*Marvel: There must have been something in the stars for Dr Doom and the number 5; after debuting in Fantastic Four #5, he turns up in Amazing Spider-Man #5 to take on everyone’s favourite friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler. How can Spidey beat the monarch of Latveria? Well… he can’t actually, but I don’t want to spoil the ending for you. A superior pence printed copy, tight and flat with excellent staples and a minimal amount of corner blunting; hardly any edge wear, white to off-white pages and an unmarked cover image. Another Lee & Ditko classic! High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #5 FN+ p £950 SOLD
Category Archives: What’s New
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: X-Men #4, with the Debuts of Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, Mastermind and the Toad
*Marvel: The debut of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, thus 1st appearances of Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, Mastermind and the Toad in the fourth issue of the X-Men from 1964. It’s a great pity that no one told Wanda that the clue to her costume colour was in her name, and thus she posed in a fetching shade of Emerald for the cover. This is a low grade pence-printed copy, with a decent cover image, heavy spine wear, some edge wear, blunt corners and a looseness at both staples, leading to back cover tears in those areas. Page quality is okay. Another Lee/Kirby classic and the first appearances of Wanda and Pietro, who were destined to become cornerstones of the Marvel universe.
PICTURED: X-MEN #4 FA+ p £200
American Update: Spider-Mania Max/Slab Happy: Daredevil #16 with 1st Romita Spider-Man
*Marvel: Back in 1966, it was still a special occasion when a Marvel hero guested in another hero’s book, even if it usually meant they ended up in a fight as a result of some misunderstanding or other. As well as featuring the 1st appearance of the villainous Masked Marauder, Daredevil #16 also featured regular artist John Romita’s first take on Spider-Man; the Jazzy One was to take over from Sturdy Steve Ditko on Spidey’s own title shortly after this (ASM #39 in fact, also fresh in this week). This lovely CGC Blue label (unrestored) copy is a UK Price Variant.
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL #16 CGC 8.0 VF p £200 SOLD
American Update: Spider-Mania Max: Amazing #39, Spidey and the Goblin both unmasked
*Marvel: In the historic 39th issue of Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin learned each other’s true identities as the Goblin was revealed to be Norman Osborn, in the debut of John Romita on art duties on the title. Romita brought a snazzy sense of style and design to the series and quickly proved himself a worthy successor to Steve Ditko. This is a lowish graded copy with some edge wear and corner blunting, a small chip off bottom spine and a couple of small holes and pressure marks on the cover; pages are off-white to light tan; staples are firm at spine and centrefold. The rich colour cover from deep purple sky graduated to pale blue sky is very attractive.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #39 GD/VG p £90
American Update: The Ghost Rider Rides Again!
*Marvel: Popular with petrol-heads and Satan shakers alike, Johhny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, is always well received into our catalogue. An extensive run of the 1st series from 1973 is added this week, mostly in very presentable grades, and includes, among many others, the 1st full appearance of Daimon Hellstrom in #2 and the 1st Enforcer in #22. Check out our catalogue for full number and pricing details.
American Update: Atomic Sci-Fi: Rocket To The Moon
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: One of Avon’s wonderful science fiction one-shots, from 1951, Rocket To the Moon adapts Otis Adelbert Kline’s ‘Maza Of The Moon’, in a good old-fashioned retro sci-fi adventure yarn, complete with intrepid hero, glamorous heroine and alien monsters. Although the evocative cover and excellent interior art are generally attributed to Joe Orlando, it looks to me as if there’s more than a touch of Wally Wood involved; it’s known the two were collaborators. This copy is ostensibly nicer than the stated grade with good page quality, firm staples and good cover colour, plus spine wear. Unfortunately the top right corner of the cover is missing (most of the ‘T’ in ‘Rocket’), but has been rebuilt by an amateur in a not-too-bad job. If you can live with that, it’s a good opportunity to get a classic of the genre at a reasonable price.
PICTURED: ROCKET TO THE MOON GD £135 SOLD
American Update: A Clap of Thunder (Agents)
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: I still remember the thrill when an issue of Thunder Agents came out in the mid-1960s. Wow — you got 5 stories each issue in an extra-thick comic! Of course, at age 11, I barely knew who Wally Wood was, but I knew I liked the artwork. And the writers for these super-powered secret agents (a unique hybrid of the super-hero and spy genres) kept the words to a minimum, letting the art tell the stories. And it wasn’t just Wood: Crandall, Ditko, Kane, Sekowsky & Whitney were also represented, along with less notable but mainly competent others. We have a new selection in, running between #1 and #19, the final new issue, plus #4 of the solo Dynamo spin-off series; mostly low-mid grade and highly recommended.
PICTURED: THUNDER AGENTS #13 VG £8.25 SOLD
American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Cheap and Ghoulfull!
*Horror 1940-1959: A manky quartet for your consideration this week — 3 low-grade pre-codes: Out Of The Night #2 FA+, Uncanny Tales #1 PR & Weird Tales Of The Future #6 PR; see our catalogue for defect descriptions and prices. Plus one post code, a bit better Tense Suspense #2 from Fago in GD/VG.
