*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A sweep through our Boys’ Adevnture file, adding Hurricane, from issues #2 & #3 upwards, Lion (including 1974’s final issue), an uncommon trio of Roy of the Rovers (two free gift numbers from 1988 and a 1980 issue with a date misprint), a selection of Tiger from 1969 and 1970, Valiant (including the first issue incorporating Smash!), and token touch-ups to Buddy, Hornet, Rover and Warrior! A veritable cornucopia of heroics freshly plucked for your enjoyment! (Can you pluck a corncucopia? Well, you get the gist…)

*TV & Film Related Comics: Close to 200 new issues to our listings of the TV Comic weekly during one of its most sought-after periods, where two cult TV series – Doctor Who and the Avengers – were featured. The William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton versions of Doctor Who are featured in every issue here, and the Emma Peel Avengers is succeeded (after a brief hiatus where the strip was farmed out to DC Thomson’s Diana) by Tara King. Plus, for those fans of Popeye, Ken Dodd’s Diddymen, Skippy, Beetle Bailey, Tom & Jerry, Mighty Moth and the TV Terrors – well, we’ve got the comics for you! This run also features holiday issues galore, including Fireworks, Christmas, Easter and April Fool!

*Humour Comics: 1967’s Giggle was an odd launch for Fleetway, primarily translated European reprints with only a smattering of new material, the slightly-taller size was an odd format, and the whole exercise seemed to be a test run – possibly a cost-cutting measure – to see if Euro-reprints (which Fleetway had been partially using for many years) could sustain their own weekly. If so, then the answer was ‘no’ – or possibly ‘Non’  as after a couple of months it settled down to the more conventional size, and after 38 issues was absorbed into Buster with only “Cruncher” (The Tiny Ter-Mite with a Big Appet-ite) and “Patch-Eye Hooker” (no, calm down, he was a pirate, not what you’re thinking…) making the jump, leaving Giggle as an odd cul-de-sac in the promenade of British comics history. Nevertheless, it isn’t often seen, and we are quite pleased to have fifteen issues new in for your delectation from #2 onwards – mostly, it has to be said, in pretty ropey condition, averaging PR-FA, but not frequently seen in any grade. The second issue, pictured, is an attractive VG at £12; the remainder, considerably cheaper, so now’s the time to indulge your curiosity!

*Girls’ Comics: A few less often seen Girls’ Comics this week as we visit Girls’ Crystal 1960, Penny 1979, ten issues of Princess from 1966/67, Sally 6/2/71 (with and without Tammy Promo Flyer) & a brace of Tina from 1967.

*Magazines/Books About Vintage UK Comics: We’re very happy to have a restock on Spaceship Away!, the labour of love that is an appreciation and retrospective of the classic Dan Dare. In addition to new adventures in the classic Eagle style, Spaceship Away features, in its full-colour lavishly-illustrated pages, articles on and interviews with the team behind Dan Dare and other Eagle alumni, and in later issues broadened its remit to other 1950’s and 1960’s sci-fi stars such as Nick Hazzard, Journey Into Space, and Garth. We now can offer a complete NM run of the first 18 issues, plus a few later numbers.

For this week’s What’s Old spotlight, we turn our attention to a lovely old Marvel comic: Daredevil #7, which is a milestone issue for a variety of reasons: It’s the first appearance of DD’s red costume (which became his regular outfit after the yellow and black duds of issues #1-6; the art is by the wonderful Wally Wood, one of only a handful of DD issues drawn by this fan favourite artist (and a bonus pin-up of DD & Sub-Mariner is included); and the story features a classic encounter between Namor & DD from the days when such things were truly special. This dark background cover issue is notoriously difficult to find in high grade, but our FN/VF cents copy is unmarked with great cover gloss, firmly attached at staples, tight, flat and with excellent page quality; would grade higher but for a 1″ crease across the top right corner, very minor spine wear and a faint stacking ink defect which can (just) be seen across parts of the logo. Nevertheless, an uncommon beauty at £275.   

It is with great sorrow that we hear that legendary British comics creator Leo Baxendale has died at the age of 86 following a long battle with cancer. For DC Thomson’s Beano and other publications, he created a wealth of characters whose names still resonate within the minds of generations, the most famous of which are “The Bash Street Kids”, “Minnie the Minx”, “The Three Bears” and “Little Plum”.
       In 1964, seeking to break away from the management style of D C Thomson, he created, virtually single-handedly, the weekly comic Wham!, which, apart from a token reprint adventure strip, was initially all Baxendale’s own work, though other creators soon joined him.
       Always a staunch advocate for creators’ rights, he fought a seven-year legal battle with D C Thomson for the rights to his creations, a battle which ended only when DC Thomson settled out of court before a trial was imminent. His anarchic, cluttered and frenetic style, which later Beano artists were urged to imitate, belied a consummate sense of control and balance which influenced succeeding generations of cartoonists, not only in the humour field but also in the broader canvas of satire and political commentary.

Please note that our shop will be CLOSED on Bank Holiday Monday 1st May. All other opening times remain as normal.

*DC: Continuing our alphabetical sweep through the DCU, adding issues previously missing from our listings, we have new issues of Freedom Fighters, Green Lantern (#5, 1st Hector Hammond), Hellblazer, Isis, many Jimmy Olsen (including several Jack Kirby issues) and Justice League of America. More soon!

*Marvel: Five first appearances from the long-running Strange Tales title, from different eras! First off, #101 with the first of the Human Torch solo series: an affordable FA pence printed copy at £50 (ragged spine and chipping cover right edge). Next, two superior graded copies of Torch villain debuts: #104 (1st Trapster as Paste Pot Pete) FN+ p £95 and #113 (1st Plantman) VF p £105. With #135, the Torch was replaced by Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, and we have this debut issue in FN p £70 (slight tear on non-story page). Finally, later in the Bronze Age, after the title recommenced and featured Warlock, we have a VG/FN p copy of #180 (priced at £20), with the first Gamora, star of the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie.

*Marvel: We move to some later material in the run of Amazing Spider-Man for this week’s Spider-Mania update, with issues in the range between #270 and #327. A very popular period for the wall crawler, with many Hobgoblin issues pre-#300 and many Venom issues post-#300 as Todd MacFarlane came on board. All nice grades, and all issues previously missing from our listings. Consult our catalogue for details.

*Spirit: A fresh selection in of the popular Warren/Kitchen Sink Sprit Magazines from the 1970’s between #8 & #30 starring Will Eisner’s iconic hero.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A nice run of Eagle in, most issues from the 45 issue run of Volume 10, with sumptuous art on Dan Dare by Frank Hampson and Frank Bellamy on the stories Safari In Space & Terra Nova. For a generation or more, THE definitive British comic.  

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: More stock for the popular Tiger title for the years 1968/69 (excellent years now comprehensively re-stocked), including Christmas, New Year issues and the 1st Tiger & Jag (5/4/69). Grades range between GD and FN.

*TV & Film Related Comics: A couple of dozen new issues of the ever-popular Look-In added to our stock, from the very first year of 1971 right up to 1986.

*Humour Comics: Some new stock of the classic duo of British humour, Beano and Dandy this week, with more than a dozen Beanos ranging from 1953-1968 plus a few Dandys from 1952-1959. Mostly low graded but eminently readable.

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’ Picture Libraries
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Marvel: Our special month-long feature on the first appearances of Marvel’s Silver Age female characters continues with the debut of Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp as Ant-Man’s partner in Tales To Astonish #44. A long mainstay of the Marvel Universe, and founding member of the Avengers, wealthy socialite Jan was a breath of fresh air in the comics world, and her relationship with Hank (Ant-Man/Giant-Man) Pym was nicely portrayed as mature and caring, with a nice line in witty badinage, in contrast to the soul-searching angst on display elsewhere. Later, after she rejoined the Avengers, her fashion interest and constant change of costume (almost every issue) was a source of great entertainment and charm. This debut issue is a lovely copy with just minor wear at spine and the merest suggestion of a half inch sealed tear at centre right cover edge. Excellent unmarked cover with good colour, nice page quality and firmly attached at unrusted staples. A tight, flat copy with great eye appeal. Graded as VG/FN, pence printed and priced at £450.

*Marvel: Further additions in our Spider-Mania event, this time concentrating on issues in the range #52-98 (most issues in this run freshly added). A great period for Spidey this, with John Romita at the peak of his powers and Gil Kane no less towards the end of this time. Debuts include Silvermane in #73, the Prowler in #78 and the Kangaroo in #81, as well as some classic tussles with Dr Octopus, the Kingpin, a pair of Vultures, Mysterio, the Shocker, the Lizard, the Chameleon and the Green Goblin. Swing by and buy!

*Annuals: Several dozen classic Boy’s Annuals added fresh to our stock this week: Champion, Fantastic, Jag, Jet, Lion, Marvel, Pow, Tiger and Valiant. Tons of great reading await you!

*Girls’ Comics: Further stock for the comic/magazine for teenage girls Jackie, this time for the years 1988-1992, the twilight years of publication before its demise in 1993 after almost 30 years of print. By this time, a ‘soapy’ edge was added to the more traditional line-up of pop, problems and comics, with Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan regularly featured. Free Gift issues abound, each with its original gift: #1438 (Timotei Body Wash — jolly handy for all those soapy issues), #1447 (Trendy Wrist Twist), #1448 (Plastic Key Ring), #1467 (Lipsticks) and #1468 (Crazee Comb). We seldom see issues of Jackie this late on in the run, and these years were previously poorly represented in our catalogue, so if you’re a Jackie fan, a good time to have a delve in our listings!

We turn to our books section this week for our What’s Old feature, spotlighting things from our existing stock you may have missed. Specifically, our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category where, lurking under a lurid pulpish cover, you’ll find an anthology of horror stories edited by Gerald Verner, published in paperback for the first time by Pedigree books in 1960. Featuring works by Algernon Blackwood, John Buchan, Margaret Irwin, F G Loring, Cotton Mather (who chronicled the Salem witch trials), Sax Rohmer, Saki, Dorothy L Sayers, Montague Summers and Gerald Verner himself (who also wrote as Donald Stuart) the book covers Witchcults, Satanism, Sorcery and Lycanthropy. This is a very rare edition in a nice VG grade at £70.

*Collected Editions: It’s rare that we launch a brand new category in our already comprehensive catalogue, but the volume of nicely presented editions collecting classic British comics and newspaper strips has risen enough over the years for us to give them their own space. We’ve taken those that already appeared elsewhere in our catalogue and merged them with a large influx of new arrivals from collections we’ve been buying in to present a nice selection of great material. Nestled between ‘Annuals’ and ‘Rupert’ in the British section of our catalogue index you’ll find this new category, called ‘Collected Editions’. Famous names such as the Avengers, Beano/Dandy, Dan Dare, Eagle, Garth, James Bond, Misty, Robin Hood, the Spider and the Trigan Empire are alongside many others of equal quality which may not be household names such as Axa, Charley’s War, Jeff Hawke, Rick Random, Slaine, Wes Slade, Zenith and many more. A selection of images are shown below — why not take a look through our new catalogue listing to see if there’s a favourite there waiting for you?

Over the coming Easter holiday, our hours will be as follows:

Friday 14th April (Good Friday) OPEN 10:30 – 18:00
Saturday 15th April OPEN 10:30 – 18:00
Sunday 16th April (Easter Sunday) CLOSED
Monday 17th April (Easter Monday) CLOSED
Open as usual from Tuesday 18th April onwards

Why not treat yourself to a book or a comic? Much better for you than chocolate or buns!