*DC: One of the least explored of Batman’s classic villains is the sinister Scarecrow, who appeared but once in the 1940s, then stayed in limbo until resurrected for Batman #189 in 1967. Psychology professor Johnathan Crane used the mechanics of fear in his crime sprees, and despite numerous appearances since his revival, remains – certainly by comparison with the much-loved but over-used ‘Big Four’ Batman villains – enigmatic and compelling. This is a low grade copy of this key issue, pence-stamped with a label removal scuff over the stamp. Cover off lower staple; centrefold loose at upper staple. Quite a bit of edge wear with colour-breaking creases, particularly along the right edge. Striking cover image and nice white to off-white pages.
PICTURED: BATMAN #189 FA/GD p £100 SOLD

*DC: When Brave & Bold became a team-up title with #50, I can remember there was some excitement over the possibility of what characters would appear together. Before it became exclusively a Batman team-up title a couple of years later, there were plenty of intriguing combinations. And I’m sure a Supergirl and Wonder Woman story was among the most in demand, even if it entailed our heroines casting off their ‘frumpy’ super-heroine duds to become a Paris model and a jet-setting glamourpuss (as you do). But have no fear, there’s plenty of action in costume against the villainy of Multi-Face. A superior cents copy here, with strong colour and gloss, tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. Just minor handling wear and corner blunting, with a tiny dink at the base of the spine. 
PICTURED: BRAVE & BOLD #63 FN+ £30

*Marvel: The first Inhuman to appear in the Marvel Universe, Medusa was presented here in Fantastic Four #36 as a mystery woman of unknown origin in command of her ‘living’ hair, and recruited by the Wizard into his fledgling Frightful Four. The Good Doctor Collection copy is a nice mid-grade pence stamped example, with good colour and no creases other than light to moderate wear at spine and top edge. Tight firm staples and supple off-white pages. 
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #36 VG+ p £120

*Marvel: I don’t need to tell you much about Star Wars, do I? Suffice it to say that after adapting the first film in Star Wars #1-6, Marvel went on to tell new stories of Han, Luke, Leia and the gang from #7 onwards.
IN THIS UPDATE: STAR WARS ALL SOLD
#7 NM- £22.75 (PICTURED)
#8 VF- £11
#9 VF £12.25
#10 NM- £22.75
#11 VF £12.25
#12 VF- £11

*Charlton: There’s no doubt that Charlton produced a quirky mix of material. Rumour has it that rather than let their printing presses sit idly, they kept them rolling 24 hours a day, which may explain some of the material they produced. Here we have super-hero adventure with Son of Vulcan and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt, cartoon comedy with Atomic Mouse and Li’l Genius, and science and supernatural fiction with Strange Suspense Stories and Shadows from Beyond (the last one puzzled me a bit, until I realised that, at #50, it was the continuation of Unusual Tales and the only issue to bear that title).
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
ATOMIC MOUSE #48 FA/GD p £3
LI’L GENIUS #50 GD £2
MYSTERIES OF UNEXPLORED WORLDS #46 GD £3.25 1st Son Of Vulcan
SHADOWS FROM BEYOND #50 GD £4.25 (PICTURED) Ditko cover
STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES #71 GD £4.25
THUNDERBOLT #51 GD £2.75

*Classics Illustrated: 6 UK versions of Classics Illustrated now added, most of them previously missing from our listings: and all cover priced 1/3. Listed below. For full details of editions, please consult our catalogue. 
IN THIS UPDATE: CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED UK
#55 VG £6 Silas Marner
#64 FN £3.75 Treasure Island
#78 FN £7.50 (PICTURED) Joan Of Arc
#89 VG/FN £3.50 Crime And Punishment
#98 VG £3 The Red Badge Of Courage
#122 FA/GD £3.50 The Mutineers

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: This digest-sized comics series, most famous under its later title of Thriller Picture Library, ran for 450 issues until 1963, and while it featured a plethora of characters during its lengthy run, the trend for the early years was for historical swashbucklers based on fictional (but serendipitously copyright-free) characters, but also featuring crime, war, western and science-fiction adventures. The artists were all accomplished Fleetway professionals, and readers thrived on these beautifully-illustrated pocket adventures. Issues #21-30, fresh in this week, feature The Saint, Robin Hood and the Three Musketeers among many other one-off characters. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: THRILLER COMICS/PICTURE LIBRARY
#23 GD/VG £17.50 The Saint In California
#29 GD £15 Ivanhoe

