American Comics Update: The Midas Collection/Slab Happy: All Star Comics #4 – the First Adventure of the JSA (1941) – CGC 4.5
*DC: The star of the Midas Collection this week is an All Star, #4 in fact from 1941. As I’m sure we all know the Justice Society of America formed in All-Star Comics #3, wherein, in their first meeting, each member told a tale of their previous adventures. #3 ended with the Flash coming back from Washington with news of assignments from the FBI. It was thus in the next issue, #4, that the JSA took on those assignments in what was to be their first adventure: to battle America’s internal wartime enemies: spies and saboteurs. This historic issue is CGC graded at 4.5 (VG+) and is universal blue label (unrestored). White pages. Case perfect. CGC Code: 0078127003. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: ALL STAR COMICS #4 CGC 4.5 (VG+) £1,300 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection/Batmania: Batman #70-72 (1952)
*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, three consecutive issues of Batman from 1952.
PICTURED: BATMAN
#70 FA £55 Robot cover. Features a Penguin story, the Crime Academy and a robot cop. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane with Lew Sayre Schwartz, Curt Swan. Much chipping and many losses around all edges, particularly bottom. Off lower staple, with spine split right up to it. Cover pulled on top staple, but hanging on. Staples firm at centrefold. Dust shadow along right edge. Water stain lower right edge and earlier page margins. SOLD
#71 FA/GD £70 Stories include a prison for members of law enforcement, Commissioner Gordon trying to uncover Batman’s identity and the mysterious Mr Cipher. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane with Lew Sayre Schwartz, Dick Sprang. Cover appears to be glued on at spine. Small tears with chips out. Firm staples at centrefold, decent off-white pages. SOLD
#72 VG+ £265 Features the Jungle Batman, the Maskers (who all wear masks) and the Death-Cheaters Club. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane with Lew Sayre Schwartz, Dick Sprang, Jim Mooney. Nice mid-grade copy with only slight wear. Cover is very slightly pulled at both staples, but firmly attached, centrefold loose. No other specific defects. White to off-white pages.
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: House Of Secrets #14
American Comics Update: Wanted: Dead And Alive: Ghost Rider #1
*Marvel: In the early 1970s, with the supernatural craze at its height, Marvel sought ever-more ingenious ways to produce horror/mystery series which got around the then-Draconian censorship of the Comics Code Authority. One such was Ghost Rider, a retooling of a former Western hero as a stunt-riding Satanic minion (obviously!). After a short but successful run in Marvel Spotlight, Ghost Rider, who notwithstanding his devilish empowerment usually acted heroically, moved to his own series under the aegis of Gary Friedrich, Tom Sutton and Syd Shores, achieving a very respectable 80+ run, and not even two truly execrable movies starring Nicolas Cage have managed to dent his ongoing popularity! This pence printed copy of Ghost Rider #1 is beautifully glossy and colourful, with supple white pages and firm, tight staples. The cover is clean, with very minor edge wear and a faint, tiny crease across the bottom right corner which just breaks colour. There are also two indentation marks at bottom edge which are very faint but look like finger impressions. But still a glorious copy.
PICTURED: GHOST RIDER #1 FN+ p £300
American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Legion of Monsters in Marvel Premiere #28
*Marvel: After a one-off black & white magazine in 1975, Legion of Monsters, used up a rag-bag of separate inventory stories starring Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, Manphibian and other horror heroes, someone at Marvel decided that the title was nifty enough to merit a further outing, and therefore the bizarre and otherwise inexplicable Marvel Premiere #28 came about. Unlike the Legion of Monsters one-shot, which featured unrelated stories, Marvel Premiere #28 brought Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Werewolf By Night and Morbius the Living Vampire together as an actual team, albeit one even more mismatched than the Champions! From the team of Bill Mantlo and Frank Robbins, it’s… everything you might expect! For decades discarded in bargain boxes everywhere, this issue has acquired white-hot collector’s status in the last decade. This is an outstanding copy from an original owner collection, bought new in 1976 on a New York newsstand, and carefully preserved ever since. Great colour and gloss, perfect staples and white to off-white pages. Square corners. The only sign of wear is a shallow, narrow crease of about 4 cm across the top right corner of cover which is hard to spot and does not break colour.
PICTURED: MARVEL PREMIERE #28 VF+ £135 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: X-Men #26 and #58
*Marvel: We reach the final two issues of the Good Doctor’s run of the original X-Men series this week. #26 features the climax of our mutant chums’ encounter with the embodiment of the Mayan god Kukulcan, an issue with severely limited UK distribution due to a dock strike. #58, drawn by Neal Adams, has the debut of Havok in costume.
PICTURED: X-MEN
#26 FN- £35 Nice copy with good colour and white pages. Firm staples. Just very minor edge wear with a couple of tiny soft creases at bottom right corner, faintly breaking colour. SOLD
#58 FN p £110 Pence printed. Solid copy with strong colours. Very minor handling and right edge wear; slight corner blunting. Firm staples and supple white pages.
American Update: Atomic Sci-Fi: Space Western Comics #43
*Charlton: Created by Walter Gibson and illustrated by Stan Campbell, Space Western Comics (1952) starred ‘Spurs Jackson and His Space Vigilantes’ as they fought the forces of evil on most planets of the Solar System and from beneath the Earth itself! A frankly lunatic hodgepodge of clashing genres, the series has achieved cult status and truly must be seen to be disbelieved. Only six issues published (#40-45), we have #43 fresh into stock. This is a reasonable copy with a virtually undamaged cover and good colour. Small 1.5 cm upper spine split and some minor spine wear; small nick in bottom edge without loss. Staples firmly attached at spine and centrefold and supple off-white pages.
PICTURED: SPACE WESTERN COMICS #43 GD/VG £80 SOLD
American Comics Update: The IW/Super Extravaganza: 4 titles
*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. A mixed bag this week, with four different titles, including Star Feature, which I’ve never seen a copy of before.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
GREAT ACTION COMICS #1 GD £3 Reprints Gold Medal Comics #1 Cambridge House 1945. New cover by John Severin.
