*Marvel: Following significant Hulk sales, we’re giving you more of what you want by increasing the range of Hulk back numbers listed in our online catalogue. Previously we’d cut off at #200, but we’ve now expanded our catalogue listing with issues up to #350. Although sadly we don’t have all the issues in that range, we do have over 90 new items in our catalogue, including the debuts of the second Moonstone (later a key player as Meteorite in Thunderbolts) and Sabra, the rebranding of Marvel’s first super-hero Dr. Droom as Dr. Druid, the four-colour first appearances of Jack of Hearts and Bereet, who’d only previously been in the black & white magazines, the John Byrne run including Bruce & Betty’s long-deferred wedding, the Peter David & Todd McFarlane ‘Grey Hulk’ era, and the parallel thread with Rick Jones as Green Hulk. No, honestly. A plethora of our Not-So-Jolly Green Giant and his Pals n’ Gals, all newly installed for you!
Category Archives: What’s New
American Update: Magnus, Robot Fighter
*Gold Key/Whitman: A chunky update to our stocks of the Gold Key title Magnus Robot Fighter, between issues #7 & #32. With superlative art by Russ Manning and gorgeous painted covers, this sci-fi extravaganza was a cut above anything else being published by Gold Key at the time and remains a timeless classic.
American Update: The Atlas Explosion! Justice – Timely/Atlas Crime Blockbuster
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Martin Goodman, publisher of Timely (later Atlas), reportedly never met a bandwagon he didn’t like, and as soon as publishers like Lev Gleason started hitting it big with crime comics, lo and behold, crime titles proliferated at the company that would eventually become Marvel. One of the earliest, and one of the hardiest, was Justice, which debuted in 1947 with issue #7 (taking over the number of the defunct Wacky Duck, doubtless causing raised eyebrows amongst subscribers’ parents) and lasting until 1955. Espousing the traditional American values of greed, murder and casual violence towards women (but always with a last-panel save by the authorities), Justice featured outstanding work by Colan, Heath, Maneely, Robinson, Shores and Wildey. We can now mete out Justice to you – virtually all of it, from the debut issue, #7, to the final #52. Illustrated are #8 (actually #2 in the series) GD- £16, #22 FN+ £28, #41 GD £25 (notorious electric chair cover), and #43 VG £20; for details of all the others, see our online catalogue.
American Update: The Atlas Explosion! Post Code Horror Mega-Fest continues with Adventure Into Mystery
*Horror 1940-1959: Among the many short-run mystery series produced in the wake of the Comics Code Authority was this eight-issue series launched in 1956, and closing doors a year later. Despite its obscure status, it features some very lovely cover work, and several tales concocted with imagination and vigour to compensate for the restraints on violence enforced by the Code. Charming and elegant work from Severin, Everett, Williamson, Powell, Orlando and Torres and more. Illustrated are #2 VG £60 and #4 VG £57.
American Update: Slab Happy: Our Fighting Forces #1 – Debut issue of iconic DC series
*War: The War comics genre has been consistently popular for decades, kicking off just a few years after World War II concluded, and one of the major contributors to the field has always been DC, whose long-running series are fondly remembered by a generation of readers. One such was Our Fighting Forces, cover-dated October-November 1954 on its first issue, an anthology helmed by writer-editor Bob Kanigher, and featuring the talents of Irv Novick, Arthur Peddy, George Papp and Jerry Grandenetti, who also provided this issue’s striking cover. Lasting 181 issues until 1978, Our Fighting Forces is best remembered for its ongoing series characters, most notably the Losers, but they were still in the title’s future, and this premier edition features unconnected anthology tales of combat. This is a CBCS 2.5 graded copy (GD+ equivalent) and is on sale at £125.
American Update: The Atlas Explosion! Rawhide Kid – First Series of Classic Western Hero
*Western: The Rawhide Kid is one of Marvel’s better known western characters, both from his long-running original series and the controversial reinterpretations of the character from the early part of this century. When he debuted in his own series in 1955, however, he was a very different character, blond and plainly-attired, as opposed to the more famous short-statured, nattily dressed redhead. After only sixteen issues, the original Rawhide Kid was discontinued in 1957, but subsequent and somewhat ham-fisted attempts have been made to continuity-bodge him with his successor. Setting all that aside, we have several issues of the original RK for you to try; created by Stan Lee and Bob Brown, most of his issues had appealing covers by John Severin, though Joe Maneely illustrates the example pictured here, #14 (VG+ £47). Details of the others, as always, may be discerned in our online catalogue.
