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COVID Update: Restricted Sales for the Time Being

Posted on 27th December 2021 by 30CC27th December 2021

As I write this, the infection rate for Covid is 1 in 20 in London. All of us involved with filling and despatching your orders have had three vaccinations, and there is no incidence of the virus here. However, we have a highly vulnerable family member that we have to care for. 

Our warehouse is located in a complex of similar businesses and we share common entrances, lifts, stairs and corridors. Thus it is impossible not to encounter others on trips there. In view of this, we have decided that we can only have very restricted access to it for short specific periods until the level of infection has decreased to what we woud consider to be within the realms of safety.

For the time being, therefore, and until further notice, we will only be able to fill orders from the stock listed in our new weekly newsletters (from 1st January onwards) and comics listed in our catalogue which are priced at £50 or more.

You can place orders for other items from our catalogue and we will record them, reserve the items for you (as long as no one else has reserved them before you) and contact you again when we can access our warehouse fully and check that you want to go ahead with your order. It’s impossible to say at the moment how long this will go on for, but we will post further information here as things change.

I apologise for any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause, but I’m sure you understand that we have to put health and safety first in these difficult times.

Posted in What's New

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Posted on 13th December 2021 by 30CC14th December 2021

Updates to our catalogue and What’s New Page will commence again after Christmas.

We will not be filling any more orders before Christmas, but you can place an email order at any time and we will reserve the items for you until we can bill you after Christmas (any Covid restrictions permitting).

It just remains to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at 30th Century. Like 2020, 2021 has been a strange, unsatisfactory and often tragic year. For us, business has been excellent and we thank all of you for your continued custom. We hope that we’ve brought some joy by enabling you to add to your collections.

We’ll be back in 2022.

 

Posted in What's New

American Update: Batmania: The Killing Joke – 1st US Printing of Controversial Moore/Bolland 1988 One-Shot

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC13th December 2021

*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/NM, with just a small area of very slight wear at the top of the spine.
PICTURED: BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE VF/NM £70 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: DC Short Run Silver/Bronze titles

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC11th December 2021

*DC: A wide variety of DC short run titles from the 60s and 70s added this week, covering a wide range of genres from Sword & Sorcery, Super-Heroes, Kung Fu and Spy. Lots of artwork by Kirby and Ditko in evidence! Titles include: Beowulf, Creeper (Ditko), 1st Issue Special (Dingbats by Kirby, Creeper by Ditko), Hercules Unbound, Justice Inc (Kirby), Kong The Untamed (#1), Omac (Kirby), Richard Dragon: Kung Fu Fighter, Sandman (Kirby), Secret Origins (1973 series #1 & #2), Secret Six, Stalker (Ditko/Wood from #1) & Sword Of Sorcery.

Posted in What's New

American Update: Spider-Mania/Slab Happy: Amazing #22 CGC 8.5

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC17th December 2021

*Marvel: Following their first encounter with Spidey in Amazing #16, the Circus of Crime appeared for a return engagement in #22, this time without the Ringmaster, but with new addition Princess Python in her first appearance. A great cover with the Spider symbol and Spidey’s elongated shadow. This is a CGC 8.5 VF+ cents copy, unrestored universal blue label with case in perfect condition and cream to off-white pages.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #22 CGC 8.5 VF+ £475

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania/Daredevil: Sweet Sixteens Plus

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC17th December 2021

*Marvel: In issue #16 of Amazing Spider-Man, Spidey encountered Daredevil, in an early appearance by the Man Without Fear in his original yellow and black costume, with the menace of the Circus of Crime. Two years later, Spidey returned the ‘favour’, guest-starring in the 16th issue of Daredevil (and spilling over to #17 in a two-parter). All three issues are new in this update.
PICTURED:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #16 VG p £350 Superficially, this is a tricky one, since the right edge looks narrower than the rest of the comic on this pence printed copy. However, we’re as sure as we can be that this hasn’t been trimmed. Looking at the dimensions of the comic and comparing the cover image to another copy, there is no indication whatsoever that the right edge has been trimmed. Rather what has happened is some crude finishing to that edge (possibly with a blunt guillotine?), and this shows minor chipping and rough page edges, which are not indicative of trimming. The comic is flat, clean and unmarked, with some residual cover gloss, good staples and nice cream to off-white pages. We’ve taken the right edge condition into account in our grading.
DAREDEVIL #16 GD/VG p £80 Unusually both pence printed and stamped, this is a reasonable copy with a clean cover, good staples and only minor edge wear. The grade is brought down by a very slight erosion to the very bottom right corner and a small rippling effect as if from moisture damage.
DAREDEVIL #17 VG+ p £40 A solid mid-grade copy with small amounts of colour-breaking creasing, but little else wrong with it. SOLD

 

