*Girls’ Picture Libraries: In 1963, Micron (publishers of Combat Picture Library, among many others) entered the schoolgirl market with Schoolgirls’ Adventure Library, which ran for a very respectable 63 issues to 1965. Here we have the very first issue: ‘Penny, Pop-Star Pupil’, catching the zeitgeist of the day. A decent enough copy, with some spine roll and edge and corner wear, and a small scuff over the story title, but solid and integral.
PICTURED: SCHOOLGIRLS’ ADVENTURE LIBRARY #1 GD/VG £30

*DC: Lois Lane has had many mad moments – wacky bodily transformations, marrying random aliens/robots/villains, and convoluted and extreme schemes to entrap the Man of Steel into matrimony – but one of the maddest was her 106th issue – and the thing is, the creators weren’t even trying for the crazy! By this point, the writers were trying to make Lois more socially relevant, so she started embracing ‘issues’, and the issue here was racial tension. Now, younger readers won’t recall that in 1970, there was a controversial and sexually explicit film on release called ‘I Am Curious (Yellow)’ – writer Bob Kanigher, having apparently heard the title without grasping the context, stole this for the story’s title, ‘I Am Curious (Black)’, thereby bewildering, disappointing and offending multiple factions at once. Lois, having become suddenly aware of racial disparity – (precisely zero black people having appeared in her book until this point) uses Kryptonian ‘Transformoflux-Mold’ technology to turn herself into a black woman, and investigates Metropolis’ ‘Little Africa’ ghetto – from the inside! To be fair, the intentions were benign, and there are actually a couple of good points and good lines buried in there, but the overwhelming ham-fisted and cringe-making patronage of the issue has made it a bit of a cult item among connoisseurs of bad comics. This mid-grade pence-stamped copy has great colour cover and gloss, nice pages and little wear with two notable exceptions: it’s off top staple (although the centrefold is firmly attached), and the edges of the bottom right cover corner are a little crumpled with multiple colour-breaking creases  A… classic of its kind?
PICTURED: LOIS LANE #106 VG p £100 SOLD

*Marvel: One of the highlights of the Good Doctor Collection leads off our Marvel updates for this week. With the fifth issue of the flagship title of the Marvel Universe, the FF met the Big Bad: Victor Von Doom, Monarch of Latveria, a scientific genius who had to hide his disfigured features behind a metal mask (and went in for a whole suit of armour to boot). Doom started out here, and went on to become not only the FF’s arch-nemesis, but arguably the major villain of the entire MU. This low grade cents copy presents reasonably well, with a largely unspoilt cover with good colour, staples attached at spine and top centrefold (off bottom centrefold) and decent off-white to creamy pages. The spine is worn with colour-breaking nicks becoming tiny holes, and there are very small and unobtrusive pieces of tape at top, middle and bottom spine. Edge wear along the bottom and right edges with small colour-breaking creases. Small sealed tear middle right edge sealed with tape on inside cover, and what I assume is the previous owner’s name in (small) pen close to the right edge. There is a small corner off upper left back cover and a small stain lower left back cover. The same name (plus one other) appears in biro in the upper margin of the splash page. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #5 GD- £4,450

*Marvel: X-Men #5 marked the very swift return of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (now, there’s a slick bit of nominative determinism for you), following their debut in the previous issue. The Scarlet Witch however was still suffering from the same bout of colour blindness that afflicted her on the cover of #4, where she was also dressed in emerald. You’d have thought that the clue was in her name… Anyway, a merry romp ensues between Prof X’s mutant band and Magneto’s misfits. This is a lower-graded cents copy, with a couple of small chips out of the spine and edges, and a fair amount of both colour breaking and non-colour breaking creasing, but the colours are reasonably bright, the staples firm at spine and centrefold and the cover image unmarked. Pages are a reasonable creamy colour.
PICTURED: X-MEN #5 GD £165 SOLD

