*Modern Reprints: The latest facsimile from Merry Marvel reprints the full debut of Gambit from X-Men #266. Although appearing initially to be a dodgy guy in a mac, the Ragin’ Cajun quickly became a firm fan favourite and a mainstay of the X-Men franchise.
PICTURED: X-MEN #266 FACSIMILE NEW/MINT £4
Category Archives: What’s New
American Update: Marvel Epic Collections: Captain America, Daredevil, Sgt Fury, X-Men
*Modern Reprints: Continuing this week with Marvel’s Epic Collections, we add four new titles. These thick paperback volumes reprint the earliest stories of Marvel’s classic characters. Captain America reprints the try-out Cap story from Strange Tales #114, his proper return in Avengers #4 and all the Cap stories from Tales of Suspense #58-96. Daredevil reprints issues #1-21. Sgt Fury reprints #1-19. X-Men reprints #1-23. Find out how Marvel’s stars all got their beginnings at a fraction of the price of the original comics!
PICTURED:
CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION NEW/MINT £32
DAREDEVIL EPIC COLLECTION NEW/MINT £36
SGT FURY EPIC COLLECTION NEW/MINT £36
X-MEN EPIC COLLECTION NEW/MINT £36
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 file in our American section:
*Marvel D – L
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
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: First full Marvel Crossover – FF meet the Hulk in Fantastic Four #12
*Marvel: Crossovers of one character into another’s series have become such a staple of the Marvel Universe that it’s hard to recall a time when they were a novelty – but there was such a time, and we have a copy of the first example, in Fantastic Four #12, where the Hulk clashed with the FF for the first time! Contemporary with Amazing Spider-Man #1 (in which the FF also made a brief appearance), this is the first full-on Marvel crossover. Fantastic Four #12 is an unusually rare issue, and this copy is an extraordinary grade, FN+, a pence copy, with clean and flexible interiors, staples firm at cover and centrefold, and a generally fresh appearance, with only very faint vertical creases at the spine and a tiny, insignificant chip at the lower cover edge, precluding a higher grade. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #12 FN+ p £1,100 SOLD
American Update: DC Debuts: My Greatest Adventure #80, the 1st Doom Patrol
*DC: A collection of misfits with strange powers, hated and feared by the world they protect, led by a paraplegic genius in a wheelchair. Sound familiar? Well, guess again – almost simultaneously with the debut of the X-Men at Marvel, DC made their moribund title My Greatest Adventure the home of the ‘Doom Patrol’, created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. While the similarities between the X-Men and the DP are marked, the differences provide a significant contrast – the X-Men are teens, in a special school, with little experience of the world, while the Doom Patrol are all adults with successful careers and lives that they lost when a twisted fate granted them powers which would ostracise and, ultimately, possibly destroy them. The tone was altogether darker, and the series caught on, taking over the title, running to #121, and various reiterations of the team have been mainstays of the DCU ever since. Now as the subject of a live-action Netflix TV show, the DP’s star is on the ascendant. This copy of the Doom Patrol’s first appearance (as well as that of their arch-enemy General Immortus) is a gorgeous FN p copy, tight & bright with sharp corners, and vivid colours on both cover and interiors, though the cover is off the lower staple.
PICTURED: MY GREATEST ADVENTURE #80 FN p £375
American Update: The Beatles (1964 Dell Giant)
*Dell: Issued by Dell Comics in 1964, just when the Fab Four were riding a huge wave of popularity, this unusual 64-page squarebound giant features, after an opening framing sequence, comic-strip life stories of each individual Beatle, then a further 26-page comic strip starring the whole gang. The writer remains lost to history, but the illustrator was Joe Sinnott, in one of his rare full-art jobs, not just inking, and an even rarer non-Marvel gig for the legendary Bullpen stalwart. Also featured are full-page photo pin-ups of each Beatle, complete with printed autograph, and two full-colour photo pages. This is a UK overprinted copy of the hard-to-find one-shot (2/6? Outrageous!) in FN+, with only light ‘glue puckering’ on the otherwise intact spine, and excellent interior page quality.
PICTURED: THE BEATLES (1964) FN+ p £225
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Baron Mordo in second Dr. Strange story -Strange Tales #111
*Marvel: The first Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales #110 might well have served as a stand-alone mystery tale – after all, Marvel had already tried the supernatural adventurer route with Dr. Droom, and flopped hard! – but with issue #111, it became clear the good doctor was in it for the long haul, as his second appearance saw the debut of Baron Mordo, thwarted pupil of the Ancient One and destined to become one of Strange’s greatest enemies! (And Johnny Storm fought the Asbestos Man in the front of the book, for the handful of folks who were bothered.) This VG+ pence copy is generally in excellent condition, and would easily grade FN or better but for slight ‘Marvel chipping’ at the cover’s upper right edge.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #111 VG+ p £140
American Update: Batmania continues: Batman #148 (1962) with Joker cover and story
*DC: This classic Batman issue from 1962 is scarcer than many of its contemporaries, possibly because of the Joker cover, illustrating ‘The Joker’s Greatest Triumph!’, one of three featured tales of the Dynamic Duo (the others being ‘The Alien Force Twins!’ and ‘The Boy Who Was Robin!’). An attractive VG/FN pence copy, with unmarred deep midnight blue cover background, tight staples, and only minimal spine creasing, off-white flexible interior pages; this presents extremely well.