American Update: Gemstone EC Reprints including Crime & Shock SuspenStories
*Modern Reprints: EC, as we’ve noted many times, brought new levels of quality to the realm of comics – and new levels of controversy, as censorious cretins objected to the more mature storylines. The originals are highly sought-after, and quite expensive, but for those of you who are curious to see what the fuss was about – but not wanting to lash out so much money – Gemstone published full-colour sequential facsimiles of the classic EC titles in the 1990s, and new stocks of those are available now, including substantial runs of Crime SuspenStories and Shock SuspenStories, shorter runs of Weird Science-Fantasy and Incredible Science-Fiction, and a light dash of Weird Fantasy and Haunt of Fear!
American/British Update: A splendid new selection of Classics Illustrated including many rare UK originals
*Classics Illustrated: It’s the turn of the UK version of Classics Illustrated to be in the spotlight this update, as we feature over two dozen rare and collectable editions of this much-loved title. Included are Westward Ho! (both 1st and later printings), The Deerslayer, The Corsican Brothers, the Black Tulip with new British cover, Mr. Midshipman Easy (with line-drawn cover), The Iliad, The Master Of Ballantrae (with new British cover), The Gold Bug (with new British cover) and most of the range of UK originals never published in the USA: Sail With The Devil, Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, The Gorilla Hunters, The Canterville Ghost, The Dog Crusoe, Master & Man, The Aeneid and Saga Of The North. Please refer to our catalogue for grading and pricing details.
American/British Update: Goin’ Underground! UGs (and selected indies) from the US and UK 1970s to 1990s
*Undergrounds: Around 75 new listings to our collection of counter-culture classics. There’s a deluge of US original undergounds which flourished in the Seventies – Anarchy, Anomaly, Barefootz Funnies, Class War, Dr. Wirtham’s Comix & Stories, Greaser, Harold Hedd: Hitler’s Cocaine, Human Drama, Man, Middle Class Fantasies, Phoebe & the Pigeon People, Quack!, Rip Off, Slow Death, Snoid, Spaced, Spasm, Tales from the Leather Nun, Trina’s Women and The Best of Wimmen’s Comix & Other Comix by Women. There’s a selection of British Undergrounds, which started by reprinting the American material, often under the ‘Cozmic Comics’ imprint – Bijou Funnies, Half-Assed, Serious Comics, Tales From the Fridge – but grew into a thriving array of original talent, with the Knockabout Comics anthology and the occasional one-off like Lion & Lamb and Blackhill Bullshit. Then there are selected independent titles which arose in the 80s and 90s owing their roots to a fusion of the Underground and mainstream movements – Omaha the Cat Dancer, Steve Ditko’s Avenging Tales and Weirdo. A cornucopia of class and crass – frequently in the pages of the same comic!
British Update: UK & Australian Reprints Galore – Batman, Blackhawk, Dracula, Frankenstein and More
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: In excess of fifty vintage reprint issues added to our lists this time, from a period in the 50s and 60s when scarcity of American originals meant that odd repackagings of familiar strips turned up in ersatz black & white (occasionally with a dash of colour) reprints designed to fill the ecological niche in the newsagents. Gordon & Gotch, Murray, Arnold, Strato, Thorpe & Porter, Top Sellers and World Distributors were among the more common repackagers – and several of them may be yet-undiscovered arms of the same publisher – with the titles added to this week including the terror trilogy of one-shots Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy, superheroics with Blackhawk, Batman and the Flash, sci-fi starring Brick Bradford and his Time Top, crime with Manhunt and Marc Brody Illustrated, supernatural thrills from Adventures Into the Unknown and Unusual Tales, and Giant Comic, a squarebound anthology with rotating features including Black Diamond, All-Star Western and Turok, Son of Stone.
British Update: Not quite top of the class… cheap and cheerful post decimal Alan Class Reprints
*Alan Class Reprints: Some lower profile Alan Class reprints this update, as we add dozens of issues for the following titles: Creepy Worlds, Out Of This World (2nd series), Secrets Of The Unknown, Sinister Tales, Suspense & Uncanny Tales. These are mostly post decimal and towards lower grades, so coming in at around £1.75 each!
British Update: A cavalcade of Girls’ Annuals 1960s-1980s
*Annuals: This update, a couple of dozen girls’ annuals fresh in from the 1960s-1980s for the following popular titles: Bunty, Judy, June, Penelope, Pixie & Tammy.
