We were greatly saddened to hear today of the death of Adam West. 30th Century’s Rob Rudderham writes:
     ‘When I was a lad, we didn’t have much in the way of comic book TV shows and films (as you young people do now!), so when I heard of the upcoming Batman TV show in 1966, I remember being very excited. I used to settle down to watch it (with a packet of crisps as a special treat) twice a week and thrill to the exploits of Batman & Robin as they came up against a whole gallery of dastardly rogues. But the young me, I fear, felt that the series was spoilt because it didn’t take itself seriously – for all the joy of seeing my heroes on TV, I didn’t like the campy antics they got up to.
     ‘Watching in later years, my attitude changed entirely and it was the very nature of the comedy of the show that endeared it to me. No more was this typified than in the performance of Adam West in the lead role, whose timing and line delivery was so funny because he appeared to be playing it absolutely straight. The years went by, and it seemed those three series of Batman (and the one film) were never far from our TV screens. Adam remained associated with it for the rest of his life, in books, voicing Batman in animated features, and in the recent DC Batman 66 comic series celebrating the show.
     ‘For me, and I suspect for a whole generation, the best Batman ever. He will carry on dancing the Batusi and sliding down the Bat Poles every time I watch an episode, which I intend to do frequently. I may even treat myself to a packet of crisps, and I’ll never be disappointed again.’ 

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:
*Girls’ Comics
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: One of the more oddball entries in the DC annals, Showcase #43 began as a projected issue of Classics Illustrated. The story was ultimately rejected by the Classics publishers as ‘too adult’, and its only first printing appeared in the insanely-rare UK Classics Illustrated #158a. This material was re-packaged by DC as issue #43 of its ‘tryout’ series Showcase with a new cover by Bob Brown, but – being released before the film, it was a bit of a flop, and DC lost the license which, decades later, several other publishers took up to good effect. Subsequent popularity of the James Bond character in multiple media has made this issue highly sought-after in retrospect. We have a newly-acquired Showcase #43, a highly attractive VG- for £59. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: We conclude, for the time being, our sweep through the Silver/Bronze age stock of DC with additions to the short-lived Super-Team Family (a brand new Flash/New Gods team-up), Swamp Thing (the classic Wrightson-illustrated first series, including #7 co-starring the Batman), Teen Titans from #15 to #46, many of which are gloriously illustrated by Nick Cardy, Wonder Woman (a range from #139 through to #202, the latter co-starring the Catwoman), and World’s Finest Comics (from 1958’s #95 to #198 & #199, the third Superman/Flash race). For grade and price details, see the website catalogue. That wraps up our alphabetical sweep of the DCU, but of course there will be many, many more DC comics in our future updates. Keep watching!

*Marvel: Another in our highly-anticipated and well-received selections of Marvel premier issues! This week we span the years from 1968 to 1980. Kirby Kraziness with the Black Panther and 2001, A Space Odyssey; liberated ladies Red Sonja and Spider-Woman; media mayhem with Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica;  toy tie-ins Rom, Micronauts and Shogun Warriors; mighty-thewed barbarianism with King Conan; the multi-faceted Moon Knight, with acclaimed work by Moench and Sienkievicz and the Silver Age solo debut of the Sub-Mariner – the latter in admittedly fairly ropey condition, but all there! A selection of these lovelies is displayed below; for grading and prices, as always, visit our captivating online catalogue.

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: Now having passed its suppurating seventh series on TV (and with an eighth on the way), still only a small proportion of the Walking Dead’s televisual audience realise that it was a comic book before it hit the small screen. Nevertheless, clued-up zombie-fanciers have been eagerly snapping up the low-print-run issues from Image Comics, and Robert Kirkman’s saga of a plucky band of survivors hanging on to life in a radically changed world continues to enthral a mass audience. We’re delighted to have many new issues added  to our inventory, commencing with issue #37 and enjoying a substantial majority (though not quite all) of the issues up to #109. This includes the death of Tyrese in #46, the dual demises of Lori and the Governor (didn’t they have a Top 10 hit in the 1970’s?) in #48, and the first preview of the TV show in #75, plus the debuts of Abraham (#48), Father Gabriel (#61), Ezekiel (#108), and the coming of Jesus in a cameo in #91, followed  by the first “Full Jesus” in #92! All kidding aside, these issues have never been extensively printed, so swift action is advised to stop them shambling off! Issue #48 is NM+ at £50, #53 is NM at £65 and #92 NM+ £50. For details on the others, please see our online catalogue.

