*Marvel: One of the phenomena of the last decade of the 20th Century was Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet, which spawned many crossovers and two direct sequels. This is the second such sequel, third series in the ‘Infinity Trinity’, Infinity Crusade, in which ‘The Goddess’ separated the more devout of the Marvel Heroes into a super-powered jihad, a move surely calculated to offend both the pious and the pagan alike! The ‘Infinity’ series have been hugely popular ever since their inception, but with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet at the centre of the Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy cinematic franchise, demand for them is at its height.
PICTURED: INFINITY CRUSADE #4 NM; COMPLETE SET OF #1-6 NM £35

*Horror 1940-1959: Superior was a Canadian publisher active from 1945-1956 who mostly reprinted American comics from the same time period. They also published a number of original series that were distributed in the United States. Among these were three horror titles famous for their hallucinogenic covers and accomplished Fiction House style interior art. When you see a lot of these together, they have an almost hypnotic and uncomfortable effect. This week we round up the last of our haul of Strange Mysteries from #14 to #18, mix grade copies, with specific defects listed below. (The three issues after this, #19-21, are all reprint).
PICTURED: STRANGE MYSTERIES ALL SOLD
#14 App VG+ £95 Mis-cut/misprinted cover; more information in our catalogue.
#15 GD- £75 Upper spine split; small pieces of tape inside back cover
#16 GD £85 Upper spine split; off staples with tape and small tape inside front cover; small cover tear
#17 FA+ £55 Long creases front and back cover; 8 cm tear front cover
#18 VG- £145 No specific defects

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints Of US Material: Some beautiful packages of classic DC stuff this week. There’s a quartet of Blackhawks, including both the 1st (#30) and 2nd (#36) appearances of Zinda Blake, the Lady Blackhawk. #1 of the 2nd series of Flash has not only two early Silver Age Flash stories, but also four Golden Age Wonder Woman stories and Mystery In Space #10 features many DC science fiction stories, with one by Jack Kirby.
PICTURED:
BLACKHAWK #30 GD/VG £15
FLASH #1 FN/VF £35 SOLD
MYSTERY IN SPACE #10 VG £15

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Around 50 issues of the famous Fleetway title Battle PL fresh in, all from the 1960s in the range #232 to #385. Almost all this batch are a nice FN grade, with a handful affected by minimal staple rust which are VG.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: June & School Friend Picture Library continued the numbering of Schoolgirls’ Picture Library from #327 onwards, and this week we have very many issues of J&SF PL fresh in between #501 and #571. Many favourite recurring characters are here: Sue Day, Sara Topper, the Peewits, the Rolling Stones etc. Like our previous recent updates to this title, these are from a newsagent’s uncirculated stock, and are in superior condition, mostly in the FN to VF range.
PICTURED: JUNE & SCHOOL FRIEND PICTURE LIBRARY
#535 VF £9
#557 VF £9

Since we’re now trading by mail order only, it gives us the chance to maintain our catalogue even more accurately. All items sold since lockdown are now being deleted within a few days of sale. We are also working through our entire catalogue to delete those items that sold pre-lockdown since files were last updated. This means that as we finish updating a file, you can rely on the catalogue for that category being (and staying) as close to 100% accurate as it is possible to get, with virtually everything available, apart from items sold in the last few days (and just a tiny amount of human error). We have now completed this exercise for the following category from our Books section:
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror
All categories down to this point in our Catalogue Index have now been Super-Housekept! We will continue to post here as we make progress.

*DC: We know, it sounds a bit weird, but two decades after the publication of this 1965 issue, DC linked it retroactively to their blockbuster crossover ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’, by declaring the major events therein (no, we’re not going to tell you what they were – spoilers!) as the retconned kick-off to Crisis. This nifty team-up between the Green Lanterns of Earths One and Two has therefore acquired an historic value beyond that seemingly justified by its (admittedly considerable) merits. This pence stamped copy is a very nice FN-, tight and flat with great cover colour and gloss, firm staples and excellent pages. Just slight corner blunting and edge wear with a few small faint non-colour breaking creases are the only defects. And it’s a great read!
PICTURED: GREEN LANTERN #40 FN- p £100