British Update: Kimota! – Marvelman, Young Marvelman and Marvelman Family
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following the demise of the original Captain Marvel & Family in the 1950s, UK Publisher Len Miller, who had been lucratively reprinting the adventures of the hero now known as Shazam!, decided to produce his own look-alike version, with the aid of Mick Anglo studios. Marvelman was born – and in his turn begat Young Marvelman and Marvelman Family, other all-new spin-offs ‘homaging’ the Marvel Family. 14 of these 1950s gentle fantasies, a far cry from the gritty 80s reinterpretation by Alan Moore and company, are now back in our boxes, in grades between FA and VG.
British Update: Just Landed – A Squadron Of Eagles – Volume 8 Restocked
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Volume 8 of Eagle now replenished by a nearly complete run, mainly in VG or FN grades. Featuring Frank Hampson’s Dan Dare in his heyday, these are very attractive comics.
British Update: Super-Detective, Thriller and TV Picture Stories – New Stocks of Hit Series
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: The pocket-sized Picture Libraries remain enduringly popular, and we’re very pleased to have refreshed popular titles this update: a selection of Super-Detective Library, from #36 to #174, starring Blackshirt, Tod Claymore, Vic Terry, Buck Ryan and more; Thriller, ranging from #26 to #145, featuring variously the Three Musketeers, Battler Britton, John Steel, and Spy 13 and TV Picture Stories, numbers between #15 to #29, predominantly presenting Highway Patrol, but veering into O.S.S. in the latter issue. Rounding it off, a dash of War – War Picture Library, issues from #55 to #119. These are low-to-mid-grade, complete and affordable reading copies.
British Update: Long Hot Summer AND Free Gift Farrago Event – Twinkle, Twinkle…
*Younger Readers’ Comics: Twinkle, the picture paper especially for pre-school girls, saw off a plethora of imitators and had a very respectable run, from 1968 to 1999, with Patsy Panda, Witch Winkle and our eponymous heroine enjoying low-impact adventures till the early days of the 21st Century, thanks to the continuing Summer Specials. We have a range of later Free Gift or special issues of Twinkle, from #1000 in 1987, (which came with no fewer than five different books – collect the set!) the 25th Anniversary Special, the 1500th issue, and the very final, #1637 in 1999, many of these issues festooned with stickers, books, colouring books, friendship bracelets, and the highly-prized Polly Penguin Glove Puppet! (Now, now; calm down…) Twinkle’s star wasn’t quite snuffed out with her final weekly, however, as the Summer/Holiday Specials continued, and we have a lot of later Specials to offer, from 1981’s Summer Special to 2005’s Holiday Special – so all you Nurse Nancy completists, you know who to call!
Clearance Corner: Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis: 8 1950s/60s/70s issues for £50
*Clearance Corner: Long before the days of Snapchat and Instagram, celebrities’ public profiles were kept up by, among other media, comic books, in which licenced versions of the film & tv performers went through carefully-screened panelological hijinks. Two such were famous film comedians Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis, each of whom racked up more than 100 issues of their respective series at DC from the 1950s through to the 1960s. Their star power, however, not having crossed the Atlantic, we’re now offering eight issues of Bob & Jerry – six Bobs, two Jerrys – at a significantly reduced price. From 1953 & 1954, we have Adventures of Bob Hope #19-24, a nice sequence, and from 1968 & 1971, Adventures of Jerry Lewis #107 and #122. All are graced by the comedic art of Bob Oksner, written (at least largely) by Arnold Drake, and in decent mid-grades ranging from Good to Fine. Originally on sale at a retail of just under £150 combined, these can now be yours for just £50. UK postage, if required, is £5.
Change to opening time
A bit of advance notice: our opening time is changing from Monday 7th January to 11:00 a.m., so our new hours will be 11:00 to 18:00 Monday-Saturday.
Books Update: Philip K Dick – Spotted!
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’ve added a baker’s dozen of books by this very popular author. Pictured are A Maze Of Death, Clans Of The Alphane Moon, The Preserving Machine And Other Stories, Time Out Of Joint, We Can Build You and (written with Zelazny) Deus Irae. Apart from the books shown we’ve also included Dr Bloodmoney Or How We Got Along After The Bomb, Dr Futurity/ The Unteleported Man (an Ace Double), Eye In The Sky, Solar Lottery,The Variable Man, The Zap Gun and Vulcan’s Hammer. Most of these titles are 1st PB.