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Iron Man #1

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC17th December 2021

*Marvel: We lead off this week’s selections from the Good Doctor Collection with the fifth title we’ve covered thus far; it’s the debut issue of Iron Man’s own series. After a long run as the co-star of Tales of Suspense, Iron Man was given his own title in 1968, when the ‘Berlin Wall’ of Marvel’s distribution came down, and they were allowed to expand their range of titles. New in this week, a copy of Iron Man’s first solo issue, with Gene Colan’s hyperkinetic art driving the drama onward as Shell-Head comes up against the forces of A.I.M.; plus there’s a brief re-telling of Iron Man’s origin. The Good Doctor copy is mid-grade, pence stamped, with a rich colour cover, firm staples at spine and centrefold and nice cream to off-white pages. Around the cover edges, there is some thin, spidery creasing which breaks colour (in a very minor way) and there is some corner blunting, but overall this solid copy presents very well. 
PICTURED: IRON MAN #1 VG+ p £360 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Every Issue of Daredevil from #19-100

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC11th December 2021

*Marvel: We round off the last visit to the Good Doctor Collection for 2021 with a huge update to Daredevil, featuring every issue from #19 to #100, plus Annual #1. Too much of course to cover in a summary here, but fans of the Sightless Swashbuckler will delight in the availability of every last issue for this period, including a high grade copy of #81, where Black Widow joined the series for a long run. The Good Doctor Collection will return with many more wonders next year.
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL #81 VF+ £75

Posted in What's New

American Update: Silver Surfer thick ‘uns!

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC13th December 2021

*Marvel: The entire first run of the Silver Surfer’s own title from 1968 is highly sought after, partly because there’s only 18 issues to collect (although some of them are getting rather pricey!), but within that, the first seven 25 cent giant issues are particularly prized and this update, we’re featuring four of those seven. #2 debuts the Badoon, #5 features the Stranger, in #6 the Surfer comes up against the Overlord, and in #7 he encounters the heir of Frankenstein. In each issue, the double-length Surfer saga is backed up by a Tale of the Watcher. Higher graded copies are pictured and described below; see our catalogue for full details of all issues.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER
#2 FN £90 Nice clean copy with intact spine, great staples and pages, good unmarked cover with gloss; just minor edge wear and corner blunting. SOLD
#7 FN+ p £60 A superior pence-stamped copy with faint reading crease at spine; glossy unmarked cover, great staples and pages. Great spine and just a minimum of edge wear. SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: 1st Eros as Starfox in Avengers #232

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC13th December 2021

*Marvel: Eros, the hedonistic son of two Eternals and brother to Thanos, joined the Avengers in #232 and was rebranded as Starfox. We have a lovely high grade copy of that issue fresh into stock this week. If I have to mention the Eternals movie and Harry Styles to you, you’re probably not the intended audience for this update…
PICTURED: AVENGERS #232 VF+ £25 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: Spider-Mania Bonus: Marvel Treasury Edition #1, the Spectacular Spider-Man

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC13th December 2021

*Marvel: The tabloid-sized Treasury Editions are always a popular choice; people like to see the art at the larger size that these offer. Here’s the very first Treasury in the main numbered sequence, featuring the web-head himself, natch, with some of his most famous adventures, including the debut of the Green Goblin. Art by Ditko, Kirby (!), Romita, Andru, Kane and more, plus a whole host of special features, this superior condition copy is quite something!
PICTURED: MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #1 FN/VF £35 SOLD

 

Posted in What's New

American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest: L B Cole Miasma: Blue Bolt Weird Tales #119

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC17th December 2021

*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 final issue, #119, 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 two stylish horror shorts by Jay Disbrow plus reprints of Fox science-fiction and jungle stories. But it’s the wonderful L B Cole cover for which this issue is prized. This is a lower graded copy, but the cover image is not spoilt by the spine split down to and including the upper staple, tiny lower spine split and small chip out of bottom right (see scan). There is edge wear, a long vertical crease, some of which breaks colour and about three other longish creases which are relatively faint. A 4.5 cm tear from the centre of the right edge has been well sealed. Small stamped arrival date above ‘weird’ in the logo. Pages are okay, with a couple of minor margin stains and one small tear. 
PICTURED: BLUE BOLT WEIRD TALES #119 GD £300 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: Warren’s Creepy x 10

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC11th December 2021

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: Ten more issues of Creepy this week, Warren’s famous black and white horror magazine of the 1960s-1980s. The roster of artists recruited for this extravaganza reads like a Who’s Who of the best horror artists of the time: Frazetta, Adams, Jones, Brunner, Ploog, Corben, Wrightson, Ditko, Wood, Toth etc. Fresh in are issues between #12 and #22; full details in our catalogue.