SENSATIONAL POLICE CASES #5 VG/FN £8.50 Reprints Prison Break #5 Avon 1952. New cover by Carl Burgos.
STAR FEATURE COMICS #9 VG+ £6 (PICTURED) Reprints Feature Comics #141 Quality 1949. New cover by Sol Brodsky.
TOP ADVENTURE COMICS #1 FN- £10 (PICTURED) Reprints High Adventure #1 Decker 1957. New cover by John Severin.
TOP ADVENTURE COMICS #2 FA £3 Reprints Red Seal #22 Superior 1947. Cover by Kinstler from inside front cover on Prison Break #5.
British Comics Update: Alan Class: Creepy Worlds & Uncanny Tales
*Alan Class Reprints: A handful of pre-decimal Alan Class issues of Creepy Worlds and Uncanny Tales added to our regular uncertificated stock this week as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE:
CREEPY WORLDS
#26 GD £4.50
#54 FA/GD £3.25
#59 VG/FN £5.25 SOLD
UNCANNY TALES
#15 FA £3
#16 VG £4.75
#17 VG £4.75 SOLD
British Comics Update: Captain Valiant in Space Comics
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Space Comics (which for some reason that I haven’t been able to discover) started at #50 and lasted until #81 and starred Captain Valiant, Ace of the Interplanetary Patrol, in a comic devised and created by Mick Anglo, stalwart of British comics in the 1950s/60s. This is a tough to find series and we’re delighted to have both the second and a later issue new into stock this week, although I doubt they’ll be with us for long. Good to see that the good captain sported a rather natty tie as part of his outer space uniform.
PICTURED: SPACE COMICS BOTH SOLD
#51 FN £25 Just minor edge wear and stress marks at spine.
#66 VG/FN £22.50 Minor edge wear and small tear with no loss at bottom edge.
Books Update: A Mixed Bag of Science Fiction inc. Brave New World
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Four additions this week, including: a post-apocalyptic tale of terror and suspense from John Crowley, a space opera from Peter Dagmar, an interplanetary tour de force from Jonathan Fast and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, one of the most famous and prophetic of science fiction novels. More information as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
JOHN CROWLEY: BEASTS Orbit 1978 1st UK PB GD/VG £7
PETER DAGMAR: SPYKOS 4 Digit 1960 UK PB GD £4 SOLD
JONATHAN FAST: THE SECRETS OF SYNCHRONICITY Signet 1977 1st US PB FN £4
ALDOUS HUXLEY: BRAVE NEW WORLD Penguin 1966 UK PB VG £4
Books Update: Re-Working our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: The Man Who Wrote Too Much – Edgar Wallace Part 2
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies & Sleaze category, for the second part of our inventory for the formidable crime, mystery and thriller author Edgar Wallace. Edgar Wallace died at 56 in 1932 (during the script drafting for the original King Kong film), but despite his relatively short life, had a reputation for being very prolific. One of his publishers claimed that a quarter of all books in England were written by him. As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace’s work. I can remember growing up with re-runs of his characters The Four Just Men (who had their own TV series), plus the Edgar Wallace Mystery Hour, an anthology series of his mysteries and thrillers. Later, there was The Mind Of Mr J G Reeder, a detective series in 1969-1971. So Wallace’s popularity continued way beyond his death, although it has faded somewhat in the 21st Century, with few of his books still in print. His output earned him the title ‘The Man Who Wrote Too Much’ and I can recall in one of Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence novels, there was a reference to a bookshelf with a ‘yard of Edgar Wallace’. We continue an impressive inventory of Wallace in our re-listings this week, including editions published in his lifetime, which are among the oldest books we have. Condition notes and more about each book in our catalogue. Final part of this author’s works coming soon.
PICTURED: ALL BY EDGAR WALLACE ALL SOLD
THE DOOR WITH SEVEN LOCKS Great Pan 1960 UK PB GD £5
THE FEATHERED SERPENT Hodder 1958 UK PB VG £6
THE INDIA RUBBER-MEN Pan 1956 UK PB VG £5
THE IRON GRIP Readers’ Library 1929 UK HC GD £10 With DJ FA
THE JOKER Pan 1950 UK PB GD £5
THE MAN AT THE CARLTON Pan 1964 UK PB GD £4
THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS NAME Crime Book Society c1939 UK PB VG £12
Order allocation following Newsletter
We just wanted to remind you how our order allocation system works for new stock that’s featured in our Newsletter/What’s New page each week.
We now draw lots for those relatively few items that get clashing orders following new stock releases in our Newsletter. We think this gives everyone a fairer chance of getting what they want, at the same time removing the pressure for customers to order in a hurry and thus make mistakes or change their minds. This is also fairer for those who may be busy when the Newsletter is issued, or for non-UK customers in different time zones. This applies to orders received following the Saturday Newsletter (issued around 10 am) up to 4 pm on the same day, after which we revert to first come, first served. Wherever possible, we shall be advising you after 4 pm of the results of your Newsletter order.
So, a timeline to summarise:
9 – 11 am Saturday: Newsletter sent; What’s New page and Catalogue updated
4 pm Saturday: Orders checked for clashes and, if required, draw made to determine successful orders.
After 4 pm Saturday: Emails sent to advise draw results.
The previously announced deadline extension until Sunday for the Midas Collection no longer applies.