*Modern Reprints: Paperback collections of the very best of DC’s late-60’s horror/mystery revival, which came to be a major aspect of their line in the 1970’s. House of Mystery, House of Secrets and the Witching Hour were in the forefront of innovation for a once-torpid genre. With stellar talents such as Gil Kane, Joe Orlando, Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Alex Toth and Gray Morrow, to name but a handful, these paperbacks collect 500 pages in each volume, and are now out of print. NM copies of House of Mystery Volumes 1-3, House of Secrets 1 & 2, and the one & only Witching Hour compilation newly in stock. Volume One of House of Secrets reprints #92, which was the first appearance of the Swamp Thing, an additional bonus for the discerning collector.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A classic in our latest First Quenchers (UK #1 issue) event! 1965 saw the debut of the oversized Ranger, an adventure weekly with an educational bent which was caught up in the enthusiasm of the Space Age. Among the features was the debut, in sumptuous full-colour, of Mike Butterworth and Don Lawrence’s Tales of the Trigan Empire’, the story of an outer-space realm full of sinister machinations, exotic locales and strange creatures. A companion paper to the more scholastic Look & Learn, Ranger only lasted forty issues before being absorbed into its sibling, but ‘Trigan Empire’ continued in L & L for a decade and a half of imaginative scripts and superb illustrations, and this is where it all began. This copy of Ranger #1 is a nice solid VG, with moderate corner wear at the lower right cover corner; the Free Gift, a booklet on the BOAC VC 10 – ‘Wonder Aircraft of the Age’ – is also VG, with a light ‘scuff’ at the left edge where it was originally attached to the comic. The comic and the Free Gift are on sale for £50. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: We’ve had quite a few Junes through our hands lately, but recent updates pale by comparison with the leviathan influx of stock we have this week – this is the big one! From 1965 through to 1971, we have approximately 150 issues new in stock, and from the 30th January 1965, the title absorbed the veteran School Friend weekly to become June & School Friend, the title by which it is  best remembered and best-loved by a generation. No token amalgamation, the addition of School Friend to June’s roster brought the star power of popular features, ‘Bessie Bunter’, ‘Vanessa From Venus’, ‘Lucky’s Living Doll’, ‘Cherry and the Children’ and ‘My friend Sara’, plus the expansion to 44 pages meant that readers of both weeklies didn’t necessarily feel short-changed or ‘crowded out’ by the amalgam.  In addition to the more conventional fare such as ‘Nursing Is My Life’, or ‘Laura at Ballet School’, this period also saw a lot of fantasy and sci-fi themed series, including ‘Serena From Space’, ‘Mimi the Mesmerist’, ‘Fourth-Form Wonder’, and Glory Knight, Time-Travelling Courier’, on the latter of which more can be found in our fabulous features section.  Previous updates to June have been very well-received, but we anticipate keen competition for what is regarded as her ‘peak’, so make sure your orders get in early!

Our latest spotlight on our previously listed stock is from 1951, the second of Boardman’s Super Coloured Comic Annuals. Boardman issued faux-American comics featuring reprints of American material such as Blackhawk and original material, the latter primarily illustrated by the talented Dennis McLoughlin. Stars of the Boardman line were space adventurer Swift Morgan, western hero Buffalo Bill, and ace detective Roy Carson, all of whom have devoted followings. The Super Coloured Comic Annuals were softcover albums collecting and rebinding unsold copies of the comics, with a large proportion of material created especially for the Annuals. In this case, a full-colour Swift Morgan lead strip and new text stories starring Carson, Blackhawk and Morgan are the additional material, together with several rebound comics. Of the three Super Coloureds published, all are incredibly rare, but the second volume is believed to be the rarest. 140 interior pages – or as the cover would have it, 1,000 Action pictures, though I confess I haven’t counted – with new McLoughlin illos. on the cover and  throughout the text stories. This copy is graded as VG+; light spine and corner wear, minor lower right cover creasing, on sale at £350.