PICTURED: OUT OF THE NIGHT #2 FA+ £30
American Update: A plethora of Facsimile Editions plus…
*Modern Reprints: A chunky update to our stocks in this category, comprising: a) in the DC Facsimile series: Batman #232 (1st Ras Al Ghul), Brave & Bold #28 (1st JLA), DC Super-Stars #17 (origins Huntress, LSH, Green Arrow), Detective Comics #475 (Joker laughing fish), Flash #123 (Flash Of Two Worlds), Mystery In Space #75 (JLA guest-star); b) in the DC Dollar Comics series: New Teen Titans #1 (1st Deathstroke from #2); c) in the Marvel Facsimile series: Wolverine #1 (1982), Wolverine #1 (1988); d) in the Marvel True Believers series: Empyre Swordsman (Avengers #19), Amazing Spider-Man #101 (1st Morbius); and e) Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol 1 Silver Age in original livery.
British Update: Marvelous Alan Class
*Alan Class Reprints: A smattering of Alan Class issues reprinting classic Marvel stories in Astounding and Creepy Worlds, both certificated by Alan Class himself and regular editions. Characters include: Giant-Man, Thor, Torch & Thing, Dr. Strange, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, Spider-Man and Daredevil. See our catalogue for more details.
PICTURED: CREEPY WORLDS #64 VG £22.50
British Update: Wolverine’s Early Appearances reprinted in Mighty World of Marvel #197-200
*Marvel UK: Here’s your chance to get the British reprints of the complete first appearances of Wolverine, published less than 2 years after the originals in Hulk #180-182. Key Marvel issues reprinted in British publications have become very sought after collectables in recent years, and have risen in price significantly. Such an example is Mighty World Of Marvel #197, #198, #199 & #200, the first reprints of these classics! #197 represented Wolverine’s first cameo appearance from Hulk #180, and the first ‘Full Wolvy’, from Hulk #181, was divided over MWOM #198 & #199; #200 reprinted the first half of Hulk #182 with Wolverine’s departure. These issues sliced the original stories in half, slapped a new splash page (don’t get too excited, it’s usually Ron Wilson) on the second segment, and gave readers all the black & white excitement they could stand! Nice solid examples of these prized editions.
PICTURED: MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL
#197 VF £60
#198 VF- £150 SOLD
#199 FN+ £25 SOLD
#200 VF- £20
British Update: Free Gift Farrago: Hotspur 1970 x2 with Stand-Up Footballers
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: 2 nice consecutive copies of Hotspur from 1970 this week with splendid Free Gifts: Cardboard sheets of 12 full-colour footballers plus stands in each that can all be pressed out to make them stand up. Of course, the sheets have not been pressed out and the gifts are just as they were issued. #568 has ‘strikers’, including such famous names as Geoff Hurst and George Best (slight crease on sheet); #569 has ‘stoppers’, including Emlyn Hughes and Pat Jennings. Gosh, you could enact your very own historical football match!
PICTURED: HOTSPUR
#568 VG/FN WITH FREE GIFT FN £30 SOLD
#569 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £30 SOLD
British Update: Free Gift Farrago: Beezer from 1971 and 1974
*Humour Comics: The large format semi-tabloid Beezer (home to ‘Ginger’, ‘Baby Crockett’ and ‘Pop, Dick & Harry’ among scores of others) doesn’t tend to wear well over time, so we’re particularly chuffed to have a couple of uncommon Free Gift issues from 1971 and 1974 in good shape. From 1971, #789 with Super-Skimmer; the comic is VG, with soft centre fold (as is usually the case with these) and dust shadow at upper edge, the gift is VF, still sealed in its original envelope. From 1974, #941 with Glow-Mask; the comic is FN (centre fold very slight on this one), the gift is also FN, unused but, being over half the length of the comic, has a crease where it too had been folded at the newsagent’s.
PICTURED: BEEZER
#789 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £35 SOLD
#941 FN WITH FREE GIFT FN £35 SOLD
British Update: Long Hot Summer: Sally Summer Special 1970
*Girls’ Comics: Sally, the ‘comic for the adventurous girl’, has developed a bit of a cult following over the last decade or so; the line-up of strong adventure strips with touches of sci-fi and the supernatural made it stand out from the crowd, and whenever we get a batch of Sally here at 30th Century, it’s always hotly contested. Rarer still, however, is the single Sally Summer Special from 1970, which we’ve only had in stock once before in our quarter century plus in business; pre-dating the Sally Annuals, the line-up includes Cat Girl, the Ghost Hunters, Twangy Pearl the Elastic Girl, the Silent Shadows, and Maisie’s Magic Eye. This is a sound copy with soft creasing at bottom right edge and some spine roll, a couple of tiny nicks, but no marks.
