*Marvel: Well, we thought we’d finished our Wandavision event, then we found these two 30th Anniversary issues of the Avengers from 1993, the first of which features a pair of Visions. Both these bumper special issues are chock full of pin-ups and features, as well as compelling stories by Bob Harras and excellent, classic Avengers-style art by Steve Epting, but let’s face it, you want them for their shiny embossed covers, don’t you?
PICTURED: AVENGERS
#360 VF/NM £18
#363 VF/NM £18

*Horror 1940-1959: Superior was a Canadian publisher active from 1945-1956 who mostly reprinted American comics from the same time period. They also published a number of original series that were distributed in the United States. Among these were three horror titles famous for their hallucinogenic covers and accomplished Fiction House style interior art. When you see a lot of these together, they have an almost hypnotic and uncomfortable effect. We’ve been releasing a lot of these three titles over the last few months, and this week we reach the end of them (for the time being) with our final issues of Journey Into Fear. All four issues in this update are pictured below, together with any specific defects. #21 is the final issue of the series.
PICTURED: JOURNEY INTO FEAR
#13 FA+ £65 Off top staple and almost off bottom. Cover tears and water staining in several page margins. Top corner back cover missing. SOLD
#17 GD+ £120 No specific defects; worn spine.
#20 App VG+ £100 Right edge trimmed
#21 GD £95 Very worn spine; many long cover creases; arrival date in felt-tip below logo.

*Alan Class Reprints: Most of the short run of the Alan Class title Out Of This World restocked this week in our regular Alan Class section. This title concentrated (although not exclusively) on outer space and science fiction stories, including Marvel’s Tales Of The Watcher in #16, reprinted from Tales Of Suspense #50. Plenty of Kirby and Ditko, and details of that in our Alan Class Rough Guide. (This 23 issue series was all pre-decimal; there was a shorter, post decimal run of 10 later on).

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Ever mindful of the changing marketplace, we’ve reduced many of our prices on Swift, the junior Eagle, particularly on Volume 1, which are now less than half their previous prices in most cases. Swift, you’ll remember, is the home of such famous strips as King Arthur & Robin Hood by Bellamy and Cliff McCoy & Red Rider by Holdaway, to name but a few. Much of our stock, as marked, comprises publisher’s file copy syndication proofs which are stamped to signify this on the margins of covers and most pages.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: A further late 1950s/early 1960s selection of Pearson’s Picture Romance Library, with numbers ranging from #118 to #229. These start out with quite garishly coloured and often unintentionally hilarious photo covers with dialogue to match. These could well be the sort of things you’d see as humorous greeting cards today! Later issues feature attractive painted covers. We have an example of both below. In the first one, one of the lines of dialogue uses the phrase ‘Too Dangerous For A Girl’, which I couldn’t resist using as it’s a famous Legion of Super-Heroes quote. I tried it on Dr Evilla, and when I got out of hospital, she advised me of the error of my ways.
PICTURED: PICTURE ROMANCE LIBRARY
#120 VF £12
#225 FN/VF £9
 

*DC: Of Kirby’s ‘Fourth World’ series at DC, Mister Miracle was the best received by the readership at large, due to its relatable protagonist, who, despite his extraterrestrial origins, was an amiable if highly-skilled Everyman. But the pace really picked up with issue #4, when we were introduced to Scott’s old flame, Big Barda, former leader of the Female Furies of the hellworld Apokalips. The tough, no-nonsense Barda contrasted with Scott’s gentler affable persona, and the dynamic brought the characters lasting popularity, the occasional ‘dramatic’ attempt to separate them being met with universal disdain. This tight glossy copy of #4 is one of those thicker issues where the annotated spine has been printed at the front edge, as is not uncommon (see scan). Pence stamped, it has minimal edge wear, no creases and no cover marks, with great white to off-white pages. 
PICTURED: MISTER MIRACLE #4 FN+ p £80 SOLD

*Marvel: In 1970, Marvel tried something risky and different, quite aside from their familiar super-hero stable; at the urging of writer Roy Thomas, they put out a sword & sorcery title adapting the Robert E. Howard stories of Conan the Barbarian, and, bucking the trend, it was smash hit – thanks in no small part to the illustration of Barry (not-yet-Windsor) Smith, a talented young British artist who gave the most famous Cimmerian of all grace and feral power, filling Conan’s world with mystery, menace, and beauty as monsters and maidens competed for our hero’s attentions. Conan’s first series at Marvel ran to 275 issues and multitudinous specials and spin-offs, and it all started here in Conan the Barbarian #1. This nice copy is flat and glossy, with the cover unmarked except for a printed number ’28’ in the ‘O’ of the logo (see scan), presumably an arrival date. Great off white pages and tight staples; minimal wear with a little corner blunting, it presents very well. 
PICTURED: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 FN+ £275 SOLD

*Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man #301, with its ‘negative’ version of #300 and white background, has greatly increased in value and collectability in recent years, as nostalgia for the Todd McFarlane run pushes interest in this and other key issues higher. This week’s copy is pristine, the cover glossy, the white background pure, great staples, great pages; just the faintest suggestion of a couple of spine ticks and a bottom right microscopic crease prevent a true NM grade or even higher.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #301 NM- £85 SOLD

*Marvel: A dozen issues of the original X-Men run new in this week in a variety of grades. After a few earlier issues (#24, #33 & #55), the bulk of this update centres on the Neal Adams issues, from #56 to #63, including a couple of low grade examples of the 1st Havok (in costume) in #58. In addition, there’s a low grade #64 (1st Sunfire).

*War: A small update to Marvel’s premier war title, Sgt Fury & His Howling Commandos. Starting with #44, the first issue to feature art by John Severin, this sporadic run extends through to the reprint era, when reprinted issues ran intermingled with new material, and includes Annual #6. Issues featuring reprints are indicated in our catalogue.

*Alan Class Reprints: We conclude our WandaVision feature (for now) in this most unexpected of places, with Uncanny Tales #65, reprinting the origin of the Vision from Avengers #58, ‘Even An Android Can Cry’, a classic tale by Roy Thomas and John Buscema. 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 through 2021 and probably 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.)
PICTURED: UNCANNY TALES #65 £125 Comic VG- Reprints Avengers #58 plus pre-Hero Marvel, 1 Ditko, Atlas & Charlton. 

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Micron’s Combat Picture Library turns up less often than its more famous cousins from D C Thomson & Fleetway, and we suspect much lower print runs on the Micron titles. So it’s particularly pleasing to have a new batch of high grade examples in: 55 issues between #400 and #762, bridging the 1960s to the 1970s and pre to post decimal, though more than half the new additions are from the 400’s. These are from a newsagent’s unsold inventory and are superior copies, with firm, square spines, sharp corners and bright vivid cover colours. Fewer than six issues newly added fall below a VF grade. Consult our catalogue for details.

*Girls Comics: Judy, home to Wee Slavey, Nannette of the North, Bobby Dazzler and a host of others, launched in 1960 following the success of its slightly older sister Bunty, and the pair dominated the UK comics scene for several years. We’re lucky to have two consecutive issues from 1972 bearing their original Free Gifts: #631 has the ‘Pretty Pearly Necklace’, still mounted on its original card; please note that although complete, the string is actually broken. #632 has the ‘Trendy Rainbow Ring’, still inside the original sealed envelope. The defects in the comics are caused by the stress on the paper of having the sometimes bulky gifts inside for decades, so they are only due to pressure, although both comics are browning at the edges.
PICTURED: JUDY
#631 VG WITH FREE GIFT GD/VG £25
#632 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £40

*Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror: What’s Old is our feature where we highlight stuff from our catalogue that you may have missed. The famous master of the American gothic, H P Lovecraft, needs no introduction from me here. Suffice it to say that our catalogue is particularly blessed with a wide range of his fiction, poetry, essays, letters and books that many have written about this most widely studied of authors. We’re showing just a small range of covers here; check out the catalogue for all things Lovecraft in a mix of editions, grades and prices. (Books about Lovecraft are listed under Lovecraft, after books by him).

*DC: Fan favourite Todd McFarlane drew just one cover for Batman, but it’s a very distinctive and stylish one that has gone on to have much collector appeal. Our latest copy of Batman #423 isn’t a great one. It has excellent colour cover and gloss and nice tight staples. There is some minor edge wear and a bit of corner blunting, but it is marred by three creases across the bottom right corner, varying in intensity. One is soft and not colour-breaking, one just visibly breaks colour and the third is quite severe, emphatically breaking colour. These don’t impinge much though on the visual appeal of the cover image.
PICTURED: BATMAN #423 VG £40 SOLD

