*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Early issues of Commando remain both tough to get and in high demand, so we’re glad to have five early (ish) examples fresh into stock this week as follows:
IN THIS UPDATE: COMMANDO
ALL SOLD
#59 (PICTURED) FN £25
#60 (PICTURED) VG/FN £22.50
#93 VG (PICTURED) VG £20
#105 VG £15
#115 VG/FN £17.50

Over the years, we have been privileged to handle and market many prestige collections of note, such as the Alan Class Private Collection, the Whitko Collection, the Square Mile Collection and, still ongoing, the Good Doctor Collection and the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection.

We are now delighted to announce the impending Bute Collection.

Named after a favourite place of the owner (Bute is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland), this is the personal reference collection of a working comics artist and author who wishes to remain anonymous. Derived from a multiplicity of sources over decades, but characterised by an astonishing depth, breadth and diversity of American and British items from the 1930s onwards, including many seldom seen on these shores, in a variety of grades.

The overall collection comprises literally tens of thousands of comics, and our job is to sort through them and extract the vintage gems. They are not recorded or ordered, so the journey for us will be just as exciting as it is for you as we’re able to reveal these treasures. We’ve already seen enough to know it will be quite an experience! Special thanks to Will Morgan here for services above and beyond.  

Due to the particular circumstances surrounding the owner of this collection, we can only carry out the sorting on an infrequent and incremental basis, and we expect the whole job to last several years. We will be branding comics from the Bute Collection with special labels and a logo on our What’s New page. And we’ll be starting next week with the first releases. If you’re a lover of vintage comics, you’ll enjoy the ride, and you’re certain to find many comics you’d love to add to your collection. 

*DC: A couple of dozen Silver Age Superboy added to our catalogue this week in the above number range, spanning the 10 cent to 12 cent price change. Includes many issues previously missing from our listings. The Smallville adventures of Superman as a boy are both charming and wacky, featuring his family, friends and foes and, particularly, Krypto the Super-Dog, of course. Full details as always in our catalogue.

*Marvel: In Tales Of Suspense #58, Iron Man and Captain America were ‘in mortal combat’ (as a result of the machinations of Kraven the Hunter and the Chameleon, who had hopped over from Amazing Spider-Man). And in #59, Cap joined the title with the beginning of his own series, and an encounter with a gang of mobsters in a story which also featured the introduction of Jarvis, the Avengers butler. Iron Man meanwhile comes up against the Black Knight. With artwork by Don Heck and Jack Kirby, and guest shots from their fellow Assemblers, these are almost like reading early issues of the Avengers.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE
#58 VG- p £135 Pence printed, structurally sound but for a little fragility at front top edge with tiny chip out (similar at back but unaligned). Good spine, tight staples, small signs of wear at edges. Unspoilt cover image. Inner covers are moderately tanned, turning to heavy at edges, but not brittle. Pages are a decent off-white. Faint hint of a subscription crease down top half of front cover barely shows and only breaks colour for a couple of cms into logo.
#59 GD/VG p £115 Pence stamped and structurally sound with good solid spine, tight staples and only minor edge wear. Cover has good colour and some gloss. Nice off-white to cream pages. The comic is marred by a long dust shadow down the right hand edge (see scan). Inner covers are heavily tanned at edges, but not brittle. 

*Marvel: These days, when the roster of the Avengers seems to change every other week, it’s refreshing to remember the first big membership shake-up, in the 16th issue of the Avengers. Yes, the team had gained and lost members before – the Hulk leaving and Captain America joining – but this was a radical event as the remaining four founding Avengers stepped down to leave the team in the hands of Cap – only recently returned from frozen limbo – and three former super-villains, Quicksilver, Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch! The gamble played off, and the ‘Cap’s Kookie Quartet’ years are fondly remembered by most veteran readers. You can read more about this period in Will’s lockdown article here. This Good Doctor copy is mid-grade, pence stamped, with a few minor colour breaking creases on the cover, mostly above the logo, but strong cover colour and gloss, staples tight at spine and centrefold and supple white to off-white pages. Minor edge wear and corner blunting. The deep purple cover background is really vibrant.
PICTURED: AVENGERS #16 VG/FN p £150 SOLD

