*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: From 1951, Lars of Mars’ unique selling point was positively postmodern: the greatest hero of Mars, he came to Earth to prevent nuclear war, and while fighting crime as ‘Lars of Mars’, he operated under the secret identity of… an Earth actor who played ‘Lars of Mars’ on a popular TV series! My, how very metatextual! With art by the superlative Murphy Anderson, these stories are huge fun, as Lars tries to disabuse his co-worker at the TV station, Lois – er, June – from her conviction that the TV Lars and the heroic Lars are one and the same. Similarities between this and the Silver Age Superman are doubtless not coincidental, as Supes’ co-creator Jerry Siegel is believed to have scripted the series. Backed up by tales of ‘Ken Brady, Rocket Pilot’ drawn by a fledgling Gene Colan, and featuring gorgeous painted covers by Allen Anderson, these are a delight. For all their charm, however, Lars’ adventures didn’t catch a wider audience, and these two issues (inexplicably numbered #10 and #11) are all that there was. Issue #10, first in the series, is structurally sound, with great colour, good staples and nice pages; there is some light vertical cover creasing, breaking colour. #11, has great colour, good staples and nice pages, with some possible spine repair in the staple area, but still very nice. Very much in the vein of Captain Comet and Adam Strange from DC.
PICTURED: LARS OF MARS BOTH SOLD
#10 GD+ £100
#11 GD+ £100
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Mysterious Adventures
*Horror 1940-1959: Also from the Bute Collection and from 1953 and Story publishers, issue #14 of Mysterious Adventures, presenting a good standard of chills and thrills in the Pre-Code vein. No particularly distinguished artists, but a nicely competent batch of gruesome story-telling. This is quite a reasonable lower-graded copy; the cover is a little worn and creased around the edges, with a minor tear at top edge, a small residual piece of tape at top spine, more on back cover and a small piece of tape on inside back cover. Staples are firm if a tiny bit rusty and pages are a good quality off-white to cream. Prospective buyers should note that a small corner is torn off one story page; although it affects panels on pages 6 & 7 of the lead story, it doesn’t intrude on the story in any meaningful way.
PICTURED: MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURES #14 GD- £130
British Comics Update: Super-Detective Library does Science Fiction
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: By the time we get to the number range covered in this update (#21-49), Super- Detective Library had begun to feature science fiction mysteries alongside more conventional detectives. Most famous sci-fi recurring character was Rick Random, who debuted in #37 and went on to appear in dozens more issues, most famously portrayed by writer Harry Harrison and artist Ron Turner. But there was still room for the more traditional fare in this title for such as the Saint, Lesley Shane and many others. 14 new issues added this update; please refer to our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY
23 FA £10 Kidnapped by Martians.
29 GD £10 The Planet Of Peril
44 GD/VG £15 Rick Random: Kidnappers From Space
British Comics Update: Beezer & Topper 1961-1970
*Humour Comics: A small update to our stocks of Beezer & Topper, the over-sized favourites from D C Thomson, with over a dozen issues each newly listed from 1961, and 1968-1970.
PICTURED:
BEEZER #724 VG £4
TOPPER #826 VG £4
British Comics Update: This Week’s #1 (& #2-3): Read Misty For Me…
*Girls’ Comics: Once more, the twilight curtain parts… to reveal the first three issues of the cult girls’ weekly Misty, the horror/mystery anthology which redefined the expectations of girls’ comics during its brief span. Our sloe-eyed hostess was created by artist Shirley Bellwood, who illustrated many ethereal covers and frontispieces and based Misty’s appearance on herself. Sadly, no free gifts present with these copies.
PICTURED: MISTY
#1 GD £40 Structurally decent but with scribble in top cover margin and a blob of ink above the logo. Usual scuff marks where Free Gift removed.
#2 FN £40 Really nice clean copy with just the usual scuff marks where Free Gift removed.
#3 FN £40 Really nice clean copy with no scuff marks.
Books Update: Re-Working Our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: The Ms Squad
*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 both volumes in the Ms Squad series. From the mid-1970s, the premise of the Ms Squad was that three super sexy queens of crime could pull off any caper better than men could do it – sort of Charlie’s Angels in reverse, I guess. Action, adventure and fun abound.
PICTURED: THE MS SQUAD BY MERCEDES ENDFIELD BOTH SOLD
#1: LUCKY PIERRE Bantam 1975 1st US PB GD £9
#2: ON THE BRINK Bantam 1975 1st US PB GD/VG £9
Books Update: Re-Working Our TV/Film Tie-Ins Category: The Professionals
*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/Films Tie-Ins Category. The Professionals was a TV crime-action series from the late 1970s/early 1980s, created by Brian Clemens who had been a driving force behind the Avengers. Unlike the latter’s unique and surreal quirky eccentricities, the Professionals was an all-action hard-hitting crime series, with a trio of memorable male leads. 15 books were published from the series, each one adapting one to four of the scripts for the TV show. We have 7 of those in stock as follows:
PICTURED: THE PROFESSIONALS, ALL BY KEN BLAKE ALL SOLD
#2 LONG SHOT Sphere 1984 6th UK PB FN £3
#7 HIDING TO NOTHING Sphere 1982 3rd UK PB VF £5
#9 NO STONE Sphere 1981 1st UK PB FN £6
#11 SPY PROBE Sphere 1981 1st UK PB VG/FN £5
#12 FOXHOLE Sphere 1982 1st UK PB FN £6
#14 OPERATION SUSIE Sphere 1982 1st UK PB FN £6
#15 YOU’LL BE ALL RIGHT Sphere 1982 1st UK PB FN £6
Our System of Order Allocation following Newsletter
It’s been a year now since we changed our way of allocating orders following our Newsletter, so we thought it was worth reminding you of how this works.
