*Phantom: A quartet of vintage King and Charlton issues of the Phantom make an appearance on our lists this week – a mere smattering, but ‘The Ghost Who Walks’ walks out of our shop in Putney so swiftly that we tend to put out additions as soon as we get them, as demand is keen! Pat Boyette, Don Newton and other gifted artists illustrate these tales of Lee Falk’s cult creation.

*Power Comics: Although IPC’s re-invention of the popular Smash! is dismissed by many as an ersatz Valiant – and it’s true it shrank to the standard size and format of a regular IPC/Fleetway weekly – there was a lot more to it than that, and the first relaunch issue debuted two strips, ‘Cursitor Doom’ and ‘Janus Stark’, who went on to lengthy careers and engraved themselves in the hearts of a generation of comics readers. Other popular series from this run were the super-hero ‘Tri-Man’, challenger of the unknown ‘Simon Test’, and ‘Birdman of Baratoga’, another entry in the ‘feral child raised by random critters’ sub-genre so beloved of fiction. Plus, the well-loved comedy strips ‘Bad Penny’ and ‘The Swots and the Blots’ continued over from the old iteration to produce fresh mayhem and laughter! We have 89 of the 95 IPC Smash! issues new in stock, from the first new look issue to the final number; the relaunch issue, 15th March 1969, with the first appearances of Janus Stark and Cursitor Doom, is FN £12; prices and grades on the others are available in our catalogue.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: At the beginning of 1977, around the onset of punk music, a comic was launched that captured the zeitgeist of the times, more anarchic and anti-establishment than anything that had come before it in British comics, no more so than in the persona of Judge Dredd, the iconic anti-hero who has gone on to become legendary after debuting in issue #2. This update we’re featuring the first three issues of 2000 AD, with free gifts:
#1: Featuring the debuts of Mach-1, Invasion, Harlem’s Heroes, Flesh and the new Dan Dare. A clean and presentable GD/VG copy with good staples, moderate light creasing and light tanning of the pages, but no brittleness. The Space Spinner is present, virtually unmarred by the passing years, and is graded VF. Comic (GD/VG) and gift (VF) together priced at £225.
#2: 1st appearance of Judge Dredd. A tight flat GD/VG copy with good staples and decent page quality, no wrinkles or creasing, light foxing at page edges. The Free Gift, Biotronic Stickers, are unused on original backing sheet and grade at VF. Comic (GD/VG) and gift (VF) priced at £300..
#3: Pages a little whiter than #1 & #2, tighter at spine, graded at VG/FN, with Free Gift, Red Alert Survival Wallet, at VF, never having been assembled and still on original card backing. Comic and gift together on sale at £125. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: Rarities like the 1965 TV Century 21 Summer Extra from 1965, and the Thunderbirds Extra from 1965, would ordinarily command very high prices, easily reaching three-figures in high grades. These ones… don’t. While technically complete, these copies have not only been around the block, but also over the bridge and across the river, and show every step of the journey through the passing decades! TV Century 21 1965 Summer Extra has (deep breath) light scribble on three interior pages, puzzles or quizzes filled in on three interior pages, eight interior page edges clipped, affecting the ‘Contact 21’ and ‘Supercar’ strips, one quarter of the back cover is missing, affecting ‘My Favourite Martian’, the front cover is torn, worn, and virtually separated, and there is extensive corner and edge wear throughout. The 1965 Thunderbirds Extra fares no better, with covers detached, worn and with missing corners – one such, on the back cover, affects the final ‘Thunderbirds’ story; scribble on front cover and eight interior pages; quiz completed on one interior page, and a quarter of one interior page (affecting text & activity features) missing. However, beaten-up though they are, they are almost complete, and – with a couple of exceptions noted above – all stories are readable. TV Century 21 Summer Extra 1965 and Thunderbirds Extra 1965, both graded Poor, at £30 each. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Clearance Corner: A very mixed bag of stuff up for grabs this week, comprising the following: Hurricane Book Of Records, Look & Learn Pocket Picture Encyclopaedia, Scoop Sport Star Club Badge, Rupert weekly Boomerang, Wizard World Cup Winners Book, Wizard World Cup Scorebook, 3 Stingray Badges, Storyland Book Of Nursery Rhymes, Midget Comic from Red Letter (1937), Spiro Agnew card from ABC’s ‘Man On The Moon’ series, 4 sets of Playing Cards from Supernaturals, Nursery Rhyme Colouring Book, Promotional comics for IPC’s Funtime & Sunny, 2 unidentified but probably pre-war Boomerang free gifts, a sheet of Panini Superman stickers,  2 Oor Wullie stickers and a Judge Dredd promotional stand from 1992. You can’t say that’s not variety! All this can be yours for just £20 (plus £4 UK postage if required). SORRY, THIS LOT HAS 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 British section:
*Alan Class Reprints
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

