*DC: There was a lot of quality going on in these early Green Lantern Silver Age issues: a 58th Century adventure, a Flash crossover, two Sinestro covers and stories, Sonar and much more. Bargain basement grades and prices in these flawed gems (but all complete!).
IN THIS UPDATE: GREEN LANTERN ALL SOLD
#12 PR p £4.75 Restapled; felt tip pen price and previous owner’s name on cover.
#13 PR p £7.50 Flash crossover; 3×4 cm hole in cover.
#15 GD+ £19.50 Sinestro cover; upper spine split
#17 FA p £7.25 Spine glued; crayon price on cover.
#18 GD- p £12.25 Sinestro cover; felt tip price on logo
#19 FA+ p £9 Long spine splits

*Marvel: Back in the 1960s, Marvel Annuals were a real treat and contained not just new material (some with some reprints), but stories that were often very significant for our characters. Nowhere was this more true than with the Fantastic Four, whose annuals #2-6 are featured in this week’s selections from the Bute Collection. Annual #2 is a Dr Doom special, featuring not just the origin of the Bad Doctor, but also a full length tussle with the FF. #3 has the cataclysmic wedding of Sue & Reed, with just about everybody in the Marvel Universe, including Millie & Patsy and Stan & Jack. #4 features the return of the original Human Torch. #4 has the Inhumans and the Black Panther, the debut of Psycho-Man, and a Silver Surfer back-up. #6 is the debut of Annihilus and the birth of Franklin Richards. All essential reading for followers of the regular comic. 
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL
#2 VG+ p £200 Nice pence stamped copy with solid spine (just tiny split at base). Firmly bound and stapled. Minor edge wear with some corner blunting. Excellent page quality. There is a small felt tip pen price central cover above Dr Doom’s head.
#3 VG+ p £45 Clean and attractive pence stamped copy with solid spine (very slight glue puckering). Firmly bound and stapled. Minor edge wear with some corner blunting. Excellent page quality. SOLD
#4 VG+ p £25 Pence stamped copy; glue puckering causes some soft, fine creasing to the left of cover; nothing colour-breaking. Solid spine. Firmly bound and stapled. Minor edge wear with some corner blunting. Excellent page quality SOLD
#5 FN p £50 Superior pence stamped copy, glossy and colourful. Square corners, slight glue puckering at solid spine. Firmly bound and stapled. Excellent page quality. SOLD
#6 GD+ p £55 Pence stamped copy with moderate edge wear, breaking colour at top and bottom edges corner blunting and upper 4 cm spine split. Some reading and handling wear. Firmly stapled. Excellent page quality. 

*Marvel: The latest comic in our ‘Hulkinued’ event is the classic Hulk #377, the iconic cover with the fluorescent green background. The story features the 1st All-New (Professor) Hulk. Lovely bright copy where the colours ‘pop’. Firm staples, white pages, 1st printing. Just very minor stress marks at spine that do not break colour. To Be Hulkinued…
PICTURED: HULK #377 VF £30

*Alan Class Reprints: Just three items this time. In our regular section, a low grade copy of Sinister Tales #98, reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #63.  Plus two certificated File Copies of Uncanny Tales in our Alan Class Private Collection section: #36 with Wally Wood Dynamo and Iron Maiden cover and Thunder Agents interiors; #40 with Steve Ditko sci-fi cover. 
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
SINISTER TALES #98 FA £12  (PICTURED) Spine partially split and torn. 
UNCANNY TALES:
#36 VG £5.50
#40 FN/VF £5.50