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following file in our American section:
*Marvel
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: During the 1970’s and early 1980’s, both major companies experimented with tabloid formats, and DC’s was the Limited Collectors’ Edition, selected reprints in oversized format, which proved popular enough to spread to several subsidiary series – Famous First Editions (reprinting in full iconic issues such as Action Comics #1), All-New Collector’s Edition (with, as the name implies, non-reprint stories of major characters) and occasional forays into normally regular-sized titles such as DC Special Series. We have selections from all these gargantuan behemoths new in. Their unusual dimensions meant that they were not well-distributed by newsvendors in the States, nor have they generally fared well in long-term storage. Added to that the fact that barely saw any distribution in the UK at all, and their rarity will be appreciated. From Limited Collector’s Editions itself, we have the Batman All-Villain Special, The Bible, with stunning all-original Nestor Redondo artwork, Superman, Secret Origins of Super-Villains, Super-Friends, (with an original Alex Toth framing sequence), Batman: Baffling Mystery Stories, More Secret Origins of Super-Villains, Superman Salutes the Bicentennial, and the rare but peculiar Welcome Back Kotter – one for John Travolta completists – including material intended for the never-published WBK#11! From Famous First Editions, we have giant-sized facsimiles of Whiz Comics #2 (debut of original Captain Marvel) Flash Comics #1, Superman #1, and Action Comics #1, with Superman’s premier appearance. All-New Collectors’ Edition – which confusingly shared a numbering sequence with Limited Collectors’ – brings us Superman the Movie, and not one, but two copies of the epic Superman Vs. Wonder Woman battle, with superlative Jose Luis Garcia Lopez artwork. And a title that’s ordinarily more modest in stature, DC Special Series, brought us Superman II, Superman and His Fortress of Solitude, and – most awesome of all – Batman Vs. The Incredible Hulk, featuring the Joker, with Garcia Lopez illustrations! A selection of these super-sized stunners is reproduced below for your delectation.

*Marvel: A front-runner in the second wave of Marvel launches, and now the star of his own Netflix TV show, the sightless swashbuckler remains a firm favourite among comics readers, and is gathering new fans from multi-media exposure. We are pleased to have a copy of his debut issue back in stock, introducing the world not only to Matt Murdock and his costumed alter ego, but also his practise partner Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, the object of both their affections. By Stan Lee and Bill Everett, this classic is a pence priced copy, graded as Fair/Good because of general wear and one specific defect – at some point a house-ad illustration has been neatly cut out, not affecting the story pages. Interior pages are otherwise clean, sound and unmarked. FA/GD p £300. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: We conclude our marathon Spider-Mania event with a trio of treats for all fans of our favourite web-headed wall-crawler: 1992’s one-off, Spider-Man Special Edition: The Trial of Venom was an extremely limited issue which could only be obtained, at the time, by making a charitable donation to UNICEF. Very few copies are in circulation, and we have a NM/M edition at £20. From 1976, we bring you the first edition of Spidey’s second series (Ah, remember when there weren’t multiple divergent series starring the same characters? Those were the days… Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man. Originally launched with the intention of focussing more on Spidey’s civilian life, and Peter Parker’s Pals N’ Gals, that high concept lasted about as long as you’d have expected! This debut issue is a pence priced copy, VF at £25. And finally – the big one! Amazing Spider-Man #300, from 1988, the extra-thick special issue which brought the first full appearance of Spidey’s parasitical perp, Venom, to a breathless world. This is a pence edition, clean, tight, bright, with firm staples and sharp corners, yours for £175. Pictures of all three of these beauties may be inspected below.  That concludes our ‘Spider-Mania’ event, but never fear – Spider-Man and his frenemies will continue to be a major part of our future updates! SORRY, SPIDEY #300 AND SPECIAL EDITION NOW SOLD

*EC: A sequential run new in of the classic Crime Suspenstories title from #7 to #12 in a mixture of grades and prices ranging from PR/FA to FN and from £16 to £115. Many of EC’s finest artists were involved in this title, including Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen etc., and the crime in the title often strayed into the realms of horror, as evidenced by the Haunt of Fear ‘guest shots’ in all these issues. Consult our catalogue for full grading and pricing information.

 

*Western: Our Marvel Western event this week features the Rawhide Kid, with half a dozen new issues in between #48 & #64. Mosey on down and slap some leather with the Kid!  

*Classics Illustrated: A further selection of the UK versions of Classics for your attention (all over #100). These additions are distinguished by including a low grade copy of #148 (the UK original Nights Of Terror), plus a batch of World Illustrated; many nicely graded copies present.  