PICTURED: BATMAN #148 VG/FN p £60 SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Tales of Suspense #75 – Debuts of Sharon Carter (Agent 13) and Batroc the Leaper
*Marvel: The Captain America half of Tales of Suspense #75 introduced not one, but two, characters who were to factor largely in the life of the Star-Spangled Avenger. One was Batroc the Leaper, the savate-stomping stereotype who has unexpectedly kick-boxed his way into the hearts of fandom, who know him with affectionate derision as ‘Batroc Zee Leapair’; the other was Sharon Carter, a.k.a. Agent 13 of SHIELD, in this story a nameless young woman whose innocent appearance conceals a deadly skill set – and who became the second love of Cap’s life. This double-debut issue is a VF- pence copy, tight, bright and firm with clean flexible interiors and only minute spine ‘ticks’ betraying its age.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE #75 VF- p £65 SOLD
More from the Square Mile Collection next week!
American Update: DC Debuts – Deathstroke in New Teen Titans #2
*DC: Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke (also known for much of his career as ‘the Terminator’, until Arnie’s agents said the magic words, ‘Cease & Desist’) made his first appearance in New Teen Titans #2, the successful Wolfman/Perez revival of the faltering franchise. Already a hit, the New Teen Titans’ fortunes rose with those of Mr. Slade as their recurring arch-nemesis, and eventually he went on to star in several series of his own, as well as media appearances in the ‘Arrow’ TV show and elsewhere. This premier appearance is a striking VF/NM pence copy, tight corners, vivid cover colour and firm staples, a fresh and bright copy with considerable eye appeal.
PICTURED: NEW TEEN TITANS #2 VF/NM p £85 SOLD
American Update: Catalogue Expansion – Legion of Super-Heroes
*DC: This year, the Legion of Super-Heroes (albeit not the classic form) returns to the DC roster after too long an absence, and we mark the occasion by expanding our catalogue stock of the series whose home century inspired our business’ name. (None of that ’31st Century’ nonsense on our watch, thank you very much!) Following a successful run as co-stars of Superboy’s series, the Legion took over the title with #259 in 1980, as the Teen of Steel left the book – not permanently, but long enough that the 30th Century’s interplanetary defenders made their mark. After a competent but unremarkable couple of years, the series hit its stride under the team of writer Paul Levitz and illustrator Keith Giffen, who introduced complicated, multi-layer sagas and more believable character relationships. The pair catapulted the Legion into one of DC’s top-selling titles of the 1980s – to the point where a second series was launched for the burgeoning direct market, as the original book changed to ‘Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes’. We have a substantial, though not quite complete, run of the Legion of Super-Heroes, both series, from 1980 through to the mid-1990s and the end of the Magic Wars – after which… it mostly wasn’t so good, take our word for it – plus a selection of Legion mini-series and Specials related to this period, including Cosmic Boy, Karate Kid (slightly earlier, that one), the Legion of Substitute Heroes one-shot, Legionnaires 3 and Secrets of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Long Live the Legion!
PICTURED: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #259 NM £11.50 SOLD
American Update: DC Silver/Bronze Sweep – ‘F’ & ‘G’ titles
*DC: Continuing our sweep through the DC Silver & Bronze Ages, we continue with ‘F’ & ‘G’ titles, specifically: 1st Issue Special (with Kirby & Ditko), Flash, Kirby again with Forever People, Freedom Fighters and Green Lantern (from #4).
American Update: Spider-Mania continues! Steve Ditko Amazing Spidey issues from #21 to #38
*Marvel: As previously mentioned, we bow to no one in our appreciation of Steve Ditko, original artist and co-creator of the Amazing Spider-Man, and we’re therefore thrilled to welcome a lucky 13 issues of Ditko Spidey new in to our stock, commencing with #21 and ending with #38, the final Ditko issue before Jazzy Johnny Romita took over! Highlights of this selection include the debuts of ever-menacing Molten Man and the Meteor Man (later the Looter), the joint first appearances of Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn, the first Norman Osborn, all three parts of the classic Master Planner trilogy (#31-33) and clashes with the Human Torch & the Beetle, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, the Crime-Master and more! In grades ranging from GD to FN+, this selection will have something to suit every Spider-Fan’s taste and budget! Higher grade issues shown here — for details of the remainder, please check our catalogue listings.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#25 VG+ p £100
#28 FN+ p £250
#31 FN+ p £260 SOLD
#35 FN/VF p £75
#36 FN+ £80 SOLD
#38 FN- £85
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts! Three Avengers key issues: Debuts of Man-Ape, Valkyrie and Taskmaster
*Marvel: A trinity of triumphs premiering in the adventures of Marvel’s Mightiest Heroes, kicking off with Avengers #62, which saw the first appearance of the Black Panther’s nemesis, M’Baku, the Man-Ape! A featured player in the Black Panther’s solo film, M’Baku (the ‘Man-Ape’ soubriquet dropped for media-friendliness) was one of several breakout characters from the BP movie. Avengers #83 saw several of Marvel’s fabulous femmes – Black Widow, Medusa, the Scarlet Witch and the Wasp – join forces as the Lady Liberators, under the leadership of the vivacious Valkyrie! Val’s origins and history are too complex to go into here, but this was the first appearance of the Valkyrie character and persona, as later portrayed by Tessa Thompson in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’. Lastly, the Taskmaster, having made a last-page threatening cameo in Avengers #195, made his first full appearance in #196. A skill-mimicking polymath with the ability to instantly replicate any opponent’s tactics, Tasky is scheduled to be the Big Bad in next year’s Black Widow solo flick.