We now draw lots for those relatively few items that get clashing orders following new stock releases in our newsletter. We think this gives everyone a fairer chance of getting what they want, at the same time removing the pressure for customers to order in a hurry and thus make mistakes or change their minds. This is also fairer for those who may be busy when the Newsletter is issued, or for non-UK customers in different time zones. This applies to orders received following the Saturday newsletter (issued around 10 am) up to 4 pm on the same day, after which we revert to first come, first served. Wherever possible, we shall be advising you after 4 pm of the results of your newsletter order.
The vast majority of items we sell don’t get clashing orders, so most orders will be successful. But please remember that in nearly all cases, we will only have one copy of any given item and inevitably, when it’s one in high demand, someone is going to be disappointed at missing out.
American Comics Update: Batmania: Batman #251, classic Neal Adams Joker
*DC: While it’s not strictly accurate to say that this game-changing issue was solely responsible for the transition to the ‘Dark Knight’ iteration of Batman – he had been becoming more serious in the preceding few years – this definitely distilled all the elements which would become the template for the Batman as we now know him. By Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, this tense murder mystery draws the reader in from the stunning cover, and keeps the tension mounted high as the Joker, stripped of the lingering miasma of the TV series, transformed from a buffoon into once again a top-ranking menace. One of the best comics of the 1970s, by almost everyone’s assessment – even folks who think both the Joker and the Batman are horrendously overrated (writer raises hand) think this one’s a cracker! This mid-grade pence-stamped copy has nice colour and gloss. The pence stamp is placed, as it always inevitably is, over the playing card. Staples are tight and firm, pages are off-white to cream. There is a touch of white spine where the cover is printed slightly to the right of centre (a printing effect rather than wear), and a 7 cm colour-breaking vertical crease right by the spine, probably from reading.
PICTURED: BATMAN #251 VG+ p £215
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Green Lantern consecutive issues: #53-58
*DC: In the time after Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan left the employ of Ferris Aircraft, he became an itinerant, coming across many way-out foes mostly with science-fiction touches, as on display here throughout these six issues, with much to enjoy from the pens of Gardner Fox and John Broome, and the pencils of Gil Kane.
IN THIS UPDATE: GREEN LANTERN ALL SOLD
#53 VG p £11.75
#54 GD p £6 Rusty Staples
#55 VG+ £14.75
#56 VG- £11.50
#57 GD/VG p £9 Off bottom staple
#58 VG p £10
American Comics Update: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of the Sandman in Amazing #4
*Marvel: New in this week is the fourth issue of Amazing Spider-Man, a Lee & Ditko classic which introduced Spidey to the gentleman who would become one of his most vehement enemies – and occasionally, a reluctant hero – the shape-shifting Sandman, whose molecular mastery came close to baffling our hero. In addition, this issue features the debut of Betty Brant, a lady who was to become very important in the Wall-Crawler’s life. This lowish graded pence printed copy has good structural integrity, with decent staples tight at centrefold and only slightly loose at cover. The spine is intact. There is some fairly unattractive chipping all along the right edge, with minor edge wear at spine, top and bottom and minor colour-breaking creases mostly confined to edges, except for one longer but not prominent crease that rises from the bottom edge into the lower right quarter of this panelled cover. Cover colours are nice except for a stain patch of about 6 cm circumference centering on the issue number box, top right. This fades a section of the red heading to orange (see scan) and marks the pale blue background of the upper right panel. Inside covers are tanned at the edges but not brittle. Page quality overall is a reasonably supple cream.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4 GD- p £450
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52
*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection, one of the key debuts of the Silver Age. Lee & Kirby’s Fantastic Four added to its many innovations in 1966’s FF #52, when they introduced the first black super-hero in comics. Previously, the vanishingly rare heroic black characters in comics had been either embarrassing sidekicks or ‘noble savages’, but the Black Panther was the monarch of a highly sophisticated and technologically advanced African nation, Wakanda, and was to become not only one of the FF’s greatest allies, but a mainstay of their fellow heroes, the Avengers. This Good Doctor cents copy has sustained some damage in its life, most notably some creasing in from the right edge over the Panther’s arm and cloak, a little of which breaks colour, and a tear/split of 2.5 cm at the base of the spine, leading to a diagonal crease from the top of the split down across the cover to the bottom right corner. There is also other spine and edge wear, but nothing too bad. A tiny spine split lurks at the top of the back cover, leading to a small, narrow stain of about 4 cm. The inside covers are a little cream/tan, the page quality a supple off-white to cream. Overall, this doesn’t present too badly at all.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #52 GD/VG £300
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: X-Men #52-54 inc Mighty Marvel Firsts
*Marvel: Also from the Good Doctor this week, three rather nifty consecutive issues of the X-Men, all worthy of note. #52 features the conclusion of the Lorna Dane (Polaris) debut story commenced so ably by Steranko with his work in #49-51. #53 is a fill-in featuring Blastaar with very early art from Barry Smith, whose style back then was quite crude and Kirbyesque, but fascinating to see the roots of what was to follow. #54 features the debut of the Living Pharoah and, more significantly, the brother of Cyclops, Alex Summers, who would soon become Havok.
PICTURED: X-MEN ALL SOLD
#52 FN p £48 Nice flat copy, good pages and staples, just minor edge and spine wear.
#53 VF £85 Flat, tight and glossy, good pages and staples, just minor handling wear at top edge.
#54 FN/VF £120 Great colour, unmarked, good pages and staples, just very minor handling wear at spine.
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection/Marvel #1: Incredible Hulk and Wolverine, Reprinting Wolverine’s 1st App.