*Marvel: We turn again this week to the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection for our dose of Spider-Mania. The TASM Collection is devoted exclusively to Amazing Spider-Man and covers almost every issue of Amazing from as early as #12 right up to around #800, which we are working through and releasing as quickly as we can. The notable feature of the TASM Collection is that all issues are high grade, averaging VF/VF+. In Amazing Spider-Man #24, Spidey is again threatened by the master of illusion and trickery Mysterio, in a tale of madness and hallucination. A lovely cents copy with great cover colour and gloss, sharp corners, tight firm staples and off-white to white pages. Just the slightest wear along the bottom edge with a slight nick precludes an even higher grade.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #24 VF £350 SOLD

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: The US Planet Comics is probably the most famous and iconic science-fiction comic from the 1940s and 1950s. In the early 1960s, the UK Atlas publishers produced the quarterly Planet Stories, reprinting material from Planet Comics in crisp black and white within original UK colour covers. Strips such as Star Pirate, Auro Lord of Jupiter, Mysta of the Moon, Gale Allen and many more reached a whole new audience. The companion title Red Comet, with much the same idea, is rarer still. We have 5 Planet and 1 Red Comet fresh in this week in lovely condition, as detailed below:
PICTURED: PLANET STORIES ALL SOLD
#2 FN/VF £25
#3 FN £20
#4 FN/VF £25
#6 FN/VF £25
#9 FN £20
RED COMET #5 FN £25 SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: A smallish update for one of Fleetway’s Big Three war titles, War Picture Library, with about 20 issues added between #8 all the way up to #1631, including many previously missing from our catalogue.
PICTURED: WAR PICTURE LIBRARY #8 GD £12

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: After 400+ issues of Picture Romance Library, Pearson’s hung up their publishing spurs and passed the reins to Newnes, who, following on the numbering, continued for a further 100+ issues into the late 1960s, with a slight name change from Picture Romance Library to Picture Romances. We’ve added about 20 Newnes issues to our catalogue this week between #442 and #544. After Newnes flurry, Fleetway took over, but that’s a story for another update…
PICTURED: PICTURE ROMANCES #441 VF £6

*DC: Three of the earliest distributed in the UK issues of Batman, when the title was full of Batman family lore, aliens and monsters, in those glorious wacky years before the ‘new look’. #128 has aliens and Kathy (Batwoman) Kane, #129 Batwoman again and the origin of Robin retold, #131 has Ace the Bat-Hound and the first ‘imaginary’ story penned by Alfred portraying the second Batman & Robin team, a grown Dick Grayson as Batman and the son of Bruce & Kathy as Robin. Iconic stuff.
PICTURED: BATMAN
#128 GD p £40 Some handling wear and creasing, but not too bad. SOLD
#129 GD/VG p £75 Spine and edge wear, light subscription crease, colourful and glossy with good staples.
#131 VG+ p £75 A sound copy that presents well, with just minor edge wear. Good pages, nice staples. SOLD

*Marvel: After a long hiatus in reprint limbo, the X-Men, with a new international line-up, made a spectacular return in Giant-Size X-Men #1, and #94 of the ongoing X-Men title marked the return to all-new stories. Scripter Len Wein handed over to Chris Claremont, and Dave Cockrum’s superb illustrations continued to impress. This issue is notoriously hard to find in the UK, being the first New X-Men in the previously reprint title, and its scarcity is compounded here in the Old Country by the fact that it wasn’t distributed in the UK at all (the distributors in their wisdom bringing in Tomb of Parsnips #47 or somesuch instead, because all of those ‘Yankee Horror Comics’ are alike, right?). Our first copy in for a few years is a decent mid-grade cents copy (there are no pence copies, of course), with a nice glossy cover, supple off-white pages and good staples tight at spine and centrefold. There are very small colour breaking creases at top edge, plus across upper and lower right cover corners, and centrefold. Spine wear and corner blunting is minimal, with additional soft and non-colour breaking creasing slightly further in at the top corner. A copy that presents well. 
PICTURED: X-MEN #94 VG+ £400 SOLD

