*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: In 1974, D.C. Thomson launched Warlord, a harder-hitting weekly devoted entirely to war in its various guises; the company had of course always played up WW II and other famous battles in its other adventure weeklies, such as Victor, Hotspur, Hornet et al., but this was the first all-war weekly they had tried, and it caught on big time with the public, running more than a decade for a total of 627 issues, and inspiring competitors IPC/Fleetway to retaliate a year later with Battle. Warlord was fronted by Lord Peter Flint, code-named guess-what, as a WWII spy, and other popular features included Union Jack Jackson and Bomber Braddock. This copy of #1 is a GD, with an upper spine tear being the predominant flaw. The accompanying Free Gift – a ‘For Valour’ Medal holder with shiny paper ‘medals – is Fair, partially completed with 18 out of 24 ‘medals’ stuck in. (obviously the original purchaser missed a week!) It’s not pretty, but it’s complete, it’s the first issue of a long-running series, and it’s very affordable at £15. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: Early and key issues of Transformers, the much-loved shape-shifting robots who fought a covert war to save Earth while disguising themselves as common vehicles, according to the popular toy & cartoon series from the 1980s! The Marvel UK title started out as a simple reprint of the US series, but demand proved so huge that a great deal of new material was produced for the UK market to satiate the desires of a generation of rabid Transfans! Included in this update are thirty issues new to our listings, all of them bearing Free Gifts ranging from posters to stickers, badges, transfers, iron-on t-shirt transfers, plastic planes, mini-comics and a ‘Data Scan’ – what’s that, exactly? Only Optimus Prime knows for sure! #2 is FN with the gift – action transfers NM £30; #3 is FN with the iron-on t-shirt transfer in NM £30: and issue #28, featuring the debut of the Dinobots, is VF with poster VF at £30. For details of all the rest, please see our online catalogue.

*Girls’ Comics: Around 80 issues of Judy from the years 1968 to 1971 new in, in affordable mid-grades, with science-fantasy – ‘Beneath the Blue Iceberg’, secret-agent adventure -‘The Girl From DORSET’ – and the Judy holy trinity of ‘Bobby Dazzler’, ‘Wee Slavey’, and ‘Sandra of the (fill in the blank) Ballet’ in full force! Christmas issues etc included. This concludes our massive Judy extravaganza for the time being.

*Clearance Corner: This slender volume – as Swift only lasted until March of 1963 – encompasses the final issues of the former ‘Junior Eagle’. By this time, however, its original brief of younger protagonists and cross-gender appeal had been abandoned, and the line-up was primarily well-done boys’ adventure strips including ‘Phantom Patrol’, ‘Tarna’ (no longer a jungle boy, as he had been in earlier years), ‘Blackbow the Cheyenne’, and ‘Max Bravo’. From the IPC Magazines Central Reference Library, the hardcover binding is sound, but a bit worn and grubby. The comics (all 9 issues), allowing for the necessary trimming to bind them, are in decent shape, equivalent to FN. This is on sale at £12. UK postage on this, if required (small parcel) would be an additional £3.50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

This week’s spotlight from our previously-listed stock falls on a comic from recent times (only 13 years old!) Yes, we can see you all reclining on your fainting couches at the thought of us spotlighting a comic published in the 21st Century, but trust us, Dan Slott and Juan Bobillo’s She-Hulk series is worth the attention! A delightful blend of comedy, drama and pathos, it follows the former Jennifer Walters, superheroic stunner and lawyer at large, dealing with the complexities of a world where ghosts, aliens, clones, robots and more are everyday matters. Can a deceased superhero who’s had a resurrection reclaim his estate from his heirs? Who’s legally liable if a person has an unwanted origin? is the testimony of a murder victim’s ghost admissible in court? Fun and imaginative stuff as Jen has to re-start her life after being kicked out of Avengers Mansion – again! This copy of #1 from 2005 is CGC 9.8 (NM/M), at £40.