*Marvel: From the Bute Collection and for the budget conscious, a chance to get Hulk #180 and #181, the debut of Wolverine, in a high quality reprint at a fraction of the price of the originals. From 1986, this extra-thick volume also features a Wolverine/Hercules back up plus a long feature on the evolution of Wolverine as a character. Some short creases just at the spine on this one, but not breaking colour. Tight with white pages.
PICTURED: INCREDIBLE HULK AND WOLVERINE #1 FN £30
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: EC: Pre-Code Horror Fest & Quirky Corner
*EC: It’s a double-header of features from the Bute Collection in our EC category this week. First up, two low-grade classic horror anthologies, one Crime Suspenstories and one Haunt Of Fear. Secondly, a quirky oddity with #3 of Land Of The Lost, based on a 1940s radio fantasy about the adventures of two children who travelled underwater with the fatherly fish Red Lantern.
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #9 PR £25 Pre-Code. Cover by Craig. Interior art by Craig, Kamen, Davis & Ingels. A really bad copy, taped spine, corner erosion, brittle pages, crumbly, small strip off back cover, but all there as far as the stories are concerned.
HAUNT OF FEAR #11 PR/FA £40 Pre-code. Cover by Ingels. Interior art by Ingels, Kamen, Roussos & Davis. A low grade copy. The spine is split down to upper staple and the cover is off at lower staple. Spine mostly torn but is hanging on. Chips out at spine and right edge and some colour-breaking creasing. Pages are okay.
LAND OF THE LOST #3 VG £40 Reasonable mid-grade copy with no specific defects apart from a small tear bottom edge with no loss.
American Comics Update: 4 Ghosts
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Four nice-graded copies of the long-running DC horror anthology Ghosts, which ran from 1971 to 1982. Lots of gothic overtones in these atmospheric thrillers.
IN THIS UPDATE: GHOSTS ALL SOLD
#10 FN+ £13
#15 FN+ £8.50
#19 FN+ £8.50
#26 FN/VF £6.25
British Comics Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest UK/This Week’s #1s: Adventures Into Weird Worlds and Comics To Hold You Spellbound
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: In the early 1950s, a small number of horror comics (around 40) were produced by a variety of UK publishers reprinting US pre-code horror stories in black and white. Just as in the USA, these became notorious and subject to censorship which led to their discontinuation. There’s a lot of information online about the banning of UK horror comics if you want to know more, and I particularly recommend a youtube video by Canadian Dave Dustin on the subject (see the Links page in our Extras section for more information). These UK horror comics have become both extremely rare and much sought after in recent years, and we’re delighted to have two #1 (and only) issues fresh in this week.
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS #1 FA £60 Published by Heritage Productions and distributed by Thorpe & Porter; it’s undated but believed to be 1952. (There’s rumoured to be a #2, but we have no proof of this). It features the content and cover of the US Adventures Into Weird Worlds #8 from Atlas, as well as content from #6, Spellbound #5 and Astonishing #15. Artists include Dick Ayers, Jim Mooney and Jack Keller, with a Bill Everett cover. This is a low grade copy missing the back cover, but all story pages are complete. The front cover has edge wear, small creases and nicks, but isn’t at all bad. Firmly held together by strong staples, the page quality is quite decent.
COMICS TO HOLD YOU SPELLBOUND #1 PR/FA £60 From Thorpe & Porter 1953, reprinting the cover and contents of Atlas’s Spellbound #3. Plus, since this comic is double the size of a standard US comic, there are also stories from Astonishing #13 and Adventures Into Weird Worlds #6, also from Atlas. Cover by Russ Heath, art by Ogden Whitney, Fred Kida, Sol Brodsky, Manny Stallman, Mike Sekowsky, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Sinnott, Ross Andru and others. This low grade copy is missing the rear cover, but all story pages are complete. The front cover has chips out and wear at all edges, including colour-breaking creases and is off at the bottom staple with a spine split from there to the base of the spine. Pages are okay, but a little dingy with some edge tears and dog-earring, but are completely readable.
British Comics Update: One more Alan Class Printing Plate Set
*Alan Class Reprints: We’re delighted to announce that, in conjunction with Alan Class, we’ve unearthed one further comic and printing plate set. As you’ll doubtless remember, this comprises the lead printing plates used in the original comic’s colour printing, a copy of the comic printed with these plates and a signed certificate of authenticity signed by Alan Class himself. These are packaged in a special protective presentation case. (Please be aware that these weigh a lot and postage will be expensive. Also note that due to the onerous paperwork required for customs declarations following Brexit, we can no longer post these Plate Sets outside the UK.). This set is Sinister Tales #2, one of the earliest Alan Class comics. Although the comic itself is pretty low grade, the plates are among the best, with mostly sharp definition and some colour inking retained. The search continues for more…
PICTURED: SINISTER TALES #2 COMIC AND PLATE SET £80 Comic FA. Long subscription-like crease down centre cover; a little wrinkled, with scuff marks at cover bottom. Pages well-tanned. Reprints Atlas, pre-hero Marvel. 1 Kirby, 2 Ditko. SOLD
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category: Authors from Casewit to Chetwynd-Hayes
*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 with books by authors alphabetically from Casewit to Chetwynd-Hayes. These include two solid Science-Fiction novels published by Digit in the early 1960s, an early novel by fan favourite C J Cherryh and two macabre volumes of supernatural horror: The King In Yellow by Robert W Chambers, published originally in 1895 and a significant influence on Lovecraft, features a series of connected short stories by this prolific author and is his most famous work. The Unbidden by R Chetwynd-Hayes is an uncommon title but its distinctively eerie short stories have led to the book’s cult favourite status. More details, of course, in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
CURTIS W CASEWIT: THE PEACEMAKERS Digit 1960 1st UK PB GD £4
ROBERT W CHAMBERS: THE KING IN YELLOW Ace 1960s US PB GD £20
LOUIS CHARBONNEAU: CORPUS EARTHLING Digit 1963 1st UK PB FA/GD £3
C J CHERRYH: HUNTER OF WORLDS DAW 1977 1st US PB VG £5
R CHETWYND-HAYES: THE UNBIDDEN Tandem 1971 1st UK PB GD £17.50
Books Update: New: Six Of The Best: Vintage Pan Editions of the Saint
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: New in this week, six editions of the Saint by Leslie Charteris, all in classic Pan editions from the 1950s with excellent painted covers. All six volumes feature either short or longer stories of the classic adventurer later made famous on TV by Roger Moore. More details, of course, in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY LESLIE CHARTERIS ALL SOLD
THE ACE OF KNAVES Pan 1956 2nd UK PB GD £4
ALIAS THE SAINT Pan 1956 2nd UK PB GD/VG £5
THE BRIGHTER BUCCANEER Pan 1955 2nd UK PB FA/GD £3
THE SAINT GOES WEST Pan 1955 2nd UK PB GD/VG £5
SAINT OVERBOARD Pan 1956 2nd UK PB GD £4
THE SAINT STEPS IN Pan 1958 1st UK PB GD £4
Books Update: New: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
*Children’s Books: Two mid-century paperback editions of Alice new in this week. The first, from Pan 1952, features all the 92 original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel from both Alice books; condition is a bit low on this one, with some tears, corner creasing and rubbing. The second is from Everyman in 1961, featuring just Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, but unusually has illustrations by the author himself.
