*DC: The unique tabloid-sized editions from the 1970s are always popular and many of the DC ones are uncommon, such as the two here this week. The House Of Mystery Limited Collectors’ Edition C23 is a wonderful package; not only do you get seven superb stories by the very best of 1970s horror artists: Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Gil Kane, Alex Toth, Jack Sparling and Segio Aragones (!), with their art on wonderful display in this tabloid size, but it’s also chock-full of games, cartoons, a 3D mystery cut-out, features and pin-ups. Christmas With The Super-Heroes, C43, features Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the House of Mystery and the Golden Age Sandman in reprints of their seasonal (mostly Golden Age) adventures, plus a host of festive features.
PICTURED: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION BOTH SOLD
C23 VG/FN £30 House Of Mystery Nice copy with some spine creasing, but nothing too bad.
C43 VG+ £20 Christmas With The Super-Heroes Edge wear, small spine ticks, small back cover crease

*Marvel: Many folks say – with justification – that Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, was a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for DC’s Catwoman, created to give Spider-Man a ‘beloved enemy’ vibe and increase the romantic tension in the series. Probably true; but nevertheless, the Black Cat rapidly stepped away from her derivative roots, primarily owing to her low level probability manipulation – subconsciously causing ‘bad luck’ for people who opposed her – and the fact that although she’s frequently done heroic and noble things, she’s never completely shed her criminal ways. These copies of the Black Cat’s debut in Amazing Spider-Man #194 & #195 come from the non-distributed ‘wilderness years’, so there are no pence variants of these issues.  
IN THIS UPDATE: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#194 VG+ £150 (PICTURED) A nice copy, with tight, firm staples, spine ticks and some handling wear, decent off-white pages; it is marred by a colour-breaking crease of 11 cm across the bottom right corner.
#195 VG- £20 Spine creasing and minor impact damage at the base of the spine, plus more wear than is normally seen on this issue, although the staples and pages are good. 

*Marvel: Leading the Good Doctor releases this week are four issues of Tales Of Suspense, #60-63, which feature the earliest solo adventures of Captain America, after he joined Iron Man in sharing the title in the previous issue. Lots of landmarks in these: #60 features the second appearance of Hawkeye, with the Black Widow in tow for good measure; #61 has Cap in Viet Nam; #62 unveils the origin of the Mandarin; and #63 re-tells the origin of Captain America, in a tale set in WWII.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE
#60 GD £40 A bit limp and tired, with staples a little rusty, small amounts of water damage to bottom and lower right edges, but not too bad.
#61 FN+ £70 A clean, superior white copy with little wear and good reflectivity, nice pages and firm, tight staples.
#62 FN/VF £80 Great copy with good cover colour and gloss, nice off-white pages and firm tight staples, square corners with just very minor edge and spine wear.
#63 VG/FN £90 Good cover colour and gloss, staples are tight and firm (if a little wear around the top one), pages a nice off-white, some shallow creasing at top right corner which does not break colour; minor edge wear.

*Marvel: In 1972, Marvel came up with the brainwave of the team-up title (that DC had been doing in Brave & Bold for many years by then); ostensibly this was starring Spidey or the Human Torch with the guest star of the month, but it soon transformed to just Spidey with Johnny Storm making fewer and fewer appearances. We have a complete run of issues #21-40 fresh in, mostly in decent grades and all cents copies. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: MARVEL TEAM-UP #22 VF £19 SOLD

*Horror 1940-1959: Also from the Bute Collection this week, two issues of ACG’s short run series (17 issues) from the early 1950s. ACG was at the vanguard of horror publishing earlier with Adventures Into The Unknown and maintained a good standard of production and art, as evidenced by the eye-catching covers to these issues. Lower-graded but seldom seen.
PICTURED: OUT OF THE NIGHT
#14 FA/GD £30 Pre-Code. Water rippling damage to right side, but not too bad, has dried reasonably well. SOLD
#16 GD- £35 Pre-code. Foxing/staining to cover and some interiors. Structurally okay.

