*Marvel: Well, here’s a peculiarity; famed for larger-than-life heroes, Marvel, in 1966, published six of the smallest comic books ever made – a Guinness-authenticated record which remains unbroken to this day! Measuring a mere 2cm in height (slightly smaller than a standard postage stamp, for those of you who don’t do metric) these Marvel Mini-Books were distributed via gum-ball machines throughout the US, and could be yours, at the time, for an American penny. The comics were also given away to members of Marvel’s fan club, the Merry Marching Marvel Society, and, bizarrely, they were also sold in packs as cake decorations! Either 48 or 52 tiny pages per issue, with glued spines, (which, decades later, are nigh-impossible to open without ‘snapping’ the comic), they starred Marvel’s blockbuster sales juggernauts of the day: Captain America, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, Sgt. Fury and – yes! -Millie the Model! We have a set of all six; four have been unopened and remain Very Fine. Millie and Nick Fury have been opened by curious and now remorseful hands, and while complete, have broken spines, and are only Fair. Buy them – but don’t read them! (Not advice we’re accustomed to giving here at 30th C…)
PICTURED: MARVEL MINI-BOOKS SET OF 6 (4 X VF, 2 X FA) £60 SOLD
Category Archives: What’s New
American Update: Iron Man – Silver Age Issues from the ‘Uncle Stan’ Collection
*Marvel: Gifted by Stan Lee to his British relative in the late 1960s, the ‘Uncle Stan’ collection comprises high grade cents copies of late Silver and early Bronze Age items. This selection is of nine Iron Man issues, and comes with a certificate of provenance from the original auctioneer of this collection.
PICTURED: IRON MAN UNCLE STAN SET #21, #22, #24, #25, #27, #28, #29, #30, #32 AV VF INC. CERTIFICATE £350
American Update: Hulk #102 – First Issue of Greenskin’s Second Series
*Marvel: From 1968, a gamma-infused milestone, with the first issue of the Hulk’s own series, eccentrically numbered #102, as he assumed the numbering of Tales to Astonish, the split book which had been his home for several years. This was Brucie’s big break, his comeback vehicle after his early 60s six issue flop, and the start of the long-running series most associated with him. Mirthful Marie Severin illustrated not only a recap of Bruce Banner’s irradiated origin, but also a new story thread with Jade-Jaws frolicking with some of Thor’s Asgardian chums, including the Warriors Three! (Bonus points for the appearance of guest villainess the Enchantress, obviously) This copy is clean, tight at staples, good cover colour, but light to moderate spine creasing, not impinging on the main cover image.
PICTURED: HULK #102 VG £60
American Update: Fantastic Four Annual #3 – The Wedding of Reed & Sue, Guest-Starring – Everybody!
*Marvel: One of the earlier and best-remembered ‘landmark’ crossovers of the early Marvel Universe was the third Fantastic Four Annual, where Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl tied the knot, a practice uncommon among the super-heroic community in 1965. The occasion was marked by a panoply of super-star guests, including the Avengers, the X-Men, Daredevil, Nick Fury, Patsy & Hedy (no, really), and all their vivacious villains – as well as a last-page cameo by Jolly Jack Kirby and Smilin’ Stan Lee themseves! This copy is VG, sound and clean, a small upper split on the squarebound spine.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #3 VG p £40 SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Beware… the Claws of the Cat! Cat #1, Marvel’s Feline Bombshell
*Marvel: Marvel’s ‘women’s comics’ line of the early 1970s was a conscientious, if misjudged, attempt to broaden the readership by putting female characters and female creators in the spotlight. Sadly, the lack of experienced women in the industry, and some creative inconsistencies, meant that it was short-lived and badly-supported , with all three titles cancelled after four or five issues. Its longest legacy – no disrespect to Shanna the She-Devil or Night Nurse – was the Cat, whose first super-heroic career may have been brief, but who was later reworked into Tigra the Were-Woman, while her old costume was passed on to Patsy Walker as Hellcat, so Marvel got a twofer – two successful characters for one failed one! Not that the Cat didn’t show promise; issue #1’s origin is drawn by Marie Severin and Wally Wood, and is absolutely lovely. PICTURED: CAT #1 FN/VF £55
American Update: Spider-Mania Bonus: Debut of Black Costume (later Venom) in Spidey #252
*Marvel: 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 debut in real time was this very issue.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #252 VF+ p £60 SOLD
American Update: The Big ‘Uns Are Back! Marvel Treasury Editions Galore, including Specials
*Marvel: The tabloid-sized Treasury Editions published by Marvel from 1974 to the 1980s may not have caught on as a permanent format, but they certainly have their fans, particularly among a certain generation in the UK whose earliest exposure to the iconic Marvel characters was via these huge compendiums of classic adventures! We have the regular Marvel Treasury Edition series restocked, issues from #2 to #14, starring the FF, Avengers, Spider-Man, Conan and more, plus a couple of one-off Special Editions in the same format: Special Marvel Edition #1, starring the Spectacular Spider-Man; the 1974 Marvel Treasury Special – a festive medley called Giant Super-Hero Holiday Grab-Bag – and the 1976 Marvel Treasury Special, Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles, an all-new epic written and drawn by Jack Kirby.