PICTURED: AVENGERS
#62 FN+ £55 SOLD
#83 FN-p £55 SOLD
#196 VF- £90
American Update: Spider-Mania/Slab Happy: Amazing-Spider-Man #528 Retailer Incentive Wieringo Variant
*Marvel: This week’s Slab Happy update is a little out of the ordinary, featuring as it does a modern comic – Amazing Spider-Man #528, from 200!. This is distinctive because it’s a Retailer Incentive Variant Edition, featuring the ‘Peter Porker, Spider-Ham’ character on the cover (though not inside!). The variant cover was created by the artist Mike Wieringo, who tragically died the following year at the ridiculously young age of 44. While all of the Spider-Man issues in the crossover story ‘The Other’ apparently have Wieringo variants, they’re usually in full-colour. This Retailer Incentive Black & White Sketch Variant was offered to retailers in a ratio of 1:50 of the regular issue purchased. This is a CGC Blue Label (no restoration) 9.8 (NM/M equivalent).
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #528 CGC 9.8 (NM/M) £110
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: The Coming of the Juggernaut in X-Men #12
*Marvel: With Jolly Jack Kirby leaving the art chores of the X-Men after issue #11, Stan Lee realised he had to crank up the excitement to keep readers’ attention, and he certainly achieved it with this dynamic story introducing one of the X-Men’s most formidable opponents, the Juggernaut! Cain Marko, the hitherto unsuspected step-brother of the X-Men’s mentor Professor Xavier, dabbled with arcane forces and was transformed into the embodiment of an irresistible force! This copy of a major villain’s debut is Fair, with considerable spine wear, especially at the lower edge, and moderate right edge wear with small chips out of the cover edge not impeding the cover scene. Juggernaut’s re-entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with ‘Deadpool 2’ has once again piqued interest in this character.
PICTURED: X-MEN #12 FA p £60 SOLD
American Update: Silver Surfer #14 – Epic clash with the Amazing Spider-Man
*Marvel: The Silver Surfer’s solo series was marked with exquisite John Buscema artwork, generally acknowledged to be among the finest of his career, and scripts which could be charitably described as ‘a bit long-winded’. Most of the pontificating soliloquies, however, went out of the window in Surfer #14, in which the sky-rider of the spaceways faced off against the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man – and Spidey held his own for a surprisingly long while against the Power Cosmic in this cracking, fast-paced tale! This copy is a lovely FN+, tight at corners and staples, glossy with vivid cover colour, and only a tiny amount of wear on the lower right cover corner precluding a higher grade.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER #14 FN+ p £60
American Update: Sock It To Shellhead! Golden Avenger restocked
*Marvel: A chunky update to our Silver & Bronze Age stocks of Iron Man, from #3 up to #48. Many debuts along the way, including the Controller (#12), Madame Masque & Midas (#17), Firebrand (#27) and Spymaster (#33). Check out our catalogue listings for full details.
American Update: Let’s Rap With Cap! Star-Spangled Avenger restocked
*Marvel: A chunky top up this week to our Silver & Bronze Age stock of Captain America, commencing from #101 up to #170. Included along the way are #109 (Kirby origin issue) and #111 (Steranko cover and art), plus many of the less often seen Gene Colan run that followed. Check out our catalogue listings for full details.
American Update: Atomic Sci-Fi! Charlton’s Outer Space and Space Adventures (with the first comics appearance of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!)
*Charlton: Like every publisher, Charlton Comics was caught up in the frenzy of the Space Race, with its two most prominent titles being Outer Space and Space Adventures. Outer Space #17 has an unexpected and rather spiffy Williamson/Wood story, while #21 presents more tales of daring in deep space. Meanwhile, companion title Space Adventures dipped its toe into the world of media adaptations, devoting the pages of #15 to ‘Rocky Jones, Space Ranger’, a TV series starring Richard Crane. What was the ‘most vital subject of our times’ addressed on the cover of Outer Space #17? Why, you owe it to yourself to buy and read the issue!
