*Humour Comics: In 1973, D.C. Thomson decided to introduce a stablemate to its broadsheet-sized Beezer and Topper weeklies, and Buzz joined the lineup for a respectable 100+ issue run, packing a lot into the oversized pages, fronted by ‘Hop, Skip and Jock’, wherein our inventive but impecunious trio coined an outlandish money-making scheme each week. Other features included ‘The Twitz of the Ritz’, ‘Fred the Flop’, ‘Jimmy Jinx’, ‘Calamity Kate’, and token racist caricatures ‘Wig and Wam’! Issue #1 is VG, a bit ‘bumpy’ on the pages owing to the free gift ‘Pop Pistol’ having been stuck inside for decades. The Pistol itself, however, is VF in original packaging. Issue #3 is FN with the ‘Whoopee Whistle’, again in original packaging, in VF. NB: Like most comics of this unusual size, Buzz was often displayed and sold folded horizontally, and although we send out flat copies, both of these issues do have a crease from said previous folding. This has been taken into account in grading these copies.
PICTURED: BUZZ
#1 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £80 SOLD
#3 FN WITH FREE GIFT VF £60 SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: Following on from our recent ‘Tina’ update, we move now into late 1967 and 1968, where the upstart Pan-European ‘Tina’ had merged with the venerable ‘Princess’ to become Princess Tina, a title the series retained for most of the rest of its existence. We have 44 newly listed issues from this period, beginning with 23rd September 1967, the first ‘merger’ issue, where Princess alumnae Alona and Sue Day and the Happy Days joined Glory Gold, the Space Girls, My Chum Yum Yum, Jackie and the Wild Boys, slave girl Moira and model girl Barbie in an anthology fronted, appropriately, by voluptuous super-spy Jane Bond. This selection closes with the 1968 Christmas issue – by which time ‘Chairman Cherry’ had replaced the ‘Space Girls’, alas – but look forward to more Princess Tina updates in the near future!
PICTURED: PRINCESS TINA 22/9/67 VG £9

Nice to see us appearing once again in Time Out this week as one of only five comic shops listed in London. I think those of you who have visited our shop or our website would agree that we are the place to go to for rare, vintage US and UK back issue comics. As always, a big thank you to all our many customers!

*Clearance Corner: Our second and final clearance lot from the later years of the doyenne of girls’ weekly comics; a selection of 40 issues of Bunty dating between 1994 and 1997, numbers ranging from #1915 to #2081, with no duplicates. Condition averages Fine. Home of the ‘Four Marys’, Nikki-alumna ‘The Comp’, photo-strip ‘Luv, Lisa’, and many other picture strip stories – not counting our eponymous heroine, whose half-page adventures also adorn the inside – plus hobbies, craft pages, and swoonsome pop & TV pin-ups of years gone by, including Take That, East 17, Joey Lawrence, David Charvet and loads more, some well remembered today, some… not so much! This panoply of pastel-pink nostalgia can be yours for a mere £20, plus UK postage of £8 if required.

This is an early Silver Age Collection from an original owner notable for the freshness and vibrancy of the cover colours and page quality; even those with minor reading and handling wear are vastly superior to the majority of comics that have been in circulation since the 1960s. The average grade is well above Fine, with many much nicer.

We’ll be adding selections from this collection for sale here each week across the range of titles represented. These will be over a range of prices each week to suit most budgets, so that all interested collectors have an opportunity to purchase something from this special collection. Each comic will come branded with a special label and certificate of authenticity verifying it as part of the Square Mile Collection. Here’s this week’s:

*Marvel: Let’s face it, Johnny Storm’s solo series in Strange Tales was mainly a home for naff super-villains… but a couple of them, eventually, did achieve some sort of rehabilitation in the greater Marvel Universe. One such was Paste-Pot Pete, whose super-sticky stuff was delivered by a squirt gun and hose which led into… an open bucket. I know, you’re all asking, ‘Why didn’t someone just kick his bucket?’ – and apparently Marvel execs thought the same, as a few years later he was ‘rebooted’ as the Trapster, master of multiple methods of entrapment and restraint, and has been a major component of the Frightful Four, as well as occasionally teaming with other villains. This Lee/Kirby story is the first appearance of a character who became a major villainous player, its FN/VF grade reflecting its lustrous cover colour and general excellent condition, with only a couple of tiny breaks in the spine colour at extreme edge.
PICTURED: STRANGE TALES #104 FN/VF p £150

*DC: Golden Age DCs are a rare treat in this country, so we’re delighted to be able to offer this CGC Blue Label (no restoration) issue of Detective Comics #50, dated April 1941. Behind a striking Kane & Robinson cover, the Dynamic Duo face the acrobatic menace of ‘The Three Devils’, by Kane, Finger & Robinson. Other features include Spy by Siegel & Moore, The Crimson Avenger by Lehti, and sundry non-costumed gumshoes Speed Saunders, Steve Malone, Cliff Crosby, Larry Steele and Slam Bradley. This is a CGC graded 3.0 (GD/VG equivalent). With the Darknight Detective’s Golden Age appearances becoming ever more scarce and sought after, we urge rapid response to secure this distinctive and unusual item.
PICTURED: DETECTIVE COMICS #50 CGC 3.0 £580 SOLD

*DC: The 1970s revival of All-Star Comics, starring the legendary Justice Society (at first the ‘Super Squad’, but they dispensed with that nonsense quickly) had many creative highlights, and is a much-loved run. Two breakout characters, however, were what came to be called ‘legacy’ heroes. Power Girl was the first, cousin of Earth-2’s Superman, followed in #69 by the Huntress, daughter of Earth-2’s Batman and Catwoman, combining the best traits of both her parents into a distaff Darknight Detective for a new generation. Her debut appearance was made much mystery about inside the issue’s pages, but somebody forgot to tell the cover artist that, as she’s ‘teased’ heavily on the cover! Huntress has helmed several solo series, and a version of the character can be seen in the Birds of Prey film currently on release. Her many-layered career kicked off right here!
PICTURED: ALL-STAR COMICS #69 VF+ p £60

*Marvel: As we’ve often averred, sterling work by other artists notwithstanding, Steve Ditko is the one true Spider-Man illustrator, and we’re chuffed to welcome four Lee/Ditko issues from Spidey’s early years. We open with #16, Daredevil’s first guest-appearance outside his own title, as he and Spidey team-up against the Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime; issue #25 brings us the first iteration of the Spider-Slayer, masterminded by the ever-jolly J. Jonah Jameson; #31 sees the double debut of two characters destined to become instrumental in Spidey’s life – for very different reasons – Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn and #36 is an action-packed epic as Ol’ Web-Head faces off against the debut of the malevolent Meteor Man (later the Looter).
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
#31 GD £60
#36 FN- £80

*Marvel: Our massive Spider event continues, with a virtually unbroken run (one issue missing, but I’m sure you can figure it out using your skill and judgement) from #196 through to #251, beginning in the latter days of the ‘Non-Distributed’ years. Highlights include the death of Aunt May (well, the first one. It didn’t stick), the double-sized #200, and the first appearances of several characters who were destined to become pivotal in Spidey’s life; Hydro-Man, Madame Web, the captivating Calypso, and of course the Hobgoblin, the sinister successor to the Green Goblin’s lethal legacy. Mostly in high grades, and a full two-thirds of this run previously unrepresented in our inventory.

*Marvel: Spanning a decade, these four issues of the Avengers feature highlights in the lengthy career of Marvel’s Mightiest Team. Issue #55 gave us the first full appearance of Ultron, the mechanical menace who would become a nemesis of the team; #87 explored, for the first time at any length, the origin of the African Avenger known as the Black Panther; #112 featured the first, albeit fleeting, glimpse of the mysterious Mantis and #144 bought us the reinvention of former ‘funny girl’ Patsy Walker as the happy-go-lucky Hellcat! These are all presentable mid-grade copies, with no individual flaws not covered by the general grading.
PICTURED: AVENGERS
#55 FN p £40
#87 FN p £50
#112 VG p £25
#144 VG+ £20

*Marvel: Nearly 100 issues of Captain America added to our Silver/Bronze stock between #100 (the first issue of series) and #200 (Bicentennial issue). There’s an awful lot of Cap history playing out over these many years, from the start of the series with Kirby at the helm, through the classic Steranko issues and the coming of the Falcon, with Gene Colan taking on the art, later with Steve Englehart writing Cap as he questioned modern America and his place in it, with Steve Rogers giving up the Cap identity to become Nomad, and then resuming as Cap as Kirby returned to see out the first hundred issues in style. Full grading and pricing details in our catalogue as always.

*Marvel: 25 newly-listed issues in this update, with the dynamic and kinetic art work of Gene Colan giving life to the Man Without Fear’s acrobatic feats! We open with #72, the debut of Tagak the Leopard Lord, followed up by guest-appearances from Iron Man, Madame Masque and Nick Fury – back when he was Caucasian! We have a nice selection from #81 upwards, when our hero was joined by the Black Widow as his partner in love and crimefighting (‘Tasha even getting co-billing from #92!) and wrap it up for now with issue #100, featuring the debut of Angar the Screamer! Along the way, we encounter all Matt’s major villains – Purple Man, Gladiator, the Ox, Mr. Fear and more – with Hawkeye, the Black Widow’s jealous ex, also popping up to ensure hilarity and consternation! These very affordable mid-grade copies are sure to fly out, so snatch up your Billy Club and swing into action!

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: A sextet of science fiction shockers, with new issues of Standard’s Fantastic Worlds #5 and Lost Worlds #5 & #6, all with Alex Toth art, Magazine Enterprises’ Jet powers #3, with our intrepid space hero superbly illustrated by Bob Powell, backed up by Williamson’s ‘Space Ace, Operation Peril #5 from ACG, an adventure anthology including the intrepid ‘Time Travelers’, with art by Ogden Whitney and Leonard Starr, and Fawcett’s Motion Picture Comics #110, a book-length adaptation of the iconic movie ‘When Worlds Collide’ (found under ‘W’ in our catalogue), illustrated by George Evans. These range in grades from FA to VG-, a selection of how our recent ancestors viewed the far-flung future of the 21st century and beyond!
PICTURED:
JET POWERS #3 GD+ £45
LOST WORLDS #6 VG- £75

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: In 1968, Marvel made its first stab at distributing to the wider magazine market, rather than the comics readers, in what was a brave but premature attempt to broaden their readership. Spectacular Spider-Man was launched in July 1968, with a 52 page black & white Lee & Romita story, ‘Lo…This Monster!’, plus a further 10 pager by Lee, Lieber & Everett recapping Spidey’s origins. The second issue was released in November that year, with a 58 page tale, ‘The Goblin Lives!’ by Lee & Romita, but despite a spectacular painted cover, the addition of full colour to the interiors, and the star power of Spidey’s greatest foe, it still didn’t ‘take’, and Marvel withdrew from the magazine market for several years. These lovely items are genuinely uncommon in the UK – the first was only spottily distributed, and the second not at all, as far as we know.
PICTURED: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN
#1 VG+ £20 SOLD
#2 FN/VF £40 SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From 1973, Hotspur #729 enticed readers with the cover-featured ‘Iron Teacher’ (a robot educator who spent more time adventuring than teaching), the return of subterranean superhero ‘The Black Sapper’, ‘Cracker Jackson’ (plucky footballing cripple) and more – but as if that excitement wasn’t enough, it also offered a full-colour ‘All-Star Banner’ (tall n’skinny poster, basically) featuring sports players and other media stars of the era. Thrill to Jimmy Savile, the New Seekers, Vince Hill, and – I’m not really helping to sell it here, am I? The comic is VG, and the gift/poster in VF, never having been pinned up.
PICTURED: HOTSPUR #729 VG WITH FREE GIFT VF £25 SOLD

*Humour Comics: Two issues of the D.C. Thomson humour weekly, each still bearing the original Free Gift. 1970’s #261 – also the first issue with the long running strip, ‘Ali’s Baba’ – bears the strangely titled ‘RubaDubDub’ which seems to be, from the cover, a balloon on a string that you… hit people in the face with? Since this one’s still sealed in its original envelope, we can’t know for sure! Continuing the inflatable theme, 1972’s #404 offered readers ‘Punchy Pete – He Stays on His Feet’ – a balloon with a face on it attached to cardboard ‘feet’ which allegedly stopped him falling over when you punched him. Can’t see how, but there we are. From appearances, we suspect the balloon part of this one might not stand attempts at inflation, having possibly lost its elasticity over the years.
PICTURED: SPARKY
#261 VG WITH FREE GIFT FN £30 SOLD
#404 FN WITH FREE GIFT GD £30 SOLD

*Girls’ Comics: From 1967, Tina, launched in multiple language editions across Europe, was so heavily pre-sold prior to its launch that it could legitimately claim, even on the front of its debut issue, ‘More copies sold than any other girl’s paper in the world!’ With a strong adventure-oriented line-up, curvaceous secret agent ‘Jane Bond’ illustrated by Michael Hubbard, was the lead, and the ‘Space Girls’ (in colour, by Dan Dare illustrator Keith Watson) added a sci-fi touch. Other features which debuted here were ‘Moira – Slave Girl of Rome’, exotic island drama with Brenda Burn and ‘My Chum Yum-Yum’, peripatetic pop group ‘Jackie and the Wild Boys’, western adventuress ‘Glory Gold’ and ‘Barbie’. Yep, that Barbie. After thirty issues, Tina merged with Princess and lived a long and happy life as Princess Tina, but the issues prior to Tina’s ‘coronation’ remain scarce. Our newest copy of the premier issue is an attractive VG, tight staples, unfaded colour, and is backed up by four more pre-Princess numbers – #6, #16, #22 and #23.
PICTURED: TINA #1 VG £30

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 file in our American section:
*Marvel M – S
*Miscellaneous 1940-1959
*Miscellaneous 1960 Onwards
*Horror 1940-1959
*Romance
*Teen Humour/Funny Girls
*War
*Western
and in our Books section:
*Comic Strip Books
As of the time of writing, these files are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*Marvel: The premier appearance of one of Marvel’s iconic heroes and one of the gems from the Square Mile Collection: in the pages of Tales of Suspense #39, millionaire genius Tony Stark was abducted by Reds behind the Bamboo Curtain (it was a different time…) and forced to manufacture advanced weapons to crush capitalism. Our intrepid hero turned the tables on his captors by devising a cybernetic suit of armour which transformed him into an unstoppable juggernaut of justice – but at the cost of a near-fatal injury to his heart, which required constant contact with his robotic armour to keep beating! Under the artistic talents of (usually) Don Heck (who devoted special attention, bless him, to the many shapely ladies Tony Stark romanced), the sophisticated world of Tony Stark vied with the action-adventure of his Iron Man persona for the readers’ attention. Following the blockbuster success of the Iron Man movie franchise, demand for this issue has never been higher. This is a CGC 6.0 Blue Label (no restoration), a Fine equivalent.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE #39 CGC 6.0 FN £6000 SOLD

More from the Square Mile Collection next week!

*DC: The Joker’s former lover, Harley Quinn, became the breakout DC character of the late 20th Century, in large part owing to this exquisite one-shot, written by her creator Paul Dini and illustrated by Bruce Timm. Harley’s second comic-book appearance, following her debut in Batman Adventures #12, Mad Love was a huge hit, defining the Harley/Joker relationship, establishing her origin and backstory for myriad subsequent appearances, (including the recent ‘Birds of Prey’ film) and consolidating her stardom. It’s also a cracking read, even for those of us who think Harl’s become a bit overplayed in later years. We have the first and second printings in stock; the first printing, released as a ‘thick comic’, is VF-, having entirely avoided the spine ticks and splits that the fragile cover stock tends to acquire over time; the second printing, in sturdier squarebound Prestige Format, is NM.
PICTURED: BATMAN ADVENTURES MAD LOVE
1ST PRINTING VF- p £50
2ND PRINTING (PRESTIGE FORMAT) NM £75

*DC: A selection of around 30 battered Silver Age beauties all dating from between January and June 1960, virtually all of which were not previously represented in our lists. These, shall we say, well-read copies range from Poor to Very Good, but all are complete, readable and eminently affordable vintage items. Titles restocked include Action Comics (from #263, origin of the Bizarro World!), Adventure from #271, Blackhawk from #144, Detective from #277, House of Mystery from #94, House of Secrets (with supernatural crusader Mark Merlin) from #30, My Greatest Adventure from #41, Mystery In Space (with the superlative Adam Strange) from #58, Sgt. Bilko’s Private Doberman (pardon?), Showcase #25 (early Rip Hunter with glorious Kubert art), Strange Adventures from #114 (First Star Hawkins!), Superboy from #80 (Supergirl team-up!), Tales of the Unexpected (starring Space Ranger) from #46, and World’s Finest from #108. Grab yourselves some cheap and easy slices of nostalgia from the earliest days of distribution in the UK!

*Marvel: Many folks say – with justification – that Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, was a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for DC’s Catwoman, created to give Spider-Man a ‘beloved enemy’ vibe and increase the romantic tension in the series. Probably true; but nevertheless, the Black Cat rapidly stepped away from her derivative roots, primarily owing to her low level probability manipulation – subconsciously causing ‘bad luck’ for people who opposed her – and the fact that although she’s frequently done heroic and noble things, she’s never completely shed her criminal ways. This copy of the Black Cat’s debut in Amazing Spider-Man #194 comes from the non-distributed ‘wilderness years’, so there are no pence variants of this issue. This is a CGC Blue Label (no restoration) graded 9.4 NM; comes complete with Mark Jeweler’s Insert.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #194 CGC 9.4 NM £300  SOLD

*Marvel: So, what do you do when one cuddly brain-sucking symbiote just isn’t enough? Well, the House of Recycled Ideas came up with letting it spawn (not ‘Spawn’!) and thus was born Carnage, offspring of Venom, who rapidly metastasised into one of the MU’s most popular villains. Following the huge success of the recent Venom movie, Carnage has been set up as the Big Bad of the forthcoming ‘Venom 2’, so jump in now for this bright & shiny VF/NM pence copy!
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #361 VF/NM p £65