*Marvel: Continuing our new Steranko A Go-Go feature showcasing the Silver Age Marvel super-hero work of Jim Steranko, one of our favourite artists and one of the most innovative. His storytelling, both words and pictures, sums up the spirit of the late 1960s, and his all too brief body of work has always left his fans clamouring for more. Although Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD constituted his main body of work, he did dip a toe into the water of other titles, including three issues of Captain America: #110, #111 and #113. We have the first two of these in this update. #110 is a landmark issue; Rick Jones takes on the Bucky identity and teams up with Cap against the Hulk. Marvel’s movie star villainess Madame Hydra makes her debut. And I don’t think I’ve ever since the fury of the Hulk so vividly depicted. The story continues in #111.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN AMERICA BOTH SOLD
#110 VG+ p £110 Pence stamped; great cover gloss and colour. White to off-white pages, good staples. Some edge wear and corner blunting, but superb cover image.
#111 GD/VG p £25 Pence stamped, a bit tired and dingy. Staples and pages are okay, minor creasing and corner blunting.

*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.) Just one set this week, but it’s a rather special one. The run of Creepy Worlds reprinting early Fantastic Four issues are particularly prized.
CREEPY WORLDS #37 £225 Comic FA; cover (fairly cleanly) detached; much wear and tear and creasing; dog-eared. Reprints Fantastic Four #6 inc cover, Charlton, Atlas (1 Ditko, 1 Wood). Extra: Colour cover proof (torn and stained). SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Small updates to early-ish issues of two of Fleetway’s big three this week, with four issues of Air Ace (#15, #29, #57 & #108) and seven of Battle (#22, #45, #61, #102, #164, #165 & #168). Full details as always in our catalogue. 

*DC: In his issues of Justice League of America, author Gardner Fox often used a science fiction or fantasy setting, influenced no doubt by his novels in those genres. This gave many of the issues a unique flavour beyond that of standard super-heroics. #4 (1961) is no exception, with adventure on alien worlds where Green Arrow becomes the first hero to join the team since its inception. Beneath a classic cover from Murphy Anderson (his run of covers on this title is a joy to behold), Mike Sekowsky shows his versatility, handling the wide cast of characters with flair and distinction. This is a very nice pence stamped copy, with a small arrival date in pen at the top of the cover diamond, but no other marks and strong, vivid colour. Moderate spine and edge wear, with tiny bits of colour break only. Excellent off-white pages. Printed without a lower staple; upper is tight and firmly attached.
PICTURED: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4 VG+ p £125 SOLD

*Marvel: This week’s first visit to Spider-Mania ticks all the boxes. Amazing Spider-Man #25, from the high grade Totally Amazing Spider-Man collection, is a CGC 8.0 (VF) cents copy, unrestored blue label, perfect case, off-white to white pages. It 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! 
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #25 CGC 8.0 VF £650

*Marvel: We kick off a new feature this week showcasing the Silver Age Marvel super-hero work of Jim Steranko, one of our favourite artists and one of the most innovative. His storytelling, both words and pictures, sums up the spirit of the late 1960s, and his all too brief body of work has always left his fans clamouring for more. We turn first of all to the Good Doctor Collection for the first seven issues of Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, which Steranko very much made his own when taking it over a couple of years earlier in Strange Tales, before the series acquired its own title in 1968. In my opinion, these seven covers (and the interior art he did for #1-3 & #5) constitute his finest work. All the Good Doctor copies are superior grades and have strong visual appeal without significant defects. More Steranko coming soon!
PICTURED: NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD
#1 VF- p £125 SOLD
#2 VF p £55
#3 FN- p £25 SOLD
#4 FN+ p £90 SOLD
#5 VF £65 SOLD
#6 FN p £35 SOLD
#7 FN p £30 SOLD