PICTURED: SALLY SUMMER SPECIAL 1970 GD/VG £60
What’s Old: DC Debuts: Hawkman #4 with the 1st Zatanna from the Square Mile Collection
*DC: We’ve improved and enhanced the imaging for the classic Hawkman #4 with the first appearance of Zatanna in response to the strong rumours about a Zatanna film. High resolution images are also now available on request for this copy from the Square Mile Collection. One of my all-time favourite comics! While all early issues of Hawkman are superb, with high-flying sci-fi stories by Gardner Fox and luminous Murphy Anderson artwork (not that we’re prejudiced witnesses or anything…), the most sought-after in recent years is issue #4, featuring the debut of the Princess of Prestidigitation – Zatanna! Zee (as she’s familiarly known), a personal favourite here at 30th Century, is the daughter of DC’s Golden Age magician Zatara, and took her quest for her missing father through the pages of Green Lantern, Atom, Detective Comics and the Justice League of America in one of DC’s earliest ‘story arcs’, but this is where her illustrious career – which has branched out into both animated and live-action TV – began. (And yes, they did miss a bet by not having her featured on the cover – foolish mortals!). We’ve had a few copies of this through our hands in the past year or two, but this is by far the loveliest copy, tight and flat with firm staples, great cover colour and gloss, nice just off-white pages and virtually no edge wear. There’s one very faint crease (not colour breaking) below the ‘H’ in the logo and an almost invisible, very shallow crease at an angle up from the lower edge, but you have to look really hard to see it. I’ll let you in on a secret — this copy is even nicer than my personal copy and would be in my collection like a shot (except that my copy was signed by Murphy Anderson when I met him and his wife many years ago and remains one of my most treasured possessions).
PICTURED: HAWKMAN #4 FN/VF p £500
Where There’s A Will: Fox on The Run
We’re very pleased, as promised, to be able to continue our series of articles and features that we filled the lockdown months with, since so many of you seemed to enjoy them so much. Those written by Will can be found in the ‘Where There’s A Will’ section on our ‘Extras’ page. Here’s his new article on Marney the Fox from Buster:
“Marney the Fox” – Cute fluffy tale of a cuddly animal roaming the countryside? Or Kafaesque reflection on the inhumanity of humans, spiralling into nihilism? Bit of both, really.
…But definitely leaning towards the latter.
“Marney the Fox” launched in Buster weekly in the issue dated 22nd June 1974, and ran weekly until 11th September 1976. The saga of a wandering orphaned fox cub, who grows to maturity while being constantly hunted and taunted by ‘hated man’, was, let’s get it right in the shop window, an emotional roller-coaster, yanking relentlessly at the heartstrings of its young readership.
Unlike most series in boys’ weeklies, which tended to be strictly oriented for either action or laughs, Marney turned up the anguish to a degree more often seen in the girls’ weeklies such as Mandy or Tammy. One poll of Tammy readers famously indicated that one of their favourite things about the comic was ‘stories that make me cry’, and, in an early blow for gender equality, Marney the Fox had readers sobbing in the proverbial aisles.
Marney was created by the team of writer Scott Goodall and artist John Stokes, the same folks who created Fishboy, of which I have spoken previously – in fact, for several months, Marney and Fishboy overlapped in Buster weekly.
I’ve given high praise to Stokes’ art on Fishboy, justifiably, but his work on Marney is even more beautiful. Often set in nighttime, or reflecting the changing seasons in the countryside, the images are detailed, haunting and evocative, with Stokes’ characteristic painstaking research bringing our vulpine hero and the other wildlife he encounters to vivid life. Many critics, including Stokes himself, have said that Marney is the best work of his long career, and it is often breathtaking.
But despite the beautiful illustrations, this is not a cosy story. From Marney’s first appearance, where his mother is shot and his siblings face an even worse fate at the hands of hunters, his existence is one of suffering, mental and physical, of loneliness, a struggle for survival, and a relentless parade of cruelty. The few friends and allies he finds either die or are left behind as he is driven from one lair to another, endlessly seeking respite.
The reader is made privy to Marney’s inner thoughts, narrated with a surprisingly developed vocabulary (better developed than the aforementioned Fishboy, who never quite got the hang of proper nouns during his eight year run!). Goodall’s narrative gives the young orphaned fox a surprisingly rich and detailed internal life, communicated to the reader in a declamatory nihilistic style. Although not a passive fatalist, Marney frequently resigns himself to his fate when the odds seem overwhelming, his melancholy ponderings providing a mordant underscoring of events. A typical Marney soliloquy in a desperate situation:
“The rope bites deep and my limbs grow numb! Here in the chilly darkness, it will be a slow and painful end!”
Or
“This indeed, is the end! First, there will be pain… followed swiftly by eternal darkness!”
Fortunately for the readers’ overwrought sensibilities, Marney was a better narrator than prophet, escaping from multiple life-threatening situations by the merest chance, or by a last-minute act of desperation.
Goodall admitted to taking his inspiration from Tarka the Otter, a 1920s novel by Henry Williamson with an animal protagonist, which had been made into a hugely popular film in 1974. Watership Down, the famous Richard Adams novel of 1972, was also an influence, and the synthesis of these two narratives, combined with the cliffhanger nature of British comic traditions – each two-page installment, apart from a couple of ‘breather’ episodes, concluded with Marney in fresh torment or peril – made for a heady ride of anxiety and sorrow. And that was just for the readers!
Over the course of the strip’s nine month run, Marney was variously shot, hunted, burned, drowned, frozen, blinded, poisoned and endlessly attacked by humans and by other animals. I was reading this series in my teens, already ‘too old for comics’ at the time of its release, and while I was fascinated, I was also appalled. Goodness knows what effect it had on the feelings of the 8 to 13 age group it was actually intended for!
But the series didn’t shy away from the harsh realities of life for wild creatures. In one particularly horrifying sequence, Marney has become temporary mentor to a litter of orphaned fox cubs. The boldest of the litter has gotten himself into trouble, and been caught by a farmer;
But it’s a children’s comic, and it’s a cuddly fluffy baby fox, so everything’s got to turn out all right, right? Right?
