*Miscellaneous 1940-1959:  L B Cole was one of the most famous of Golden/Atomic Age cover artists. He drew in a variety of genres, and was artistic director at Star, illustrating 95% of the company’s covers; his lurid, feverish style, almost hallucinogenic, graced horror, science-fiction, jungle and romance alike. Terrors Of The Jungle was a sort of hybrid jungle and horror title. From our new Arch Collection this week: issue #9 features a new story by the stylishly attractive Jay Disbrow, a Tangi jungle queen reprint from an earlier issue of TOTJ and a Fox Jo-Jo Jungle King adventure with his mate Tanee. Of course it’s the wonderful L B Cole cover for which this issue is prized, with a very buxom Luana in the foreground, glowing before a group of savages in the jungle behind her (despite a very small arrival date on her thigh!). Although this copy is marred somewhat by wear and erosion along the right edge, the central image in all its wonderful colours, is unspoilt. There is some spine wear with small nicks top and bottom. Staples are tight and firm and page quality a decent off-white.
PICTURED: TERRORS OF THE JUNGLE #9 GD £125  

*War: After issue #1, the most in-demand issue of Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos is undoubtedly #13, wherein Nick and the Howlers team-up with Captain America & Bucky to win the war, or at least a fair chunk of it. This is a lovely, flat pence-stamped copy with a solid spine, good colour, good staples and virtually no markings. There is minimal wear along the top edge only, very slight corner blunting and supple off-white pages. 
PICTURED: SGT FURY #13 FN+ p £165 SOLD

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category for the second part of our Robert A Heinlein re-listing. Heinlein was a Grand Master of science fiction, and alongside Asimov and Clarke, considered to be one of the ‘Big Three’ of the genre. His works were innovative in terms of the science, the perspective on social mores and political themes, and in them he speculated how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion and sex. Six books in our second visit to his works this week, the most famous among them being I Will Fear No Evil and The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. The third and final part of our Heinlein updates will appear soon.
PICTURED: ALL BY ROBERT A HEINLEIN
THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH Pan 1967 UK PB VG £3
I WILL FEAR NO EVIL Berkley Medallion 1971 1st US PB GD £5
THE MENACE FROM EARTH Corgi SF Collector’s Library 1974 UK PB VG £5
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS Gollancz SF Masterworks 2008 UK HC VF £15
ORPHANS OF THE SKY Mayflower Dell 1965 1st UK PB VG £8
THE PAST THROUGH TOMORROW VOL 2 NEL 1979 1st UK PB VG £7

Please note that the last date to place an order for postage before Christmas is Saturday 14th December, to catch our last pre-Christmas post on 17th December. Our next post after that will be in the New Year.

Full details of our festive period trading will be posted here shortly.

*DC: Leading off Week 3 of our Midas Collection is something rather special.  World’s Best Comics #1, Spring 1941 (retitled World’s Finest Comics from #2 onwards) is the first of the long-running series starring DC’s biggest stars, Superman and Batman with Robin. Other strips in this giant 96 page issue include Crimson Avenger, Johnny Thunder, The King, Young Dr. Davis, Zatara, Lando, Man of Magic and Red, White & Blue. Writers include Siegel, Fox & Finger, artists Fleisel, Lampert, Gustavson, Purcell & Kane, with a classic cover from Fred Ray.
PICTURED: WORLD’S BEST COMICS #1 CGC 2.5 (GD+) £1,850. Universal blue label (unrestored). Case perfect, Cream to off-white pages. Cover detached. CGC Code: 06905096007. High resolution images are available on request. SOLD

*DC: Unlike its sibling title House Of Mystery, House of Secrets started in 1956 after the Comics Code Authority came in, and thus has no pre-code issues. What it does boast is clever horror/mystery/science fiction stories by some top artists and often classic covers. These early issues from the Midas Collection are not often seen on these shores and we have a quartet of low to mid-grade issues available.
PICTURED: HOUSE OF SECRETS
#2 GD/VG £60 Moreira art. Tiny holes at upper staples suggest removal from bound copy, but no other signs. Edge and corner wear.
#6 FA/GD £16 Gorilla cover. Lower 2/3rds spine split; loose centrefold.
#7 FA £12 Moreira art. Fabulous Circe cover. Spine almost entirely split, hanging on by bottom staple. SOLD
#8 VG- £38 Kirby art. Solid copy with some staining to bottom right corner.