PICTURED:
OUTER SPACE #17 VG+ £35 SOLD
SPACE ADVENTURES #15 VG+ £34
American Update: Old Modern Comics! Blackhawk, Torchy, Choo-Choo and more from Quality’s Golden Age
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: You’d be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at this header, but it’s okay – they’re old Modern Comics! Launched in 1941 as ‘Military Comics’, this anthology series starred Blackhawk and his international squadron of aviators, as they battled an ever more bizarre array of villains (and slinky and curvaceous villainesses), backed up by an assortment of adventure and comedy strips. Among the latter was Bill Ward’s ‘Torchy’, a statuesque blonde who appeared to be a spiritual sister of the Daily Mirror’s newspaper-strip heroine ‘Jane’, in that there was no situation, no matter how unlikely, in which she wouldn’t end up in lingerie or revealing clothing, causing chaos all around her! After the war, the title changed its name to ‘Modern Comics’, continuing with the adventures of the Blackhawks in the lead, by Reed Crandall, Klaus Nordling, George Evans and other superlative artists, but the other adventurers largely left the building, and Torchy was joined by a whole bunch of comedy cohorts including Gill Fox’s ‘Choo-Choo’, who vied with Torchy for the ‘Good Girl Art’ award in any given issue! We have eight of these delightful anthologies newly listed, commencing with 1947’s #58, to #93 in 1950.
PICTURED: MODERN COMICS # 58 VG+ £58
American Update: A Date With Patsy – and Hedy! Marvel’s ‘Gals on the Go-Go’ from #51 to their final issue, #110
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: Launched in 1952, the third ongoing series starring Patsy Walker and her ‘frenemy’ Hedy Wolfe began as an Atlas comic, but lasted well into Marvel’s Silver Age, with Patsy & Hedy’s existence in the Marvel Universe ‘proper’ being confirmed by their attendance at the wedding of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four Annual #3! During this long run, commencing with #51 and ending with the final issue, #110, (plus their first and only Annual) our heroines grew up from high-schoolers, to young career women, to ‘Gals on the Go-Go!’, finally fading out in 1967 – though Patsy would return almost a decade later as the happy-go-lucky Hellcat! This is a run of around 50 issues, with some duplicated numbers, in varying conditions.
PICTURED: PATSY AND HEDY # 51 VG £11
American Update: More Mighty Marvel Mags! – Marvel Preview (Including First Star-Lord), Rampaging Hulk and more
*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: A new selection of Marvel Magazines in stock, commencing with Bizarre Adventures, touching on Deadly Hands of Kung Fu and Doc Savage, the one-shot Marvel Super Action starring the Punisher, Huntress (later Mockingbird) and Dominic Fortune, a couple of Marvel Graphic Novels – Cloak & Dagger and the Inhumans – the first issue of Tomb of Dracula magazine from 1979, a selection of the ‘continuity implant’ Rampaging Hulk from #1 up, and a significant range of the showcase magazine Marvel Preview, starring Star-Lord (including issue #4, his debut).
PICTURED: MARVEL PREVIEW #4 FN- £70
British Update: Festival of Britain – Captain Britain Monthly – Complete Run of Cult 1980s Series
*Marvel UK: Following his popular revival in other Marvel UK anthologies, and rave reviews for the daring and innovative Alan Moore/Alan Davis storylines, the ‘new’ Captain Britain was given his second solo series in 1985, and although Moore had jumped ship, the quality of the scripts continued for the monthly magazine, with Jamie Delano’s scripts and Alan Davis’ artwork presenting an enticing saga of multiversal conflict. The Crazy Gang, Gatecrasher’s TechNet, Slaymaster and Mastermind all returned, and briefly, Brian Braddock’s sister, Betsy (later Psylocke of the X-Men) made her costumed debut as the second Captain Britain. This also featured Parkhouse & Lloyd’s 1930s-era vigilante ‘Night Raven’, and occasional new stories spotlighting other characters from the expanded Captain Britain mythos. We have a complete 14-issue run of this keenly-collected series, averaging FN/VF, so if you haven’t sampled it before, here’s your chance! This was the final series for the Captain for a couple of years until he reappeared in Marvel US’s Excalibur title, but stay with us for our final ‘Festival of Britain’ update, when we return to the past to see how it all began!
PICTURED: CAPTAIN BRITAIN (1985) #1 FN/VF £15 SOLD
British Update: Buffalo Bill Annuals by Denis McLoughlin, 1950-1961
*Annuals: Distributed through the Woolworth’s chain stores, the Buffalo Bill series was publisher T. V. Boardman’s most successful annual series. Commencing with the 1950 Annual (released late Autumn 1949), the series began with children from the then-present time-travelling to meet the legendary hero and participate in his adventures – a light-fantasy concept that was subsequently forgotten about in favour of just Western adventures. But writer/artist of the Buffalo Bill strips, Denis McLoughlin, was a knowledgeable man about the Old West, and rather than being simple shoot-’em-ups, his stories were engaging and historically accurate, with additional well-researched text pieces from Arthur Groom, Rex James and McLoughlin’s brother Colin backing up the adventure strips. But the series is best remembered for McLoughlin’s lavish artwork, in strips, text illustrations, and colour inserts. We have nine of the thirteen Buffalo Bill Annuals back in stock, after a very long absence from our shelves, ranging from the first, 1950 (two copies) to 1961’s #12. Condition varies, and some have minor flaws, but all are complete (though without dustjackets in most cases).