Clearance Corner: 37 issues of Crisis for Just £25!
*Clearance Corner: Leaving our boxes this week to make way for incoming stock is Fleetway’s Crisis, a star of the late 1980s British comics boom and their attempt to produce intelligent, mature and politically and socially aware comics. Starting out with Third World War by Pat Mills & Carlos Ezquerra and New Statesmen by John Smith and Jim Baikie, it later featured The New Adventures of Hitler and other strips by Grant Morrison, Troubled Souls by Garth Ennis and John McCrea (Ennis’s start in comics) and many other noteable strips by British and European creators. The run lasted 63 issues from 1988-1991. This bargain lot features 37 issues (#1-10, #12, #14-33, #35-37, #39 & #45 as well as one spin-off: Crisis Presents #3, Xpresso; issues #15-17 come with their original Free Gifts. Almost all issues are FN or VF, with a couple lower, a couple higher. This lot is now available for just £25; UK postage and packing if required will be an extra £8. SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD
Clearance Corner: Pick Your Own! Wizard 1931-1977 – Just 50p each!
*Clearance Corner: Our bargain basement offerings are back with a difference this week! Rather than bundling up a lot for your consideration, we’re offering you a chance to pick any issues you want from our listing of Wizard, the UK comic story paper that ran from 1922 to 1978 (in two series), for just 50p each! Ignore the individual prices shown in our catalogue. We have hundreds in stock from 1931-1977, all listed in our Boys’ Adventure & War Comics category. One of D C Thomson’s Big Five, Wizard thrilled generations of boys through the middle of the 20th Century, particularly with the adventures of Wilson, the Wonder Athlete. Shop visitors can of course pick up any quantity; mail order is for a minimum of 20 issues (£10) plus p&p. As with all Clearance Corner lots, this is only available by mail order to UK addresses, since the cost of shipping elsewhere is unviable. This offer will remain available while stocks last but once they’re gone, they’re gone!
Books Update: The Return Of Doc Savage
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: A big hit when first published in pulps in the 1930s, Kenneth Robeson’s Doc Savage gained new fans when he appeared in a series of novelisations of the pulp stories in the 1960s/70s and in a 1970s film. Now, it seems that he will be featured in a new film next year. To mark this we’ve put out more of his novels (all 1st PB), including the original story The Man Of Bronze. In addition to the three pictured we also have Land Of Always Night, Meteor Menace, The Green Eagle and The Sargasso Ogre. Join Clark Savage Jr. and his team Monk, Ham, Renny, Johnny and Long Tom as they pit their brilliant brains and colossal brawn against a succession of nefarious villains.
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 British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics (A – S)
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Reminder: Christmas & New Year Opening Hours
Monday 17th-Saturday 22nd December. Open as usual 10:30 to 18:00
Sunday 23rd-Wednesday 26th December. Closed
Thursday 27th-Saturday 29th December. Open as usual 10:30 to 18:00
Sunday 30th December. Closed as usual.
Monday 31st December. Open 10:30 to 16:00
Tuesday 1st January. Closed
Wednesday 2nd January onwards. Open as usual
American Update: Batmania: Distressed Damsels! Low-Grade Premieres of Batgirl and Poison Ivy
*DC: In the Swinging Sixties, two dynamic dames debuted who were to be major players in the Bat-Legend in ensuing decades. Batman #181, dated June 1966, brought us Poison Ivy, a floral femme fatale brainstormed with the intent of joining the TV show as a younger recurring villain. Ivy never made it to the small screen in the 60s, but she did catch on with comics readers, her status in recent years being considerably enhanced by her position as Harley Quinn’s BFF. Half a year later, in Detective Comics #359 (Jan. 1967), a character appeared who did make it onto the Batman TV show: Barbara Gordon, the second Batgirl, has been a librarian, crimefighter, congresswoman, paramour of Robin, paraplegic, hacker and leader of the Birds of Prey – and it all began here! Our copy of Batman #181 is Apparent FA/GD – the ‘Apparent’ being primarily because the centrefold double-page pin-up, as is so often the case, is missing, leaving the ‘Mystery Analysts’ adventure without its splash page. But the Poison Ivy debut is complete, and, with only moderate cover creasing, this serves well as a ‘reader’ until you can get something better. The Detective Comics #359 is an unabashed Poor, the defects mostly centred around the cover, which is detached from the main body of the book, separated front from back, and crumbling all over. The interior pages are lightly tanned but clean, and would themselves grade as GD-/GD, if judged independently. Neither of these ladies is going to hang around our premises for long, so move swiftly! Batman #181 App. FA/GD is £100; Detective Comics #359 is PR at £60. Both are cents copies, with no pence price or overstamp. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: Slab Happy: Golden Age Greats – Action Comics #30 (1940) and World’s Finest #23 (1946)
