*Marvel: If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than this 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. This week, three consecutive issues featuring the villainy of the Kingpin. Stan Lee and John Romita at the height of their powers.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#68 VF £135 Fresh copy with brilliant white background cover. Tight and flat with excellent staples and white pages. A couple of faint ticks at spine do not break colour. Tiny bit of wear at bottom right corner. SOLD
#69 VF+ £100 Fresh copy with brilliant colour cover. Tight and flat with excellent staples and white pages; square corners. Tiny signs of wear at spine only. SOLD
#70 VF+ £140 Fresh copy with glossy, colourful cover. Tight and flat with excellent staples and white to off-white pages; square corners. The tiniest signs of wear at spine only. SOLD
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Classic Fantastic Four #51: ‘This Man…This Monster!’
*Marvel: Sandwiched between the Silver Surfer/Galactus epic and the introduction of the Black Panther is the wonderful story that is Fantastic Four #51, fresh from the Good Doctor Collection this week. 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. A nice enough cents copy with a cover unmarked but for a couple of soft vertical creases (one of which faintly breaks colour over the Thing’s figure) and some corner blunting. Minor edge wear, firm staples, off-white pages.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #51 VG+ £50 SOLD
American Update: Spectacular Spider-Man #2-6
*Marvel: Gosh, I can remember when there was only one monthly Spider-Man title. So, the innovation of ‘Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man’ in 1976 was quite an event (sure, the franchise has been diluted down ad infinitum ever since, but back then this seemed quite a fresh idea and not purely down to commercial enterprise). Fresh in this week, we have Spectacular Spider-Man #2-6, nearly all in very high grade, as Spidey comes up against Kraven the Hunter, the Lightmaster, the Vulture, the Hitman and Morbius.
IN THIS UPDATE: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
#2 VF/NM £65 (PICTURED)
#3 VF+ £40 (PICTURED)
#4 NM- £25 SOLD
#5 VF/NM £30
#6 FN/VF £10
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: The Great Lakes Avengers
*Marvel: In the middle of John Byrne’s acclaimed run on West Coast Avengers/Avengers West Coast, a brand new team of ‘Avengers’ came out of left field. In a medium crowded with costumed characters, Byrne was very often able to create a new team that were original, innovative and distinctive (cf Alpha Flight, Next Men). The Great Lakes Avengers had a comedic edge to them but also a great charm, and have gone on to many further appearances in the Marvel Universe. Let’s hear it for Mr Immortal, Flatman, Big Bertha, Doorman and Dinah Soar! A lovely high grade copy, tight and flat with great colour and gloss and only minor handling wear.
PICTURED: WEST COAST AVENGERS #46 VF+ £40
American Update: The Bute Collection: EC’s Moon Girl
*EC: Leading this week’s Bute Collection releases, did you know that before the line of horror and science-fiction comics in the 1950s for which EC are rightly remembered, they produced material in a wide range of genres? Moon Girl was the princess of an isolated tribe of warrior women, and fought evil in her telepathically controlled flying moonship. Her powers derived from a moon rock. Sound a bit like Wonder Woman? Starting out as super-heroic adventures, elements of horror began to creep in as the series progressed (it didn’t progress very far, lasting only six proper issues). In #4 (1948), listed here, we have a vampire story and a costumed villainess called Satana. Created by Bill Woolfolk and Sheldon Moldoff, the series produced a high standard of story and art. Issue #4 is a lower grade, with some small tears and small chips out at spine and cover edges, but nothing too bad. Lower spine has a 3.5 cm split, and there is a small wedge out of the bottom cover which has been taped back in on the inside front. Pages and staples are very reasonable, although the centrefold is off top staple, with the bottom staple coming loose. You don’t see issues of Moon Girl come on to the market very often at all!
PICTURED: MOON GIRL #4 GD £125 SOLD
American Update: The Bute Collection: A Brace of 1950s Blackhawks
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: The Blackhawks, those magnificent seven aviators and adventurers had a long and distinguished career in comics, starting out with Quality in 1941 before being taken over by DC in 1957. From the Bute Collection this week, we join them in 1954 for issues #80 and #81. With WWII long over, the Blackhawks concerned themselves with the cold war, commie threats, diabolical machines and super-villains.
IN THIS UPDATE: BLACKHAWK BOTH SOLD
#80 GD+ £32 (PICTURED)
#81 GD £22
American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: L B Cole Miasma: Blue Bolt Weird Tales #112
*Horror 1940-1959: 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. Star took over the venerable title Blue Bolt in 1949 (previously it had been a classic anthology title starring the titular character, with much work by Simon & Kirby, Everett etc, lasting throughout the war years and beyond). By the time we got to the #112, Blue Bolt himself was long gone and the emphasis of the series had changed to horror, according to the zeitgeist of the time. Indeed, the title was rebranded as Ghostly Weird Stories from #120 onwards. Contents include three stylish horror shorts by Jay Disbrow plus a Torpedoman story from Captain Flight and a jungle story from the same source, both with horror overtones. But it’s the wonderful L B Cole cover for which this issue is prized, showing a monstrous beast erupting from a fiery pit below. A nice copy with a clean cover and bright colours. Some edge wear with tiny creases breaking colour, but a solid spine and very nice pages. There is just a suggestion of staple rust, but this is very slight and does not impair the comic. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BLUE BOLT WEIRD TALES #112 VG £600 SOLD
British Update: 2000 AD #3-10
*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 sees some of the earliest issues of this iconic title, every issue between #3 and #10, back into stock.