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Superman #53, 10th Anniversary issue from 1948, with the origin of Superman
*DC: From the Midas Collection this week, the 10th Anniversary issue of ‘the World’s Greatest Adventure Character’ Superman #53 from 1948, featuring the third telling of the origin of Superman in the lead story with script by Bill Finger and art by Wayne Boring, who also contributed the iconic cover showing the destruction of Krypton and the escape of the baby Kal-El in his rocket. Back-up stories drawn by Al Plastino see the Man Of Steel back in ancient Egypt and battling modern day pirates. This is a relatively good-looking copy with some specific defects: the spine is taped with very narrow clear tape; the bottom half of the right edge has narrow but pervasive chipping, which fortunately does not impinge on the black circle of space in the cover design; there is a thumbnail-sized corner off the bottom spine on the back cover. Very slight spine roll, but virtually no creases. Pages are a nice quality off-white. Cover colours are strong.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #53 FA £195 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: The Brave And The Bold #1 (1955)
*DC: The Brave And The Bold is a DC title that went through a lot of changes in its 200 issue strong run. Featuring the debuts of the Suicide Squad, Justice League of America, Cave Carson, the Silver Age Hawkman, the Teen Titans, Metamorpho and more, in a phase when it rivalled Showcase as DC’s try-out venue, it went on to become a team-up title, first teaming characters from across the DCU, then featuring a Batman team-up for most of its run. But the first 24 issues featured a range of adventure heroes from legend, starting here with #1, starring The Golden Gladiator (art by Russ Heath), the Viking Prince (art by Joe Kubert) and the Silent Knight (art by Irv Novick). A low grade copy of this inaugural issue from 1955 from the Midas Collection. The cover is reinforced by narrow white tape at the inner cover spine; there is a narrow water stain at top spine and a tear with no loss across the Comics Code Authority box. Edge wear with small nicks front and back. Staples firm at centrefold and (beneath tape) at spine. Supple off-white pages and corner blunting.
PICTURED: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #1 FA £160 SOLD
American Comics Update: Spider-Mania/Slab Happy: Amazing #18 CGC
*Marvel: One of the less often seen of the classic Lee/Ditko Spideys is Amazing #18, where our hero comes up against the Sandman and has a crisis of conscience about his role as a super-hero. 1st appearance of Ned Leeds. With cameos from all Peter Parker’s cast, most of Spidey’s villains and in fact almost all the Marvel super-hero canon at that time, this is an issue that deserves more popularity. This is a CGC encased copy with a pence stamp, graded at 2.0 (GD). Universal blue label (unrestored). Case perfect. Off-white pages. CGC Code: 3954511008.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #18 CGC 2.0 GD p £100
American Comics Update: The Return Of The Big Panty Monsters: Amazing Adult Fantasy, Amazing Adventures, Strange Tales Annual
*Marvel: We term that period between the end of Atlas and the dawn of the Marvel Super-Heroes as the age of the Big Panty Monsters, where the Earth was constantly threatened by alien monsters with a line in Big Panties to hide their modesty. Kirby and Ditko reigned supreme throughout. Three low grade examples this week:
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #8 GD- p £40 Pence stamped. Wall-to-wall Ditko of course. Multiple book shop stamps on cover. Solid enough with good staples, corner blunting, edge wear and a few colour-breaking creases.
AMAZING ADVENTURES #4 GD- £40 All Kirby and Ditko. Features Dr Droom story, regarded as the first Marvel super-hero. Two small book shop stamps. Structurally solid with good staples; heavy creasing breaking colour to right edge of title logo. Lesser creasing at edges, corner blunting.
STRANGE TALES ANNUAL #1 FA p £35 Giant 72 pages. All reprint. Multiple Kirby and Ditko plus others. Pence stamped. Taped and heavily creased spine, with cover coming loose. Book shop stamp. Colour-breaking creases across cover. Small graffiti. Corner blunting with heavy wear and a few tears, but complete apart from margin corner off bottom splash page.
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Strange Tales x5
*Marvel: Five classic issues of Strange Tales from the Good Doctor this week towards the end of the first run of this title, from #160-164. With art by Steranko, Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD tangles with the Yellow Claw in this sequence, while Dr Strange encounters denizens of various mystic realms, including Baron Mordo, the Living Tribunal and Nebulous, Lord Of The Planets Perilous. Nice mid to higher grade copies.
IN THIS UPDATE: STRANGE TALES ALL SOLD
#160 VG+ p £11.75
#161 VG+ p £11.75
#162 FN/VF £29 (PICTURED)
#163 VG+ £11.75
#164 FN- p £14.25
American Comics Update: Rare Chesler – Dynamic Comics #20 from 1946
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: We get very few Chesler comics through our hands, so it’s a real pleasure to have a copy of Dynamic Comics from 1946 new in this week. An anthology title with super-hero Dynamic Man (and Dynamic Boy) & Yankee Boy, adventure with the Echo, crime with the Manhunters, science fiction with Dan Hastings, occult adventure with Mister E and a couple of humour strips. Artists include Ralph Mayo and Paul Gattuso, with an infamous cover by the latter. A reasonable copy; the cover has vivid colours, with some foxing spots. Some edge and spine wear, with spidery colour-breaking creases just in from the spine. Slight staple pulls, but fully attached at spine and centrefold. Page quality is a nice white to off-white. A rare chance to grab an uncommon item.
PICTURED: DYNAMIC COMICS #20 GD/VG £350
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Charlton 1970s Horror
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Half a dozen more distinctive gems from Charlton’s 1970s output in this vein.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
GHOSTLY HAUNTS #42 FN p £4.25
GHOSTLY TALES #58 VG £7.75
GHOSTLY TALES #114 FN £6.25
GHOST MANOR (2nd series) #20 FN p £4.25
HAUNTED (BARON WEIRWULF’S HAUNTED LIBRARY) #21 FN p £6.25 1st Baron Weirwulf
MIDNIGHT TALES #12 FN p £4.25
British Comics Update: Quirky Corner: Crasho Comics 1947
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: They don’t come much quirkier than this British comic from 1947; US sized with colour cover and blue and white back cover and inside covers and 24 black and white pages. Lead story features Crash Britanus, a costumed super-hero who got his fantastic super-powers by being in the centre of Hiroshima when the bomb exploded. Credited to Crewe Davies, but whether this is one or two creators we have no idea. Back-up story is the fantasy Curley & His Magic Flute, plus feature pages. Published by W Daly in Manchester, the back cover promised a second issue, but as far as we have been able to determine, this never happened. We have pictured below the cover and first two pages to give you a flavour of this curious backwater of British comics’ history. There’s a good chance you’ll never see another copy! This one is in a remarkable state of preservation.