Posted in What's New

British Update: Long Hot Summer: Lion Holiday Specials 1972 & 1980

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC13th December 2021

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: The days of summer may seem far away at the moment, but here’s a couple of cheap and cheerful low grade reminders of those happy times enjoying these jumbo-sized specials on the beach, or wherever… 1972 is the Lion & Thunder Holiday Special, featuring Adam Eterno, Zip Nolan, the Steel Commando, Paddy Payne, Spellbinder, Black Max and loads more. It’s a tatty copy with the covers detached from the body of the special and the right edge torn and a little jagged, but it is complete. The 1980 Lion Holiday Special has Robot Archie Vs the Spider as its main feature, but also starring Black Max, Zip Nolan, Captain Condor and again, loads more. A little better, covers attached, but creases and small tears.
PICTURED: LION HOLIDAY SPECIAL
1972 FA/GD £12.50
1980 GD £15 SOLD

Posted in What's New

British Update: Going Commando again

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC11th December 2021

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Dozens of later issues of D C Thomson’s Commando in this week, the most popular and best-selling of all picture libraries. Lots of issues fresh in between #1329 and #1750. See our catalogue for full details.

Posted in What's New

British Update: Dandy 1957 – new and improved!

Posted on 11th December 2021 by 30CC13th December 2021

*Humour Comics: Continuing our policy of providing more information for Beano and Dandy, we have a new batch of Dandy in this week from the second half of 1957, annotated with details of strip debuts and other significant events. There wasn’t a lot going on in the second half of this year, but we have the Christmas issue, the first appearance of Mystery Dick and a couple of issues with Hotspur and Wizard Promotional Flyers. Full details in our Catalogue.
PICTURED: DANDY #840 GD/VG £14 Christmas issue SOLD

Posted in What's New

Ho Ho ho! Christmas and New Year Arrangements – Final Reminder

Posted on 6th December 2021 by 30CC6th December 2021

We thought it Timely (if not Marvelous) to advise you of how we’re operating over the upcoming festive period.

To order in time for Christmas, UK orders must be placed by 4 pm on Saturday 11th December. As long as they’re paid for by 4 pm on Tuesday 14th December, they’ll be posted on Wednesday 15th December. Royal Mail advise that these should be delivered in time for Christmas. (Delivery times vary outside the UK, so we’re not giving dates for these.) After this, we won’t be posting again until Wednesday 29th December.

Our weekly Newsletters will continue up to and including 11th December, after which they’ll be taking a two week break, returning on Saturday 1st January. You can of course place an email order at any time, and we will fill your order and bill you to fit in with the above postage dates.

We shall be using the time to catch up with the assessment of several collections that are awaiting valuation, so that when the Newsletter returns on 1st January, it should feature bumper updates going forward.

JUST TO REPEAT – IF YOU WANT TO RECEIVE AN ORDER WITHIN THE UK BEFORE CHRISTMAS, YOU NEED TO PLACE IT BY 4 PM THIS COMING SATURDAY 11TH DECEMBER

Posted in What's New

American Update: Their Name Is Legion: Superboy & The Legion of Super-Heroes Tabloids

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC15th December 2021

*DC: We commence a series of updates this week starring our favourite characters, the Legion of Super-Heroes, kicking off with two lovely condition tabloids from the 1970s. All-New Collectors’ Edition C55 features the wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, essential for any Legion collector since this is not a reprint. Limited Collectors’ Edition C49 reprints the classic first Mordru story. Both issues feature the fantastic large size art of the tabloid format and a host of special features about the Legion, and both are in a spectacular VF+ grade. 
PICTURED:
ALL NEW COLLECTORS’ EDITION C55 VF+ £60 SOLD
LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION C49 VF+ £25 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: Sockamagee! It’s Dial H For Hero in House Of Mystery

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC4th December 2021

*DC: One of my favourite off-beat DC Silver Age series was Dial H For Hero, which appeared in House Of Mystery #156-173. Robby Reed, a small town teenager (with a penchant for exclaiming ‘Sockamagee!’) found a magical dial he used to transform himself into a variety of new super-heroes to battle the bizarre menaces that threatened his town. A charming series that benefitted from the artistic talents of Jim Mooney, whose design skills were well to the fore in the colourful and inventive guises that Robby adopted such as Giantboy, the Cometeer, Quake-Master, Mr. Echo, Astro, Man Of Space and dozens of others. He was accompanied by his neighbour Suzy who dialled into Gem Girl for one adventure, and he also dialled once into Plastic Man, technically being that hero’s first Silver Age appearance. Many issues new into stock, low grade reading copies to join our nice existing stock; oh, and each issue has a Martian Manhunter back-up to boot!
PICTURED: HOUSE OF MYSTERY #169 GD/VG p £4.75 

Posted in What's New

American Update: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Amazing Spider-Man #50, with Kingpin debut and iconic cover scene