*Marvel: Also from the Good Doctor Collection this week, Daredevil #4, in which DD met the Purple Man, a.k.a. Killgrave, who was destined to become a major thorn in the side of the Marvel Universe in general. Structurally an outstanding cents copy, if lacking a little freshness, but with a totally unmarked cover, flat and tight with great staples firmly attached, lovely supple off-white to white pages, and virtually no wear beyond minimal corner blunting, and no creases. 
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL #4 VF- £385 SOLD

*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. This is a low grade copy which, judging from the problems with it, has been tied in a string bundle at some point in its life. Apart from spine and right edge wear, the bottom edge had an indentation of binding, while the top edge has a 3 cm central tear which goes right through the comic. Nevertheless, good cover gloss maintained and decent tight staples. 
PICTURED: CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 GD- £25

*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 decent shape. #1 is unmarked, puzzle page not done, slight blunting at top left corner and slight grubbiness to back cover. #2, also with puzzle page untouched, is in very similar condition with a non-colour breaking crease vertical near the spine.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN BRITAIN
#1 VG £60
#2 VG £30 SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Quite a coup for us this as we present issues #3 to #20 of Bunty (just missing #5) from her inaugural year of 1958. A mixture of grades, some nice, some not so nice. Includes #12, the Easter issue. Strips that were there in the beginning of this most venerable and longest-lived Girls’ comic included cover star Bunty herself, Pocahontas, The Girl Of The Islands, Toots, the Dancing Life of Moira Kent, Parachute Nurse, Orphan Of the Circus, Molly In Lonely Wood and, of course, the ever-present Four Marys. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: BUNTY #12 GD/VG £25 Easter issue

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Account Number: 61212463
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*DC: 7 early issues of Lois Lane’s own title fresh in this week between #6 and #25. Not that there was a recurring theme or anything like that, but in at least three of these, Lois manages to marry Superman, one way or another!
IN THIS UPDATE: LOIS LANE
#6 GD+ £39 Lois Lane, Convict
#8 GD £26 The Ugly Superman
#10 VG- £45 (PICTURED) Baby Lois Lane; previous owner’s name and date (small) written in biro above logo.
#15 GD/VG p £20.75 The Super-Family Of Steel
#19 GD/VG £23 Mr & Mrs Clark (Superman) Kent
#22 VG- p £17.75 Lois Lane’s X-Ray Vision; off top staple
#25 VG p £20.50 Superman & Lois Lane, Newlyweds

*Marvel: One of the later breakout characters of Marvel, Frank Castle, aka bereaved urban vigilante the Punisher, became one of the company’s super-stars in the 1990s, but had spent most of the previous two decades ‘bubbling under’ as a guest-starring anti-hero. His media presence – and commercial appeal – has been heightened by numerous film and TV appearances. The Punisher’s first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129, February 1974, is particularly rare in the UK, where, owing to the presence of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, the US title was embargoed for distribution for several years. This is a cents copy (there are no pence copies, of course), from our prestigious Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection, in lovely condition, with a glossy, bright colour unmarked cover, staples firm at spine and centrefold, supple white to off-white pages and sharp corners, with only the barest signs of wear or handling marks. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #129 VF+ £2,500

*Marvel: Our first visit to the Good Doctor Collection this week features the debut of Ka-Zar, strongly tipped to appear in a forthcoming X-Men film set in the Savage Land. Apart from a shared name and attribute of being ‘Lord of the Jungle’, there was little similarity between the Ka-Zar of Marvel’s Golden Age and the character introduced in X-Men #10. Unlike his predecessor, this Ka-Zar ruled over the Savage Land and had Zabu, a big pussycat of a sabre-tooth, as his companion. Ka-Zar has, of course, gone on to become a fixture of the Marvel Universe, with several of his own series under his belt; the long association of Marvel’s Merry Mutants with the Savage Land also started right here. This is a lower-graded cents copy with moderate wear (getting towards heavy along the bottom edge, right corner and lower right edge. Small upper spine split (2-3 cms) with tiny piece missing at top. Small deposit of something stuck over Ka-Zar’s right ankle. Staples are firmly attached, page quality quite creamy and reasonable. Delightful ‘MMMS Wants You’ box bottom right cover.
PICTURED: X-MEN #10 GD £120 SOLD

*Marvel: A small update for our Captain America stocks this week, ranging all the way from #119 (3rd Falcon) up to #198 (in the middle of Kirby’s second run).
IN THIS UPDATE: CAPTAIN AMERICA ALL SOLD
#119 VG £20 (PICTURED)
#120 VG p £7.50
#133 FN p £9
#137 VG- p £6.50
#193 VF p £18.25
#196 VF p £7.50
#197 VF- p £6.75
#198 VF- p £6.75

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A small update to our stock of Victor, the premier and longest-lived British war comic, with several issues added from 1973. As always, see our catalogue for details. 

