*DC: Some loose ends of favourite titles this week in very affordable, lowish grades.
IN THIS UPDATE: ALL SOLD
ADVENTURE COMICS #354 GD £6 The Adult Legion; small cover scuff
GREEN LANTERN #31 GD- p £7.25 Power Rings For Sale
INFERIOR FIVE #5 GD p £2.50 The French Revolution
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #40 GD- p £6.50 Indestructible Creatures Of Nightmare Island
TEEN TITANS #10 FA/GD p £4 Scramble! The Scorcher Is Making The Scene

*Marvel: This week from the Bute Collection, we feature two excellent issues of the Fantastic Four from their heyday. #27 features another clash with the Sub-Mariner, which also features the first Dr Strange crossover. #35 has the dynamic debut of Dragon Man, as manipulated by the dastardly Diablo. Lee and Kirby at their best, in the opinion of this commentator.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR
#27 VG+ £110 Bright cover with good colour. Some crease marks over Sue’s legs don’t break colour. Edge wear at top and bottom. Staples firm at spine, lower off at centrefold. Off-white to cream pages.
#35 FN- P £75 Pence stamped. Strong colours with minimal edge wear. Tiny chipping at right edge of a couple of pages. Firm staples and white to off-white pages.

*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. This week, quite a package in Eerie #1 from 1958. The cover is by Wally Wood, and although originally from Avon’s Strange World’s #6, the cover monster and some backgrounds were redrawn. Inside, the content is from Baily’s Spook Comics #1 (1945), often regarded as the first horror comic. Of the four stories, two are horror/suspense (inc. a Mr Lucifer story), two are horror/humour. 
PICTURED: EERIE #1 VG+ £80 Nice clean copy with striking cover image. Solid spine with minor wear. A little creasing, just breaking colour at corners and edges. Firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. SOLD

*Romance: Finally from the Midas Collection this week, six 1950s issues of DC’s Falling In Love. Although mostly drawn by unknown artists, DC’s romance comics from this period featured a good standard of appealing art, and often very well composed and executed covers. Having said that, you’ll find the work of Forte, Sekowsky, Colletta and even Matt Baker in these pages (Baker in #21). Seldom seen, particularly over here in the UK, the Midas Collection is quite rich in this genre, with many more to follow.
PICTURED: FALLING IN LOVE
#11 GD £13
#12 GD+ £16
#14 VG £26
#21 GD/VG £17
#23 GD+ £14
#30 GD- £10

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: After the conclusion of the Marvelman series (himself a copy of the American Captain Marvel), British artist Mick Anglo moved on to give us just nine issues of Captain Miracle from 1960, who was really just Marvelman with a costume symbol change). There was even a Miracle Junior too. (Of course, we know of a later context where the words Marvel & Miracle were interchangeable, don’t we, kiddies?) Anyway, in the same format as Marvelman, accompanied to varying degrees by American back-up strips, we present three of the nine issues, including #1. We haven’t seen issues of these before, and believe them to be uncommon.
PICTURED: CAPTAIN MIRACLE
#1 FN £40 Bright, fresh copy.
#5 GD £10 Worn spine; book shop stamps SOLD
#7 GD/VG £15 Small tear at right edge (no loss); sealed by tape inside cover.

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: We’ve been fortunate enough to acquire a selection of British Library Crime Classics, a contemporary series which reprints classic novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, bound in attractive uniform editions which feature period paintings as their covers. A celebration of famous and forgotten authors and a milestone in publishing for the British Library. All books are in like new, unread condition at a uniform price of £5 each. Further information is shown in our catalogue. Here’s four more of them:
BRITISH LIBRARY CRIME CLASSICS ALL SOLD
FREEMAN WILLS CROFTS: THE HOG’S BACK MYSTERY British Library Crime Classics 2015 UK PB Originally published 1933 Like New £5
MARTIN EDWARDS (Ed): SERPENTS IN EDEN British Library Crime Classics 2016 1st UK PB Like New £5 Countryside Crimes: Conan Doyle, Chesteron, Allingham, Gladys Mitchell, many more.
ALAN MELVILLE: DEATH OF ANTON British Library Crime Classics 2015 UK PB
Originally published 1936 Like New £5
RAYMOND POSTGATE: VERDICT OF TWELVE British Library Crime Classics 2017 UK PB Originally published 1940 Like New £5

