Well, we’re back again with some of our personal favourites; hope you enjoy this week’s selection. Rest assured, as soon as we’re able to trade again, you’ll know about it. More next Sunday — keep well and stay safe!

Jimmy Olsen’s Silver Age stories were 95% drivel.

Oh, entertaining enough drivel – they were fun nonsense, suggesting that a short ginger freckle-faced junior reporter could also have an international (nay, interplanetary) fan club, and be irresistible to ladies from outer space, other dimensions and beyond the realms of time. You had to turn your brain off when you went into Jimmy’s world, but the amusement value was generally worth it, with their dream-logic, barely coherent and thoroughly bizarre events.

Jimmy was vain, impulsive, and overconfident, socially maladroit while considering himself sophisticated, yet loyal, brave, resourceful and compassionate; a self-contradictory ‘everyman’ and identification figure perhaps a decade older than his intended readership. The impressions of adult life – especially of romantic relationships – that young readers received were peculiar, mind. Every one-shot love interest introduced for Jimmy turned out to be an alien, villain, robot or some combination of the above.

But in Jimmy Olsen #36 (April 1959) we were introduced to Lucy Lane, younger sister of Lois, an air hostess who rapidly became Jimmy’s steady. And he, and the readers, found out what a REAL monster was like!

In that first story, Lucy was simply presented as fickle and thoughtless. She broke a date with Jimmy four times when a ‘better prospect’ came along – two rodeo stars (one of whom was a disguised Jimmy), a scientist and a robot (also a disguised Jimmy – look, just go with it, all right?) Four times she attempted to ‘trade up’ for one date on the same night. In a nine-page story!

Then… things got worse. Persuaded to become Jimmy’s steady girl, but unable to marry him because she’d promised her parents she wouldn’t wed until her older sister, Lois, became Mrs. Superman (good luck with that), Lucy just hung around like a bad smell, frequently dumping our hero for more eligible prospects, nagging, belittling, criticizing, ridiculing and being a major drag. Granted, Jimmy was a well-meaning doofus, but he didn’t deserve this kind of abuse.

The reason for Lucy’s introduction is easy to deduce. In 1954 when Jimmy’s solo series launched, comics were still reeling from the accusations of Doctor Frederic Wertham, the psychologist who decried comic books as hotbeds of juvenile delinquency and social and sexual deviation, including homosexuality. Jimmy’s relationship with Superman in the early years of his series was half surrogate father/son, half hero-worshipping man-crush. All completely innocent, but the editors got twitchy enough of appearances that a regular girlfriend for Jimmy was mandated.

But even the much-decried Lois Lane and Lana Lang behaved better than Lucy; while they were portrayed as ‘rash’ and ‘impulsive’ and ‘hysterical’ and all the other sexist Silver Age euphemisms for ‘irrational because they menstruate’, they also were permitted to display courage, loyalty and ingenuity from time to time. Readers only ever got to see the bad side of Lucy – to the point where when she was kidnapped and used as a ‘damsel in distress’ prop, it was actually a relief!

Except in three stories. Well, they all could be taken as chapters of the same story, though they were separated in time, both real and comic-book time.

We open with Jimmy Olsen #74 (January 1964) and ‘Jimmy Olsen’s Secret Love’. By a startling coincidence – it says so, right there in the captions – both Jimmy and Lucy are assigned undercover assignments by their employers. Jimmy is told a jewel thief will be on a particular flight. Lucy, meanwhile, is what would now be called a ‘mystery shopper’, ratting out her colleagues – er, travelling as a regular passenger to check on standards. Each assumes a disguise to avoid being recognized. Lucy becomes the red-haired actress ‘Sandra Rogers’, and Jimmy, somewhat misinterpreting the meaning of ‘undercover’, dons an attention-getting tuxedo ensemble as stage magician ‘Magi’. By startling coincidence – told you so – the disguised pair are seated next to each other, and following some getting-to-know-you chit chat – during which ‘Sandra’, expresses the opinion Jimmy Olsen is over-rated and too dependent on Superman, and ‘Magi’ expresses a distaste for blondes, each cementing the other’s resolve not to come clean – a fuel leak strands the plane on an ice floe, and the pair kiss passionately and fall in love under the prospect of imminent death. Rescued by Superman – who also scoops up the jewel thief (remember him?) – the pair are separated in the excitement, and wonder if they will ever meet again. Just as well they didn’t have Google in those days!

