Sayre Schwartz, Curt Swan. Much chipping and many losses around all edges, particularly bottom. Off lower staple, with spine split right up to it. Cover pulled on top staple, but hanging on. Staples firm at centrefold. Dust shadow along right edge. Water stain lower right edge and earlier page margins. SOLD
#71 FA/GD £70 Stories include a prison for members of law enforcement, Commissioner Gordon trying to uncover Batman’s identity and the mysterious Mr Cipher. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane with Lew Sayre Schwartz, Dick Sprang. Cover appears to be glued on at spine. Small tears with chips out. Firm staples at centrefold, decent off-white pages. SOLD
#72 VG+ £265 Features the Jungle Batman, the Maskers (who all wear masks) and the Death-Cheaters Club. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane with Lew Sayre Schwartz, Dick Sprang, Jim Mooney. Nice mid-grade copy with only slight wear. Cover is very slightly pulled at both staples, but firmly attached, centrefold loose. No other specific defects. White to off-white pages. 

*Marvel: In the early 1970s, with the supernatural craze at its height, Marvel sought ever-more ingenious ways to produce horror/mystery series which got around the then-Draconian censorship of the Comics Code Authority. One such was Ghost Rider, a retooling of a former Western hero as a stunt-riding Satanic minion (obviously!). After a short but successful run in Marvel Spotlight, Ghost Rider, who notwithstanding his devilish empowerment usually acted heroically, moved to his own series under the aegis of Gary Friedrich, Tom Sutton and Syd Shores, achieving a very respectable 80+ run, and not even two truly execrable movies starring Nicolas Cage have managed to dent his ongoing popularity! This pence printed copy of Ghost Rider #1 is beautifully glossy and colourful, with supple white pages and firm, tight staples. The cover is clean, with very minor edge wear and a faint, tiny crease across the bottom right corner which just breaks colour. There are also two indentation marks at bottom edge which are very faint but look like finger impressions. But still a glorious copy. 
PICTURED: GHOST RIDER #1 FN+ p £300

*Marvel: We reach the final two issues of the Good Doctor’s run of the original X-Men series this week. #26 features the climax of our mutant chums’ encounter with the embodiment of the Mayan god Kukulcan, an issue with severely limited UK distribution due to a dock strike. #58, drawn by Neal Adams, has the debut of Havok in costume.
PICTURED: X-MEN
#26 FN- £35 Nice copy with good colour and white pages. Firm staples. Just very minor edge wear with a couple of tiny soft creases at bottom right corner, faintly breaking colour. SOLD
#58 FN p £110 Pence printed. Solid copy with strong colours. Very minor handling and right edge wear; slight corner blunting. Firm staples and supple white pages. 

*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. A mixed bag this week, with four different titles, including Star Feature, which I’ve never seen a copy of before.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
GREAT ACTION COMICS #1 GD £3 Reprints Gold Medal Comics #1 Cambridge House 1945. New cover by John Severin.
SENSATIONAL POLICE CASES #5 VG/FN £8.50 Reprints Prison Break #5 Avon 1952. New cover by Carl Burgos.
STAR FEATURE COMICS #9 VG+ £6 (PICTURED) Reprints Feature Comics #141 Quality 1949. New cover by Sol Brodsky.
TOP ADVENTURE COMICS #1 FN- £10 (PICTURED) Reprints High Adventure #1 Decker 1957. New cover by John Severin.
TOP ADVENTURE COMICS #2 FA £3 Reprints Red Seal #22 Superior 1947. Cover by Kinstler from inside front cover on Prison Break #5.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Space Comics (which for some reason that I haven’t been able to discover) started at #50 and lasted until #81 and starred Captain Valiant, Ace of the Interplanetary Patrol, in a comic devised and created by Mick Anglo, stalwart of British comics in the 1950s/60s. This is a tough to find series and we’re delighted to have both the second and a later issue new into stock this week, although I doubt they’ll be with us for long. Good to see that the good captain sported a rather natty tie as part of his outer space uniform. 
PICTURED: SPACE COMICS BOTH SOLD
#51 FN £25 Just minor edge wear and stress marks at spine.
#66 VG/FN £22.50 Minor edge wear and small tear with no loss at bottom edge.