PICTURED:
MARVEL SPECIAL EDITION #1 FN+ £17.50 SOLD
MARVEL TREASURY SPECIAL VF+ £30 SOLD
American Update: Spider-Mania Bonus: Amazing #138-185 — every issue
*Marvel: A big bonus for Spider-philes this week as we add a consecutive listing of Amazing Spider-Man from #138 to #185 to our stock. Storylines in this memorable run include the Grizzly and the Jackal, the clone saga with the Gwen Clone and the Spider-Clone, the Spider-Mobile, Punisher & Nightcrawler, Nova crossover and foes old and new including the Green Goblin, Mysterio, the Rocket Racer and many, many more. A mixture of grades, but very many on the high side including several NM. Full details as always in our catalogue.
American Update: It’s A Jungle In Here! Three Jungle Comics from the Golden Age
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: While it looks a bit odd to the more ‘woke’ 2020s, the Jungle genre was hugely popular in the last century. In the wake of Edgar Rice Burrough’s famous Tarzan, every popular medium, including comics, was awash with implausibly-muscled, barely-clad white people hanging around in Africa saving grateful ‘natives’. Despite the unfortunate retrospective cultural baggage, many of these stories were beautifully crafted, and Fiction House, publisher of Jungle Comics, was one of the better practitioners, employing some of the finest writers and artists in the business. These three issues of Jungle Comics date between 1950 and 1952, all featuring the same line-up: peroxide Tarzan Kaanga and his shapely mate Ann, jungle psychic Tabu, Wambi the Jungle Boy (a rare non-caucasian protagonist in the genre) Captain Terry Thunder of the Congo Lancers, and Camilla, ‘Wild Girl of the Congo’. (They missed an opportunity for Camilla and Terry to team-up, since they were neighbours…) Like most Golden Age comics, creators were not credited, but informed sources tell us that writer Ruth Roche and artists Bob Kubbers, Jack Kamen and Enrico Bagnoli, among others, contributed to these issues, with the lead Kaanga story and accompanying covers illustrated rather spiffily by Maurice Whitman. These are attractive mid-grade specimens. #130 is VG/FN, with the only drawback being that a previous owner has attempted to brighten up the logo by applying whiteout on the letter ‘N’. Issue #139 is GD, off top staple, and #149 is FA, with considerable spine wear and writing on the cover logo. Full details, of course, in our online catalogue.
PICTURED: JUNGLE COMICS #130 VG/FN £43
American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Avon’s Eerie #1 (1951)
*Horror 1940-1959: Avon Publications was an enthusiastic embracer of the Horror genre, witnessed by the fact that while most of their comic book output was one-offs, they committed to a proper ongoing series with Eerie, commencing with the debut issue dated May-June 1951. Having tested the waters with a one-shot in 1947, the company returned with a new series of lurid and horrifying tales, epitomised by this premier issue’s line-up: ‘King of the Living Dead’, ‘Werewolf of Warsham Manor’, ‘The Subway Horror!’, and ‘Monster from the Pit’, kicking off a 17-issue run highly prized today. This is a VG+ copy, minor edge wear, slight colour erosion at the top edge, but firm staple (it only ever had one central staple), flexible off-white interiors, bright colours and sharp corners. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: EERIE #1 VG+ £900 SOLD
British Update: Marvelous Alan Class! Five Plate Sets Including 1st ‘New’ Iron Man and the Human Torch/Iceman Team-Up
*Alan Class Reprints: Five more plate sets from the Alan Class Private Collection, each one reprinting a story from the Silver Age of Marvel’s super-heroes – in most cases, as previously remarked, the first reprinting of these classic tales, very shortly after their first release! All five sets feature, in addition to publisher Alan Class’s file copies of the comics, the four lead printing plate sets originally used in production, plus a hand-signed Certificate of authenticity from Alan Class himself. All sets are supplied in a plastic presentation/display case.
