*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 and Sleaze category, with authors alphabetically from June Bryony to Victor Canning. June Bryony’s Enchanted Love 32 page booklet from the 1940s has an evocative cover illustration by Oliver Brabbins; there are two editions of John Buchan’s famous Thirty-Nine Steps from 1964 and 1968; 3 Day Pass To Kill by Burke and Grace is a tough murder mystery set in Berlin and is new in; and Victor Canning provides A Delivery Of Furies, a fast-paced crime adventure thriller.
PICTURED:
ENCHANTED LOVE by JUNE BRYONY GD/VG £7 Hamilton Late 1940s 1st UK PB
THE THIRY-NINE STEPS by JOHN BUCHAN GD £4 Pan 1964 15th UK PB SOLD
3 DAY PASS TO KILL by J  W BURKE & EDWARD GRACE VG £7 Berkley 1955 1st US PB
A DELIVERY OF FURIES by VICTOR CANNING VG/FN £5 Mayflower 1969 1st UK PB

*DC: Back in the heady Silver Age days, just about the only way you could get to read the older stories of DC’s premier characters was in the 80 Page Giant Annuals they released for each series once per year. Then, in 1964, buoyed by the success of these annuals, DC turned the 80 Page Giant idea into a regular series of rotating characters, thus enabling us to catch up with a much bigger selection of these early stories than hitherto. After 15 issues, they broadened the concept again to include the Giants in the regular numbering of the series concerned. So this week we present most issues from that 15 issue run known as 80 Page Giant, including #1 (which would have been Superman Annual #9), #5, Batman’s 25th Anniversary special, #9, reprinting ‘Flash Of Two Worlds’, and many others. See our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: 80 PAGE GIANT
#1 VG £55
#9 FN+ £50

*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. All high grade; even the few that fall below VF (and most are above) are really good-looking copies – no duds here, and nearly all cents copies. In Amazing Spider-Man #21, our hero comes up against the Human Torch’s old foe the Beetle for the first time, with the Torch himself involved for good measure (Johnny Storm’s path crossed frequently with the wall-crawler’s back in those days). This is a clean and flat cents copy with a glossy cover, vivid colour and great reflectivity, square corners and virtually no wear. Supple pages are off-white to cream, staples are firm and tight at spine and centrefold. Just a tiny bit of wear along the top of the masthead, and miniscule chipping at lower edge; there is also a small arrival date in pen above the ‘the’ in the logo.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #21 VF £485

*Marvel: Also from the Good Doctor Collection this week, every issue of the Incredible Hulk from #122-130. There’s a lot going on in these nine issues. Hulk/Thing battles are always keenly sought, and here’s another classic encounter in #122. Popular villain the Rhino appears in #124, and #126 features the first appearance of Barbara Norris, who was soon to become Valkyrie. The Avengers pop up in #128. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: HULK #122 FN/VF p £85 Pence printed, glossy with pure white background and great cover colour. Square corners, nice white to off-white supple pages and strong staples. There is a small dink at the top of the spine and one or two spine stress marks; none of these break colour.

*Charlton: A large and much overdue update to our Charlton stocks. Lots of new stuff from that most esoteric of publishers. We know there are lots of Charlton fans out there and would commend you to look through our catalogue at all the additions in these titles: Blondie, Blue Beetle (both Ditko and pre-Ditko), Captain Atom (Ditko), Charlton Premiere (with Children of Doom), Crime And Justice (1950s), Danger & Adventure (also 1950s, copies from the personal collection of Alan Class with signed certificates and cover proofs), Doomsday +1, E-Man, Gorgo, Hercules (from #1), Hot Rod Racers and Hot Rods & Racing Cars (a cult niche in their own right!), House Of Yang (from #1), the Jetsons, Johnny Dynamite, Judomaster and Jungle Jim (with Ditko/Wood art). Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet in Part 2, coming soon!   

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Quality’s National Comics was where the symbolic character Uncle Sam made his debut (in #1) and by issue #39 in 1944, he was kicking Hitler’s butt on the iconic cover to this Bute Collection gem. National Comics was an anthology title featuring, in addition to Uncle Sam, several now obscure super-heroes such as G2, the Unknown and Quicksilver (no, not the one you think), and less super characters such as Policewoman Sally O’Neill and Chic Carter, police reporter. You certainly got a lot of reading in the big 56 pages. This reasonable copy has a clear and unmarred cover scene with a rich purple background. Relatively minor edge wear with some minor chipping to the right edge. There is a slight spine roll. Pages are supple and a very decent off-white. It was printed with only one central staple; this is off at the front cover with a staple-sized hole where it has come loose; it is, however, firmly attached at the back cover. A lovely, very rare item with a significant cover and charming interiors.
PICTURED: NATIONAL COMICS #39 GD/VG £450 SOLD