*DC: It all began so routinely. Yet another bunch of super-powered teens arriving in Smallville, a quiet town which had seen so many brightly-clad youths streak across its skies, only to vanish and never be seen again. But this trio of guest-stars were different. Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, from the far future’s Legion of Super-Heroes, travelled back to invite Superboy, the most legendary teen hero of all, to join their ranks – and a legend began. After multiple guest-appearances in various Superman family titles, the Legion gained its own series with Adventure Comics #300, and despite setbacks along the way, remains an important presence in DC’s history. We are admittedly prejudiced witnesses, huge Legion of Super-Heroes fans, to the extent we named our business after their home era. Therefore we are especially delighted to welcome the Legion’s first three appearances into our lists. Adventure #247, dated April 1958, brought the founding trio to Smallville for the first time. This is an attractive GD copy, with an iconic cover scene endlessly homaged since; the interior pages are exceptionally white, with no creasing, tears or discolouration. The spine is sound, staples firm, and only light wear at the spine and edges. However, there has been a cover colour touch – the black area at Cosmic Boy’s side of the podium. Nevertheless, a lovely copy of a major debut. The team’s second appearance was in Adventure #267, the following year, sales reports having spiked on the team’s debut. Again, this is a GD copy with considerable eye appeal. Light creasing on the back cover precludes a higher grade, but overall a strong sound copy with light to moderate wear, and one diagonal cover crease which breaks the colour across the logo. The team’s third appearance was in 1960’s Action #267, where we saw the roster expand for the first time, with the on-panel debuts of Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy, as Supergirl was invited to audition (better luck next year, Kara…) This copy of Action #267 is only FA, with considerable edge and corner wear, a small tape ‘patch’ on lower front cover, and minor writing on the front cover. Adventure #247 is GD £625; Adventure #267 is GD £80 and Action #267 is FA p £25. SORRY, ADVENTURE COMICS #247 HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: Issue #54 of Brave & Bold teamed up three junior partners of DC’s major super-heroes – Kid Flash, Aqualad and Robin – against the villainy of the sinister Mr. Twister, as a kind of junior Justice League. Written by Bob Haney, ilustrated by Bruno Premiani, this proved to be such a hit that issue #60 of the same title got the band back together as the “Teen Titans”, with the addition of Wonder Girl, against the staggering Separated Man! Often overlooked is the fact that B & B #60 is actually a double debut: not only the premier of the Teen Titans title, but the first appearance of Donna Troy as Wonder Girl – previous appearances of WG had just been stories of Wonder Woman’s younger adventures, a la Superboy, but this was the first WG as an independent entity. The team got one more tryout in Showcase #59, against the funky but forgettable Flips (“We’re Just A Babe, A Board, And A Bike”…), most notable for Premiani yielding the artistic reins to Nick Cardy, the artist most associated with the classic Titans. And finally, comics’ other Fantastic Four got their own ongoing series commencing in 1965, and despite cancellations and setbacks, some iteration of the Titans has almost always been on DC’s roster of stars. Our Brave & Bold #54 is VG/FN p, with a very slight cover tear, less than a quarter-inch, at lower spine; Brave & Bold #60 is FN p, with an unmarred black cover border bearing only the faintest of cover colour breaks; Showcase #59 is a lovely FN/VF p, minimal corner blunting being the only flaw and Teen Titans #1 is FN+ p, unmarred white cover background and excellent interior pages. Brave & Bold #54 VG/FN p £225; Brave & Bold #60 FN p £225; Showcase #59 FN/VF p £50; Teen Titans #1 FN+ p £120.