PICTURED: BUFFALO BILL ANNUAL #1 (1950) GD/VG £22.50
British Update: Action – Pre-Ban Issues from 1976 including #1 – Hold on for Hookjaw!
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1976, the well-beloved weekly which was the home of cuddly man-eating shark Hookjaw and several other strips of remarkable controversy and violence! Pre-dating its longer-lived stablemate 2000 AD, and serving to ‘incubate’ much of 2000 AD’s talent, Action paved the way for a darker, bloodier and more cynical trend in boys’ adventure weeklies, with even the traditional genres of sport and war strips getting a nihilistic veneer – to the point where it was eventually banned from the newsstands, to re-emerge months later as a soft-serve shadow of its former self. We have the first issue (no free gift, sorry) in FN, plus 6 other 1976 pre-ban issues new in stock.
PICTURED: ACTION 14/02/1976 (1ST ISSUE) FN £45
British Update: Countdown to TV Action – includes rarer, later issues
*TV & Film Related Comics: After the demise of TV Century 21, Polystyle took over with the new series Countdown, inspired by the space race, which starred all of the old Gerry Anderson strips, plus Doctor Who and the eponymous ‘Countdown’, a brand-new space opera stylishly illustrated by John M. Burns. Highly collectible at a confluence of two major fandoms (Fanderson and Whovians), the series’ appeal is enhanced by its high production standards: glossy paper, more interior colour than was customary for the time, and script and art by some of the top talents in the field. The series shifted emphasis mid-path, becoming ‘TV Action’, with the focus switching from sci-fi to crime, and while Doctor Who remained a constant throughout, skipping only a handful of the 132 issues, straight adventure series such as ‘The Protectors’, ‘Hawaii Five-O’, and ‘Mission: Impossible’ dominated the title. After issue #100, the magazine shifted focus to one long cover-featured complete story, and these later issues are significantly less common than their predecessors. We have a range of nine Countdown issues, beginning with #2, and ten TV Action, from #100 to #130, newly added to our stocks.
PICTURED: TV ACTION #123 FN £9 SOLD
British Update: Free Gift Farrago! Bunty From 1964 to 1966
*Girls’ Comics: Launched in 1958, Bunty wasn’t the first weekly comic for girls, but it was the longest-running, not hanging up its ballet shoes until 2001, and is the best-remembered, not only for itself but for spawning a litter of popular siblings – Judy, Diana, Mandy, Debbie and more – from the Dundee offices of publisher D.C. Thomson. Home to ‘The Four Marys’ and ‘The Dancing Life of Moira Kent’, it entertained generations of girls, and perked up its sales figures periodically by Free Gifts of some decorative trinket, three of which have found their way to us this week. Issue #349, from 1964, offers the ‘Ladybird Ring’ – still in its original envelope, though the ring is partly poking through the front. The comic is VG – slight yellowing, a bit of paper ‘bumpiness’ from interior storage of the gift for decades – but the gift is VF. 1965’s issue #403 is GD – slight ink marking on the front cover, where copies have been stacked before properly dried – and the gift of an Autograph Book has rusty staples, so is also GD. Lastly, 1966’s #458 is FN, bright and clean, with the ‘Gay Bunty Bracelet’ VF in original envelope.
PICTURED: BUNTY
#349 VG GIFT VF £40 SOLD
#403 GD GIFT GD £20 SOLD
#458 FN GIFT VF £45 SOLD
American Update: Marvel Epic Collections- Iron Man and the Silver Surfer
*Modern Reprints: Largely superceding Marvel Essentials and Marvel Masterworks, the latest sequential reprints of Marvel’s historic characters are the Epic Collections, presenting the earliest appearances of the classic heroes in full-colour, high-quality paperback collections! Two such items, brand new, grace our shelves this week: The Silver Surfer, which gathers Norrin Radd’s adventures prior to his own solo series, including his debut in Fantastic Four #48 and multiple other FF issues, plus his first solo tale from FF Annual 5 and a crossover with the Hulk; and Iron Man, with a sequential reprinting of Tony Stark’s armoured alter-ego from Tales of Suspense #39 to #72! Both are brand new/Mint at £36 each.