IN THIS UPDATE: 2000 AD
#3 FN £40 (PICTURED) (NB no Free Gift)
#4 FN £15
#5 VG £12 SOLD
#6 VG £12
#7 FN/VF £18
#8 FN £15
#9 VG £12
#10 VG/FN £13.50 SOLD
British Update: This Week’s #1: Super-Detective Library with the Saint
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Only the second copy of Super-Detective Library #1 we’ve ever had through our hands. Starring Simon Templar AKA the Saint in ‘The Case of the Contraband People’, this issue certainly got this famous detective series off to a great start. This is a lower grade but serviceable copy, with the covers detached from the content, and perhaps a little dulled, rusty staple and small upper and lower spine splits, but reasonable pages and no other damage.
PICTURED: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY #1 FA £30 SOLD
British Update: Long Hot Summer: Beano Summer Special 1966
*Humour Comics: Surely it’s time for a Long Hot Summer update? And what better than our old friend the Beano, with the third ever purely Beano Summer Special from 1966. All the regulars are here: Lord Snooty, Dennis the Menace, Roger the Dodger, Q-Bikes, Billy Whizz, Biffo the Bear, General Jumbo, Little Plum, Bash Street Kids, Minnie the Minx, the Three Bears and many more, including games and puzzle pages (not completed). A lovely clean copy with bright colours, good staples and a minimum of reading wear along the right cover edge.
PICTURED: BEANO SUMMER SPECIAL 1966 VG/FN £60
British Update: True Life Picture Library 40+ issues new in
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: From the 1960s, over 40 issues of True Life Library (All In Pictures), between #391-395 & #457-500. Released at the heart of ‘Swingin’ London’, the usual nurses, models and actresses are bolstered by somewhat more liberated heroines, including aviatrixes, monarchs and spies – oh my! A surprisingly high volume of adventure stories in this batch. With very accomplished art from mainly European illustrators, these are lovely items, their appeal enhanced by the fact that they are from a newsagent’s reserve stock, never sold or circulated, with white pages, bright covers and relatively little rust in the staple areas, averaging better than Fine. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: TRUE LIFE LIBRARY #489 FN/VF £7
American Update: DC Debuts: The Maid Of Steel: 1st Supergirl in Action Comics #252
*DC: In the May 1959 issue of their flagship title, Action Comics #252, DC introduced another survivor from Krypton, Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El, who called herself Supergirl. She would go on to become a prominent member of the DCU, until killed off in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. Since then, she has appeared in a number of iterations too numerous to go into here. Suffice it to say that Kara remains a firm fan favourite character and one of DC’s mainstays. This is the first copy of her origin story we have had in stock for a very long time. This is the beginning of Supergirl’s regular strip in Action Comics, and there’s also a Congorilla story and a Superman story featuring the first appearance of Metallo; what a landmark issue! It’s a lower to mid-grade copy, pre-distribution so cents of course. The cover image is bright and colourful and the comic presents reasonably well, with firm staples and decent cream coloured pages. Although the central cover image is unmarked, there are signs of reading wear at central right edge in the form of (probably) finger marks leading to smudgy creases which break colour over the tail fins of Supergirl’s rocket (see scan). The other significant flaw is a lower spine split of about 4 cm which extends throughout the pages to lesser degrees. Nevertheless, a good-looking copy of a major key issue which would be beyond a lot of collectors’ budgets if in much higher grade. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: ACTION COMICS #252 GD/VG £1,275
American Update: Get us out from under, Wonder Woman
*DC: Surely the worst lyric of any super-hero TV theme song (are there any good ones?), but I digress. This week, dozens of issues of Wonder Woman added to our catalogue between #147 and #216. Starting in the Kanigher/Andru/Esposito Wonder Woman ‘family’ era, through to plenty of the de-powered Diana Prince secret agent Sekowsky period (a couple of high grade examples shown here), then on to the early 200’s with lots of 100 Page issues. Our first major update to the Amazon’s adventures for some time.
PICTURED: WONDER WOMAN
#188 VF+ £43
#191 VF+ £43
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Ravonna in Avengers #23 & #24
*Marvel: We lead off this week’s selections from the Good Doctor Collection with Avengers #23 and #24, 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. These issues also feature 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, and who has recently debuted in the MCU. A classic two-parter in beautiful condition for your collection.
PICTURED: AVENGERS
#23 VF £500 (below) 1st Ravonna. 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. High resolution images are available on request.
#24 VF £120 (above) A superb cents copy, with great cover colour (white background). Staples tight and firm at spine and centrefold, supple and beautiful off-white pages; sharp corners. Wear is restricted to a miniscule crease at bottom right corner, breaking colour but less than 0.5 cm, and a short soft crease not breaking colour at base of spine.