*Alan Class Reprints: A chunky update to our stocks of Astounding this week, all Alan Class file copies and certificated with his signature. This selection is all pre-decimal and starts at #1. Also featuring the one-shot Astonishing, also a file copy. Don’t forget that our Rough Guide to Alan Class Reprints give information on the content of individual issues, where you can check for super-hero stories and popular artists etc.
PICTURED: ASTONISHING STORIES NN (#1) FN £30
ASTOUNDING
#1 FA 24 Lots of spine damage
#2 GD- £28

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: This digest-sized comics series, most famous under its later title of Thriller Picture Library, ran for 450 issues until 1963, and while it featured a plethora of characters during its lengthy run, the trend for the early years was for historical swashbucklers based on fictional (but serendipitously copyright-free) characters, but also featuring crime, war, western and science-fiction adventures. The artists were all accomplished Fleetway professionals, and readers thrived on these beautifully-illustrated pocket adventures. In addition to the featured items listed below, we also have three later issues new in, #238 (Dick Daring of the Mounties) and #245 & #253 (Battler Britton).
IN THIS UPDATE: THRILLER:
#36 FA/GD £13.50 Castle Dangerous
#37 GD £15 (PICTURED) Windsor Castle
#38 VG £20 The Children Of The New Forest
#39 GD/VG £17.50 (PICTURED) The Gay Corinthian.
#40 PR £8 Westward Ho!

*Childrens’ Books: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we turn to our Childrens’ Books category, covering the classic Jennings school novels by Anthony Buckeridge, and adding a vintage and wonderful 1930s edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, beautifully illustrated by Margaret W Tarrant.
PICTURED:
ACCORDING TO JENNINGS by Anthony Buckeridge Collins 1961 UK HC GD/VG £7
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll Ward Lock HC 1930s GD/VG £35
Pictorial Boards; Illustrated by Margaret W Tarrant; 24 Colour Plates all present, 2 shown
25 x 19 cm Beautiful, sound, lovely condition SOLD

*DC: In the days before the Legion of Super-Heroes joined Superboy in Adventure Comics (and eventually took over the title), Superboy’s back-up features included Aquaman, Green Arrow, Congorilla, and Tales of the Bizarro World in a continuous run. Eleven issues from that whimsical time this update, including #266, which features the debut of Aqua-Girl (the first Aqua-Girl that is, not the second one who appeared much later. Clear?)
IN THIS UPDATE: ADVENTURE COMICS:
#266 VG p £53 (PICTURED) 1st Aqua-Girl. Pence-stamped, some edge wear but bright and clean copy. Good staples and pages.
#268 GD p £16.25 Lower spine split
#277 VG p £30
#279 GD/VG p £23
#280 VG p £30
#286 VG p £28 1st Bizarro Mxyzptlk
#287 GD/VG p £16.50 1st Dev-Em
#288 VG p £29
#291 VG p £12.50
#292 VG p £12.50
#295 VG p £12.25

*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. Amazing Spider-Man #252, like many Secret Wars ‘epilogue’ issues, featured a major ‘twist’ only explained retroactively. In Spidey’s case, it was a dramatic black & white costume which would eventually be revealed as an alien symbiote, which in turn would evolve into Venom, who eclipsed most longer-established villains to become Spidey’s crucial nemesis for the modern era. Although the first appearance of the symbiote in internal continuity was Secret Wars #8, its joint debut in real time was this very issue. This is a high investment grade copy, glossy, shiny with no spine ticks and only the barest possible handling wear. Deep, rich colour, tight and flat, square corners, white to off-white pages.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #252 NM- £200 SOLD

*Marvel: From 1975, the first four issues of Son Of Satan, all attractive grades and pence printed. Daimon Hellstrom first appeared in the Marvel supernatural/occult boom of the mid 1970s and was soon granted his own series. Although the series only lasted 8 issues, the Son Of Satan has been a recurring character in the MU (and MCU) ever since.
IN THIS UPDATE: SON OF SATAN ALL SOLD
#1 FN p £20 (PICTURED)
#2 FN+ p £8.50
#3 FN+ p £8.50
#4 VG/FN p £5.75

*Horror 1940-1959: L B Cole was one of the most famous of Golden/Atomic Age cover artists. He drew in a variety of genres, and was artistic director at Star, illustrating 95% of the company’s covers; his lurid, feverish style, almost hallucinogenic, graced horror, science-fiction, jungle and romance alike. The title Startling Terror Tales has a confusing history: starting at #10 in 1952, issues were published up to #14 in 1953, after which it started again at #4 and lasted until #11 in 1954. Thus there are two different #10 and #11 issues. Up for grabs this week is the second #10 from 1954. Inside, Jay Disbrow illustrates the cover story ‘The Horrible Entity’, plus reprints of Fox crime tales with a horror edge. But, as with virtually all Star’s output, it’s the wonderful L B Cole cover for which this issue is prized, with a scientist being set upon by a, well, horrible entity. A nice copy, with great cover colour and gloss, a solid spine, firm staples and off-white to cream pages. There are a few small cover creases at edges only, with very short colour breaks on a few. The top corners show a small area of historic staining, but lie flat; this is not visible on the front cover. 
PICTURED: STARTLING TERROR TALES #10 (1954) VG+ £475 SOLD
 

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints Of US Material: A mixed bag of UK and Australian vintage reprints of US war comics this week, mainly featuring Atlas and Fawcett material, plus some other stuff where we don’t recognise the source. UK titles are all from Miller: Battle Stories (from #1), Don Winslow and Soldier Comics (from #1). Australian titles are: Atomic Attack (from Calvert) and Battleground and War heroes (#1) from Blue Diamond. Please consult our catalogue for full details. 

