*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! Infinity Gauntlet was such a huge success that Starlin wrote two equally cosmic sequels, Infinity War and Infinity Crusade, each taking in most of the Marvel super-stars of the time. Hugely popular ever since their inception, but with Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet at the centre of the current Avengers: Endgame cinematic juggernaut, demand for these issues is at its height. We have the first issues of all three series in stock – Infinity Crusade #1 NM p £8, Infinity War #1 NM p £10 and Infinity Gauntlet #1 (pictured) VF p £30, as well as Infinity Gauntlet #2 and #3 and the entire remaining series of Infinity War #2-6. SORRY, INFINITY GAUNTLET #1 HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Well, if you can’t have Ditko, his successor is the next best thing! John Romita brought a new style to everyone’s favourite wall-crawler, with a dynamic sense of layout, design and style, featuring some classic covers. A whole range of Romita issues this update, nearly 20 issues between Amazing Spider-Man #47 and #97, featuring Spidey’s tangles with Kraven, the KIngpin, Doctor Octopus, Ka-Zar (& Zabu), the Vulture, Silvermane, the Lizard, the Schemer, Iceman, the Prowler and, of course, the Green Goblin. A mix of grades, many nice and some cheap readers!

*Horror 1940-1959: Thanks for sticking with us throughout this long, long Mega-Fest of 1940s and 1950s Pre and Post Code Horror we’ve been running since last Autumn. This week we at last reach the final entries in this category for the time being. From Harvey, we have Chamber of Chills #24, with a gripping Lee Elias cover; from Fawcett, Strange Suspense Stories #4, with a literal death-cheating cover and lead tale; from Avon, #17 of the early horror series Eerie (GD+ £55, pictured) and a quartet of Atlas: the Post-Code World of Mystery #1 and World of Suspense #5, and two more Pre-Code beauties, both depicted: Spellbound #20 VG+ £110, with a stunning Russ Heath cover, and Suspense #15 VG+ £95, with Joe Maneely at his most menacing.

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: In 1971 Marvel, still trying to broaden its readership, tried again to crack the black & white magazine market which Warren had successfully exploited. Savage Tales #1 was rated ‘M’ for the Mature Reader (translation; a bit of swearing and occasional boobs), and set out to slightly repackage some of their existing properties – Conan and Ka-Zar – and introduce some new concepts. Of the latter, ‘Black Brother’, a ham-fisted race relations piece, is best forgotten, and ‘The Femizons’, a cringe-making take on Women’s Liberation which served as the basis for Thundra, does at least supply some (albeit unintentional) laughs; but the very first appearance of Marvel’s ‘Man-Thing’ is stylish and evocative, despite the character being a shameless Swamp Thing rip-off. While the writing is hit & miss (though the Conan and Man-Thing stories are definitely hits) the artwork is stunning throughout: Barry Smith, John Romita, John Buscema, Gene Colan and Gray Morrow, all at their respective peaks. Never distributed in the UK, and far from commonplace in the USA, we’ve only seen Savage Tales #1 a handful of times in our 25 years of trading. This is a lovely FN/VF copy, unmarred cover image, tight squarebound spine with only minimal lower spine wear, with excellent interiors, on sale at £250. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Annuals: Continuing our ‘Immaculate Annuals’ event, we revisit TV & Film Related Annuals, from the same pedigree source. As with 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 couple of them, because of slightly marred laminate or a tiny bit of cover fading, do dip to FN/VF, but mostly these are VF to VF/NM, truly lovely items, virtually able to pass for new. Added this listing: Doctor Kildare 1965 and 1966, Emergency Ward 10 1964, Follyfoot 1975, Man From UNCLE 1967 to 1969, No Hiding Place 1966, Orlando 1968, Roger Moore’s Adventure Book 1966, Saint 1968, Star Trek 1970 and 1973 and TV Tornado 1968 (1st) and 1969. Pictured are Man From UNCLE 1969 VF/NM £22.50, Saint 1968 £22.50 and TV Tornado 1968 VF/NM £50. For details on the others, please see the appropriate section of our catalogue listings.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Chunky updates to four favourite titles this week. From the 1950s, Lion 1952/53 the first two years of publication, as earfly as the 4th issue, and from the 1970s, a trio of thrills: Battle from 1975 (its first year) and 1976, including first appearances and the first combo issue with Valiant (23/10/76), Bullet 1976 (from #3) and Roy Of The Rovers, many issues in FN condition from its first year 1976. Many gaps in our inventory now filled (at least temporarily!)