*DC: Our showcase of third-party graded comics continues. A double-dose of DC’s major titles of the Golden Age, starting with Action Comics #30, dated November 1940, in 0.5 (Poor). Superman battles ‘The Midsummer Snowstorm’, while other stories feature Zatara, Tex Thompson, the Black Knight, the Three Aces and more. This CBCS copy is described as technically incomplete, since it has had the wrong back cover attached to it, but all story pages are present and the originals. Some spine splits and cover tears sealed, amateur restoration. World’s Finest Comics #23 July/August 1946, is legitimately incomplete, as a missing page affects the Zatara story; but with Superman, Batman & Robin, Green Arrow, the Boy Commandos and more in this squarebound 80-pager, the Master Magician is barely missed. This is also a CBCS 0.5. Low grades, but very affordable examples of Golden Age goodness. Action #30 is £90, World’s Finest #23 is £40. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD
American Update: Amazing World of Superman – Rare 1973 Tabloid One-Shot
*DC: In 1973, the town of Metropolis, Illinois, petitioned to be affiliated with the Superman character, becoming the official ‘hometown’ of the Man of Steel for public relations purposes. Among the media tie-ins for this event was the release of this one-off tabloid comic – in the format later popularised by DC’s Limited Collectors’ Edition series and its spin-offs – featuring new and reprint Superman and Superboy comics stories, plus multiple features and a stapled-in poster, a Map of Krypton. Sadly, the proposed Superman theme park never materialised, the attractions in the real-life Metropolis being limited to a Superman Museum – but this is a fascinating read nonetheless. Of extremely limited distribution even in the US – and almost never seen in the UK – this rarity is a must for Superman completists. This copy is FN+ at £50. Light creases break the cover colour slightly at spine, but the original giant poster Map of Krypton is still firmly in place. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Don’t Yield – Back SHIELD! Steranko’s Nick Fury #1 Back In Stock VF+
*Marvel: Having made his mark on the SHIELD strip in Strange Tales, Jaunty Jim Steranko took the brakes off and went all-out when Nick Fury’s Pals n’ Gals got their own full-length series, with cinematic storytelling and psychedelic designs, particularly on the cover and splash pages, that utilised the full potential of the medium with an imagination seldom seen since the heyday of Eisner. Nick Fury #1, ‘Who Is Scorpio?’, is the definitive example, with the popular espionage tropes of the day cranked up to 11, and a striking cover image which still resonates in the fandom psyche half a century later. Our newest Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD #1 is a superlative VF+ cents copy, with beautiful unmarred cover image and vibrant unfaded colour, on sale at £125. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts Meets Spider-Mania: Debut of the Rhino in Amazing Spider-Man #41
*Marvel: Issue #41 of the Amazing Spider-Man, which saw the debut of a curiously endearing member of Spidey’s Rogue’s Gallery – the Rhino, a virtually unstoppable behemoth whose sheer power and tormented soul made him an instant hit, and one of the most popular recurring villains, popping up everywhere from the Defenders to the Unstoppable Squirrel Girl! (No, really!). Only briefly glimpsed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far – but that was the old version, so he’s ready to ‘reboot’ – this debut of a key player is an attractive grade: FN pence copy, on sale at £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: Captain America Returns! Massive Silver/Bronze Update for the Sentinel of Liberty
*Marvel: Just short of fifty Silver and Bronze Age Captain America issues added to our listings between #101 and #212, almost all completely unrepresented in our previous stock, and including many low or non-distributed issues from the early to mid 1970s. Highlights along the way include significant appearances by the Red Skull, the Sleepers, the Serpent Squad and Madame Hydra’s ‘rebranding’ as the Viper, plus – the Secret Empire Saga! The coming of Nomad! The Falcon takes flight! And King Kirby’s Bicentennial ‘Madbomb’ saga – ‘On its 200th Anniversary, America will DIE!’ (Spoiler: not quite yet.)