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Zip, from Odhams, started in 1958 and lasted for 85 issues. It was launched as a venue for the original strips from Mickey Mouse Weekly after Odhams lost the rights to Disney characters. Its most famous strips were Wells Fargo by Don Lawrence and Strongbow the Mighty by Ron Embelton, but there were a myriad of other characters including Robin Alone (Boy of the Forest) and Skippy, the Boy Who Lives in a Barrel (you wouldn’t get away with that these days – where were social services?). A reasonable tabloid-sized copy of Zip #1, with a couple of small edge tears, but good colours and staples.
PICTURED: ZIP #1 GD/VG £35

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we turn to our Crime, Spies and Sleaze category, which now has the new layout down to ‘Brock’. The emphasis on this ‘B’ list is firmly on the sleazier side of crime, with most featured entries portraying attractive ‘pulp style’ covers. We recognise that a lot of these are collected for their cover art, and wherever possible, we shall be including the name of the cover artist in the listing. A couple of new entries: Murder Off The Record by John Bingham (Robert Maguire cover art) and Doing What Comes Naturally by Walker E Blake (Rafael DeSoto cover art). These are pictured below, alongside some other highlights. As always, see our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED:
BIGTIME PAYOFF by BART BANARTO Edwin Self 1950s 1st UK PB GD/VG £40
CAMPUS SEX CLUB by LOREN BEAUCHAMP Midwood 1962 1st US PB VG £20
MURDER OFF THE RECORD by JOHN BINGHAM Dell 1960 1st US PB VG £8 SOLD
DOING WHAT COMES NATURALLY by WALKER E BLAKE Monarch 1965 1st US PB VG/FN £12
KILLER’S CHOICE by STUART BROCK Graphic Mystery 1956 1st US PB GD £4

We’ve felt for some time that the first come, first served basis on which we allocate items from the newsletter can be unfair to people who may be busy at the time that the newsletter is released, and to our customers outside the UK. Starting today we will be using a different system, aiming to address these issues.

What we shall be doing now is drawing lots for those relatively few items that get clashing orders following new stock releases in our newsletter. We think this will give everyone a fairer chance of getting what they want, at the same time removing the pressure for customers to order in a hurry and thus make mistakes or change their minds. This will apply to orders received following the Saturday newsletter (issued around 10 am) up to 4 pm on the same day, after which we revert to first come, first served. Wherever possible, we shall be advising you after 4 pm of the results of your newsletter order. 

The vast majority of items we sell don’t get clashing orders, so most orders will be successful. But please remember that in nearly all cases, we will only have one copy of any given item and inevitably, when it’s one in high demand, someone is going to be disappointed at missing out.

*DC: From 1960, one of the most important and significant comics of the Silver Age this week. The Justice League Of America, teaming up all of DC’s then current key heroes, debuted in The Brave & The Bold #28, and thus a legend was born. In these early stories, the roles of Superman & Batman were kept pretty much to cameos (presumably because DC felt they had enough exposure elsewhere), but the JLA kept up the tradition of reviving Golden Age concepts for this new Silver Age (in this case the Justice Society). The baddie in this inaugural outing was Starro the Conqueror. In a manner of speaking, this comic was also responsible for launching the Marvel Age of Comics, since Stan Lee’s response to the success of the JLA was to create the Fantastic Four.
This is a decent (unobtrusively) stamped pence copy, pretty solid with some Marvel chipping (how ironic!) along the right edge, but very minor. A short diagonal crease across the right bottom cover corner breaks colour for a few cms. The cover colours are strong and the staples are tight and firm at the spine (the lower only being off at centrefold). Page quality is a nice off-white to cream; some corner blunting, but nothing too bad. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BRAVE & BOLD #28 VG- p £2,350