PICTURED: CRASHO COMIC FN £35 SOLD
British Comics Update: Free Gift Farrago: Two rare #1 issues, both with Free Gifts: Jackie & Twinkle £100 each
*Girls’ Comics: A chance to pick up two rare Girls’ comics this week, all the rarer for being complete with their original Free Gifts.
1) Jackie. The quintessential Girl’s comic/magazine Jackie. In 1964, Jackie was launched to bridge female readers between Bunty and Woman’s Own, a brief playtime with the ‘England Swings’ zeitgeist of the day, before girls were expected to settle into consumerist conformism. This debut issue, 11 Jan 1964, features Pin-Ups of Cliff, Elvis and the Beatles, Perfume Tips for a More Kissable You, Dreamy Picture Love Stories and Way-Out Exclusives on all the Popsters – for pity’s sake, what more could you want? Well, how about the original Free Gift – a ‘Twin Heart’ Love Ring – still sealed in its original packaging, never having had a chance to turn anyone’s finger green in the intervening decades? Plus – the Power! The Fury! The senses-shattering debut of Cathy and Claire, Jackie’s indefatigable advice page oracles, dispensing wisdom on bras, boys, and (hushed voice) ladyproblems. Jackie became a watchword for a generation, not bowing out until 1993 and is well-remembered today. This Jackie #1 is FN+, just falling short of a higher grade on account of a tiny amount of upper right soft corner creasing. The Free Gift, never opened, is NM. (Our thanks to Will Morgan for this comprehensive write-up).
2) Twinkle. ‘The new picture paper specially for little girls’ launched in 1968, with the star power of Nurse Nancy, Betty Bright, Sally Sweet, Patsy the Panda and lots more. The age of its target audience has meant that relatively few of the #1 issues of this title have survived, let alone a FN unread copy as here, complete with its Free Gift, a St Christopher Charm Bracelet which comes in its original envelope.
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
JACKIE #1 FN+ WITH FREE GIFT (NM) £100
TWINKLE #1 FN WITH FREE GIFT (VF) £100
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Two Horror ‘Guides’ by Bernhardt J Hurwood
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category for two horror ‘guides’ to witches, vampires, ghouls, werewolves and the like from Bernardt J Hurwood, a renowned horror writer, the first ‘hideously illustrated’. Adventures into the Netherworld Of Horror…
PICTURED: BY BERNHARDT J HURWOOD
MONSTERS GALORE Fawcett Gold Medal 1965 1st US PB GD £10
TERROR BY NIGHT Lancer 1963 1st US PB VG £15
Books Update: British Library Crime Classics
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’ve been fortunate enough to acquire a selection of British Library Crime Classics, a contemporary series which reprints classic novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, bound in attractive uniform editions which feature period paintings as their covers. A celebration of famous and forgotten authors and a milestone in publishing for the British Library. All books are in like new, unread condition at a uniform price of £5 each. Further information is shown in our catalogue. Here’s four more of them:
BRITISH LIBRARY CRIME CLASSICS ALL SOLD
ANTHONY BERKELEY: THE POISONED CHOCOLATES CASE British Library Crime Classics 2016 UK PB Originally published 1929 Like New £5
FREEMAN WILLS CROFT: MYSTERY IN THE CHANNEL British Library Crime Classics 2016 UK PB Originally published 1931 Like New £5
MARTIN EDWARDS (Ed): THE MEASURE OF MALICE British Library Crime Classics 2019 1st UK PB Short crime stories with scientific detection themes Like New £5
GIL NORTH SERGEANT CLUFF STANDS FIRM British Library Crime Classics 2016 UK PB Originally published 1960 Like New £5
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection/Batmania: Batman #73 with Classic Joker Cover & Story
*DC: It’s time in the Midas Collection for a classic Joker cover, and what better than Dick Sprang’s cover illustration for Batman #73, featuring ‘The Joker’s Utility Belt’? Sprang also illustrates two of the interior stories (including the cover feature) with the third drawn by Bob Kane and Lew Sayre Schwartz. I fondly remember the Joker’s Utility Belt story from the iconic Adam West TV series in the 60s, where, as here, the Joker gets fed up with Batman using his utility belt to get out of traps and decides to design his own. Other stories feature the Renter, who rents guns to crooks and Vicki Vale, Batman’s Lois Lane. This copy has a mostly unspoilt cover image with strong colour and a vivid yellow background. The lower spine is split up to (but not including) the lower staple, with a small tear on the back cover. The front cover has pulled at the staples, with small tears at top and bottom staples, which are still pretty firmly attached. Minor wear at top, bottom and right edges, a little more at spine where a reading crease breaks colour between the staples. There is a tiny chip out right centre edge. Staples are firm at centre and page quality is good, a supple off-white. All in all, not too bad a copy.
PICTURED: BATMAN #73 GD+ £475
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Superman #101-104 1955/56
*DC: Also from the Midas Collection, four consecutive issues of Superman from #101-104 in a mix of grades. Aliens, crooks and strange menaces all challenge the Man of Steel.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN
#101 PR £15 Cover by Plastino; interior art by Plastino, Boring. Very low grade copy with covers detached and separated. Corners off top and bottom spine. Thumbnail-sized chip out bottom edge. Otherwise complete. Centrefold loose; pages cream to tan. SOLD
#102 VG+ £115 Cover by Boring; interior art by Boring, Plastino. Solid copy with some gloss and good colour. Minor wear bu no specific faults.