*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. All high grade; even the few that fall below VF (and most are above) are really good-looking copies – no duds here, and nearly all cents copies. Issue #36 of Amazing Spider-Man is one of Ditko’s last issues, where he introduces a typically stylish Ditko villain Meteor Man (who later rebranded himself as the Looter) in an action-packed epic. This is a beautiful clean white background copy where the colours pop, unmarked cover, very minor corner blunting, virtually no wear, near white pages and tight, firm staples. A very small dink at the base of the spine restricts the grade to VF.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #36 VF £150 SOLD

*Marvel: Five excellent Lee & Kirby Fantastic Fours from the Bute Collection this week: Sandman, Blastaar, Ben’s betrayal, the Mad Thinker and more.
IN THIS UPDATE: FANTASTIC FOUR
#61 FN £29
#63 FN p £23 SOLD
#68 FN+ p £27
#69 FN+ £26
#70 FN/VF £36

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s quite rare that we stray into the 21st Century for our stock, but for Alan Moore, we’ll make an exception. Moore created, in conjunction with artist Kevin O’Neill, a Victorian era combination of characters from famous literary works: Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and so forth. This unlikely and reluctant alliance faced down foes in two mini-series, then resurfaced periodically from various publishers in a number of one-offs, original graphic novels and spin-offs. The subject of a controversial film (which Moore publicly disavowed and condemned, and which is rumoured to have caused star Sean Connery to retire from acting!), the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics and graphic novels are of a much higher quality. Even if, over the intervening years, Moore’s narrative techniques have become ever more esoteric and oblique, there is much entertainment to be had in his shameless plundering of popular culture. This week we have the complete three volume set of Century, a graphic novella trilogy in three different time zones: 1910, 1969 & 2009. All in pristine condition, from an original owner collection.
PICTURED: LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: CENTURY 1969 NM; COMPLETE SET OF 3 £15 SOLD

*Alan Class Reprints: Less often seen is this short run of one of Alan Class’s more obscure titles Tales From The Underworld. Starting in 1961 and lasting just 10 issues, this series reprinted Charlton crime comics, with many recurring features and characters. We have a rare chance to purchase a complete run of #1-10, sold as a set, with a very nice average grade of VG/FN.
PICTURED: TALES FROM THE UNDERWORLD #1 FN; COMPLETE SET #1-10 Av VG/FN £130 SOLD

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category where we find the terribly British adventurer Bulldog Drummond in the middle of three pretty sleazy offerings. The first of these, Bewitched, features a particularly noteworthy art nouveau cover by David Wright, one of the greatest book cover artists of the 20th Century.
PICTURED:
LOUIS-CHARLES ROYER: BEWITCHED Harborough 1952 1st UK PB FA £15
DAVID ST GEORGE: DIAMOND DOLL Bedtime 1960 1st US PB VG £8
‘SAPPER’: THE BLACK GANG Everyman 1983 1st UK PB VG £5 Bulldog Drummond SOLD
TIM SELMARD: NAKED TALES Bell 1964 1st US PB GD £5

*DC: Week 2 of the Midas Collection leads off with another absolute gem. Worthy of being a cornerstone of any vintage Golden Age Batman collection, Batman #11 features the first time the Joker appeared on the cover in this title, in an iconic and classic playing card design by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson. The Joker appears in the lead story, and in the final story, the Penguin features. Stories by Bill Finger and Edmond Hamilton; art by Bob Kane with Jerry Robinson and George Roussos on inks. 
PICTURED: BATMAN #11 CGC 2.5 (GD+) £4,800. Universal blue label (unrestored). Case perfect. Off-white to white pages. CGC Code: 0111934003. A high resolution image is available on request.

*DC: Six issues of the Silver Age Flash in his prime, with Kid Flash, the Elongated Man, Abra-Kadabra (debut), Captain Boomerang, the Mirror Master and a Green Lantern crossover.
IN THIS UPDATE: FLASH
#124 GD/VG p £30
#125 GD- p £17.25 Off upper staple
#126 GD p £19.75 Restapled
#128 GD p £19.75 1st Abra Kadabra
#130 VG- p £34 Classic whodunnit super-villains cover. SOLD
#131 GD+ p £16.75 (PICTURED) Green Lantern crossover. Off lower staple.