*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 for a miscellany of authors whose names begin with ‘G’. We start with Hugh Greene, who edits More Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, an anthology of Edwardian tales of cosmopolitan crime. Then, from Netta Grey, a rare 32 page ‘booklet’, Romance In Algiers, from the late 40s; danger, adventure, love and death in the Kasbah with
cover art by Oliver Brabbins. Then a gangster pulp from the infamous Griff, City Of Lost Women, a dark tale of the ‘snatch racket’. Finally, a new addition for this update, Arnold E Grisman’s Early To Rise, a young man on the make in sleazy New York, with a cover by the great Robert Maguire.
PICTURED:
HUGH GREENE (Ed): MORE RIVALS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES Penguin 1976 2nd UK PB GD £4 SOLD
NETTA GREY: ROMANCE IN ALGIERS Hamilton late 1940s 1st UK PB 32 pp VG £8
GRIFF: CITY OF LOST WOMEN Modern Fiction 1953 1st UK PB GD £30
ARNOLD E GRISMAN: EARLY TO RISE Berkley 1959 1st US PB GD/VG £6

Our half price or less Mega British Comics Sale enters its second month. Whilst some titles are now running low in stock, there’s still thousands of bargains available in our catalogue, where sale prices are marked in red, in the British weekly categories as shown below. Some titles are all at half price; others may just be selected years – if it’s not in red, it’s still full price.

*Power Comics
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics
*TV & Film Related Comics
*Humour Comics
*Girls’ Comics

The terms and conditions for this sale are as follows:

Unlike our previous sales, this sale is open to all customers worldwide

There is no minimum quantity required for an order, but the value (at sale prices) must meet our regular level, i.e.
In the UK: £10
In the EU: £50
Rest of the World: £25

Our regular postage and packing charges will be extra on top of these minimums; please note we cannot give a postage quote until you have made a selection.

Sale stock may be mixed with full priced stock in the same package.

*DC: Okay, this one’s for anyone who doesn’t want to shell out £200 plus for a decent-looking copy of Guy Gardner’s debut issue in Green Lantern #59. This copy has been in the wars. Firstly, some wit has ruled a drawing grid over the entire cover in pencil., rendering it very unattractive with a couple of tiny ink dots as well. Secondly, it’s missing an ad page, although the story is complete. Finally, there’s a nasty small chunk out at right edge which runs right through the margins of the entire comic. If you can ignore all that (a tall order, I know), it’s in pretty decent nick with staples tight at spine (bottom loose at centrefold) and very reasonable page quality; moderate spine wear. Still, a significant key issue for your collection, if only as a place marker till a better opportunity comes along.
PICTURED: GREEN LANTERN #59 App FA p £25 SOLD

*Marvel: One of the more tragic entries in Spider-Man’s Rogue’s Gallery is the Lizard, a.k.a. Dr. Curt Connors, a dedicated scientist and devoted husband and father whose research into a regenerative serum, to help himself and other amputees, went horribly wrong when the lizard-like properties of tissue regeneration ran rampant, turning him into a humanoid reptile. The Lizard debuted in the sixth issue of Spider-Man, and we are delighted to have a copy new into stock in attractive mid-grade. This pence printed copy is clean and unmarked with strong colour and some gloss. The corners are just a little blunted, with a tiny chip out of the top edge at the left corner of the masthead box and an even smaller chip out of the right edge at centre. Just above the latter is a thin tear, barely visible, that extends horizontally from the right edge for less than 2 cm. Leading from this are a couple of short creases that only faintly break colour. The spine has only very minor wear and the remainder of the edges are unworn. Pages are a supple off-white to cream and staples are tight and flat at spine and centrefold. Inside covers are tanned at edges without sign of brittleness, and the grade has been adjusted to reflect this. A very attractive copy that looks better than the grade awarded and presents well. High grade images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #6 VG- p £650
 