#103 GD- £45 Cover by Plastino; interior art by Boring, Plastino. Mr Myxyztplk story. Upper and lower spine splits, edge wear, firm vertical crease down lower half of cover.
#104 VG £100 Cover by Boring; interior art by Boring, Plastino. Solid copy with good colour. Subscription crease.
American Comics Update: Slab Happy/Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Sandman in Amazing #4 CGC 5.5
*Marvel: New in this week is a CGC copy of the fourth issue of Amazing Spider-Man, a Lee & Ditko classic which introduced Spidey to the gentleman who would become one of his most vehement enemies – and occasionally, a reluctant hero – the shape-shifting Sandman, whose molecular mastery came close to baffling our hero. In addition, this issue features the debut of Betty Brant, a lady who was to become very important in the Wall-Crawler’s life. This is a CGC graded copy at 5.5 (FN-). Universal blue label (unrestored). Case perfect. Off-white to white pages. The cover has rich colours. CGC Code: 3954525006. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4 CGC 5.5 FN- £1,350
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Fantastic Four #37-39
*Marvel: From the Bute Collection this week, three excellent consecutive issues of Marvel’s first family. #37 is a cosmic outer space story featuring the Skrulls; #38 sees our heroes tussling with the Frightful Four, losing their powers in the process; and in #39, with an iconic cover, powerless, they face up to Dr Doom with the aid of Daredevil. All three issues have the ‘MMMS Wants You’ box, an ad for the Merry Marvel Marching Society. And, on a personal note, #38 was the first regular Marvel comic I read which spurred me on to investigate the Marvel Age of Comics, despite being a dyed-in-the-wool DC fan.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#37 FN/VF £95 Nice clean copy with residual gloss, a couple of tiny cover creases that don’t break colour, minor wear along top edge, tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages.
#38 FN/VF p £85 Pence stamped. Nice clean copy with minor corner blunting and slight spine wear, small ink stain on back cover, tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages.
#39 VG- £37 Nice copy with residual gloss, strong colour, blighted only by ragged top edge with some small chips out. Tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. SOLD
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Frank Miller Daredevils
*Marvel: Frank Miller, later of Dark Knight Returns and Sin City fame, made his name on the sightless swashbuckler Daredevil, starting in 1979. His stories centred mostly on DD himself of course, plus the menaces of the Kingpin and Bullseye, and the debut and fate of DD’s lost love Elektra, who, following her death in #181, was resurrected in the double-sized #190. Six consecutive issues here. By this time, Frank Miller was credited as writer and storyteller, with Klaus Janson on pencils, inks and colours; the quality did not drop.
IN THIS UPDATE: DAREDEVIL
#186 VF+ £8
#187 VF+ £8
#188 FN/VF £6
#189 VF £6.75
#190 NM £11.50 (PICTURED) Double-sized. Resurrection of Elektra.
#191 VF+ £8
American Comics Update: It’s back! Pre-Code Horror Fest: EC’s Tales From The Crypt
*EC: Additions to our Pre-Code Horror inventory have been somewhat lacking for these past few months, but we have an issue of probably the most famous horror title of them all this week: Tales From The Crypt from EC. Issue #39 from 1953/54, with our hosts the Crypt-Keeper, the Old Witch and the Vault-Keeper, features a cover by Jack Davis and stories with art by Davis, Joe Orlando, Jack Kamen and Graham Ingels – a classic EC Line-up. This is a reasonable copy with some flaws: tiny chip off top right corner, clean 3 cm lower spine split, wear to spine and right edge with some spidery colour-breaking creases along the right edge and a wax crayon small arrival date over the ‘R’ in ‘Crypt’ on the logo. But the staples are firm and tight, and the pages a nice quality white to off-white.
PICTURED: TALES FROM THE CRYPT #39 GD/VG £225 SOLD
American Comics Update: League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s quite rare that we stray into the 21st Century for our stock, but for Alan Moore, we’ll make an exception. Moore created, in conjunction with artist Kevin O’Neill, a Victorian era combination of characters from famous literary works: Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and so forth. This unlikely and reluctant alliance faced down foes in two mini-series, then resurfaced periodically from various publishers in a number of one-offs, original graphic novels and spin-offs. The subject of a controversial film (which Moore publicly disavowed and condemned, and which is rumoured to have caused star Sean Connery to retire from acting!), the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics and graphic novels are of a much higher quality. Even if, over the intervening years, Moore’s narrative techniques have become ever more esoteric and oblique, there is much entertainment to be had in his shameless plundering of popular culture. This week we feature The Black Dossier, an original graphic novel in its first printing. A handsome hardcover dust-jacketed edition complete with bound in bookmark ribbon and 3D glasses (for the 3D section at the end of the work – duh!). An unread, Mint copy. Unavailable in the UK on release due to copyright law (which is different in the US). 1950s Britain: a hotbed of spies and cold war treachery. Returned after a lengthy absence, two associates of the long-disbanded ‘Murray Group’ are seeking a top secret book known as the Black Dossier…
PICTURED: THE BLACK DOSSIER HC MINT £25 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Early issues of Girls’ Love Stories
*Romance: For our final update from the Midas Collection this week, we feature three early issues of Girls’ Love Stories, one of DC’s longest running romance titles, which started in 1949 and finished in 1973. Our update features #4, #12 and #16. Although mostly drawn by unknown artists, DC’s romance comics from this period featured a good standard of appealing art, and often very well composed and executed covers. Here, #4 is a photo cover, as was common with romance back then, but by #12 had changed to line-drawn art. All worn but in solid, decent condition without significant defects. Seldom seen, particularly over here in the UK, the Midas Collection is quite rich in this genre, with many more to follow.