*Marvel: From the Bute Collection this week, the first appearances of two women vital to the story of Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four. Medusa (then Madam Medusa) was the first of the Inhumans to appear in Marvel continuity, as a member of the Wizard’s Frightful Four in Fantastic Four #36; later she became an ally (and indeed member) of our heroic team, although her heart has always remained with her kinfolk. Agatha Harkness has long been a staunch ally of the Fantastic Four and a mentor to the Scarlet Witch, but has occasionally shown darker tendencies and a mordant sense of humour. In her debut in Fantastic Four #94, she’s hired by Reed and Sue to look after ‘Little Franklin’, but her role develops into more than just a baby-sitter, particularly when the Frightful Four make the scene.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#36 VF- £250 An outstanding clean, bright copy, with no marks or creases, glossy and vibrant. Off-white to white pages and firm, tight staples. Just very minor edge and corner wear, but in highly desirable condition.
#94 VF- p £120 A pence printed copy with great colour and gloss. Near white pages and firm, tight staples. No marks or creases, just very minor edge and corner wear. 

*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher; this week, a complete run of the 7 issues of Danger, with each issue reprinting a different series of a 1940s/50s crime and adventure title with the odd bit of super-hero thrown in. Of particular note is #16, which features a previously unpublished issue of Yankee Comics, starring Yankee Girl. NB, the issue numbers shown form the complete series (as we always say, IW’s numbering system was esoteric, to put it mildly).
IN THIS UPDATE: DANGER ALL SOLD
10 VG/FN £6.25 Reprints Great Comics #1 (Novack 1945). New cover by John Severin.
11 VG+ £5.75 Reprints Danger #1 (Toby 1954). New cover by Ross Andru.
12 VG/FN £6.25 Reprints Red Seal #13 (Chesler 1945). New cover by Ross Andru.
15 FN- £7 Reprints Spy Cases #26 (Marvel Atlas 1950) New cover by Ross Andru.
16 VG £10 (PICTURED) Not reprinted, but unpublished/undistributed; probably intended for Yankee Comics (Dynamic 1941 series) #5. New cover by Ross Andru.
17 VG £5 Reprints Scoop #8 (Chesler 1944). New Ross Andru cover.
18 GD/VG £4 Reprints Guns Against Gangsters V1#5 (Novelty 1948). New Ross Andru cover.

*Western: Also from the Midas Collection this week, five issues of DC’s All-American Western from 1948-1952. Continuing numbering from All American Comics, #103 (featured here) was the first issue under this title; #126 (also featured here) was the last, when another genre change with #127 saw it rebranded as All American Men Of War. A great artistic line-up, with Johnny Thunder by Alex Toth, Overland Coach by Irwin Hansen, Minstrel Maverick by Bernie Krigstein and Foley of the Fighting 5th by Joe Kubert. NB Krigstein only in #103 of issues here, Gil Kane in #108 & 117, Frank Giacoia in #117 & #126, no Toth in #126, replaced by Carmine Infantino.
PICTURED: ALL AMERICAN WESTERN
#103 FA #40 1st issue. Extra staple; covers almost off. SOLD
#106 GD+ £38
#108 VG- £42 Name in biro on cover background.
#117 VG £36
#126 GD £18 Final issue. Spine roll SOLD

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category for the first part of our Robert A Heinlein re-listing. Heinlein was a Grand Master of science fiction, and alongside Asimov and Clarke, considered to be one of the ‘Big Three’ of the genre. His works were innovative in terms of the science, the perspective on social mores and political themes, and in them he speculated how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion and sex. On our first visit to his books this week, we feature long and short time travel stories in the Assignment In Eernity volumes, a typical extrapolation of science and technology in Beyond This Horizon, a post-disaster tour de force in The Day After Tomorrow, classic space opera in Double Star and breath-taking adventure in Glory Road. More details may be found in our catalogue. 
PICTURED: ALL BY ROBERT A HEINLEIN
ASSIGNMENT IN ETERNITY Digit 1962 1st UK PB VG £5
ASSIGNMENT IN ETERNITY VOL 2 NEL 1978 UK PB VG £5
BEYOND THIS HORIZON Panther 1975 3th UK PB FN £5
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW NEL 1974 UK PB VG £4 SOLD
DOUBLE STAR Panther 1974 UK PB VG £6
GLORY ROAD NEL 1976 UK PB GD £4

In our Extras section (found in the Menu Bar on the left), you’ll now find the following:

Over the decades we’ve been trading, we’ve been very fortunate, among the hundreds of thousands of vintage items we’ve had through our hands, to have had many prestigious collections that are famed for their quality, rarity and value and have something very distinctive about them. Several of these are still current for us and being worked on as of October 2024 when this piece was written. We thought it prudent to give the run-down on these collections which you’ll see referenced on our What’s New page and throughout our online catalogue. 