*Marvel: Five quality consecutive issues of Avengers from the Good Doctor Collection this week, representative of a really good period for everyone’s favourite Assemblers. Cap’s Kooky Quartet became his Snazzy Six after the addition of Goliath and the Wasp in the previous issue, followed here by a three part adventure which started out with an encounter with the Black Widow, the Swordsman and the original Power Man and morphed into a struggle with some esoteric types from a lost land. Then, in #32 and #33, the Sons of the Serpent were introduced, a KKK type bunch of bigots; #32 also featured the first appearance of Bill Foster, who would become Black Goliath many years later. More Black Widow here too in her classic fishnet and swimsuit look that never made it into the movies. All issues in really nice, superior grades.
IN THIS UPDATE: AVENGERS
#29 FN+ p £29
#30 VF £55 (PICTURED)
#31 FN £22
#32 FN+ p £26
#33 FN+ £29

*Archie: As a recurring feature in Life with Archie between 1965 and 1967, Archie and friends became superheroes and battled a host of bizarre supervillains in a series of tongue-in-cheek adventures. Archie and Jughead span off into their own series, Archie as Pureheart the Powerful (3 issues) and Jughead as Captain Hero (7 issues). We have some fresh into stock this week; fondly remembered but rarely seen.
IN THIS UPDATE:
ARCHIE AS PUREHEART THE POWERFUL
#3 GD £5
JUGHEAD AS CAPTAIN HERO
#2 FN £12.25 (PICTURED) Guest-starring Pureheart, and Betty as Super-Teen.
#3 FN- £9.25
#5 FN £10

*Horror 1940-1959: The first issue of one of the more notorious series from the Pre-Code horror years. Dark Mysteries was originally published by Master Comics and had a number of infamous issues. Beneath a striking cover by Joe Orlando and Wally Wood, the art standards on #1 are maintained by Wood, Lou Cameron and others. Ghouls, ghosts and corpses aplenty. A really nice copy, with square corners (tiny dink at top of spine), no significant creases (small non-colour-breaking one across extremity of top right corner), very little wear and strong cover colour. Lovely white to off-white pages. Staples are tight at spine, if a tiny bit rusty at centre, where the centrefold has become cleanly detached. There are signs that some pencil markings above the logo have been erased. A small crayon letter remains. An outstanding copy from 1951. 
PICTURED: DARK MYSTERIES #1 VG+ £425

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Some examples this week of 1950s comics from the UK and Australia that attempted to look more like the American size and format, despite being in black and white. All three titles are noteworthy: Ace Malloy, adventurer, featured stories of the Navy, Army and Air Force by Mick Anglo; Lone Star, primarily a Western title, featured Space Ace by Ron Turner, and Yarmak, sort of an Australian Tarzan, had sumptuous art by the renowned Stanley Pitt. 
IN THIS UPDATE:
ACE MALLOY
#60 VG £6 (PiICTURED)
#64 FN/VF £9
#65 VF £10
LONE STAR
V2 #4 VG £10
V3 #5 VG/FN £12
YARMAK #24 VG £12 (PICTURED)

*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 Philip K Dick, one of our best-selling authors; many would consider him the finest exponent of science-fiction of the late 20th century. I guess his themes of religion, drugs, counter culture and destructive relationships hold wide appeal. We are blessed with an excellent stock of his works, the enhanced re-listing of which will be spread over several updates. If you can’t wait for part 2 and onwards, these are all listed in our catalogue in the old format below the items in this update. Plenty to savour in this first instalment. 5 Great Novels is just that, a massive tome with five of his classics; The Broken Bubble is a mainstream novel that we’re including due to the interest in Dick; Clans Of The Alphane Moon is about human survivors of a hospital moon and the family clans they comprise; Counter-Clock World is a story where time moves backwards; The Crack In Space postulates a novel solution to over-population; The Divine Invasion has at its centre the Second Coming; and there are two versions of probably his most famous book Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, filmed of course as Blade Runner. More Dick soon!
PICTURED: ALL BY PHILIP K DICK
5 GREAT NOVELS Gollancz 2009 1st UK PB VG £9 (more details in our catalogue) SOLD
THE BROKEN BUBBLE Gollancz 1989 1st UK HC VF/NM £30
CLANS OF THE ALPHANE MOON Ace 1972 2nd US PB VG £7
COUNTER-CLOCK WORLD Coronet 1977 2nd UK PB VF £9
THE CRACK IN SPACE Methuen 1977 1st UK PB VG £8
THE DIVINE INVASION Corgi 1982 1st UK PB GD £8
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? Gollancz 2007 UK PB VF £5
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? Gollancz 2011 UK PB VF £8

