*DC: Of Kirby’s ‘Fourth World’ series at DC, Mister Miracle was the best received by the readership 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 Apokalips. The tough, no-nonsense Barda contrasted with Scott’s laid back persona, and the dynamic brought the couple lasting popularity, the occasional ‘dramatic’ attempt to separate them being met with universal disdain. Another hit issue of the series was #9, in which the full background of Scott Free’s upbringing on the hell-world Apokalips, and his full origin, was revealed for the first time in detail. We have both these major issues back in stock this week, both cents copies with no UK pricing: #4 is FN+, with only very faint creasing at the lower cover corners impinging upon an otherwise virtually flawless copy. #9 is Near Mint, a grade we very seldom award to items of this vintage, a breath-taking copy with bright colours, firm staples, glossy cover, sharp corners, flexible interiors and not the remotest vestige of creasing.
PICTURED: MISTER MIRACLE
#4 FN+ £100
#9 NM £75

*DC: The early 1960s Wonder Woman, where the Princess of Paradise Island cavorted with her own younger selves (Wonder Tot & Wonder Girl) and fought fantastical creatures such as Mouse Man, the Human Iceberg and Multiple Menace, is a polarizing period for WW fans, who either love or lathe these more whimsical tales. Like ‘em or love ‘em, they’re back, from ‘Invaders from the Topsy-Turvy Planet!’ (#127) , to ‘Kite of Doom!’ (#138) plus a stray latecomer from the ‘Modesty Blaise’ years, the non-powered Diana Prince facing off against Dr. Cyber in #199.

*Marvel: A Lee/Romita co-creation, the Shocker – a.k.a. Herman Schultz, career criminal and part-time scientist – created a special insulated suit which generated electrical waves that could open safes and incapacitate the police. Outsmarted by Spider-Man on their first clash, he has returned many times to battle the Web-Slinger and many other Marvel heroes, making his big screen debut in ‘Spider-Man Homecoming’ in 2017. This first appearance is a VG, with light to moderate edge wear, fine corner creasing, and slight age-related discolouration at the rear spine, but staples firm at cover and centrefold.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #46 VG p £65 SOLD

*Marvel: Almost 50 issues of the Amazing Spider-Man restocked this week, the vast majority of which were not in our previous inventory. Highlights include the first appearances of several of Spidey’s friends (Black Fox, Silver Sable) and foes (the Rose, the Puma), and several key clashes with the Hobgoblin, including his apparent demise.

*Marvel: A title we mostly don’t list in our catalogue is New Mutants, but there are a couple of significant issues which are exceptions, and one of them is #98, the premier of not only everyone’s favourite Merc-With-A-Mouth and blockbuster movie star, Deadpool, but also the very first appearance of the probability-manipulating assassin Domino. Since Domino also co-starred in the smash-hit ‘Deadpool 2’ movie, her presence has enhanced the desirability of this already hot collectible issue. Although Deadpool as presented in this issue is very different in tone from his later more popular appearances, this is where it all began, and this copy is a clean, sharp and flat VF. Chances to get this item unslabbed are getting scarcer as people jump on the speculator bandwagon, so grab your copy now – competition will be keen!
PICTURED: NEW MUTANTS #98 VF £150

*Marvel: All the Silver Surfer’s original 18 issue series, launched in 1968, are keenly sought, but issue #4, in which our angst-ridden cosmic hero faces the might of Thor, is particularly scarce, both here in the UK and in its native USA. Many theories abound (including one about most of the print run being set alight by disappointed truck hijackers, which we declare inventive but apocryphal), but no conclusive explanation has yet been presented. Nevertheless, rare it is, significantly less common than even #1 in our experience. This copy of the epic Thor/Surfer clash, beautifully illustrated by John Buscema, is an attractive GD/VG; very minor peripheral cover creasing which leaves the central cover scene unharmed, and a small split toward the bottom of the squarebound spine. Nonetheless, a solid, bright copy of a rare issue, with excellent visual appeal.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER #4 GD/VG p £160 SOLD