*Western: Gathering together a handful of nice old Westerns that have arrived in recent collections, we present a mixed bag of goodies from the 1950s/60s.
IN THIS UPDATE:
BOBBY BENSON’S B-BAR-B RIDERS #13 GD+ £39 Frazetta cover; includes Ghost Rider.
COWBOY WESTERN #67 VG- £12.75 Wild Bill Hickok & Jingles; Giant
ROCKY LANE WESTERN #79 VG £16.25 Giant
SIX-GUN HEROES ALL SOLD
#15 VG- £16
#17 FN/VF £34
#61 VG p £4.75

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A further and final (for now) set of additions to Top Spot for 1959. Top Spot, starting in 1958, was an unusual and not altogether successful attempt to link something like a traditional boys’ comic (albeit with more adult storylines) with the world of glamour, sport and showbiz (a la Tit-Bits or Reveille). Thus photos and articles on glamour stars would sit alongside quality picture strip stories of crime, sport, western and action. Despite being a publication of some quality, the experiment failed and the comic was merged with Film Fun after a year and a bit. From 1959, a further 13 issues from #24 up, including those where the numbering was dropped and they were just dated. There is one undated and unnumbered issue which fits somewhere between 20/6 and 22/8; usually this was due to a strike and we suspect there were no other issues in that range. All in decent shape, a bit of foxing, a spot of rust on staple, but nice pages. Earlier issues had glamour girl covers, later picture strip ones.
PICTURED: TOP SPOT 29/8/59 VG £8

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: More than 20 issues of True Life Library newly added to our catalogue, from #464-466, then between #601-625. The standard of art by mainly European illustrators is very accomplished. These are lovely items, their appeal enhanced by the fact that they are from a newsagent’s reserve stock, never sold or circulated, with white pages, bright covers and not too much rust in the staple areas on most examples. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: TRUE LIFE LIBRARY #617 FN/VF £5.50 SOLD

*Comic Strip Books: As a companion to their Tales From The Crypt anthology, Ballantine also produced Tales Of The Incredible, several classic pre-code EC science fiction stories presented in a standard American paperback, black and white in a sideways format. Includes ‘Judgement Day’, ’50 Girls 50′, ‘By George’ and other famous pieces. A little worn but a solid copy.
PICTURED: TALES OF THE INCREDIBLE VG £18 1965 2nd US PB SOLD
 

*DC: A quick run through additions to our Silver & Bronze Age DC stocks, including Adventure Comics (#298 with Bizarro and #399 with Supergirl), Challengers of the Unknown #28, DC 100 Page Super-Spectacular (#15 with Superboy), DC Special (#14 Wanted), Detective Comics (#445 100 Pages), Green Lantern (#26 2nd Star Sapphire & #30 1st Katma Tui), Rima the Jungle Girl #2 and Showcase #58 (with Enemy Ace). Full details as always in our catalogue.

*Marvel: Also from the Good Doctor Collection this week: One of the forerunners of the ‘second wave’ of the Marvel Universe in 1968 was Captain Marvel, warrior of the mighty Kree Empire, which had featured in the Fantastic Four and elsewhere. Exiled on Earth and forced to live among humans, Mar-Vell found his loyalties strangely shifting. Originally created as a cynical exercise in copyright protection (a minor publisher had produced a short-lived ‘Captain Marvel’ series a couple of years before, and Marvel Comics didn’t want their ‘brand’ hijacked by another company!), Captain Marvel, as well as the Silver Surfer, expanded the Marvel Universe beyond the confines of Earth and put the Marvel heroes firmly on the cosmic stage. We have the good Captain’s premier appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 new in, plus the first issue of his series which debuted shortly after.
PICTURED:
MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12 VG+ £65 Decent squarebound copy with solid spine and good staples. Reading crease at spine edge breaks colour. Other minor edge wear but bright and glossy cover image. Nice page quality, off-white to cream. SOLD
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 VG £60 Small cover creasing and edge wear, occasionally with minor breaks in colour, but sound copy with good pages and staples tight at spine and centrefold.