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Journey Into Mystery with Thor #109: Magneto
*Marvel: Also from the Good Doctor this week, Journey Into Mystery #109, where Thor comes up against the menace of Magneto, with the rest of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants not far behind. Also features a Tales Of Asgard back-up, so a pure Lee & Kirby fest of action and adventure on the sort of grand scale for which they could be relied on. A decent mid-grade cents copy, with staples tight and firm at spine and centrefold and supple off-white pages. Not too much wear; the spine is solid if a little worn and there is some colour breaking creasing across the top edge and top right corner. There are a couple of longer soft creases diagonally across Magneto’s body which slightly break colour, but are not at all too bad.
PICTURED: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #109 VG £130
American Update: Spider-Mania: The Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection: Face It, Tiger… Iconic ‘Reveal’ of Mary Jane Watson in Amazing #42
*Marvel: There are two great lines in Spider-Man history. The first – ‘with great power there must also come — great responsibility!’ was not original to Stan Lee, but as far as we know the second – ‘Face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot!’ is entirely Stan’s own work. Well, we’re not offering you the first this update (fresh out of Amazing Fantasy #15 for now), but we do have the second in the shape of Amazing Spider-man #42, from the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection. If you’re looking for really nice copies of Amazing Spider-Man for your collection, then look no further than this 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. In this issue, the astronaut offspring of J Jonah Jameson gained super-powers and posed a threat to Spider-Man… but let’s be honest, who really cares? Because the Big Deal this time was the revelation, finally, of Mary Jane Watson, the mysterious lady who’d been hovering in the odd panel, her face always obscured, for several previous issues! When Stan Lee and John Romita finally showed us the ‘Full MJ’, it proved to be well worth the wait, with one of the most famous intro lines in the history of comics! This first full appearance of Mary Jane is a gorgeous copy with deep colour covers and a rich purple background. Virtually unblemished, tight and flat with no creasing and great, firmly attached staples. Beautiful white pages and sharp corners. Just the merest signs of wear at top and bottom edges stop this grading higher.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #42 VF £475
American Update: Spider-Mania: The Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection: Amazing #376-400 complete
*Marvel: Also from the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection this week, a run of Amazing Spider-Man from #376-400, with every issue present in high grade. This includes the Amazing chapters of the Maximum Carnage storyline and the 400th Anniversary issue with special overlay cover, as well as a couple of issues with special inserts, foil covers and flip books. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #380 NM- £58
American Update: A small Marvel sweep: Bronze Age and later
*Marvel: A small update to Bronze Age (and beyond) Marvel stocks this week, with the following:
IN THIS UPDATE:
AVNEGERS #246 VF+ £15 1st Maria Rambeau
GHOST RIDER #2 GD- p £20 1st Son Of Satan; off top staple, graffiti top inner cover SOLD
INHUMANS #3 & #4 VF p £10.50 each SOLD
INVADERS #3 & #4 FN p £6.75 each SOLD
STRANGE TALES #177 VF+ p £12.50 Golem SOLD
THOR #279 VG/FN p £10 Jane Foster spotlight flashback SOLD
American Update: The Bute Collection: Atlas Sub-Mariner #33 (1954)
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Another gem from the Bute Collection this week in the shape of Sub-Mariner #33, the first issue of the Atlas series from 1954, carrying on from the Timely series which ended five years earlier. The Atlas revival lasted ten issues, and comprised some of the best work of Namor’s creator Bill Everett, whose art had evolved to its very best by the 1950s. Three Sub-mariner stories this issue: the first re-tells the origin of the Sub-Mariner, with his father and mother, and the third features his American love Betty Dean. Plus there’s a Human Torch story too. Technically, this is a RESTORED copy, inasmuch as there is clear tape all along the spine. The spine and staples look good though so I’m not sure how necessary the tape is. There is a 1.5 cm tear from the top cover edge above the logo, but just relatively minor edge wear with some corner blunting. Pages are a supple off-white to cream. Highly collectable.
PICTURED: SUB-MARINER #33 Apparent GD £380 SOLD
American Update: The Bute Collection: Pre-Code Horror Fest: Menace #8 & #10
*Horror 1940-1959: Menace is one of the shortest-lived of Atlas’s pre-code horror titles, lasting just 11 issues. However, Atlas always put out a good quality of artistry in their horror line, and for Menace they saved some of the best. Many issues included Bill Everett art, and although this week’s two issues from the Bute Collection do not, there are several pieces with an equal artistic talent at work. Less commonly seen than other Atlas horror.
PICTURED: MENACE
#8 VG+ £190 Pre-code. Joe Maneeley, John Romita, Russ Heath (2 stories, with one in ‘3D’) and more. End Of World story. Nice solid copy with deep colour, firm staples, supple off-white pages, only minor wear. Faint vertical crease down the centre (like subscription crease but much less apparent). 4 cm tear up from central bottom cover sealed on inside.
#10 VG £165 Pre-code. Russ Heath, Robert Q Sale, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Sinnott and more. H-Bomb panels. Bright copy with clear, unspoilt cover image. Staples are firm, pages a nice off-white to cream. Very small spine split at base with minor erosion and 1.25 cm split upper spine.