We were delighted recently to be of assistance to French publishers Delirium by supplying some material for their high-quality hardcover collection of the early adventures of 2000 AD’s Slaine. Created by veteran writer Pat Mills, with the assistance of artists Angie Kincaid, Mike McMahon and Massimo Belardinelli, the warp-shifting Celtic warrior became a fast favourite with the 2000 AD crowd, and has remained in publication ever since. While we don’t carry non-English language materials ourselves, this handsome 220-page archival edition is now available in bookshops throughout the French-speaking world, and well worth the effort for bilingual readers to track it down!

*Clearance Corner: As you may realise, the purpose of our Clearance Corner lots is to clear space in our shop by discontinuing titles we’re no longer carrying to make way for new and incoming stuff. As such, they will only be offered for a short time. This Clearance Corner lot, listed on 22nd March 2019, has not been snapped up and is nearing the end of its time with us. If not purchased by the weekend, we will have to dispose of it. Here are the details from our original listing: ‘In the limbo between the cancellation of their original series and the dawn of the international line-up, the X-Men were ghosts in the Marvel Universe, making only very occasional guest appearances. In 1999, writer/artist John Byrne set out to fill in the gap with all-new stories of what Scott, Bobby, Hank, Warren, Jean, Alex and Lorna Did Next, with a clever, fast-paced series that lasted 22 fun-packed issues evocative of classic Silver Age Marvel, and got cancelled despite respectable sales because a new Marvel editorial remit thought it would ‘confuse the readers’, boo hiss. All 22 issues, a brisk, breezy read, all NM, yours for £15. UK postage if required will be an extra £4.’ SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: Detective Comics #327 famously heralded the ‘New Look’ for the Gotham Guardians – streamlined, modern, and devoid of aliens, robots, monsters and sundry Bat-clad ladies and animals which had characterised the series from the mid-Fifties onwards. Batman’s own series followed suit, and from #164 onwards, all silliness was eschewed – until the Batman TV series hit big, whereupon the silliness returned with a vengeance, but initially, at least, it was more-or-less straight crimebusting under the hands of Fox, Herron, Giella, Infantino, and others. We have a substantial run of Batman issues new in from #164 to #199, in high grades, averaging Fine or better; lovely copies with bright glossy covers and creamy, off-white interiors. Included are many 80 Page Giants reprinting classic Batman stories of yesteryear. Illustrated are #166 FN+ £50. #167 FN+ £50, #168 FN/VF £63 and #198 VF £53. Prices and grades on the others in our online listings.

*DC: 1984’s Ronin was quite a feather in DC’s cap, having acquired white-hot artist/writer Frank Miller after his ground-breaking run on Daredevil. Printed on the same high-quality paper as Camelot 3000, aimed at the higher end of the comics market, it took place in a near-future New York City, in which a ronin is reincarnated. According to Miller himself, the ideas came together while he was doing extensive research into kung fu movies, martial arts, samurai comic books and samurai ethics for his work on Daredevil. Synthesising those tropes into a dystopic Blade Runner-esque setting, the series crystallised the influences of manga and bande dessinée on Miller’s style, breaking him away from his acclaimed but firmly mainstream body of work to that date. The entire six-issue series, averaging NM, is on sale at £25. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: After extensive sales, we’re delighted to be able to replenish the Vizier of Velocity with new issues from #130 in the 1960s, to #310 in the 80s. Thirty+ new listings this week, highlights including multiple team-ups with Jay Garrick the Flash of Earth-2, Green Lantern, Kid Flash and other heroic chums, the wedding of Barry & Iris, a brief flurry of the acclaimed Neal Adams GL/GA as backup, and of course, villains, villains, villains! The Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery is one of the most diverse in comics and Gorilla Grodd, Captain Boomerang, Heat Wave, Pied Piper, Captain Cold and all the lads turn up individually and together in these issues! The Flash TV show remains popular, and the character, after big-screen appearances in ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Justice League’, is scheduled for his own feature film, so now’s the time to emulate Barry Allen and move fast – before these are gone!