*Marvel: By the time of Spider-Man’s 50th issue, ‘new’ artist John Romita had made the series his own, and this special issue was marked with the debut of a new villain, the Kingpin – so long associated with Daredevil, in the post-Miller years, that many people overlook the fact that he originally belonged to Spider-Man’s Rogues’ Gallery! This landmark issue also saw a crisis of confidence in Peter Parker, his temporary abandoning of the Spider-Man identity immortalised in the iconic (and often imitated) cover. Our newest copy of ASM #50 is VG, a cents copy with no pence price or overstamp. There is some browning and spine wear, but the overall appearance of the book is very attractive, with excellent cover gloss and unfaded cover colour. On sale at £125. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: One of the phenomena of the last decade of the 20th Century was Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet, in which Thanos, the megavillain Starlin had been building up for nearly twenty years, was unleashed against the massed forces of the Marvel Universe, armed with the reality-altering Infinity Gauntlet, in a struggle for the sake of the universe itself! Hugely popular, the mini-series spawned many, many crossover issues, and two direct sequels, Infinity War – in which the Marvel Heroes were forced to confront their own dark duplicates – and Infinity Crusade – in which ‘The Goddess’ separated the Marvel Heroes into a super-powered jihad. These three series have been hugely popular ever since their inception, but with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet at the centre of the Avengers: Infinity War movie, demand for them is at its height, and we consider ourselves very lucky to have acquired both Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War in their entirety. Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 average NM p, and are sold as a set of six at £100; Infinity War #1-6 are averaging NM p, and sold as a set of six at £50; as a bonus, we also have the first issue of Infinity Crusade NM p £6. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In 1975, in the spirit of the Defenders, Marvel rounded up a disparate group of heroes who didn’t have any ‘homes’ and banded them together as the Champions: Ghost Rider, Hercules, Black Widow, Iceman and the Angel. The series floundered a bit in its early issues in diverse hands before gaining some nice quality when John Byrne took over — but even he, at the height of his powers, couldn’t save the series from cancellation after 17 issues. Every issue new fresh into stock in decent grades. 

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: In the 1950s, Atlas, like most publishers, was scrambling around different genres to find the next ‘big thing’, and one such experiment was 1951’s Space Squadron, tales of derring-do as plucky adventurers went where no man had gone before. These pulpy adventures were high on action and tinged with horror, as the publisher tried to cover all bases, but Space Squadron and its companion, Speed Carter Spaceman, didn’t catch on with the public despite some quality work, and had only short runs. Nowadays, they’re highly sought collectibles, and we’re delighted to have Space Squadron #4 in stock in VG+, with only a detached staple precluding a grade of FN+ or better. On sale at £95. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Western: We open with Geronimo #1 (sub-titled Indian Fighter) – that’s Geronimo, an Indian who’s a fighter, rather than Geronimo who fights Indians, for the grammatically punctilious. Avon in the 1950s wasn’t exactly PC, and while Geronimo may have been the protagonist of this pre-Code series, he’s hardly the hero, as the title of the first story – “Geronimo and His Horde of Indian Devils” – makes clear. Three stories of Geronimo himself, and a Texas Ranger tale, in this debut issue of a popular title. This is an exquisite Fine+, with very vibrant cover colour, on sale at £50. Atlas, of course, was an early adopter of the Western genre; before the advent of Marvel’s famous ‘Kids’ – Rawhide, Two-Gun and Colt – they had tapped into the booming Western market with a plethora of rough-ridin’ cowpokes, and one of the earliest, getting his start in 1950, was the Black Rider. Illustrated predominantly by Syd Shores, the Black Rider was one of the company’s longest-running Western heroes, (in effect a super-hero, with a secret identity and everything) and we have his 19th issue, from 1953, in a truly remarkable FN/VF condition, on sale at £50.

*Alan Class Reprints: Continuing our periodic spotlight on Alan Class comics which reprint classic Marvel tales – often the very first reprinting of these stories, within a year or so of original publication – we turn to Uncanny Tales #3, which reprints the Ant-Man story from Tales to Astonish #36. TTA #36 was the third appearance of Hank Pym/Ant-Man, his second in costume, and introduced the first ‘super-villain’ of Hank’s Rogue’s Gallery in Comrade X! (Don’t worry, it did get better – though one has to admit, Comrade X’s gimmick was genuinely unexpected.) This early Marvel Universe story by Lee & Kirby is re-presented in full, as well as a selection of Charlton sci-fi one-offs, including no fewer than four illustrated by Steve Ditko! The comic itself is in a superb VF condition, tight corners, vibrant covers, and the squarebound spine suffering from none of the ‘puckering’ effect owing to glue contraction which is very familiar to Class collectors. This lovely early AC item, complete with certification that it is from the Alan Class Private Collection, is on sale at £50.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A quartet of Summer Specials from the well-remembered adventure weekly, home of ‘Captain Hurricane’, ‘Billy Bunter’, ‘Raven on the Wing’, ‘Kelly’s Eye’, ‘House of Dolmann’ and scores more. We open with 1971’s Valiant & Smash! Summer Special (Valiant recently having gobbled up a flagging stablemate), VG at £25 – a very nice copy with only minor wear towards the lower spine. 1976 is GD at £15 – respectable, but moderate general wear, especially at spine. 1977 is a tight & bright FN at £25, and 1980 is probably the most sought-after of the later Summer Specials because of a new story of the classic hero ‘Kelly’s Eye’ illustrated by Dave Harwood, and a stunning Brian Bolland cover featuring the ‘House of Dolmann’ gang. 1980’s Summer Special is VG/FN at £25. SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our American section:
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards

and in our American/British section:
*Flash Gordon
*Spirit
*Modesty Blaise
*Classics Illustrated
*Memorabilia & Esoterica

and in our British section:
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material
*Marvel UK
*Power Comics
*Younger Readers’ Comics
*Magazines/Books About Vintage UK Comics

As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Marvel: The latest in our series of key Marvel issues from 1968! After a long run as the co-star of Tales of Suspense, Iron Man was given his own title in 1968, when the ‘Berlin Wall’ of Marvel’s distribution was broken down, and they were allowed to expand their range of titles. New in this week, a beautiful FN+ copy of Iron Man’s first stunning solo issue, continuing from where his strip in Tales of Suspense left off, with Gene Colan’s hyperkinetic art driving the drama onward! A key item for collectors and investors alike, Iron Man’s pivotal status in the Marvel Universe means that demand for this issue is only going to increase as the years go by. This is a pence copy, with unblemished deep purple cover background, excellent gloss, superior inside page quality, and only minimal edge wear with one tiny ‘nick’ at the cover’s right edge (towards the base of the logo). #1 FN+ p £250.

*Marvel: The 87th issue of the ‘junior X-Men’ series, New Mutants, featured the first full appearance (he had made a fleeting walk-on in the previous) of the man named Cable, the man from an apocalyptic near-future, son of Scott Summers by a cloned replica of Jean Grey, who came back in time to prevent his own future from coming to pass. Or something like that. His powers include metal bits, a strappy costume, really big guns, and glaring a lot. With a shiny eye, for no very good reason. Anyway, he took over the stewardship of the New Mutants from Magneto, and eventually honed the survivors into X-Force, a dubious achievement for which no-one should thank him. He’s since bobbed back between ‘now’ and the future, interfering with his own and the world’s time stream, and accosting various mutant children to become the Hope of the World. Kind of a perma-grumpy Mary Poppins, with metal limbs. Confusing back history and ambiguous abilities or not, he’s co-starring in the Deadpool 2 movie, played by Gordon Ramsay (what, it isn’t him? Could have fooled me from the movie posters…) so interest in the character’s early appearances has skyrocketed. This VF Pence copy is in excellent condition at £75. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Just in time for the FF’s return to the Marvel Universe (both print and cinematic), we welcome a fresh influx of Marvel’s Founding Family, predominantly high-grade issues – with one exception, FN at minimum, and including many VF or higher. This batch of around 25 issues between numbers #65 and #95 includes many issues previously out of stock, including the debuts of Kree hardman Ronan the Accuser (#65), supernatural guardian Agatha Harkness (#94), and Franklin Richards (in Annual #6) — though we’ll draw a veil of discretion over Franklin’s later superheroic guises as ‘Tattletale’ and ‘Psi-Lord’, shall we? Let the cry ring out once more: “It’s Clobberin’ Time!”

