What's New

20 November 2009

Brtish Update: Marvel UK, Lion 1971-72 & Complete Scream!

Another stonky update for you this week, chums, as follows:

*Marvel UK: More stock (including early issues) from Dracula lives (from # 3), The Complete Fantastic Four (from #2), Spider-Man Comics Weekly (from # 14), and the Super-Heroes (from # 2), and the complete run of Hulk Pocketbook – no, not a fashion accessory, but a gamma-infused selection of digest-sized adventures, which ran 13 issues and presented old Jade-Jaws in a miniature portable format! (mind-boggling mental image though that is…)

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Our mammoth Lion update continues with a splendid selection from 1971 and 1972, just after the veteran title had absorbed upstart weekly Thunder (though, in an unusual break from the norm, fully half Thunder’s features were continued in the amalgamated title, making it more of a true merger than most such). ‘Steel Commando’, (giving the new series two robot stars, though Archie thoughtfully took a leave of absence to allow the newcomer to settle down)‘Jet Skaters’, ‘Black Max’ ‘Fury’s Family’, and, ahem, ‘Phil The Fluter’ all gave the new look a boost in the circulation. An even bigger event, though, was the debut of ‘Adam Eterno’, the undying warrior whose time-hopping hijinx formed the backbone of the revitalised title. We also have a full run of Scream!, the controversial weekly from the 1980’s, new to our lists. Attempting to do for horror and suspense what 2000 AD had done for science-fiction, Scream! featured the same writers and artists as Tharg’s weekly (including the infamous Alan Moore), but was rapidly out of existence by censorious cretins, and folded into the revived Eagle after a scant 15 issues without so much as a ‘Great News, Chums!’ on the strapline.

Posted by Rob | 02:53 p.m. GMT

19 November 2009

Housekeeping Update

As regular visitors to our site will know, on a regular cycle, we sweep through our entire vintage 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 Comics

As of the time of writing, this category is bang up to date with every item listed available, so you may order with confidence! More soon!

Posted by Rob | 10:54 a.m. GMT

14 November 2009

American Update: Marvel Silver Age, iconic Pre-code Horror inc infamous Mister Mystery #12 injury to eye cover, early R. Crumb undergrounds

Some real gems this weeks as follows:

*Marvel: A selection of nice mid-grade Silver Age classics of the Marvel universe, including Avengers (from # 11), Captain America (from his Silver Age premier issue, #100), Daredevil, Iron Man (from #3), the Iron Man & Sub-Mariner one-shot, and Thor, plus an unusual variant printing of, of all things, Fantastic Four #199. Join Kirby, Lee, Colan, Buscema, Heck, Thomas, Criag, Wood, and the fledgling efforts of Barry Windsor-Smith, under his ‘maiden name’ of Barry Smith, for four-colour fantasy in the Mighty Marvel manner!

*Horror 1940-1959: Our ‘also-rans’ this week would, any other time, attract sufficient attention – St. John’s Do You Believe In Nightmares? #1, with a Steve Ditko cover and four interior stories, and two issues of Dark Mysteries, # 22 & #23, providing a contrast between the last pre-Code and first Code-Approved issues – very nice, lurid stuff; but they pale into relative insignificance beside our acquisition of the notorious Mister Mystery! Stanmore’s infamous pre-Code extravaganza featured our curiously avuncular host presenting tales of mayhem and murder, with some of the most shocking covers in the field – issue #6’s ‘lady in bondage lowered into a vat of molten metal’, # 11’s ‘man buried in ant hill’, and of course, #12’s iconic ‘injury to eye’ cover – all present and correct in this incomplete but substantial range from #1 to #14. Cover scans of every Mister Mystery in stock - #’s 1, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are all available for inspection in our Cover Gallery – you know you’ve got to go and see ‘em!