*TV & Film Related Comics: From 1974, Marvel UK’s repackaging of the licensed material spun off from the then-megahit movie franchise, Planet of the Apes. Given the weekly schedule, however, demand for anthropoid antics soon outstripped the sedate bi-monthly pace of the American edition, so even with new material being developed for UK consumption first, the publishers were forced by issue #23 to repurpose the Killraven/War of the Worlds series, rebranding Martians as apes and rechristening the hero ‘Apeslayer’, in one of the more bizarre bodge-jobs of comics history. You can read more about all that in the Extras section of our catalogue. A selection – 28 of the first 36 POTA weeklies – is restocked from #1 upwards, in affordable low to mid grades. Prices and grades in our online catalogue, Get your hands on these damn dirty apes!

*Girl’s Comics: Our spotlight on previously listed stock this week falls on the quintessential Girl’s comic/Magazine Jackie. In 1964, Jackie was launched to bridge female readers between Bunty and Woman’s Own, a brief playtime with the ‘England Swings’ zeitgeist of the day, before girls were expected to settle into consumerist conformism. This debut issue, 11 Jan 1964, features Pin-Ups of Cliff, Elvis and the Beatles, Perfume Tips for a More Kissable You, Dreamy Picture Love Stories and Way-Out Exclusives on all the Popsters – for pity’s sake, what more could you want? Well, how about the original Free Gift – a ‘Twin Heart’ Love Ring – still sealed in its original packaging, never having had a chance to turn anyone’s finger green in the intervening decades? Plus – the Power! The Fury! The senses-shattering debut of Cathy and Claire, Jackie’s indefatigable advice page oracles, dispensing wisdom on bras, boys, and (hushed voice) ladyproblems. Jackie became a watchword for a generation, not bowing out until 1993 with number #1539 (also still in stock, kids!), and is well-remembered today. This Jackie #1 is FN+, just falling short of a higher grade on account of a tiny amount of upper right soft corner creasing. The Free Gift, never opened, is NM. Together, comic and gift can be yours for £175.

*Collected Editions: Those lovely people at Rebellion, bless them, continue to collect and respect the vast and still largely unexplored history of British Comics with their sequential compilations of classic strips, and occasional revivals. This week, we welcome into stock Death Wish Volume 1 by Barrie Tomlinson and artist Vayo, the tale of a Formula 1 driver who, tragically disfigured in a crash, lost the urge to live, taking on ever more outlandish challenges in an attempt to court death. Launched in the short-lived Speed weekly, ‘Death Wish’ carried over into Tiger for a much longer life than in its original home. This is a brand-new softcover at £15. Sweeny Toddler, the gremlin-like two-year old, was the creation of classic comedy artist Leo Baxendale, and Sweeny’s horrendous parental abuse made him a firm favourite in the short-lived Shiver & Shake – from which he leapt to a long run as the lead in Whoopee weekly, finally jumping to Whizzer & Chips! My, he did lead a full life, and Baxendale’s manic invention chronicles every misdeed in obsessive detail! The first volume of Sweeny’s collected misadventures is hardcover, brand new at £15. Finally this update, a companion to the previous all-new Scream & Misty and Buster & Cor Specials, comes Tammy & Jinty Special 2019, in which venerable series from the girls’ comics of yesteryear are given a modern twist in all-new tales of ‘The Justice of Justine’, ‘Maisie’s Magic Eye’ (hang on, weren’t those two originally from Sally?) ‘Bella at the Bar’ and more. This full-colour 48-page mag is brand new at £5.