*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 and the works of Edmund Cooper, where almost all entries are new additions. Cooper was an English science fiction author active from the 1950s to the 1970s; his work often depicts unconventional male heroes facing unfamiliar and remote environments. His novel The Uncertain Midnight, the first published under his own name and featured here, was noted for its treatment of the subject of androids, which was considered original at the time of writing. Also uniquely treated is the subject of the colonisation of planets, and the frank nature of the characters’ conversations and attitudes on racial and sexual topics. His attitude to women is said to have been controversial. His books are for the most part well written and original, and we have a good selection here: five novels and one short story collection.
PICTURED: ALL BY EDMUND COOPER
THE CLOUD WALKER Ballantine 1973 1st US PB VG £5 SOLD
THE OVERMAN CULTURE Berkley Medallion 1973 1st US PB VG £4
PRISONER OF FIRE Coronet 1977 1st UK PB GD/VG £3
TRANSIT Ace 1978 US PB VG £3
THE UNCERTAIN MIDNIGHT Coronet 1974 2nd UK PB GD £3
VOICES IN THE DARK Digit 1960 1st UK PB GD/VG £7 Short stories

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our TV/Film Tie-Ins category to conclude our Re-Working exercise here. Three film related books of varying fame: That Touch Of Mink is the novelisation of the 1962 romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Doris Day; Two A Penny is the novelisation of an unlikely vehicle for Cliff Richard, where, hungry for fame and wealth, he falls into London’s underworld, the world of the pusher and the junkie, the con-man and the thug; lastly, West Side Story, the world famous musical represented here by the script book of the film from 1962. From now on, all further listings in this category will be for books that are new in.
PICTURED:  ALL SOLD
THAT TOUCH OF MINK BY JOHN TESSITORE Gold Medal 1962 1st UK PB GD £4
TWO A PENNY BY STELLA LINDEN & DAVID WINTER Hodder 1968 1st UK PB GD £4
WEST SIDE STORY BY ARTHUR LAURENTS Ace 1962 2nd UK PB GD £3

*DC: Another Batman gem from the Bute Collection this week. Batman #35 from 1946 has three excellent stories under a nifty Dick Sprang cover. Nine Lives Has The Catwoman is the lead story, wherein she adopts for the first time the classic purple and green costume with mask; written by Bill Finger with art by Bob Kane/Ray Burnley. Dinosaur Island is an action-packed adventure with monsters aplenty; the mechanical dinosaur here is the one that ends up in the Bat-Cave; written by Bill Finger with art (probably) by Paul Cooper/Ray Burnley. In Dick Grayson, Author, (cover featured) Dick goes to work for Crescent Comics; art (probably) by Sprang, Cooper and Burnley. This is a more than respectable copy, with a vivid red cover background and strong, reflective colours. Pages are white to off-white (rare for this vintage) and the staples are strong at centrefold and fairly firm at spine (just tiny tears around upper staple, visible only on interiors). Inner covers have slight tanning around edges. No cover creasing and virtually no wear; one tiny nick at centre spine. Very slightly mis-cut so that the cover is at a very slight angle, with the very top of the cover missing and a very small white border at the bottom. This does not spoil the appearance of the beautifully presenting copy. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #35 VG/FN £550 SOLD

*Marvel: The original and, we’re fairly sure, the best loved Star Wars series from Marvel which debuted hot on the heels of the original film in 1977. Issues #2-6 which complete the comic version of the first Star Wars movie, all towards high grade, all first printings. Not my personal cup of tea but the Holy Grail for generations that came after me.
PICTURED: STAR WARS
#2 FN+ p £55
#3 VF+ p £55
#4 FN+ p £32
#5 VF p £42
#6 VF+ £32

*Marvel: Fan favourite Todd McFarlane’s run on Hulk peaked at issue #340, featuring the classic cover design of the Hulk reflected in Wolverine’s claws and an ensuing battle royale within. Peter David’s intelligent script meant that this was more than a simple slugfest. Our latest copy is mid-grade, has great colour and gloss, white pages and tight, firm staples. There are several spine ticks that narrowly break colour, and a couple of shallow, faint creases on the cover which do not. Some handling wear, but presents well. To Be Hulkinued…
PICTURED: HULK #340 VG+ £60