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC17th December 2021

*Marvel: By the time of Spider-Man’s 50th issue, ‘new’ artist John Romita had made the series his own, and this milestone number was marked with the debut of a new villain, the Kingpin – so long associated with Daredevil, in the post-Miller years, that younger readers are unaware that he originated in Spider-Man’s Rogues’ Gallery! The cover of #50, with Peter temporarily abandoning his Spider-Man identity, has become etched in the minds of a generation, endlessly imitated and ‘homaged’, in comics and other media. This is a reasonable lower-graded pence printed copy; it notably has a long diagonal crease across the top right corner that breaks colour (see scan) and a number of smaller white creases or marks, along with edge wear and corner blunting. Staples are firm at cover and centrefold and page quality is okay. A relatively affordable major key issue.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #50 GD/VG p £400 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Fantastic Four #30-34 inc. Mighty Marvel Firsts

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC15th December 2021

*Marvel: We start this week’s listings from the Good Doctor Collection with a classic run of five consecutive issues of the Fantastic Four from #30-34, with Stan and Jack really in their stride on ‘The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine’. #30 features the debut of Diablo, #31 the return of the Mole Man and #32 the tragic/heroic story of Sue and Johnny’s father. #33 has the fabulous photo-montage cover featuring Sub-Mariner and Attuma (whose debut is in this issue) and #34 the malevolent menace of Gideon in his first appearance. Full details of all (including #31 & #32) may be found as always in our catalogue.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#30 GD p £55 Pence printed, long vertical colour-breaking crease and several smaller creases, fingernail-size chip missing at bottom of spine, with resulting small tear throughout most of comic. Small tear in masthead area with no loss, goes throughout comic. Spine and edge wear with a couple of small tears. A little tired but okay SOLD
#33 VF- £215 Lovely cents copy, tight and flat with mostly sharp corners, unmarked glossy cover, tight firm staples and great off-white pages. Very little wear. SOLD
#34 FN+ £80 A superior cents copy, with minor edge wear and corner blunting, flat, tight staples and nice off-white pages. Tiny creases at spine and right edge barely break colour. Glossy and appealing. SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Spider-Mania/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut and Origin of Morbius in Amazing #101-102

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC7th December 2021

*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 first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #101 and #102 revealed his tragic origin; he then 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 upcoming Morbius flick is leading to a heightened demand for his premier appearances. The Good Doctor#101 is not a great copy, pence printed and plagued by multiple long and deep colour-breaking cover creases, as well as edge and general wear and corner blunting; staples are firm and page quality quite decent though. The epic-length #102 is also pence printed with unspoilt cover image, minor creasing which barely breaks colour and a 2 cm split at the base of the squarebound spine. Staples and pages are good.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#101 FA+ p £125 SOLD
#102 VG p £50

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of the Gladiator in Daredevil #18

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC6th December 2021

*Marvel: The Gladiator became a stalwart of the Marvel villainous ranks, standing out due to his sinister spinning wrist buzz-saw blades. It was here in Daredevil #18 that he made his debut, drawn and designed by Jazzy John Romita in one of his last outings on the title before switching to Spider-Man. Here is a story dripping in atmosphere. This is a nice pence printed issue in mid-grade, with an unmarked cover, a soft, non-colour breaking crease across the bottom right corner (and similar on the back), only minor edge wear and corner blunting and nice off-white pages. More from the Good Doctor Collection next week!
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL #18 VG+ p £50 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: Spider-Mania Bonus: Spidey guest stars in Silver Surfer #14

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC4th December 2021

*Marvel: The Silver Surfer met Spider-Man for the first time in issue #14 of the Sky-Rider’s short-lived 1960s series. As is so often the way with such things, they didn’t get along. This is a decent mid-grade pence stamped copy, with excellent colour and gloss, minor creasing in the logo area which does not break colour, very minor edge wear including a few spine ticks, tight staples and just a hint of colour fade at the very left edge of the masthead box. All in all a very respectable copy.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER #14 VG+ p £75

Posted in What's New

American Update: X-Men Reprint Issues

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC4th December 2021

*Marvel: Personally, back when I was collecting X-Men, I never troubled myself with issues from #67 to #93, since they were all reprint issues before the series was relaunched with #94. However, I know there are many of you out there who have to have every numbered issue to complete your run, so this update’s just for you, featuring half a dozen examples from this time. Some nice new Gil Kane covers on many of these. Full details as always in our catalogue.

