*DC: Long time followers of our ramblings will know by now what great affection we have for the Inferior Five – I just wish they’d gone on for longer! You can read Will’s Lockdown article on this famed group at this link: The Short but Brilliant Life of the Inferior Five. We’re blessed this week to have not just their first three try-outs in Showcase, but also several issues of their ongoing series. All together now: ‘We are the Five, the Inferior Five – we are not very hot but we try…’ Full details of all available issues in our catalogue under ‘Showcase’ and ‘Inferior Five’
PICTURED: SHOWCASE #62 FN p £25 1st Inferior Five 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 Spider-Man #15 is a slight exception: it’s a pence printed copy and graded at FN+. Another early Lee/Ditko classic Spidey, with the debut of Kraven the Hunter. Sergei Kravinoff, scion of exiled Russian nobility and the self-determined ‘Greatest Hunter in the World’, set out to entrap Spider-Man to, basically, big up his own reputation, and that slender premise has been parlayed into a surprisingly long career culminating in several major stories, most notoriously 1987’s ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’. Originally just a highly trained and skilled human, Kraven has been retconned as having enhanced strength and longevity to make him more of a match for the super-set, and his moral ambiguity has led to him crossing the line between hero and villain many times. This is a nice flat copy with vibrant colour cover and almost entirely unmarked. There is one small crease below the upper staple of about 3 cm, which only breaks colour for about 0.5 cm at the spine with  a couple of tiny spine ticks above it and a soft spine crease of about 3 cm in that area which does not break colour. There are a couple of very shallow pressure marks around the logo which are barely discernible. Square corners, supple pages a nice off-white to cream, staples tight and firm. With a Kraven movie in the works for 2023, has there ever been a better time to invest in his first appearance? High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #15 FN+ p £1,300

*Marvel: A further selection of Hulk from the Good Doctor Collection, this time from #131 (1st Jim Wilson) to #140 (1st Jarella) complete. Mostly in quite decent condition, this period seems to be less common for Marvel’s Jolly Green Giant. Please see our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: HULK #131 VF £45

*Charlton: Two 68 page Charlton Giants from the 1950s new in this week. Out Of This World #8 has a wonderful cover by Maurice Whitman and two Ditko stories inside (among many others); Unusual Tales #11 has 4 Ditko stories and one by Gene Colan, as well as several others. Both copies have edge wear but no specific faults. Great science fiction, supernatural and fantasy compendiums. 
PICTURED:
OUT OF THIS WORLD #8 VG £63
UNUSUAL TALES #11 VG £58

*Annuals: Four low grade examples of annuals that are less than common, three in our Boys’ Adventure sub-category, and one from TV & Film. The Express Boys’ super Colour Annual has a mix of picture strip stories (inc Jet Morgan and Wulf the Briton), illustrated text stories, features, colour pages and humour; Marvelman Jr has Marvelman’s sidekick in stories, features and puzzles; Miller’s Mystic Bumper Book reprints pre-hero Marvel monsters, mystery and horror tales; Garrison’s Gorillas reprints the full-colour Dell comics adapting the late 1960s TV series inspired by the Dirty Dozen.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
EXPRESS BOYS’ SUPER COLOUR ANNUAL 1958 FA/GD £5 Spine missing
MARVELMAN JR 1963 PR £5 Covers detached; some loose pages
MYSTIC BUMPER BOOK GD £15 Wear and cover creases
GARRISON’S GORILLAS 1970 VG £4

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Famous later following a name change to Cowboy Picture Library, this title started out in 1950 as Cowboy Comics, originally published by Amalgamated until Fleetway took over. It lasted a very respectable 468 issues until 1962. We’ve never had a Cowboy Comics #1 through our hands before, so we’re particularly pleased to present even this low grade example, starring Buck Jones, the Fighting Sherriff, ‘On The Trail Of The Ryders’. Only a Fair copy, with cover detached and taped and a heavy rust stain at the staple with heavy to moderate rust migration. Still, I don’t suppose you’ll get too many chances to own a copy…
PICTURED: COWBOY COMICS #1 FA £30