American Update: Fabulous Facsimile Editions – Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 by O’Neil and Adams
*Modern Reprints: Continuing the releases of facsimile editions of historic issues, DC this week brings us #85 of the acclaimed Green Lantern/Green Arrow series by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, in which the two Emerald Crusaders fought social evils and injustices. This issue featured the shocking revelation that Green Arrow’s sidekick, Speedy, was caught up in the drug abuse epidemic, and, while somewhat heavy-handed by today’s standards, was groundbreaking and important, winning several awards. Like all recent facsimiles, this is, apart from legally-necessary price and indicia changes, an exact replica of the original comic, including all ads and text pages. New/Mint at £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 file in our American section:
*Marvel A – C
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
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:
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s
and in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Announcing… the Square Mile Collection! (High Grade Original Owner)
As dealers (and collectors ourselves) our dream is to be offered a truly sensational set of comics, particularly when it’s a true vintage collection from an original owner. Such is what happened recently with an early Silver Age collection offered to us from an original owner within the City of London. Our collective jaws dropped with astonishment at the quality and condition of the comics on offer. Having sealed the acquisition of this collection, we are now ready to start unveiling it for sale. We’re calling it the ‘Square Mile Collection’ so you can easily identify comics from it as we list them in the coming months.
The original owner of this collection purchased the comics when new, read them at the time and kept them in storage since the 1960s. When we viewed and valued them, we were stunned at 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.
The Square Mile collection consists of Marvel and DC comics (mainly) across many titles, including lots of key and early issues and we’ll be offering them for sale over the months ahead; the listing starts next weekend. To commemorate this auspicious collection, each comic will come branded with a special label and certificate of authenticity verifying it as part of the Square Mile Collection. Look out for them in our Newsletters and on our What’s New Page.
American Update: Batmania continues: Batman’s Big ‘Uns! Limited Collectors’ Edition Tabloids from The 1970s
*DC: DC’s Limited Collectors’ Edition tabloids of the 1970s, most of which were non-distributed in the UK, are highly sought-after now, their extra dimensions not lending themselves to long-term storage, and being more prone to damage than the average comic book. Among the most sought-after are the several issues featuring Batman, of which we have four new to our lists: C-25, with a selection of the Darknight Detective’s stellar artists from all eras, including Robinson, Infantino and Adams; C-37, an ‘All-Villain Special’ featuring vintage tales of the Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face, the Penguin and the Scarecrow; C-44, a spectacular collection of baffling mystery cases and C-59, with an original Adams cover fronting ‘Batman’s Strangest Cases’, including contributions from Giordano, Novick, Wrightson and that Adams boy again.
PICTURED: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION
C-25 FN- £25 SOLD
C-37 VF- £40 SOLD
C-44 FN+ £30 SOLD
C-59 VF- £35 SOLD
American Update: Put On A Happy Face! Complete first Joker solo series from 1975 & 1976
*DC: Daringly, in 1975, DC awarded the Joker his own title, (in defiance of the Comics Code, which said that villains couldn’t be shown to triumph) and even now, decades later, it remains the Clown Prince Of Crime’s only on-going series. Not that it ‘on-went’ for long, stopping at #9. But what was a Bronze Age curio has now become a much sought-after short series with one of the hottest characters in comics. The first issue pits ‘Mr. J.’ against fellow villain Two-Face, and subsequent issues feature DCU guest heroes and villains such as the Creeper, the Royal Flush Gang, Green Arrow, Lex Luthor, the Scarecrow, Catwoman and Sherlock Holmes! With the Joker recently getting his own solo big-screen movie, his Silver and Bronze Age appearances are spiralling in value. A full run of all 9 issues now back in stock.
PICTURED: JOKER #1 FN p £70 SOLD
American Update: DC Debuts: Y The Last Man #1
*DC: Even though we’re famous for crumbly old comics, we do sometimes admit a deserving modern item to the catalogue, and 2002’s Y The Last Man #1 is such an exception. After a devastating event which eliminates all men – and all male mammals – from planet Earth, society must restructure itself with an all-female paradigm. But not quite all-female. Two males survive: Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand. Some factions of the surviving women want to rescue Yorick, some to study him, some to exploit him, some to eradicate him; but with literally all the women in the world seeking him, Yorick wants only one woman: his girlfriend, who was across the globe when the cataclysm hit. Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi series was a huge hit for DC/Vertigo, winning shedloads of awards, and media adaptation rumours persist. This copy of #1 is a superior FN.
PICTURED: Y THE LAST MAN #1 FN £60 SOLD
American Update: ‘Follow Me… For I Am… The Phantom Stranger!’ Classic suspense series from 1969 onwards
*DC: Tying in with DC’s late-sixties Horror/Mystery revival, the Phantom Stranger, a short-lived series from the 1950s, was revived in fine style in 1969. The Showcase tryout and the first few issues of the Stranger’s own series followed the pattern established in the ’50s: the nameless Stranger, a white-haired figure dressed in black, showed up at a situation and defused it by apparently magical means, while professional debunker Doctor Terence Thirteen decried the whole supernatural angle. After the first few issues, though, scripter Robert Kanigher got a little bit out there, delivering full-on spooky sagas such as #4, superbly illustrated by Neal Adams, which introduced the Stranger’s beloved nemesis, the enigmatic Tala. Soon after, Jim Aparo took over as regular artist and the Stranger became essentially DC’s Doctor Strange, with stylish layouts, a genuinely disturbing atmosphere, and some of the finest covers of the period. We have the first five of the Stranger’s series back in stock, plus several others from the first twenty, all in high grades, averaging VF.