PICTURED: BY LEWIS CARROLL BOTH SOLD
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND / THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS Pan 1952 UK PB FA £3
ALICE ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND Everyman 1961 UK PB GD/VG £3
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: World’s Finest #24, 1946
*DC: Leading this week’s selections from the Bute Collection is World’s Finest #24, 1946. An amusing Jack Burnley cover typical of the period, featuring Superman, Batman & Robin. In these early days for the title, Superman and Batman appeared in separate stories and had a variety of back-ups, in this case Green Arrow, Zatara, the Boy Commandos and others in its 76 squarebound pages. This copy has very little wear apart from a 1.5 cm upper spine split and a 5 cm split at lower spine (back cover only). The pages are a very nice off-white to cream and the comic is solidly bound.
PICTURED: WORLD’S FINEST #24 GD/VG £150 SOLD
American Comics Update: 2 (in)famous Wonder Woman Bondage Covers
*DC: Two bondage cover issues of Wonder Woman new in this week. Always popular! The first, #196, is from Diana’s ‘Emma Peel’ years where she lost her powers and costume, the second slightly later with these regained. The covers speak for themselves.
PICTURED: WONDER WOMAN BOTH SOLD
#196 VG p £25 Pence stamped. Edge wear, particularly along the right edge, with a long crease right up against the edge breaking colour, but not affecting the cover image. Decent staples and pages.
#205 GD p £20 Pence stamped. A scuff mark (looks like label removal) in the logo area and colour-breaking crease across the bottom right corner; cover image not affected. Good staples and pages.
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Ravonna in Avengers #23 with iconic Kang cover
*Marvel: From the Good Doctor Collection this week, Avengers #23, wherein ‘Cap’s Kooky Quartet’ face up to Kang and his entire army from the future. Lacking the raw power of the original line-up, things looked pretty bleak for the Assemblers. This issue also features the debut of Princess Ravonna, a long standing character in the MU and love interest for Kang, with the type of convoluted history shared by many of her peers. A superb cents copy, with clear cover and bright colours. Virtually no wear (just a tiny bit at edges), staples tight and firm at spine and centrefold, supple and beautiful off-white pages; sharp corners. There are a couple of small crease marks at the base of the spine, one of which very faintly breaks colour for about 1 cm. A classic issue with a great cover in beautiful condition for your collection.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #23 VF £200
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Shocker, plus Kraven & Kingpin
*Marvel: Four early John Romita issues of Amazing Spider-Man this week from the Good Doctor, featuring some of Spidey’s most famous foes in mid-grade examples.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#46 VG p £120 1st Shocker. Some edge wear with small amounts of creasing at right top and bottom covers, just breaking colour. Small tear top back cover. Pages are off-white to cream; staples are tight and firm.
#47 VG p £75 Great Kraven the Hunter cover. Some edge wear with short colour-breaking creasing across lower right cover corner. Nice off-white pages, with tight, firm staples.
#51 VG+ p £95 1st Kingpin cover. Nice clear image with some spidery creasing at edges and spine, breaking colour. Black background holds up pretty well. Pages are white to off-white, with tight, firm staples.
#52 VG £50 Finale of 1st Kingpin story. Minor edge wear only, except for some heavy creasing along right edge near top half, breaking colour. Pages are off-white to cream, with tight, firm staples.
American Comics Update: Marvel #1: Wolverine Ongoing 1988
*Marvel: Bearing in mind Wolverine’s meteoric rise to popularity following his debut in Hulk and subsequent starring role in the X-Men, it’s perhaps surprising that it took until 1988 for him to get his own ongoing series. By Chris Clarement and John Buscema (with inks by my favourite comics artist Al Williamson), this is a lovely copy of #1, tight, flat and glossy, with excellent white pages, great staples and sharp square corners. One or two very fine irregularities at spine and bottom edge are barely noticeable and nothing breaks colour.
PICTURED: WOLVERINE #1 VF/NM £50 SOLD
American Comics Update: Tabloid Headlines: 2 Hulk Marvel Treasury Editions
*Marvel: We continue our feature showcasing tabloid-sized comics with two Marvel Treasury editions containing the best adventures of the ever Incredible Hulk, one in nice shape and one in exceptional condition.