*Children’s Books: From the 1950s this week, three charming science-fiction novels aimed at a younger market, all in colourful and highly attractive dust jackets. All are 1st British editions of novels originally published in the USA. More details are given in our catalogue. Great value.
PICTURED:
VICTOR APPLETON II: TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT Sampson Low 1954 1st UK HC VG £8 With DJ (GD/VG) in removable archival film.
CAREY ROCKWELL: TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET: STAND BY FOR MARS Publicity Products 1952 1st UK HC VG/FN £5 With DJ (FA) in removable archival film.
BLAKE SAVAGE: RIP FOSTER RIDES THE GREY PLANET Publicity Products 1952 1st UK HC
VG/FN £5 With DJ (FA/GD) in removable archival film. 

*Marvel: A staggering array of inventive villains graced the X-Men’s first twenty or so issues: the Vanisher, the Blob, Magneto, Mastermind, the Stranger – each with an unusual twist to their abilities which suited the off-beat atmosphere of our mutant chums’ adventures. One such was Unus, introduced in the X-Men’s eighth issue, a villain who was literally untouchable – any force directed against him would be repelled, meaning that he could commit crimes in plain sight with impunity. Our mutant heroes were stymied, until – ah, but that would be telling! We have a nice pence stamped flat copy, with an unmarked cover and a clean white background. No marks or creases and some gloss remaining. Staples are firm at spine and centrefold. Minor corner blunting; nice off-white to cream pages with some tanning to inside covers, but no trace of brittleness.
PICTURED: X-MEN #8 FN p £200 

*Marvel: Sandwiched between the Silver Surfer/Galactus epic and the introduction of the Black Panther is the wonderful story that is Fantastic Four #51. Not a ‘key’ issue; not a fabulous first appearance; not a universe-rending battle for reality. Just a simple, poignant and masterful example of done-in-one storytelling without the bloated ‘epics’ of today, as a man with a scheme for revenge against Reed Richards steals the identity of one of Reed’s closest friends, and discovers the truth. It’s a tale of revenge, loss and redemption, and proves that while Lee & Kirby’s output is often emulated, at their peak it is truly inimitable. This is a lovely cents copy with reasonable gloss, and a cover without marks except a slight grubbiness over the number box. Slight corber blunting, and a couple of creases at the right edge, one very short and one longer but very soft, about 8 cm across the Invisible Girl and the Thing, although neither break colour and are difficult to see. Staples are good at spine and centrefold and page quality a supple off-white. Very slight tanning at inside cover edges.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #51 VG/FN £90

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Now at a reduced price! One of the most startling success stories in the back issue world is the ever-spiralling popularity of Moon Knight’s premier appearance. The series Werewolf By Night had been toddling along, chronicling the adventures of young lycanthrope Jack Russell (no, really), when the boat was suddenly rocked in WBN #32 by a vigilante whose only goal seemed to be the annihilation of our hero – and his silver armour and weapons seemed likely to achieve it! The man who would later be revealed as Marc Spector had a deeper back story, of course, and in his multitudinous appearances since, has developed a complex background oscillating between ‘Marvel’s Batman’ and ‘Multiple Personality psychotic possessed by Egyptian Gods’. Be that as it may, he remains hugely popular. This is a decent if damaged pence-printed copy. It has great cover colour and gloss, supple off-white pages and excellent staples, firm at spine and centrefold. There is some corner blunting and spine wear, with colour-breaking ticks. The big drawback is a tiny white scuff mark near the right edge, removing colour from a tiny area just below Moon Knight’s left fist (visible on scan), which brings the grade down to that stated.
PICTURED: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #32 VG p £400 SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Our half-price sale continues, with thousands of bargains listed in our Boys” Adventure & War, TV & Film Related, Humour and Girls’ categories. Now joined by Twinkle #1 complete with free gift. Twinkle, ‘the new picture paper specially for little girls’ launched in 1968, with the star power of Nurse Nancy, Betty Bright, Sally Sweet, Patsy the Panda and lots more. The age of its target audience has meant that relatively few of the #1 issues of this title have survived, let alone a FN unread copy as here, complete with its Free Gift, a St Christopher Charm Bracelet still in its envelope. A very rare item.
PICTURED: TWINKLE #1 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF was £200 now £100