Astounding Stories #63 reprints Avengers 56, ‘Death Be Not Proud!’ a time-travelling classic by Thomas and Buscema. Creepy Worlds #120 reprints Silver Surfer #11, from the highly-acclaimed original series by Lee and Buscema. Secrets of the Unknown #52 presents both tales from Strange Tales #120, the lead with the Human Torch teaming with X-Men’s Iceman, and the Doctor Strange tale ‘House of Shadows!’, the former by Kirby, the latter by Ditko. As a bonus, this set also includes an additional comic, SOTU #131, featuring the same content. Sinister Tales #108 reprints the origin of the Living Monolith from X-Men #56, illustrated by Neal Adams, plus the three part origin of the Angel from issues #54 to #56. And last but far from least, Suspense #61 reprints Tales of Suspense #48, the debut of Iron Man’s more streamlined and familiar red & gold armour. This comes with two interior printing plates, one of which is the Iron Man splash page. Full details, as always, in our catalogue.
PICTURED: SUSPENSE #61 VG/FN: PRINTING PLATE SET £50
British Update: Spider-Man Comics Weekly – ‘Deaths’ of Gwen Stacy & Green Goblin and Punisher Debut
*Marvel UK: From 1976, three issues of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, during its ‘landscape’ run when the cover title was ‘Super Spider-Man With The Super-Heroes’ following mergers and format changes. The three editions have increased dramatically in price over the last few years, as they are the first reprintings of US Spider-Man issues which featured critical turning points in the life of everyone’s favourite Web-Head. Issue #170 reprints Spidey #121, the death of Gwen Stacy at the hands of the Green Goblin, and #171 reprints #122, with the subsequent demise of the Goblin himself. Issue #178 follows up on the rarities by re-presenting US Spidey #129, the premiere appearance of everyone’s favourite cuddly assassin, Frank Castle, the Punisher!
PICTURED: SUPER SPIDER-MAN WITH THE SUPER-HEROES (SPIDER-MAN WEEKLY)
#170 VF £25
#171 VF £25
#178 FN/VF £40
British Update: Long Hot Summer – Boys’ ‘Sporting’ Specials: Jag, Victor and Billy’s Boots
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: This week, we set our sights on sport, with three Summer/Holiday Specials partly or wholly themed around the sporting life. Jag Football Special, from 1968, features articles and photos of real-life football and footballers, as well as ample comic strip content. This 96-page stonker is VG, sound and firm at staples, with minimal corner and edge wear, and a slightly faded spine. Best of Billy’s Boots from 1990 is an oddity, collecting the popular strip from Scorcher long after its demise, as a one-off. This bright and tight copy is graded VF, and features a cover-touted introduction by Kathy Tayler, who was presumably famous at the time. Victor, of course, wasn’t entirely devoted to sport, but its 1971 Summer Special’s 40 pages were 50% sporty, between the Tough of the Track, the Boyhood of Lester Piggott and sundry other boxing, cricket and motor-racing stories, fronted by manly adventures and World War II heroics. These oversized Summer Specials are getting much harder to find as the years wear on, and this VG copy, though displaying minor wear from having been stored folded for many years, is bright and unfaded, staples firmly attached.
PICTURED:
BILLY’S BOOTS HOLIDAY SPECIAL 1990 VF £15 SOLD
JAG FOOTBALL SPECIAL 1968 VG £30 SOLD
VICTOR SUMMER SPECIAL 1971 VG £30 SOLD
British Update: Free Gift Farrago – Bullet #1 and Roy of the Rovers #2 & #3
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From the Sizzling Seventies, early issues of popular Boys’ Adventure weeklies with original Free Gifts. Issue #1 of D.C. Thomson’s hard-edged Bullet weekly, starring medallion man Fireball, Wonder Mann, Survivor and a host of other action heroes, in Fine (slight stacking ink defect to cover), with Free Gift (Secret Sign Ring and Symbols) in VF. We also have issues #2 and #3 of Roy of the Rovers’ solo series, after his long apprenticeship in Tiger. Issue #2 is FN, with the Rosette and set of adhesive letters to spell your chosen team (or swear words) in VF; issue #3 is also FN, with the Free Gift ‘Super Soccer Game’ (a sheet of printed card with instructions, basically) in VF.