*Marvel: Franklin Richards, son of Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, made his debut in Fantastic Four Annual #6, by way of being born in that issue, which is fairly unusual for a character debut. The issue itself is typical Jack Kirby grandeur in the Negative Zone (also featuring the debut of Annihilus) with big panels, overblown action and devices and masterful inking by Joe Sinnott. Right at the end we see mother with child for the first time in an historic moment for the Marvel Universe. Franklin has gone on to star in many comics and events of the MU ever since and remains a frequently appearing character. This is not a great copy; superficially it is nice, with good colour and some gloss and just minor edge wear, but the spine is a little tatty and the back cover (only) is detached from it from the top down about 75% of its length. Nevertheless, a chance to get a copy that presents reasonably well; this comic has risen a lot in price in recent times, so a nice one to tick off your list.  
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #6 GD+ p £75 SOLD

*Marvel: The run of X-Men, from their relaunch in #94 through to the end of the John Byrne run in #143 are some of many people’s favourite comics, incorporating the Jean Grey/Phoenix saga and featuring the debuts of many characters who have gone on the become cornerstones of Marvel’s Mutant-verse. The success of the X-Men franchise as we know it today was built on these issues, and we have many of them fresh into stock, including the debut of Moira MacTaggart in #96, the double debuts of Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost in #129, 1st Dazzler in #130 and the entire Dark Phoenix sequence from #134-138.
PICTURED: X-MEN
#96 FN p £50
#129 VF p £90
#134 NM- £75
#135 NM p £75 

*Marvel: Marvel’s first published mini-series, issued in 1982, Contest of Champions came about almost by accident. Originally intended as a Marvel Treasury Special to tie-in with the 1980 Olympics, the project crashed & burned when the USA pulled out of said event, and the prepared pages, after a time in limbo, were re-edited into this three-parter, in which virtually every Marvel super-hero (and several brand-new international ones created for the Olympic tie-in) are drafted by the Grandmaster in a contest with Death to win back the life of the deceased Collector. Split into teams, the heroes are used as pawns to gain artefacts and therefore win points to determine which cosmic entity wins their goal. By Mark Gruenwald, John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton, the unexpected success of this unplanned mini-series paved the way for more premeditated events, beginning, of course, with Marvel’s Secret Wars in 1984. This complete three-issue series averages VF/NM.
PICTURED: CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #1 VF/NM; COMPLETE SET #1-3 VF/NM £40

*Marvel: A great update this week to the splendid title Strange Tales, during its Nick Fury/Dr. Strange period from #145-168 (the last issue for these two features before they got their own titles). Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD was initially drawn by Jack Kirby, then John Buscema and then by Jim Steranko, the defining artist for this series. Steranko’s small body of work is highly prized and collected, and nowhere is it more in evidence than here. Dr. Strange features initially the last couple of issues by Steve Ditko, but with the likes of Bill Everett, Marie Severin and Dan Adkins to follow, this comic was always a classy-looking publication. Full details of all the issues available in our catalogue.

*Horror 1940/1959: Just one item in our Pre-Code Horror Fest this week, but it’s a rarity. William Ekgren’s entire comics output was three covers for St John in the 1950s, but what covers they were, among the most distinctive in the genre, if not the medium with their hallucinogenic imagery. Weird Horrors #7 is the pick of the bunch in our opinion, and the insides aren’t too shabby either with accomplished art by Joe Kubert, Lou Cameron and others. This copy is only Fair, with a taped spine and several small chips out of the top and bottom cover edges, front and back. The pages though are quite decent, apart from a small corner off the margin on the splash page, and the staples are tight at the centrefold. The cover image remains relatively unspoilt.
PICTURED: WEIRD HORRORS #7 FA £100 SOLD