The Midas Collection (for a Touch of Gold). October 2024. The Midas Collection is so named because it is all American Golden Age (or pre-distribution early Silver) comics from the 1930s (yes!), 40s and 50s. All DC; a comprehensive collection of Batman and Superman, but a substantial amount of other DC titles in many genres: super-hero (of course), but also science fiction, war, western, horror, adventure, romance, crime and humour. A mixture of grades, with dozens of slabbed copies among them. Simply the best pure DC collection that’s ever passed through our hands. Starting in October 2024, and continuing weekly, we’ll be releasing a selection of these as fast as we can manage. Fasten your seat-belts, fellow panelologists – thrills ahead! Sign up for our newsletter, and/or keep an eye on our What’s New Page every Saturday morning to see what’s available each week. 

The Arch Collection. September 2024. A new prestige collection of vintage American comics from the 1940s, 50s and 60s. This collection contains a wide variety of material from different publishers and will include plenty of comics that we don’t have in stock (or in some cases, never have had), with an emphasis on the esoteric. At the owner’s request, we’re calling it the Arch Collection, and you’ll find comics from it marked with a distinctive branding on our labels, on our What’s New page and referenced in our listings.

The Bute Collection. April 2022. Named after a favourite place of the owner (Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland), this is the personal reference collection of a working comics artist and author who wishes to remain anonymous. Derived from a multiplicity of sources over decades, but characterised by an astonishing depth, breadth and diversity of American and British items from the 1930s onwards, including many seldom seen on these shores, in a variety of grades. If you’re a lover of vintage comics, you’ll enjoy the ride, and you’re certain to find many comics you’d love to add to your collection.

The Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. January 2022. This is devoted exclusively to Amazing Spider-Man and covers almost every issue of Amazing. The notable feature of the TASM Collection is that all issues are high grade, averaging VF/VF+. If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than this Collection. No duds here, and nearly all cents copies.

The Good Doctor Collection. September 2021. This is a comprehensive collection representing a lifetime’s hobby by one of the UK’s most dedicated collectors. It is a mixture of original owner copies and copies sourced from the UK’s most significant dealers (including ourselves); the Good Doctor was very meticulous and patient in collecting nice copies where available and that is reflected throughout this 1500+ collection of Silver and early Bronze Age Marvel titles. All of the important Marvel titles are included and in virtually complete runs from early numbers upwards. 

The Alan Class Private Collection. For over 20 years, Alan Class has chosen us to market both the file copies from his Archives and the printing plate sets used to produce them. You can read more about these here. Even today, Alan is still unearthing the odd gem from his vaults for us.

The Square Mile Collection: December 2019. You’ll still find a few of these in our listings, although the vast majority of this prestigious collection has now sold; we completed listing them in 2020. You can read about it here: https://30thcenturycomics.co.uk/extras/the-square-mile

We’ve been blessed over the years with some wonderful prestige collections which have come our way, and our latest is quite sensational. The Midas Collection is so named because it is all American Golden Age (or pre-distribution early Silver) comics from the 1930s (yes!), 40s and 50s. All DC; a comprehensive collection of Batman and Superman, but a substantial amount of other DC titles in many genres: super-hero (of course), but also science fiction, war, western, horror, adventure, romance, crime and humour. A mixture of grades, with dozens of slabbed copies among them. Simply the best pure DC collection that’s ever passed through our hands. Starting this week, and continuing weekly, we’ll be releasing a selection of these as fast as we can manage. Fasten your seat-belts, fellow panelologists – thrills ahead! Sign up for our newsletter, and/or keep an eye on our What’s New Page every Saturday morning to see what’s available each week.   

*DC: A real gem to ‘open our account’ of Golden Age Batman from the Midas Collection. The lead story in the much sought after Batman #62 is The Secret Life of the Catwoman, in which Selina Kyle saves Batman’s life and reforms; along the way we learn something of her past. Catwoman’s ambiguity has been a major feature of her role in the DCU ever since. There’s also a superb Batman in England story, where he and Robin encounter the Knight and the Squire, their English equivalents and a third story, a Millionaire Island mystery. Cover by Win Mortimer; art by Bob Kane and Dick Sprang; mostly written by Bill Finger. A decent copy with strong colour cover (an effective graduated red to orange background). Wear is minimal with some corner blunting. Miniscule chip out at centre right edge. Staples are well attached throughout, although there is a little looseness at the top staple, below which there is a tiny hole in the spine. Supple pages are towards off-white. An excellent copy with great eye appeal. High resolution images are available on request. Tune in next week for more Golden Age Batman – same Bat-Time, same Bat-Website.
PICTURED: BATMAN #62 VG- £700