… Bloody hell.
Although most of Marney’s adventures were reality-based, Goodall’s imagination did add a couple of baroque flourishes, just to mix it up a bit, as some of Marney’s encounters with humans were a bit bizarre. At one point, he’s captured by a band of travellers and forced by the tribe’s matriarch to perform in a circus; in another, what appears to be a kindly benefactor to injured animals reveals a very dark side indeed. ‘Hated man’ is seldom seen in a good light in Marney’s world, but these particular examples are very twisted individuals indeed.
Eventually, Marney ran its course; presumably, after nine months of unrelenting suffering, the readership collectively decided it needed a rest – or therapy! Marney was allowed to find some surcease from his wanderings, in an ending, well, as happy as one could hope for, given the general tone of the story.
It’s a peculiar sidebar in Buster’s history, not a traditional action strip, and certainly nowhere near the comedy for which the title is generally known, but it is of superb quality, and for many years languished in back issue bins, barely remembered and sought after by only the most dedicated readers.
A revised version appeared in the short-lived Sunny, which ran for just nine issues from 1986 to 1987. Sunny being a pre-school/younger readers’ title, the new version, illustrated by Bernard Long, had Marney merely become separated from his family, rather than their being brutally killed, and the savage elements which characterized the Buster run were necessarily curtailed. Sunny was swiftly absorbed by the more established Funtime, but it is not known at this point whether the ‘junior Marney’ continued.
But in 2017, those lovely people at Rebellion Publishing did the right thing. Since, tragically, almost none of the original artwork survives, they computer-enhanced scans from the weekly comics to obtain the best possible images, and collected the Whole. Damn. Series. in one hardcover volume, with a new and sumptuous cover illustration by John Stokes.
It’s a thing of beauty, one of the finest Rebellion re-issues to date, and an engrossing read – though, a word of caution; make sure you’re not out in public when reading it. I settled down to read my new copy on a long bus-ride home – trust me, you haven’t seen humiliation until you’ve seen a grown man weeping like a baby on public transport!
Wait till you’ve got it home, settle down with a cup of tea, and have a hanky or two to hand. Accept the word of one who knows.
Will Morgan, July 2020
Clearance Corner: Nine Oversize Issues of Analog for £25
*Clearance Corner: In the early 1960s the pulp magazine Analog explored a larger format than usual (28 x 21 cm), which emphasised the impact of the artwork on the cover. We are offering 9 of these oversize issues, running from March 1963 to March 1965. Edited by John W Campbell over this time the issues feature both established authors and some young whippersnappers (as they were then) such as Ben Bova, Murray Leinster, Harry Harrison, James H Schmitz, John T Phillifent, Richard McKenna, Christopher Anvil, Lloyd Biggle Jr, J T McIntosh, Norman Spinrad, Clifford D Simak. There are also three contributions by Frank Herbert, The Prophet of Dune parts 1 and 3, and the concluding part of Dune World. All 9 for the bargain price of £25, including free UK postage. SOLD
Last Call for Clearance Corner: Rupert Adventure Series x 4 for just £25 with free postage
*Clearance Corner: As you may realise, the purpose of our Clearance Corner lots is to clear space in our shop by discontinuing titles we’re no longer carrying to make way for new and incoming stuff. As such, they will only be offered for a short time. This Clearance Corner lot, listed on 13th June, has not been snapped up and is nearing the end of its time with us. If not purchased within the next few days, we will have to dispose of it. Here are the details from our original listing:
‘We have four issues in the Rupert Adventure series, which ran for 50 issues from 1948-1963. The later issues, which these all are, are all harder to find, presumably due to lower print runs. All were pictorial cardwrap booklets, mostly featuring two Rupert stories with differing puzzles. On offer here: #30, #35, #41 (illustrated) & #43, all in nice condition ranging from VG/FN – FN/VF. These normally sell for £20-£40 each. Yours for just £25 for all four, with free UK (only) postage.’
Super-Housekeeping Update
Since we’re now trading by mail order only, it gives us the chance to maintain our catalogue even more accurately. All items sold since lockdown are now being deleted within a few days of sale. We are also working through our entire catalogue to delete those items that sold pre-lockdown since files were last updated. This means that as we finish updating a file, you can rely on the catalogue for that category being (and staying) as close to 100% accurate as it is possible to get, with virtually everything available, apart from items sold in the last few days (and just a tiny amount of human error). We have now completed this exercise for the following categories:
*Archie
*Charlton
*Dell
*EC
*Gold Key/Whitman
*Harvey
*IW/Super
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards
All categories down to this point in our Catalogue Index have now been Super-Housekept! We will continue to post here as we make progress.
THE SQUARE MILE COLLECTION
This is an early Silver Age Collection from an original owner notable for the freshness and vibrancy of the cover colours and page quality; even those with minor reading and handling wear are vastly superior to the majority of comics that have been in circulation since the 1960s. The average grade is well above Fine, with many much nicer.