*Marvel: ‘Does the Green Goblin Look Cute To You?…’ The rather twee opening line of the blurb on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #14 heralded the first appearance of Spider-Man’s most dastardly and persistent enemy – his ‘Joker’, so to speak. The sinister and malevolent Green Goblin has plagued Spider-Man ever since, causing chaos, destruction and the deaths of some of Spidey’s most beloved friends, and this masterwork by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is where his villainous career kicked off. And guest-starring the Hulk to boot! This is a solid pence printed copy, with good cover colour, just minor spine and edge wear (with virtually no creasing), staples tight and firm at spine and centrefold and supple pages that are off-white with hints of tan at the edges. There is some corner blunting (but nothing serious) and a not too significant narrow dust shadow down the right edge of the cover. The inside covers are tanning at the edges, but there is no sign of brittleness. Overall a decent copy that presents well. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #14 VG/FN p £1,850

*Marvel: Sean Cassidy, alias the mutant Banshee, has a long history in the Marvel Universe, as misguided villain, hero, X-Man, teacher and more. He first appeared here in X-Men #28 from 1967, as a pawn of the sinister Factor Three. Later, he was a founding member of the new X-Men in the 1970s. The Good Doctor copy of #28 is a cents copy, with good cover colour and gloss, a strong spine, staples firm and attached at spine and centrefold, supple white to off-white pages and only very minimal edge wear. There is a small figure ’11’ in pen on the ‘X’ of the logo (see scan) and a couple of short creases at centre and bottom spine which don’t break colour.
PICTURED: X-MEN #28 FN- £180

*Marvel: After the cancellation of his first series, Dr Strange next appeared on a regular basis in his own strip in Marvel Premiere (#3-14). A landmark sequence, which introduced the world of H P Lovecraft into the Marvel Universe, the big bad Shuma-Gorath and the superb artwork of Frank Brunner. We have a sizzling six issues fresh in to join our existing stock.
IN THIS UPDATE: MARVEL PREMIERE ALL SOLD
#5 VG+ £14.75
#8 FN/VF £22
#9 VG/FN £11
#12 VG/FN £24.75
#13 VG+ £18.75
#14 VG/FN £26

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: A handful of issues of Tomb Of Dracula fresh in this week, each starring either Blade or Hannibal King (or both). This landmark series, superbly crafted by Wolfman & Colan, still reverberates throughout the MU many decades later.
IN THIS UPDATE: TOMB OF DRACULA
#13 VG+ p £90 (PICTURED) Origin of Blade. Decent mid-grade glossy pence printed copy with some small spine ticks and minor creasing (mainly not breaking colour).
#25 FN £90 (PICTURED) 1st Hannibal King. Nice fresh, glossy copy with just minor creasing (mainly not breaking colour) and tiny nick at right edge.
#42 VF £29 Blade app.
#42 VF- £27 Blade app.
#53 VF £30 Blade and Hannibal King app.

*Annuals: A familiar format in the 1950s was the softcover album, usually providing a mix of black and white UK/European and US material. We have three such examples in this week: All Worlds, nominally about space but featuring other settings as well, including a Swift Morgan jungle adventure by McCoughlin, High Seas Adventure, with tales of piracy and the seven seas and Wonder, with an emphasis on jungle, crime and western. Great value.
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
ALL WORLDS ALBUM 1956 FA/GD £10 Small amount of amateur colouring on one story
HIGH SEAS ADVENTURE COMIC 1950s VG/FN £15
WONDER COMIC ALBUM 1950s GD £10

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A big selection of Micron’s Combat Picture Library in the range #31-121, up towards the end of the original livery, fresh into stock this week. Nice vintage items from the early 1960s. Grades are very mixed, from low to high. As always, please consult our catalogue for full details.

*Book Art Books: An addition to our new category, devoted to cover (and interior) art on books in the genres we stock. (H P Lovecraft’s) The Haunter Of The Dark (and Other Grotesque Visions) features the moody and atmospheric black and white illustrations by John Coulthart from H P Lovecraft’s writing, including two complete comic stories, plus selections from the controversial and banned Lord Horror stories. Introduction by Alan Moore. 
PICTURED: THE HAUNTER OF THE DARK by John Coulthart 1st UK softcover 1999 VF £30

We’ve always sold books (I mean, real books with words and all), but now we’re giving our listings a makeover!

Starting this week, we shall be re-working the book categories in our catalogue, adding lots of new stock and gradually adding images for every single book (although this will take us well into 2023), with a new layout emphasising the book images, giving even more detail than at present, and with every entry worthy of the attention of a vintage book collector in the genres we cover. In addition, we’ve also amended our logo to give equal emphasis to our book stock.

So, keep a look-out for new and re-worked book listings most weeks. The changes will be gradual, but well worth the wait! This week, you can see the new layout in our Comic Strip Books and Book Art Books categories, as well as authors beginning with ‘A’ in our Crime, Spies and Sleaze category.