*DC: Following his ‘Fourth World’ saga, Kirby launched into two very different series at DC; one, of course, was Kamandi, the dystopic-future feral child in a world of anthropomorphic animals, but for the second series, Kirby looked to the past – specifically Arthurian legend, and came up with the Demon! A centuries-old curse imbued Jason Blood with the powers, and the malevolent desires, of the demon Etrigan, and the series focused on the war between our hero’s dual nature in a shadowy world of eldritch deeds, both in the past and the present day. This copy of Demon #1 is a CGC Blue Label – No Restoration – 8.5, VF+ equivalent, and is on sale at £95. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: Once again we expand the boundaries of the comics we catalogue. 1992 is a bit modern for our listings, but we couldn’t resist adding the Batman Adventures, the series which arose from the animated TV show and (among other things) gave birth to Harley Quinn. Although ostensibly aimed at kids, the series became a firm favourite among older readers who rejoiced in a cleaner, more linear form of storytelling than was on offer in the mainstream Batman title, with each issue done-in-one. The moody atmosphere of Gotham and the iconic characters were superbly rendered by the much missed Mike Parobeck, often imitated, never bettered. Although there were many later series in this style, this original one is by far the best. We have a selection of issues plus an annual and the Mask Of The Phantasm movie special; highlights include #1 and #16 (Joker cover and story). Full details now in our catalogue.

*Marvel: Despite the many issues of Amazing Spider-Man which have passed through our hands in the last quarter century, we’re always thrilled when an early copy by the ‘real’ Spidey artist, Steve Ditko, comes into our possession, and seldom more so than by this week’s acquisition, the second issue of Amazing Spider-Man, featuring the debut of one of his most enduring enemies, the Vulture! Despite his physically frail appearance, the airborne pensioner has survived numerous deaths, remodels, and replacements by younger counterparts, and the importing of the Vulture into the Spidey cinematic mythos with ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ has enhanced the character’s popularity. This issue also features the premier appearance of the Terrible Tinkerer – no, really – who while less persistent than the Vulture, is still an occasional player in the Spidey mythos. This copy of issue #2 is FA/GD; interior pages good, but multiple fine creases at the cover edges, weak staples, but a cents copy, no pence price or overstamp, and the cover scene itself is unimpaired barring a light moisture mark lower right cover, mostly in the inset vignette. Only Spider-Man’s third appearance anywhere! FA/GD, on sale at £500. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: After a long hiatus in reprint limbo, the X-Men, with a new international line-up, made a spectacular return in Giant-Size X-Men #1, and #94 of the ongoing X-Men title marked the ongoing title’s return to all-new stories. Scripter Len Wein handed over to Chris Claremont, and Dave Cockrum’s superb illustrations continued to impress. This issue is notoriously hard to find anywhere, being the first New X-Men in the previously reprint title, and its scarcity is compounded here in the Old Country by the fact that it wasn’t distributed in the UK at all (the distributors in their wisdom bringing in Tomb of Parsnips #47 or somesuch instead, because all of those ‘Yankee Horror Comics’ are alike, right?)). Our latest copy of X-Men #94 is VG/FN, minor corner and edge wear but excellent cover colour and gloss, on sale at £200. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In issue #33 of their ongoing series, the Fantastic Four, already in a love/hate relationship with Namor the Sub-Mariner (some more ‘love’ than others, eh Sue?) found themselves allied with Namor when Attuma, a Rogue Atlantean Warlord who believed himself destined to bring about a new Atlantean Empire, usurped Namor’s throne. This issue saw the first major steps away from pure super-villainhood by Namor, and a return to his former anti-hero status, as Attuma rapidly established himself as a major threat in the Marvel Universe, appearing scores of times before eventually being beheaded – but don’t worry, it’s comics, he’ll be back any minute now! This is a beautiful FN+ cents copy, featuring the first of Kirby’s background photo-collages to make it onto the front cover. On sale at £150.

*Marvel: Everybody, as previously remarked, was Kung Fu Fighting in the Seventies – but Marvel already had one Bruce Lee clone in Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu, so however were they to exploit the martial arts craze further? By borrowing heavily from earlier tropes and overlaying a Seventies sensibility of course! Rich child Danny Rand crashed in the Eastern mountains and was raised by the monks of Shangri-La – sorry, K’un L’un – to become a martial arts maven, including the mastery of the Iron Fist, a focusing of chi which caused one’s fist to become, as the narration had it: ‘Like unto a thing of iron!’. So there we were. His training completed, Danny returned to the USA to reclaim his heritage, fighting sundry other injustices along the way, gaining his own series – several, in fact – and becoming a major player in the MU, culminating in his Netflix TV series, starring Finn Jones in the title role. But before all that, he paid his dues in the tryout book Marvel Premiere, and this nice sequential run goes from his second ever appearance (#16 NM £82, pictured) to #25, after which he was replaced by a rotating roster of acts on ‘Marvel’s Got Talent.’ This is an exceptionally high-grade run, all at least VF and with several NMs, all cents copies, and including many issues that were never distributed in the UK.