PICTURED: GIRLS’ LOVE STORIES
#4 VG £45
#12 VG £35
#16 VG £35
British Comics Update: Eagle Overhaul: Volumes 3 & 4 (1952-53)
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Following strong sales and a big influx of new stock, we’re totally overhauling and relisting our Eagle stock: many additions and deletions and new streamlined pricing. One of the icons of British comics’ history, Eagle started up in 1950; every issue of its twenty year run starred Dan Dare, its most famous son, as well as loads of other strips, featuring the cream of British artists and superior quality printing and paper. Volumes 3-4 are now processed and re-listed. continuing from Volumes 1-2 previously done. Please refer to our catalogue for details. Volumes from 5 upwards will be dealt with over the coming weeks, but for now they remain at half the old prices in our half-price sale.
British Comics Update: The Christmas Beano 1946
*Humour Comics: The Christmas Beano is an institution of British comics. For many children (and adults) over the decades a real highlight of this special time of year, where many of their favourite characters engage in festive frolics, and the Beano logo is decked with snow. And whilst collecting 4000 plus issues of the Beano wouldn’t suit all Beano fans’ circumstances, a collection of Christmas issues is much more manageable, if you can find them. Let us help you with that. This week, we have a copy of the Christmas Beano from 1946, #300 dated 29th December. Big Eggo, Lord Snooty and the gang, Polly Wolly Doodle and her Great Big Poodle and very many more are all here in celebratory mood, also featuring the first strip of Sticky Willie. This is a nice copy with bright colours, a totally intact spine and good definition; pages are near-white. One or two small foxing spots on the cover, and a slightly crumpled bottom right edge, with small creases only in the margin areas.
PICTURED: BEANO #300 29/12/46 GD/VG £70 Christmas issue.
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Robert E Howard
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category for some special books by Robert E Howard, creator of Conan. In his short life, as well as the most famous barbarian, Howard wrote of other sword and sorcery/fantasy characters, as well as supernatural/horror tales in both prose and poetry. Some of his incomplete works were later finished by others. Our small selection of Howard books includes some rather special items, including a hardback edition of his horror/supernatural poetry, Always Comes Evening, a lush 700+ page tome of his non-Conan sword and sorcery heroes, Conan’s Brethren and a hardback edition of The Return Of Skullface, completed by Richard A Lupoff. There is also a regular Sphere paperback edition of Conan the Usurper, from their famous series, by Howard and L Sprague de Camp, with a Frazetta cover.
PICTURED: ALL BY ROBERT E HOWARD
ALWAYS COMES EVENING Underwood-Miller 1977 US HC FN £35 With DJ (VF)
CONAN’S BRETHREN BCA 2009 UK HC FN £100 With DJ (VG/FN)
(with L SPRAGUE DE CAMP) CONAN THE USURPER Sphere 1982 5th UK PB VG/FN £5 SOLD
(with RICHARD A LUPOFF) THE RETURN OF SKULL FACE Fax Collector’s Editions 1977 1st US HC FN £25 With DJ (FN)
Books Update: Re-Working our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: The Man Who Wrote Too Much – Edgar Wallace Part 1
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies & Sleaze category, for the first part of our inventory for the formidable crime, mystery and thriller author Edgar Wallace. Edgar Wallace died at 56 in 1932 (during the script drafting for the original King Kong film), but despite his relatively short life, had a reputation for being very prolific. One of his publishers claimed that a quarter of all books in England were written by him. As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace’s work. I can remember growing up with re-runs of his characters The Four Just Men (who had their own TV series), plus the Edgar Wallace Mystery Hour, an anthology series of his mysteries and thrillers. Later, there was The Mind Of Mr J G Reeder, a detective series in 1969-1971. So Wallace’s popularity continued way beyond his death, although it has faded somewhat in the 21st Century, with few of his books still in print. His output earned him the title ‘The Man Who Wrote Too Much’ and I can recall in one of Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence novels, there was a reference to a bookshelf with a ‘yard of Edgar Wallace’. We start an impressive inventory of Wallace in our re-listings this week, including several editions published in his lifetime, which are among the oldest books we have. Condition notes and more about each book in our catalogue. More parts to come in future weeks.
PICTURED: ALL BY EDGAR WALLACE ALL SOLD
AGAIN THE RINGER Great Pan 1962 UK PB GD £4
ANGEL ESQUIRE Reader’s Library 1928 UK HC VG £25 With DJ (GD)
THE BIG FOUR Reader’s Library 1929 1st UK HC VG £25 With DJ (GD)
CHICK Ward Lock 1929 UK PB FA/GD £12
THE CALENDAR Great Pan 1961 UK PB VG £4
THE COUNCIL OF JUSTICE Ward Lock 1930s? UK PB GD/VG £4
THE CRIMSON CIRCLE Pan 1950 UK PB VG £6
Clearance Corner: 6 Image comics: Pitt, Spawn x2, Wildcats, Witchblade & Youngblood inc 4 x #1s, Golden Edition, Trading Cards for just £25
*Clearance Corner: Very occasionally, a lot comes our way which either does not justify its place in our catalogue (but is too good to discard), or is superfluous to our requirements. These lots are offered here on our What’s New page, but are no longer listed in our catalogue. Lots listed under Clearance Corner will be available for a short time only, and are offered post free to UK buyers only. They are not normally bagged and boarded as our normal stock (although this lot is!), but will be securely packaged for transit. If you order a Clearance Corner lot, it may not be combined with another order in the same package. We don’t normally sell Image comics, but we had a few nice examples hanging around which are too good to discard.