PICTURED: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION BOTH SOLD
#5 FN/VF p £15
#17 VF/NM £25
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: The Invincible Iron Man
*Marvel: Six issues of Iron Man added this week. First up, issues #8 and #13, where Shellhead takes on the Gladiator and the Controller respectively, then four consecutive issues from #50-53, featuring Princess Python, the Cyborg Sinister, Raga – Son Of Fire and the Black Lama (well, Princess P. was cool, anyway).
IN THIS UPDATE: IRON MAN ALL SOLD
#8 VG+ £20
#13 GD/VG p £8 Off lower staple
#50 FN/VF p £11
#51 VF p £15.50
#52 FN/VF p £11
#53 VF- p £13.25
American Comics Update: Post Code Horror Fest: Atlas’s Worlds of Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense
*Horror 1940-1959: In 1956, probably as a reaction to the demise of so many of their titles that didn’t survive long after the imposition of the Comics Code, Atlas, who before too much longer would morph into Marvel, launched three ‘sister’ titles called World Of Fantasy, World Of Mystery and World Of Suspense. These contained mystery stories with a dark edge of similar quality to Atlas’s pre-code material in this vein, but obviously without the excesses. The art was by many of the finest craftsman available to them at the time. Selections from all three titles are available as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE:
WORLD OF FANTASY
#10 GD/VG £50 (PICTURED) Cover by Burgos. Interior art by Reinman, Winarski, Colan, Sale and more.
#11 VG- £58 (PICTURED) Cover by Everett/Maneely. Interior art by Torres, Mooney, Winarski and more.
#12 FA £18 Cover by Everett. Interior art by Forte, Mooney, Stallman & more. Covers almost detached; long spine split.
WORLD OF MYSTERY
#1 GD £50 (PICTURED) Cover by Everett. Interior art by Torres, Sale, Powell, Baily, Orlando and more. Glued spine and colour touch. SOLD
#4 GD- £28 Cover by Burgos. Interior art by Roth, Reinman, Powell, Stallman, Romita & Ayers
#5 FA/GD £22 Cover by Burgos. Interior art by Orlando, Ayers, Winarski, Heck, Brodsky, Forte and more. A couple of small cover scuffs in logo and code box.
WORLD OF SUSPENSE
#4 PR £8 Cover by Burgos. Interior art by Reinman, Stallman, Sale, Roussos, Forgione and more. Covers detached, separated and brittle. Some loss at edges.
#5 VG £52 (PICTURED) Cover by Burgos. Interior art by Everett, Giunta, Romita, Heck, Roussos and more.
#5 App FN £36 Cover by Burgos. Interior art by Everett, Giunta, Romita, Heck, Roussos and more. Right edge trimmed; stories not affected.
#7 GD- £22 Cover by Burgos. Interior art by Maneely, Williamson & Mayo, Baily, Crandall, Morisi and more.
#8 GD- £22 Cover by Doxsee. Interior art by Doxsee, Winarski, Brodsky, Forte and more. Small corner off bottom right cover.
American Comics Update: Charlton’s Ghostly Haunts
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Often overlooked by the more famous DC and Marvel horror comics of the 1970s, Charlton’s horror output from the period was often very accomplished, with clever stories with dark, hallucinogenic edges and graced by suitably atmospheric artists such as Steve Ditko, Tom Sutton and Don Newton, all of whom can be found in Ghostly Haunts. Several issues new in this week as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE: GHOSTLY HAUNTS ALL SOLD
#29 FN £4.75
#31 FN £7
#33 FN/VF p £7.50
#37 FN p £4.75
#38 VG p £3.25
#42 FN p £4.25
#43 FN+ £5
#48 VG £3
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: L B Cole Miasma: White Rider (& Super-Horse)
*Western: Also from the Bute Collection this week: 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. And Western, as here. White Rider (& Super-Horse) sports a typically dynamic and lurid scene full of contrasting colours, a must for collectors of his work. In case you’re wondering, White Rider doesn’t actually appear in this issue, but Cloud the Super-Horse does and he’s super due to a superior intellect (sorry to all those of you who thought he’d be flying). The interiors are reprints from various sources, and the art rather lacklustre by comparison to the cover, which is almost certainly what anyone would buy this for. A low grade copy, with cover detached and a chip out at top spine (see scan). There are a couple of quite faint book shop stamps on the cover, but these are over logo and text box and don’t spoil the image. Probably one of the more elusive L B Cole covers to come across. This is the version from Accepted dated circa 1958, reprinting the Star version from 1950.
PICTURED: WHITE RIDER (& SUPER-HORSE) #6 FA £50 SOLD
British Comics Update: This Week’s #1 & #2: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Jolly old Captain Britain
*Marvel UK: Marvel UK’s experimental attempt to broaden their readership by generating a new British hero, Captain Britain was the subject of much controversy, not least because he was created by two Americans (Chris Claremont, Herb Trimpe) who, from the evidence presented here, had never met an English person, and whose interpretation of the UK’s manners and mores made the Austin Powers films look like documentaries. Be that as it may, the character endured to become a respected icon of the medium, and early issues are now attracting keen collector attention. We have new copies in of the good Captain’s first and second issues, sadly not with their Free Gifts, but in reasonable shape.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN BRITAIN
#1 VG/FN £70 Nice copy with very minimal edge wear (mostly back cover). Fun page not completed.
#2 GD/VG £25 Minimal wear, but a slightly grubby back cover and a little bit of spine roll. Fun page completed.