It’s lightweight – that goes with the territory – but the banter between the two carries a surprising level of maturity, as each realizes – after an obligatory qualm that they’re being ‘untrue’ – that their assumed personae are giving them a chance to relax from the pressures and expectations of their daily lives. Each feels, at least temporarily, that they’re better off as their fake selves than the real, and enjoy the break – well, until the plane crash, obviously.

The readership was asked at the end of the story if they’d like to see Sandra and Magi meet again – and apparently they did, as Jimmy Olsen #78 (July 1964) brought ‘The Return of Jimmy’s Lost Love.’ Lucy and Jimmy’s relationship is in freefall, as each is preoccupied with memories of Magi and Sandra, respectively. Gaining another undercover assignment, to investigate Air Mail theft, Lucy disguises herself again as Sandra, for sentimental reasons. Glimpsing ‘Sandra’ at the airport, Jimmy, with a disguise trunk in his luggage, scrambles together a ‘Magi’ outfit and stages a reconciliation, including ‘compelling’ Superman to appear. (Superman, knowing Jimmy is ‘Magi’, obliges his pal. But Supes doesn’t know Lucy is ‘Sandra’, so really he’s just helping Jimmy two-time his girlfriend with some random hot chick! Told you Lucy didn’t win any friends…)

The pair end up helpless as the Air Mail thief – remember him? –is about to gun them down when a contrived coincidence brings Superman to the rescue. Realising the depths of their feelings for each other, ‘Sandra’ and ‘Magi’ also contemplate the inevitable consequences of continuing their relationship – that the truth would out, eliciting an angry rejection. In a surprising display of maturity for a Mort Weisinger comic, each realizes that they must part, and making excuses, they walk away. But when Jimmy and Lucy meet again as themselves, each still has their mind on their lost love who never existed.

The serial was resolved in Jimmy Olsen #82 (January 1965), ‘The Wedding of Sandra and Magi!’ Still dwelling on her feelings for ‘Magi’, Lucy becomes ‘Sandra’ once more and walks around her neighbourhood, reminiscing. By that coincidence again, Jimmy drives by, and seeing ‘Sandra’, can’t resist assuming his ‘Magi’ identity – just in time to save ‘Sandra’ from a mugger! After the thrill of their reunion, however, each has misgivings. Knowing that continuing the relationship would bring exposure, Lucy decides not to see ‘Magi’ again, while Jimmy takes it one step further, faking ‘Magi’s’ death during an heroic rescue!

Depressed and distraught, Jimmy and Lucy ‘settle’, and agree to marry. Yet after the ceremony (but before the wedding night, courtesy of the Comics Code) each decides to break off the marriage. Lucy, leaving a note on Jimmy’s disguise trunk, decides to take a look through for old time’s sake. Guess what she finds? Bits and pieces of ‘Magi’! Showing up for dinner in a red wig, Lucy lets Jimmy know she knows, and in a food fight, the truth is revealed, and the couple’s rage turns to laughter at the absurdity of the situation, as they realize they were in love with each other all along!

Owing to Plot Contrivance, the Justice of the Peace who wedded them turns up just in time to let the couple know his license has expired – they’re not married! Smiling, Lucy and Jimmy agree to stay single, but to continue their relationship in this new spirit of openness and support.

Well, until the next story, when all was forgotten, and Lucy was back to her standard role as perma-grumpy trolley dolly, vicious, selfish and tyrannical as ever.

But for those three stories, there was a reason for Lucy Lane. Instead of serving as a rubber-stamp for heterosexuality, she was given something to actually DO other than be a nag or a drag, and a fleeting chance to display some warmth, intelligence and humour. All three of these stories are attributed to Jerry Siegel, surprisingly, as he’s not known for subtle scripting. While they rely on contrived coincidences and ridiculous situations – they are, after all, 1960s Superman Family tales – they display a surprising emotional range at a time when that wasn’t fashionable. The art on all three, serendipitously, is by Curt Swan, whose mastery of facial expressions perfectly suits the conflicted feelings of the protagonists. None of the other regular Jimmy artists could have done it; John Forte and Al Plastino, no harm to them, simply wouldn’t have been up to the job, and even the superlative Kurt Schaffenberger would have broadened the comedy, diluting the bittersweet appeal of these tales.