We’ve been releasing comics from this amazing collection since last November and we’re down to the last few comics now, but stick around for the grand finale — it’s a doozy! Each comic will come branded with a special label and certificate of authenticity verifying it as part of the Square Mile Collection. Here’s this week’s:
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Mandarin Debut in Tales of Suspense #50
*Marvel: Perhaps the greatest of Iron Man’s many enemies is the Mandarin, a master of science, martial arts, and controller of an international network of operatives, whose ruthlessness is outmatched only by his ingenuity. And he’s got the bling, too! Famously, each of Mandy’s digits carries a ring (“More than Zsa Zsa Gabor”, as Ben Grimm once remarked) with its own unique powers, at their master’s deadly disposal. The definitive Iron Man arch-foe. This copy of the Mandarin’s first appearance from the Square Mile Collection is in superior shape, tight and flat with good staples, unmarred cover image and great colour cover with some gloss. Off-white to white pages and minimal edge wear; tiny crease across bottom 1 cm of right cover corner, but almost indiscernable. A pence copy, labelled rather than the usual stamp or overprint, as peculiarly seems to be the case with every copy of this we’ve seen.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE #50 FN+ p £350
American Update: Batmania/DC Debuts: 1st Man-Bat in Detective Comics #400
*DC: Detective Comics celebrated its ground-breaking 400th issue with a lead tale drawn by the superlative Neal Adams – treat enough – but it also introduced a new arch-nemesis for the Caped Crusader in the shape of Kirk Langstrom, tormented scientist who became a half-human, half-bat hybrid in his quest for knowledge. Langstrom’s Jekyll & Hyde persona made him a sympathetic antagonist, and brought him back for many subsequent appearances in multiple media, making him, ironically, the best-known creation of veteran scripter Frank Robbins. This pence stamped copy is FN+, tight and flat with excellent, firmly-attached staples and good colour cover; just minor edge wear and corner blunting and a faint trace of a non-colour breaking crease at bottom right edge cover.
PICTURED: DETECTIVE COMICS #400 FN+ p £160
American Update: DC Debuts: Forever People #1: 1st Forever People, 1st Infinity Man; 1st full Darkseid
*DC: There’s a lot to say about Forever People #1. Not only is it the debut of the Forever People themselves and the pivotal Fourth World character Infinity Man, but it’s also the first full appearance of Darkseid (third anywhere). That is to say, although it’s listed as such in the Overstreet Price Guide and widely regarded as the first full appearance of the classic DC arch-villain, we’re not convinced that just three panels of the Big Bad (and on video screens at that) really constitutes his first full appearance. Still, you pays yer money and you takes yer choice. This is a nice presentable copy with minor wear at the right cover edge, but nice pages, good staples and clean, unimpaired cover image; just a tad dingy — not unusual on a white background cover. One of the more entertaining aspects of this issue is seeing guest star Superman rendered by Al Pastino alongside Kirby’s characteristic style — a strange experience.
PICTURED: FOREVER PEOPLE #1 FN- p £65
American Update: Batmania Bonus: Batman #401 up
*DC: A run of Batman from #401 upwards added to our stock this week. This update includes famous storylines such as Year 1 in #404 to #407, the new origin of Jason Todd in #408 to #410 and the 1st Tim Drake in Robin costume in #442. Consult our catalogue for full details.
American Update: DC Vs Marvel: The Showdown Of The Century!
*DC/Marvel: I can remember when this much-hyped series came out in 1996; customer excitement was rife. There’d been a few crossovers by the two big companies before this, but this was the main event: heroes from both companies slogging it out against each other — who would win? (Well, you don’t think I’m going to spoil that here for you, do you?) You can read all four issues of this epic encounter in glorious NM just by snapping up the whole set at a snip of a price — if you’re quick!
PICTURED: DC VS MARVEL #1; SET 1-4 NM £35 SOLD
American Update: Spider-Mania Max/Slab Happy/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Norman Osborn in Amazing #37
*Marvel: Norman Osborn had in effect been in Amazing Spider-Man before #37 in his Green Goblin guise, but when he first appeared as Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man #37, none of us knew that. This lovely 8.5 CGC UK Price Variant copy also features the menace of the Robot-Master and, for those of you who prize such things, rather unsurprisingly a robot cover on this penultimate Ditko issue. A key issue for someone who would go on to figure even more significantly in the Marvel Universe.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #37 CGC 8.5 VF+ p £340
American Update: The Invincible Iron Man #1
*Marvel: After a long run as the co-star of Tales of Suspense, Iron Man was given his own title in 1968, when the ‘Berlin Wall’ of Marvel’s distribution came down, and they were allowed to expand their range of titles. New in this week, a copy of Iron Man’s first solo issue, with Gene Colan’s hyperkinetic art driving the drama onward as Shell-Head comes up against the forces of A.I.M.; plus there’s a brief re-telling of Iron Man’s origin. This is a low grade copy with chipping at the lower cover edge, edge wear, corner blunting, off-white pages, good staples. Given Iron Man’s pivotal status in the Marvel Universe, both Comic and Cinematic, this is a very affordable key issue.
PICTURED: IRON MAN #1 FA/GD p £100 SOLD
American Update: Spider-Mania Max/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin in Amazing #136
*Marvel: It’s Osborn week in our Spider-Man event! Amazing Spider-Man #136 features the debut of Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin following in his father’s footsteps after Norman’s apparent death in #122. This is a high grade copy with virtually no flaws, bright glossy yellow background cover, tight firmly-attached staples, white pages, Marvel Value stamp intact; just a tiny pressure mark in the central lower cover area precludes an even higher grade.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #136 VF/NM £110
American Update: Avengers Assemble: #7 and #12 — 2 classic issues
*Marvel: Jack Kirby illustrates the first of this week’s Avengers twosome, #7 where our heroes come up against Zemo, the Enchantress and the Executioner and Don Heck is on hand to illustrate the second, #12, a tussle with the Mole Man. #7 is a presentable copy with some spine wear (particularly around the staples) and a couple of colour breaking creases across the bottom right cover corner. #12 is a little nicer, with some corner blunting.