British Update: This Week’s #1: Crack Action with Phantom Lady, Plastic Man & More
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Beneath its rather prosaic but well-executed painted cover, Archer’s Crack Action #1 from the 1950s included in its ‘Big 68 Pages’ (black and white), a wealth of high quality reprints of classic US strips, including two Phantom Lady stories, a Plastic Man, Vooda Jungle Princess, Jo-Jo Congo King (here rebranded as Powaa), two T-Man and more. A great jamboree of features! A nice enough copy with unmarked cover, small upper and lower spine splits and some signs of internal pages loosening at top of spine.
PICTURED: CRACK ACTION #1 GD £25 SOLD
British Update: Put a Tiger in your Tank: 1969
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: I suspect the tag-line betrays my age, but still… Over 30 issues of the long-lived Boys’ weekly Tiger, all from 1969, including the Christmas issue. Throughout its history, Tiger (original home to Roy of the Rovers) always had strong sporting associations and indeed in later decades, virtually became a comic of sport-related strips, but here in 1969, Roy, Johnny Cougar, Football Family Robinson and Skid Solo were joined by such adventure & comedy strips such as Typhoon Tracy, Black Patch the Wonder Horse, Saber King of the Jungle, Custer, the Mighty Smiths, MacTavish & O’Toole and more. A big chunk of the year fresh in, mostly in a lovely FN condition. Full details in our catalogue.
PICTURED: TIGER 27/12/69 VG/FN £7 Christmas issue SOLD
British Update: Around 80 new issues of Combat Picture Library
*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A huge update to pre-decimal issues of Micron’s Combat Picture Library this week, between #294 & #503. Attractive items with glossy colour covers; with prices ranging from £1.25 to £2.50 each, these represent extremely good value.
British Update: Bunty, Debbie, Judy & Mandy Picture Libraries
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: New stock for the above four long running titles, all traditional girls’ picture libraries with stories of the type seen in the parent comics. These ‘done-in-one’ tales, each a satisfying read in itself, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Dozens of issues new in; please see our catalogue for full details.
Books Update: (SF) Impulse: 3 consecutive issues of classic UK science fiction publication
*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: Science Fantasy, with New Worlds, one of the two great pulp-style pubications of British science-fiction, was relaunched in 1966 as Impulse (later SF Impulse). Although Impulse only lasted 12 issues, the standard of content was very high, with many contributors who were already well established and others who would go on to fame. This week, we are delighted to welcome three issues of (SF) Impulse to our catalogue. Issues #9, #10 and #11 serialise Michael Moorcock’s novel ‘The Ice Schooner’, with stories from Brian Aldiss, Thomas Disch, Richard Wilson, Kenneth Bulmer, Judith Merrill, Chris Boyce and others, famously including Keith Roberts, who also drew the excellent covers of #9 and #11, as well as being the de facto editor under Harry Harrison. Highly recommended.
PICTURED: (SF) IMPULSE
#9 VG £6 1966 1st UK PB SOLD
#10 FN £8 1966 1st UK PB SOLD
#11 GD/VG £5 1st UK PB (small lower spine split)
American Update: 2 early 10 cent Flash issues with Kid Flash back-ups.
*DC: In 1960/61, Kid Flash was still a recent phenomenon by the time we got to Flash #116 and #118, and had the back-up feature in both issues. The main event, of course, was Barry Allen himself in science-fiction and mystery with horror overtones lead stories. Great cover on #118 in particular, with the vivid deep blue background illustrative of DC’s superior colour palette. Superb art from Carmine Infantino throughout.
IN THIS UPDATE: FLASH
#116 GD p £32 Off bottom staple, spine and right edge wear; a little grubby but not bad. SOLD
#118 VG+ p £70 (PICTURED) Vivid colour cover. Clean, solid copy with spine wear and some colour-breaking cover creases; nice pages. SOLD
American Update: Camelot 3000 Complete Set – Arthurian Legend Reborn, by Barr and Bolland
*DC: From 1982, DC’s first maxi-series was Mike Barr’s retelling of the Arthurian legend in the far future, where King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table fulfil the ancient prophecy that they would return when England needed them most. In the year 3000, England, and Earth, is under alien attack, but our reincarnated heroes must face three challenges – the invaders, their ancient enemies Mordred and Morgan LeFay, and the, in some cases, confusing new forms they have been reborn into. Intelligent and deftly plotted, the sweeping saga is lushly illustrated by Brian Bolland, whose compositions radiate malice or heroism as the narrative demands. It took a long time to produce all twelve issues – launched in ’82, it finally concluded three years later – but given the quality of Bolland’s art, the protracted schedule was not only unsurprising, but totally worth it. All twelve issues of this controversial but highly acclaimed series are available as a set, almost all NM, with a couple just a tad off that grade.
