*DC: Diana, the Princess of Paradise Island, has always had a keen following, only enhanced by the character’s Big-Screen Blockbuster in the movies. We have a substantial restock of Silver to Bronze issues of Wonder Woman’s adventures, beginning with 1965’s #156 – in which the creators revisit the Golden Age style, in a very peculiar hybrid indeed – and closing with the 100 Page #214, in which Green Lantern monitors one of a series of trials to determine Wonder Woman’s fitness to rejoin the Justice League. (Bet they wouldn’t have done that with Batman; sexist piglets.) Along the way, our heroine battles Supergirl, loses her super-powers, learns martial arts, becomes Queen of a European nation, battles Catwoman, gains a new black Amazon sister, and faces off against an array of assassins, barbarians, ghosts and psychopaths. A woman’s work really is never done! This new range is predominantly high grade (averaging VF, many nicer) and almost unanimously cents copies, with only a couple bearing a UK price stamp. Pictured: #159 VF £80, #177 VF+ £75, #194 NM £75, #195 VF/NM £55, #199 VF+ £70, #200 VF+ £75 and #211 VF+ £55. Details of all the others on our online listings.

*DC: Three classic issues from the resurgence of the Dark Knight persona after the camp 1960s: Detective Comics #397 and #408 both feature lead stories by the iconic artist Neal Adams, who refined the Gotham Guardian’s visual persona into the ‘look’ we all know today, with our hero facing supernatural and psychological warfare respectively. Issue #411, sadly, does not feature Adams, Bob Brown doing the artistic honours instead, but does bring us the debut of the lady who, after Catwoman, is probably the Batman’s most enduring love – Talia, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul and doyenne of the League of Assassins! #397 is VF £60, #408 is VF £60 and #411 is FN+ £125.

*DC:  We’re delighted to add several issues of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s classic Watchmen to our stocks this week, between issues #5 & #12. This seminal series of the 1980s defined the direction of much of what was to follow in our favourite medium. 

*Marvel: In Amazing Spider-Man #42, the astronaut offspring of J. Jonah Jameson gained super-powers and posed a threat to Spider-Man… but let’s be honest, who really cares? Because the Big Deal this time was the revelation, finally, of Mary Jane Watson, the mysterious lady who’d been hovering in the odd panel, her face always obscured, for several previous issues! When Stan Lee and John Romita finally showed us the ‘Full MJ’, it proved to be well worth the wait, with one of the most famous intro. lines in the history of comics! The first full appearance of the woman who would eventually become Mrs. Spidey is a gorgeous FN+ cents copy, no UK price stamp or overprint. Minimal spine and corner wear, lustrous cover with deep unfaded purple cover background, tight corners & edges, firm staples, and most importantly, a cover signature – admittedly, unverified – by Stan ‘The Man’ Lee himself!. Yours for £200.

*Marvel: In 1976, the House Of Ideas came up with Nova, designed originally to be an ‘everyman’ character like Peter Parker/Spider-Man, but quickly developing into a cosmic ‘soldier’ more akin to DC’s Green Lantern – luckily, DC’s lawyers didn’t notice the parallels! Although the original run lasted a mere 25 issues, Nova has returned many times to the Marvel Universe, and where he shines is in the protracted cosmic crossovers of which Marvel is so fond. The Nova Corps having been namechecked in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, it can only be a matter of time before the man himself makes an on-screen appearance, and prices are rising, so grab this while you can! This is an outstanding VF/NM p copy, tight, bright and flat, with no corner blunting or other visible defects, on sale at £100.

*Marvel: For a visually-impaired gentleman, Matt Murdock saw, as our American cousins would put it, a lot of action with the ladies; for a while in the 1980s and 1990s, every second plotline involved a Woman From His Past, with attendant complications. But by far the most memorable of these was Elektra, the tormented assassin whose conflicted relationship with our hero struck so deep a chord with readers that even after she died, she was brought back (twice) by popular demand. Now appearing in DD’s Netflix show, Elektra has lived down the stigma of her terrible movie, and is once again a major figure in the MU. Written and drawn by the acclaimed and controversial Frank Miller, this copy of Elektra’s debut is a VF pence copy, with only very slight blunting of the corners preventing a higher grade. On sale at £60.

*Marvel: It seems you can’t get enough of these 1970s oversized editions — their size really gives them an impact — so here’s lots more, from #5 to #17 of the regular Marvel Treasury Edition series, featuring the Avengers, the Hulk, the Defenders, Howard the Duck, Doctor Strange and Thor, these are giant adventures which leap off the page – and into your hands! Full details as always in our catalogue.