British Comics Update: Battle Picture Library 1963/64
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: If you’re looking to fill gaps in your Battle Picture Library collection, this update’s for you, with 25 issues newly added from 1963/64 between #101 and #143. Nearly all these issues were missing from our listings, and all are in pretty nice shape, clean, bright and unmarked, with just degrees of staple rust defining grade. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: BATTLE PICTURE LIBRARY #117 VG/FN £3.50
British Comics Update: True Life Library x 10 1964/65
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: 10 more issues of True Life Library newly added to our listings between #441 (1964) and #456 (1965). Mostly clean, bright and unmarked copies (one or two lower graded), with the same high standard of art and design. Grade is usually determined by the degree of staple rust, which is not excessive in most cases.
PICTURED: TRUE LIFE LIBRARY #455 VG £5
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category with New Additions: Final Lin Carter selection
*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 finish off our Lin Carter inventory (for now) with a few odds and ends, including two new additions. Beyond The Gates Of Dream is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories, including one collaboration with Randall Garrett, and one Conan story with Robert E. Howard; The Black Star is a one-off sword and sorcery novel with a Frank Frazetta cover; The Young Magicians, from the Pan Ballantine Adult Fantasy series and edited by Carter, is an anthology featuring stories by Dunsany, Eddison, Morris, Lovecraft, Smith, Tolkein and many more; lastly, The Thief of Thoth by Carter and Doomsman by Harlan Ellison is a two-novels-in-one-book jobbie.
PICTURED:
LIN CARTER: BEYOND THE GATES OF DREAM FIve Star 1973 1st UK PB VG £3 (NEW)
LIN CARTER: THE BLACK STAR Dell 1973 1st US PB VG/FN £7 (NEW)
LIN CARTER (Ed): THE YOUNG MAGICIANS Pan Ballantine Adult Fantasy 1971 1st UK PB GD £9
LIN CARTER – THE THIEF OF THOTH / HARLAN ELLISON – DOOMSMAN Belmont/Tower 1972 1st US PB GD £5
Books Update: Re-Working Our Crime, Spies & Sleaze Category: 3 Novels of Juvenile (ish) Delinquency
*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 three novels on a similar theme. Rockabilly (later retitled Spider Kiss), by Harlan Ellison (more widely known as a science-fiction author), is a cautionary tale about a country boy’s rise to fame as a rock ‘n’ roll star, loosely modelled on Elvis Presley. This 1st UK printing is a rarity, but low grade with faults as described in our catalogue. I’ll Fix You by Hal Ellson (NOT a pseudonym for Harlan Ellison) is ‘a realistic novel of juvenile delinquency’ and, by the same author, Tomboy is ‘a shocking novel of Teen-Age Gang Life in the slums of Manhattan’ featuring a cover by the excellent Robert Maguire and an introduction by the notorious Dr Fredric Wertham.
PICTURED:
HARLAN ELLISON: ROCKABILLY Gold Medal 1963 1st UK PB FA/GD £25
HAL ELLSON: I’LL FIX YOU Pedigree 1958 1st UK PB VG/FN £14
HAL ELLSON: TOMBOY Corgi 1951 1st UK PB GD £8
Books Update: New: The Avengers (US Editions)
*TV/Film Tie-Ins. The classic TV series the Avengers spun off into a variety of original novels. Nine of these, five with Steed & Emma Peel, and four with him and Tara King, were published in the US by Berkley in a numbered sequence. We have the first six of these new in this week, all in fabulous condition, and all featuring wonderful photo covers.
PICTURED: THE AVENGERS
#1: THE FLOATING GAME by JOHN GARFORTH Berkley 1967 1st US PB FN £12 SOLD
#2: THE LAUGH WAS ON LAZARUS by JOHN GARFORTH Berkley 1967 1st US PB VG/FN £10 SOLD
#3: THE PASSING OF GLORIA MUNDAY by JOHN GARFORTH Berkley 1967 1st US PB VG/FN £10 SOLD
#4: HEIL HARRIS by JOHN GARFORTH Berkley 1967 1st US PB FN £12 SOLD
#5: THE AFRIT AFFAIR by KEITH LAUMER Berkley 1968 1st US PB VG/FN £10 SOLD
#6: THE DROWNED QUEEN by KEITH LAUMER Berkley 1968 1st US PB FN £12
Books Update: New: Storm Ahead by Monica Edwards
*Children’s Books: We’re delighted to add a new acquisition to our inventory by the delightful and much-loved children’s author Monica Edwards. This one has a special resonance for me. In 1927, at 16 years of age, Monica Edwards moved to Rye Harbour in East Sussex and in 1928 witnessed the Mary Stanford Lifeboat disaster, in which the whole crew lost their lives, including a young man who was secretly her boyfriend. Many years later she wrote a fictionalised account of the disaster called Storm Ahead, published in 1953. Rye and Rye Harbour are places I’ve visited lots of time in my life, observing the wreckage of the old lifeboat house on Rye Harbour beach, and reading the names on the nearby church memorial. We have a very lovely copy of Storm Ahead now in, the 1st paperback printing from Puffin in 1957, with just minor edge rubbing and a tiny tear at the base of the spine. A treasure.
PICTURED:
MONICA EDWARDS: STORM AHEAD Puffin 1957 1st UK PB GD/VG £15 SOLD
American Comics Update: DC Debuts! John Stewart Premieres in Green Lantern #87, by O’Neil and Adams
*DC: DC’s ground-breaking and controversial run of Green Lantern (cover-titled ‘Green Lantern co-starring Green Arrow’) was renowned for its tackling of issues which had been seldom raised in comics before – albeit, in retrospect, perhaps heavy-handedly, it nevertheless raised many questions the medium had previously failed to address. One such was racism, and when, after Hal Jordan got injured, the Power Ring selected African-American John Stewart as a temporary replacement Green Lantern, the heroes were forced to confront certain unspoken truths in their society. Originally intended as a one-off character, John was brought back frequently, often replacing Hal for long stretches, both in the Justice League and as the Green Lantern of Earth – mercifully having abandoned his cliched ‘angry black dude’ persona early on. This copy of Green Lantern #87 is a very reasonable mid-grade pence stamped copy; some short horizontal reading creases at the spine do not break colour, slightly dingy along the bottom edge with a tiny crease across the bottom right corner extremity. Nice colour and gloss; very small nick at centre right edge. Staples tight and firm at spine and centrefold. Pages are supple, off-white to cream.