So there we are; the only three stories that truly justify the otherwise tedious, spiteful existence of Lucy Lane.

Will Morgan, April 2020

For many years, the field of girls’ weekly comics has been unjustly ignored. These weeklies, which enthralled (and arguably helped to brainwash) generations of girls (and more than a few furtive boys) sold in the hundreds of thousands, every week, capturing huge audiences, but in the field of British comics studies  the focus has been on the boys’ weeklies or the funnies – Eagle, 2000 AD, Beano, ad infinitum.

Over the last decade and a half, several writers – Melanie Gibson, Jenni Scott, Julia Round –are mercifully bucking this trend, appreciating the high levels of craftsmanship and storytelling on the distaff side of the market, but even they haven’t yet paid much attention to one of the most sought-after – if sales in our shop are any indication – girls’ weeklies of all.

The first issue of Fleetway/IPC’s Sally was dated 14th June 1969, but it had been heavily teased in pre-launch adverts as the “comic for the adventurous girl”, and the editors seemed very conscious that they were trying out a different direction. Yes, the usual elements were present of struggling orphans, wandering waifs and fish-out-of-water stories – ‘Daddy Come Home!’, ‘Four On The Road’, ‘Farm Boss Fanny’ –  but the emphasis was on science fiction and fantasy themed stories, with two bona-fide super-heroines, two science fiction tales, and what no less a critic than, oh, me, has previously described as “one stonking great heap of bonkers”, specifically ‘The Legion of Super-Slaves!’ … I know you’re going to want to start with that one, right?

Tamara Townsend, gifted 14-year old track star, is kidnapped by agents of the mysterious ‘Grand Termite’, who is building a brainwashed private army to conquer the world. Rather than mercenaries or ex-military or police personnel – the logical talent pool for such an endeavour – the ‘Grand Termite’ abducts and hypnotises nubile teenage girl athletes and gymnasts, dresses them in skin-tight uniforms and has them battle for his entertainment – oh, sorry, to prove their ‘worthiness’ for his cause. Obviously a sure path to conquest… if your objective wasn’t, you know, actually conquering anything except teenage girls! Apparently recognising a misstep, the editors changed the direction and had Tamara in civvies doing espionage for a while, but after a short but crazed run, ‘Legion of Super-Slaves’ was the first of Sally’s founding strips to falter, the Legion disbanding in the 22nd November 1969 issue.

‘Cat Girl’ was basically a junior edition of Miss Fury. Cathy Carter stumbles across a panther-skin suit gifted to her bumbling private detective father by a narratively convenient former client, an African witch-doctor. Obviously, she tries it on, and obviously it gives her feline attributes, including enhanced senses, balance, dexterity, speed and agility. Using her powers to help her father’s faltering career, Cathy’s adventures lasted Sally’s entire run and onward into Tammy. A large part of the strip’s appeal was the artwork of Giorgio Giorgetti, who gave Cathy and her cohorts an endearingly goofy aspect without making them ridiculous or unsympathetic.

‘Tiny Tania In Space’ and ‘The Girl from Tomorrow’ both had superlative art, detailed but whimsical, by Rodrigo Rodrigue Comos. In ‘Tania’, an orphaned girl runs away from abusive foster-parents and is accosted by an alien scientist who takes her back to his planet Karna, having shrunk her to a few inches in height to demonstrate his new invention. On Karna, Alaric, young son of another scientist, helps her escape and enlarge again  – but residual effects of the shrink-ray hit Tania at unpredictable intervals during her ongoing adventures, alternating  between super-power and handicap.

‘The Girl From Tomorrow’ (no relation to the 1990s TV show) was Atlanta, a 23rd century maiden possessed of mind-over-matter powers common in her time (buck up, we’re only two centuries away…), who snoops in her uncle’s lab and gets zapped back to 1969. Her uncle, with a splendid indifference to Child Protection Services, decides to leave her in primitive times for a while to teach her a lesson, and, chumming up with falsely-accused pickpocket Alfie Dommett, the pair have madcap adventures in a charming series very much like a junior Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie.