*War: Our massive updates to our war category continue with just one title this week, but it’s a biggie! Marvel’s Sgt Fury & His Howling Commandos was the ‘war comic for people that hated war comics’. Launched in 1963 alongside the Avengers & the X-Men, Stan & Jack (and their successors) brought many of the qualities of Marvel’s team super-hero comics to tell the stories of Nick Fury and his diverse platoon in WWII. Nick himself (and some of his cast) famously reappeared in the then present day of the Marvel Silver Age universe, of course, primarily in Agent of SHIELD in Strange Tales. We have dozens of issues freshly added this week between #14 and #81, plus Annuals. War is still not yet over — watch this space.   
PICTURED: SGT FURY ANNUAL #1 FN+ £39 SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: We’ve lost count of how many sets of Scream we’ve sold over the years, but they never hang around in stock for long. The achievability of a short 15 issue run plus the horror subject matter make this an irresistible title for many. Another complete run fresh into stock, all 15 issues of this highly collectable series, all in decent VG or FN condition.
PICTURED: SCREAM #1 VG £20 ALL ISSUES SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: A real mixed bag in this category this week, starting with two rare issues of Gerry Anderson’s Candy from 1969. #3 of Countdown has the Free Gift — Spacefact stamps, and there’s a Marvel UK Planet Of The Apes #1 without poster. Two Thunderbirds Holiday Specials are included, from 1971 & 1982, plus a TV21 (2nd series) from 1970. Finally, there are a few TV Comic issues, from 1972 (with the Avengers), from 1981 and from 1976 #1294 featuring Dr. Who and possibly the most underwhelming Free Gift yet (even less exciting than the Tarzan #1 ‘sick bag’); it’s the TV Star Chart, a piece of cardboard for you to stick on famous TV faces from inside the comic and enter a prize draw. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
PICTURED:
COUNTDOWN #3 GD WITH FREE GIFT VF £25 SOLD
TV COMIC #1294 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £8

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Dozens of issues of Mandy Picture Library added to our inventory this week, a handful of early issues, but mostly concentrating on later issues between #136 & #276. Great fun and excellent value.

Since we’ve been trading by mail order only since the first lockdown, the new lockdown restrictions will make no difference to our current operation. The shop remains closed to visitors (and this is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future), but we will be continuing to take and fulfill mail order. We are however taking a short planned break to attend to some personal matters at the moment. Stock updates to our What’s New page will recommence around 13th/14th November, and the next Newsletter will be around then as well. We are very grateful to all our customers who have stuck with us this year and to the very many that have joined us for the first time during the pandemic. Best wishes to everyone — keep well and stay safe.

*DC: A round-up of DC titles beginning with ‘A’, specifically All-Star Comics (the 1970s revival of the Justice Society of America), Aquaman (inc lovely artwork by Nick Cardy) and Atom (by the superb creative team of Gardner Fox and Gil Kane). Lots of issues added of all titles — see our catalogue for full details. 

*Marvel: The Black Knight has a long and distinguished history at Marvel. Originally, a heroic knight at the court of King Arthur in the Atlas series of the 1950s, the name was revived in the Silver Age, first as the villainous foe of Giant-Man, and later as the new Black Knight (Dane Whitman) in the Avengers and elsewhere in the Marvel Universe (both US & UK). Interest in the character has recently peaked with the announcement of the Black Knight’s debut in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. Avengers #48 features the first full appearance of the Dane Whitman Black Knight (Dane Whitman himself having appeared in #47) and our latest copy is a decent mid-grade pence stamped example with only minor edge wear and tight staples, with unmarred cover scene and a tiny crease across the extremity of the bottom right corner. Good page quality and it’s one of those copies which is printed slightly off centre so that a very small piece of the cover image is shown along the spine edge of the back cover. This brings it to a very affordable VG+.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #48 VG+ p £85 SOLD