PICTURED: CAMELOT 3000 #6 NM; COMPLETE SET #1-12 AVERAGING NM £50 SOLD
American Update: Silver Surfer #1 1968
*Marvel: Following his debut in Fantastic Four #48, Norrin Radd, Herald of Galactus, gained popularity as a recurring guest star, and his status was confirmed when Marvel launched the Silver Surfer’s own series in the double-sized format in 1968. This premier issue featured, for the first time, John Buscema’s illustrations on the Surfer, a body of work generally acknowledged to be among his finest, and presented also for the first time a 38 page account of the Surfer’s origins, plus (in the back) a 13 page tale of the Watcher, detailing the reasons behind the Watcher’s oath of non-interference. The first run of the Surfer’s solo series has achieved cult status, with the first seven double-sized issues in particular being keenly sought out. This cents edition is a decent lower graded copy, with a solid spine (just a tiny nick at the base) and strong cover colour with some residual gloss. Page quality is excellent and off-white. Minor corner blunting, with some creasing to the right edge. A long diagonal crease breaks colour, extending from the centre of the bottom edge to the lower part of the logo. The staples are good, but the lower staple has become detached from the first two wraps. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER #1 GD/VG £500 SOLD
American Update: The Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection: Spider-Mania/Slab Happy 2 x CGC 9.6 Amazings
*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. This week, the final slabbed offerings from the collection: Amazing Spider-Man #186 (vs the Chameleon) and #188 (vs Jigsaw). We’ve only scratched the surface of this wonderful collection thus far, with hundreds more to come.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#186 CGC 9.6 NM+ £80 Unrestored blue label, case perfect, white pages.
#188 CGC 9.6 NM+ £95 Unrestored blue label, case perfect, white pages.
American Update: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Morbius in Amazing #101
*Marvel: By his 101st issue, Spider-Man had become temporarily encumbered with six arms, leaving him a true eight-limbed arachnoid hero; but more importantly, he met a foe who was destined to become one of the Marvel Universe’s prime anti-heroes. Following the 1971 relaxation of the Comics Code Authority (which had hitherto banned mention of vampires and werewolves in the wake of the 1950s horror comics scare), the floodgates were opened for all manner of supernatural beings; one of the first was Michael Morbius, tragic scientist who, while not a traditional vampire, gained many vampiric attributes after an experiment gone awry. Among said attributes: enhanced strength, speed, senses… and an uncontrollable craving for human blood. A big hit with the Spider-Man audience, Morbius the Living Vampire made a rapid reappearance in Marvel Team-Up #3, graduating to his own series in Fear thereafter. There have been several Morbius series in the intervening decades, and the mixed reviews of the recent movie do not appear to have dimmed the demand for his debut issue. This is a very nice pence printed issue, tight, flat and glossy, with frim staples, an unmarked cover and decent off-white to cream pages. Just very minor handling wear and corner blunting reduce the grade, albeit to a very respectable one. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #101 VF- p £500
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Fantastic Four #9 – Bankrupt!
*Marvel: Just one visit to the Good Doctor Collection this week. Issue #9 of the Fantastic Four features the eviction of the FF from the Baxter Building as they become bankrupt, and their unexpected debut as movie stars, in one of the more off-beat early adventures! All this and the menace of Sub-Mariner too! A decent pence printed copy, with a good cover image and colour, tight, firm staples and decent off-white pages. There is some chipping at right edge and some colour breaking creases, including a couple of longish, but not severe, vertical ones. Worn, but holds together well and presents reasonably.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #9 VG p £250 SOLD
American Update: The Bute Collection: Pre-Code Horror Fest 2 x EC
*EC: From the Bute Collection, 1 issue each of Haunt Of Fear and Vault Of Horror. Low grade, but high quality.
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
HAUNT OF FEAR #26 FA £80 Pre-code. Ingels, Crandall, Kamen, Davis. Worn copy, off bottom staple, loose top staple. Spine with lots of wear and splits. Edge wear and creasing with corner blunting, but central image okay.
VAULT OF HORROR #39 FA/GD £145 Pre-code. Craig, Crandall, Krigstein, Ingels. Classic woman in bondage/torture cover. Good colour, unimpaired image. Upper and lower spine splits to staple level. Chips out right edge. Tears to back cover and chips out including rear pages (margins only). Pages otherwise okay.
American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts – What The Duck!? – Howard the Duck’s Debut in Fear #19
*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: In the middle of a convoluted cross-dimensional saga such as Steve Gerber, writer of Man-Thing, was fond of, everyone’s second favourite shambling muck monster met a few guest stars from other worlds. One such was Howard the Duck, an irascible humanoid fowl from a plane where anthropomorphic animals were the highest life form. This walk-on character, doubtless intended as a one-off joke at the expense of Disney, was so avidly welcomed by readers that he was brought back from seeming destruction to star in his own acclaimed and award-winning satirical series – which got its accidental springboard in this very issue! A lovely glossy copy with vivid colour, tight and firm staples and supple off-white pages. Just a few non-colour breaking very small spine ticks prevent a higher grade.
PICTURED: FEAR (ADVENTURE INTO) #19 VF £190
British Update: Alan Class Printing Plate Sets Final Phase: Spider-Man, Avengers & More
*Alan Class Reprints For many years now, we’ve been scouring the personal archives of legendary publisher Alan Class (who is still very much with us) and with his full co-operation, releasing for sale sets of the original printing plates that were used to print the covers of his comics from 1959-1989. We have now reached the final phase of these plate set releases, which will last us throughout 2022. These sets are time-consuming to prepare, so our release schedule will be staggered. But the good news is that all the sets we have left are among the best, either featuring a classic Marvel comic reprint, or else a very early fantasy/mystery issue. So, this final phase represents your last opportunity to add one or more of these unique pieces to your collection. Each set 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. Several sets (as noted) have additional historical artefacts such as colour proofs, interior page plates, printers’ photostats etc. (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.) Three new sets this week as follows: ALL SOLD
CREEPY WORLDS #110 £65 Comic FA; Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #59 & #69 inc cover #59, ACG, Charlton. NB Comic has split at base of spine and front and back cover scuffs and tears with small piece front cover missing at spine base.