*Marvel: Marvel’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, are a constant seller here, so we’re very pleased to be able to restock many issues – almost 100 copies, though with several duplicated numbers – from the first 100, commencing with #5 and running up to the 100th issue itself. This run includes the debuts of many of the Avengers’ friends and foes, including (deep breath) the Collector, Living Laser, Grim Reaper, Squadron Sinister/Supreme, Red Wolf & Lobo, Swordsman, Sons of the Serpent, Lethal Legion, Zodiac, Yellowjacket and more! Major events in this run include the first ‘New’ Avengers line-up, a battle with the X-men, the first appearance of the prototype Invaders (though they weren’t called that then), and the tear-sheddin’ weddin’ of Hank & Jan! In mostly affordable mid-to-low grades, this range complements our existing stock, and provides a lot of comparatively inexpensive reading copies.

*Marvel: New in this week, most of the classic short run of Dr Strange (1st series) from 1968, with stunning art by (mostly) Colan and Palmer, topped off with #2 of the second series (1974) with art by Frank Brunner. Check our catalogue for grading and pricing information.

*Dell: An overdue update to our stocks of Dell, who arguably made their name with TV & Film adaptations, and this range of four colour and movie classic titles is no exception. We have Danger Man, Dinosaurus, Kona, Mad Monster Party, The Phantom Planet, The Pride & The Passion, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (no, really), Spaceman, Twice Told Tales, Two On A Guillotine, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and Walt Disney’s Mars & Beyond. Full details of course in our catalogue. 

*Horror/Mystery 1960/1980s: A high quality update to our DC range in this category, with many key issues included, many in high grade. Titles include: Black Magic (#1 NM), Dark Mansion Of Forbidden Love (#1), Doorway to Nightmare (inc #1 NM 1st Madame Xanadu), Forbidden Tales Of Dark Mansion, House Of Mystery (many early issues in high grade with work by Adams, Wrightson etc,  inc #175 1st Cain and final issue #321 NM) , House Of Secrets (many early issues in high grade with work by Adams, Wrightson etc, inc #81 1st Abel and final issue #154), Madame Xanadu (#1 with Poster), Secrets Of Haunted House (#31 1st Mr E), Weird Mystery Tales and a quartet of Witching Hour from #8-11.

*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: In 1983, David Anthony Kraft, having established himself as a comic book author, founded Comics Interview magazine, which ran for 150 issues between 1983 and 1995, and garnered Eisner and Eagle Award nominations. Each and every issue, as the name suggests, was filled with interviews with comics creators, which were noted for greater depth and breadth of scope than the standard promotional interview pieces found in other ‘zines of the day. We are delighted to have a range of fifty newly-listed copies of this quality magazine back in stock, from #2 to #113, including stellar creators such as Alan Moore, Jack Kirby, Dave Gibbons, Dave Cockrum, Moebius and Frank Miller, spotlighting features/series such as the original JLA/Avengers Crossover, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Elektra: Assassin, Sandman, and… the Howard the Duck movie. (Look, they can’t all be winners!)

*Collected Editions: Winner of the Outer Asteroids Jimi Hendrix Lookalike Context, Loner was one of the crew of Turbo Jones’ Wildcat, helping the survivors of a destroyed Earth find a new home. That concept was quickly jettisoned (and just as well – what’s somebody named ‘Loner’ doing as part of a team anyway?) when Wildcat crashed – the comic, not the spaceship – and Loner was the only strip carried over into Eagle Mark II, becoming the wandering anti-hero that his name suggested, illustrated by David Pugh (‘Slaine’) and Eric Bradbury (pretty much everything in British comics). Another volume in Rebellion’s admirable quest to archive all the significant British comics series they can, this 200+ page paperback collects all the Wildcat stories and continues through the Eagle years, and is brand-new at £15.

*Humour Comics: ‘Why Is A One-Wheeled-Bike Easy To Pedal?’ ‘Because You’re Never Two-Tyred!’. Such was the calibre of the jokes delivered by our host, Sammy, and his canine sidekick Flash on most covers of this humour weekly from D.C. Thomson, launched in 1975. Although seemingly barely remembered these days, Cracker managed a respectable 87 issue run before being absorbed by big brother Beezer; it starred, among others, ‘Simple Spyman’, a brain-challenged espionage agent, incompetent Knight Of Old ‘Rip Van Tinkle’, the completely inexplicable ‘Jim Kellie’s Wonder Wellies’, and – under the heading of ‘You’d Never Get Away With That These Days’ – ‘Young Foo’, a bright yellow, slant-eyed, barefooted Asian schoolboy who beat up bullies while being unable to pronounce his R’s. All together now: Oh Dear. Reservations aside, Cracker did have an engaging off-kilter humour, more engaging than much of the D.C. Thomson line, which by that time had become extremely formulaic. We have 40 issues newly listed, nearly half the entire run, ranging from the very first through to #86, which ominously promises ‘Great News Next Week, Chums!’ – and we all know what THAT means in Editorspeak, don’t we, readers?