American Update: Hot Rods and Monsters and Beetles – Oh My! Silver/Bronze Charltons
*Charlton: An overdue update to that most eclectic of publishers Charlton with a mix of titles from the 1960s and 1970s as follows: Blue Beetle (Ditko series), Emergency, Emergency Doctor, Gorgo, Gorgo’s Revenge, Hot Rod Racers, Hot Rods & Racing Cars (inc final issue #120) and the Six Million Dollar Man.
American Update: The Atlas Explosion! Pre & Post Code Horror Mega-Fest continues with Spellbound
*Horror 1940-1959: Spellbound is always a popular and fast-selling addition to our Vintage Horror listings, so we’re delighted to welcome nineteen issues to our inventory. This 1952-launched title lasted 34 issues to 1957, though it did take an 18-month hiatus after #23, the final Pre-Code edition. In addition to the frequent, but superlative, artistic talents of Everett, Heath, Powell and Romita, this series also had Krigstein, Infantino and Sekowsky on the roster and is renowned for featuring some of the most striking and atmospheric covers of Atlas’ repertoire. This selection ranges from #6 to the final issue #34, and like most of our recent Atlas updates, includes a wide range of grades, so many mid to low grade reading copies may be found by checking out our online catalogue. Depicted here are #14 (App. FA+ £75 missing centrefold), #15 (GD+ £63), #16 (GD+ £63), #20 (GD/VG £75), #21 (VG+ £98), #24 (VG £54), #26 (VG+ £61) and #33 (VG £54).
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts! A Moon Knight Sonata – Marc Spector’s Debut in Werewolf By Night #32 VF-
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: The horror series Werewolf By Night had been toddling along happily for a while, chronicling the adventures of young lycanthrope Jack Russell (stop sniggering at the back there…), 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 much 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 inhabited by Egyptian Gods’. Be that as it may, he remains hugely popular, and a near-future Moon Knight movie having been recently confirmed, demand for his debut is intensifying. This copy of Werewolf By Knight #32 is a pence copy, an outstanding VF- with only the most vestigial corner wear precluding still higher grading. Our asking price for this is £500. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
American Update: The Atlas Explosion! Young Men – At War, and On The Home Front
*War: 1949’s Cowboy Romances proved a flop for Timely (and today it would be a very different comic indeed…), so ever-resourcefully, they changed the title and reworked the book from #4, making it the first of a series called Young Men. Initially, these stories of public-spirited teenagers were heavily reminiscent, both in format and content, of rival publisher Gleason’s successful Daredevil and Boy Comics, with plucky youths uncovering spy plots, performing daring rescues etc., but with issue #12, it was rejigged again to ‘Young Men On The Battlefield’, and became a war comic, with all the lurid, Commie-bashing gore and vitriol cheerily dispensed by Timely/Atlas’ other battle titles. This happy state of affairs lasted until #21, when an ill-advised return to peace-time saw three issues with ‘Flash Foster and His High-Gear Hotshots’ in the lead slot, though back-ups still featured war and even occasional horror. We have a selection from #4, the series debut, to #23, lacking only issues #7 and #9. Sadly, no, we don’t have the final five issues to #28, which featured the short-lived Sub-Mariner, Captain America and Human Torch revivals – but there’s plenty to interest and bewilder in the others! Illustrated are #18 FN+ £53 and #19 FN+ £53; details on the remaining issues may be found, of course, in our online catalogue.
American Update: The Atlas Explosion! Double-Barreled Western Adventure – Arizona Kid and Outlaw Fighters
*Western: Two short-run series for fans of the Wild West this week, beginning with the Arizona Kid, in which 17-year old Davy Larabee rescues Captain Cliff Macklin from outlaws, earning a coveted place in the Texas Rangers – but his first assignment is to track down a Ranger gone bad! Russ Heath provided much of the interior art for this series, and we have five of the six-issue run of this 1951 launch now in stock, although the first and fifth issues are Canadian editions – but the content is identical to their US counterparts. A few years later, in 1954, Outlaw Fighters graced the newsstands for five issues, all now in our lists; this anthology offered a more diverse range of illustrators than most Atlas westerns – Benulis, Greene, Pakula, Hartley, Shores, Colan, Tumlinson and Forgione – though Maneely and Heath were still roped in for cover duty. Pictured are Arizona Kid 4 (VG+ £24) and Outlaw Fighters #2 (VG £17); for details of the rest, please consult our online catalogue.