*DC: The Midas Collection: Batman #8 from 1941/42 leads off this week’s updates. This is an issue with strong, quality content, four excellent Batman stories, all by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. In the first, Batman has to infiltrate a prison and ends up facing the gas chamber. In the second, The Strange Case Of Professor Radium, a scientist finds a way to use radium to bring the dead back to life, and he uses himself as a guinea pig; it doesn’t end well. The third story involves a murder mystery set at a stage production where superstitious practices are carried out. The Joker stars in the fourth story, as Batman and Robin pursue him cross country. All this within an outstanding infinity cover by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson.
This copy, sadly, is a wreck. HANDLE WITH CARE! The front cover is completely, and raggedly, detached, with a strip 1-2 cm wide by 10 cm deep missing in from the spine on the lower half. The upper half of that side of the cover has several tears with some loss, including a long diagonal tear right across the top of Robin’s head (small piece of tape partially covering that inside cover). Top and bottom edges have wear, nicks and creases and the right edge of the whole comic is ragged, uneven and torn. There is a long crease down the right side of the cover about 4 cm in from the edge which deepens to a tear at its most severe. The back cover is also detached and in a similar state, with losses at spine and ragged corners off at top and bottom left. The staples hold everything firm except the centrefold which is loose. The pages are not too bad (apart from the ragged right edge) and are a creamy colour with some tanning at edges. Apart from the missing parts of cover, the comic is complete and perfectly readable, but I don’t think you’d want to handle it too much. Still, the condition does bring the price down! High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #8 PR £500 SOLD

*DC: From the Bute Collection this week, an issue of Sensation Comics from 1944. The home of Wonder Woman from #1 onwards, Sensation was an excellent anthology series, featuring at this time not only Diana, but also Sargon the Sorceror, Mr Terrific and Wildcat. The Wonder Woman story is by her creators, writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter and involves Wonder Woman with the giant female warriors of Atlantis under the sea. This is a very decent copy, marred only by a 3 cm by 1 cm strip off top right cover. The cover has vivid colour and some gloss, a solid spine and minimal wear and corner blunting; small nick centre right with no loss. Printed without a lower staple, the upper is tight and firm and the page quality is an excellent flexible off-white. Small, faint name in pencil below logo. A nice example.
PICTURED: SENSATION COMICS #35 GD+ £225 SOLD

*Marvel: A Lee/Ditko trio of three consecutive Amazing Spider-Man issues from the Good Doctor Collection this week. Issues #26 & #27 are a two-parter, with the debut of the Crime- Master, a familiar face in a new disguise, tangling both with Spidey and the Green Goblin in a gangland war. In #28, Spidey comes up against a new foe, the Molten Man, featuring a dazzling black cover.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#26 VG+ p £110 Pence stamped. Nice solid copy with strong colours and a virtually unmarked cover. A little soft creasing around lower spine, and some wear along bottom edge, with very short creases breaking colour at bottom right corner. Small scuff mark at Spidey’s groin. Tight, firm staples and supple off-white pages.
#27 VG p £90 Pence stamped. Soft creasing/handling wear around mast-head, logo and upper spine. Small colour-breaking creases across bottom right cover and tick marks at spine. Great cover colour, tight, firm staples and supple off-white pages. 
#28 VG+ p £150 Pence printed; a ‘Marvel Pop Art Production.’ Stunning black cover shows every mark; fortunately, there aren’t too many. Minor edge and handling wear; soft creasing around lower spine with tick marks and a spidery reading crease breaking colour. Tight, firm staples and near white pages. 

 

*Horror 1940/1959: Astonishing #38-40 from Atlas were the first three post code issues, but the Atlas standards of quality didn’t drop despite the new restrictions on content. Carl Burgos, Robert Q Sale, Ross Andru, Bob Forgione, John Forte, Doug Wildey, Dick Ayers, Bob Powell and many others will be found within the pages of these three issues from the Bute Collection.
PICTURED: ASTONISHING
#38 GD £28 Small upper spine split with chip out, short tear at top margin throughout comic. Decent pages; staples firm but lower rusty with minimal migration. SOLD
#39 GD £28 Three long colour-breaking creases across cover; edge wear minimal. Nice pages and staples. SOLD
#40 VG £55 Solid copy with little wear apart from reading crease bottom spine. Good pages and staples; very slight spine roll.  

*War: Marvel’s flagship Silver Age war title was Sgt Fury (& His Howling Commandos) which had a long life throughout the Silver Age, with Nick Fury emerging later as head of SHIELD and becoming a cornerstone of the MU. Sgt Fury was popular enough to cause a spin-off title, Captain Savage (& His Leatherneck Raiders), which despite a much shorter run, produced a similar standard of war stories. Savage had been a supporting character in Sgt Fury prior to this. We have the first issue of Captain Savage fresh in in nice shape, plus a couple of early Sgt Fury issues, including the debut of Baron Strucker’s Blitzkrieg Squad, who were a Nazi version of the Howlers.
ALL SOLD
PICTURED: CAPTAIN SAVAGE #1 VF- p £30 Pence stamped
SGT FURY
#10 VG- p £25 Pence printed
#14 FN p £22 Pence stamped. 1st Blitzkrieg Squad

*Humour Comics: 3 Dandy issues of a true vintage this week. The Dandy commenced right at the end of 1937, so these three issues from 1938 are from the first full year of its publication. Famous for its comedy picture strips, the comic was split in those days between these (often several per page) and text and picture adventure stories. Korky the Cat was on the cover, of course, and the ever present Desperate Dan within. Alongside them were Keyhole Kate, Jimmy & His Grockle, Our Gang, Invisible Dick and many more features crammed into 28 packed pages. 
PICTURED: DANDY 1938
#9 FA/GD £125 Good cover colours. Lowish grade, with narrow clear tape reinforcement along the spine and a couple of interior pages. Foxing stains to cover and some interiors. Several small tears and nicks throughout, but nothing horrible. SOLD
#19 GD £90 Solid enough copy with short incipient tears at spine and bright cover colours.  Decent quality pages with some margin staining and a bit of page edge clear tape reinforcement. Small chunk out of page edge margin on one page. SOLD
#45 GD £50 Solid enough and fairly clean copy with bright cover colours. One short chunk off top spine (margin only) and a small piece of tape around bottom spine. Mostly good quality pages with some margin clear tape reinforcement. SOLD

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: This week, we return to the famous and long-running Sexton Blake Library. Often dubbed ‘the poor man 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. Six consecutive issues new in this week from the 1950s. These are picture library sized, but mainly text. The series ran from 1915 to 1968, These issues follow the 1956 revamp by W Howard Baker when the covers took on a more gangster/sleazy mode and were drawn by notable artists such as David Wright (#359 here). Written by a ‘harem’ of notable writers including Wilfred McNeilly, W Howard Baker, Michael Moorcock (one of many moonlighting as house name Desmond Reid), Peter Saxon and Jack Trevor Story, the longevity of the series is testament to the quality of the plotting and writing. And a factoid: one of Sexton Blake’s arch-enemies was Zenith the Albino – who is widely acknowledged to have inspired Moorcock’s morose hero Elric.
PICTURED: SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY: ALL AMALGAMATED 1950s ALL SOLD
#359: FRIGHTENED LADY: W HOWARD BAKER GD £5
#360: FLIGHT INTO FEAR: PETER SAXON GD/VG £6
#361: DARK MAMBO: W HOWARD BAKER GD/VG £6
#362: BROKEN TOY: ARTHUR MACLEAN GD/VG £6
#363: FRONT PAGE WOMAN: PETER SAXON GD £5
#364: INCLINING TO CRIME: ARTHUR KENT GD £5

*DC: Also from the Bute Collection this week, two early issues of the try-out series Showcase from 1957/58. Issues #11 & #12 feature the Challengers Of The Unknown in their 3rd and 4th appearances, the last before they got their own series. Both issues have great covers and interior art by Jack Kirby in long multi-chapter stories. #11 is a story of alien invasion. #12 centres on the sinister magical effects of the opening of ancient vials. 
PICTURED: SHOWCASE
#11 VG+ £220 Clean copy with small stamped digits below logo (arrival date?). Centrefold loose, but otherwise staples are okay. Some edge wear, mainly at spine, within spidery creases breaking colour there. Cover image virtually unharmed. Nice white to off-white pages.
#12 VG+ £220 Bright copy with vivid colour. A couple of faint creases break colour diagonally across logo and upper image, but do not soil the cover scene. There is a further crease that breaks colour across bottom right cover corner. Little other wear. Staples firm at spine and centrefold. Nice white to off-white pages.

*DC: Nine months before the debut of Supergirl in Action Comics #252, an earlier Supergirl appeared in Superman #123 in 1958. Now, despite a strong resemblance to Kara Zor-El, this wasn’t her, although we don’t want to spoil the enjoyment of the story by revealing her true nature. Suffice it to say that this must have been a try-out for the real thing! Story by Orto Binder, cover by Curt Swan and art by Dick Sprang; unusual as far as I’m aware to see the Sprangster draw an entire issue of Superman, and he seems to have adjusted his famous Batman style to resemble more the classic Superman artists of the period. A three-part story both charming, poignant and thrilling. This Midas Collection copy is a lower graded copy with a good, strong cover image. There are spine splits from the top down to just above the upper staple and from the bottom up likewise to the bottom staple. However, both staples themselves are firmly attached at spine and centrefold. There is a tiny chip out bottom right cover and fairly minor edge wear apart from the spine as noted. Pages are off-white and supple.
PICTURED: SUPERMAN #123 GD- £100

*Marvel: We’re always thrilled when an early copy by the ‘real’ Spidey artist, Steve Ditko, comes into our possession, and seldom more so than by this week’s acquisition, the second issue of Amazing Spider-Man, featuring the debut of one of his most enduring enemies, the Vulture! Despite his physically frail appearance, the airborne pensioner has survived numerous deaths, remodels, and replacements by younger counterparts, and the character retains an infamous popularity. This issue also features the premier appearance of the Terrible Tinkerer – no, really – who while less persistent than the Vulture, is still an occasional player in the Spidey mythos. Only Spider-Man’s third-ever appearance anywhere! This is a CGC Blue Label (no restoration) 4.5 (VG+ equivalent), with off-white pages, strong colours and a perfect case. CGC Code: 1269328001. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #2 CGC 4.5 (VG+) £2,200

*Marvel: Five consecutive issues of the X-Men now available, from #216 to #220, all in a consistent VF+ grade. Lots of Storm, Rogue, Dazzler and Psylocke in these issues, and guest artists aplenty.
IN THIS UPDATE: X-MEN
#216 VF+ £4.50
#217 VF+ £4.50
#218 VF+ £4.50
#219 VF+ £4.50
#220 VF+ £4.50

*IW/Super: We continue with our series of updates from that most esoteric publisher IW/Super. IW Publications was a short-lived comic book publisher in the late 1950s and early 1960s, named for the company’s owner Israel Waldman. Comics were published under both the IW and Super imprints and were notable for publishing unauthorised Golden Age reprints of other company’s properties. Usually these companies were out of business, but not always. Basically, it seemed to be whatever they could get their hands on that determined the esoteric nature of their output. Thus you get super-heroes, war, romance, western, funny animals, crime, horror, science fiction and just about every genre within their pages. Full details of what was reprinted in what are listed in our website catalogue. NB usually with newly-drawn covers. Over the next few months, we’ll be presenting a series of issues from this publisher. This week, four issues of Daring Adventures with varying content including lots of super-heroes.
IN THIS UPDATE: DARING ADVENTURES ALL SOLD
#10 GD £3.50 Reprints Dynamic Comics #24, Superior 1947. New cover by Ross Andru.
#11 FN- £9.25 Reprints Dynamic Comics #16, Chesler 1945. New cover by Ross Andru.
#17 FN+ £13 Reprints Green Lama #3, Spark 1945. New cover by Ross Andru.
#18 VG/FN £15 (PICTURED) Not reprint. Believed to be the unpublished Atlas Comics #1. Cover by Ross Andru. 

*Alan Class Reprints: From the Alan Class Personal Archive, we’re delighted to present ten post decimal issues of Astounding this week, all in very high grade, never read or circulated, and each with a certificate signed by Alan Class.
IN THIS UPDATE: ASTOUNDING
#111 VF/NM £5
#115 VF+ £4.75
#119 NM £5.50
#130 VF £5.25
#134 VF/NM £5
#135 VF/NM £5
#139 NM £5.50
#142 VF/NM £5
#143 NM £5.50
#144 VF/NM £5

*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: All the Queens Of Crime had their recurring detectives of course, and Margery Allingham’s was Albert Campion, a suave sleuth of noble blood, perfectly portrayed on TV by Peter Davison. Four Allingham Penguins in classic green and white stripe livery from the 1950s/60s fresh in this week, all featuring Campion in typically clever murder mysteries. Although perfectly readable, these copies are in mixed condition; full details, including condition notes, await you in our catalogue.
PICTURED: ALL BY MARGERY ALLINGHAM ALL SOLD
THE BECKONING LADY Penguin 1960 2nd UK PB VG £5
THE FASHION IN SHROUDS Penguin 1961 3rd UK PB VG £5
FLOWERS FOR THE JUDGE Penguin 1950 3rd UK PB GD/VG £7
MYSTERY MILE Penguin 1950 1st UK PB FA/GD £4

*DC: Also from the Midas Collection this week, four consecutive issues of Batman #101-105 from 1956 in a variety of grades.
PICTURED: BATMAN
#101 GD/VG £120 Clark Kent guests. Cover and art by Sheldon Moldoff; stories by Bill Finger and Edmond Hamilton. Edge wear and moderate spine wear. Staples firm, nice white to off-white pages. Faint diagonal cover crease.
#102 GD £67 Cover by Sheldon Moldoff; interior art by Moldoff and Dick Sprang. Stories by Bill Finger. Cover wear with faint staining; subscription-like crease. Discolouration on small part of logo. Staples tight and firm, pages off-white.
#103 FN+ £260 ‘Bat-Hound, Movie Star’. Cover by Sheldon Moldoff; interior art by Moldoff and Dick Sprang. Stories by Bill Finger and Arnold Drake. Superior copy with bright colours and sharp corners. Firm, tight staples and near white pages. Faint cover crease does not break colour. Tiny mark over ‘B’ in logo.
#104 VG- £115 Cover by Sheldon Moldoff; interior art by Moldoff and Dick Sprang; stories by Bill Finger and Edmond Hamilton. Decent copy with relatively minor cover wear. A couple of small tears top cover edge and a crease that only just breaks colour. Firm, tight staples and off-white pages.

*Marvel: We present in Amazing Spider-Man #13 the first appearance of a major member of Spidey’s Rogues’ Gallery. Peter Parker’s costumed alter ego faced one of his most baffling foes: Mysterio, whose inexplicable feats bordered more on the supernatural than the super-powered, and brought Spidey close to the edge of insanity. Steve Ditko’s artwork here transplanted a touch of his imagination from Doctor Strange to Spidey’s more urban environment, and from the visual evidence, Sturdy Steve was having great fun making both worlds collide! This is a serviceable pence printed copy, with good cover colour and a fair bit of handling and reading wear. There are faint-ish creases at spine, further in across Spidey’s head and at bottom right corner, with some colour breakage. Staples are tight and firm at spine and centrefold. Short back cover tear and nicks. Narrow sun shadow along right cover edge, with tanning (non-brittle) to inside covers, particularly at edges. Pages are a flexible off-white to cream. 
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #13 GD p £400 SOLD

*Marvel: You know the one, right, where in Fantastic Four #57-60, Doctor Doom steals the Silver Surfer’s cosmic powers and uses them to defeat the FF in one of THE classic adventures of Marvel’s first family? Oh, and somewhere in there the Inhumans break free of the Great Refuge. This quartet from the Good Doctor Collection features a really nice copy of #57, with one of the great Dr Doom covers, plus lower graded copies of #58-60.
IN THIS UPDATE: FANTASTIC FOUR
#57 FN/VF £275 (PICTURED) Beautiful fresh copy with deep and vivid cover colours, tight, firm staples and supple white to off-white pages. Solid spine, very minor corner blunting and just very slight edge wear. There is a tiny 2-3 cm crease across extreme bottom right corner which faintly breaks colour. 
#58 GD/VG p £11 SOLD
#59 GD/VG p £11 SOLD
#60 App VG/FN £9.25 Ad page out; story complete. SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards: It’s quite rare that we stray into the 21st Century for our stock, but for Alan Moore, we’ll make an exception. Moore created, in conjunction with artist Kevin O’Neill, a Victorian era combination of characters from famous literary works: Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and so forth. This unlikely and reluctant alliance faced down foes in two mini-series, then resurfaced periodically from various publishers in a number of one-offs, original graphic novels and spin-offs. The subject of a controversial film (which Moore publicly disavowed and condemned, and which is rumoured to have caused star Sean Connery to retire from acting!), the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics and graphic novels are of a much higher quality. Even if, over the intervening years, Moore’s narrative techniques have become ever more esoteric and oblique, there is much entertainment to be had in his shameless plundering of popular culture. This week we feature Volume 2 of the series, a complete six issues, which is inspired by the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs and H G Wells among many others, and essentially is a retelling of the War Of The Worlds.
PICTURED: LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN VOL 2 #1 NM; Complete Set #1-6 all NM £20 SOLD

*Romance: Finally from the Midas Collection this week: Secret Hearts was a long-running DC romance title, lasting 153 issues until 1971, but it started here in 1949 with #1. As was usually the custom with most publishers romance titles around this time, a photo cover was used on early issues, here a very happy cycling couple. Interior art, as always with DC was of a high standard, including here a couple of stories possibly by Toth and Infantino, and a signed story by Kinstler. A nice clean copy with upper and lower short spine splits and tears without loss at top left and back right cover corners, including a loose chip top left.
PICTURED: SECRET HEARTS #1 GD- £60 SOLD