PICTURED: IMAGE COMICS LOT £25 for all six, UK post free. SOLD
PITT #1 VF/NM
SPAWN #2 FN
SPAWN #4 FN
WILDCATS #1 VF/NM Gold Edition with Trading Cards
WITCHBLADE #1 FN
YOUNGBLOOD #1 VF With Trading Cards
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Batmania/Slab Happy: Batman #6 (1941)
*DC: From the Midas Collection this week, a CGC encased copy of Batman #6 from 1941. Great dynamic cover by Bob Kane, with four Batman stories, all by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, featuring various crime stories and mobster-like villains, in particular the Clock Maker in his first and last appearance. Universal blue label (unrestored). Case perfect. Cream to off-white pages. NB The cover has rich colours; the image suffers a little from glare on the plastic case. CGC Code: 1027575002. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #6 CGC 3.5 (VG-) £1,600 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Midas Collection: Action Comics #22 (1940)
*DC: Although not the first comic to feature original material rather than reprint, Action Comics, starring Superman, is generally regarded as the title that started the Golden Age. By issue #22, which we have available from the Midas Collection this week, Superman was firmly established as the title’s star character and dominated the covers. Beneath an iconic Joe Shuster cover, several features await. In the lead story, Superman and Lois get involved in a war between two fictitious European countries, as told by Jerry Siegel and Shuster/Paul Cassidy. Other features include Pep Morgan (by Gardner Fox and Fred Guardineer), Chuck Dawson, Clip Carson (by Sheldon Moldoff), Tex Thompson (by Ken Fitch and Bernard Bailey), Three Aces and Zatara tangling with the Tigress and The Mask by Gardner Fox and Fred Guardineer. This is a low grade copy that features a near-unspoilt cover image; there are very small chips out top and right edges, and a thin dust shadow along the right edge. The spine is a bit of a mess, with several tears and little bits out, including spine splits at top (3 cm) and bottom (3 cm); the front cover has detached from both staples, but has been reinforced by tape on the inside cover (now removed apart from one piece of about 8 cm in lower half); back cover appears attached; there is more tape inside back cover. There is also a non-severe stain on the back cover (lower left edge) which permeates through the last few pages of the comic (margins only) to a lessening degree. The centrefold is loose. For all this, a bright copy which looks better than it sounds. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: ACTION COMICS #22 FA+ £900 SOLD
American Comics Update: 3 classic Silver Age Green Lantern inc DC Debuts
*DC: Three consecutive issues new in featuring the Emerald Gladiator between #27 and #29. Green Lantern divides his time between fighting super-villains and having science fiction adventures, as well as courting Carol Ferris. Includes 2nd Shark in #28 and, in #29 the debut of the Blackhand and a JLA cameo. Nice mid-grade copies.
IN THIS UPDATE: GREEN LANTERN
#27 VG+ p £19.75
#28 VG+ p £17.25
#29 VG+ p £34 (PICTURED) 1st Blackhand; JLA cameo.
American Comics Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52
*Marvel: One of the key debuts of the Silver Age. Lee & Kirby’s Fantastic Four added to its many innovations in 1966’s FF #52, when they introduced the first black super-hero in comics. Previously, the vanishingly rare heroic black characters in comics had been either embarrassing sidekicks or ‘noble savages’, but the Black Panther was the monarch of a highly sophisticated and technologically advanced African nation, Wakanda, and was to become not only one of the FF’s greatest allies, but a mainstay of their fellow heroes, the Avengers. This is a nice, sound cents copy with excellent colour, lying flat with tight staples and supple, near-white pages. There is a small arrival date in what looks like wax crayon at the very top of the masthead box. A faint-ish diagonal crease breaks colour for about 6 cm across the body of the Thing (bottom right cover), and there are a couple of very spidery colour-breaking creases at bottom edge and top right edge, but these do not spoil the cover image.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #52 VG/FN £375 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: Amazing #30 – The Claws Of The Cat
*Marvel: I always thought when reading Amazing Spider-Man #30 that it was a little off-beat compared to what had gone before, a one-off tale of a fairly nondescript cat burglar, somewhat understated when compared to most of Spidey’s rogues gallery. Years later, I realised that this was probably due to the fact that Steve Ditko had (uniquely) plotted this issue, and that his art gave the story a distinct noir flavour I came to appreciate. This copy from the Good Doctor Collection, a pence-printed ‘Marvel Pop Art Production’, is very nice with rich, moody colour cover and residual gloss. Minor corner blunting with a small dink at top left spine and small stress marks along the spine. Nice white to off-white pages and tight staples. Presents very well.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #30 VG/FN p £85
American Comics Update: Venom: The Madness – Complete Set #1-3
*Marvel: From 1993, another complete three issue mini-series of Venom: The Madness. This is the one with Juggernaut, featuring an embossed cover on #1. All in pristine NM condition. If you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you’ll like.
PICTURED: VENOM: THE MADNESS #1; Complete Set #1-3 All NM £15 SOLD
American Comics Update: The IW/Super Extravaganza: Fantastic Adventures
*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. Inasmuch as most IW/Super titles were portmanteau series, Fantastic Adventures, with its mix of war, crime, horror, good girl, jungle, adventure etc, all from different sources, was a typical example. 6 out of the 7 known issues here, starting at #10 and running to #17 (there were no issues #13 or #14 and we don’t have the final issue, #18) (we told you that the IW numbering system was esoteric, right?)
IN THIS UPDATE: FANTASTIC ADVENTURES ALL SOLD
#10 VG+ £5.75 Reprints He-Man #2 Toby 1954. New cover by John Severin.
#11 VG £6.75 Reprints Blue Bolt Weird Tales #118 Star 1951. New cover by Ross Andru.
#12 VG £5 Not reprints. Unused Chesler material, most likely would have been Zor the Mighty #3. Cover by Ross Andru.
#15 FN+ £9 Reprints Spook #23 Star 1953. New cover by Ross Andru. Pictured below
#16 VG £5 Reprints Dark Shadows #2 Farrell 1958. New cover by Ross Andru
#17 GD- £3 Reprints Seven Seas #6 Iger 1947. New cover by Ross Andru
American Comics Update: The Arch Collection: Modern Comics 1948-1950 with Blackhawk Femme Fatales & Torchy
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: One of the features I liked best about Blackhawk stories from this period is the line-up of femme fatales that the Magnificent Seven constantly seemed to come up against. Three such examples this week from our fabulous Arch Collection, featuring Madam Butterfly in Modern Comics #78, Twilight (a deadly female spy) in #86 and Tanara, exotic queen of evil (and her alluring accomplices, the Seven Sirens) in #94. And if that array of (evil) pulchritude wasn’t enough, there are also back-up stories starring Torchy, Bill Ward’s Good Girl who always seemed to lose her clothing at the wrong moment (how careless of her!). Plus other teen and humorous back-ups.