PICTURED: BULLET #1 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £40 SOLD
ROY OF THE ROVERS
#2 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £30 SOLD
#3 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £30 SOLD
British Update: Sparky – Massive 160+ update, 1967 to 1976
*Humour Comics: ‘A new comic for boys and girls’, averred this 1965 launch from DC Thomson, though it ought really to have said ‘for white boys and girls’, as the peculiar racist caricature of the titular character would surely offend and deter any readers not of the Caucasian persuasion. That aside, the series was well-crafted although seemingly aimed at a younger audience than stablemates Dandy and Beano, with an almost fairy-tale character to some of the series like ‘Dreamy Dave and Dozy Dora’ while others – ‘Freddy the Fearless Fly’, ‘Keyhole Kate’ – were retreads of old Beano stalwarts. By the late Sixties, the title aged up its target audience slightly, Sparky himself was mercifully shuffled off, and a new lead character, ‘Barney Bulldog’ took the covers, together with his life-partner, a slightly younger bulldog named Ben. Sadly, they broke up after a few years, and Barney was last seen sobbing into his pint in the Coleherne. After an interval, the cover was taken by ‘Some Mummies Do ‘Ave ‘Em’, which took its title, but nothing else, from the Michael Crawford-fronted popular sitcom. The slender premise – a family of ancient Egyptian mummies came alive after museum hours, to the consternation of the guard – was presented with verve and charm, seeing the title out to its 1977 conclusion. We have approximately 160 issues of Sparky newly added, from 1967’s #136 to 1976’s #620, including previously-unrepresented years 1973, 1974 and 1976.
British Update: 1960s Love Weeklies – Marilyn, Mirabelle, Roxy and Valentine
*Girls’ Comics: Although Romeo was the most famous and longest-lasting of the romance weekly comics aimed at older girls and young women, there were of course, many other such titles, and we’re pleased to welcome a selection of them back into stock this week, with light dustings of Marilyn from 1960, Mirabelle from 1963 to 1965, Roxy from 1960 and Valentine from 1960. Join the heartbreak & happy endings parade!
Window Update: Happy New Year!
Dr. Evilla celebrates the coming of 2020 with a window display of some of our top US comics currently in stock (as of the time of writing). To see large images of these, simply check out the slideshow. And all the best for the New Year to all of you from all of us at 30th Century!
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Housekeeping Update
On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our American section:
*DC H – R
*Marvel M – S
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Books Update: Bunter Bounds In!
*Childrens’ Books: First appearing in the Magnet #1 (1908), Billy Bunter was originally a minor character in the stories of Greyfriars School, but as time went on and the stories grew in popularity, author Frank Richards (Charles Hamilton) realised the comic potential of his most famous creation, so much so that after the Magnet ceased publication in 1940, Bunter was the starring figure in his own series of novels from 1947 to 1967. We have five examples joining our stock this week (all HCs with Dust Jackets): Billy Bunter Afloat & Bunter Out Of Bounds are 1st editions, Billy Bunter’s Double a 3rd edition, and Billy Bunter Of Greyfariars School (the 1st Bunter novel) and Billy Bunter And The Blue Maurituius are faithful facsimiles published by Hawk Books. The ‘Fat Owl Of The Remove’ has now passed into legendary status as an icon of English literature, so here’s your chance to get acquainted with his antics. Yarooh!
PICTURED:
BUNTER OUT OF BOUNDS: 1ST VG/FN WITH DJ GD £35
BILLY BUNTER AND THE BLUE MAURITIUS: FACSIMILE VF WITH DJ VF £25
BILLY BUNTER’S DOUBLE: 3RD FN WITH DJ VG £30
BILLY BUNTER AFLOAT: 1ST VG/FN WITH DJ GD £35
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’ll be adding selections from this collection for sale here each week across the range of titles represented. These will be over a range of prices each week to suit most budgets, so that all interested collectors have an opportunity to purchase something from this special collection. 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: Fantastic Four #22 – Sue Storm’s ’empowerment’
*Marvel: In issue #22 of the Marvel Universe’s First Family, the sinister subterranean Mole Man resurfaced to perpetrate more dastardly schemes upon the surface world – but to be honest, that drama was overshadowed, in the long term, by developments in the life of the team’s distaff member. Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl, who had been mostly a bit wet and useless so far, discovered new applications of her power. Instead of merely being able to turn herself invisible, she gained the ability to render others invisible, and, more importantly, her invisible force fields, which rendered her a true asset to the team – though she was still told when and how to use them by a man for a depressingly long time, but that was the Sixties for you. This VG/FN p copy has a tiny hint of fading mid-lower cover edge, but is otherwise crisp, clean and vivid.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #22 VG/FN p £75 SOLD
American Update: DC Debuts: Justice League Of America #12, 1st Dr Light
*DC: ‘Last Case of the Justice League!’ introduced a new nemesis for the World’s Greatest Heroes, as Doctor Light effectively neutralised the entire team, and came within a hairsbreadth of ending their heroic careers. This classic Fox/Sekowsky saga traverses the galaxy to worlds weird and strange, showcasing the imagination of the creators and establishing Dr. Light as a serious threat, which he remained for many years until a series of unfortunate events in the 1980s rather diminished him. Clean and bright, this VG/FN p copy has an unimpaired cover scene and barely perceptible edge wear.