*Marvel: Following his return to active service in Avengers #4, Captain America became a companion feature of Iron Man in Tales of Suspense. After the division of the Marvel double-feature books in 1968, when distribution embargoes were slackened, Cap gained his own series again, though it retained the numbering of Tales of Suspense, premiering with #100. Featuring the talents of Lee, Kirby and Shores, this re-introduced the Sentinel of Liberty in solo action to the modern age. This is a decent, if slightly dingy cents copy, with some minor cover grubbiness and fine creasing, 1 cm lower spine split, corner blunting, good tight staples and unspoilt cover image. 
PICTURED: CAPTAIN AMERICA #100 VG+ £165 SOLD

*Marvel: In the Frank Miller era of Daredevil, Bullseye, the unfailing assassin, became firmly established as DD’s bête noire, causing the Man Without Fear endless grief and misery. And can we ever forget Colin Farrell’s epic scenery-chewing as Bullseye in the Daredevil movie? Well, maybe if we’re lucky and get hit on the head with a blunt object. But a lot of people, even today, aren’t aware that Bullseye wasn’t a Miller creation; step forward Marv Wolfman and Bob Brown, who presented The Assassin Who Never Misses for the first time in Daredevil #131, two years before the Miller regime kicked in! Our latest pence printed copy is very nice, great cover colour and gloss, tight and flat with firmly attached staples; there are tiny stress marks at the spine and very faint, barely visible creasing around the area of the UPC box; no colour is broken. 
PICTURED: DAREDEVIL #131 VF p £130

*Marvel: In our ongoing series focusing on key events in the ‘Wandavision’ TV hit, we look again at the underestimated run by John Byrne as writer/artist on West Coast Avengers. Our previous WCA ‘VisionQuest’ set detailed the origin of the pallid Vision ‘2.0’ which was borrowed by the TV show, but Byrne threw more drama at comics’ favourite mutant/synthezoid couple, as the strain of her newly emotionless husband, plus shocking revelations about the true origin of her children, drove Wanda to a breaking point, leading to the eventual dissolution of her marriage – and the virtual destruction of the team at her hands, as her powers became more corrupt! All this plus the USAgent, the original Human Torch, and the Great Lakes Avengers! This complete run of Byrne’s WCA is from #42 to #57, but missing the ‘White Vision’ issue, #45. Great comics, highly recommended and cheap as chips; take a look in our catalogue (listed under ‘A’, after Avengers).

*EC: Arguably, EC’s Tales From The Crypt is the most famous of all pre-code horror titles and the yardstick by which all its contemporaries are measured. Two of the later issues of the series new in this week, both rich with the work of the cream of EC’s talented art pool: Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Jack Kamen, Graham Ingels and George Evans. Sadly, both copies have seen better days; #39 is heavily water damaged and stained, #43 has an almost entirely split spine. But both issues are complete and relatively affordable.
PICTURED: TALES FROM THE CRYPT BOTH SOLD
#39 PR/FA £45
#43 PR/FA £45

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: What’s Old is our feature where we highlight stuff from our catalogue that you may have missed. Timely/Atlas’ Miss America Magazine wasn’t named after the beauty pageant, but after Miss America, the premier super-heroine of Timely Comics, created by Otto Binder, who made her debut in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 in 1943, and proved so popular that she was awarded her own title a year later. With the second issue, however, the editors decided to alter the concept. From a straight super-hero book, Miss America became a hybrid comic and general girls’ magazine, with features on fashion, beauty, dating, movies, and prose fiction in addition to the comic strips. More significantly, from our perspective, a new feature was introduced. Patsy Walker, created by Stuart Little and artist Ruth Atkinson, graced the pages of Miss America Magazine #2 for the first of thousands of stories over dozens of titles. We have Patsy’s first two appearances available for purchase.

Miss America Magazine #2, November 1944, features a 14-page story of Miss America versus super-villain ‘The Shocker’, and a photo-cover of a model dressed in the super-heroine’s iconic costume, the first ‘super-hero cosplay’ cover we’re aware of. Patsy’s 7-page debut is the only other comic-strip content in this 68 page issue. As previously noted, Ruth Atkinson drew Patsy, while Miss America’s adventures by this time were illustrated by Pauline Loth, a former animator, in a delightful lively style. This copy of Miss America #2 is Apparent VG/FN: there is slight foxing on the white cover background, but the interior pages are cream-coloured and flexible, no trace of brittleness and browning, the staples firm at cover and centrefold; the top staple is loose at the front cover only. The reason for the ‘Apparent’ designation is that pages 39-40 have had a large corner, approximately 25% of the page, ripped out. This does NOT affect the comics, but impacts upon two text features, a fashion page and a story on baby-sitting. Otherwise this is an extraordinary grade for its vintage. #2 App. VG/FN, on sale at £1,750. Images of front and back cover, splash page and Patsy splash page are shown to the left above; high resolution images are available on request.

Miss America Magazine #3, December 1944, is a ‘girl power’ special! In addition to all the text features carrying female by-lines, Ruth Atkinson illustrates Patsy’s second story, the striking painted cover is by Louise Alston, and Pauline Loth illustrates not one, but two Miss America tales, as our teenage heroine takes on the villainous King Cobra and ‘The Mystery of the Ring!’ This is an unabashed Fine, with only very minor wear at the extreme outer edge. Cover colours are bright and vivid, interior page quality excellent, staples firm and tight corners. On sale at FN £900. Images of front and back covers, splash page, Miss America splashes and Patsy splash are shown to the left and below; once again, high resolution images are available on request.

These issues carry not only the cachet of Patsy’s earliest appearances, of a character still active in the Marvel Comics and Media Universes today, but also of being Golden Age Timely super-hero issues – Miss America herself has appeared many times in the current Marvel Universe in flashbacks and retro series, so both characters have strong ties to the current continuity. We anticipate keen interest in these lovely items, so don’t hesitate!

*Alan Class Reprints: A further update to one of Alan Class’s ‘big six’ titles, Uncanny Tales. We have new issues available in our regular listings section from some of the earliest (starting with #2) right through to some post decimal offerings.
PICTURED: UNCANNY TALES #2 GD/VG £33

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Rick Random was one of the best of the 1950s spacemen prolific in British comics. Debuting in Super-Detective Library #37 and created by Edward Holmes (writer) and Bill Lacey (artist), many subsequent stories were graced with the wonderfully stylish artwork of Ron Turner; the famous American science fiction author Harry Harrison had a hand in writing several. This week, we are delighted to present the first four of Rick’s adventures, including the debut issue, plus one slightly later story. All from an original owner collection, these are uniformly in a nice VG/FN condition, with intact spines, vivid clean covers, superb page quality and the inevitable rusty staples; however, very little rust migration. 
PICTURED: SUPER-DETECTIVE LIBRARY
#37 VG/FN £25 1st Rick Random
#44 VG/FN £20 Turner art
#48 VG/FN £20
#49 VG/FN £20 Turner art
#70 VG/FN £20 Turner art SOLD

*Childrens’ Books: Something a little different, quirky and quite rare in our Books update this week. ‘Blitz Books’ is a generic name for various publishers’ series of miniature books (approx 3 x 4.5 cm, around 16 pages, and published 1940-1944), these booklets helped distract children in air-raid shelters and Underground stations during bombing raids over London. They became known as ‘Blitz Books’, and, like many publications from the years of World War II, are quite scarce, particularly in as nice condition as the examples we have here. Five from the Pocket Series, illustrated text stories with colourful, evocative covers. None of these have ever passed through our hands before.
PICTURED: BLITZ BOOKS: POCKET SERIES ALL SOLD
#6 THE PEARL SMUGGLERS FN/VF £9
#15 THE FLOATING ISLAND VG/FN £7
#19 THE TERROR OF THE CAVE FN £8
#23 THE VENGEANCE OF BLACK ANDREW VG/FN £7
#32 STOLEN FLIGHT FN/VF £9

*DC: A smattering of miscellaneous Batman titles featured in this week’s Batmania update. From regular Batman series, #252, #253 (with the Shadow) and #308 (1st Tiffany Fox), Batman Family #1 & #3, Batman & The Outsiders #1 (1st series 1983), and the Batman Spectacular from DC Special Series #15.

*Marvel: Smiling Stan tested the waters for a fully-fledged return of Captain America with this appearance in the Human Torch story in Strange Tales #114. Spoiler Alert: Of course, this wasn’t the real Cap; as revealed at the story’s conclusion, it was really the Torch’s old foe the Acrobat. But Stan made no bones about testing the water for Cap’s proper return, asking for letters to see if fans wanted the real Cap back. Of course, it was just a short while until Avengers #4, and the rest is history! Speaking of letters, the third ever Dr Strange story appeared as back-up here, in response to fans’ positive reaction to the character in #100 & #111. So, a very significant issue. Pence stamped, solid with good staples and nice pages, only minor edge wear and corner blunting. The cover has two things marring it a little. The distributor used an ugly stamp over the original US price and there is a pencilled ‘6’ central on the cover between Cap and the Torch, although this is not too intrusive; both these defects should be visible on the scan and are taken into account on the grading and pricing. 
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #114 VG+ p £125 SOLD