*Marvel: Well, here it is, the very first Star Wars comic from 1977. The 1970s Marvel Comics series of Star Wars isn’t commonplace in the UK, many of the issues having been completely non-distributed in Britain, and the rest having only low circulation here in the Old Country. Adapting the beginning of famous first movie courtesy of Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin, the continuing popularity of the franchise has seen the prices soar on this issue in recent years. This flat, glossy copy of #1 presents well, with firm tight staples, sharp corners and excellent off-white pages. Wear is restricted to a few very short, minor stress marks at the spine, which do not break the black colour background. A lovely 30 cent copy of the first printing.
PICTURED: STAR WARS #1 VF+ £235 SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Two anthology titles this week. First up, from Fawcettt, Master Comics #128 (1952), featuring Captain Marvel Jr, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, Western hero Tom Mix and others. Secondly, from Fiction House, Wings #107 (1949), one of the later issues with a plucky aviatrix cover, featuring Captain Wings, Suicide Smith, the Ghost Squadron and others.
PICTURED:
MASTER COMICS #128 FN- £49 Nice solid copy with Danish price stamped on cover.
WINGS COMICS #107 FA £10 Okay copy except for insect damage throughout bottom margin and on back cover.

*Marvel UK: In 1976, Marvel UK’s first attempt to generate a British-based super-hero was placed into the hands of Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe, whose comic-opera interpretation of the UK has become a source of hilarity for generations. But after a shaky start, CB became inextricably linked with the mainstream Marvel Universe, not least because of his psychic sister, Betsy, who – years later and after many, many changes – turned Japanese and became the X-Men’s scantily-clad ninja mind-warrior Psylocke. As you do. This is Betsy’s first appearance in Captain Britain Weekly #8, a copy in VG/FN condition, rather decent considering the flimsy stock of the Marvel UK weeklies, with no creases or marks, tight with excellent, firmly attached staples and flat with just a suggestion of a slight curl at the spine. The puzzle pages have been completed, but in faint pencil only. Nice white to off-white pages and sharp corners.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN BRITAIN #8 VG/FN £175 SOLD

*Boy’s Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Six more classics from the famous Super-Detective Picture Library series this week, many starring female detective Lesley Shane, but also with a tale by Edgar Wallace and more. From an original owner collection, the condition on these is very consistent.
PICTURED: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY
#24 VG £15 Lesley Shane: The Phantom Of Dracos Island
#25 VG/FN £17.50 Diamonds To Burn
#26 VG/FN £17.50 Lesley Shane: The Phantom Of The Flying Fort
#27 VG/FN £17.50 Lesley Shane: Jungle Manhunt
#30 VG/FN £17.50 The Fatal Feather with Edgar Wallace’s Three Just Men
#32 VG/FN £17.50 Lesley Shane: The Case Of The Secret Archer

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Just a handful of new items in this category this week, the star of which is Schoolgirls’ Picture Library #6. The remainder all have felt tip pen prices in circles on the covers: the lesser seen Dream (#20), Picture Romances (#566 & #567) & Star Love Stories (#341).
PICTURED: SCHOOLGIRLS’ PICTURE LIBRARY #6 FA/GD £17.50

*DC: An update to our stocks of the Emerald Gladiator, mostly towards the lower end of the grading spectrum, between #26 and #75, including two Star Sapphire appearances (#26 and #41), 1st Black Hand (#29), 1st Katma Tui (#30) and Sinestro clash (#52). See our catalogue for full details.

*Marvel: From the high grade Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection this week, a lovely copy of Amazing Spider-Man #34, in which Spidey faces off against Kraven the Hunter for the second time. Beneath a dynamic Steve Ditko cover which just screams action and movement, Stan and Steve are both at the height of their powers portraying this tale of pathos, irony and adventure. Typical of this collection, this cents copy is beautiful, with a crisp white background cover, virtually no corner blunting, staples tight at spine and centrefold, no creasing and virtually no wear. The pages are off-white and of great quality. Flat, tight, glossy, reflective and delightful. The only slight snagette is a small stamped ’25’, faintly showing though the webbing above the logo close to the masthead, but this is quite tough to spot.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #34 VF £340