PICTURED: PHANTOM STRANGER (1969) #1 FN+ £35 SOLD
American Update: DC Silver/Bronze Sweep – ‘C’ to ‘E’ titles
*DC: Continuing our massive sweep through DC, this week we reach titles beginning with the letters ‘C’ to ‘E’, thus topping up our stock for Camelot 3000 (all 12 issues now available singly as well as collectively), Challengers of the Unknown, Champion Sports, Creeper, DC Comics Presents (#27, 1st Mongul), DC 100 Page Super-Spectacular, DC Special Series, DC Super-Stars (inc #17, Huntress origin), Detective Comics (inc #387, 30th Anniversary issue & #470,1st Silver St Cloud and modern Hugo Strange), and 80 Page Giant.
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: the Koming of Kang! Master of Time’s Debut in Avengers #8
*Marvel: Early issues of the Avengers are always in high demand, and issue #8, featuring the premier appearance of Kang, Lord of Time, is a tense drama, with the World’s Mightiest Heroes all but helpless in the face of his futuristic technology. In this Lee/Kirby classic, the powerhouses of the team are effortlessly immobilised, leaving the fate of the Avengers, and the world, in the hands of the Wasp and Rick Jones! Kang, of course, became (and remains) a thorn in the side of multiple Avengers teams, but this is his first appearance in the Marvel Universe. This copy is an attractive VG+, would possibly grade higher but for moderate spine wear which does not impinge upon the cover image.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #8 VG+ p £225 SOLD
American Update: Slab Happy/Spider-Mania: Amazing Spider-Man #252 with Black Costume (Later Venom) – Signed by Stan Lee
*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 to Venom, who eclipsed most longer-established villains to become Spidey’s crucial nemesis for ensuing decades, and eventually the star of his own hit film franchise – without Spidey! Although the first appearance of the symbiote in internal continuity was Secret Wars #8, its debut in real time was this very issue. This is from the CGC Signature Series, signed on the cover by Stan Lee on 29th March 2007, then graded by CGC as 9.4 NM.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #252 SIGNED BY STAN LEE CGC 9.4 £400 SOLD
American Update: Sentinel of the Spaceways – Silver Surfer (1968) From #1 onward
*Marvel: Following his debut in Fantastic Four #48, Norrin Radd, Herald of Galactus, gained popularity as a recurring guest star, and his status was confirmed when Marvel launched the Silver Surfer’s own series in the double-sized format in 1968. This premier issue featured, for the first time, John Buscema’s illustrations on the Surfer, a body of work generally acknowledged to be among his finest, and presented also for the first time a 38 page account of the Surfer’s origins, plus (in the back) a 13 page tale of the Watcher, detailing the reasons behind the Watcher’s oath of non-interference. The first run of the Surfer’s solo series has achieved cult status, with the first seven double-sized issues in particular being keenly sought out. We have half-a dozen first series Surfers back in stock, beginning with the first in FA (spine split, moderate to notable cover creasing, label ‘scuff’), and including #2 (1st Badoon), #3 (1st Mephisto), and the final Jack Kirby drawn issue of series one (#18).
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER #1 FA £100 SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: NYX #3 – Debut X-23/Laura/’Wolverina’
*Marvel: A breakout hit of the early 21st Century, issue #3 of the short-lived series of NYX – short for ‘New York X-Men’ if you’re wondering – featured the first appearance of Wolverine’s ‘cloned daughter’ (it’s comic books, don’t worry about it), a brainwashed psychotic assassin who moonlighted as an underage hooker. And they say the age of heroes is dead. Be that as it may, the character’s popularity mushroomed as she was featured in Avengers Academy, Avengers Arena and New X-Men, and she briefly assumed the title of Wolverine herself during one of her putative cloned dad’s temporary demises. Interest was piqued further by a version of the character making her cinematic debut in the ‘Logan’ movie, causing this low-print run modern comic to acquire what seems to a casual eye a disproportionate ‘heat’. Her first and second appearances, NYX #3 & #4, are now once again available.
PCTURED: NYX #3 (2003) VF- £150 SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Moondragon Debuts in Iron Man #54
*Marvel: Despite the fact that she hasn’t been the subject of a Marvel Movie or TV Show yet (but just wait half a tick…) the follicularly-challenged, attitude-enhanced mental marvel Moondragon has been spiking in popularity. We speculate that the rise in interest is owing to her connection with Thanos and his merry crew, who are all over the media right now, and she’s catching some of the, as it were, ‘shared heat’ in anticipation of a future media debut. Her first appearance in comics, however, was under a somewhat less dignified nom de guerre of Madam McEvil! This debut of an up-and-coming character is a FN/VF cents copy, no UK pricing.