*Marvel: They don’t come much hotter these days than Iron Man #55, wherein the cosmic arch-villain Thanos, nemesis of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, made his first appearance, the brainchild of fan favourite writer/artist Jim Starlin. Thanos has of course gone on to plague Marvel’s heroes in comics and movies ever since, but here is where it all started. This landmark issue also features the debuts of Drax the Destroyer, Mentor, Eros (later Starfox of the Avengers) and Kronos. It’s getting more and more difficult to find a comfortably affordable copy of this, but our new copy is Fair, with considerable edge wear, particularly at the upper left and lower right corners. With the imminent release of Avengers: Endgame in cinemas worldwide, in which Thanos is the villain, the character’s debut is only going to become more sought after. FA p £95. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: With Jolly Jack Kirby leaving the art chores of the X-Men after issue #11, Stan Lee realised he had to crank up the excitement to keep readers’ attention, and he certainly achieved it with this dynamic story introducing one of the X-Men’s most formidable opponents, the Juggernaut! Cain Marko, the hitherto unsuspected step-brother of the X-Men’s mentor Professor Xavier, dabbled with arcane forces and was transformed into the embodiment of an irresistible force! This VG p copy of a major villain’s debut has light spine wear, and some slight ‘chipping’ at cover edges and corners, but the cover image itself is unimpaired, with the vivid red background entirely unfaded, staples tight at cover and centrefold. Juggernaut’s re-entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with ‘Deadpool 2’ has once again piqued interest in this character. This VG p copy is on sale at £140.

*Marvel: Around thirty vintage Hulks new to our listings this week, from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, with several signed copies (no verification available, but we’re pretty sure they’re kosher) autographed by artist Herb Trimpe, with occasional co-signatures by writers Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart. Other highlights include the first appearances of villains Zzzax, the Bi-Beast and the winsome Wendigo, and the first deaths (hey it’s Marvel Comics) of the Mimic and Warlock. In affordable mid-grades on average, and with many issues filling gaps in our inventory, these aren’t going to stay in our possession long – grab ’em before they’re gone!

*War: 1952’s Battle Action mined the lurid field of violence and stereotyping, enlivened by artistic contributions from Pakula, Robinson, Krigstein, Everett, Heath, Check, Maneely, Shores and more. Interestingly, the series was actually cancelled with issue #12, but revived over a year later, running until 1957’s issue #30. Although mostly anthology war tales with no recurring characters, one of Atlas’ more enduring combat stars, Battle Brady, (whose catchphrase, ‘Remember the Alamo!’ must have confused the heck out of the Korean enemy) made his debut in issue #5 of this series and featured in most numbers thereafter. We have a virtually complete run, lacking only numbers #11 and #17 – though an incomplete #11 is included as a bonus with issue #12. Illustrated are #2 FN- £50 and #12 FN/VF £56; for grades and prices on all the others, please see our online listings.

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: A 1957 series from UK repackager Len Miller, Confidential Romances ran 13 68-page issues, reprinting mainly material from the American love comics published by Archer St. John. This ensured a high quality of art and story, and most issues featured at least one story by legendary illustrator Matt Baker – sometimes several! Unfortunately, Miller, for reasons unknown, didn’t use any of the St. John cover art, commissioning new, and sadly lacklustre, covers, but we promise the interiors are much more enticing! We have half-a dozen of the series between #3 to #12, all other than the last containing Baker artwork. Depicted: #11 VG £12. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Just like the weather, our Long Hot Summer event really hots up this week! We are delighted to have five scarce Lion Holiday and Summer Specials back in stock, commencing with the first proper Lion Special from 1968 (a 1967 “Lion Summer Spectacular Epic” had been used as a pilot the previous year, but featured no content from Lion weekly); 1968’s Summer Special, like the ‘Epic’, had a movie cover and theme, but most of the content was from Lion, and with 1969 onwards, the publishers felt confident enough to let the stars of the comic carry the covers. Robot Archie, The Steel Commando. Captain Condor. Adam Eterno, Gadgetman and Gimmick Kid, the Spider: a plethora of adventures awaits! This selection is unusually high-grade for items of this vintage, with only minimal edge & corner wear and lustrous cover colour. 1968’s Lion Summer Special is FN/VF £50, with free bonus (slightly misprinted) 1970 edition; 1969 Summer Special is FN/VF £35; 1971 Lion and Thunder Holiday Special FN/VF £35; 1972 Lion and Thunder Holiday Special VF £40 and 1975 Holiday Special VF £40. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: Although all of TV Century 21’s first series is sought after, there is particular attention paid to the handful of issues which cover-star Terry Nation’s famous creation, the Daleks. Normally relegated to the (admittedly superbly-illustrated) back page, the most famous Doctor Who villains seldom got the chance to grace the front cover, and those issues are eagerly snapped up. We have five Dalek-starring covers – out of only six, we believe, which ran during the Dalek’s 104-issue sojourn in TV Century 21, all in very affordable low to mid grades, but with the Dalek cover images themselves unmarred. #23 is GD £40; #28 (the only one on which Dr. Who also appears, though it’s only the movie version) FA/GD £35; #36 FA/GD £35; #47 FA/GD £35; and #50 PR £20 (3″ horizontal tear through the second half of the comic, but cover image unharmed).