Posted in What's New

British Update: Alan Class Printing Plate Sets: Final Phase: Spider-Man, Avengers, Daredevil

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC15th December 2021

*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 into 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:
SINISTER TALES #104 £70 Comic: GD/VG;  Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #70 inc cover,  ACG, Atlas.
Extra: Cover colour proof SOLD
SUSPENSE #60 £65 Comic: GD;  Reprints Daredevil #8 by Wood inc cover,  Atlas, 1 Chameleon, 1 Young King Cole, 1 Target SOLD
SUSPENSE #99 £75 Comic: VF;  Reprints Avengers #60 (Hank & Jan wedding) inc. cover plus Daredevil #47, Charlton, Atlas. Extra: Colour cover proof SOLD

Posted in What's New

British Update: Early Super-Detective Libraries

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC6th December 2021

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Four issues from the first ten of the famous Super-Detective Library series, all in nice condition, featuring Harry Lime: the Third Man, a story by E. Phillips Oppenheim and two by Edgar Wallace. Great art from the early 1950s.
PICTURED: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY
#4 VG/FN £45 The Return Of the Third Man SOLD
#6 VG/FN £27.50 The Door With The 7 Locks SOLD
#7 VG £25 The Treasure House Of Martin Hews SOLD
#10 VG/FN £27.50 The Black Abbot

 

Posted in What's New

British Update: Love Story Library x 20

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC6th December 2021

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: IPC/Fleetway’s Love Story Library (later Love Story Picture Library, to distinguish it from the numerous all-text series), featured picture strip romances for young women (and nostalgic housewives), frequently beautifully illustrated. It ran a respectable 1600+ issues between 1952 and 1976, and our latest additions are 20 newly listed between #275 & #322. From a newsagent’s unsold stock, these would grade FN if not for the pernicious staple rust of long term storage, which, although not harming the stories themselves, is a little heavy in places, bringing most of these down to a GD/VG grade, although a few very nice ones grade higher with little rust.
PICTURED: LOVE STORY LIBRARY #318 VG SOLD

Posted in What's New

Books Update: Six Of The Best: Sexton Blake Library

Posted on 4th December 2021 by 30CC6th December 2021

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: Often dubbed ‘the poor man’s Sherlock Holmes’, there’s still no doubting the popularity of Sexton Blake, who has probably had far more fiction written of him than the world’s greatest detective. This week, we have added six digests from the famous Sexton Blake Library. These are picture library sized, but mainly text. The series ran from 1915 to 1968. 
PICTURED: SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY
#440 GD/VG £6 Fear Is My Shadow by Martin Thomas SOLD
#441 FA £3 No back cover; A Cold Night For Murder by Martin Thomas
#442 GD £5 Guilty Party by Rex Dolphin
#444 GD/VG £6 Desert Intrigue by James Stagg
#448 GD £5 Bred To Kill by Martin Thomas
#459 GD/VG £6 Date With Danger by Martin Thomas

Posted in What's New

Ho ho ho! Christmas & New Year Arrangements

Posted on 29th November 2021 by 30CC29th November 2021

We thought it Timely (if not Marvelous) to advise you of how we’re operating over the upcoming festive period.

To order in time for Christmas, UK orders must be placed by 4 pm on Saturday 11th December. As long as they’re paid for by 4 pm on Tuesday 14th December, they’ll be posted on Wednesday 15th December. Royal Mail advise that these should be delivered in time for Christmas. (Delivery times vary outside the UK, so we’re not giving dates for these.) After this, we won’t be posting again until Wednesday 29th December.

Our weekly Newsletters will continue up to and including 11th December, after which they’ll be taking a two week break, returning on Saturday 1st January. You can of course place an email order at any time, and we will fill your order and bill you to fit in with the above postage dates.

We shall be using the time to catch up with the assessment of several collections that are awaiting valuation, so that when the Newsletter returns on 1st January, it should feature bumper updates going forward.

Posted in What's New

American Update: DC Debuts: 1st DC Captain Marvel in Shazam #1 – Double Cover issue

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC29th November 2021

*DC: For many years largely overlooked by collectors, the 1973 Shazam! series – DC’s reboot of the original Captain Marvel, who was put out of business by a protracted lawsuit from DC in the ’50s – has had mixed success in its publication history, but was given a shot in the arm by the recent fun movie.  In 1973 C.C. Beck, co-creator of Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel, teamed up with contemporary writers to produce new stories of ‘The Big Red Cheese’. Beck was followed by other distinguished artists such as Kurt Schaffenberger and Bob Oksner, creating lighter, friendlier but imaginative adventures. This copy of Captain Marvel’s DC debut is characterised by a rare double cover i.e. a comic which has had two covers attached to it in the production process, normally, as here, resulting in the outer cover bearing the brunt of the wear while the inner retains a great look. Outer cover edge wear and creasing; inner cover minor wear and creasing, with great gloss. Nice clean pages.
PICTURED: SHAZAM #1 VG- (outer) VF- (inner) £60 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: Batmania: Batman #1 reprinted in Tabloid Famous First Edition 1975

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC29th November 2021

*DC: In the mid-1970s, DC reprinted some of their most famous and iconic comics of yesterday in Tabloid size form under the heading ‘Famous First Edition’. F5 of that series featured a facsimile reprint of Batman #1 from Spring 1940, the famous landmark issue that also included the first appearances of the Joker and Catwoman. This copy is a little grubby with some edge wear, particularly at upper right corner, but it’s a snip of a price for such an historic item.
PICTURED: FAMOUS FIRST EDITION #F5 GD/VG £20 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Daredevil #1 1964