American Update: Atlas Explosion Tie-In! Marvel Masterworks for Journey Into Mystery, Strange Tales, Suspense and Astonish
*Modern Reprints: Crossing over with our Atlas event elsewhere in our lists, this week we present several (seven, to be precise) of the Atlas Era Marvel Masterworks, handsome full-colour hardcovers reprinting entire series in sequence. Most of these are now out of print, and highly sought after. We have Journey Into Mystery Vol 3, Strange Tales Vol 4, Tales of Suspense Vols 2, 3 & 4 and Tales to Astonish Vols 2 & 3, all VF/NM condition. Journey Into Mystery and Strange Tales cover the period when those titles were transitioning between Pre- and Post-Code stories, and the Suspense and Astonish volumes are bang in the middle of the ‘Big Panty Monster’ era, with Goom, Oog, Klagg, Moomba, Sporr, Rommbu, Thorr and all their merry chums threatening the Earth on a monthly basis. Of particular interest to Marvel Universe completists may be the Tales to Astonish volumes, reprinting the debuts of Groot (later famous in the Guardians of the Galaxy) and Hank Pym (later Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, etc.) respectively. Pictured are Tales of Suspense Volumes 3 & 4, and Tales to Astonish Volumes 2 & 3, all VF/NM at £50 each; details on the others may be found on our website catalogue.
British Update: 1950s Western Annuals: Billy The Kid & Kit Carson
*Annuals: From the Golden Age of the Western, six British annuals in either FA or GD condition: Billy The Kid 1958 and 1959 and Kit Carson from 1955, 1958, 1959 & 1960. Fondly remembered by those who read them as children and very evocative of the genre that ruled our film and TV industries at the time.
British Update: Thrill-Power! Judge Anderson, Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog
*Collected Editions: New listings for Judge Dredd, Protector of Mega-City One, and he’s joined by fellow 2000 AD alumni Judge Anderson (Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson, to give her full title), and mutant bounty hunter Strontium Dog, previously unrepresented in our stock.
British Update: Long Hot Summer – Warlord Peter Flint Special from 1976
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Warlord weekly had a very respectable run, lasting in excess of 600 issues from 1974 to 1976, and in keeping with most popular series of the time, it issued extra-sized Summer Specials for the typical holiday market. But 1976’s Warlord Peter Flint Special was a bit different, focusing on Flint, the eponymous Warlord of the title. This one-off, with family-friendly features like the ‘No-Mercy Spy-Game’, is available in VG for £15. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
British Update: Here Comes The Sun (With A Smattering Of Comets)
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Just as the winter solstice approaches we’ve added a whole bunch of Suns in an effort to banish the winter blues. Ranging from #187 to the very final issue (17/10/59), just under 100 have been added, including the 1st appearance of the Happy Hussar (#263) and #490, the first issue with the new format. Join Billy the Kid and Battler Britton for thrilling tales of derring-do! Just to add spice we’ve also added 5 of the Sun’s companion paper, Comet (in the range #399 to #406).
British Update: Return of the Warrior! Complete Ground-Breaking Series Restocked – Moore, Lloyd, Bolton etc
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Launched in 1982, Warrior revolutionised the concept of the British comic, aimed squarely at a mature audience with intelligent and thought-provoking series and an A-List line-up of creators: Alan Moore, Garry Leach, Steve Dillon, Alan Davis, David Lloyd, John Bolton, Steve Parkhouse, John Ridgway, Jim Baikie and more pooled their collective talents for a genuinely stunning line-up of strips, including Marvelman (later Miracleman) and V For Vendetta. Unfortunately, threats of legal action from Marvel Comics and arguments between creators and publisher meant that many of the major ‘draws’ left, to be replaced by lesser talents or European reprints, and the series ground to a halt with issue #26, in 1985, a brief but glorious run. We have the entire 26-issue series in stock, in very affordable low to mid-grades but complete, as well as the one-off Marvelman Special.
British Update: First Quenchers: Pick Up A Pixie! 1972 Premiere Issue Back In Stock
*Girls’ Comics: Pixie was a short-lived title from IPC which commenced in June 1972 and merged with June after 30 issues in early 1973. Printed on better quality paper than most of its contemporaries, and with more colour pages, the star strips mostly featured famous characters from literature, including Black Beauty, The Naughtiest Girl In the School, Marion of Sherwood and Secret Garden. Issue #1 of this short achievable run is now back in stock, in FN at £20. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD
British Update: Our Friend of the Mists Returns
*Girls’ Comics: Half a dozen VG or FN copies of the nest-selling Misty fresh to pour catalogue this week from 1978/79, mostly issues previously missing from our listings.