PICTURED: IRON MAN #54 FN/VF £110
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Angry Bird! Savage She-Hulk #1 & #2 from 1980
*Marvel: Let’s be honest, on the face of it, the She-Hulk sounded like a really lame idea when we first heard of her — what was to follow? Hulk-Hound, the Hulkmobile, Planet Hulk? But intermittently chartreuse lawyer Jen Walters has gone on to become one of the most enduring and endearing characters in the Marvel Universe, with creators such as John Byrne and Dan Slott providing charm, wit and (mostly) intelligent humour in her own series and during tenures with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. There wasn’t too much trace of that in Jen’s first series, the Savage She-Hulk, when it saw the light of day back in 1980 and she was as angry as her cousin (though didn’t burst out of quite as much of her clothing, thanks to the exigencies of the Comics Code Authority) but Savage She-Hulk #1 – by the legendary creators Stan Lee and John Buscema – is where Jen’s illustrious career got its start. Non-distributed in the UK, so there are no pence copies, this is also accompanied by the savage second issue for your collecting convenience.
PICTURED: SHE-HULK (1980) #1 VF £65 SOLD
American Update: Fantastic Four Annual #2 – a Doom-Laden Spectacular
*Marvel: For the first time, the origin of Doctor Doom and the reason for his pathological hatred of Reed Richards, was revealed in an all-new story in Fantastic Four Annual #2, a Victor Von Doom Solo by Lee and Kirby disclosing the monarch of Latveria’s secrets. This was followed by a full-length reprint of FF#5, the good Doctor’s very first appearance, and then by a second all-new story, in which the FF fall victim to illusions, misdirection and trickery in a classic Dr. Doom gambit. One for the Doomsayers, this epic issue is newly in stock in GD- (upper and lower spine splits, moderate corner wear.)
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #2 GD- p £35 SOLD
American Update: Avengers Assemble – The Thick ‘Uns! Specials and Annuals and Giant-Sizers
*Marvel: A collection of low to mid-grade Special issues of Marvel’s Mightiest Heroes this week, commencing with Annual #2, a superb parallel worlds saga, and including other early Annuals plus two significant debut issues: Annual #7, the epic conclusion of Jim Starlin’s Thanos/Warlock Cosmic Odyssey, and Annual #10, with Spider-Woman, the X-Men, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the first appearance of Rogue! We then move on to the Giant-Size Avengers quarterly of the 1970s kicking off with its first issue: the All-Winners Squad returns! (well, bits of it) and continuing the Kang/Rama-Tut/Celestial Madonna saga. While a bit tired and worn, these lovelies can still provide hours of reading pleasure; for grades and prices on these soiled doves, kindly consult our captivating Catalogue pages.
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: X-Factor Begins – the Original X-Men Line-up Returns, with Debut of Apocalypse
*Marvel: Following the discovery of the original Jean Grey floating in an abandoned mattress (sorry, ‘cocoon’) in the Hudson river, Marvel were urged to ‘get the band back together’, now that all of the original X-Men were back in play, and they did – but the way they did it was a little odd. Writer Bob Layton and artist Jackson ‘Butch’ Guice presented the founding X-Men as a Ghostbusters-style mutant-hunting team dedicated to ostensibly tracking down and incarcerating mutants while actually rescuing and training them, a self-hating and contradictory premise which disturbed and annoyed readers (‘Next ish – Storm, Black Panther and Luke Cage join the Klan!’). Fortunately, within a few issues Louise and Walter Simonson took over, and things got a lot more sensible. We have a new selection of the X-Factor series from #1 to #25, including #5 and #6, with the first cameo and full appearances of Apocalypse.
PICTURED: X-FACTOR
#5 VF p £30
#6 VF p £40
American Update: ‘Across The Rainbow Bridge of Asgard…’ Massive Thor update, with Hercules, the Eternals and more
*Marvel: A substantial Silver/Bronze Age Sweep through the hallowed halls of Asgard, commencing with issue #127 of Thor’s series and closing with #301. This range includes both the special anniversary issues #200 and #300, and a range from the #290’s featuring an extensive cross-over with the Eternals, suddenly the ‘hot new property’ of the 21st century! As a bonus, there’s a couple of Annuals, including a low-grade very first (technically Journey Into Mystery Annual #1) introducing Marvel’s Hercules! Join Thor and all his wacky chums – Loki, Hela, Odin, Sif, the Absorbing Man, the Destroyer – for celestial shenanigans galore!
American Update: Silver Bronze Age Marvel sweep with many key issues
*Marvel: Another skirmish through the Silver/Bronze Ages of Marvel, this time a spicy romp with many key issues thrown in! Titles include Conan (from #5), Daredevil #168 (1st Elektra), Ghost Rider, Hulk (Annual #1 with classic Steranko cover), Infinity war (#1 & #2), Marvel Premiere, Marvel Super-Heroes (#16 with Phantom Eagle), Moon Knight (#25 1st Black Spectre), Ms. Marvel, Star Wars, X-Men and material from the Age Of Apocalypse: X-Men Omega, X-Universe and Generation Next).