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC8th February 2022

*Marvel: It’s been nearly three years since a copy of Daredevil #1 has graced our catalogue, so we’re particularly pleased to unveil the Good Doctor copy of the sightless swashbuckler’s debut this week as the first of the fourth title in this collection to be released. After the successes of the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, Stan Lee enlisted his old colleague, Bill Everett, to co-create this acrobatic avenger of the streets. Sporting a yellow and red costume intended to evoke the jester-style livery of the 1940s Daredevil, young Matt Murdock lost his sight but gained phenomenal sensory powers to compensate, using them and his athletic skills to avenge the murder of his father… and the rest was history. This very nice cents copy has great cover colour and gloss, firm tight staples and decent off-white/light tan pages. Edge wear is minor, the worst of it being a 3 cm lower spine split. There is a tiny impact mark between the ‘E’ and ‘D’ of the logo and small graffiti on the faces of Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson in the lower right cover panel, but no other cover markings, with a clean white background. A good-looking copy. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL #1 VG £3,600 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: Amazing #7 with the Return of the Vulture

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC17th December 2021

*Marvel: It’s not often in these modern times that a single digit numbered issue of Amazing Spider-Man turns up less than £300, but here’s one come along from the Good Doctor Collection right now. Amazing Spider-Man #7 features the return of the Vulture, one of Spidey’s earliest foes. This cents copy has plenty of flaws: spine roll, a loose centrefold, a small biro figure ‘6’ on the cover by the Vulture’s head, long vertical colour breaking cover crease and lots of similar smaller ones, edge wear and worn spine, ragged right edge pages, back cover tears and a small front cover tear bottom right; the most significant defect is a jagged finger-size section missing from the bottom of the spine (see scan). For all that, it is otherwise complete, the colours are good and the page quality acceptable. Certainly a great gap-filler for the budget conscious.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #7 GD- £260 

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Every Issue of Avengers from #126 to #150

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC27th November 2021

*Marvel: We conclude this week’s visit to the Good Doctor Collection with a long run of Avengers, complete from #126 to #150. A popular and in-demand period, originally not distributed in the UK, including the debut of Hellcat in #144. Full details as always in our catalogue. More from the Good Doctor next week!
PICTURED: AVENGERS #144 FN/VF £50

Posted in What's New

American Update: Spider-Mania/Slab Happy: Spidey Double-Header in 9.8

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC29th November 2021

*Marvel: We don’t see CGC 9.8 grades too often in vintage comics, so it’s really a nice coup to have Amazing Spider-Man #192 & #193 new into stock this week, both in this NM/M grade. Both are unrestored blue labels, with undamaged cases. #192 has Off-White to White Pages, #193 White Pages. It’s a two-part story featuring Professor Smythe and The Fly.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BOTH SOLD
#192 CGC 9.8 NM/M £105
#193 CGC 9.8 NM/M £140

Posted in What's New

American Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest from ACG: Adventures Into The Unknown and Forbidden Worlds

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC29th November 2021

*Horror 1940-1959: With Adventures Into The Unknown, the publisher ACG produced the first ongoing horror comic from 1948, followed by Forbidden Worlds in 1951. Whilst not exactly overlooked, these titles are perhaps not as infamous as some of the output of later publishers, although its tales of vampires, werewolves, zombies, mummies and other monsters are every bit as gruesome as some of their famous competitors, and the art standards are more than competent. Three nice mid-grade examples for your consideration this week:
PICTURED:
ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN #13 VG/FN £80 Pre-code
ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN #25 VG- £48 Pre-code; staples loose on back cover SOLD
FORBIDDEN WORLDS #18 VG+ £59 Pre-code.

 

Posted in What's New

British Update: John Wayne is Big Leggy

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC27th November 2021

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: Around about three decades before Haysi Fantayzee’s ‘homage’, John Wayne was knocking ’em dead in the US with his own title from Toby Press, reprinted here in the UK by World Distributors. Always a popular series for Western buffs, we have three early black and white reprints new in this week, all in nice shape: #2, #3 & #5. See our catalogue for details. 
PICTURED: JOHN WAYNE #2 VG £12

Posted in What's New

British Update: It’s jolly old Captain Britain (1st series)

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC27th November 2021

*Marvel UK: Marvel UK’s unprecedented and 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 and 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 these issues are now attracting keen collector attention. Many issues of the first series new in this week, between #3 and #39, the final issue inc #19 (1st Lance Hunter, aka ‘Mr. Mockingbird’ from Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ television series) several guest shots from Captain America and the 2nd Betsy Braddock appearance in #9.