*DC: While all early issues of Hawkman are superb, with high-flying sci-fi stories by Gardner Fox and luminous Murphy Anderson artwork (not that we’re prejudiced witnesses or anything… ), the most sought-after in recent years is issue #4, featuring the debut of the Princess of Prestidigitation – Zatanna! Zee (as she’s familiarly known), a personal favourite here at 30th Century, is the daughter of DC’s Golden Age magician Zatara, and took her quest for her missing father through the pages of Green Lantern, Atom, Detective Comics and the Justice League of America in one of DC’s earliest ‘story arcs’, but this is where her illustrious career – which has branched out into both animated and live-action TV – began. (And yes, they did miss a bet by not having her featured on the cover – foolish mortals!). This latest copy of Zatanna’s debut is an attractive VG, with light to moderate wear at spine and corners, but tight staples, unmarred cover scene, and flexible off-white interior pages. VG p £140. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: A new selection in of the classic series of Justice League of America, ranging from #58 all the way through to the end of the series #261 plus annuals. Not every issue in that run, but every one of the dozens of issues new in was previously missing from our inventory. Giant issues, anniversary issues and Justice Society crossovers aplenty in this update to DC’s premier team title. As always, see our catalogue for details. 

*Marvel: Ghost Rider had been the title of a short-lived Western series of the 1960s, and in 1972, writer Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog reinterpreted the cowboy trope with the nearest modern equivalent – a motorbike rider! In the wake of ‘Easy Rider’ and adding in lashings of the then-popular Satanic-possession movies, they came up with Johnny Blaze, stunt-rider turned emissary of Satan, having sacrificed his soul to save his loved ones. But this being a Code-Approved Marvel comic, Johnny’s battle of wills with his demonic master usually led to his actions coming down on the side of good, despite Old Nick’s best efforts. Ghost Rider went on to 80+ issues of his original series after a successful run in Marvel Spotlight, and despite two truly execrable Nicolas Cage-starring movies, remains a mainstay of the Marvel Universe today. This copy of his first appearance is a CGC Blue Label (unrestored), at 4.0, VG equivalent, on sale at £280. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: In the early Marvel Age – when, you must recall, the halcyon days of the Golden Age were a mere 10-15 years in the past – Marvel received a lot of requests to revive their 1940s stars. They tested the waters with the Human Torch’s solo story in Strange Tales #114, wherein Johnny Storm appeared to meet and battle Captain America, legendary hero of World War II! Needless to say – oh, don’t give me ‘Spoilers’, it was more than half a century ago – it turned out to be a villain appropriating Cap’s costume, but the issue sold so well that it triggered the revival of the actual Captain America in Avengers #4, and the rest is history. This is not often seen in any condition, and this copy is an attractive FN cents copy, with only minimal corner and edge wear and bright, lustrous cover colours, on sale at £150. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Marvel: Lee & Kirby, in Fantastic Four #66, laid the groundwork for another cult character, though this one turned out to be a bit of a slow burner. In issue #66, scientists calling themselves the Enclave created an artificial, perfect human, who the readers didn’t actually see until #67, when the new-born demigod initially called himself ‘Him’. After rebelling against his creators, ‘Him’ set out to discover the world, and decided to seek a mate – unfortunately, the mate he chose was Thor’s main squeeze Lady Sif! After a two-part confrontation with the Thunder God, ‘Him’ flew off to discover the universe, eventually coming back as Warlock – in which guise he’s had several solo series, and is scheduled to appear in the hit Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise! His (Him’s?) two-part origin and epic clash with Thor are all newly restocked: Fantastic Four #66 FN/VF £75 and #67 FN/VF £175 (both FFs pictured), and Thor #165 FA £35 and #166 VG- p £35.