*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, where the TV show or film pre-dated the book. There’s one helluva lot of fiction written about Dr Who, but we concentrate on the true vintage stuff, the adaptations of the stories of the first seven Doctors, published by Target, lovingly remembered from the days before video, when this was the only way of re-living these classic stories, and still fondly collected today. Our first (of multiple updates) devoted to the Doctor, has stories of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Doctors, as detailed here.
PICTURED:
THE ANDROID INVASION by TERRANCE DICKS Target 1981 3rd UK PB GD/VG £5
THE ANDROIDS OF TARA by TERRANCE DICKS Target 1980 1st UK PB GD £4
THE ARK IN SPACE by IAN MARTER Target 1977 1st UK PB VG £4
THE ARMAGEDDON FACTOR by TERRANCE DICKS Target 1980 1st UK PB VF £6
THE CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS by TERRANCE DICKS Target 1977 1st UK PB VG/FN £4
CASTROVALVA by CHRISTPHER H BIDMEAD Target 1983 1st UK PB FN £5
THE CAVE MONSTERS by MALCOLM HULKE Target 1984 6th UK PB VF £4

Well, all our pre-Christmas orders are filled and all packages now posted. We’re now closing down for the Christmas period, so will not be filling orders or buying collections until 1st January.

You may continue to place orders at any time. If the items in your order are available, they will be reserved for you until we next issue bills/invoices on 1st January.

We will continue to answer emails throughout, but you may have to wait a little longer than usual for a reply.

The next stock updates to our catalogue and this page will be on 31st December. This is also when our next Newsletter will be sent.

In the meantime, have a fab and peaceful Christmas!

*DC: A unique series within the pages of Brave & Bold, one of DC’s famous ‘try-out’ titles. Issues #45-49 featured a curious mixture of sports stories combined with science-fiction, beautifully crafted by Gardner Fox and John Broome and exquisitely illustrated by Carmine Infantino. And there’s a trademark Julius Schwartz gorilla on the cover of #49 to boot!
IN THIS UPDATE: BRAVE & BOLD ALL SOLD
#45 VG- p £11.50
#46 GD p £6.75
#47 GD p £6.75
#48 VG/FN p £16.50
#49 VG/FN p £16.50 (PICTURED)

*Marvel: Lee & Romita were at the height of their creative powers on the Amazing Spider-Man when these two issues were produced. #51 features the first Kingpin storyline (and his first cover appearance) and #56 is the finale of the Dr Octopus quartet that ran from #53 onwards. Classic villains, classic covers, classic Spidey!
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#51 GD/VG £100 Solid copy with some ‘crazing’ marks on the masthead box top and top and bottom right edges. Nice colour and pages. Bottom staple a little rusty and off centrefold.
#56 VG+ p £60 Pence stamped, solid copy with good colour, pages and staples. Some wear at spine; a few soft creases, but only breaking colour in the masthead box.

*Marvel: 1976’s Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #1 marked the second ongoing Spider-Man title published by Marvel, in what people feared might dilute the franchise – if only they knew! Intended originally to focus more on Spidey’s civilian alter ego, it rapidly evolved into an adjunct to, and frequent crossover with, Amazing Spider-Man, founding the practise which was to become industry standard in later decades. This copy of PPSM #1 is a superb NM- cents copy, with only a couple of the tiniest pressure marks at spine that do not break colour. What more could you want?  Listed in our catalogue under ‘Spider-Man, Spectacular’.
PICTURED: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1 NM- £50 SOLD

*Horror 1940-1959: From the Bute Collection this week, nine issues of Crestwood/Prize’s Black Magic. Although the vast majority of this title was published in the 1950s, the series lasted until 1962. We’ve decided to feature all issues of Black Magic in this category for consistency, even though some of them are later than 1959. These nine issues run from 1957 to 1961. The stories inside are very competently executed horror/mystery tales typical of the post-code era. Please consult our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: BLACK MAGIC VOL 8 #4 VG+ £20 SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: Walt Disney’s Weekly commenced on 26th January 1959, renamed from the former Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, itself a continuation of Mickey Mouse Weekly. Strips included Mickey himself, Donald Duck, Peter Pan etc as well as excellent adventure strips such as the cover-featured Zorro. High production values and great colours. This copy of the first issue is solid, but a little foxed with a few small tears. 
PICTURED: WALT DISNEY’S WEEKLY 26th January 1959 (#1) GD/VG £20 SOLD