PICTURED: AVENGERS
#7 VG- p £65
#12 VG+ £65
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: 1st Full Gambit in X-Men #266
*Marvel: While this issue is a frequent visitor to our shelves, it never languishes for long. In August 1990’s X-Men #266, while temporarily de-aged to childhood (don’t you hate it when that happens?), Storm met a charismatic thief named Gambit, who aided her in escaping from the Shadow King. Unlike many one-off guest-stars, however, Gambit caught on with the reading public, and stuck around to become a mainstay of the team – fortunately ditching his original costume of pervy knickers, stripey tights and flasher-mac in favour of a more conservative ensemble! Despite persistent rumours of a Gambit solo film having finally, it seems, fizzled, he remains a hugely popular figure in the lucrative X-Men franchise, and his full debut is always a hot choice with buyers. This is a sparkling VF, with only the faintest wear barely perceptible under close inspection.
PICTURED: X-MEN 266 VF £75
American Update: Spider-Mania Max: Hey Kids! Brain-sucking symbiote with XX chromosomes!
*Marvel: The Venom: Sinner Takes All 5 issue mini-series from 1995 introduced She-Venom aka the Bride of Venom aka Anne Weying, former wife of Eddie (Venom) Brock. Although she had appeared before in her human guise, this is the first time she was inhabited by the symbiote and became She-Venom (cameo in #2, 1st full appearance in #3). All 5 issues of this mini are now available in sparkling NM for those of you who just can’t get enough symbiote in your comic diet!
PICTURED: VENOM: SINNER TAKES ALL #3 NM £70 SOLD
American Update: Spider-Mania Max: Amazing #176-200
*Marvel: A complete consecutive run of Amazing Spider-Man from #176-200, excluding #194 with the 1st Black Cat, but including her second appearance in #195. Lots of high grade collector copies available here. The Green Goblin, the Chameleon, the Kingpin, Mysterio and loads of other Spidey foes (and friends) in this sequence; see our catalogue for full details.
American Update: Marvel Treasury Editions
*Marvel: A nice run of the Giant Marvel Treasury Editions added this week, which remain constantly popular due to their unique size. A consecutive run from #2 to #11 new in, almost all FN/VF pence copies. Characters featured include Fantastic Four, Thor, Conan, Hulk, Dr. Strange, Avengers and more. Always a hugely popular title for us; consult our catalogue for full details.
American Update: Matt Baker joins our Pre-Code Horror Fest!
*Horror 1940-1959: Perhaps most famously renowned for his Phantom Lady art and the gorgeous work for the St John Romance line, Matt Baker also contributed to that company’s horror comics, and this week we have two beautiful examples of his cover art from 1954. The St John title Nightmare was rebranded after #13 as Amazing Ghost Stories, and we have both the last issue of Nightmare and the first issue of Amazing Ghost Stories.
Amazing Ghost Stories #14 has a cover very reminiscent of the Creature From the Black Lagoon movie, with superior interior art by Goldfarb, Kintsler and others. The comic is clean, tight and flat with firmly-attached staples and white pages. There is minor corner blunting, a little spine wear and a 4 cm colour-breaking crease across the top right cover corner; there are also a couple of tiny creases across the bottom right cover, but none of these detract from the rich, unspoilt cover image.
Nightmare #13 has a mermaid-like cover in rich shades of green, with high quality interior art by Dan Barry, Bob Powell and George Tuska. The comic is clean and flat with the bottom staple off at the front only and a light crease in the corner of the back cover; no other defects, an absolute minimum of wear and off-white to white pages. Both issues are vastly superior in condition to most pre-code horror comics we come across, and the condition shows off the work of Matt Baker, whom we consider the finest 1950s artist (outside the EC stable) to work in comics. A rare opportunity. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED:
AMAZING GHOST STORIES #14 VG £800 SOLD
NIGHTMARE #13 FN- £500 SOLD
American Update: Marvel Masterworks: Avengers & Sgt Fury
*Modern Reprints: Three of the silver-bordered Silver Age editions of Marvel’s flagship reprint volumes new in this week: Avengers Vol 2 & Vol 4, reprinting issues 11-20 and 31-40, some of the team’s finest adventures, plus Sgt Fury Vol 1, reprinting issues 1-13 of Marvel’s premier war title, with Nick Fury and the gang, guest starring Reed Richards, Captain America, Dr Zemo and, um, Hitler (remember him?).
PICTURED: MARVEL MASTERWORKS SGT FURY VOL 1 VF/NM £60
British Update: L. Miller’s Zombie
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Len Miller was the premier UK publisher of ‘faux’ American-sized British comics in the 1950s and early 1960s. He published a wide range of material, both original and US reprint, perhaps most famously Marvelman and Young Marvelman. Although succeeded by Alan Class, there was a period in the early 1960s where both publishers overlapped and some of Miller’s titles (Mystic, Spellbound, Voodoo and Zombie) closely resembled the type of content also being used by Alan Class, reprinting Atlas, pre-hero Marvel and other early horror, with occasional forays into the Marvel Super-Hero Universe. Such things are to be found in the pages of Zombie, three issues of which are featured in this update, including #9, which reprints the 3rd Dr Strange story from Strange Tales #114.