*Girls’ Comics: Launched in 1967 as a companion to Bunty & Judy, Mandy quickly discovered its own niche: suffering! While cruelty of some sort had long been a mainstay of girls’ comics, Mandy, behind the perky covers featuring our can-do hostess and her faithful hound Patch, rapidly degenerated into a litany of misery, with the serials’ heroines abused, betrayed, neglected, abandoned, enslaved, crippled, blinded or deceived, only finding happiness (and their enemies getting their comeuppance) after many, many instalments of grief and woe. One generally optimistic strip was the long-running ‘Valda’, atmospherically illustrated by Dudley Wynne, in which an apparently ageless girl who appears to be in her teens roams through history, using her great strength and other supernatural powers to aid others – well, in her first story, she used them to cheat in a figure-skating competition, but she rapidly moved beyond that! Other strips included ‘The Sorrows of Laughing Anne’, ‘No Friends For Freda’, ‘Hard-Hearted Harriet’, ‘Heartbreak School’ and ‘The Lying Eyes of Linda Lee’, which gives you a fair idea of the chirpy optimism that was rife in the comic! We have 150 issues of Mandy newly added to our listings, from 1967’s #4 to 1976’s #516. If sad songs – as the song says – say so much, then these tales of woe should send you off with a smile on your face and a spring in your step!

*Modern Reprints: Recently, both DC and Marvel have issued reproductions of their classic key issues. These facsimiles are, apart from legally-necessary cover additions for modern pricing, exact, full-colour cover-to-cover replicas of the originals, including all story pages, text pages, lettercols and advertisements – though we strongly advise against sending off for anything from the ads! Marvel has brought us facsimiles of Hulk #181 (first full appearance of Wolverine), New Mutants #98 (double debut of Deadpool and Domino), Spider-Man #252 (1st black Spidey-costume, which became Venom), Spider-Woman #1 (first of Jessica Drew’s solo series) and Giant-Size X-Men #1 (premiere of the new team, with the first appearances of Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Thunderbird, and the second full Wolverine). DC has hit back so far with Batman #181 (first appearance of Poison Ivy) and House of Secrets #92 (debut of the Swamp Thing concept). With the exception of the extra-thick GS X-Men #1, which clocks in at £5, all of these other reproduction editions are brand new at £4 each, with more on the way from both companies!

*Marvel: Although Sue Storm Richards is unquestionably the First Lady of the Marvel Comics Universe, that title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Captain Marvel’s solo success notwithstanding – is held by the Black Widow, as played by Scarlett Johansson in, to date, seven major feature films (not counting quickie cameos). With her first solo feature film coming up next year, we’re pleased to present four issues spotlighting events or characters central to the Black Widow movie mythos. She’s been a hero and a villain, a spy, assassin, friend and lover, an Avenger and a Champion, and many more roles in the Marvel Universe, on screen and on the printed page. One of the most fascinating and enduring characters in the Marvel mythos, finally achieving mass recognition. A toast to you Ms. Romanoff – Nostrovia!
We’re starting, of course, with the Big One! Tales of Suspense #52, April 1964, saw the debut of Boris Turgenov, the second man in the Crimson Dynamo armour – and one of the longer-serving title-holders – but more importantly, it brought us the very first appearance of Madame Natasha, the Black Widow! At that time a Milton Caniffesque femme fatale, slinking around in cocktail dress and fur stole, Natasha was a very different creation from her later iterations, but this is where the Black Widow’s long career in comics and in other media got its start. This is a FN/VF cents copy; no pence stamp or overprint. There is no defacement of the cover scene. Interior pages are off-white and sharp, no fraying, creases, tears or other defects. There is minimal edge and spine wear, with a trace of raggedness at the top cover edge owing to the cover being a smidge taller than the body of the book – an original printing aspect, not a defect as such. The cover colour is deep and unfaded, excellent gloss, still a fresh looking copy despite its vintage. This premiere issue of a significant character in Marvel history is priced at £1,500. Front cover, back cover and splash page are shown here; high resolution images are available on request.