CREEPY WORLDS #121 £95 Comic FN+; Reprints Avengers #68 & #70 (1st Squadron Sinister), inc cover #69, Atlas. Extra: Colour cover proof (top right quarter torn off)
SECRETS OF THE UNKNOWN #3 £50 Comic FA; Reprints Atlas inc 1 Krigstein
British Update: This Week’s #1: Rocket, the First Space-Age Weekly
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: in 1956, Rocket was launched by News Of the World Publications, although its claim to being the ‘first space-age weekly’ might well have been disputed by Eagle, already going for over six years. Clearly meant to rival its iconic predecessor, the 16 page tabloid featured original strips Captain Falcon, the Seabed Citadel and others alongside American newspaper strip reprints of Flash Gordon, Johnny Hazard & Brick Bradford, plus science fact illustrated articles. Despite its high production values and creative standards, it spluttered and failed after just 32 issues, remaining an interesting footnote in UK science fiction comic history.
PICTURED: ROCKET #1 VG £40 Solid enough bright copy with some relatively minor edge wear and tear. SOLD
American Update: Three Early Justice League of America
*DC: The comics edited by Julius Schwartz for DC in the early 1960s are those that I grew up reading and remain my favourites. Here we have three early Justice League of America issues (#6, #7 & #8) with clever and intelligent stories by Gardner Fox, accomplished art by Mike Sewowsky, juggling a huge cast, with real class added to the covers in the form of Murphy Anderson’s inks. Aliens and gangsters are the main foes in these issues, although Amos Fortune, who would return to plague the JLA many times, made his debut in #6. All in the winning formula where the JLA split up into sub-teams to take on separate missions in each chapter, a format used to great effect in their predecessors the Justice Society. All nice copies and great entertainment.
PICTURED: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA
#6 VG/FN p £95 Pence stamped. Brilliant colour and gloss, good staples, flat with lovely white to off-white pages. Small signs of wear and small colour-breaking creases at edges only.
#7 VG+ p £85 Pence stamped. Brilliant colour and gloss, flat with lovely white to off-white pages. There is a weakness at bottom staple, which is coming loose, but still attached. Minimal wear, with just minor creasing towards bottom which does not break colour.
#8 VG/FN p £95 Pence stamped. Brilliant colour and gloss, good staples, flat with lovely white to off-white pages. Little wear except for a couple of short colour-breaking creases at centre spine, which are flattened out.
American Update: 8 x 10 cents Action Comics
*DC: From the early 1960s, eight issues of Action Comics (before the price went up to 12 cents). Superman was the constant star of this title, but at this time, the new character, his cousin Supergirl, was establishing herself as his back-up (in more ways than one). Plenty of examples of the Superman lore in this sequence: Bizarros, Daily Planet staff, Brainiac, Superman robots and much more. All in nice lower-mid to mid-grade.
IN THIS UPDATE: ACTION COMICS
#258 GD/VG p £40 (PICTURED)
#260 VG+ p £58 (PICTURED)
#263 GD p £29
#269 VG p £47 (PICTURED)
#274 FA/GD p £14.25 (Cover detached)
#275 GD p £18.75 (Off bottom staple)
#278 VG p £38
#282 VG p £38
American Update: Spider-Mania: The Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Amazing #37 & #38
*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. The last two issues drawn by Steve Ditko this week, Amazing Spider-Man #37 & #38. Norman Osborn had in effect been in Amazing Spider-Man before #37 in his Green Goblin guise, but when he first appeared as Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man #37, none of us knew that. This issue also features the menace of the Robot-Master and, for those of you who prize such things, rather unsurprisingly a robot cover. A key issue for someone who would go on to figure even more significantly in the Marvel Universe. And, in Ditko’s final hurrah in #38, Spidey comes up against ‘Just A Guy Named Joe’, a grand old-fashioned slug-fest plotted by Ditko himself.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#37 FN/VF £325 Clean and bright with vibrant colour, tight and firm staples, hardly any corner blunting, lovely off-white to white pages. Flat and supple with just small hints of wear at spine and right edge; no cover markings.
#38 VF- £225 A superb copy, printed without a lower staple, but upper is firm. Bright and glossy, excellent supple off-white to white pages and no cover markings. Small amounts of corner blunting, but only the top of the spine is really affected.