*Tarzan/E R Burroughs: In 1977, Marvel gained the license to publish new adventures of the major Edgar Rice Burroughs characters, leading to two series by many fine creators. #1 of both John Carter & Tarzan new in, plus Tarzan Annual #1.
IN THIS UPDATE:
JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS #1 VF £15 (PICTURED)
TARZAN #1 VF £10.75 (PICTURED)
TARZAN ANNUAL #1 VF £7.50

*Girls’ Comics: Now at a reduced price: the quintessential Girl’s comic/magazine Jackie. In 1964, Jackie was launched to bridge female readers between Bunty and Woman’s Own, a brief playtime with the ‘England Swings’ zeitgeist of the day, before girls were expected to settle into consumerist conformism. This debut issue, 11 Jan 1964, features Pin-Ups of Cliff, Elvis and the Beatles, Perfume Tips for a More Kissable You, Dreamy Picture Love Stories and Way-Out Exclusives on all the Popsters – for pity’s sake, what more could you want? Well, how about the original Free Gift – a ‘Twin Heart’ Love Ring – still sealed in its original packaging, never having had a chance to turn anyone’s finger green in the intervening decades? Plus – the Power! The Fury! The senses-shattering debut of Cathy and Claire, Jackie’s indefatigable advice page oracles, dispensing wisdom on bras, boys, and (hushed voice) ladyproblems. Jackie became a watchword for a generation, not bowing out until 1993 and is well-remembered today. This Jackie #1 is FN+, just falling short of a higher grade on account of a tiny amount of upper right soft corner creasing. The Free Gift, never opened, is NM.
PICTURED: JACKIE #1 FN+ WITH FREE GIFT (NM) £125

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our TV/Film Tie-Ins Category and two iconic creations by the legendary Gerry Anderson. Stingray and Thunderbirds have fired the imagination of generations of children and still remain high in the nostalgia ratings of many an adult collector. Many books originated soon after the TV series in the 1960s, mostly written by John Theydon. 
PICTURED: ALL BY JOHN THEYDON ALL SOLD
STINGRAY Armada 1965 1st UK PB GD/VG £12
STINGRAY AND THE MONSTER Armada 1966 1st UK PB VG £15
THUNDERBIRDS Armada 1966 1st UK PB VG £15
CALLING THUNDERBIRDS Armada 1966 1st UK PB VG £15
THUNDERBIRDS RING OF FIRE Armada 1966 1st UK PB GD/VG £12

*DC: This week, a special selection from the Bute Collection: from 1960, one of the most important and significant comics of the Silver Age. The Justice League Of America, teaming up all of DC’s then current key heroes, debuted in The Brave & The Bold #28, and thus a legend was born. The second and third Brave & Bold try-out issues are also included in this update. In these early stories, the roles of Superman & Batman were kept pretty much to cameos (presumably because DC felt they had enough exposure elsewhere), but the JLA kept up the tradition of reviving Golden Age concepts for this new Silver Age (in this case the Justice Society). In a manner of speaking, this comic was also responsible for launching the Marvel Age of Comics, since Stan Lee’s response to the success of the JLA was to create the Fantastic Four.
PICTURED: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD
(below) #28 VG+ £2,800 1st Justice League. 1st Starro the Conqueror. A lovely mid-grade cents copy with good colour and some gloss. Tight and flat, with good staples firm at spine and centrefold. Unspoilt and virtually unmarked cover image. There is the faint suggestion of a horizontal subscription crease down the centre, but this is neither firm nor apparent, just very faintly breaking colour in the logo area and at the very bottom centre. There is a narrow 5 cm crease across the top right corner of the back cover. Nice off-white to cream supple pages. High resolution images are available on request.
(For the budget conscious, we also have two other copies of this classic listed in our catalogue – yes, I know, we’re thrice blessed! – a VG- at £1,700 and a PR at £750)
(above) #29 GD+ £175 1st Weapons Master. Nice cover image with good colour and some gloss. A name is written in pen in the ‘G’ of ‘League’ in the logo. The spine is split almost halfway up from the bottom and thus the cover is off bottom staple; it looks like tape had been used to seal it, but this has now been removed, leaving a brown stain which is almost all on the back cover. Upper staple is firm at spine and both staples firm at centrefold. Supple pages are off-white to cream. Presents well, with only minor corner blunting and a few tiny edge creases which do not break colour. 
(above) #30 VG p £185 1st Amazo. Pence stamped. Nice cover image with good colour and some gloss. Staples firm at spine and centrefold. Supple pages are off-white to cream. Minor corner blunting and edge wear. There is a diagonal crease from the Comics Code box in the top right corner across the top half of the cover and a further crease along the lower half right edge, 1 cm in from edge. Both of these hardly break colour and are not obvious. SOLD