*Marvel: Three issues that have become known as minor keys: Defenders #84, with the first encounter between the Black Panther and the Sub-Mariner, Dr Strange #48 has the first meeting between the good doctor and Brother Voodoo, and in the Thing #35, Sharon Ventura becomes the (then) latest heroine to bear the name Ms Marvel.
PICTURED:
DEFENDERS #84 VF p £45
DR STRANGE #48 FN- p £20 SOLD
THING #35 FN/VF £20

*Charlton: Racket Squad In Action was a pre- and post-code crime comic starting in 1952 and lasting 29 issues. It focused on swindlers and con games, which seemed to allow it to survive the Comics Code longer than most Pre-Code crime comics, despite its lurid violence. The Pre-Code issue #12 features its most famous cover, executed by Steve Ditko and showing an explosion and its victims. This is a nice mid-grade solid copy, tiny split at top of otherwise firm spine, good staples at spine and centrefold, some corner blunting, but very little wear, just a reading crease that breaks colour and small colour-breaking creases bottom right corner. Vivid cover scene, known as Ditko’s most violent, is undisturbed. 
PICTURED: RACKET SQUAD IN ACTION #12 VG £100 SOLD

*Horror 1940-1959: Two more Atlas pre-code issues from the Bute Collection this week. Atlas horror maintained a high standard of artistic merit and pre-code chills, and Adventures Into Weird Worlds was no exception.
PICTURED: ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS
#26 GD- £55 Weak spine with splits and holes; front cover off both staples, which are attached at rear. Decent pages; some cover creasing.
#28 GD- £60 Atom bomb story and decapitation panels. Long spine splits top and bottom. Cover virtually unmarked but for small chips out top spine and top edge. Cover off top staple; decent pages.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: More of a Younger Readers comic really, but we don’t have such a category any more, so we’re placing it here. Treasure started up in 1963 as an educational comic for boys and girls, full of stories, features and puzzles. It was very wholesome. A nice solid VG copy here.
PICTURED: TREASURE #1 19/1/63 VG £15

*Humour Comics: The 1964 Fireworks issue of the Big One from 1964 (plus one other) and the Christmas issue of Cheeky from 1979 new in this week. I suspect these won’t be with us long. (NB: Owing to its exceptional size, Big One was originally displayed and sold horizontally, and almost all known copies have a horizontal centre crease. We display and sell this title folded horizontally.)
IN THIS UPDATE: BIG ONE BOTH SOLD
7/11/64 VG £12 Fireworks issue
5/12/64 GD £6
CHEEKY 29/12/79 VG £6 Christmas issue

*Book Art Books: In the 1990s, the Italian Alberto Becatinni edited a couple of dozen ‘coffee table’ books under the title Glamour International. Issue #25 is entitled ‘Crimes ‘N’ Gals in the USA – A Pictorial History 1930s – 1960s.’ Sections on syndicated strips, comic books, pulps & magazines and paperbacks. Text in English, Italian and French. 108 pages, mostly in colour with some black and white reproductions, measuring 30 x 30 cm. A sumptuous work, copiously illustrated, including the covers of many books to be found in our Crime, Spies & Sleaze section. The cover book (The Passionate’ by Carter Brown) is new in there this week.
PICTURED: GLAMOUR INTERNATIONAL #25 FN £20

*DC: The scientist/leader. His best friend (who’s big and strong). His girlfriend. Her kid brother. Sound familiar? Yes, of course, that’s the format of the team in Rip Hunter, Time Master… Rip Hunter, Time Master debuted in DC’s try-out title Showcase in May 1959, four and a half years before a certain time-travelling Time Lord (there are similarities in that Rip’s Time Sphere travelled in time and occasionally space, combining historical settings with science-fiction themes from time to time). Rip was a scientist who invented said Time Sphere and persuaded his friends to accompany him on various adventures in which they encountered Hitler, George Washington and Cleopatra, among many others; aliens and magical adversaries were also not uncommon. Rip’s companions comprised Jeff Smith, his strong best friend, Bonnie Baxter, his girlfriend, and Corky Baxter, her kid brother. They first appeared dressed in ‘civvies’ but later adopted a team costume. Created by writer Jack Miller and artist Ruben Moreira, the concept was popular enough to get four try-outs in Showcase before being promoted to its own series which lasted 29 issues. Time travel stories are always engaging, with a different setting each issue, and although the writing and art was sometimes patchy, there is imagination, adventure and humour within the pages of this fine series and outstanding issues drawn by Mike Sekowsky, Joe Kubert and Alex Toth. A significant run of the series added this week between #4 and #29 (the final issue), adding to a comprehensive stock of this highly original and fondly remembered series. Take a look in our catalogue.