*Marvel: Moving on to July 1970, we have Amazing Spider-Man #86, in which the Widow, having previously worn a cute-but-retro fishnets & cape outfit, remade her image into the sleek, leather-clad redhead that we know her as today. Taking on Spidey in a story by noted feminist (ahem ahem) Stan Lee, she delivers immortal lines such as “Don’t think I’m helpless just because I’m soft and cuddly.” Ah, they don’t write them like that any more; aren’t we lucky? This first appearance of the Widow as today’s movie-goers would recognise her is a highly attractive Fine, bright and glossy, tight staples, sharp corners, white pages, and only a light touch of lower spine wear precluding a FN+ or better. A cents copy, it’s yours for £60. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: ‘Stop! This is the new Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow!’ So proclaimed the 76th issue of what was the Emerald Gladiator’s Silver Age series. With sales falling as GL’s traditional sci-fi adventures began to look a bit dated, editor Julius Schwartz turned to the creative team of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams to add Green Arrow to the title and re-invigorate the series. And that’s just what they did, bringing in contemporary ‘relevant’ storylines dealing in issues such as drugs, racism, pollution, and modern life in 1970s USA – not that we’re significantly better off these days…. The fame of their run extends to this day, and it is avidly collected, but it all began here in #76, as Social Justice Warrior Green Arrow (himself only newly made over by O’Neil and Adams in Brave & Bold #85) confronts GL with the issues arising on Earth while Green Lantern’s off among the stars. This is a highly attractive FN copy. There is a tiny upper spine split, approx. 1/4″, and light lower spine wear, but overall condition is excellent, with verdant colour, good gloss, firm staples, and lovely interior page quality. A cents copy, with no UK price markings, this is on sale at £240. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: One of the less commonly seen issues of 80 Page Giant is #7 from 1965, which broke away from the superhero pattern to focus on DC’s war stars. Fronted by Sgt. Rock, behind a new Joe Kubert cover, this tome presented battle tales illustrated by Kubert, Mort Drucker, Russ Heath and Andru & Esposito, showing the grim reality of war on land, on sea, in the air and, er, with dinosaurs. This VG+ copy is a cents edition, without UK price stamp or overprint, and is on sale at £47. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: There were few more significant debuts, in the latter days of the 20th Century, than everyone’s favourite brain-eating symbiote Venom, who graduated from being a genetically modified costume in a jar to the Alpha Dog of Spidey’s Rogue’s Gallery! Having debuted in Secret Wars #8 as a semi-sentient blob which configured itself into Spider-Man’s new costume, the ‘symbiote’ became a regular feature in Spidey’s own series before being revealed as a malevolent alien parasite! Now more popular than ever, Venom has starred in his own solo film sans Spider-Man (with a sequel in the works). This copy of the first full appearance of Venom is an attractive VF-, tight staples, bright colours, and only a few small breaks in the cover colour at the spine precluding a higher grade. VF- p £135.

*Marvel: Having driven away the Hulk in their previous number, the newly-formed Avengers set off to track him down in their third issue – not to apologise or reconcile, but in an attempt to neutralise any harm he might do. Unbeknownst to them, Old Jade Jaws had found a new chum, the savage Sub-Mariner, and the two together formed an alliance that took every ounce of strength and ingenuity the Avengers could muster in this epic battle – so epic, in fact, that Marvel had to do a call-back to it in Journey Into Mystery #112! Notable spine and edge wear on this copy, with multiple fine creases particularly at the top edge, but the cover scene is largely unimpaired, firm staples, light spine roll. A presentable and eminently affordable copy of a key early Avengers battle. GD p £65. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In 2002, Jim Starlin was persuaded to revisit the cosmic realm which had proved so successful with Infinity Gauntlet, War, Crusade and so on. Unlike the previous series, Starlin was encouraged to draw the strip as well as write it, and his renditions of Thanos, Warlock, Gamora and company were welcomed back by fandom at large. This six-issue epic centres on the Thanosi, clones of Thanos created to fulfil his agenda, and Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Moondragon and Spider-Man are among the heroes intervening in Thanos’ plot to destroy the anchor of reality and eliminate Earth once and for all. This complete 6 issue series is NM, and sold as a set for £40. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In the 1970s, cuddly man-eating sharks were all the rage, and Marvel’s favourite skull-headed Satanic minion had his close encounter with the species in the bandwagon-jumping 16th issue of his ongoing series. This is a CGC Blue Label (no restoration) 9.4 (NM equivalent), on sale at £25 – a bargain to get your teeth into! SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: A shimmering glissade through Marvel’s Bombastic Bronze Age this week, with many additions to the following titles: Avengers (between #200 & #300), Doc Savage (#2 with Steranko cover), Fantastic Four, Hulk, Marvel Chillers (with Modred the Mystic), Marvel Spotlight (1st series with Son Of Satan), Punisher, Secret Wars (1st series), Squadron Supreme (our catalogue now expanded to include most of the superlative 12 issue series from 1985), Thor, 2001 A Space Odyssey and X-Men (#96 & #115).