*Marvel: Also from the Good Doctor this week, three highly collectable issues of Marvel’s flagship title, the Fantastic Four. In #11, a two story issue, there’s ‘A Day In The Life’ story plus the FF meet the Impossible Man in his first appearance. #13 features not only the debut of the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, but also the first appearance of the Watcher. In #14, the FF come up against the Sub-Mariner one more time, also featuring the Puppet Master. 
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR ALL SOLD
#11 GD+ £140 Vivid and rich colour cover, staples a little loose at spine but firmly attached at centre, nice off-white pages. Moderate spine wear, minimal edge wear. 2 cm tear at right edge below issue number. Faint mug ring centre cover.
#13 FA/GD p £140 Pence printed. Book shop stamps, some cover staining. Off both staples.
#14 GD/VG p £100 Pence printed. Nice unspoilt cover image with some corner blunting; a little tired. Reasonable staples, pretty well attached. Pages are off-whitish, with margin chip out of splash page.

*Marvel: Not a lot of people know this: Mar-Vell, agent of the Kree Empire, began his career as a copyright-saving device when another 1960s publisher put out a ‘Captain Marvel’ comic which appeared to threaten the entire Marvel trademark. A new character was rapidly created, and after test appearances in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 and #13, launched into his own magazine in 1968, the year of the great Marvel expansion. In the series’ 62 issues, the character went through a lot of changes, reflected in this selection between #7 and #43, including #34 by Jim Starlin (FN p £20), which featured the debut of Nitro and is the issue in which Captain M. contracts the cancer which eventually kills him. Please consult our catalogue for full details. 

*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, details as follows:
ASTOUNDING #5  £50 Comic VG;  Reprints Charlton, 1 Ditko story, 1 Captain Midnight
ASTOUNDING #81 £55 Comic FA/GD ; Reprints Daredevil #59 inc cover,  ACG. Extra: Colour cover proof (grubby and torn, with chip out at bottom) SOLD
CREEPY WORLDS #43 £60 Comic VG-; Reprints Ant-Man story from Tales To Astonish #42 inc cover, Atlas. SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: In our #1 slot this week, the first issue of Marvel’s UK version of Star Wars Weekly, complete with Free Gift: a press-out and assemble model of an X-Fighter. The comic is in pretty good shape, with just minor spine and handling wear. The unused gift is still attached to its backing sheet, except that the top piece has come cleanly loose, but is still present. 
PICTURED: STAR WARS #1 FN/VF WITH FREE GIFT FN £100

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: A run of Love Story Library this week from #500 to #521 from 1964, featuring every issue in that sequence. These are a delight, with lots of Carnaby Street influenced covers and outlandish storylines including perky young witches, creepy Christmasses, go-go girls and other groovy chicks. Bright, upbeat and hugely enjoyable, with colourful eye-catching covers and often striking interior art. These new additions average GD/VG to FN, only flawed by a degree of staple rust, and would otherwise grade a full grade higher than stated. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: LOVE STORY LIBRARY #506 GD/VG £3.50

*DC: Our Legion of Super-Heroes feature is back this week as we present the Legion’s third appearance in the Supergirl story in Action Comics #267, where the Maid of Steel not only meets the three Legion founders and attempts to join the group, but also encounters the first three Legionnaires to appear after the three founders: Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy and Invisible Kid. Did Supergirl make it on to the team? You’ll have to read this classic tale to find out. A lower-graded pence-stamped copy with much spine wear and colour-breaking cover creasing, but reasonably bright with nice colour, good tight staples and excellent white to off-white pages.
PICTURED: ACTION COMICS #267 GD+ p £65

*Marvel: The Captain America half of Tales of Suspense #75 introduced not one, but two, characters who were to factor largely in the life of the Star-Spangled Avenger. One was Batroc the Leaper, the savate-stomping stereotype who has unexpectedly kick-boxed his way into the hearts of fandom, who know him with affectionate derision as ‘Batroc Zee Leapair’; the other was Sharon Carter, a.k.a. Agent 13 of SHIELD, in this story a nameless young woman whose innocent appearance conceals a deadly skill set – and who became the second love of Cap’s life. Superficially, a decent pence printed copy, flat with little wear, no creasing, staples tight at spine and centrefold and supple creamy pages. The inside front and back covers are moderately tanned (but not brittle) just around the edges, and this shows to a small degree along the top and right edge of the front cover.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE #75 VG p £70