PICTURED: ZOMBIE #9 VG £25
British Update: Smash! 1968
*Power Comics: A small update to our stock of Smash! from 1968, towards the end of its Odhams run. Copies between #118 & #134 fresh in, cover featuring the Swots & the Blots, mostly in nice shape.
British Update: The Complete Luther Arkwright
*Collected Editions: We’re really glad to see this one in print. Bryan Talbot’s tour de force of a traveller/adventurer between multiple realities, Luther Arkwright, an agent of psychic powers. Shot through with a strong flavour of British history and empire, these stories evoke a strong atmosphere of steampunk before that term was coined. Originally published in comic form as the Adventures of Luther Arkwright (black and white) and Heart Of Empire (colour), this collected edition reprints both, complete with cover galleries, loads of extras, a foreword by Michael Moorcock and an afterword by Warren Ellis. Highly recommended.
PICTURED: LUTHER ARKWRIGHT NEW/MINT £36
British Update: Victor 1975
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A small addition to our stock of the most long-lived UK war-themed weekly, Victor from 1975, with a few issues previously missing from our listings, including the New Year issue for that year.
British Update: Going Commando Again
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A further update to our stocks of the premier war-themed Picture Library, D C Thomson’s Commando, all in the 700’s and all in a universal VF sharp grade. Consult our catalogue for full details.
British Update: Free Gift Farrago: Knockout 1958
*Humour Comics: Although we list Knockout in our Humour Comics category, because it started out as fundamentally a ‘funnies’ title, it is more of a hybrid with Boy’s Adventure & War. By the time of the comics featured in this update (1958), it had more or less transitioned into a Boy’s Adventure weekly, with the humour reduced to Billy Bunter and a couple of shorts, and starred famous strips such as Sexton Blake, Davy Crockett, Hopalong Cassidy and many others. Free Gift issues from the 1950s are usually much rarer than their later counterparts, so we are particularly pleased to have three issues in sequence with their gifts, all part of the same series. #1007 (a slightly rumpled VG) includes its Free Gift (also in VG with slightly rusted staple and some edge wear): 3D picture album, including unused 3D glasses and first 8 pictures for the album, with original rubber band unperished. #1008 (a little more worn with minor rust stains) has the next 8 3D pictures (rusty staple) and #1009 is in identical condition with the next 8 3D pictures.
PICTURED: KNOCKOUT ALL SOLD
#1007 VG WITH FREE GIFT VG £60
#1008 GD WITH FREE GIFT GD £30
#1009 GD WITH FREE GIFT GD £30
British Update: Free Gift Farrago: Jackie 1971 x2 with gifts
*Girls’ Comics: A glossy big sister to Romeo aimed at a slightly trendier demographic, Jackie helped delight and inform (or brainwash, depending on your viewpoint) a generation of teenage girls and young women, with pop features and pin-ups, fashion and makeup tips, the ever-popular Problem Page, and scores of often beautifully illustrated romance comics stories. Free Gift issues of Jackie are uncommon, as the gifts were usually eagerly ripped away and consulted or applied in the hopes of snagging the Dream Boy, but these three are from a Newsagent’s uncirculated stock, and remain ‘gifted’. Both are from 1971. #374 is only GD (heavy horizontal crease across front cover), but the gift (a sheet of ‘Slapstickers’) is in FN, unused condition; two of the interior pages are a little sticky where the gift had been previously enclosed. #401 is in a nice VG/FN, with the gift (‘Purple Pop Ring’ VF), still sealed in its original envelope.
PICTURED: JACKIE
#374 GD WITH FREE GIFT FN £25
#401 VG/FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £30 SOLD
Super-Housekeeping Update
Since we’re now trading by mail order only, it gives us the chance to maintain our catalogue even more accurately. All items sold since lockdown are now being deleted within a few days of sale. We are also working through our entire catalogue to delete those items that sold pre-lockdown since files were last updated. This means that as we finish updating a file, you can rely on the catalogue for that category being (and staying) as close to 100% accurate as it is possible to get, with virtually everything available, apart from items sold in the last few days (and just a tiny amount of human error). We have now completed this exercise for the following category:
*Marvel
All categories down to this point in our Catalogue Index have now been Super-Housekept! We will continue to post here as we make progress.
THE SQUARE MILE COLLECTION
This is an early Silver Age Collection from an original owner notable for the freshness and vibrancy of the cover colours and page quality; even those with minor reading and handling wear are vastly superior to the majority of comics that have been in circulation since the 1960s. The average grade is well above Fine, with many much nicer.