PICTURED: MODERN COMICS
#78 GD £35 Great cover image. Chips out at edges (half thumbnail size at right edge; 3 cm upper spine split. Decent staples and page quality. SOLD
#86 VG £50 Solid copy with bright colours. Nice pages and staples. Tiny corner off top right cover and first few pages; stories not affected. Small chip (still attached) bottom edge.
#94 FA/GD £20 6 cm lower spine split with chunk out at bottom (narrow on front, larger on back cover). Some wear and colour-breaking creases; staples still attached. SOLD
British Comics Update: Alan Class Printing Plate Set: Suspense #115, reprinting Daredevil #60
*Alan Class Reprints: Long-time visitors to our site will remember that we’ve been selling the Printing Plates from Alan Class’s Private Archive for many years. Although they ran out in 2023, there has always been the possibility of a few more being located with the co-operation of Alan himself. Such has now happened with Suspense #115, which reprints the cover and story from Daredevil #60 and is a 100 page special. The set comprises the lead printing plates used in the original comic’s colour cover printing, a copy of the comic printed with these plates and a signed certificate of authenticity signed by Alan Class himself. These are packaged in a special protective presentation case. Full details follow (please remember that these sets are not available for postage to addresses outside the UK).
PICTURED: SUSPENSE #115 Comic and Plate Set £100 SOLD
*Comic VG. Vibrant colour, solid spine with very minor wear at bottom. Reading crease at spine, with further creases at right edge and across bottom right corner. 100 pages; nice clean copy. Reprints Daredevil #60, plus Charlton, ACG, Atlas, inc 1 story by Bill Everett.
*Colour cover plates: 4
*Signed certificate of authenticity
*Presentation case
British Comics Update: Love Story Picture Library – 10 issues from 1967/68
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: This week’s release of Love Story Picture Library, the longest running romance picture library from Fleetway, comprises 10 issues from 1967/68, between #642 to #655. The series always maintained a high standard and the very accomplished art reflected the fashions and mood of the times. All between FN and VF.
IN THIS UPDATE: LOVE STORY PICTURE LIBRARY ALL SOLD
#642 FN/VF £6
#643 VF £7
#644 FN/VF £6
#649 FN/VF £6
#650 FN/VF £6
#651 FN/VF £6
#652 VF £7
#653 FN £5
#654 FN £5
#655 FN £5
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Hill to Holly
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category for authors alphabetically from Hill to Holly. Douglas Hill edits an anthology of adventure on other planets with stories from some big names in science fiction; The Judges Of Hades is a collection of occult mysteries with Simon Ark, seemingly immortal investigator into the paranormal; Chain Reaction is a ‘mushroom cloud’ thriller by Christopher Hodder-Williams; and J Hunter Holly contributes three engaging space opera romps.
PICTURED
DOUGLAS HILL (Ed): ALIEN WORLDS Piccolo 1982 1st UK PB GD/VG £3
EDWARD D HOCH: THE JUDGES OF HADES Leisure Books 1971 1st US PB VG £13 SOLD
CHRISTPHER HODDER-WILLIAMS: CHAIN REACTION Corgi 1966 1st UK PB thus VG £4
J HUNTER HOLLY: THE GREEN PLANET Monarch 1961 1st US PB GD £4
J HUNTER HOLLY: THE GREY ALIENS Mayflower Dell 1964 1st UK PB VG £10
J HUNTER HOLLY: THE RUNNING MAN Monarch 1963 1st US PB VG/FN £4
Books Update: Re-Working our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: A Mixed Bag of Crime & Sleaze with new addition and classic Heade cover
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, a mix of four books, some crime, some sleaze and some that blur the boundaries between the two. Monty Nash in Scream Bloody Murder (new in) is from the Department of Counter Intelligence, starring in a murder thriller. Law Of Lust is about a depraved judge. The half-Aboriginal detective Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) stars in Arthur Upfield’s Australia-set mystery The Mountains Have A Secret. A classic Reginalds Heade cover graces Roland Vane’s tale of sordid Soho and garish glamour Sinful Sisters.
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
RICHARD TELFAIR: SCREAM BLOODY MURDER Gold Medal 1961 1st UK PB VG £4
BOB TRALINS: LAW OF LUST Tuxedo 1962 1st US PB thus VG/FN £10
ARTHUR UPFIELD: THE MOUNTAINS HAVE A SECRET Pan 1954 1st UK PB GD £6
ROLAND VANE: SINFUL SISTERS Archer 1951 1st US PB GD £10
Books Update: Queens Of Crime: Margery Allingham
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: All the Queens Of Crime had their recurring detectives of course, and Margery Allingham’s was Albert Campion, a suave sleuth of noble blood, perfectly portrayed on TV by Peter Davison. Four Allingham Penguins in classic green and white stripe livery from the 1950s/60s fresh in this week, three featuring Campion in typically clever murder mysteries, and the fourth a double bill of suspense stories. Although perfectly readable, these copies are not in the best condition; full details, including condition notes, await you in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY MARGERY ALLINGHAM ALL SOLD
THE CASE OF THE LATE PIG Penguin 1961 5th UK PB GD £4 A Campion Mystery
DEATH OF A GHOST Penguin 1959 4th UK PB GD £4 A Campion Mystery
THE FASHION IN SHROUDS Penguin 1954 2nd UK PB FA/GD £4 A Campion Mystery
NO LOVE LOST Penguin 1959 1st UK PB thus GD £4