PICTURED: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #12 VG/FN p £50
American Update: Strange Tales #106, debut of the Acrobat
*Marvel: Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, becoming discontented with his role in the Fantastic Four, strikes out with a new partner, the Acrobat, as ‘The Torrid Twosome’ (a much less mirth-inducing title then than it would be now), to the chagrin of his former partners. Needless to say, it’s all a bluff, as Johnny pretended to fall in with the Acrobat to learn his larcenous schemes – and while it was refreshing to see Johnny not played as a dupe for a change, this issue would have been glossed over as unremarkable, but for the fact that the Acrobat later resurfaced as a faux-Captain America, testing the waters for the eventual Silver Age revival of the genuine Cap. This ‘prelude to a pilot’, as it were, is FN p, with light spine wear and very slight foxing above upper staple area, but clean bright pages and firm staples.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #106 FN p £70
American Update: Tales Of Suspense #36 – a modern Midas, and a Gorilla from Outer Space
*Marvel: Oddly for Tales of Suspense at this time, the work of Jack Kirby is only seen on the front cover of this issue, as the lead story, ‘Meet Mr. Meek!’ is illustrated rather well by the underestimated Don Heck; Jolly Jack must have been on vacation that week! Backing up the lead tale of a modern-day Midas are a Lee & Ditko twist-ending shocker: ‘The Gorilla From Outer Space!’, and a cunning tale of Nuclear Fear double bluff: ‘The Final Weapon’. This FN+ p copy has extraordinary vivid cover colour, typical of the Square Mile Collection.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE #36 FN+ p £110
More from the Square Mile Collection next week!
American Update: Green Lantern Modern Milestones – 1st Modern Guy Gardner and Debut of the Omega Men
*DC: Following his debut in Green Lantern #59, in what was effectively an ‘Imaginary Story’ (though the editors didn’t call it that), Guy Gardner returned unexpectedly to the DCU in Green Lantern #116, substituting for an incapacitated Hal Jordan, and kicking off the lengthy string of appearances which led to his own series in the 1990s, as well as a lengthy term in the latter-day Justice League. Green Lantern #141, meanwhile saw the appearance of a coterie of outer-space rebels and heroes who would go on to greater things as the Omega Men. Both these latter-day milestones are back in stock; the GL 116 is VG p, light to moderate wear and with one faint book centre stamp on the cover, while #141 is a desirable VF/NM cents copy.
PICTURED: GREEN LANTERN
#116 VG p £20 SOLD
#141 VF/NM £30
American Update: Batmania: A Silver Age Miscellany
*DC: This week’s Batman update features a range of Batman issues between #163 & #201 in a range of grades and prices. Included are a couple of low grade Joker issues: #163 & #186.
American Update: DC Silver/Bronze Sweep – ‘Su’ to ‘Sw’ titles
*DC: We continue our run through the Silver/Bronze ages of the DCU with additions to the following titles: Suicide Squad, Superboy (lots of Legion stories prior to the title change with #197, and even more Legion thereafter), New Adventures of Superboy (#50 Anniversary issue with the Legion), Super Friends, Supergirl (1st series), Superman (including Giants and Annuals, with Annual #11 by Alan Moore), Superman Family and Swamp Thing.
American Update: Avengers Assemble! Small additions
*Marvel: A small addition to our Avengers stocks, mostly low-mid grade copies between #71 and #100, featuring (among others) #71 (Invaders prototype), #83 (1st Valkyrie & Lady Liberators), #85 (1st Squadron Supreme) and #100 (anniversary issue with Barry Smith art. Full details as always in our catalogue.
American Update: Slab Happy/Spider-Mania: Amazing Spider-Man #102 – Origin of Morbius the Living Vampire
*Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man #102 saw the conclusion of a story begun in #100, when our hero, Peter Parker, suddenly became a true ‘Spider-Man’, an eight-limbed aberration. In this issue by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, Spidey battles the dual menaces of Morbius the Living Vampire (who had debuted the previous issue, but whose origin was disclosed in this), and the ever-loveable Lizard, before finding himself mercifully – ahem – ‘disarmed’ by story’s end.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #102 CBCS 8.0 VF £120
American Update: Spider-Mania Bonus – Two Friendly Neighbourhood Special Issues
*Marvel: Two stand-alone specials starring Peter Parker and guests. From 1987, the Jim Owlsey/Mark Bright/Al Williamson Spider-Man Vs. Wolverine, a 64-page one-shot pitting our heroes against the Yakuza, and caused some controversy at the time because Spidey actually exercised lethal force against the villains. 1992’s one-off, Spider-Man Special Edition: The Trial of Venom, was a limited release which could only be obtained, at the time, by making a charitable donation to UNICEF. By Peter David and Jim Craig, the one-shot co-stars Daredevil, and comes with a poster bound in. Although the print run is uncertain, very few copies are now in circulation, and this one comes with the still firmly secured poster.