PICTURED: GREEN LANTERN #87 VG p £200
American Comics Update: Their Name Is Legion: High Grade Adventure Comics #341-351
*DC: We continue our Legion of Super-Heroes spotlight with more classic early stories from Adventure Comics, most issues between #341-351. With Curt Swan firmly established at the drawing board (with occasional guests), the writing changed during this run to the teenage Jim Shooter, who made his debut here. Full of Legion lore: Triplicate Girl becomes Duo Damsel, Star Boy is expelled, the Khunds debut, Karate Kid, Princess Projectra and Ferro Lad join up, the first Dr Regulus, and the amazing two-parter in #350-351, featuring close-on everybody! All from a mostly high-grade collection, some really nice-looking cents copies of these beloved adventures. Full details as always in our catalogue.
IN THIS UPDATE: ADVENTURE COMICS
#341 VF £39 Triplicate Girl becomes Duo Damsel
#342 VG+ £49 (PICTURED)
#343 VF- £29
#344 VF- £29
#345 VF+ £49 (PICTURED)
#347 VF+ £49 (PICTURED)
#348 VF+ £49 (PICTURED) 1st Dr Regulus
#350 FN £14.75
#351 VF+ £49 (PICTURED)
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best: Silver/Bronze Age Plastic Man
*DC: DC revived the classic Golden Age comedy/crime super-hero character Plastic Man in the Silver Age (#1-10) and then again in the Bronze Age (#11-20). We have one of the former and five of the latter new in this week, with engaging Bronze Age art by Ramona Fradon in her cartoonish style, totally suited to the character.
IN THIS UPDATE: PLASTIC MAN ALL SOLD
#9 VG p £6
#12 FN £4.25
#15 FN £4.25
#17 VF £5.75
#19 VF £5.75
#20 VF p £5
American Comics Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Amazing Spider-Man #300 with Debut of Venom
*Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man #300 is just about the most sought after post Bronze Age comic, so we’re delighted to present the Good Doctor Collection copy this week. There were few more significant debuts, in the latter days of the 20th Century, than everyone’s favourite brain-eating symbiote Venom, who graduated from being a genetically modified costume in a jar to the Alpha Dog of Spidey’s Rogue’s Gallery! Having debuted in Secret Wars #8 as a semi-sentient blob which configured itself into Spider-Man’s new costume, the ‘symbiote’ became a regular feature in Spidey’s own series before being revealed as a malevolent alien parasite! Unlike a lot of copies we’ve seen, the right edge on this one is sharp and doesn’t have the ‘blunt guillotine’ defect that came about in the printing process. There is a tiny but quite shallow dink at the top of the spine, a similar dink towards the bottom of the spine and a very small soft crease at the extremity of the bottom right corner; none of these break colour. One or two miniscule ticks at centre spine. Extremely tiny handling wear can barely be seen. Flat, glossy and vibrant with tight staples, square corners and white pages.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #300 VF+ £360 SOLD
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Premier Appearances of the Watcher, the Red Ghost and the Super-Apes in Fantastic Four #13
*Marvel: Issue #13 of the Fantastic Four brought us to the mysterious Blue Area of the Moon, and introduced the enigmatic Watcher, cosmic custodian of devices of unimaginable power. Despite his vast power and omniscient knowledge, the Watcher was solemnly sworn never to intervene in the affairs of Earth… unless, you know, he really wanted to, which fortunately for Marvel Earth he did numerous times before his untimely death in 2014! (It’s okay, he got better. We think. Modern comics are a bit hazy for us, but we’re sure we’ve seen him around…) Moreover, it featured a Russian scientist re-creating the flight which gave the FF their powers to gain super-abilities of his own – and by staffing his ship with trained primates, making sure his ‘teammates’ were subservient to him! The Red Ghost and his Super-Apes (Mikhlo, Igor and Piotr – we knew you were dying to know!) also became a recurring feature in the Marvel Universe, even after the Cold War thawed. This double-shot debut from the Bute Collection, heroic and villainous, is a mid-grade pence printed copy. The cover has some reading and handling wear, with a small number of creases, only one or two of which break colour at all, and not in a big way. A couple of small drop stains near the bottom of the logo, but these look like stars or planets in the sky. Staples are tight and firm throughout. Decent colour with creamy, supple pages.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #13 VG+ p £350
American Comics Update: Marvel #1: Slab Happy/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Ms Marvel
*Marvel: In Ms Marvel #1, spinning out of Captain Marvel, former background character Carol Danvers got her own set of super-powers and a whole new supporting cast (including new boss J. Jonah Jameson) as she attempted to discover the mystery behind her own origins. Although moderately successful, the series was attacked by critics who derided Carol’s derivative costume, which made her look like Captain Marvel’s sidekick, and the fact that Marvel were offering a ‘powerful, confident’ heroine who suffered from blackouts and amnesia. Despite these jibes, Ms Marvel has been a prominent member of the Marvel Universe for nearly forty years in one guise or another – whether as Ms Marvel, Binary, Warbird, or most recently the latest Captain Marvel, her chequered history has provided many intriguing plotlines.This is a CGC 9.2 (NM-) cents copy, unrestored universal blue label, with white pages and a case in perfect condition.