*Marvel: Not quite enough for a proper ‘Return Of…’, but nevertheless we have a few of the pre-hero Marvel series with unfeasibly enlarged antagonists plotting to conquer the world, only to be discouraged by plucky scientists – a trope which made Marvel a mint before the Fantastic Four went up in their rocketship! Tales of Suspense #22 (VG £60 pictured) brings us Bruttu. Tales to Astonish #20 (GD+ £44) offers us X – The Thing That Lived! And Tales to Astonish #33 (VG+ p £56 pictured) varies the theme by having normal-sized and fully-clad alien monsters – but loads of ’em – in ‘Dead Storage!’

*Marvel: Thirty new issues added to the latter years of our Amazing Spider-Man listing, commencing with #141 (first appearance of the second Mysterio), and concluding with #297. Along the way, significant debuts and events include the second appearance of the Black Cat in #195, the second Black Cat storyline, a two-parter in #226 and #227, the debut of the Rose in #253, the Puma’s premiere in #256, the first appearance of the sultry Silver Sable in #265, and the first two chapters of the iconic ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ storyline in #293 and #294. All that, plus the usual web-swinging, wall-crawling action you’ve come to love!

*Marvel: One of the most peculiar corners of the Marvel Universe was inhabited by the Human Fly, a costumed stuntman in the manner of Evel Knievel, who inexplicably became the star of his own comics series in 1977. Although there was briefly a real-life performer of that name, later revealed as stuntman Rick Rojatt, we suspect the comics version’s origin – having 60% of his skeleton replaced by steel after a traumatic accident – was not Mr. Rojatt’s own background. At least we hope not, for his sake. The comics version interacted with Ghost Rider and the White Tiger, among other Marvel luminaries, but owing to the hero’s nomadic activities, the only supporting cast was plucky journalista Harmony Whyte, who Lois Laned our hero across the USA reporting on his activities while trying to reveal the man behind the mask. Like every other Marvel property this side of Willie Lumpkin, the Human Fly is now rumoured to have a movie in production; will it be a hit? Well, another Bill Mantlo creation, Rocket Raccoon, has done unexpectedly well for himself, so you never know! The complete 19-issue series, cents copies, averaging NM, is now available for the relatively bargainaceous price of £40; buy it now before the speculators jump in! SORRY, THIS SERIES HAS NOW SOLD

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Not long after House of Secrets’ ‘rebranding’ as a horror title (following its decades as a genteel sci-fi series), issue #92 saw a story that transcended the traditional one-off horror genre, and launched a character who became a major star for DC, culminating in his recent TV series. (We won’t talk about the movies. Ever.) In ‘Swamp Thing’, we were introduced to Alex Olsen and Damien Ridge, 19th-century best friends whose love for the same woman led Damien to murder Alex after Alex had married the beautiful Linda. Later, however, when Linda began to suspect the truth, Damien planned to murder her too: but her life was saved by Alex, returned from the swamp as a subhuman plant-creature. Linda fled from the creature in horror, never realizing that the beast who saved her was her beloved Alex. This classic tale of love, betrayal and revenge, masterfully told by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson, struck a powerful chord with the readership, and a 20th-century version of the character was launched in his own series, and has starred in some of the most critically-acclaimed stories in the comics medium. This copy of Swamp Thing’s first appearance is VF+; the distinctive greytone cover skilfully evokes a feeling of imminent menace, and is one of the most consistently ‘homaged’ images in comics. Staples are firm at cover and centrefold, minimal corner and edge wear, off-white interior pages. A VF+ cents copy with no pence price or overstamp, it is on sale for £2,000. Front and back covers and splash page are shown here; high resolution images are available on request. Please note that this comic is not kept at our shop; viewing is strictly by appointment only and requires a minimum of 48 hours’ notice.