*Marvel: In the wake of other Marvel hits starring occult characters, and with the Exorcist movie taking big box-office, Stan Lee had originally proposed a series starring Satan himself, but Roy Thomas commuted it to Satan’s offspring, a demon/human hybrid who used his evil-spawned power for good, in rebellion against his father. Daimon Hellstrom duly appeared in Ghost Rider #2 as an antagonist before moving into his own solo series in Marvel Spotlight, and then progressing to his own book. Daimon remains a prominent character today in the Marvel Universe, though he doesn’t use the Son of Satan soubriquet any more, and in these more sensitive times his origins are usually politely glossed over. We have high grade copies of his early appearances in stock this week: Ghost Rider #2, his first full appearance anywhere, is VF+ at £80. Son of Satan #1 is a gleaming NM at £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Virtually the entire Marvel Universe must have passed through the pages of Marvel’s twin Bronze Age team-up books at one time or another, Team-Up starring (mostly) Spider-Man and Two-In-One starring the Thing. We have a significant chunk of both titles new in this week, inc. several annuals of both.  Highlights to look out for include MTU #65 & #66 with the first US appearances of Captain Britain, #103 with a Taskmaster appearance, #117 with Wolverine and Annual #1 with the X-Men; MTIO #8 with the Ghost Rider, #30 with 2nd full appearance of Spider-Woman, #52 with Moon Knight and a whole load of cosmic mayhem with Warlock, Moondragon, Starhawk etc in subsequent issues.

*War: For when one war series isn’t enough, a combo platter of combat tales, with the complete 1952 Pre-Code series of War Combat, a typically lurid Cold War anthology which became Combat Casey with its sixth issue; as with all Atlas war titles of the period, this features unfortunate ethnic stereotypes and violence a’plenty. Our double feature concludes with the final two issues of Marines At War (1957), a relatively sedate Post-Code entry, but still beautifully crafted – remarkably so, given the soul-crushing deadlines the artists worked under. Pictured is War Combat #1 GD £26; by now, you should know where to look for the others’ details!

*Annuals: To continue our pedigree collection of ‘Immaculate Annuals’, we turn this week to the traditional British Humour titles. As with other ‘Immaculate Annuals’ updates, these are uncirculated 1960s and 1970s stock from a newsagent’s inventory, never sold or even displayed, so the only flaws in any of them occur from long-term storage, but many could still pass as new. No prices clipped, no gift dedications, ‘This Book Belongs To’ inscriptions or other interior markings, solid spines, tight corners and bright, vibrant colours, occasionally very slight tanning of interior pages owing to age. This week we add: Beezer from 1966 to 1970 in VF or VF/NM, Beryl the Peril from 1967 to 1971 VF/NM, Buster 1967 VF, Cor 1972 VF, Shiver & Shake 1974 VF/NM £7 (pictured), Sparky from 1967 to 1971 averaging VF/NM, Topper from 1966 to 1970 between FN to VF/NM, and Whizzer & Chips 1971 VF/NM £7 (pictured). We don’t anticipate that these exceptional copies will remain in stock long, so order early to avoid disappointment. SORRY, MOST OF THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics:  Newly in, we have the four 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; and #77 and #78, the ‘Jolly Green Giant’ numbers, in which a certain verdant behemoth (no, not the Hulk) was an antagonist. 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! All four issues are pictured here, all FN and all £25 each. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

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:
*DC K – Z
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: One of the wackier titles of the Silver Age – and it had plenty of competition – was Lois Lane, the solo series of Superman’s gal who yearned for nothing so much as to throw off her humdrum life of international fame and award-winning journalism to trick and trap the Man of Steel into an open and honest marriage. In real life, most of Lois’ antics would have earned her a heartfelt restraining order or a jail term, but the exquisite art of primary illustrator Kurt Schaffenberger keeps you hooked in and sells this heap of insane tosh to even the most sceptical audience. We’re huge fans, as you can probably tell. We’ve restocked Lois’ series from the Pre-Distribution issue #10 through to #124. Highlight of this new influx is the first Silver Age appearance of the Catwoman in #70, returning from Limbo after almost a decade in a very classy variant of her classic costume; this is VG- p £50. Also of high interest is the first appearance of cult heroine (or given her schizophrenic state should that be heroines?) Rose & the Thorn in #105. In other newly added issues, Lois becomes a baby, becomes Insect Queen, marries at least three other super-beings who aren’t Superman, fights Wonder Woman, marries a death-row inmate, and goes blind. Goodness, I’m exhausted just writing about it. SORRY, LOIS LANE #70 HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: From the 1980s, the decade where the Dark Knight ruled the comics stores and the movie screens, a selection from Batman #401 onwards, including several story arcs that would resonate for years to come. Issues #404-407 featured Miller and Mazzucelli’s ‘Batman: Year One’; #408-410 presented a new and altogether darker origin for the second Robin, Jason Todd; #417-420 featured the epic ‘Ten Nights of the Beast’; and this run closes with numbers #426-429, ‘A Death In The Family’, a notorious and controversial tale in which readers were invited to phone in to determine the fate of one of the series’ supporting cast. In mid to high grades, averaging VF+, this is a run of Batman said to have inspired much of the popular ‘Gotham’ TV show, and demand is increasing.