PICTURED:
SPIDER-MAN VS WOLVERINE NM £30
SPIDER-MAN SPECIAL EDITION #1 NM £35
American Update: Marvel Feature #11 and #12 – Jim Starlin’s Marvel Two-In-One ‘Pilot’ Issues
*Marvel: The first series of Marvel Feature, having been home to the successful Defenders try-out and the less successful Ant-Man series, rounded out its run with two issues teaming the Fantastic Four’s Thing with the Hulk and Iron Man, respectively. Given the successful launch of the Spider-Man starring Marvel Team-Up the previous year, it was clearly hoped that a second team-up book might be viable – and boy, was it ever! Illustrated by Jim Starlin and written by Wein and Friedrich, respectively, these done-in-one tales proved so popular that Marvel Feature was cancelled to make way on the schedules for Marvel Two-In-One, an ongoing series teaming Bashful Ben with a bewildering variety of the great and the grotty from the wider Marvel Universe. Both of these scarce Two-In-One ‘pilot’ issues, never distributed in the UK, are available in high grades.
PICTURED: MARVEL FEATURE
#11 VF £45
#12 VF- £15
American Update: X-Men – a selection of Claremont & Byrne at their finest
*Marvel: Although writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne have had very distinguished careers separately, their best-remembered and best-loved body of work remains the Uncanny X-Men, and we refresh our mutant inventory with a sparkling selection of issues in high grade, averaging VF, all pence copies. From #125 to #133, this selection is truly superior quality, both narratively and structurally. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: X-MEN #133 NM- £60
American Update: Black Panther: Panther’s Prey – complete 4-part series
*Marvel: Writer Don McGregor’s 1970s run on the Black Panther strip in Jungle Action was renowned for its ambitious, philosophical, emotionally textured, and verbose – by Cracky, was it verbose – nature, receiving acclaim and derision in roughly equal proportions. Following Jack Kirby’s very different take on T’Challa in the Panther’s first solo series, McGregor made a return to Wakanda in a serial in Marvel Comics Presents, and subsequently in this four-part, squarebound Prestige Format series, in which T’Challa, the Black Panther, is being hunted in Wakanda by Solomon Prey, a taloned and winged villain who is also setting himself up as the kingdom’s resident illegal drug lord — while, at the same time, T’Challa decides to reunite with his former love, Monica Lynne. Duty, love, responsibility, obsession, obligation and philosophy are the themes on display, as well as a fair bit of gratuitous violence and flying dinosaurs, because, well, why wouldn’t you? So is McGregor rambling loon or unacclaimed genius… or a bit of both? Buy this complete NM Prestige Format mini-series and find out! £20 for the set of 4.
PICTURED: BLACK PANTHER: PANTHER’S PREY #1 (SET OF #1-4 NM £20)
American Update: Hither Comes Conan (a small dose)
*Marvel: A handful of Conans added this week, between #4 and #35, with art from both the Barry Smith & John Buscema periods. Issues this early seldom hang around for long, so grab ’em while you can; full details in our catalogue.
American Update: Tales To Astonish restocked
*Marvel: A chunky update to the Sub-Mariner/Hulk era of this shared title, with many issues added between #72 & #100. A quality period, with the art of Gene Colan, Bill Everett, Marie Severin and Dan Adkins standing out.
American Update: Atomic Sci-Fi – Space Busters: Epic Space Opera with Krigstein & Anderson art
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Running only two issues from Ziff-Davis in 1952, Space Busters was a virtual clone of another Ziff-Davis publication, Space Patrol, which was based on a children’s television show. Guardians of Earth, the Space Busters, led by Commander Senstral, tackle the Empress of Belzar and her armies, who have established a beachhead on Mars – but is all as it seems? Captain Brett Crockett thinks not! These rollicking space opera adventures are illustrated by the legendary Bernie Krigstein in issue #1, and the superb Murphy Anderson in issue #2, with painted covers by Norman Saunders and Allen Anderson respectively.
PICTURED: SPACE BUSTERS
#1 VG £140
#2 FN £200 SOLD
American Update: Next Men #21: First Full appearance of Hellboy
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: No, not X-Men – that’s a different update! – but Next Men, the science fiction series pioneered by John Byrne over at Dark Horse Comics. Though Next Men in general remains a respected run, the appeal of this issue specifically is that it’s the first full appearance of Mike Mignola’s character Hellboy, who appears in a Mignola-drawn chapter. Hellboy, of course, has been the star of two successful movie franchises, and looks to be in the public consciousness for some time to come. This is a respectable FN+ copy, with only a number of small spine ticks precluding a higher grade.