PICTURED: MS MARVEL #1 CGC 9.2 NM- £100
American Comics Update: Six Of The Best/Mighty Marvel Firsts: X-Men #150-155
*Marvel: Six consecutive issues of the X-Men from #150-155, all in nice shape, with art by Dave Cockrum and others. Includes a showdown with Magneto in the double-sized #150, the White Queen in #152, a charming fairy tale in #153 and the debut of the menacing Brood in #155. A fine run of stuff!
IN THIS UPDATE: X-MEN ALL SOLD
#150 VF+ £11
#151 VF £7.50
#152 VF- £7
#153 VF+ £9
#154 NM £13
#155 VF £22 1st Brood
American Comics Update: The Bute Collection: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Two low-grade horrors
*Horror 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection this week, two splendid Pre-Code Horror issues that have seen better days in terms of condition. They represent your chance to get your hands on these gruesome tales for a fraction of the price of decent copies.
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
CHAMBER OF CHILLS #7 PR £30 From Harvey 1952. Cover by Al Avison; interior art by Bob Powell, Manny Stallman & others. Used in SOTI, decapitation/severed head panels. This one really is Poor. The covers are detached and separated, piece out back cover. Some of the pages are brittle and becoming detached. But it’s all there and the cover image is more or less okay.
FANTASTIC #8 PR £35 From Youthful 1952. This title started life as Captain Science, before morphing into two transitional issues as Fantastic (science fiction/horror) and going full blown horror as Beware and later Chilling Tales. Captain Science by Harry Harrison is still around in Fantastic #8, but with a distinctive horror edge (as seen on cover). Other stories continue in the same vein. Covers detached and separated, except back cover just hanging on to bottom staple. Staples are okay and pages not too bad.
British Comics Update: This Week’s #1s: Fantastic Tales, The Perfect Crime, Sky Sheriff
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints Of US Material: Three #1 issues in this diverse category this week. Fantastic Tales #1 (68 pages) from Thorpe & Porter reprints DC science-fiction stories from Mystery In Space and probably elsewhere under an original (and not very good) cover. Perfect Crime #1 from Pembertons (1951) reprints stories from #10 of the same title (US original from Cross). Sky Sheriff #1 (1950), also from Pembertons, reprints the one-off US original from DS, featuring Edmund Goode’s airborne lawman.
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
FANTASTIC TALES #1 VG £15
THE PERFECT CRIME #1 FN £12
SKY SHERIFF #1 VG £7
British Comics Update: Mighty World Of Marvel 1973 #4-10
*Marvel UK: Mighty World of Marvel was the very first title published by the UK division of Marvel. And they couldn’t have started with three features more classic than these: Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and the Hulk, the cornerstones of the Marvel Universe. All reprinted in black, white and green, with new full colour covers by Jim Starlin. This update features issues #4-10, all from an original owner collection. They’re complete with their coupons that you could save up and send off for the mystery free gift (probably you can’t do that now); so often these are missing. All in great condition, flat with great paper quality; just slight tanning at the margin edges.
IN THIS UPDATE: MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL
#4 FN/VF £15
#5 VF £20
#6 FN/VF £12
#7 VF £15
#8 VF £15
#9 VF £15 (PICTURED)
#10 FN £8
British Comics Update: Spellbound – Spellbinding Stories For Every Girl
*Girls’ Comics: Although ‘strange stories’, with a genteel supernatural element, had been a staple of girls’ weeklies since the mid-1960s, Spellbound was the first girls’ weekly to devote itself to the theme. While many of its series, including its best-remembered serial ‘Supercats’, with four young super-heroines dispensing justice throughout the galaxy, were science-fiction, the majority featured ghosts, witches, curses and mysterious creatures and apparitions to terrify its young audience. Launched by DC Thomson in 1976 – and lasting a mere 69 issues before yielding the field to its IPC-published successor and imitator, Misty – Spellbound is fondly remembered and keenly sought these days because of the quality of its scripts and artwork. This week, we have every issue from #4 to the last, including Halloween, Christmas and New Year issues, fresh into stock, mostly in lovely condition, an average of VG/FN. Please see our catalogue for full details of this highly recommended series.
PICTURED: SPELLBOUND
#21 VG £5
#58 VG/FN £8.50 Halloween issue
Books Update: Re-Working Our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Category with New Additions: More Lin Carter: Gondwane & Zarkon
*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 more series from Lin Carter. The Gondwane Epic is a series about Earth in its last days, when all continents have merged back into one, Gondwane, with a suitable hero, quests, turmoil, scientists and alchemists, it has a very Moorcock Elric flavour about it. Also known as World’s End, we have volumes 2, 3 & 4 of the six. New in, Zarkon, Lord Of The Unknown, has an edge of black magic and satanism, with dark adventures in a sinister world. We have the first three volumes in this five volume series.
PICTURED: ALL BY LIN CARTER
GONDWANE EPIC #2: THE ENCHANTRESS OF WORLD’S END DAW 1975 1st US PB VG £5
GONDWANE EPIC #3: THE IMMORTAL OF WORLD’S END DAW 1976 1st US PB GD £3
GONDWANE EPIC #4: THE BARBARIAN OF WORLD’S END DAW 1977 1st US PB GD £3
ZARKON, LORD OF THE UNKNOWN #1: THE NEMESIS OF EVIL Popular Library 1978 1st US PB FN £6 SOLD
ZARKON, LORD OF THE UNKNOWN #2: INVISIBLE DEATH Popular Library 1978 1st US PB GD/VG £4 SOLD
ZARKON, LORD OF THE UNKNOWN #3: THE VOLCANO OGRE Popular Library 1st US PB VG £5 SOLD