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: For our First Quenchers event this week, we present the third of Fleetway/IPC’s ‘Big Cat’ papers (after Lion and Tiger). Jag launched in 1968 at an astonishing broadsheet size, reminding readers more of the Eagle than of its smaller-statured stablemates. Inside, the combination of plucky schoolboys in WWII (“The Mouse Patrol”), heroic everyman gifted with superhuman powers (“The Indestructible Man”), and mild-mannered teacher struggling with the challenges of “Snob College” was well up to the Fleetway standard. Unfortunately, the large size deterred a lot of newsagents from displaying the title at all, and the initial lack of a ‘star’ feature didn’t lead many readers to climb aboard; the later addition of ‘Football Family Robinson’ helped a bit, but after a last-minute shrink-down to standard size, Jag was consumed by Tiger after only 48 weekly issues, rendering it a scarce and sought-after short-run series. We have the first issue in FN, with the original free gift – “The Bobby Moore Book of the F.A.Cup”. However, the free gift is regrettably incomplete, having had two pictures clipped from it. Because of this, we’re not doing our usual enhancement for the presence of a Free Gift, and offer it merely as an additional interesting curiosity. This copy of #1 in FN, with incomplete Free Gift, on sale at £40. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: Strange bedfellows, but there is a connection between them: Transformers, the heroic robots from outer space, and Action Force – the UK-retitled version of America’s GI Joe, as that last name was deemed incomprehensible to the British market – both launched from Marvel UK as reprints of the American series, but proved so popular that a great deal of UK-originated material was produced for the weeklies which was never gathered in American formats – making the UK edition of these titles a ‘holy grail’ for dedicated GI Joe groupies and… I dunno… Transfans? Furthermore, in the ‘hatch, match and despatch’ formula beloved of traditional British weeklies, Action Force, once it ran its course, was merged into transformers Weekly to form an ‘amalgam’ title, giving the two series yet another commonality. We are pleased to have around half the run of Transformers, 175 issues new in, from #6 to the very final number, #332, plus Winter and Holiday Specials. Action Force is represented by the entirety of it 50-issue run. Heroic Autobot or Evil Decepticon? GI Joe or COBRA? Pick a side!

*Humour Comics: A near complete run of the second series of Knockout fresh in this week to tickle your funny bones! From the first issue (12th June 1971) to the last (23rd June 1973), strips include Dead Eye Dick, Sammy Shrink, the Super Seven, The Toffs and the Toughs and many more. Full details as always in our catalogue.   

*Girls’ Comics: As the fame and popularity of Misty continues to grow, #1 issues complete with Free Gift are getting increasingly harder to come by, so we’re particularly pleased to feature in our First Quenchers British #1 event, a top of the range example of this prized collectable. The comic is in FN condition with no tears or writing and nice page quality; there are a couple of marks where the tape for the Free Gift was attached, but these are just small dark patches rather than the scuff marks more usually seen. The Free Gift itself (Lucky Charm Bracelet) is still in its original plastic bag and though no longer attached to the comic, still has the original (no longer) sticky tape attached; overall we’ve classified the never-used Gift as VF. Comic and Gift together for £120.  

*Clearance Corner: Here’s a real bargain! No less than 41 British #1 issues, ranging from the 1970s into the 21st Century. They’re all in nice condition and complete, in many cases with full/partial free gifts included. Titles include: Toxic, Frozen (Disney), Dennis & Gnasher Puzzles, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Judge Dredd Megazine, Striker and too many others to mention (all titles we no longer carry). All available for just £20 — less than 50p each! (These fill a medium-sized box weighing just under 5 kg, and can be posted within the UK for an additional £18). Samples shown in attached picture. 

*Clearance Corner: This week we’re clearing out our stock of McMillan 1990’s editions of the irrepressible William by Richmal Crompton, all with cover art by Gerry Haylock and interior illustrations by Thomas Henry or Henry Ford (with one Armada edition from 1986 with a photo cover). The lot comprises 19 paperbacks including #1-10 in the series and several later numbers (with one duplication). All available for a cost of £15 (less than £1 per book!). These are a personal favourite of your scribe, and reading them as an adult I certainly got even more out of them than I did when I first read them as a child. Tremendous fun, wit and charm with the eternal mischievous schoolboy. UK postage if required on these will be an additional £3.50.     

*DC: A lovely vintage Superman from 1957, only one month older than your humble scribe – but in a much, much  better state of preservation! Superman #117, November 1957, is an attractive FN copy, with sound pages, tight corners, firm staples, decent interiors, and an unmarred cover image featuring a curious reversal of Superman’s heat-vision. Inside, the mystery of the switched super-powers continues, and in the other two stories, Supes’ mild-mannered alter-ego becomes “Clark Kent, Man of Mystery” and Lois Lane stumbles into some wackiness and gets turned into a glass statue – which in Lois’ life just means it’s Tuesday! This very appealing pre-distribution item is FN at £95.