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection. Mighty Marvel Firsts: Strange Tales #126 – Debuts of Dormammu and Clea
*Marvel: In Strange Tales #126, the Torch & Thing team-up still held cover sway, as the ‘hot’ half of the Fantastic Four squared off against the Thinker and the Puppet Master – but let’s be real, the long-term money was always on Doctor Strange, and the Master of the Mystic Arts (capably guided by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko), delivered in abundance this issue, with the first appearances not only of perhaps his greatest nemesis, the deadly Dormammu, but also the mystery woman who would become the love of Strange’s life, Clea. (Who was also Dormammu’s niece. Which would make the atmosphere around the Christmas dinner-table a tad frosty, to say the least.) Anyhow, Clea’s just made her debut in the MCU played by Charlize Theron, but I expect you knew that, didn’t you? The Good Doctor Collection copy of Strange Tales #126 is a very respectable mid-grade cents issue, with strong cover colour and gloss, staples tight at spine and centrefold and excellent off-white pages. Edge and spine wear are minimal, with virtually no colour-breaking creasing, and minor corner blunting, with a tiny chip loose but present at the base of the spine.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #126 VG+ £360 SOLD
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Avengers Annuals #1 & #2 with Debut of Scarlet Centurion
*Marvel: The first two Avengers Annuals (‘King-Size Specials’) from the Good Doctor Collection presented this week. In #1, the Old Avengers team-up with the New Avengers to face a barrage of super-villains led by the Mandarin and in #2, the Old Avengers face off against the New Avengers as a result of the machinations of the Scarlet Centurion, one of the convoluted aspects of Kang, who debuts in this issue. Two cracking extra-lenth tales.
IN THIS UPDATE: AVENGERS ANNUAL
#1 VG+ £23.75 Solid squarebound spine, bright and glossy, diagonal crease (approx 8-10cm) across cover faintly breaks colour. Small scuff at right edge. SOLD
#2 VF £145 (PICTURED) Solid squarebound spine, flat, tight and glossy, lustrous unmarked black background. Tiny suggestion of very minor glue puckering at spine. Excellent copy.
American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Sub-Mariner #36-50 inc. Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Namorita
*Marvel: We kick off our first look at the Sub-Mariner series from the Good Doctor Collection with issues between #36 & #50 (complete). This sequence commences in #36 & #37 with the death of Namor’s love the Lady Dorma and culminates in #50 with the first appearance of his cousin Namorita. Along the way he meets up with the Human Torch, Spider-Man and the Stingray, and squares off against Tiger Shark, Dr. Doom and Modok, among many others. Many issues in this run don’t turn up all that often and the Good Doctor copies are almost all very decent above average examples, sometimes nicer. See our catalogue for full details.
PICTURED: SUB-MARINER #50 FN+ p £100 1st Namorita. Art by Bill Everett. Pence printed. Great colour and some gloss. Solid, firm copy with good staples and nice off-white pages. Very minor edge wear; small 1.5 cm tear at bottom edge.
American Update: X-Men #7, the Return of the Blob
*Marvel: By the time the Blob appeared for his second outing in the nascent X-Men title, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil You-Know-Who’s (as the cover dubbed them), were becoming ever-present, this issue trying to recruit the Blob to their cause. Lots of lovely moments in this Lee/Kirby classic. This copy of X-Men #7 is a reasonable lower-graded cents copy, with an unmarked cover, good tight staples and excellent off-white pages. There is a ragged 3 cm tear at centre right edge with no loss, a colour breaking crease across the bottom right cover corner, a 4 cm lower spine split and a bit of colour fading to the cover.
PICTURED: X-MEN #7 GD+ £200
American Update: Archie Super-Heroes
*Archie: A chunky update to what started out being called the Archie Adventure series, ending up as Mighty Comics in a shameless attempt to cash in on Marvel’s success. Along the way, the world gained two very individual and well-executed super-heroes (the Fly and the Jaguar), a team of mainly revival characters (Mighty Comics Presents, Mighty Crusaders) and one non-Archie hero, the dark and mysterious Shadow here reinvented as a traditional super-hero. Although the Fly came into being as a result of the work of Simon & Kirby, it was (according to this chronicler) when John Rosenberger took over the art duties that the Fly became an excellent comic with cast including the Fly-Girl and a string of nemeses including the Spider, Cat-Girl and many more. It was also Rosenberger who drew nearly every issue of the Jaguar from the beginning, and the beautiful art was adorned with a strong female supporting cast. Unfortunately, when the Fly changed to Fly-Man and Archie to Mighty Comics, the quality plummeted; it might have helped if they had got someone who could actually draw rather than Paul Reinman. Nevertheless, Mighty’s attempt to be Marvel, although laughable, had a kitsch appeal and presented stories quite unlike any you’d see elsewhere. Many issues of all these titles in our current update (see our catalogue) plus the giant one-shot Super-Heroes vs Super-Villains.
PICTURED: JAGUAR (ADVENTURES OF THE) #1 GD+ p £21.25 SOLD
American Update: The Bute Collection: A Timely Intervention: Marvel Mystery Comics #3, the third ‘Marvel’ comic ever published
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: One of the jewels in the crown of the Bute Collection this week. Published in January 1940, Marvel Mystery Comics #3 ties with Daring Mystery Comics #1 as the third ever Timely or Marvel comic (discounting the unpublished movie-theatre giveaway comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly in 1939). The first ever Marvel/Timely comic was Marvel Comics #1 in 1939; the series changed its name to Marvel Mystery Comics with #2 and this is the following issue. As such, this is of great historical significance. The content comprises a Sub-Mariner tale by Bill Everett (featuring the first appearance of Betty Dean), the Angel, the Human Torch, Ka-Zar, American Ace and the Masked Raider.