PICTURED: NEXT MEN #21 FN+ £40
American Update: Amazing World of DC, Comic Media, Comics Feature and More
*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: A sweep through the fanzines and prozines of the 1970s to the 1990s, opening with DC’s in-house ‘prozine’, Amazing World of DC Comics, from #1, following up with the pioneering UK published Comic Media (later Comic Media News), including #9 (Modesty Blaise Special). We also have new listings for the 1980s Comics Feature, the 1990s Feature (an unrelated publication with a similar name) and Princessions #13, (the female-centric ‘zine of the 1970s).
PICTURED: AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS #1 VF £35 SOLD
British Update: Spider-Mania Bonus: Spider-Man Comics Weekly – From #3 up back in stock
*Marvel UK: Commencing in 1972, Marvel UK started re-packaging ‘vintage’ (from all of a decade previously!) stories for the British audience. This involved breaking up the book-length tales to shorter instalments for serialisation, and thereby often necessitating brand new covers and splash pages, including early work by luminaries such as Jim Starlin. We have a selection of Spider-Man Comics Weekly from its third issue up to its thirteenth, all before the mag switched from pulp to slick covers. Often the form in which a generation of readers first encountered the Marvel heroes, these UK editions, particularly the earlier, ‘pulp’ ones, are becoming harder to find as they’re snapped up by aging nostalgists.
PICTURED: SPIDER-MAN #5 FN £8 SOLD
British Update: 2000 AD – ‘Burger Wars’ Issues
*Boys’ Adventure and War Comics: Newly in, we have two 2000 AD progs set during Judge Dredd’s ‘Cursed Earth’ which, owing to their use of copyrighted properties, were until 2015 banned from being reprinted: #71 and #72, the ‘Burger Wars’ issues, which caused umbrage with MacDonalds and Burger King. Despite the reprint embargo having been lifted owing to a change in copyright law allowing parodic usage, we have found demand for the originals to remain high, judging by the speed with which they’ve sold out previously!
PICTURED: 2000 AD
#71 GD £20
#72 GD/VG £22.50
British Update: Reinforcements for Warlord! D.C. Thomson combat weekly restocked from #1
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A latecomer to the D.C. Thomson weeklies devoted to war stories was Warlord, but its tardy arrival didn’t prevent it from being a success, running until 1986 and clocking up a very respectable 627 issues before being subsumed into its stable-mate Victor. With such features as Union Jack Jackson, Bomber Braddock, Code-Name Warlord and Young Wolf, Warlord set out to enthrall a new generation of war devotee readers. New listings for this popular series begin with issue #1 (28th September 1974) and end with #115 (4th December 1976), approximately fifty issues added to our inventory.
PICTURED: WARLORD #1 VG £15
British Update: Free Gift Farrago – Mandy from 1967 and 1968
*Girls’ Comics: Home of tales of misery and suffering fronted by our eponymous can-do hostess and her faithful hound Patch, Mandy delighted generations of readers with its selection box of schadenfreude, cautionary tales whose heroines demonstrated that whatever problems the readers had, things could get so much worse! We have three early (first and second year of publication) issues new in, each with the original Free Gift. Number #39 is GD, light to moderate edge wear at lower right, with the gift of a Bluebell Necklace VF, still mounted on card backing and in its polythene envelope. Number #87 is a crisp and clean FN, with the attached ‘Forget-Me-Not Diary’ bright, clean and unmarred VF. And the companion #88 is also FN, and accompanied by a ‘Forget-Me-Not Autograph Book’, in generally excellent condition but with a tinge of rust at the staple, hence this gift is only FN.
PICTURED: MANDY
#39 GD WITH FREE GIFT VF £35 SOLD
#87 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £35 SOLD
#88 FN WITH FREE GIFT FN £30 SOLD
British Update: A Bumper Bunty Bonanza! Almost a Decade of Bunty, 1967 to 1976
*Girls’ Comics: The more observant of you will have noticed we’ve been working our way backward through the classic long-running girls’ comics, and this week we hit our fabulous finale with the doyenne of the girls’ weeklies, Bunty! Though not the first girl-centric comic paper, Bunty was the longest-running (1958 to 2001) and this week we present 300+ issues from almost a decade, with numbers ranging from 1967’s #498 to #986 in 1976. The Four Marys, Moira Kent, Toots and a multitude of friends are ready and waiting!