*Marvel: Lorna Dane met up with the X-Men in #49, rescued by Iceman after being caught up in one of the bouts of anti-mutant hysteria which sweep Marvel-Earth twice a week, but it wasn’t until issue #50 that she had her Big Reveal and appeared in costume: she was the daughter of Magneto, Master of Evil Mutants and heir to all his power! It was some time after this that she adopted the code name Polaris. Jim Steranko contributed just the striking cover to #49, but he did the whole shebang for #50, including the dynamic green-tinted cover, one of the great iconic masterpieces of the later Marvel Silver Age; his innovative layouts, cinematic storytelling and nifty costume design for Lorna moved the series up a gear from what had gone just before. To say that Lorna’s history has been convoluted is an understatement – the ‘official’ position as to whether she’s Magneto’s offspring or not has changed many times but – except when she’s had psychotic breaks and become a villain, as you do – she’s been a stalwart member of the X-Men and/or X-Factor for decades now. #49 is a reasonable copy, quite fresh and bright with good staples and just minor edge wear, but there are a couple of vertical colour-breaking creases, one at left and one at right edges of the cover. #50 is sound, with good staples, though a little tired, with a couple of creases that just break colour across the bottom right corner. Both are pence stamped.
PICTURED: X-MEN
#49 VG p £50 SOLD
#50 VG- p £50

*Marvel: Several issues of the Incredible Hulk added to our inventory this week from #126 (1st Barbara Norris, later Valkyrie) up to #347 (1st Hulk in Mr. Fixit persona, 1st Marlo Chandler), with lots more in between. Full details as always in our catalogue.

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Although dismissed by many as a Swamp Thing rip-off, Man-Thing did actually premiere first, in Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), though Swampy’s debut in House of Secrets #92, dated July that same year, means that it’s one of those judgements that’s too close to call, and the nigh-simultaneous debuts of the duelling muck-monsters may have been mere coincidence. In any event, Man-Thing soon developed a following, as the mute, barely sentient plant-monster shambled his way through a solo series in Fear before gaining his own title. Primary writer Steve Gerber was ahead of his time in addressing ecological and social crises, even during the decade which embraced ‘relevance’, and the stories contained many genuinely horrific moments which skirted the edge of what was acceptable in the Comics-Code ruled years – though, in fairness, Gerber was even more adept at portraying psychological horror than the conventional viscera. This copy of Manny’s first issue (first series) also features the second appearance of Howard the Duck and is a lovely cents copy, tight, flat and glossy with just minor stress marks at spine. 
PICTURED: MAN-THING #1 VF £55 SOLD

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: In 1970, after the Warren horror comic magazines, Creepy and Eerie, had been successful for half a decade, the bandwagon jumpers were circling, and one of them was Skywald Publishing. Throwing together a bunch of Pre-Code reprints – artistically amended for added gore – and the occasional new story, they launched Nightmare, followed the next year by its companion Psycho. Successful enough to switch to all-new material, stories initially read like ersatz Warren tales, illustrated either by newcomers to the field – Jeff and Bruce Jones, Doug Wildey, Ralph Reese – or by folks whose professional careers were, by then, largely behind them (Syd Shores, Bill Everett). However, within a very few issues, writer/editor Al Hewetson’s – let’s call it ‘unique’ – writing style came to the fore, and the paranoid and often largely incoherent ‘Horror-Mood’, as he referred to it, became the norm. With a new, largely South American stable of artists, he created a miasmatic air of formless menace that challenged Marvel and Warren enough that they, according to Hewetson himself, colluded to deny Skywald distribution. We are delighted to have more of this oddball footnote in comics history in stock, some Nightmare, lots of Psycho and a single Scream; full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
NIGHTMARE #19 FN+ p £11.75
PSYCHO #14 FN+ p £11.75
SCREAM #10 FN/VF P £17

*Memorabilia/Esoterica: Another Orphaned Free Gift this week, i.e. a gift without its accompanying comic. This handsome press-out model of the Vickers Vanguard Air-Liner was issued with Swift Volume 9 #8 1962 (one of three such models issued that year). The thick card is in immaculate VF condition, with all its press-out pieces still intact and attached.
PICTURED: SWIFT FREE GIFT VF £35

*Collected Editions: From Rebellion Publishing, a new printing of the 2000 AD favourite by Pat Mills and Simon Bisley: Slaine: The Horned God. The story of a Conanesque Celtic warrior and his battles through a barbaric pre-history. Simon Bisley has a distinctive painted art style — not my cup of tea, but he has a legion of fans in the UK and Europe, in particular. The entire saga in one big volume.
PICTURED: SLAINE THE HORNED GOD SC NEW/MINT £20