*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. Amazing #91-94 comprises four diverse issues. In #91, everyone turns against Spidey as a result of the machinations of the man called Bullit; in #92, there’s a dust-up with Iceman; #93 features the return of the Prowler and in #94 the Beetle strikes again.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#91 VF- £85 Tight and shiny with just marginal handling and reading wear.
#92 VF £80 Tight and shiny with just tiny stress marks at upper staple and a couple of small back cover creases.
#93 FN/VF £55 Tight and shiny with handling and reading wear at spine and a few pressure marks on cover, not breaking colour.
#94 VF- £75 Tight and shiny with minor stress marks at spine and tiny reading wear bottom right corner; nothing breaks colour.

*Marvel: Four noteworthy Marvel #1 issues from the Bronze Age new in this week, all in lovely high grade. The three pence copies are all pence printed.
PICTURED:
BLACK GOLIATH #1 VF+ p £30
CHAMPIONS #1 VF+ p £50 SOLD
MS MARVEL #1 VF p £40
SPIDER-WOMAN #1 VF/NM £55

*Marvel: Six issues of Iron Man added this week, between #56 and #63, where Shellhead takes on Fangor, the Mandarin, the Unicorn, Firebrand, Whiplash and Dr Spectrum. What a busy little Avenger he was! All pence printed copies.
IN THIS UPDATE: IRON MAN ALL SOLD
#56 FN- p  £10.25
#57 VF- p £11
#58 VF- p £11
#59 FN p £6.75
#62 VF p £12.50
#63 FN p £6.75

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Adventures Into The Unknown from ACG was the earliest ongoing horror title, starting in 1947. It’s the Silver Age incarnation that concerns us here, when the horror of pre-code had given way to the more whimsical fantasy/mysteries for which ACG became known in the 1960s.
IN THIS UPDATE: ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN ALL SOLD
#114 GD- p £4
#126 VG p £7.25
#127 GD- p £3
#128 GD p £3.50
#135 GD/VG £4
#141 FN £8

*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we have a new batch of Dandy in this week from 1947. That year is now annotated with details of strip and prose debuts:  HM Wizard, Mr G Whizz (#341), Smudge (#349), Cinder Eddie (#351) and Curly’s Two Ton Kitten (#353). We also have the Fireworks and Christmas issues for 1947. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: DANDY #359 GD £50 Christmas issue

*TV/Film Tie-Ins: Hot on the heels of the first Star wars film in 1977, came the novelisation, also by George Lucas. This is the very first UK printing, which includes over 16 pages of colour stills from the film. This is in excellent shape, with only minor signs of handling wear.
PICTURED:
STAR WARS by GEORGE LUCAS Sphere 1977 1st UK PB FN £25

It’s never too early to plan and do your Christmas shopping. Here’s a list of relevant dates for our trading during the festive period.