*Marvel UK: Marvel UK’s experimental attempt to broaden their readership by generating a new British hero, Captain Britain was the subject of much controversy, not least because he was created by two Americans (Chris Claremont, Herb Trimpe) who, from the evidence presented here, had never met an English person, and whose interpretation of the UK’s manners and mores made the Austin Powers films look like documentaries. Be that as it may, the character endured to become a respected icon of the medium, and early issues are now attracting keen collector attention. We have a new copy in of the good Captain’s first issue, FN with the original Free Gift (a Captain Britain mask) in VF, at £35 for the comic & gift combo. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Micron’s Combat Picture Library, despite being overshadowed by its more famous brethren Commando, War, Air Ace and the like, had a very respectable 1,000+ run from 1959 to 1985. The early issues particularly are much less commonly seen than contemporary Air Ace or Battle Picture Libraries, and have quite a bit of visual appeal, with intricate interior art and striking painted covers. This newest selection is consecutive from #101 to #184, then #189-192, and #195-200, missing only a handful of issues. This sequence is in truly remarkable grade, with only a few of them dipping below VF. From an uncirculated newsagent’s inventory, never to our knowledge sold, displayed, or read, these are beautiful copies. Pictured are #101, #150, and #200, all VF at £5 each.

*Clearance Corner: Following on from our Beano clearance last month, it is with regret that we follow up with a huge Dandy clearout, Beano’s ‘older brother’. Just like the Beano, we love the Dandy too — it’s another British comics institution and features classic, immortal characters. But there’s no doubting that with the decline of the UK comics industry in recent decades, later Dandys are less collected than their classic period and the title itself shuffled off  a few years back. So the time has come for us to dispense with our 1981 upward stock. Here’s a batch of 97 issues from the years 1981-1983, no duplicates, all in reasonable condition from GD to FN, on offer for just £20 the lot. UK postage (if required) would be an extra £8. SORRY, THIS LOT HAS NOW SOLD

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 British section:
*Rupert
As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date, with every item listed available.

*DC: The Black Canary had recently crossed over from Earth-2 to Earth-1 in JLA #75, following an unfortunate sequence of events, and her formidable self-defense and detective skills were augmented by an ‘instant-mutation’ – known then as the ‘Sonic Whammy’, later as the ‘Canary Cry’ – which established her as a true super-being, fit to stand among the metahuman JLAers. (and Batman, ahem ahem). That being said her membership, though debated, wasn’t formally announced for several issues, but this is the one in which she started acting as a member of the JLA. This new copy is a highly attractive FN+, cents copy with no pence overstamp, tight, firm and glossy, and the high grade, plus the iconic cover image (which was regarded as a wee bit saucy back in the day) prices it at £100. SORRY, THIS HAS NOW SOLD

*DC: A selection of Batman (from #107 to #113) and Detective Comics (from #239 to #250) in lower grades, battered, creased, and ‘well-read’, official grades ranging from Poor to the dizzying heights of Good, but most previously unrepresented in our stock, and all with all story pages complete and readable. Weird costumes, bodily transformations, aliens and robots galore – give them a good home!

*Marvel: Lee & Kirby’s Fantastic Four added to its many innovations in 1966’s FF #52, when they introduced the first black super-hero in comics. The Black Panther was the head of a highly sophisticated and technologically advanced African nation, Wakanda, and was in time to become not only one of the FF’s greatest allies, but a mainstay of their fellow heroes, the Avengers. Following his spectacular big-screen success, T’Challa’s earliest appearances have never been in higher demand, and we have a FN copy, cents, with no UK price stamp or overprint, new in stock. Tight at staples, sharp corners, with strong, largely unbroken black cover background, only a few very faint corner creases, and a few light breaks in the spine colour. This FN key debut is on sale at £500. Front and back cover and splash pages shown below; high resolution images are available on request.