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: From 1970, on the cusp of decimalisation, 15+ more issues of True Life Library (All In Pictures), between #725-757. 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 in this instance, not even a hint of rust in the staple areas. All in VF condition. Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: TRUE LIFE LIBRARY #751 VF SOLD

*DC: Originally planned as a regular Batman Annual, the story which would become The Killing Joke evolved by accident; as the wait lengthened for the pages to come in from illustrator Brian Bolland, Alan Moore’s story shifted, becoming more of an examination about the nature of the relationship between Batman and his arch-nemesis the Joker. Collateral damage along the way was Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, who was crippled and traumatised in the start of events which transformed her into Oracle, a sequence which outraged many at the time and polarises factions even today. Regardless of whether you love it or hate it – and there’s many on both sides – its importance and popularity can’t be denied, as it has remained constantly in print and gone through a myriad of formats. This first printing copy is an excellent VF+ copy, with just a few short non-colour breaking stress marks at the spine.
PICTURED: BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE VF+ £50 SOLD

*Marvel: In the landmark 31st issue of Lee & Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker goes to college, where he meets for the first time Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn and Professor Warren, all to play major roles in his future. This issue also forms the first part of the classic Master Planner/Doc Ock trilogy. This copy from the Totally Amazing Spider-Man Collection is assessed by CGC as 9.0 (VF/NM), unrestored blue label, with cream to off-white pages and a perfect case. We don’t often see comics of this vintage with such a high grade, and it’s particularly nice to have this on such a key issue. Has the added bonus of the ‘Marvel Pop Art Productions’ logo, always a talking point. 
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN#31 CGC 9.0 VF/NM £3,000

*Marvel: A selection of six issues of Amazing Spider-Man drawn by co-creator Steve Ditko fresh in this week. In low to mid-grade, these represent an opportunity to pick up some of the wall-crawler’s earlier appearances without taking out a mortgage! Issues are: #26 (1st Crime-Master plus Green Goblin), #30 (off -beat Cat Burglar story plotted by Ditko), #32 (second part of the Master Planner/Doc Ock trilogy), #34 (early Kraven the Hunter story), #36 (debut of Meteor Man, later Looter) & #38 (last Ditko issue).
IN THIS UPDATE: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#26 VG p £120 (PICTURED) Decent, solid copy with some spine and edge wear and colour-breaking creasing at right bottom corner; firm staples, nice pages. 
#30 VG p £75 (PICTURED) Decent, solid copy with some spine and edge wear; firm staples, nice pages.
#32 GD- p £32 Worn spine, heavy subscription crease and other colour-breaking cover creases; staples and pages okay, small spine split at base. 
#34 VG- p £60 (PICTURED) Faint subscription crease, slight chipping to right edge, minor spine wear only. Some tanning to inside covers. Good staples and pages apart from one small tear on splash. SOLD
#36 App FA p £20 Cover worn with black felt tip pen mark; bottom staple coming loose. Ad page out but story complete.
#38 GD+ p £35 Spine a bit worn and slightly rolled; wear at edges with one minor cover marking in pen. Staples and pages are okay but a bit of a tired copy. SOLD

*Marvel: Just one visit to the Good Doctor Collection this week, with a bumper haul of Iron Man from #31 to #47 complete, plus Annual #1. Some of the issues from this time don’t seem to turn up very often, so here’s a good chance to fill your gaps! Full details as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: IRON MAN
#43 VF £45 1st Guardsman
#47 FN/VF £50 Origin retold; Barry Smith art SOLD