*Marvel: One very successful latter-day addition to the Web-Head’s Rogue’s Gallery was the Hobgoblin, who made his debut in 1983’s Amazing Spider-Man #238. The path of carnage and mysterious identity of this suspiciously familiar evil-doer kept readers entertained for more than a year before the Big Reveal, with several red herrings and false ‘revelations’ along the way. Our newest copy of ASM #238 is NM- p at £135, proudly retaining the Free Gift – Lakeside ‘Tattooz’ – which baffle and frustrate so many completists. Then, venturing tentatively into the world of modern comics, 2018’s Amazing Spider-Man #797 sports an ‘homage’ cover to #238, Mayhew Variant with the Red Goblin (your guess is probably better than mine) in the Hobgoblin role. This is a CGC Blue Label (unrestored) 9.8 (NM/M equivalent) at £150. So just to avoid any possible confusion; Spidey #238, NM- p NOT slabbed, £135, Spidey #797 9.8 CGC slabbed, £150.

*Marvel: From 1981, and the days when alternate future storylines were not nearly as cliched as they’ve since become, one of the most compelling of them all: the classic ‘Days Of Future Past’ two-parter from X-Men #141/142 by Claremont & Byrne. This was virtually Byrne’s swan song on the title. Featuring an aged X-Men line-up against the Sentinels (and the first appearance of Rachel Summers, who became Excalibur’s Phoenix, (later Marvel Girl II)), this really is the story where, as the cover gleefully proclaims, “Everybody Dies!” Already a sought-after two-parter, but its popularity (and value!) skyrocketed after the release of the X-Men film, ‘Days of Future Past’, which adapted the narrative to the big screen (though, it must be said, Wolverine was very unconvincing in the role of Kitty Pryde…). #141 is FN+ p £25, #142 VF £25. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In 1972, Marvel decided to issue a ‘tryout’ title, in which new concepts or popular supporting characters could be ‘auditioned’ for their own series. One such was Warlock, who had previously made only a handful of appearances as ‘Him’ in Fantastic Four and Thor before being forgotten, but with a new name and new look, he was pimped out by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane as a brand-new super-hero on a parallel world called Counter-Earth. After two issues of M. Prem., Warlock got his own series – perhaps prematurely, as it only lasted eight issues before he died in the pages of the Hulk – but don’t worry, he got better, revived by Jim Starlin before, oh, being killed again. Notwithstanding, Warlock is confirmed as resurfacing in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise, and these two issues, prior to his solo series, are the first appearances of him in full heroic guise. Marvel Premiere # 1 is VF+, a beautiful copy with only a few minor spine ticks, at £225; #2 is still nicer, a glossy NM at £62.

*Marvel: By the 1980s, Wolverine’s status as the breakout star of the ‘New’ X-Men had become evident, and an A-List team of Chris Claremont, Frank Miller and Josef Rubinstein was assembled to give him a solo spotlight in a four issue mini-series. Logan returns to Japan where he seeks to regain his lost honour and win the hand of his beloved Mariko, in an outstanding series which was the basis for the 2013 smash film ‘The Wolverine’ – instead of being merely an outline for the film, many of Miller’s striking visuals for the mini-series were meticulously re-created for the movie. This complete 4-issue series, the first Wolverine solo title, is available as a set only of all four, all pence copies, #1 NM- and the other three at NM, for £150. SORRY, THIS SET HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In this otherwise unremarkable issue, guest-hero Captain America (then going by the name of ‘The Captain’, prompting a lost generation to ask “Where’s Tennille?”, but I digress…) lifted and effectively deployed Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, something which no other entity had previously done. So what, you may well ask? Well, this scene was ‘homaged’, probably inadvertently, in the recent mega-hit movie ‘Avengers: Endgame’, and since then the Interwebs has been going insane with demand for this issue. No, we don’t pretend to understand it either. But here it is, VF- p £35, so, you know, snap it up if that’s your bag. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Horror 1940-1959: One of the longer-running and most respected Atlas mystery series, Uncanny Tales survived its transition into the reign of the Comics Code Authority by resorting more to imagination and creativity than viscera and bloodletting; Everett, Heath and Maneely, while admittedly the workhorses of the Atlas stable, turned out an astonishing amount of high quality work given the gruelling deadlines, and never more so than on this series, where all three are present in abundance. Other contributing artists during this period included Torres, Drucker, Morrow and Powell. Of particular interest to modern readers will be issue #52, claimed by guides as the first Iron Man prototype – for whatever weight one wishes to put on that sort of thing! Our range here runs from the first Post Code issue, 1955’s #29, to the final issue of the series, #56 in 1957. Illustrated; 29 VG+ £57, 37 VG £50, 39 VG+ £57, 45 VG+ £57 (with free incomplete #42), 46 VG £50, 47 VG+ £57 and the final issue, 56 VG £52. Details on the others, which include many in very affordable mid-grades, in our online catalogue.