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: We’re continuing to introduce the new layout for our books categories, with an image for each book. This week, we return to our Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror category to conclude authors/editors beginning with ‘A’. A few anthologies edited by Isaac Asimov, including: Volume 3 of Before the Golden Age, stories from the 1930s; Tomorrow’s Children, stories of children in science fiction settings by some of the genre’s most famous authors; and the Science Fictional Solar System, an intriguing collection of stories about each planet of the solar system and more. Finally, the first Pan Ghost Book, edited by Lady Cynthia Asquith, stories of ghosts of all types, the first paperback edition of this classic volume. Full details in our catalogue.
PICTURED:
EDITED BY ISAAC ASIMOV:
BEFORE THE GOLDEN AGE VOL 3 GD/VG £5 1975 2nd UK PB
TOMORROW’S CHILDREN VG £10 1974 1st UK PB
THE SCIENCE FICTIONAL SOLAR SYSTEM (with others) GD/VG £5 1982 1st UK PB
EDITED BY LADY CYNTHIA ASQUITH:
THE GHOST BOOK VF £15 1970 1st UK PB

*DC: The latest in our Legion of Super-Heroes event is a superb copy of Adventure Comics #300, in which Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes replaced Tales of the Bizarro World as the regular back-up feature to Superboy and starred on the cover. Although the Legion had been around as supporting characters for a few years, it was really here and in the 80 issue run that followed that the lore of the Legion, so beloved by its fans (of which I’m one) really started. This is a truly fabulous high grade cents copy. Vibrant cover colour and gloss, totally unmarked, fresh and supple near white pages, clean staples tight and firm at spine and centrefold, square corners, looks unread and just off the newsstand. The only blemishes are a very faint 1.5 cm crease diagonally down from the lower staple which does not break colour and a couple of tiny pressure pinpoints just to the left of the 12 cents box. You’ll wait a long time to see a better copy of this conservatively graded milestone issue. As a dealer of 30+ years and a Legion fan of 60 years, I’ve never seen a nicer one. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: ADVENTURE COMICS #300 VF+ £600
 

*Marvel: Our first visit to the Good Doctor Collection this week features the first of several cameo appearances of Mary Jane (her face was not shown until #42), as well as the debuts of Professor Smythe and his Spider Slayer, the first incarnation of which was a marvellously fluid Ditko invention. Virtually every issue of Amazing from these early years was a landmark! This mid-grade cents copy is reasonably appealing, with an intact if somewhat worn spine, but bright colours, firm staples and decent off-white to cream pages. Some corner blunting, a faint dust shadow across the very top edge, a little bit of handling wear and a minor crease or two, with only the shorter one breaking colour at bottom right corner.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #25 VG+ £185

*Marvel: We turn now to the early career of the Golden Avenger Iron Man, back when he really was gold. In Tales of Suspense #41, in his third ever appearance, Iron Man encountered Dr Strange, but not the one you’re thinking of. This one was a super-villain who could control electricity with his mind, pre-dating the Master of the Mystic Arts; unsurprisngly, Carl Strange has not reappeared since. Issue #47 featured the debut of a more famous member of Iron Man’s rogues’ gallery, the Melter, who would return many times to plague both Iron Man and the Avengers as a member of the Masters of Evil.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE
#41 FA+ p £115 Pence printed, worn spine with chip out and off both staples leading to staples-sized holes. Cover image unmarked but for faint dust shadow along right edge. Pages attached at centrefold. Tanned edges to interior covers; pages are pretty good. SOLD
#47 GD- p £115 Pence printed, cover and spine worn with small colour-breaking creases. Staples attached throughout. Pages are okay with some wear and foxing at edges. Tanned edges to interior covers. A tired copy. 

*Harvey: Back in the 1940s and 1950s, Linda Turner was the only Black Cat in comics, ‘Hollywood Star and America’s Sweetheart’ turned costumed crime-fighter and judo expert. We have two issues from the Bute Collection this week, the first #19, from the short period when the title was renamed Black Cat Western and had a modern Western tale, and the second #24, complete but for one feature page. Plenty of back-up features in both.
IN THIS UPDATE:
BLACK CAT (WESTERN) #19 VG+ £60 (PICTURED) Nice solid copy with just moderate edge wear; top staple off cover.
BLACK CAT #24 INCOMPLETE £5 Low grade anyway, but missing ‘Fashion Forecasts’ page. SOLD