‘The Justice of Justine’ was Sally’s second super-heroine. Young Justine Jones aids a mysterious old man, accompanies him to a cave (Caution; not a scenario usually resulting in super-powers – Just Say No, Kids!) and is rewarded with four magical artifacts: a cloak giving her flight, great strength, and courage, goggles which give her mystically enhanced vision, a bow & arrows which induce sleep and a mirror which serves as a supernatural pager, summoning her to her next mission. Alone among the main Sally series, Justine lacked a regular artist – her two-part adventures illustrated by many people, and although the roster included some distinguished names (John Burns, John Armstrong, Mike Noble), this unevenness, plus the inconsistency of her powers (flight and strength were constant, but the others came and went as the plot demanded, and one – talking to animals – just popped up without any explanation!), may have prevented the series gaining a greater following.

An honourable mention must go to ‘Maisie’s Magic Eye’. While not sci-fi, and barely fantasy, the comedic adventures of Maisie Macrae proved to be the breakout hit of Sally, going on into Tammy and running for years. Primarily drawn by Robert MacGillivray, Maisie found a fragment of a glowing meteorite and made it into a brooch – as you would – which, when glowing, compelled others to do as Maisie commanded. This reboot of ‘Mimi the Mesmerist’ swiftly expanded its remit, however, as in later episodes the ‘Eye’ proved able to travel through time, transform objects or people, and generally rewrite reality – so of course Maisie used it to avoid extra PE, or take petty revenge on nagging prefects! Many stories stemmed from misunderstandings when Maisie expressed a wish without realising her literal-minded brooch was glowing. All avoidable if she’d learned to, oh, I don’t know, keep quiet and check before speaking!

It was a strong and engaging line up, and a genuine attempt to do something different… but alas, the experiment was short-lived.

With the issue dated 17th January 1970, ‘Justice of Justine’, ‘Tiny Tania In Space’ and ‘The Girl from Tomorrow’ were all axed, bringing the sf-centric iteration of Sally to a close. They were replaced by ‘Schoolgirl Princess’ (later ‘Sara’s Kingdom’, as our heroine ascended to the throne), ‘The Silent Shadows’ (another band of plucky schoolgirls thwarting the Reich in WWII – it’s a wonder the Nazis ever got anything done!) and ‘The Ghost Hunters’ (a US/UK schoolgirl duo investigating spooky doings). All quality strips, but all, it has to be said, safe bets, taste-alike versions of what had been done many times before. The editors, after just under six months, had clearly realized that the audience just wasn’t out there, and fell back on business as usual.

There was one more attempt at SF, commencing 19th September 1970; ‘Trudy’s Way’ featured an idealistic and imaginative girl in the desperate overcrowded Earth of the 53rd Century. Selected for a colonial expedition, she encourages her shipmates to overcome their fears and embrace a less regimented, more natural lifestyle. An interesting concept, swiftly ended after nine episodes, clearly not clicking with readers.

Sally itself went on until the 27th March 1971, as a well-done but unexceptional weekly. Its circulation had been hampered by a ten-week printers’ strike meaning no new issues between late ’70 and early ’71, and it never really regained lost ground. It was absorbed into the upstart Tammy – back then, only months old – with ‘Cat Girl’, Maisie’ comedy one-pager ‘Lulu’ and ‘Sara’s Kingdom’ making the jump. All but Maisie were gone by the end of 1972.

Gone, but not quite forgotten.  Cat Girl appeared in the 1989/1990 Phase III of Morrison and Yeowell’s ‘Zenith’ in 2000 AD, meeting an unfortunate end in an underground station, and both Justine and Maisie had cameo appearances in Leah Moore and John Reppion’s Albion in 2005. Justine and Maisie also returned in 2019’s Tammy & Jinty Special, in all-new stories – albeit not quite as we remember them!

Not a huge success during its initial run, Sally – especially the issues up to 17th January 1970 – is now hotly sought-after by back-issue collectors. At a short achievable run (83 issues, 1 Summer Special, 6 Annuals and two spin-offs (a Cookbook and a Book of Pets)), it has high collector appeal, and it is hoped that, like its sisters Misty and Jinty, Sally too, will be the subject of reprint re-releases, to delight and (sometimes bewilder) a new generation of readers.

Will Morgan, April 2020

Just to reiterate that we’re still closed of course and unable at this time to offer a mail order service. But we’re here again with more features to keep you entertained in the interim, touching this week on personal favourites which illustrate the scope and diversity of the sort of stuff we deal in and love. More next week – keep well and stay safe!

Buster weekly, launched in 1960, front-loaded its humour strips and appeared to be a purely ‘funny’ book, but for its first fifteen years it featured a high ratio of adventure strips behind its comedy façade. In the issue dated 20th January 1968, the longest-running and most successful adventure series to that point debuted – ‘Fishboy’.

Well, technically, it was the first issue of Buster and Giggle. In the ‘hatch, match and despatch’ practice of British weeklies (where with a ‘great news, chums!’ strapline, the readers would be informed one failing comic would be amalgamated with another to boost readership), the short-lived (and frankly a bit rubbish) Giggle had been shoehorned into Buster. But since Giggle’s line-up, mainly money saving European reprints, had so little to bring to the table, a brand new strip was launched in the first ‘amalgam’ issue.

‘Fishboy’ was  a classic example of the ‘feral child’ trope (abandoned in exotic setting, raised by non-humans) beloved of fictioneers since Mowgli and Tarzan. Fishboy had been mislaid by his travelling geologist parents in the tropical islands of New Guinea. You know how it is – you pick up a lot of interesting stuff on the trip, and something’s got to be left behind to avoid excess baggage fees!

Foraging in the ocean for food, the infant adapted to be able to swim superhumanly fast, breathe underwater, withstand undersea pressures, and communicate with all sea life because Of Course Biology Works Like That!

Wearing only the tiniest seaweed swimsuit – knitted by kindly old Ma Dolphin, for all we know  – Fishboy was inspired by a chance find of a photograph to seek his ‘beloved parents’ – who, to be fair, had assumed him lost at sea, explaining why they never bothered searching. Thus commenced eight years of a barely-clad, lithe, athletic blond teenage boy, swimming all over the globe, wandering hopefully up to total strangers, and asking them: “Are you my Daddy?” Ahem.

Fishboy was by writer Scott Goodall and artist John Stokes. Goodall was to revisit the ‘feral child’ theme at least twice more, with ‘Kid Chameleon’ in Cor!! (desert waif, raised by lizards, artist Joe Colquhoun) and ‘Kangaroo Kid’ (Australian outback, marsupials, John Stokes again), but Fishboy outlived both, partly because his super-swimming skills enabled all sorts of exotic vistas to be evoked with a mere ‘Searching for his parents, our hero swims to the coast of Wherever’, whereas his landbound brethren were confined to a small set of locations.

As the strip progressed, Goodall’s imagination placed our hero against ever more bizarre antagonists. Although Fishboy was super-human, he wasn’t specifically a super-hero – his quest was to find his parents, not to fight crime – yet he nevertheless got embroiled in  situations where people were being abused or exploited, and his highly-developed sense of justice, coupled with an almost childish naiveté, caused him to intercede. At first his opponents were oddly-named eccentrics, but eventually developed into virtual super-villains. Black-Hat O’Brien; Heinrich the Strong and Tree-Stump; The Collector; Agokk the Mask; Rum-Jungle Jones; Boomerang Bailey; Johnny Mountain; Karag the Crab; Houndstooth Hangerman; the Black Leopards – it was a collection of freaks worthy of Dick Tracy or Batman’s Gotham!

Not to suggest, though, that villainy was the sole mainspring of Fishboy’s adventures. In between battles with such antagonists, he helped all manner of folk above the seas and below, many of his stories having a distinct (and at the time definitely un-trendy) ecological subtext.

John Stoke’s artwork was the series’ greatest asset. Meticulous, polished and painstakingly researched, it  captures both the underwater and landlocked milieu with an attention to detail and atmosphere which is all the more remarkable considering that Stokes was generating this quality at the rate of two pages per week for a solid eight years, with other side gigs!

Then, there’s… well, the other matter. I mentioned the ‘vealcake jailbait’ aspect of Fishboy earlier, somewhat jokingly, but I’m not the only one to notice.  Other comics critics have pointed out that in the Fishboy series, we have a gym-fit, nearly-naked blond lad of sixteen or so who gets tied up a lot.

I mean, a LOT.

Over the course of the series, he was bound with ropes and chains so often that the creators utilised ever more imaginative forms of restraint –  lassoed, tied up by a ‘living rope’ of eels, hogtied inside a large tyre, netted, spread-eagled between wild horses, flash-frozen, ensnared in what appears to be an electrified chastity belt… not to mentioned at least twice being drugged into unconsciousness so he can be ‘examined’ by excited ‘scientists’. As Rupert Giles famously observed: “Sometimes the subtext becomes the text.”

You may accuse me of having a nasty mind – guilty as charged – but it’s something that’s come up in other people’s reviews of the strip. One can’t help but wonder if there was some alternative demographic diligently ticking those ‘My Favourite Story’ coupons every week to help keep Fishboy afloat for so many years!

Nevertheless, the strip had considerable merits in its own right. Fast-paced adventure, a fearless if naïve hero, a dazzling variety of locations, and sumptuous art all combined to give the strip a longevity unmatched in Buster until the crown was snatched by the late-coming ‘Leopard from Lime Street’.

But the end eventually came for Fishboy. On the trail of another sighting of his elusive parents – a trope played many times in the series before, only to turn out to be mistaken identity, a deliberate mislead, or a contrived failure to cross paths – our hero was finally reunited with his parents in Buster dated 6th December 1975.

That semed to sink Fishboy without trace. But others remembered the series, and after decades, he was acknowledged in two other series.

In 1989 and 1990, Phase III of Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell’s ‘Zenith’ from 2000 AD, featured Fishboy and myriad other characters from British comics (either the real deal or slightly altered archetypes depending on copyright) battling an invasion by pan-dimensional beings. It didn’t go well for the cannon fodder, and while Fishboy’s fate wasn’t shown on-panel, we’re left to infer that he got a tube train dropped on him.

Still, at least that version looked human, seaweed speedo and all, whereas the one-panel cameo by Fishboy in 2005’s Albion by Leah Moore and John Reppion showed him as a mutated specimen in a jar, with more exaggerated fishlike features and a grotesque non-human appearance.

After more than a thousand pages – counting a handful of extra stories drawn for Annuals and Specials – of amphibious action, adventure and ambivalent sexuality, Fishboy must surely be due for a reprint revival by the Rebellion Publishing folks? Sarcastic remarks aside – and the series does rather invite them – the quality of the work is too good to be left to languish in a backwater.

Will Morgan, April 2020

“You wouldn’t hit a woman with a BABY, would you?”
“No! I’d hit her with a GROWN MAN!”

Despite  a short shelf-life – subsequent revivals and ‘updatings’ ranging from mediocre to disastrous – the original series of DC’s Inferior Five remains fondly remembered by a certain generation of comics readers, despite their throwaway origins.

In early 1966 E. Nelson Bridwell, one of the first fans-turned pro in comics, was asked to produce a parody of Marvel’s Fantastic Four for an issue of  Showcase. Rather than produce a simple satire with look-alike versions of the FF, ENB expanded the concept, adding a fifth member and adding the genius touch making them what are now called ‘legacy’ heroes – the grown offspring of the Freedom Brigade, legendary (in the sense that they were entirely made up for the series) super-heroes of the Golden Age.

Our ‘heroes’, for want of a better word, were:

Merryman, son of Lady Liberty and the Patriot, saddled with a heroic tradition on both sides of the family dating back at least a century. Although highly intelligent and intensively trained in unarmed combat, Myron Victor’s Walter-the-Softy physique made all his training ineffective.

Dumb Bunny, daughter of Princess Power; although possessed of her mother’s incredible strength, Athena Tremor utterly lacked the wisdom of her namesake goddess.

The Blimp, son of Captain Swift, inheritor of his father’s power of flight, but no super-speedster, easily outpaced by enemies at a slow walk.

Awkwardman, amphibious son of Mr. Might and the Mermaid; his incredible strength and ability to breath under water were bequests from his parents, but – perhaps because of his hybrid nature – his calamitous clumsiness was all his own.

And the White Feather, son of the Bowman, whose archery skills were every bit as great as his father’s, but whose shaking hands, thanks to his incredible cowardice, negated his marksmanship.

Though none of them would have entered the super-heroic profession by choice, they weren’t given any; their parents’ expectations trapped them in a world for which they were ill-equipped, and they caved in to parental pressure rather than forge their own paths.

 Their first outing was against Doctor Gregory Gruesome, a mad scientist only slightly more exaggerated than Luthor & company, whose delighted exclamation: “A chance to shoot a woman – in the back! What villain could resist?” set the tone for the series, a charming combination of slapstick, whimsy and a loving excoriation of super-hero clichés.

With the artistic aid of Joe Orlando (in Showcase #62 & #63) and Mike Sekowsky (Showcase #65,  Inferior Five #1-6), E. Nelson Bridwell demonstrated his encyclopaedic knowledge of  the entire heroic mythos. In a handful of issues, ENB gleefully skewered the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four (he got there eventually…), Giant-Man and the Wasp, the Hulk, the THUNDER Agents, the Man from UNCLE, Tarzan of the Apes, the Green Hornet and Kato, the Scarlet Pimpernel and more. The high spot was issue #4, his take on Thor and the gods of Asgard, which despite its comedic nature proffered, as critic Kathleen Glancy observed: “More authentic Norse mythology in a single issue than the entire run of Lee and Kirby’s Thor.”

It all went a bit pear-shaped with issue #6. In what, in retrospect, was an attempt to ‘Marvel Bullpen’ the DC offices, the issue was a satirical look at the creators, alienating the readership at a stroke by cracking a plethora of in-jokes about people the reader knew little of and cared less. My ten-year old self was bitterly disappointed when not only the multitude of cover-featured guest-stars failed to appear inside, but the heroes themselves graced only a handful of panels, and decades later, my heart remains a seething ball of resentment towards #6!

With #7, there was a definite change in tone. Win Mortimer took over the art – his amiable cartooniness suiting the light-hearted tone – but while the stories remained credited to Bridwell, either they were being ghost-written (as some critics, including Mark Evanier, aver) or he had been instructed to dumb it down, with more slapstick and throwaway gags, and no references to panelological or literary history. The parodies were still in play – Iron Pants, Cobweb Kid – but obvious and dismissive, with no-one’s heart seemingly in it. Other than #9, a delightful ‘Night at the Museum’ issue which was pure comedy rather than satire, the later issues of the Five were thin fare compared to previous stellar efforts.

And with #10, the series was done. A two-issue reprint revival in the early 1970s was all we saw of the Five, apart from cameos in various crossover events, until the second series of Angel & the Ape in 1991. This revival of another ENB creation was helmed by Phil Foglio, famous for the cheerful and witty porno comic Xxxenophile. Fogio linked the two series by establishing Dumb Bunny and Angel O’Day as half-sisters, and with Bunny a supporting character in the series, the rest of the Five inevitably turned up, playing a major part in the conclusion. Foglio reputedly wanted to follow up with an Inferior Five mini, but A & A’s sales, alas, didn’t justify it.

The Five’s last hurrah, oddly enough, was unexpectedly in the morass of… (shudder) modern comics. In the final issue of the early 2000s Brave & Bold, #35. The Legion of Substitute Heroes, in an attempt to get some publicity, travel back to the past to pick up the Doom Patrol and save Earth from destruction. Owing to a series of unfortunate events, the Subs end up with the Inferior Five instead, and the Five’s eternal dumb luck, plus Dumb Bunny’s intellect (!) saves the day: “You have to be pretty smart to act as dumb as I do, you know!” Michael Straczynski and Jesus Saiz, to everyone’s astonishment, ‘got’ the Five. Who’d have thought?

There have been other appearances by the Inferior Five, but none worth dignifying with inclusion – either fleeting cameos, or reboots or retrofits, missing the point and the appeal of the team entirely.

But what made the Five distinctive? The quality of the creators, sure. The comedy, absolutely. But the keynote of the Five’s appeal was their paradoxical courage in the face of all obstacles. They, more than anyone else, were aware of their deficiencies, but they pulled on their big-boy pants and went out to fight the forces of evil anyway, despite the looming spectre of almost certain defeat. They pooled their meagre talents and achieved something greater than themselves. And the lack of self-awareness in the later issues, when the Five seemed to be ignorant of their own drawbacks, may be where the strip lost its heart, and consequently its uniqueness. But when the strip was at its peak, it remains unique, a parody with a soul.

Recommended Issues:  Showcase (1956) #62, #63, #65, Inferior Five (1967) #1-5, #9, Angel & The Ape (1991) #1-4, Brave & Bold (2007) #35.

Will Morgan, April 2020

We know a lot of our followers enjoy reading the write-ups for our newly listed vintage items every Sunday, but while we’re unable to bring you new stock during this lockdown time, we wanted to provide something to entertain, so we’re going a run a series of features and articles spotlighting some of our favourite comics and books. We begin with a short piece on how we got our name, which touches on our very favourite comics characters. More to follow as and when; these will be archived in our Extras page under ‘Lockdown Interlude’ . 

We confirm that our shop is now closed until further notice due to the pandemic emergency. For the time being, there will be no stock updates to our catalogue or What’s New page and our weekly newsletter is therefore suspended. 

We are not able to offer a mail order service at present, but we are keeping that under review. Obviously, we are not buying collections at this time.

When the situation changes, we will of course keep you informed here.

We deeply regret this interruption to your comic and book buying enjoyment, but it’s the only sensible thing to do. Once again, we thank you for your good wishes and support and urge you all to avoid all but essential trips outdoors and to practise social distancing when you do — and wash your hands!

Keep well and stay safe.

From all at 30th Century Comics

We deeply regret that, due to the current coronavirus emergency, our shop will be temporarily closing, our last day of business being Saturday 21st March. This is a precautionary measure and will be until further notice. Paramount in our thoughts are the health and safety of our customers and staff.

This is not a decision we take lightly, but two of the three partners who run the business have underlying medical conditions which put them in the vulnerable category. 

We look forward to welcoming you back when things return to normal; at the moment of course, no one can predict when that will be.

Mail order: Orders paid for by 6 pm today, Tuesday 17th March, will be posted tomorrow. At the present time, we’re looking into whether we can continue a limited mail order operation. We have to bear in mind the safety of delivery staff.

Further updates will be posted here as things become clearer.

In the meantime, do all you can to stay well. Thank you for all your support in the past, and for your understanding at this difficult time.

*Marvel: A jewel in the crown of the Square Mile Collection! In 1962, following the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel were casting around for their next hit. Combining elements from popular TV shows of the time, Lee & Kirby brainstormed a ‘mash-up’ of Frankenstein and Jekyll & Hyde – the old horror movies then going great guns on late-nite TV – and threw in a jive-talking teenager a la ’77 Sunset Strip’s ‘Kookie’, leavening the mix with a hearty dose of Cold War paranoia. The result was the Incredible Hulk; mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner runs out into a gamma-bomb test to save the life of a feckless teen, and in consequence Banner becomes the Hulk, a creature of incalculable strength and uncontrollable rage! Most key components of the Hulk mythos were introduced here: Banner and the Hulk himself, perpetual hero-groupie Rick Jones, love interest Betty Ross and antagonist General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross – but several elements needed to be refined, including our hero’s skin colour. In this first issue only, he was grey, like the monsters in the black & white TV horror shows; from #2 onwards, without explanation, he became the emerald-hued behemoth we love today. But the main theme of the character – intelligence and compassion warring with brute strength – was evident from the beginning, as Bruce, not the Hulk, turns an enemy into an ally and saves the day. Curiously, the Hulk was an initial flop, cancelled after six issues, and condemned to a few years as a guest villain or back-up strip until the revival of his solo title in 1968, but this is where his long career began. This is a CGC Blue Label (no restoration) 3.5, a VG- equivalent, a pence copy (or ‘UK Price variant’, as our American cousins would have it). Several fine lines at the spine and corners do not detract from the central cover image, with beautiful unfaded midnight-blue cover background colour. Hulk #1 is regarded by many authorities as the second rarest Marvel key issue (behind Amazing Fantasy #15, with Fantastic Four #1 in third place); we have only been lucky enough to have three or four copies through our hands in our quarter century+ of trading. Please note that this comic is NOT stored at our premises; viewing is strictly by appointment only, for which we require a minimum of 48 hours notice.
PICTURED: HULK #1 CGC 3.5 VG- p £8500

More from the Square Mile Collection next week!

*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