Saturday 9th December: Last day for orders for pre-Christmas delivery. You need to place your order no later than 4 pm. Orders placed after this deadline will not be posted until the New Year. This is also the day we shall be issuing our last Newsletter before Christmas.
Wednesday 13th December: Last posting before Christmas for all orders placed by 4 pm on Saturday 9th and paid for by 4 pm on Tuesday 12th December.
Saturday 30th December: Newsletter resumes. All orders placed after 4 pm on 9th December (up to 4 pm on 30th) will be filled this weekend and bills issued on 31st December 2023.
Wednesday 3rd January 2024: Posting for all paid orders outstanding.

*DC: It’s a funny old game, this hobby. You can have a perfectly good issue of Batman, featuring a tussle with one of his major foes (Two-Face) which has been around for 40 years and only accumulated a modest value, then suddenly, overnight, DC announce that a hitherto minor character incidentally introduced in that very issue is to become the new Batman in their Future State storyline, and the collectors and speculators go wild. The Future State hoo-hah has cooled now, of course, and prices have fallen from two years ago, but the first appearance of Tim Fox (#313) is still more highly valued than those issues around it. Our copy is in lovely condition, with just a tiny amount of edge wear.
PICTURED: BATMAN #313 VF £65

*Marvel: We’re always happy to welcome an early Spider-Man issue illustrated by Steve Ditko (the only ‘proper’ Spider-Man artist, excellent later contributors notwithstanding), and this one’s a bit special, featuring as it does the first guest appearance of the then-fledgling Man Without Fear, Daredevil, and, we believe, his only guest-appearance in his original black & gold costume! Teamed with Spider-Man against the menace of the Ringmaster (against whose hypnosis DD’s blindness gives him an unexpected immunity) and his Circus of Crime. Sadly, this is a low-grade pence printed copy, a bit of a wreck in fact. Tape has been applied to the front cover a little above the bottom edge, sealing a long tear, and there are further strips of tape on the front cover by the logo and number box, repairing what seems to be a small, previously detached chunk. The copy is worn and tired with lots of colour-breaking creases and some tears; small chips out at top and bottom spine. Wear around the staples, but they are still attached and firm at centrefold. Pages are okay with the occasional dog-ear and small chip out of margin only. The comic is pretty much complete and great as a gap filler or affordable copy if you’re rabid for early Spidey and on a tight budget.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #16 PR/FA p £150

*Marvel: Continuing our Hulkinued feature! A breakout character from the cinematic smash-hits, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers, Groot, together with his ‘guardian’ Rocket Racoon, unexpectedly became the heart of the film – not that scripter Chris Claremont had any inkling of events when in 1976 he pit old Jade-Jaws against a variety of ‘Big-Panty Monsters’ from the pre-Marvel days! In rapid succession, our chartreuse champion fought Xemnu, Goom, Taboo, Diablo, the Blip and, yes, Groot, in his first on-panel experience since 1960’s Tales to Astonish #13! This is a nice copy with great gloss and colour, supple white to off-white pages and firm staples. The spine shows to the front cover, as is not unusual for annuals from this period, which veer more towards flat than squarebound. Only extremely minor handling wear. To Be Hulkinued…
PICTURED: HULK ANNUAL #5 VF £65

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: A real oddity from the Bute Collection this week. Issue #5 of Who Is Next? from 1953 was the only issue of the series (Standard had a habit of starting their series with #5 issues); there never was a second issue. Borderline very noir crime with strong horror overtones, the multi-story format boasted a grim strangler on the loose with victim cover by George Roussos; interior art is by Toth, Sekowsky, Cardy and Andru, so a very strong artistic line-up for these tales of madness and horrific murder. Quite a rarity – we’ve never seen this issue before. Strong, intact cover image with good colours. Staples are firm at centrefold, with lower staple secure at spine; upper staple is off back cover. Upper spine cleanly split almost halfway down; lower spine has 4 cm split. Small chip off top spine, but little creasing. Pages are a nice off-white to cream, turning to very slight tan at edges. 
PICTURED: WHO IS NEXT #5 GD £250 SOLD