*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. All high grade; even the few that fall below VF (and most are above) are really good-looking copies – no duds here, and nearly all cents copies. The Kingpin makes his cover debut on Amazing Spider-Man #51, towering menacingly over a fallen Spidey with his gang gathered round in one of John Romita’s most memorable covers. I remember thinking what a visually striking figure was cut by the Kingpin, a testament to Romita’s design skills. This issue also features the debut of Daily Bugle man Robbie Robertson, who, if memory serves, was the first black recurring character to play an important role in Peter Parker’s life. This is a lovely fresh cents copy, with rich colour cover and reflectivity, staples firm at spine and centrefold and supple, near white pages. There is very faint reading wear at the spine, and a tiny blunting of the spine bottom.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #51 VF- £400 SOLD

*Marvel: 10 very different Marvels added this week across their range, including Astonishing Tales #31 (with Deathlok), Iron Man #77, Marvel Premiere #32 (with Monark Starstalker), Marvel Team-Up #36 (Spidey & Frankenstein Monster), Marvel Treasury Edition #6 (GD p £10 Dr Strange), Giant-Size Spider-Man #2 (VF £30 with Master Of Kung Fu), Sub-Mariner #49 and Annual #1, Jack Kirby’s 2001 A Space Odyssey #2 and last but not least What If #13 (Conan Walked the Earth Today?). Full details as always in our catalogue. 

*Horror 1940-1959: Although the vast majority Crestwood’s Black Magic was published in the 1950s, the series lasted until 1962. We’ve decided to feature all issues of Black Magic in this category for consistency, even though some of them are later than 1959. The most significant of these later issues, Vol 7 #5 from 1960, is infamous for its cover featuring Adolf Hitler. The stories inside are very competently executed horror/mystery tales typical of the post code era. This is a nice clean, glossy copy with minor edge wear and corner blunting, good staples and page quality. 
PICTURED: BLACK MAGIC Vol 7 #5 VG+ £75 SOLD

*Alan Class Reprints: For many years now, we’ve been scouring the personal archives of legendary publisher Alan Class (who is still very much with us) and with his full co-operation, releasing for sale sets of the original printing plates that were used to print the covers of his comics from 1959-1989. We have now reached the final phase of these plate set releases, which will last us throughout 2022. These sets are time-consuming to prepare, so our release schedule will be staggered. But the good news is that all the sets we have left are among the best, either featuring a classic Marvel comic reprint, or else a very early fantasy/mystery issue. So, this final phase represents your last opportunity to add one or more of these unique pieces to your collection. Each set comprises the lead printing plates used in the original comic’s colour printing, a copy of the comic printed with these plates and a signed certificate of authenticity signed by Alan Class himself. These are packaged in a special protective presentation case. Several sets (as noted) have additional historical artefacts such as colour proofs, interior page plates, printers’ photostats etc. (Please be aware that these weigh a lot and postage will be expensive. Also note that due to the onerous paperwork required for customs declarations following Brexit, we can no longer post these Plate Sets outside the UK.) Three new sets this week as follows: ALL SOLD
CREEPY WORLDS #115 £60 Comic FA; Reprints Daredevil  #49 (inc cover), ACG, Captain Midnight.  NB Comic water damaged. Extra: Colour cover proof, taped
SINISTER TALES #93 £60 Comic FA/GD; Reprints SHIELD #10 (inc cover),  Atlas inc 1 Everett, Charlton SF, 1 Jaguar. Extra: Colour cover proof
SINISTER TALES #105 £85 Comic VG/FN; Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #71 (inc cover), Charlton, ACG. Extra: Colour cover proof

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In the wake of the success of Hotspur, the venerable story paper that had relaunched as a comic two years previously, D C Thomson decided in 1961 that it was time for another boys’ weekly in a similar format – but rather than revamp another of their older titles, they made this an entirely new creation! The Victor #1 was cover-dated February 25th, and featured a mix of World War II heroics, sporting strips, and mild sci-fi adventure. A hit with its intended audience, it had a respectable 30+ year career. This is a lovely high grade copy, flat and virtually unmarked, with strong page quality, just a minor edge tear or two and very faint foxing. Sadly, no Free Gift Squirt Ring with this issue.
PICTURED: VICTOR #1 VG/FN £125 SOLD

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category, listing our stock by Poul Anderson, award-winning American science fiction and fantasy writer of Scandinavian descent. Anderson came to fame as a writer of so-called ‘hard’ science fiction, which, although rooted in technology, was shot through with humanity. Later perhaps, he produced many works of fantasy of great merit. A selection of his books are featured here, alongside a Pan Ballantine Adult Fantasy, Orlando Furioso by Aristo, a translation of a 16th century epic fantasy; also, Gulliver Of Mars (new in) by Edwin L Arnold, an inspiration for Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars series, with a cover and interior art by Frank Frazetta. 
PICTURED:
A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS by POUL ANDERSON GD/VG £5 1975 1st US PB
TWILIGHT WORLD by POUL ANDERSON FN £5 1964 1st UK PB
NEBULA AWARD STORIES 4 by POUL ANDERSON (Ed) FN £35 1969 1st UK HC in VG/FN Dust Jacket
ORLANDO FURIOSO by Aristo FN £8 1973 1st UK PB
GILLIVER OF MARS by Edwin L Arnold VG £5 1960s 1st US PB