Posted in What's New

British Update: Lion 1953 3rd Quarter Jul-Sep

Posted on 27th November 2021 by 30CC27th November 2021

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: This week, all 13 issues of Lion, the ‘King Of Picture Story Papers’ from the third quarter of 1953. From an original owner collection, these average a nice uniform VG at £5 each, with one or two higher or lower. The inevitable rusty staples are not too much in evidence with only minimal bleed. As Lion succinctly put it in one of their straplines: ‘School, War, Detective & Adventure Picture Stories.’ See our catalogue for full details.

Posted in What's New

Newsletter Update

Posted on 18th November 2021 by 30CC18th November 2021

Due to unforeseen circumstances involving illness, we won’t be listing any new stock this week, but expect to have stock updates to this page again on Saturday 27th November, which will be featured in our newsletter on that date.

Orders may still be placed from our catalogue at any time, and those received by 4 pm on Saturday 20th November will be filled as usual on Sunday and despatched as ususal next Wednesday.

Posted in What's New

Ho ho ho! Christmas & New Year Arrangements

Posted on 18th November 2021 by 30CC18th November 2021

We thought it Timely (if not Marvelous) to advise you of how we’re operating over the upcoming festive period.

To order in time for Christmas, UK orders must be placed by 4 pm on Saturday 11th December. As long as they’re paid for by 4 pm on Tuesday 14th December, they’ll be posted on Wednesday 15th December. Royal Mail advise that these should be delivered in time for Christmas. (Delivery times vary outside the UK, so we’re not giving dates for these.) After this, we won’t be posting again until Wednesday 29th December.

Our weekly Newsletters will continue up to and including 11th December, after which they’ll be taking a two week break, returning on Saturday 1st January. You can of course place an email order at any time, and we will fill your order and bill you to fit in with the above postage dates.

We shall be using the time to catch up with the assessment of several collections that are awaiting valuation, so that when the Newsletter returns on 1st January, it should feature bumper updates going forward.

Posted in What's New

American Update: 1st Superman/Flash Race in Superman #199 plus Free 2nd Race Bonus

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC16th November 2021

*DC: Well, in my school playground, the burning question was ‘who was stronger, the Hulk or the Thing?’, but, being a little more cerebral, the question of ‘who was the Fastest Man Alive, Superman or the Flash?’ was somewhat more to my taste. Jim Shooter and Curt Swan attempted to answer that in Superman #199 beneath a fabulous Carmine Infantino/Murphy Anderson cover. What was the outcome? Well, no spoliers here – suffice it to say this story spawned several sequels, the first being in Flash #175. Alongside this serviceable copy of Superman #199 we’re throwing in a copy of Flash #175 absolutely free (quite frankly, it’s a pretty water-stained and damaged copy which isn’t really good enough to sell, but is complete). Superman #199, pence printed, has spine and edge wear and handling wear with some colour-breaking creases (long one across top right cover). Centrefold loose at bottom staple and small label removal scuff over Comics Code box. Some stain marking to edges and rear cover.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #199 GD p £50 (with free Flash #175) SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: House Of Mystery Tabloid: Limited Collectors’ Edition C23

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC16th November 2021

*DC: The House Of Mystery entry into DC’s tabloid range is a wonderful package; not only do you get seven superb stories by the very best of 1940s horror artists: Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, Gil Kane, Alex Toth, Jack Sparling and Segio Aragones (!), with their art on wonderful display in this tabloid size, but it’s also chock-full of games, cartoons, a 3D mystery cut-out, features and pin-ups. This GD/VG copy has some spine wear and stress marks (black background), colour-breaking creases in the corners of both front and back covers, and some tanning on the inside covers, but we’ve seen worse…  An uncommon item.
PICTURED: LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION C23 GD/VG £20 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: DC Debuts: It’s A Jungle Out There: Rima the Jungle Girl complete series

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC16th November 2021

*DC: Although the jungle girl series was at its peak in the 1940s and 50s, there was a mini-revival in the 1970s. Over at Marvel they had Shanna the She-Devil, and DC contributed Rima the Jungle Girl, who was different in that she was a denizen of the South America jungle (fortunately, they must have had a good hairdresser there as well…). With gorgeous covers from Joe Kubert and fabulous interior art by Nestor Redondo over Kubert’s layouts, this fine series deserved longer than its seven issue run. But you can now check that out for yourself since we have all seven issues fresh into stock, nearly all in NM or close grade. All as listed in our catalogue.
PICTURED: RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL #1 NM £23 SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Phoenix in X-Men #101

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC19th December 2021

*Marvel: The Claremont & Cockrum New X-Men was already a critical hit when #101 turned up, and in a dramatic turn of events, Jean Grey, former weak sister of the team, was elevated into a powerhouse when a cosmic ray storm seemed to transform her into the entity known as Phoenix – and a major, ultimately tragic, story arc for the X-Men began. The legend was somewhat tarnished in later years by Marvel’s back & forth position on whether Jean actually was the Phoenix, or whether the Phoenix force just manifested itself in her form (with a swingin’ new costume), but nevertheless, this remains a key and highly sought after issue. An outstanding copy of this key issue new in this week in very high grade. Pence printed, flat, tight, glossy, vibrant, supple, and all those other adjectives applicable to the best quality. Square corners, white pages, firm staples. There are just the very slightest stress marks at the spine (just a couple) and a tiny crease mark at the bottom right corner which just stopped us awarding an even higher grade. High resolution images are available on request.
X-MEN #101 VF+ p £600