Books Update: Smeg! More TV / Film Books
*TV / Film Tie-Ins: A mixed bag of TV and Film books join the ranks, all UK PB and mainly with a Science Fiction theme, but see if you can spot the odd one out. We’re particularly pleased to have our first Red Dwarf book, Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, but we also have Alien and Aliens, The Prisoner, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Joe 90 in Revenge, Till Death Us Do Part and Edge of Darkness. Many are 1st PB editions and nearly all have TV or movie images.
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/British section:
*Classics Illustrated
*Undergrounds
and in our British section:
*Humour Comics
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
Reminder: Last Posting Dates for Christmas
Orders requiring posting paid for by 4 pm on Saturday 15th December will be posted on Monday 17th and should arrive in time for Christmas (if in the UK), according to Royal Mail. After that, we will continue to post out before Christmas, but cannot guarantee pre-Christmas delivery.
Clearance Corner: Classics Illustrated Junior – 37 issues for just £25
*Clearance Corner: A charming bargain lot in Clearance Corner this week. Classics Illustrated Junior, the companion to the famous Classics Illustrated series, commenced in 1953 and ran for 77 issues, featuring many famous (and some not so famous) fairy tales with brightly painted cover illustrations. Included in this lot of 36 different issues are Sleeping Beauty, Jack & the Beanstalk, Puss In Boots, Rumplestiltskin, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Rapunzel, Snow White & Rose Red and many more. The UK version of this was called Pixi Tales and there is one issue of that included in this lot of otherwise US versions, making 37 in total, all in a mix of FA to FN grades. We have to clear something to make room for our Atlas Explosion, so these, with regret, have to go. Here’s your chance for a real bargain — just £25 the lot (UK postage if required would be an extra £7).
Books Update: Arthur C Clarke Replenished
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A dozen of Clarke’s novels join the bookshelves, ranging from A (A Fall Of Moondust) to V (Voices From The Sky; non-fiction) and published from the 1950s to the 1980s. Apart from the titles pictured we also have Earthlight, Imperial Earth, Islands In The Sky, Reach For Tomorrow, Rendezvous With Rama and 2010 Odyssey Two. Widely admired for both his scientific and literary ability, this set of novels and short stories amply display the range of his talents.
What’s Old: Morpheus, Master of Dreams – Neil Gaiman’s Sandman #1
For our previously listed spotlight this week, we feature a modern classic. In 1989, Neil Gaiman, not yet the superstar author he would later become, took the venerable DC superhero the Sandman and completely refurbished the concept – revamping the titular hero as an immortal embodiment of the Dreamworld, Gaiman opened the door to a myriad of adventurous possibilities, modernising the concept without invalidating or discarding either previous Sandman series (the 1940s and 1970s strips), but instead enfolding them into a larger meta-narrative. The Neil Gaiman Sandman series ran for 75 issues and a Special, and won an insane array of awards. This is where it all began, in this instance in a beautiful NM/M pence copy, on sale for £135. You know us, we’re very picky graders and believe if submitted to a third party grader, this would qualify as a 9.8.
American Update: Batmania returns! Detective Comics #71 – Golden Age Batman/Joker cover and story
*DC: We kick off a new round of our ever-popular Batmania events with a real gem. From 1943, Detective Comics #71 brings us ‘A Crime A Day!’, a calendar-themed tale of Batman and Robin versus their most notorious enemy, the Joker! Illustrated by Jerry Robinson, this has the Prince of Plunder undermining Batman’s confidence by giving clues to crimes too difficult for even Batman to solve. This use of ‘headology’ almost causes the Caped Crusader to quit, but (Spoiler Alert!) all ends well. Also featured in this issue are the Boy Commandos by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Air Wave, Slam Bradley and Bart Regan, Spy, plus the Crimson Avenger. However, the centrefold of this comic is missing, rendering the Crimson Avenger story incomplete, but all other features intact. This copy of Detective #71 is Poor; in addition to the missing centrefold, comprising four story pages, the spine has been glued, restapled and heavily taped. There is also a neatly-taped tear approx. 3″ on the logo, in a reverse-‘L’ shape. Nevertheless, the cover image is largely unimpeded, the page quality of the remaining interiors is off-white with no brittleness or browning, and the overall visual appeal is greater than the stated grade. This was at one point a slabbed CBCS 0.5 copy, but has been ‘liberated’; the original CBCS label is included with the comic for reference. Detective #71 PR £200. More Batman next week… SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD