*Marvel: Like a lot of media in 1974, Marvel was obsessed with the martial arts craze and introduced a myriad of leaping, kicking and punching super-heroic protagonists, the most enduring of whom were Shang-Chi, Master Of Kung Fu and Iron Fist. It’s the latter we focus on here, star of his own upcoming Netflix TV show, in his origin and first appearance in Marvel Premiere #15. This is a decent VG/FN cents copy, with a little rippling, but nice gloss. Because the Marvel Value Stamp has been cut out of a feature page (story not affected) we have used the terminology of ‘Apparent VG/FN’ and priced it accordingly at £50.
American Update: Return of the Walking Dead!
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: New in, a range of the ever-popular Walking Dead ongoing, Kirkman and Adlard’s saga of a bleak and post-apocalyptic world, which has been delighting both comics readers and TV viewers for years now. This selection commences with #91 and runs through to the 120’s, including the debuts of characters such as Jesus (no, not that Jesus – in #92), Ezekiel (in #108), and of course the first Nagan in #100. All in high grades, and increasingly sought after, grab ’em before they shamble away!
British Update: Joe 90 – Specs Ahoy!
*TV & Film Related Comics: From 1969, the much-publicised Joe 90 Weekly, released to tie-in with the latest Gerry Anderson ‘Supermarionation’ TV show, in which bespectacled nine-year-old Joe McClaine acquired phenomenal skills through having computerised knowledge programmed into his brain , and set out as the unlikeliest secret agent of all, for the organisation W.I.N. Sadly, for all it’s pre-publicity, Joe 90 turned out to be a bit of a damp squib – apparently young viewers wanted to empathise with adult heroes, not kids their own age – and the show foundered after 30 episodes, with the comic’s run lasting only a few weeks longer before being incorporated into TV 21 Mk. II! Now, however, the short achievable run of Joe 90 is much sought-after, having the usual quality artwork of the Anderson adaptations, and co-featuring comic strip versions of such popular TV shows as Star Trek, the Champions, and Land of the Giants. This run consists of issues 1-32 and 34, only a handful short of the full series, in exceptionally nice grades for their vintage, averaging VG/FN. Issues #1-3 shown below; please check our catalogue for grades and prices.
American Update: Scott Lang, Does Whatever an Ant-Man Can!
*Marvel: When the Ant-Man name was unclaimed in the late 1970’s a scientific opportunist and sneak-thief, Scott Lang, stole Hank Pym’s old apparatus and became the second bearer of that title! But it’s okay – he did bad things for good reasons, to find a cure for his dying daughter, as was revealed in Marvel Premiere #47 and #48, the two-part tale which (after a cameo in Avengers #181) was Scott’s first full-length adventure. John Byrne and David Michelinie created this different take on the hero, and since then, Scott has had a few setbacks – been in jail a few times, been dead a few more, been a love-slave of the Purple Man – but he’s fought his way back to respectability, and is currently the star of one of Marvel’s more entertaining series – as well as the recent Marvel cinematic hit. This double-portion debut consists of a FN+ p #47 at £35, and a VF+ p #48 at £25.
American/British Update: UK Classics Illustrated
*Classics Illustrated: A new selection in of a few dozen UK versions of Classics Illustrated. Lots of favourite (and frankly, some obscure) novels adapted into comic form and passionately collected by Classics completists. Highlights in this update include #37 (The Pioneers, with new British cover art), and early line drawn covers on A Christmas Carol, Around The World In 80 Days & Cyrano De Bergerac. Always a big hit with many of our customers — why not check your wants list to see if we have an issue or two you need? As always, full details in our catalogue.
British Update: Red Dagger
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1979 to 1984, D.C. Thomson capitalised on their inventory by issuing Red Dagger, a reprint title in which, each issue, a serial that had previously graced Victor, Hornet, Wizard, Hotspur, Wizard or Bullet was gathered up, judiciously edited down, and re-presented as a done-in-one story. We have a virtually complete run of this highly collectable series (28 issues new in out of a possible 30), from the very first (“Twisty”) to the last (“Eleven Little Soccer Boys”), along the way visiting friends old and new such as Morgyn the Mighty, the Black Sapper, Braddock of the R.A.F., Bernard Briggs the Bouncing Goalie, and the Tough of the Track, among others. Averaging VG-FN, these are a very affordable way to obtain a flavour of the classic adventure series.
American Update: All-American Comics #92 from 1947
*DC: One of the classic Golden Age anthologies was All-American Comics, and we have a beauty from the late 1940’s – issue #92, with a classic battle between Green Lantern and the Icicle, set in South America and illustrated by none other than Alex Toth! Other features include Doctor Mid-Nite, the Black Pirate, Hop Harrigan and – the power! the fury! – Cotton-Top Katie – unleashed! This delightful selection is an apparent GD, having been removed from a bound volume. This does mean it has been trimmed at right and upper edges (but with generous margins, the story pages are quite unmarred) and the spine is taped and restapled – but the page quality is excellent, and the cover colour vivid and unmarred. Offered for £100.
Books Update: Persuading The Sweeney To Get Smart And Trek In Space!
*TV/Film Tie-Ins: An eclectic selection of books for this ever popular section, covering law enforcement (Get Smart – Missed It By That Much!, The Persuaders Books One and Two and The Sweeney’s Regan And The Venetian Virgin) and space (Space 1999’s Planets Of Peril and Star Treks 2, 5 and 12. These are all 1st PB editions, in grades ranging from GD to VF.
American Update: A Folio of Famous First Editions!
*DC: In the early 1970’s DC began to wake up to the fact that there was a huge potential audience interested in the history of their characters. In the pre-Internet days, reprints were scarce and amateurish, and back issues required much expensive and time-consuming searching through the Post Office (ask your Mums, urchins…) so DC’s initiative in publishing their Famous 1st Edition series was welcomed. These Treasury-sized (13″ x 10″) facsimiles did cover-to-cover reproductions of historic issues, including all stories, text and advertising, for an immersive experience. We have three to offer: #F6, reproducing Wonder Woman #1; #F7, reprinting All-Star Comics #3, the debut of the legendary Justice Society of America; and C28, which brought us Detective Comics #27 in its entirety, with a plethora of features including the first appearance of an obscure character called the Batman! (he’ll never catch on…) All three are in decent mid-grade – F6 & F7 are VG/FN, C 28 is VG- and offered at the outrageously generous price of £10 each.
American Update: Batmania Max — Watching The Detectives: Puppets, Mirrors and Foreigners!
*DC: A short run of Detective Comics in the early #200’s graces our shelves this week, from #207 to 215 – sans #211, which was in our earlier Catwoman update a couple of weeks ago. Characterised by some new foes – the Puppet Master, the Mirror-Man, and the Brain That Ruled Gotham City – and some old friends – the Knight and the Squire, Britain’s Batman and Robin, who team up with other heroes to form “The Batmen of All Nations!”, a noble association trashed, er, updated by Grant Morrison in recent decades. Rotating back-ups involve Captain Compass, Roy Raymond, and Mysto, Magician Detective, but the enduring appeal of the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder conquers all! A range of grades, from an unattractive (but cheap!) Poor right through to a sparkling FN/VF. Sample issues pictured below.
Books Update: Brave New Worlds
*Pulp Fiction: A wonderful set of the premier British science fiction magazine New Worlds joins our stock this week. Ranging from #49 (July 1956) to #118 (May 1962), these will be especially enticing for J G Ballard aficionados. Featured authors form a who’s who of Science Fiction, including Brian Aldiss, Isaac Asimov, J G Ballard, Sydney J Bounds, John Brunner, Kenneth Bulmer, John Rackham, Robert Silverberg, E C Tubb, James White and John Wyndham. Notable issues are #54, which has the first ever publication of a J G Ballard story (Escapement), #72, which has Wyndham’s tale Idiot’s Delight, #99 which has the first publication of Ballard’s The Voices Of Time, and #118, which has Ballard as guest editor.
American Update: Silver/Bronze Age Marvel sweep
*Marvel: Another run through sundry Marvel titles from the 1960’s and 1970’s, with issues of the following added to our listings: Astonishing Tales, Avengers (inc Annual #7 Starlin Thanos), Black Goliath, Daredevil (#10), Howard The Duck, Ka-Zar (#3 1st series 1970 with new Angel story), Marvel Chillers with Tigra, Marvel Premiere (1st series with Dr. Strange & Iron Fist), Marvel Two-In-One (Annual #2 with Starlin Thanos), Nova, Star Wars (#2 & #3), Sub-Mariner & 2001.
Housekeeping Update
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.
British Update: Tiger 1971
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A substantial update to our stocks for Tiger from 1971, all issues previously missing from our listings, which builds up our inventory to virtually complete for that year. Quality features abound with sport dominated themes, including Roy Of the Rovers (of course), Johnny Cougar, Skid Solo and many others. We’ve seen a great upswing in popularity of this title from the 1970’s of late.
British Update: Complete Run of Champ #1-87 1984/85
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Champ has the distinction of being the last weekly Boys’ Adventure title launched by publisher DC Thomson and is very traditional in its mix of football, adventure and sci-fi strips. It lasted a respectable 87 issues from February 1984 to October 1985, absorbing Spike along the way before being merged with Victor. We have them all in stock now from first to last, nearly all in a nice sharp Fine grade, so your chance to grab the complete series!
Books Update: Mad About The Books
*Mad Books: A substantial update to our Mad Books section will have Mad fans frothing at the mouth with anticipation. Among the highlights are Boiling Mad, Good’N’Mad, Don Martin Stepping Out and Cooking Up More Tales, Sergio Aragones’ Mad About Mad and Utterly Mad. You’d be mad not to check them out!
Shop Update: Basement closed part of the afternoon Weds 14/9
We’re having our electricity meter changed over next Wednesday afternoon (14th). Our basement will be closed for a couple of hours while this goes on, and for about half an hour, our electricity will have to be turned off, so if you’re planning a shop visit, best avoid Wednesday after 2 pm!
British Update: Free Gift Farrago – Star Wars Weekly – early issues with Free Gifts!
*TV & Film Related Comics: Yes, it’s the return of our Free Gift Farrago feature! With the ever-increasing popularity of the Star Wars franchise, folks are looking back with nostalgia even to the UK Star Wars Weekly, the format in which a lot of fans had their first exposure to Luke, Leia, Han, and all the other characters. We’ve been short of early issues of Star Wars Weekly for far too long, but that void is filled – temporarily – by this week’s addition of the first 9 issues (plus an errant #13), mostly in mid to high grades, and with the first two issues still possessed of their original Free Gifts – a cut-out Star Wars X-Fighter and a T.I.E. Fighter, to be specific! Almost universally punched out of the flimsy cardboard and assembled for, ooh, seconds of fun before disintegration, it’s rare to find any surviving copies of these gifts, but we’ve managed it! Issue 1 is FN/VF (Gift NM) at £35, issue 2 is FN with NM gift at £25; the others will set you back from £1.50 to £4, depending. Let the Wookie win, Luke!
American Update: Batmania Max — Watching The Detectives #450-526
*DC: A huge update in our Batmania Max event this week, with every consecutive issue of Detective Comics from #450-526. Highlights include: the acclaimed Marshall Rogers run from #466-479 (most issues) featuring the debuts of Silver St Cloud and Clayface III plus the modern versions of Hugo Strange and Deadshot (#474) plus the classic Joker Laughing Fish 2 parter (#475-476); in addition, the ‘Batman Family’ Giant $1 issues from #481-495, #500 & #526 Anniversary issues, and the first Killer Croc in #523 and early Jason Todd appearances too! All cents copies up to around #500 and nearly all very high grade (VF/NM or better). A cornucopia of Batmania in 75+ issues!
American Update: New Mutants #87 – Get Cable!
*Marvel: Again, an exception in our listings for its period, the 87th issue of 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 and 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 like Mary Poppins, he’s a super-powered nanny with metal limbs. Confusing back history and ambiguous abilities or not, he’s scheduled to be appearing in the next Deadpool movie, incarnated by one of an interesting range of possibilities (our money’s on Kiera Knightley…), so interest in the character’s early appearances has skyrocketed. This NM/M Pence copy is in excellent condition, and believe me, the time will come when you’ll look back upon this as a snip at £85.
American Update: Thor debuts – Hercules and Him!
*Marvel: No, “Hercules and Him!” is not a new buddy cop debuting soon on Netflix (though I think I may have inadvertently just pitched it…), but a reference to the heroes who make their respective Marvel Universe debuts in our featured issues. Journey into Mystery Annual #1, from 1965, saw the debut of the Prince of Power, Hercules, as Thor’s opposite number, and brawling partner/comrade-in-arms, as the exigencies of the plot demanded. Not the first Hercules in comics, nor the last – but Marvel’s well-intentioned wenching boozer is probably the best-loved iteration since the original legend! This remarkably-preserved FN+ pence issue is offered at £75. Plus… Him! Later known as Warlock, the golden-skinned godling first flashed his near-omnipotent abilities when he decided a shapely something was missing from his life – and chose Thor’s main squeeze, Lady Sif, to fill the gap! Needless to say, Thor objected, and their epic combat was recorded in Thor #165. A VG pence copy is newly in, at £50.
American Update: Daredevil #7 – 1st “Red Devil” costume!
*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, and this is probably the finest Wood issue, marked not only by the premiere of the red Daredevil costume which became his definitive uniform, 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. Offered at £275.
American Update: EC Reprints of Haunt Of Fear and Shock Suspenstories
*Modern Reprints: The classic EC material from the 1950’s has been reprinted many times in a variety of formats, but we have in a few of the softcover bound volumes from Gemstone from the early 1990’s which are a particular favourite with us. They each feature 4-5 complete issues together with covers in sturdy volumes, and are a lovely way to appreciate the eternal appeal of this classic line at a bargain price. One volume of Haunt Of Fear and three of Shock Suspenstories now available.
British Update: A batch of early bright Spark(y)s
*Humour Comics: We don’t often see early issues of D C Thomson’s Sparky, so we’re particularly pleased to have several dozen in from Sparky’s early years 1965-1969, including 6 from the first year of publication as early as #32. There are about 20 new issues listed from 1966, 10 from 1967 and most of 1968, where previously we only had 3 issues listed for all four years! We imagine collector interest will be high on these, which come in a mixture of grades from FA to FN.
Books Update: Up From The Apes (And Right Back Down)!
*Comic Strip Books: Harvey Kurtzman’s Jungle Book swings onto our shelves today. This is what the book says about Kurtzman:
“Every morning now he runs up to his attic to think. When he has a good thought he runs over to the window and breathes deeply. Then he gives his Tarzan cry and goes loping off through the trees.”
Between lianas Kurtzman founded Mad, published by EC. The Jungle Book was conceived after he left EC, and taken up by Ballantine after they lost the right to publish Mad collections. It was the first paperback of original cartoons aimed at the US mass-market, with the same satirical outlook as Mad, but with a more adult slant. We’re anticipating a great deal of interest in this ground-breaking book, offered in 1st US PB at £25 in VG.
British Update: Brand New Misty Graphic Novel
*Girls’ Comics: It’s a rare event indeed when we can feature a new publication in any of our British categories, but particularly so in Girls’ Comics. Here we have, hot off the presses, a Misty Graphic Novel, reprinting two classic stories from early Misty issues: Moonchild and The Four Faces Of Eve, beautifully reproduced under a stunning Shirley Bellwood cover. Pat Mills, whose brainchild Misty mostly was, writes both a new intro and the first story, and there are also a few Misty spooky feature reprints as well, plus biographies of the creators. We salute this bold new venture into reprinting an absolute classic series, and hope it sells well enough to be the first of many! Priced at £15.
American Update: Marvel Classics Comics
*Marvel: From the mid-1970’s, a couple of dozen new issues in (from #1) of Marvel’s take on Classics Illustrated, Marvel Classics Comics. Many favourite titles, such as Frankenstein, Dracula, The War Of The Worlds, The Time Machine and many more, previously missing from our listings, now available.
British Update: Late Commando Picture Library
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Although they’re not in our basement any more, it’s bargain time with Commando Picture Library as we add a new wide selection of relatively recent issues between #2702 and #4477, all at the very affordable price of £1.25 each!
Books Update: Anthologies Galore
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: A horde of Science Fiction anthologies are released back into the wild today, running the gamut from A – V. Highlights include Spectrum V (Eds. Amis & Conquest), The Unexpected Dimension (Ed. Budrys), Lambda 1 And Other Stories (Ed. Carnell) and The Post Reader Of Fantasy And Science Fiction (unacknowledged editor). All of these books offer a great opportunity to sample a wide range of authors and themes.
British Update: Faux American Cowboy, Sci-Fi and Super-Hero Adventure
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From the 1950’s to the 1970’s, a big new selection of original British titles in an American-Sized format. Lots of titles in this considerable update: Biggles, Broncho Bill, Buffalo Bill, Colorado Kid, El Lobo, Jim Bowie, Kalgan The Golden (Ron Turner art), Kid Dynamite, Little Sheriff, Lone Star (with Space Ace by Turner), Mark Tyme, Marvelman, Nick Hazard (Turner), Pecos Bill, Phantom Ranger, Purple Hood, Rocky Mountain King, Steve Samson, Western Super Thriller (with Ace Hart) & Young Marvelman.
Housekeeping Update
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:
*DC
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.
American Update: Amazing Spider-Man #129 — 1st Punisher
*Marvel: One of the most sought after Spidey key issues adorns our new listings this week. #129 features the first appearance of everyone’s favourite urban vigilante the Punisher. This nice FN cents copy (there are no pence copies, of course) has good cover colour and gloss and page quality. Flat with tight staples; minor spine and corner wear. It weighs in at £375; we need to say no more!
American Update: Batmania Max – Watching the Detectives with classic Catwoman
*DC: For our Batmania Max outing this week, we feature two classic issues of Detective Comics from 1954 starring that feline femme fatale Catwoman. #203 (with circus cover) is a low grade (Apparent GD), spoilt by a 1mm x 2mm hole through the lower part of the cover and the lead story (also back cover tear), but priced accordingly at £35. #211 (with jungle cover) is a lovely unspoilt FN with relatively minor spine wear and nice off-white page quality at £265. A double dose of the slinky Selina for both ends of the budget spectrum.
American Update: A Miscellany of Marvel 1970’s Horror inc. two #1 issues
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: Another visit to Marvel’s strong horror output from the 1970’s. This update features Chamber of Darkness (early issues from #1 onwards), Creatures On The Loose (with Gulliver Jones, Thongor complete and Man-Wolf), Monsters On The Prowl and Tower Of Shadows #1 & #2 (#1 with classic Steranko story VF- cents £30).
Books Update: John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris – Consider His Names
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Best known for writing as John Wyndham, J W P L B Harris’ early work came out under various guises, generally based on his numerous given names. This update has Sleepers Of Mars, Stowaway To Mars and Wanderers Of Time, written as John Beynon and The Secret People, written as John Beynon Harris, in addition to his later classics: The Chrysalids, The Day Of The Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Seeds Of Time and Trouble With Lichen. We also have a collection of early short stories: The Best Of John Wyndham 1932 – 1949 (Ed. Angus Wells) and a rare collaboration, The Outward Urge, with Lucas Parkes (AKA …. John Wyndham!). We’ve also included a 2010 edition of Plan For Chaos, a recently discovered companion (and contemporaneous) work to The Day Of The Triffids.
American Update: 11 Bronze Age Marvel #1 issues
*Marvel: Yes, it’s another one of our hugely popular Bronze Age Marvel #1 updates. This time we feature the following #1 issues: Champions, Devil Dinosaur, Doc Savage, Howard The Duck, Ka-Zar, Marvel Presents (Bloodstone), Ms Marvel, Skull The Slayer, Spider-Woman, 2001 A Space Odyssey & What If. Check out our catalogue for grades and prices on these, but better move fast, as these don’t hang around for long!
British Update: TV Tornado #1-3 Fine copies
*TV & Film Related Comics: A lovely set of the first three issues of TV Tornado from 1967, all in beautiful Fine condition (almost nicer, in fact, which for British comics of this period is quite rare indeed; NB competition coupon in #1 neatly filled in). Great content with these TV and Film favourites: Batman, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Phantom, Flash Gordon, The Man From UNCLE, Bonanza, Superman & Tarzan. What a line-up! #1 at £65, #2 & #3 at £35 each.
British Update: 1960’s Buster Comics and 1970’s Buster Specials
*Humour Comics: A small update to our Buster stocks, with comics from 1965 and 1966, plus the Holiday Fun special from 1970 and the Buster & Monster Fun Holiday Special from 1977.
American Update: More Savage Sword Of Conan from #1
*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: Great news for Conan fans! We’ve unearthed a further batch of Savage Sword Of Conan Magazines from a distant corner of our storeroom, and this time we have them from #1 onwards, most of the first 10 issues in fact plus others including Annual #1 in a choice of grades. Now all added to our stock!
Books Update: Crime Every Which Way With Creasey
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: An update of Creasey crime novels can only ever be a good thing. Here we showcase his talent, including a Department Z adventure (Death By Night), a Doctor Palfrey adventure (The Terror) and more about the Toff (The Toff On The Farm) as well as novels he wrote as Michael Halliday (Out Of The Shadows) and Jeremy York (Find The Body and To Kill Or Die).
American Update: 1940’s and 1950’s Jungle & Sci-Fi thrills!
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Four classics from the 1940’s and 1950’s this week. First up, the rare Captain Rocket #1 (& only), a Flash Gordon-esque space opera with squared-jawed heroes and gossamer-clad damsels and dames; next, Nedor’s Exciting Comics #58 with a striking Alex Schomburg Judy Of The Jungle airbrushed cover; finally, two late issues of Fight Comics (#78 & #81), with Tiger Girl (among others), illustrated in glowing colour by Maurice Whitman on the covers and Matt Baker inside. A lovely bunch! Full details in our catalogue.
British Update: Romeo & Mirabelle — they’re Poptastic!
*Girls’ Comics: More than a touch of the Poptastic about this week’s Girls’ Comics update as we feature a small amount of Romeo from 1958, 1968, 1971 & 1974 and just one issue of Mirabelle from 1972, but it is the New Year issue! Faberoonie!
Books Update: Old Masters VIII – Dick & Heinlein
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Once again we’ve added works by well-known authors to increase our representation of their publications. It’s five-for-one for Philip K Dick, as we add a collection of (arguably) his best novels in one great value, chunky paperback. Robert Heinlein is represented by Beyond This Horizon, Stranger In A Strange Land and The Door Into Summer, the last of which holds the answer to why cats insist on their owners letting them out of a different door just after they’ve come in.
Housekeeping Update
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 Books Section:
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze
*Pulp Fiction
*Childrens’ Books
*Comic Strip Books
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.
British Update: Tharg Alert! Fleetway Annuals from the 1970’s/80’s
*Annuals: In our Annuals Boys’ Adventure sub-section, we’re very pleased to add a selection of Fleetway’s output from the 1970’s and 1980’s for three famous titles: Dan Dare, Judge Dredd & 2000 AD. Fifteen annuals added across that range of titles, nearly all in high grade, including the very first 2000 AD annual from 1978.
American Update: Slab Happy Grand Finale! Strange Tales #110 — 1st Dr Strange
*Marvel: We conclude our Slab Happy summer event with the first appearance of the Master of the Mystic Arts, Dr. Strange, soon to be portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch on the big screen. The good doctor first appeared as a back-up feature by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko in Strange Tales #110, the first in a regular series of clever little mystic mystery adventures before graduating to the bigger stage of several of his own series from the late 1960’s to date. This copy is graded by CBCS as 5.5 (FN-) and priced at £1500, which represents a good investment potential for a major Marvel character and impending movie franchise! (It’s a shame they didn’t think to feature Dr Strange on the cover — I doubt Paste-Pot Pete will ever get his own movie!). Thus ends our Slab Happy event, but we’re sure to come across more third party graded books in the future for those that have to have ’em!
American Update: Batmania Max – Watching the Detectives: 1st Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
*DC: For our second visit to our Batmania Max event this week, the first appearance of a key player in Batman’s world and indeed the DCU as we unleash Detective Comics #359, with the debut of the Dominoed Daredoll herself (never understood that nickname…) Batgirl AKA Barbara Gordon, daughter to the Commish. Yes, there had been a Bat-Girl before (Betty Kane, niece of Kathy (Batwoman) Kane – note the hyphen) but here was a new Batgirl for Batman’s New Look and the swinging sixties, lovingly rendered by Carmine Infantino. This is a FN+ cents copy, flat with tight staples, minor spine wear and decent page quality; it has a small stamped arrival date on the cover (over Robin’s cape – see scan). Priced at £400.
British Update: Solo #1 & #3
*TV & Film Related Comics: One of the rarest and quirkiest of all British comic titles was Solo, which ran for 31 issues only in 1967 before being subsumed into TV Tornado. Later issues featured Gerry Anderson material (notably the Mysterons and the unfilmed Project SWORD) alongside the other TV and film related fare such as Disney Gold Key reprints and the Man From Uncle which had been there from the beginning. All issues are vanishingly scarce and we seldom see them, so we count ourselves particularly fortunate to have the very first issue in a nice VG grade fresh in (£75), alongside an even nicer VG/FN copy of #3 (£37.50) which has an incomplete free copy of #4 bundled in with it as a bonus.
American Update: Marvel’s Tomb Of Dracula
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: One of the most celebrated horror series ever published was the 1970’s Marvel version of Tomb Of Dracula, where the compulsive writing of Marv Wolfman combined seamlessly with the dark and moody art of Gene Colan (did ever an artist more suit his subject matter?) to produce dozens of issues of a fear fraught fang fest (I’m emulating a Marvel caption writer here). We have most issues new in (all cents copies) from #2-66, plus Giant-Size Dracula #2-5 and the first issue of that series, known as Giant-Size Chillers. Featuring the debuts of many memorable characters such as Hannibal King, Lillith, Deacon Frost and, oh, some guy named Blade — but you knew that, right? 1st Blade in #10, 2nd in #12 and origin in #13 all included. Check out our catalogue for grades and prices. Pictured below are #10 (1st Blade), #18 (Werewolf By Night crossover) and #58 (Blade fights alone).
American Update: Superman Vs The Amazing Spider-Man
*DC: From 1976, we’re very pleased to present an original printing of the first ever DC/Marvel crossover story Superman Vs The Amazing Spider-Man Treasury-sized edition. This milestone has been reprinted many times in many different formats, but this is the original, a very nice FN/VF pence copy at £35. Also in Treasury size, Limited Collectors’ Edition C35 complete with cheesy Shazam photo cover.