*Horror 1940-1959: Three Atlas pre-code horror issues this week, two of which have been through the wars, but all containing the superior brand of horror that Atlas purveyed.
IN THIS UPDATE:
ASTONISHING #22 PR £14 Pre-code. Covers detached and separated; several chips out bottom edge.
ASTONISHING #24 VG- £75 (PICTURED) Pre-code. Minor corner creasing and slight spine roll, but solid copy with firm staples, cover gloss and decent creamy pages.
SUSPENSE #7 INCOMPLETE £16 Pre-code. Centrefold out, so 1 story page missing. Otherwise reasonable copy with front cover off staple and staple-sized hole in spine.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: At the beginning of 1977, around the onset of punk music, a comic was launched that captured the zeitgeist of the times, more anarchic and anti-establishment than anything that had come before it in British comics. This update, we present dozens of issues fresh in between #31 and #99 (not a consecutive run). A great period for the title, with the debut of Inferno, the merger with Starlord and the beginning of Brian Bolland’s long association on the title, probably it’s most iconic artist.
PICTURED: 2000 AD #44 VG/FN £12 Christmas issue SOLD

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: We’re firmly in the early 1070s with this week’s release of Love Story Picture Library, the longest running romance picture library from Fleetway, comprising 25 issues in the above number range. The same high standards and look of the series are maintained as we move out of the swinging sixties, with 70s fashion looks beginning to creep in. These new additions average very nice condition, nearly all better than FN, with many VF. Small degree of staple rust only on very few, but most rust-free. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: LOVE STORY PICTURE LIBRARY #1253 VF £7 SOLD

*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, where the TV show or film pre-dated the book. Included are a true vintage Book Of the Film, Cannon the corpulent detective, Captain Scarlet and Danger Man John Drake. See our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: ALL SOLD
BOOK OF THE FILM: WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS GD/VG £5 1947 1st UK PB
CANNON: I’VE GOT YOU COVERED GD £3 1973 1st UK PB
CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS (#1) VG £25 1967 1st UK PB
CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE SILENT SABOTEUR (#2) GD/VG £15 1967 1st UK PB (2 available, same grade and price)
DANGER MAN: HELL FOR TOMORROW GD £10 1965 1st UK PB

*DC: It wasn’t in his first appearance here in Strange Adventures #180 that Buddy Baker gained his super-hero name and costume, but it was here that he got his super-powers and was dubbed ‘The Man With Animal Powers’, in his origin story beautifully illustrated by Carmine Infantino. A lovely copy in new this week, pence stamped with a vibrant, glossy black and white cover background. Staples firm at spine and centrefold and supple white to off-white pages. Only very slight corner blunting, very minor edge wear with just a couple of spine ticks marginally breaking colour. From an original owner collection and new to the market.
PICTURED: STRANGE ADVENTURES #180 FN+ p £240 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. Stan Lee rather controversially decided to feature a drugs plot in Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, a Green Goblin trilogy when Norman Osborn remembers his sinister alter ego. This meant the Comics Code Authority seal was not used on these issues. There’s a whole load of interaction between Peter Parker’s growing cast and a story with a social conscience, culminating in an epic showdown with the Goblin. The art by Kane and Romita don’t hurt none, either.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#96 VF+ £150 Flat and glossy, with only the tiniest handling wear at spine. Square corners, tight, firm staples, supple off-white pages.
#97 VF/NM £225 Almost a perfect copy. Flat, tight and glossy. Supple white to off-white pages. Just a couple of faint, short crease marks at the upper staple (not breaking colour) and a slight, faint tanning to the edges of the inside covers.
#98 VF+ £135 Flat, tight and glossy. Supple white to off-white pages. Tiny wear at corner extremities, very tiny signs of wear visible at spine.

*Marvel: This one-off Spidey special just pre-dated the regular Giant-Size Spider-Man series of the 1970s. Here Spidey comes up against both Morbius and the Man-Wolf, plus extra features. A great copy, flat and firmly-bound with tight staples, great cover gloss and only the tiniest amount of wear. Pages are a supple off-white to cream. There is a slight mis-cut visible at the spine, which is slightly wider at the bottom.
PICTURED: GIANT-SIZE SUPER-HEROES FEATURING SPIDER-MAN #1 VF £75