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection: Avengers #2 & #3

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC19th December 2021

*Marvel: Two gems from the Good Doctor Avengers selection lead our foray into his treasure trove this week. Avengers #2 pits our heroes up against the Space Phantom, is the issue where the Hulk cuts out (he didn’t hang around long!) and presents Hank Pym for the first time in his Giant-Man guise in the title. In #3, the Hulk returns (that was quick!), but this time an an ally of the Sub-Mariner and an adversary of the assemblers. Early issues of key Marvel titles are getting harder and harder to get at affordable prices, but here are two such examples within relatively easy financial reach.
PICTURED: AVENGERS
#2 VG p £280 Pence printed, great cover scene with bright colours, tarnished only by a very small tear at mid-spine around Giant-Man’s elbow, and a similar sized tear near Thor’s Hammer hand with no loss. 1 cm split at bottom spine. Staples tight and firm, decent pages, only slight blunting at corners. The back cover has a ragged corner off the top which looks like it was caused by some type of moisture damage from which there are stains but no rippling. A copy that presents well. SOLD
#3 GD p £140 Pence printed, a worn copy with lots of small colour-breaking creases at edges; some page edges are ragged due to several centre wraps being loose from staples, but an honest copy with no cover markings. SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut and Origin of Him (later Warlock) in Fantastic Four #66 & #67

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC15th March 2024

*Marvel: As befits its status as the premier series of the Marvel Universe, the Fantastic Four has launched many secondary careers of the FF’s foes and friends who first appeared as guest-stars, then graduated to their own series. The Silver Surfer, the Inhumans, the Black Panther and many others have debuted this way, and in Fantastic Four #66 & #67, we were introduced to a mysterious cocooned figure who emerged the following issue as ‘Him’, a being of almost godlike power. Later, he would be named Warlock and would enjoy a chequered career of critical acclaim, but haphazard commercial success, coming into his own with Jim Starlin’s controversial series of the 1970s. Adam Warlock is scheduled to appear in the Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 movie in 2023. These two issues see the first appearance of the character, though he was not fully revealed until the second half of the two-part story.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#66 GD/VG £40 An okay copy with a fair bit of spine and edge wear, including colour-breaking creases. There is a biro squiggle over the ‘F’ in Fantastic and a 2 cm tear to the right edge without loss. Staples are attached, but are not tight; some tanning to page edges. SOLD
#67 VG- £130 A sturdy and supple copy with some colour-breaking creases across cover corners; other wear is minimal. Nice cover colour and gloss; good pages with tight, firm staples. SOLD

Posted in What's New

American Update: The Good Doctor Collection/Spider-Mania: Every Issue of Amazing from #240-251

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC13th November 2021

*Marvel: We wrap up this week’s Good Doctor releases with another run of high grade Amazing Spider-Man, running from #240-251, many NM copies. Dominated by Spidey’s new bête noir, the Hobgoblin, this run also features the Vulture, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android and the Kingpin, as well as a poignant tale in #248’s ‘The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man’. Several issues shown below:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#248 NM £44
#249 NM- £40
#250 NM £60
#251 NM- £47

 

Posted in What's New

American Update: Slab Happy: Wolverine #1-4 Complete 1982 Mini-Series by Claremont & Miller

Posted on 13th November 2021 by 30CC16th November 2021

*Marvel: A 30th Century first this week. We’ve had the complete Wolverine 1982 mini for sale as a set before, but we’ve never yet sold a complete slabbed set of anything. Here it is! Perhaps surprisingly, Wolverine had been around quite few years before he starred in his own title. (Even after this 1982 mini-series, it would be a further 6 years before Logan got his own ongoing solo title). You can’t say that Marvel were milking the character’s popularity – a phrase I thought I’d never write. But they did pull out all the stops with this mini, combining X-Men scribe Chris Claremont with super-star artist Frank Miller in this tale of the Yakuza and Wolverine’s doomed love Mariko Yashida. All fours issues are presented here as a set, all CGC graded, unrestored blue label, white pages, perfect cases. #1 and #4 are 8.0 (VF); #2 and #3 are 7.5 (VF-). A great opportunity to add a prestigious series to your collection.
PICTURED: WOLVERINE (1982) COMPLETE SET 1-4 £255 (NB sold as set only) SOLD
#1 8.0 VF
#2 7.5 VF-
#3 7.5 VF-
#4 8.0 VF

Posted in What's New

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