*Marvel: In the wake of the spectacular success of Infinity Gauntlet, writer Jim Starlin returned to the well with a sequence of sequels, the first of which was Infinity War, in which Thanos ‘got the band back together’ – himself, Warlock, Drax, Gamora, Pip the Troll – and unleashed a scheme that forced most heroes to confront their own dark doppelgangers, both in the main series, and in many, many – oh, so very many – crossovers in other titles. This cosmic odyssey is now available as a complete 6 issue set, each a nigh-flawless NM.
PICTURED: INFINITY WAR #1 NM; COMPLETE SET #1-6 NM £50 SOLD

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: While Avon’s Strange Worlds is well-remembered for its lavish and beautifully illustrated science-fiction stories, issue #3 is one of the most sought-after, because of its all-star line-up. Wally Wood and Joe Orlando illustrate ‘The Alien Raiders!’, an adventure of Kenton of the Star Patrol, while Sid Greene brings us the tale of ‘The Flame Goddess!’. Howard Larsen and Sid Greene collaborate on Princess of the Past!’ an unused story of Malu, the Slave Girl Princess; and Wood, Krenkel, Williamson and Frazetta jointly illustrate the cover story, ‘Invasion From The Abyss!’. Not a dud in the lot, and this copy, at GD/VG (unmarred cover and interiors other than light general age-related wear, approx. 3″ diagonal back cover tear, otherwise would be an easy Fine) is relatively bargainaceous for such a widely-desired issue.
PICTURED: STRANGE WORLDS #3 GD/VG £275

*Magazines/Books About Vintage US Comics: Close to 30 new issues added in to various ‘prozines’, the phenomenon where magazines either started out as professional operations from the get-go, or originated as true fanzines, but mutated into slick productions with paid contributors, with a wealth of research, history and anecdote. Included in this listing are the Twomorrows publications Alter Ego (second series), Back Issue, Comicology and Rough Stuff, later issues of Fantagraphics’ Comics Journal, Comic Book Marketplace, Comic Book Artist (second series), the short-lived 1980s attempt at a true comics-themed newsstand mag, Comics Scene, and the magazine of the graphic arts, Hogan’s Alley.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Three consecutive issues of Victor, home of ‘Tough of the Track’, ‘Cecil the Stone-Age Scrapper’ and plus-size soccer star ‘Mister Roly-Poly’, each with their original Free Gift. Issue #517 is GD, light wear and browning at cover edge, with ‘Star Cars of 1971’ booklet + stickers in FN. #518 is FN, a cleaner copy with Sheet 2 of ‘Star Cars of 1971’ stickers in VF. And #519 is GD, slight dust shadow at top edge, with Sheet 3 of – oh, you guessed – stickers, unfortunately, partly adhering to an interior page, so also only GD.
PICTURED: VICTOR
#517 GD WITH FREE GIFT GD £30 SOLD
#518 FN WITH FREE GIFT FN £30 SOLD
#519 GD WITH FREE GIFT GD £15 SOLD

*Humour Comics: In 1977, D.C. Thomson took the peculiar step to try one of the long-running ‘Bash Street Kids’ from the Beano in his own self-titled comic. Percival Proudfoot Plugley, a.k.a. ‘Plug’, was given a slick paper weekly, in his adventures focusing on his never-before-suspected sporting prowess. Several of the back-ups also had a sporting theme, including ‘Ava Banana, the World’s Strongest Woman’, which featured the single worst ‘professional’ art ever seen in a D.C. Thomson comic. While the quality of some of the strips may have been a bit shaky, the production values were high, and the comic lasted 75 issues before merging into Beezer. Mind you, they didn’t stint on the Free Gifts, which were relatively elaborate. While issue #1’s ‘Screamin’ Demon’ balloon was standard fare, the ‘Plug’s Mugs’ funny face maker with issue #2 actually looks like quite a bit of fun, as does issue #3’s ‘Glow’rious Plug facemask, with luminous bits! Issue #1’s Free Gift is still in envelope, with very slight age-related discolouration on two patches of the envelope itself; Issue #2 has two components, the cards for the Funny Faces unpunched from their original support card, tiny bit of rust on the staples of the unopened envelope holding the viewer and other than a slightly rusty staple on the small envelope; the mask with issue #3 is pristine.
PICTURED: PLUG
#1 VF WITH FREE GIFT FN £30
#2 VF WITH FREE GIFT VF £30
#3 VF WITH FREE GIFT VF £30

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Launched in 1961 and lasting until 1966’s #120, Princess Picture Library started out by alternating between two fixed ‘players’ – Sue Day of the ‘Happy Days’, and Sally Doyle, one of those ballerinas who was always performing her pirouettes in unlikely locales – jungle, castle, Tesco’s, you name it. In later issues, however, the scope broadened to encompass other features, such as the Freedom Fighters for France (it’s a wonder the German Army got anything done in World War II, with all these plucky schoolgirls hurtling at them) and well-meaning plus-size duffer Bessie Bunter – sorry, Tilly Tuffin. Our potpourri of Princesses is delicately refreshed this week with almost 60 issues previously unrepresented in our inventory, commencing with #5: ‘Sue and the Cake Mystery’ and ending with #119: ‘Sue and the Circus Mystery’. My, that girl gets everywhere. Along the way, many issues didn’t even involve either Sue or a mystery, but you’ll have to trust us on that. Averaging VG, with several Fine, these are structurally sound copies with generally bright covers, but brought slightly down by rusty staples.
PICTURED: PRINCESS PICTURE LIBRARY
#21 VG £9
#81 FN £9

On a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire stock to delete sold items and keep our listing as up to date as possible. We’ve just finished deleting sold items from the following files in our American section:
*Marvel A – C
*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics
As of the time of writing, these files are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Childrens’ Books: Antonia Forest is best known by aficionados of children’s literature for her series of novels about the Marlow family set in the 20th century, The Player’s Boy is set in the time of Queen Elizabeth I; it tells the story of an ancestor of theirs, who runs away from his family hoping to sail to America. Instead he meets not only Kit Marlowe but also William Shakespeare, and ends up joining the Lord Chamberlain’s Players. The book is graded VG, with a water ripple at the top of the first few pages (but no sign on the boards; otherwise the book would grade higher). The dust jacket is also graded VG, with very slight erosion at the ends of folds and a small mark at the top right of the front cover. The evidence of the book’s former life as a library book is limited to a large and very pink label on the flyleaf and a stamp on the publisher’s page. This is a rare opportunity to obtain a first edition by ‘the ‘Jane Austen’ of children’s literature’.
PICTURED: THE PLAYER’S BOY VG (DJ VG) £80

*Marvel: The early issues of the Fantastic Four were bursting with characters who would later play pivotal roles in the greatest Marvel Universe, and issue #8 was no exception. This issue saw the introduction of Phillip Masters, the Puppet Master, whose traumatic childhood caused him to seek power, wealth and companionship by controlling the minds of others via a certain radioactive clay isotope, which he fashioned into puppets of the real people to invoke a modern-day voodoo. Appearing multiple times in the Marvel Universe, he remains a bane of the FF to this day – though his one emotional weak spot is his genuine love for his step-daughter Alicia, perhaps born of guilt over Alicia’s blindness, which was caused by an explosion during a dispute between Masters and Alicia’s father, in which Alicia’s father was killed. Alicia herself, originally a pawn of her evil step-father, has assumed a larger role, becoming first the beloved of Ben Grimm, the Fantastic Four’s Thing, sightlessly sensing the noble soul beneath the monstrous facade, and also, pivotally, convincing the aloof Silver Surfer of the value of humanity in the epic ‘Galactus Trilogy’. This debut of two key characters is FN+, light corner and edge wear, but firm staples, bright pages, and only the most minimal corner ‘blunting’.
PICTURED: FANTASTIC FOUR #8 FN+ p £375 SOLD

*Marvel: A major addition to Shell-Head’s Rogue’s Gallery premiered this issue, as Iron Man met for the first time the malevolent Melter, a villain custom designed to neutralise the powers and weapons of the Armoured Avenger! For a one-note villain, Bruno Horgan had a surprisingly long shelf life, becoming a perennial member of the Masters of Evil and racking up dozens of appearances before being bumped off, unceremoniously, in a massacre of villains by Scourge in the pages of Captain America. Typically, Marvel declined to let the name rest, and several other people have claimed the title of Melter, but this one was the first of the ‘legacy’! This copy is FN+, with minimal spine wear, but firm staples and that peculiar ‘midnight blue’ background Marvel favoured in their early years vivid and unfaded.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE #47 FN+ p £160

*DC: “The Enchantress? Isn’t she a Marvel character?” we hear you say. Well, yes & no. Amora, the Enchantress who is Thor’s most beloved enemy, is certainly the most famous bearer of that name, but DC hit back with a short-lived super-heroine in 1966, who went on to better things after fifteen years in Limbo. In Strange Adventures #187, we met June Moone, freelance artist who stumbles into the wrong corridor at a costume party being held in a castle, and gets changed into a mystically-empowered heroine charged to fight crime. Making only two further appearances in SA #191 and #200, DC’s Enchantress was forgotten until she was revived as a villain in Superman Family #204, the years of exposure to dark magic having corrupted her. Following several other guest appearances, she became a regular in the first series of Suicide Squad, transitioning to the Big SCreen as the Big Bad in the Suicide Squad movie of 2016. It was a long strange journey to stardom for Ms. Moone, but it all started here, in this very respectable VG+ copy, light to moderate spine and edge creasing, unfaded cover image, excellent page quality.
PICTURED: STRANGE ADVENTURES #187 VG+ p £50 SOLD

*DC: In 1964, Batman bade farewell to aliens, monsters, inter-dimensional imps, hounds and the ‘Batman family’ as Julius Schwartz took over the editorial helm and the emphasis switched to crime, mystery and super-villains from the established Rogues’ Gallery. Oh, and Batman got a yellow circle around the Bat symbol on his chest! 10 ‘new look’ issues this update, including the Joker in #186, the Penguin in #190 and Catwoman in #210, as well as the Anniversary 200th issue and Neal Adams artwork in #219. 

*Marvel: Well, they don’t come much more ‘firsty’ than this one! One of the most sought-after issues of the Marvel Universe, this is not only the first appearance of the original X-Men themselves, but also their arch-nemesis Magneto. This is the comic which sparked Marvel’s most popular franchise (arguably tying with Spider-Man), and a Lee & Kirby classic which established the X-Men as Marvel’s ‘outsiders’ from the very beginning. This copy is UK pence priced, and while complete and intact, with no staining, scribbling or missing parts, is extremely worn, graded as PR/FA. There is moderate spine roll, the cover is detached at lower staple, and there is extensive spine, edge and corner creasing, though these constitute light multiple creases rather than heavy single ones. The white front cover image, though not specifically soiled, is discoloured through age, and there is a general feeling of ‘dinginess’ to the cover. Interior pages are clean and presentable. Nonetheless, a complete copy of an issue with multiple debuts of significant characters, and the launch pad for Marvel’s most lucrative franchise. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: X-MEN #1 PR/FA p £1100 SOLD

*Marvel: This trinity of connected tales hails from the ‘wilderness years’ of Spidey’s non-distribution in the UK, and features three sequential events; in #134, we are introduced for the first time to the Tarantula, the leaping menace who was to become a bane of Spidey’s existence, and also featured a last-minute cameo by the Punisher; #135 of course, presented the second ‘Full Punisher’, as Frank Castle squared off against both the Tarantula and Spidey himself; and #136 brought us the first appearance of Harry Osborn as the second Green Goblin, having literally stepped into his dead daddy’s pixie boots. #134 and #136 are high grade ND keys, bright and shiny with flat covers, tight staples and sharp corners, and we don’t anticipate they’ll be with us for long.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#134 VF+ £50
#136 VF £50

*Marvel: We do love those Big Panty Monsters here at 30th C., and we’re not alone, as our valued customers eagerly snap up these (mostly) Lee & Kirby tales of giant monsters bestriding a (nearly) defeated Earth, sensibly attired in sturdy M&S knickers from the ‘Ample Matron’ range. We’re chuffed to welcome several new entries in this sub-genre into stock. Journey Into Mystery #58 brings us ‘Rro!’, a superb VG, vivid red cover, only a bit of ‘flakiness’ around lower right corner belying a higher grade. We have not one, but two copies of Tales of Suspense #25, with ‘The Death of Monstrollo’, one in VG- (moderate spine and slight lower right cover creasing), and one in GD+, with a bit more creasing (including a light vertical crease bisecting Monstrollo’s head – as if he didn’t have enough problems!), but both clean and sound copies. Tales of Suspense #35 brings us the ‘Challenge of Zarkorr’, a spiffy VG+ with light lower cover wear, featuring an alleged Watcher prototype, while #38 steps away from the BPM tropes to give us the Genie-empowered ‘Teenager Who Ruled the World!’. Last but far from least, Tales to Astonish #16 brings us ‘Thorr!’ a menace who is not only one letter away from Marvel’s later God of Thunder, but is actually the model for his first opponents, the Stone Men. This, again, is a lovely VG with lustrous cover colour and only very faint discolouration at staple area. In addition to the cover-featured BPMs, of course, most of these lovelies also feature a Lee & Ditko twist-ending thriller, and other mystery tales from Don Heck, Gene Colan and other classic Bullpen artists.
PICTURED:
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #58 VG P £75
TALES OF SUSPENSE
#25 VG- p £65
#35 VG+ p £50
TALES TO ASTONISH #16 VG p £90

*Horror 1940-1959: Two stunners this week from Avon’s short-lived, but long-remembered, series Witchcraft, a horror anthology featuring the talents of Hollingsworth, Meskin, Roussos, Kinstler, Lazarus, Fawcette and more. In stories such as ‘Diary of a Monster!’ ‘The Man Who Bribed Death!’ and ‘Mystery of the Venus Flyer’, our beleaguered protagonists face beheadings, hangings and the good old threat of being cooked alive – and these being Pre-Code terror tales, there’s no guarantee that anyone makes it to story’s end alive! Both these issues have eye-catching and imaginative cover scenes, though if pushed, we’d have to give the nod to #4’s ‘Cannibal Death’ cover. Neither has any flaws other than the general age-related wear indicated by the grade – perhaps a bit more corner and edge wear on the #6 than the #4, but both are sound and strong copies for their years.
PICTURED: WITCHCRAFT
#4 VG £350
#6 GD/VG £80

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: In 1974, Marvel’s burgeoning black & white magazine line tapped into a lucrative franchise, the Planet of the Apes movies, which, at that time, were still being produced on a regular basis. While obviously leading with a comic strip adaptation of the first Apes movie, the Bullpen filled in the history of the series with ‘continuity implants’ taking place off-screen in the world of the movies. Although many talented people – Moench, Ploog, Simonson, Alcala – contributed to the interior stories, what sticks in many readers’ minds are the stunning painted covers by Bob Larkin, Earl Norem and others, each of which would readily serve as a movie poster on its own. We have 23 of the 29 issues in the series, including the very first issue signed (on the splash page) by Stan Lee! Averaging FN, with several VF in the mix, this is a rare significant selection of a highly sought after series which appeals to Marvel and movie collectors alike.
PICTURED: PLANET OF THE APES #1 FN+ £40 (SIGNED BY STAN LEE) SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: One of the earliest attempts to coherently re-present the Fleetway/IPC classic adventure series was 1975’s Vulcan, an experimental weekly which was smaller than usual – closer to American comic-book size – contained many colour pages, and reprinted in sequence several much-loved series from the past: The Spider, Kelly’s Eye, Trigan Empire, Robot Archie, Sabre, Mytek the Mighty and the Steel Claw. Launched successfully as a trial in Scotland, a national edition was rolled out in late ’75, and ironically lasted fewer issues than the trial run! The slick paper was a bit fragile, and copies of the short-lived series don’t survive damage well, so we’re delighted to have a FN copy of issue #2 of the National edition in this week, with the free gift – Magical Numbers Card Game – in VF! The game was originally presented in a punch-out card, and this copy is completely unpunched, all pieces firmly in situ.
PICTURED: VULCAN 4/10/75 (#2) FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £45 SOLD

*TV & Film Related Comics: For more seaside summer fun (appropriately, as we type this on a torrential March afternoon), we offer TV Comic Holiday Specials from 1968 and 1969. While these are not the earliest Holiday Specials of the long-running Polystyle publication, they are among the most in-demand, as in addition to the regular funny features – Diddymen, Mighty Moth, Basil Brush, TV Terrors, Popeye – both featured TV’s ‘Doctor Who’, (the Patrick Troughton iteration, in comic strip form) and the 1969 edition also has a text story of TV’s ‘Avengers’, John Steed and Tara King! These uncommon items are in exceptionally nice nick – the 1968 is FN/VF, marred only by slight weakness at the upper staple area, and the 1969 is an unchallenged VF.
PICTURED TV COMIC HOLIDAY SPECIAL
1968 FN/VF £80 SOLD
1969 VF £65 SOLD