We’ve been releasing comics from this amazing collection since last November and we’re down to the last few comics now, but stick around for the grand finale — it’s a doozy! Each comic will come branded with a special label and certificate of authenticity verifying it as part of the Square Mile Collection. Here’s this week’s:
American Update: Strange Tales #105 & #108
*Marvel: Two of the last few releases from the Square Mile Collection this week. When Stan Lee was charged with creating a comic to rival DC’s success with the Justice League of America, although the Fantastic Four were very different, he did take a leaf out of Gardner Fox’s JL book by reinventing a classic Golden Age character in a new guise. Johnny Storm, the Silver Age Human Torch, was popular enough to graduate to his own series in Strange Tales, where he came up against some of the most bizarre (and, let’s face it, lame) villains of the Marvel Age of Comics. Not so much the Wizard, here in #105, who went on to menace the FF and lead the Frighful Four, but definitely the Painter of a Thousand Perils in #108. #105 has some spine wear and a hint of Marvel chipping at right edge, but is clean with great page quality and tight staples. #108 has a little more chipping, but tight and flat, very minor edge wear and great page quality and staples.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES
#105 FN p £85 SOLD
#108 VG+ p £50 SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Gimme the Moon Knight — Werewolf By Night #32 & #33
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: One of the most startling success stories in the back issue world is the ever-spiralling popularity of Moon Knight’s premier appearance. The series Werewolf By Night had been toddling along, chronicling the adventures of young lycanthrope Jack Russell (no, really), when the boat was suddenly rocked in WBN #32 by a vigilante whose only goal seemed to be the annihilation of our hero – and his silver armour and weapons seemed likely to achieve it! The man who would later be revealed as Marc Spector had a deeper back story, of course, and in his multitudinous appearances since, has developed a complex background oscillating between ‘Marvel’s Batman’ and ‘Multiple Personality psychotic possessed by Egyptian Gods’. Be that as it may, he remains hugely popular, and a near-future Moon Knight TV series having been recently confirmed, demand for his debut is intensifying. Our latest WBN #32 is a lovely high grade pence copy; trying to be picky, it has a couple of very, very slight spine ticks and a tiny ‘nick’ at the bottom right cover corner; tight, flat, glossy and vibrant with firmly attached staples and white pages — virtually as good as it was when first published in 1975 (gosh, 45 years ago!). The #33 (2nd Moon Knight) is in virtually identical shape, with just a minor extra dink at the top of the spine. High resolution images of #32 are available on request.
PICTURED: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT
#32 VF+ p £1,075 (plus back and splash)
#33 VF p £100
American Update: Batmania: The Killing Joke
*DC: One of the most influential one-shots of the 1980s, themselves a transformative decade for the comics medium is in our Batmania spotlight this week. The Killing Joke had humbler beginnings, having been intended originally just to be a regular Batman Annual. As the months crept on and it became evident illustrator Brian Bolland wasn’t going to get the job done in time, (shocked face), plans were altered and it became one of the earliest Prestige Format one-shots – and in so doing, gained a place in comics history. Alan Moore’s script explored and redefined the origin of the Joker, and kicked off a chain of controversial events which transformed Barbara Gordon, the then-retired Batgirl, into the covert intelmeister Oracle, a pivotal figure in the DC Universe. Bolland’s illustrations are superb; Alan Moore’s script is generally highly acclaimed, and the whole package is acknowledged as hugely significant in the ‘maturing’ of comics. This first printing copy is a superb NM-, with very little sign of age or having been read.
PICTURED: BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE NM- £60 SOLD
American Update: High Grade Green Lantern/Green Arrow by O’Neil/Adams
*DC: The groundbreaking run of Green Lantern, in which he and Green Arrow set out to confront the failing American Dream, resonates with audiences even today, as, sadly, corruption, pollution, overpopulation and the other issues raised seem even more topical now. Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams ushered in a new age of comic relevance with these historic issues. Two high grade examples in this week’s update: #80, an exploration of pollution and interplanetary justice and #86, the second part of the controversial Speedy drug storyline.
PICTURED: GREEN LANTERN
#80 VF/NM £75
#86 VF p £85
American Update: Low grade 1950s Action and Adventure
*DC: A small update to Action Comics and Adventure Comics from the 1950s, all low grade copies with defects, but complete. Action #214 & #217, Adventure #193, #194 and #196 in this update; full details in our catalogue.
American Update: Spider-Mania Max/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Dr Octopus in Amazing #3, plus a double dose of Octopi in #11 & #12
*Marvel: It’s a triple treat in this week’s Spider-Mania main event. In issue #3 of his title, Spider-Man faced Dr. Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Doctor Octopus, for the first time; the eight-limbed nemesis returned to plague our hero in the epic two-parter a few months on in issues of Amazing Spider-Man #11 & #12, and we’ve got ’em! All pence printed copies. #3 is a beautiful copy with very minor edge and spine wear, very slight blunting at top and bottom of spine, a clean and vibrant cover image, tight and flat with excellent, firmly attached staples at spine and centrefold and lovely white to off-white pages; a tiny 0.5 cm crease across the very edge of the bottom right cover corner. Probably the nicest copy of this we’ve seen. #11 is bright and lustrous, again with minor edge and spine wear and minor corner blunting; tight staples white to off-white pages. One very faint minor crease across the bottom right cover corner, only breaks colour for about 1 cm. There is a possibility of a small colour touch near the bottom staple, but our dark light equipment and the eyes of three experts have not been able to confirm this; nevertheless, we have priced it down to reflect the possibility. #12 is another beauty, with glossy cover, bright colours, extremely minor wear and corner blunting, tight and flat with excellent staples and white to off-white pages. High resolution images for #3 are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#3 FN- p £1,700 (plus back and splash) SOLD
#11 VG/FN p £200 SOLD
#12 FN+ p £300 SOLD