American Update: Ant-Man/Giant-Man Epic Collection and Avengers/Defenders War
*Modern Reprints: Two more classic volumes from Marvel this week: first up, the Ant-Man/Giant-Man Epic Collection, reprinting all the earliest Ant-Man and Giant-Man stories from the first (Tales To Astonish #27) up to TTA #59; secondly, the Avengers/Defenders War, reprinting the clash between Marvel’s two titanic teams from Avengers #115-118 and Defenders #8-11.
PICTURED: ANT-MAN/GIANT-MAN EPIC COLLECTION NEW/MINT £32
American Update: Marvel Facsimile & True Believers
*Modern Reprints: More from Marvel’s reprint lines, including a facsimile edition of Eternals #1 (£4) and the following cheap and cheerful True Believers reprints, all at £1 each: Carol Danvers (1st app from Marvel Super-Heroes #13), Hulk Head Of Banner (Hulk #6), Annihilation Moon Dragon (1st Moon Dragon from Iron Man #54), Annihilation Nova (1st Nova from Nova #1) & X-Men Betsy Braddock (1st Betsy Braddock from Captain Britain #8-10).
PICTURED: ETERNALS #1 FACSIMILE NEW/MINT £4
Housekeeping Update
On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our American section:
*DC D – G
*Marvel D – L
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Merry Christmas!
Updates will resume here after Christmas, so it just remains for us to wish you all the very best for the festive season and the year ahead, and to thank you for all your custom throughout 2019. We’ll leave you with a reminder of when we’re open over the holiday period:
Monday 23rd December: Open as usual 11 a.m to 6 p.m.
Christmas Eve Tuesday 24th December: Closed
Christmas Day Wednesday 25th December: Closed
Boxing Day Thursday 26th December: Closed
Friday 27th December: Open as usual 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday 28th December: Open as usual 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday 30th December: Open as usual 11 a.m. to 6 p m.
New Year’s Eve Tuesday 31st December: Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
New Year’s Day Wednesday 1st January: Closed
Thursday 2nd January onwards: Open as usual 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Books Update: Avengers Old And New
*TV/Film Tie-Ins: Four original and four New Avengers books new in this week. With Steed accompanied by Emma Peel or Tara King, we have Dead Duck (written by Patrick Macnee) from Hodder, Heil Harris and The Laugh was On Lazarus (by John Garforth) from Panther and The Magnetic Man (by Norman Daniels) from US publisher Berkley. Steed is joined by Purdey & Gambit in four Futura books from the mid-seventies: Fighting Men (Justin Cartwright), House Of Cards and The Cybernauts (Peter Cave) and The Eagle’s Nest (John Carter). The Avengers are a landmark in UK (and worldwide) cult TV, and their novelised adventures are keenly sought after.
Books Update: Time For More Silverberg
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: This time we’ve added seven Robert Silverberg books. Winner of many SF awards, Silverberg wrote at an incredibly fast rate (estimated as equivalent to a novel each week), but unusually he wasn’t driven by financial necessity, as so many SF authors were. Time travel was a theme that he frequently used, and several of these books reflect that – The Masks Of Time, The Time-Hoppers and Up The Line. The other titles are Nightwings, Stepsons Of Terra, The Man In The Maze and To Open The Sky. All except The Time-Hoppers are 1st PB editions, and The Masks Of Time has stunning Bruce Pennington cover art.
Clearance Corner – Strip, Marvel UK’s ‘mature readers’ anthology
*Clearance Corner: In the wake of the ‘comics for grown-ups’ craze sparked by the successes of Watchmen and the Dark Knight returns, every comics publisher jumped on the ‘mature readers’ bandwagon, including Marvel UK, who put out this short-lived but inventive comics anthology. Running for 20 issues (February – November 1990) it featured reprint and original work by predominantly British comics creators, an eclectic and frequently changing mix of strips including Storm (translated European reprints), Marshal Law, Genghis Grimtoad, The Man from Cancer, The Punisher, Dominic Fortune, Dexter Pantry, Thorgal and Death’s Head and Combat Wombat. No, really. This clearance corner is 20 copies, but, alas, it’s not a complete set – it’s missing #17, but does have a bonus second edition of #6, which was re-issued for reasons lost in the mists of history. Nevertheless, it’s an all-star line-up, featuring the works of Don Lawrence, Kevin O’Neill, Phil |Elliott, John Wagner, Alan Grant, Ian Gibson, and myriad others. Averaging VG/FN, issue #1 features the original Free Gift, #2 the bound-in poster and #16 has a Punisher insignia sew-on patch. A worthy experiment which should have done better, this near-complete run can be yours for £25, plus £8 UK postage if required. SOLD