*Marvel: The Master Planner trilogy, appearing in Amazing Spider-Man #31-33 is one of the greatest storylines from the Lee & Ditko formative years on one of the world’s most iconic comic characters. The Master Planner himself of course turns out to be one of Spidey’s most infamous foes, but we don’t want to reveal that on the slim off-chance that you don’t already know. Within this compelling storyline, we are first introduced to Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn and Professor Warren in #31, and #33 features the classic cover with Spidey imprisoned under heavy machinery with water flooding down. Many people (self included) cite the moment inside when he breaks free as their all-time favourite moment in Spider-Man’s history.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#31 GD/VG p £150 Pence printed, a ‘Marvel Pop Art Production’. Structurally sound with good cover colour; supple off-white to cream (at the edges) pages and tight, firm staples. Some edge wear with short colour-breaking creases across bottom right corner and at top between mast-head and logo. There are also two longer colour-breaking creases (about 5-6 cm) up from the bottom edge. The cover was folded off-centre in production so that 0.5 cm of the cover image is over the fold on the back cover. Edges of inside covers are tanned but not brittle.
#32 GD/VG p £55 Pence printed with good cover colour and gloss. Minor edge wear with tiny chip out centre right edge and small flake off bottom right cover corner (see scan). Tight, firm staples and decent off-white pages. Dust shadow along cover right edge. Edges of inside covers are tanned but not brittle.
#33 VG p £110 Pence printed with excellent cover colour and gloss. Tiny chips out top, right  and bottom edges (1 each) and a colour-breaking crease of about 2 cm across bottom right corner. Other than that, no notable other wear except for slight corner blunting. Staples are tight and firm; pages are supple and white to off-white. Edges of inside covers are a little tanned but not brittle.

*Marvel: Sometimes in a collection we buy in, there are one or two low grade examples. Whilst we prefer to deal in more collectable graded copies, we have gathered together a small number of these for those of you who are happy with reading copies; all tatty but complete.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
AVENGERS
#41 GD- £6
#43 FA £4 1st Red Guardian; cover graffiti.
IRON MAN ANNUAL #1 FA/GD p £4.75
TALES OF SUSPENSE
#88 FA £3.25
#89 FA p £3
TALES TO ASTONISH
#91 GD p £13.75 (PICTURED) 1st Abomination cover 
#100 GD- p £6.50 Full length Sub-Mariner/Hulk story

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection this week, some true vintage from Quality Comics from 1946 & 1949 in the shape of Police Comics #51 & #86 in contrasting grades. Police Comics was the title in which Plastic Man first appeared (from #1) and although I don’t see many police involved, this bumper-sized anthology title contained a whole wealth of detective, mystery and super-hero strips, as well as a fair sprinkling of humour. In these issues you get Plastic Man by Jack Cole and the Spirit, funny girl Candy, Manhunter, the Human Bomb (in #51) and a number of comedy shorts.
PICTURED: POLICE COMICS BOTH SOLD
#51 GD £25 Some spine wear with small stain at lower right corner cover. A couple of fingernail+ size chips out at top towards the right edge. Otherwise decent copy with good colour.
#86 FN+ £80 Nice copy with good colour and gloss, white to off-white pages and tight staples. Small printed arrival date. 

*Romance: For our final update of this inaugural Midas Collection release, we feature five issues of Girl’s Romances, one of DC’s longest running romance titles, which started in 1950. Our update features #4, #6 and #8-10. Although mostly drawn by unknown artists, DC’s romance comics from this period featured a good standard of appealing art, and often very well composed and executed covers. Here, #4 & #6 are photo covers, as was common with romance back then, but by #8 had changed to line-drawn art. Seldom seen, particularly over here in the UK, the Midas Collection is quite rich in this genre, with many more to follow.
PICTURED: GIRLS’ ROMANCES
#4 GD £22 Both staples neatly off.
#6 VG £44
#8 VG- £38 Off top staple SOLD
#9 VG- £38 Extra central staple
#10 GD- £19 Off top and centre staples; upper spine split

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: 20 issues of Battle Picture Library newly added from 1968-1969 between #364 and #386. All are in nearly uniform nice shape, FN/VF with a couple slightly lower, clean, bright and unmarked, with virtually no staple rust. Full details as always in our catalogue.