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A dozen titles join the bookshelves, half of them 1st PB editions, and several in less commonly seen editions. First in this set are four titles by an unfairly overlooked author, Daniel F Galouye, consisting of Lords Of The Psychon, Project Barrier, The Last Leap And Other Stories Of The Super-Mind and The Lost Perception. Next is William Gibson with Burning Chrome, Count Zero and Neuromancer. M John Harrison is represented by The Centauri Device and The Pastel City (with Bruce Pennington cover art), and Raymond F Jones has The Alien and The Non Statistical Man. Ward Moore has Bring The Jubilee and, co-written with Avram Davidson, Joyleg, which has front and back cover art, and an interior picture, by Ed Emshwiller. Finally, the great John Wyndham with a classic Penguin edition of The Day Of The Triffids. 

*Clearance Corner: This week, we offer two separate complete mini-series of the famous Lee Falk creation: 2009’s The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks commenced with issue #0 and ran until issue #12, and Dynamite’s The Last Phantom ran 12 issues from 2011. Both complete series are in this package, averaging Near Mint condition, and as bonuses, you get an additional #1 (variant cover) of Last Phantom, plus Annuals#1 & #2 (2007 and 2008) of the Phantom’s ongoing Moonstone series. All this can be yours for a mere £20. UK postage (if required) will be a further £4. 

This Easter, our hours are as follows:
Good Friday 19th April Open Normal Hours 11-6
Saturday 20th April Open Normal Hours 11-6
Easter Sunday 21st April Closed
Easter Monday 22nd April Closed

*DC: Almost 100 issues of Batman added to our stock this week, in fact nearly all issues between #301 and #400, and nearly all in high grade. A very popular period for the Caped Crusader this, as can be attested by the previous paucity of these numbers in our catalogue. Plenty of appearances by classic villains in this time, with many Joker covers and lots of Catwoman. Perhaps the most significant event in this range is the debut of Jason Todd in #357 (shown here NM p £100); also pictured is the giant 400th Anniversary issue (NM p £27).

*Marvel: In 1972, Marvel launched many reprint titles, one of which, Jungle Action, featured 1950s stories of scantily clad white people bringing justice to the African wild, surrounded by grateful and subservient black folks. Realising belatedly this was a bit politically tone-deaf, Marvel abruptly swerved from #5, reprinting a Panther-centric issue of the Avengers, then from #6 presenting an all-new series starring T’Challa surrounded by political intrigue in his secret super-scientific society of Wakanda. Although writer Don McGregor’s style could charitably be described as ‘overwrought’, the series won loads of acclaim at the time, and introduced key characters such as Killmonger who would prove important later, not least in the Panther movie smash. We have a virtually complete run of Jungle Action new in, missing only #5 from the series, but including #6 (VF+ £160), the first Killmonger and the first new Panther solo, #8 (VF+ £55), Panther origin, plus an array of bizarre and disturbing villains, including Venomm (not that one), Lord Karnaj and a bunch of other people whose names are actually spelled correctly!

*Marvel: Forget the Frank Thorne drawn daft ha’p’orth in the chainmail bikini – the proper Red Sonja, who, you know, wore clothes and had a brain, made her first appearance in issue #23 of Conan’s title (Marvel rather dropping the ball by not having her on the cover, but we promise you, she’s in there) and co-starring in #24’s epic ‘The Song of Red Sonja!’ – though our heroine does a great deal more than just sing, proving herself Conan’s equal, if not superior. Sadly, the popularity of Sonja’s appearances in these two issues led Marvel to produce a more sexualised and less competent version of the character for her solo series – but these two issues, by Roy Thomas and superbly drawn by Barry Smith, remain as good as ever! Both are cents copies, no UK pricing; #23 is VF at £100, and #24 VF+ £100.

*Marvel: X-Men issue #129 introduced not one, but two, characters who were to become major players in the lives of the X-Men. Kitty Pryde, the young immaterial ingenue, made her debut as a pupil at Xavier’s school, and went on to become a central part of the series, eventually becoming the leader of the team, while Emma Frost, White Queen of the Hellfire Club, dedicated her telepathic prowess to the X-Men’s destruction – though that dedication hasn’t prevented her from occasionally joining the group herself, and seducing Cyclops whenever Jean Grey happens to be dead for a while! This copy of X-Men #129 is a sparkling NM-, with only a tiny lower corner crease, tight staples, bright covers with excellent gloss. A Pence copy, it is on sale at £120.