*Power Comics: There was only one Summer Special for the Power Comics series Fantastic, and its rather clunky full title, as seen in the header, indicates that by this time it had already devoured two of its weaker weekly siblings, in the hatch-match-and-despatch trope beloved of traditional British weeklies. This is ‘A Treasure-Store of Power Style Super-Hero Action and Laughs containing the best of FANTASTIC, SMASH and POW weekly!’, as it says on the packet. Not common in any condition, dating from Power Comics’ final days, it’s exceedingly hard to find in high grade, as most known copies tend to have very rusty staples. This one has only moderately rusty staples, and the cover is off the lower staple, but in every other aspect this copy would be an outstanding VF, the best copy we’ve seen. Because of the specific defect, however, we have erred on the side of caution and graded it as FN+, yours for £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Another mammoth instalment of our restock of Judy, home of ‘Wee Slavey’, ‘Fay Farrell’, ‘Sandra of the Secret Ballet’, and proto-feminist ‘Bobby Dazzler’, who was at the height of her popularity, and the cover feature for this entire period, save for a few covers promoting Free Gifts and the like. This top-up of close to 100 issues fills up three years, 1972 to 1974, for which we had virtually no stock previously. An opportunity to fill those gaps, completists!

*DC: A collection of misfits with strange powers, hated and feared by the world they protect, led by a paraplegic genius in a wheelchair. Sound familiar? Well, guess again – almost simultaneously with the debut of the X-Men at Marvel, DC made their moribund title My Greatest Adventure the home of the ‘Doom Patrol’, created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani. While the similarities between the X-Men and the DP are marked, the differences provide a significant contrast – the X-Men are teens, in a special school, with little experience of the world, while the Doom Patrol are all adults with successful careers and lives which they lost when a twisted fate granted them powers which would ostracise and, ultimately, possibly destroy them. The tone was altogether darker, and the series caught on, taking over the title, running to #121, and various reiterations of the team have been mainstays of the DCU ever since. Now announced as the subject of a forthcoming live-action TV show, the DP’s star is on the ascendant. This copy of the Doom Patrol’s first appearance (as well as that of their arch-enemy General Immortus) is a gorgeous FN+ p copy, tight & bright with sharp corners, firm staples, and vivid colours on both cover and interiors. On sale at £300.

*DC: A chunky batch of Adventure Comics fresh in from #311 to #378, spanning almost the entire run of the Legion’s strip in the comic that they took over from Superboy with issue #300. Our favourite DC team, of course, for which we’re named. These wonderful stories are so ingrained in our memories that we hardly need to see them to remember that these issues featured a wealth of Legion lore being established: the rebirth of Lightning Lad, the renegade Ultra Boy, Dev-Em, the debut of the Time Trapper, the Legion of Super Outlaws, Lex Luthor and the Legion, the Girl Legionnaires revolting (twice!), the Bizarro Legion, Timber Wolf, the Super Moby Dick of Space (!), the Weddings that Wrecked the Legion, the Tornado Twins and much, much more. Wonderful ‘retro’ sci-fi art by John Forte, superb craftsmanship by Curt Swan and generous helpings of Jim Mooney and Win Mortimer. If you’ve never tried the Legion, we’re sure you’ll fall in love with it! 

*Marvel: A beautiful item for this spotlight, the seventh issue of Daredevil, the Man Without Fear! After a little artistic floundering in his early issues, the Sightless Swashbuckler lucked out when the superlative Wally Wood took over illustrating his adventures. This is probably the finest Wood issue, marked not only by the premiere of the red Daredevil costume, (replacing his original outfit, which actually looked like it was designed by a blind man…) but also by a genuinely gripping and harrowing battle in which Daredevil, hopelessly outgunned by the vastly superior might of the Sub-Mariner, nevertheless shows such courage and determination that even Namor’s scaly heart is moved to compassion. A beautiful piece of work – and, in this instance, a beautiful copy, cents, graded FN/VF, with flat, white interior pages, tight staples, vibrant cover colour and gloss, and only two very minor flaws- a tiny diagonal crease in the upper right cover, and the faintest of ‘stacking’ smudges at the logo – precluding a still higher grade for this outstanding item. On sale at £250.

*Marvel: A new selection in of Marvel’s Merry Mutants between #33 and #63. An interesting period this for the X-Men, following the ‘death’ of Professor X, and most of these nicely-graded issues feature either the hands of Jim Steranko, Barry Smith or Neal Adams at the artistic helm (#57 VF £49 pictured, by Adams). Amazingly, all this didn’t prevent the series’ cancellation with issue #66, surprising though it is to think of that today!