Please note that is a restored copy. The restoration looks to be by an amateur rather than to a professional standard. The spine and edges have been taped in places on the interior covers, with colour touches at spine and some edges. Some small portions of the front and cover have been replaced by photocopies (all seem to be in corners or edges), and it looks like there has been some staple reinforcement. Several small sealed tears, plus a longer one or two over the logo. Having said that, the comic holds together pretty well, and the interiors are clean and presentable with no defacements. A very rare opportunity to purchase such a rare and significant item. High resolution images are available on request, but there is a good chance someone will order this before we can get those to you.
PICTURED: MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #3 Apparent FA+ £3,000 SOLD
American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: This Magazine Is Haunted #2
*Horror 1940-1959: In our regular pre-code horror feature this week, we present issue #2 of Fawcett’s This Magazine Is Haunted, famous for its horrific covers. Hosted by Dr. Death in a shameless bit of nominative determinism, the series went on to be published by Charlton from #15 onwards. This issue has a great zombie cover, with three gruesome stories within with nazis, rats, spiders, disembodied manifestations etc. There are short upper and lower spine splits, with a small amount of rodent/insect chew at bottom right. A bit of wear and tear, but nice colour covers and a haunting image, as is appropriate.
PICTURED: THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED #2 GD+ £75 SOLD
British Update: This Week’s #1: L Miller’s Zombie
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: In the very early 1960s, Len Miller published four horror titles (Mystic, Spellbound, Voodoo and Zombie) that reprinted mainly horror material from various US publishers (some later issues reprinted Marvel super-heroes). A bit of a prototype for the Alan Class format which was to follow. Zombie was one of the shortest runs (9 issues, although a #6 has yet to be recorded) and features in our #1 slot this week.
PICTURED: ZOMBIE #1 GD/VG £30
British Update: Long Hot Summer: Eagle Summer Specials (1st series)
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: There were only two Summer Specials from the first series of the famous Eagle title. The first, in 1962 was called ‘Holiday Extra’ and the second, in 1966 was in fact a ‘Summer Special’. The first features two complete Dan Dare stories (with some colour pages) plus plenty of other picture strips and features including the famous cutaways. Dan also appeared in the second, alongside Eagle regulars Iron Man, Heros the Spartan, Blackbow the Cheyenne and many other features and stories. Both nice, unmarked, flat condition; staples a little loose on 1962, but still quite firm.
PICTURED: BOTH SOLD
EAGLE HOLIDAY EXTRA 1962 VG/FN £60
EAGLE SUMMER SPECIAL 1966 FN £70
British Update: Love Story Picture Library: 25 issues from #576-600 – a Swingin’ Sixties Selection
*Girls’ Picture Libraries: A further run of Love Story Picture Library this week from #576 to #600 from the mid-sixties, featuring every consecutive issue in that sequence. These are a delight, with lots of Carnaby Street influenced covers and the occasional exotic locale. Bright, upbeat and hugely enjoyable, with colourful eye-catching covers and often striking interior art. These new additions average really nice condition, many VF, some only flawed by a small degree of staple rust, but many rust-free. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: LOVE STORY PICTURE LIBRARY #599 VF £7
American Update: Crisis On Infinite Earths – Complete 12 issue set, with deaths of Supergirl, Flash and scores more
*DC: In 1985, for the company’s 50th Anniversary, DC released Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 12-part series in which all the multiple parallel Earths of the DCU, long established ever since ‘Flash of Two Worlds’, faced annihilation, in an attempt to reconcile the conflicting alternate realities, and result in a more comprehensible DC Universe. Marv Wolfman and George Perez delivered a truly epic story, sending shockwaves through fandom as veteran characters perished, mostly permanently. (Well, until reality rebooted again, but in fairness that was decades later…) For all its flawed legacy (it was unevenly followed up by other creators, resulting in a ‘streamlined’ DCU that was actually more confusing, and it set the precedent for sprawling cosmic crossovers to become a tedious annual occurrence), COIE was an epochal event in the evolution of comics. Marvel’s Secret Wars may have done it first – but Crisis did it with style, expertise and a genuine air of consequence. In memory of the late, great George Perez. This is being sold only as a complete set of 12, averaging VF/NM.
PICTURED: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7 VF/NM; COMPLETE SET #1-12 AV. VF/NM £160 SOLD
American Update: A Small Batch of 10 cents DCs
*DC: A bit of a shabby batch of 10 cents DCs new in this week, most have seen better days, but none are common.
IN THIS UPDATE:
ADVENTURE COMICS #211 FA £18.75 Nice cover with Superboy dreaming of Lois and Lana in the future. Water rippling and staining.
BRAVE & BOLD #7 PR £11 Silent Knight, Robin Hood, Viking Price. Chunks out of cover, spine a wreck, brittle, coupons out, but stories complete. We don’t have a grade lower than Poor, but…
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #5 PR p £25 1st Dr Destiny. Not too bad, except the covers are detached and separated.
REX THE WONDER DOG, ADVENTURES OF #21 VG £36 (PiCTURED) Also features Detective Chimp. Reasonable mid-grade copy of seldom seen series.
TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #65 VG p £25 Space Ranger. Decent, solid copy.