*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 two very different creators. Samuel R Delaney is a highly-regarded and award-winning author of psychedelic science-fiction and fantasy who came to fame in the 60s and 70s. We have a modest selection of just two of his works available, although they are classic ones (NB Nova in two different editions). August Derleth, from an earlier age was a significant author in many genres, including his Solar Pons pastiches of Sherlock Holmes (see our Crime, Spies and Sleaze category). He is perhaps most famous for his contributions to H P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, as well as being responsible for the earliest publications of Lovecraft’s work. Here he edits two anthologies, on the face of it science-fiction by such classic authors, as Asimov, Wyndham, Leiber, Bradbury, Sturgeon, Clarke and many more, although I notice there’s stories by Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith sneaking in as well. 
PICTURED:
SAMUEL R DELANEY: THE EINSTEIN INTERSECTION Ace 1967 1st US PB VG £7 SOLD
SAMUEL R DELANEY: NOVA Sphere 1971 1st UK PB GD £5
SAMUEL R DELANEY: NOVA Gollancz 1986 UK PB VF £6
AUGUST DERLETH (Ed): FROM OTHER WORLDS Four Square 1964 1st UK PB GD £3
AUGUST DERLETH (Ed): NEW WORLDS FOR OLD Four Square 1963 1st UK PB GD/VG £5

*DC: More this week from the Legion of Super-Heroes in their inaugural run in Adventure Comics in the 1960s. These are the comics after which we were named, taking place of course in the 30th Century. And this is a real rich stream, with most of the stories by Shooter and Swan, the best ever creative team on the Legion. Debuts for the Fatal Five and the Hunter, a tale of the Adult Legion, the superb Ghost Of Ferro Lad story in #357, and the Outlaw Legion Universe two-parter in #359/360, my absolute favourite Legion story of them all. All issues in fabulous condition, many as high as VF+.
IN THIS UPDATE: ADVENTURE COMICS
#352 VF- £27 1st Fatal Five
#355 VF p £28
#356 VF+ £43 (PICTURED)
#357 VF+ £43 (PICTURED)
#358 VF+ £43 (PICTURED) 1st Hunter
#359 VF+ £43 (PICTURED)
#360 VF £30

*Marvel: From the Bute Collection this week, these classic issues pit the Green Goliath against Marvel’s First Family in a long-promised but oft-deferred fight to the finish. When three of the Four rapidly succumb to the Hulk’s irresistible force, it falls to the Thing, outclassed despite his own formidable strength, to hold the line in an epic, desperate struggle to protect the city. And when the combined powers of the FF fail, who better to step up to help out than the Hulk’s former teammates, the ever-Assemblin’ Avengers? Powerful and gripping, this remains, decades later, one of the best-remembered battles of the early Marvel Age! To Be Hulkinued…
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR BOTH SOLD
#25 FN p £370 Gorgeous pence printed copy with rich purple background and residual gloss. A little corner blunting and minor edge and handling wear, but no marks or creases. Tight, firm staples and beautifully supple white to off-white pages.
#26 FN p £170 Lovely pence printed copy with good colour and residual gloss. Very minor corner blunting and handling wear. Supple off-white pages and tight, firm staples.

*Marvel: A chunky selection from the Good Doctor Collection this week, featuring Strange Tales between #116 and #134. Gradually, the Thing joined the Torch in the lead feature, with some excellent tales involving the Puppet Master, Sub-Mariner, Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch, the Beatles (yes, those Beatles!), the Mad Thinker, the Watcher and more. And the back-up is those lovely little Dr Strange stories by Lee and Ditko, initially self-contained but developing into a long saga involving Dormammu, Clea and Baron Mordo.
IN THIS UPDATE: STRANGE TALES
#116 GD £30 Off lower staple
#117 FN p £60 (PICTURED) Pence printed. Lovely bright copy with minor creasing horizontal from the spine which do not break colour.
#125 FN- £40 (PICTURED) Sub-Mariner. Lovely copy with minor edge wear and small dink at base of spine.
#127 App VG £9 Top and right edges trimmed. SOLD
#128 VG £28 Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch
#129 FN £40 (PICTURED) Lovely bright copy with minor spine stress and small dink at base of spine. 
#130 VG/FN £35 The Torch and the Thing meet the Beatles SOLD
#131 GD- £9.25 Upper and lower spine splits SOLD
#132 VG+ £24
#133 FN+ £50 (PICTURED) Great copy with superb colour and gloss; only minor amounts of edge wear.
#134 VG+ p £30 Pence stamped. Watcher!