*Modern Reprints: New additions to our stock of the ‘Big Two’s prestigious full-colour hardcover series featuring sequential reprints of their legendary characters. From DC, we have Adam Strange Archives Volume 1, with interplanetary adventures on the planet Rann and elsewhere, superbly illustrated by Mike Sekowsky and Carmine Infantino. Black Canary Archives Volume 1 features the blonde-by-request bombshell of the JSA and JLA, from her debut as a villainess in Flash Comics (by that Infantino man again) and her gradual reformation, with art by Murphy Anderson, Alex Toth and other A-List creators. Turning to the Marvel side of the fence, we have three volumes of Marvel Masterworks in the original livery, sequentially numbered by release rather than subject, which can be confusing for the uninitiated. They are the first volumes respectively of Silver Age Captain America, Fantastic Four and Hulk, compiling the earliest issues, and can be found under their series headings in the Marvel section of this category. All of these are now long out of print, and seldom come our way, so any interest should be expressed swiftly.

*Annuals: Following up our ‘Immaculate Annuals’ listings in the Boys’ category, we turn now to TV & Film Related Annuals, from the same pedigree source. A selection of mostly 1960s Annuals newly added to our listings, in immaculate condition; no prices clipped, no gift dedications, ‘This Book Belongs To’ inscriptions or other interior markings, solid spines, tight corners and bright, vibrant colours, most of these could pass as brand new but for very slight tanning of interior pages owing to age. A couple of them, because of slightly marred laminate or a tiny bit of cover fading, do dip to VF- or even FN, but mostly these are VF to VF/NM, truly lovely items, among the best examples we’ve seen in our quarter century in business. New this listing: Bewitched (1967), Burke’s Law (1966), Mission: Impossible (1968 and 1969), Outer Limits (1966), Persuaders (1973), Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1967 and 1968), Z Cars (1963 and 1966 – the first and last Annuals for that series, respectively) and our three display items, of unusual rarity as well as high grade: Adam Adamant 1968 VF £60, Avengers 1969 VF/NM £50 and Avengers 1970 VF/NM £50. SORRY, MOST OF THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Small additions to our stocks of Longacre’s large (Eagle-sized) Boy’s Adventure comic Boys’ World from both volumes of its two year run. Many famous strips including Wrath of the Gods, John Brody, Iron Man, Brett Million, Merlo the Magician etc by the best British creators of the time, including Moorcock, Harrison, Embleton, Langford, Lewis, Burns, Bellamy et al. After its run it merged with Eagle; all our new additions are issues previously missing from our stock.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: The 1960 launch of Valentine Picture Story Library followed on from the 1957 debuting weekly, where often beautifully illustrated love stories were ‘inspired by’ (read: had an otherwise irrelevant song name as the story title) pop hits. Taking a cue from its weekly parent, VPSL featured longer romantic tales entitled after Top Ten records, and, after the earliest issues, stuck the face of the recording artist in question on the front cover, to shift a few extra copies! We have 13 new issues in our lists – half of the 26-issue run – from the very first. Depicted are #1 VG £25 and #2 VG £12; as always, further details on the rest in our online catalogue.

*Clearance Corner: Concluding our farewell to the venerable story paper Hotspur, this second lot is 13 issues, again averaging Good condition, from the first two years of publication, 1933 and 1934. ‘Dead-Wide Dick’, ‘Peeping Percy’ and ‘The Phantom of the Fourth Form’ are among the features awaiting you in this nostalgic accumulation. Numbers 3, 4, 5, 9, 13, 16, 18, 36, 38, 45, 49, 54, and 56; the original retail on these was in excess of £150, now reduced to £40. UK postage, if required, is an additional £5. SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD