*Marvel: From 1968, a gamma-infused milestone, with the first issue of the Hulk’s own series, eccentrically numbered #102, as he assumed the numbering of Tales to Astonish, the split-book which had been his home for several years. This was Brucie’s big break, his comeback vehicle after his early 60s 6 issue flop, and the start of the long-running series most associated with him. Mirthful Marie Severin illustrated not only a recap of Bruce Banner’s irradiated origin, but also a new story thread with Jade Jaws frolicking with some of Thor’s Asgardian chums, including the Warriors Three! (Bonus points for the appearance of guest-villainess the Enchantress (obviously)). This copy of Bruce’s premier ish is a CGC Blue Label copy, no restoration, graded by them at 8.5 (VF+ equivalent), and on sale at £270. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Issue #49 of the X-Men’s series saw the introduction of a young lady who at first appeared to be a minor league damsel in distress and potential love interest for the recently dumped Iceman. But she turned out to be a great deal more, as Lorna Dane was a fellow mutant who was shockingly revealed to be none other than the daughter of the X-Men’s arch-nemesis, Magneto! (And then for a while she wasn’t; but I think they’ve retconned the retcons and she is again. At least this week.) Whatever her parentage, it wasn’t long before Lorna realised her true powers, eventually stepping up to join the X-Men, X-Factor, and occasional other teams without an X in them, to become a major figure in the Marvel Universe. This copy of Lorna’s first appearance (with an eye-catching Jim Steranko cover) is a clean and bright Fine at £75. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: After his successful run in Marvel Premiere, Iron Fist graduated to his own solo series, by (mostly) the acclaimed team of Claremont and Byrne, then tearing up the sales charts with an obscure little title called the X-Men. Well-crafted, popular with fans, and critically well-received, sadly Iron Fist’s title still failed to attract a mass audience, and was cancelled with issue #15, which featured a sales-boosting X-Men X-over that unfortunately didn’t come in time to save the series. This title has increased in value lately, in the wake of the Iron Fist TV show (and its associated Defenders spin-off, cancelled on Netflix but rumoured to be returning on Marvel’s own network). We have issues #2 through to #13, and two copies of #15, new in stock, cents copies with no pence price or overstamp, averaging VF grade, with several significantly higher. Illustrated are #9 NM/M £50, #10 NM £65 and #15 VF+ £50; for details on the others, please check our catalogue listings.

*Marvel: A big boost this week to our stocks of the Man Without Fear in the above number range. Highlights include lots of issues co-starring the Black Widow, inc. #88 with the Purple Man and details of Natasha’s origin, #105 with the origin of Moondragon, issues #108-111, uncommon in the UK, issues #132 & #141 with early Bullseye appearances and the Ghost Rider crossover in #138 with art by John Byrne, plus lots more, as detailed in our catalogue. 

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Our Atomic Sci-Fi event continues! 1952’s Crusader From Mars had a bit of an off-beat premise; we first meet our heroes when they’re on trial for murder (and accessory to same) as two sides of a love triangle, Tarka having apparently killed the fiancée of the lovely Zira in a crime of passion! Rather than accept the Martian tribunal’s verdict, Tarka (without consulting Zira, I might add) proposes that he and Zira, as punishment, be exiled to the primitive and vicious planet Earth, to bring reason to it with their super-scientific knowhow. You’ve got to admit, as premises go, it was a good ‘un, and we follow our heroes as they strive to enlighten the primitives of Earth, with somewhat hit & miss success. Only running for two issues, Crusader From Mars sports beautifully painted covers reminiscent of Ziff-Davis’ pulp heritage. Issue one of this pulp SF classic is GD/VG £80, with a slightly faded cover and a detached top staple bringing the grade down of a basically sound copy. Issue #2 is a lovely VG/FN at £135. Buy them both – you’ve collected the set!

*Alan Class Reprints: Five more plate sets from the Alan Class Private Collection, each one reprinting a story from the Silver Age of Marvel’s super-heroes – in most cases, as previously remarked, the first reprinting of these classic tales, very shortly after their first release! All five feature, in addition to publisher Alan Class’s file copies of the comics, the four lead printing plate sets originally used in production, plus a hand-signed Certificate of authenticity from Alan Class himself. All sets are supplied in a plastic presentation/display case.

We open with a double-feature: Creepy Worlds #67 & #133, both of which reprint Avengers #6, the first appearance of Baron Zemo and His Masters of Evil; the pre-decimal #67 is GD/VG, while the post-decimal #133, with identical content, is FA. Comics and plate set on sale at £35.

Creepy Worlds #69/132 reprints Spider-Man #13, the debut of Mysterio. Unfortunately, we only have a post-decimal copy of #132 in GD, but a cover proof of #69 in FN is included. Comic, proof and plate set on sale for £35.

Secrets of the Unknown #38 re-presents the second-ever Thor (and the first Jane Foster, soon to be Thor on the big screen!) from Journey Into Mystery #84! This is FA/GD, and the comic and plate set are £45.

Sinister Tales #35 is VG, featuring Ant-Man and the Wasp from Tales to Astonish #45, (second Wasp appearance) battling ‘The Return Of Egghead!’. This VG pre-decimal comic and plate set are on sale for £30.

And Sinister Tales #84, though not sporting a Marvel cover, reprints one of the most significant Marvel stories: inside, the very first tale of Iron Man, Tony Stark, from Tales of Suspense #39. This re-presentation of a pivotal origin tale is FA/GD, and together with the plate set will cost you £35.

More from the Marvelous Alan Class collection very soon!

*Annuals: For this weeks’ update, Annuals celebrating the works of TV pioneer Gerry Anderson, whose series including ‘Captain Scarlet’, ‘Thunderbirds, ‘Stingray’ and ‘Fireball XL5’, among others, proved popular worldwide during the 1960s and early ’70s. From the same pedigree source as our previous ‘Immaculate’ selections, these are from a newsagent’s inventory, never circulated or read, no prices clipped, no gift dedications, ‘This Book Belongs To’ inscriptions or other interior markings, solid spines, tight corners and bright, vibrant colours. A few have minor edge wear from long-term storage, or occasionally light breaks in the laminate, but all have exceptional eye appeal, and some could almost pass for new! This week, we have new annuals for Captain Scarlet & Thunderbirds (a combo volume from 1970), Countdown 1973, Joe 90 1969, Lady Penelope 1968 & 1969, and TV Century 21 1967, plus Candy and Andy from 1967. What’s ‘Candy and Andy’ you ask? A ‘Younger Viewers’ series which was prepared, including puppets, props and sets, but no network took it up so it was never actually filmed; to a modern perspective the photos look kind of… serial-killerish, to be honest, but it’s certainly an oddity! Depicted: Candy and Andy 1967 VF/NM £40, Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds 1970 VF/NM £20, Lady Penelope 1969 VF/NM £17.50 and TV Century 21 1967 VF £25.

*Humour Comics: Close to 100 issues from 1975 and 1976 close out our massive Buster re-stock, with two highlights this run. The 27th March 1976 issue featured the first appearance of what would become the title’s longest-running adventure series, (nine years, beating Fishboy’s previous record of eight) the Leopard From Lime Street! Scratched by a radioactive leopard, young Billy Farmer gained feline powers and fought crime in his home town of Selbridge – all the while trying to hide his secret from his bullying uncle and ailing aunt! In the 6th November 1976 issue, another milestone occurred: Buster absorbed the fallen Monster Fun weekly, but unlike the usual token gesture, fully half of MF’s line-up, eight strips, invaded Buster, tipping the balance from a split of adventure & humour towards, in a few years’ time, an all-humour line-up. Meantime, though, laughs and thrills await you from all the old familiar chums!

*Girls’ Comics: More from Princess Tina, the pan-European girls’ anthology which, in a spirit of egalitarianism, dropped its royal title and became plain ‘Tina’ for its final couple of years. We have a high-grade selection of Princess Tina/Tina Summer Extras, commencing with 1968, one year after the weekly’s launch. Among the features are Sue Day and the ‘Happy Days’, ‘Alona the Wild One’, ‘Chairman Cherry’, ‘Milly the Merry Mermaid’, peripatetic pop-tartlets ‘Jackie and the Wild Boys’, and, a personal favourite here at 30th Century, ‘Jane Bond’, the curvaceous blonde secret agent for ‘Worldpol’ whose main method of combat seems to be rugby-tackling her foes and then rolling around on them – with surprisingly few objections from her opponents! Princess Tina Summer Extra 1968, the first, is FN/VF £90, 1969 FN/VF £80, 1970 FN/VF £80, 1971 VF £60, 1972 FN/VF £55, Tina 1973 VG/FN £45 and Tina 1975 VF £60.

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  T – Z
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: Our Batmania event rolls on, this week featuring most issues in a nice run between #233-253. Included are several giant and enlarged issues, lots of Ras Al Ghul, the Shadow, the Spook and lots more. Prominent issues with Neal Adams art in nice grades are as shown below: #237 FN+ p £50, #243 FN/VF p £50, #244 VF p £100 and #245 VF p £50.

*Marvel: One of comics’ biggest events of the final decades of the 20th Century was Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet, in which Thanos, the megavillain Starlin had been building up for nearly twenty years, armed with the reality-altering Infinity Gauntlet, faced down the Marvel super-beings en masse, in a struggle for the fate of the universe! Hugely popular ever since its inception, but with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet at the centre of the Avengers: Endgame cinematic juggernaut, demand for Infinity Gauntlet #1 is at its height. This is a VF+ p copy of the Starlin/Perez blockbuster’s opening chapter, on sale at £100.

*Marvel: After a long run as the co-star of Tales of Suspense, Iron Man was given his own title in 1968, when the ‘Berlin Wall’ of Marvel’s distribution came down, and they were allowed to expand their range of titles. New in this week, a copy of Iron Man’s first solo issue, with Gene Colan’s hyperkinetic art driving the drama onward! This is a CGC 8.5 blue label (no restoration) copy, VF+ equivalent. Given Iron Man’s pivotal status in the Marvel Universe, both Comic and Cinematic, this is, although we’re ordinarily loath to use such terms, an investment grade key first issue, and is on sale for £900. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In the Frank Miller era of Daredevil, Bullseye, the unfailing assassin, became firmly established as DD’s bête noire, causing the Man Without Fear endless grief and misery. And can we ever forget Colin Farrell’s epic scenery-chewing as Bullseye in the Daredevil movie? Well, maybe if we’re lucky and get hit in the head with a blunt object. But a lot of people, even today, aren’t aware that Bullseye wasn’t a Miller creation; step forward Marv Wolfman and Bob Brown, who presented The Assassin Who Never Misses for the first time in Daredevil #131, two years before the Miller regime kicked in! We are pleased to present a Fine+ pence copy, (light spine & corner wear), of this increasingly significant debut issue at £75.

*Marvel: We’ve often joked about the popularity of Venom, the cuddly brain-eating symbiote introduced as Spidey’s new summer outfit in Secret Wars #8, but since the hit movie starring Tom Hardy, Venom’s star has risen, with his early mini-series having around tripled in price. This update, we add Venom to our catalogue listings, all his early minis such as Enemy Within, Funeral Pyre, Lethal Protector, the Mace, and the Madness, mostly co-starring other Marvel comics super-stars such as Spider-Man and the Punisher, and several featuring early work by creators such as Liam Sharp and Kelley Jones, who would go on to higher-profile gigs. Our picture is of the first Venom ‘solo’, Venom: Lethal Protector #1 (NM/M p £35), while details of the others may be found in our online listings.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: At the height of the Cold War, comics about spies abounded, but Magazine Enterprises’ Starr Flagg stood out from the crowd, not least because she looked as if she’d be more at home on a beach or at a cocktail parties than getting to grips with the Red Threat. But battle for democracy she did, and was unafraid to deploy her perfectly-manicured fists in the cause of freedom! This high-octane adventure series was beautifully drawn by the criminally underestimated Ogden Whitney, written by the sublime Gardner Fox, who was clearly having as much fun with his heroine as his readers did. Launched in Manhunt #1 in 1947, Starr appeared in only 19 comics in all, and her adventures are very elusive, so we’re chuffed to have #6 of her own series (alias A-1 Comics #98), in stock. This VG+ copy (listed in our catalogue as Undercover Girl) sports a cover by Bob Powell, with the light cover background occasionally softly creased, but unmarked. Corners are sharp, staples are firm, interiors creamy and extremely flexible – much like our heroine! VG+ £140.

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: From 1972, the first issue of Werewolf by Night. Created by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog, the story of a young lad named Jack Russell (no, really; stop laughing at the back there) who contracted a lycanthropic curse hit a high note with the readership when tried out in issues #2-4 of Marvel Spotlight, and was awarded his own title which ran for 43 issues. This is a lovely VF copy, with vivid red unfaded cover background, almost flawless spine with no weakness at staples, and only the slightest ‘blunting’ at upper and lower right cover corners. A cents copy (never distributed in the UK, so there are no pence copies), this VF item is on sale at £70.

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: In the 1950s, Strato/Arnold acquired the rights to repackage Simon & Kirby’s three groundbreaking romance titles from the 1940s – Young Brides, Young Love and Young Romance. But the usual 68-page black & white squarebound format required an insatiable influx of material, so the repackagers, with a splendid disregard for order and method, reprinted love stories from any American publisher they could strike a deal with – with the result that each issue is a mish-mash of Simon & Kirby, Atlas, ACG, Quality, Ajax/Farrell, Charlton, or any number of random heartstring-pluckers! We have selections of these three titles newly in, many with Simon & Kirby reprints (differentiated within our listings) and several… not, although there is often some fine work among the non-S&K issues. Young Brides are refreshed from #4 to #37, Young Love from #12 to #39 and Young Romance from #9 to #38. Pictured are Young Brides #5 FN £20, Young Love #16 FN £20 and Young Romance #9 FN £20, all Simon & Kirby issues.

*Annuals: Two separate strands to the final Boys’ Adventure update in our Immaculate Annuals event, with one side embodied by plucky youths and gallant men doing daring things for the Empire, while the other side is brash superheroics from across the Atlantic! The Old Country is represented by Boys’ World (1966, 1967, 1969 and 1972) and Eagle (1965, 1966-1970), while our Transatlantic chums are Batman (1967 and 1968), Superboy (1967), and a trio of Storybook Annuals: Batman (1966), Marvel (1967), and Superman (1967). From the same pedigree source as our previous ‘Immaculate’ selections, these are from a newsagent’s inventory, never circulated or read, no prices clipped, no gift dedications, ‘This Book Belongs To’ inscriptions or other interior markings, solid spines, tight corners and bright, vibrant colours. A few have minor edge wear from long-term storage, or occasionally light breaks in the laminate, but all have exceptional eye appeal. Depicted are Batman 1968 – with a classic movie-still cover (FN £20), Boys’ World 1972, the final BW annual with a cover painting by Mike Noble (FN/VF £11), and Eagle 1965, cover-featuring Dan Dare (VF £20). Details on all the others in our online catalogue, as always.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: We’ve concentrated on longish runs of specific series in recent PL updates, so this week, here’s a bouquet of miscellaneous manly action, a scattering of titles lightly restocked for your pleasure! Action Picture Library from #3, Battle Action In Pictures (Miller) #4, Action Series #1 (starring Secret Agent X-9), Commando #51, Radar, Man From the Unknown from #2, Miller Detectives Theo Drake and Mark Conway (first issues of each) and a handful each of two very popular series, Super-Detective Picture Library from #116 and Thriller Picture Library from #156 to #449. Depicted are Commando #51 in an extraordinary VF at £35, Action Series #1 FN £15 and Radar #4 VF £25.

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  M – S
and in our British section:
*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics V – Z
As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: One of the biggest hits of the 1980s was the New Teen Titans, in which Marv Wolfman and George Perez took a moribund Sixties franchise and revitalised it into DC’s sales powerhouse of the decade. Introducing three brand-new characters – Cyborg, Raven and Starfire – Wolfman & Perez hewed very closely to the X-Men model of angst-ridden young heroes, and scored big points not only with DC’s readers; NTT became the DC Comic even Marvel fans bought! But the team made their first appearance, not in their own series, but in a ‘Bonus Book’, a supplement included with another title, DC Comics Presents #26. Here, for the first time, we met the new team, as they were gathered together to face a fearful menace – and the Jim Starlin-drawn Superman GL team-up’s pretty nifty too! Now the stars of a live-action TV show, the New Teen Titans’ popularity is soaring, so we’re pleased to be offering a nice copy of their debut issue. DC Comics Presents #26 is VF, cents copy with no pence price, at £70.

*DC: In excess of 100 issues of Action Comics newly listed, including a catalogue expansion up to #500. From the early 1970s through to the mid-1980s, none of them previously in our stock, this selection gives us a virtually unbroken run from #398 to #450, and a substantial proportion of issues through to #499. Highlights include the debut of the Human Target, later star of his own TV series, in #419, the first Captain Strong in #421, the debut of the second-generation Toyman in #432, 100-Page and Giant issues (#437, #443, #449), the debut of the lethal Faora Hu-Ul in #471, the wedding of the Earth-2 Lois Lane and Superman in #484, an iconic Neal Adams cover on #485 and, as a bonus, Alan Moore, Curt Swan & Kurt Schaffenberger’s elegiac farewell to the Silver Age Superman in #583. Of particular note is that this selection averages exceptionally high grades for its vintage. With only a handful of exceptions, the minimum grade is FN/VF, with the majority being VF+ or better, and a substantial amount of NM, a grade we seldom award to items of this age. Truly beautiful glossy copies with vivid colours and cream interior pages. Depicted is #485 (NM, £11.50). Details on all the rest may be found in our catalogue listings. SORRY, PICTURED ITEM NOW SOLD

*Marvel: From the creative height of Lee and Kirby’s Fantastic Four, a quartet of prime issues. #44 saw the debut of Gorgon of the Inhumans, despatched to retrieve the errant Madame Medusa from the world of humanity; in #45, the secret of Medusa’s and Gorgon’s origins was revealed, and we met the rest of the uncanny Inhumans – with one conspicuous exception! #46 corrected that omission, with the first full appearance of Black Bolt, Monarch of the Inhumans, and in #47, the FF, and the readers, travelled to the hidden land of Attilan, the Inhumans’ home, to face the menace of Maximus the Mad! This was not the end of the Inhumans saga, but these four issues introduce all the key players and elements in the unfolding drama of Attilan. #44 is VF £70, #45 is GD- (covers virtually separated) p £70, #46 is VF p £225 and #47 VF £100.

*Marvel: In the second issue of the Avengers, the team faced the menace of the Space Phantom, an extraterrestrial invader with the novel m.o. of teleporting beings into a limbo dimension, and assuming their forms and powers for his own ends. Swiftly discovering the power of the Hulk, the transmogrified Space Phantom went on a rampage, with his fellow-Avengers finding it all too easy to believe he’d turned to the Dark Side – resulting in some anger when the real Hulk returned, and quit the team in a huff! This copy of #2 is an Apparent FN/VF: tight at staples, flat, glossy, vibrant colours and creamy interior pages. The ‘Apparent’ modifier, however, is because of a slight right edge trim and, more importantly, a thoughtless previous owner’s removal of two interior ad pages (4 sides), neatly done and not affecting the story, which is complete and intact. A decent copy of an early Avengers epic:  App. FN/VF p on sale at £215.