*Undergrounds: Only two items new to our listings, but they’re stonkers – from 1969 and 1970, the first mass-market paperbacks of R. Crumb’s Fritz The Cat, and R. Crumb’s Head Comix, respectively. These tabloid-size books were the first attempt to bring the underground to the overground, reprinting some of the more outrageous antics of Fritz, Mr. Natural, and other controversy-courting Crumb creations. These collections helped kick-start Crumb from an obscure cult figure into the popular-culture phenomenon he is today, and despite going through several printings each, they remain vanishingly scarce today. The Fritz is a first printing, the Head Comix a second printing, and photos of both covers are viewable at our Cover Gallery – you know what to do by now!

Posted by Rob | 01:51 p.m. GMT

13 November 2009

British Update: Annuals inc first Eagle Annual and 1st year of Lion comic from 1952 inc #1

Some creakly old comics and annuals for creaky old folks (like us!) this week:

*Annuals: We’re pleased to offer the very first Eagle Annual, from 1951, in VG/FN condition. The first hardcover collection of Dan Dare and company from the prestigious weekly, this launched a long-running series of Christmas treats for a generation of readers. Subsequent editions came with dustjackets – a heated debate among collectors is whether a dustjacket was issued with the first Annual, but all we can say is that we’ve never seen one, and this is no exception. It is, however, a clean attractive copy with only minor edge ‘shelf wear’, as may be viewed in our Cover Gallery – click on the link in the catalogue and see for yourself. We also have fresh stock for Beano, Beano & Dandy compilations, Topper, Viz, Dr. Who, Battle, Commando, Tiger, Valiant, Girl, Misty, and an extraordinary find, Gerald Swan’s 1947 Schoolgirls’ Album, ‘Packed With School Fun And Thrills’, as it says on the cover.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Our major Lion overhaul continues with the entire first year, all 45 issues from 1952, including the debut issue in, admittedly, completely buggered condition. (Are we allowed to say ‘buggered’ on the website? Oh well, we’ll soon find out…). The first issue has been roughly treated, but it is all still present, and still readable – albeit at some point having had the left upper corner entirely torn off! The remainder of the year are averaging Fair, with an occasional Good, though for most of them rusty staples are the only significant defect, and the sole thing precluding a higher grade. A shameless Eagle-imitator, (but with a tenth of the budget) Lion led with Frank S. Pepper’s ‘Captain Condor’ , plucky spaceman of the year 3000, who led a revolt against the dictator of Earth and his minions, the Geeks. (A bit ironic, considering that ‘geeks’ were among the captain’s staunchest supporters in later years…) Despite the much cheaper printing and Pepper’s, let’s be kind, rudimentary drawing skills, ‘Captain Condor’ was a huge hit, and frontlined the Lion for several years. A scan of the cover is available in our ever-capricious Cover Gallery – click on the link in the main catalogue!

Posted by Rob | 05:08 p.m. GMT

7 November 2009

British Update - Boys' and Girls' Picture Libraries

Some 1950s and 1960s delights of the small but perfectly-formed variety in this week's update as follows:

*Boys’ Adventure and War Picture Libraries: We’re positively embattled at 30th Century this week! Not only do we have Battle Picture Library itself commencing from #6, including many issues prior to #100 in affordable grades, but we also have its imitators, Battlecry (from 1966’s #1), Battlefield (from 1967), and Battleground (from 1964’s #1), to appease even the most warlike beast among us!

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Beginning from 1959’s issue #15, the scandalous Confessions Library (later Romantic Confessions In Pictures) is new to our inventory, with some nice-graded issues featuring come-on titles like ‘I Was An Unwedded Wife!’, ‘Living for Kicks!’, ‘Back Door To Paradise!’ , and ‘Mountie on My Trail!’ – two of these, #’s 19 and 39, may viewed in our Cover Gallery Feature – click on the link from the catalogue page for the cover scans! We also have new Schoolgirls’ Picture Library, featuring ‘Umpha the Playful Porpoise’, ‘School behind Enemy Lines’, and ‘Jungle Girl’, starring Tarzanna – whoops, sorry, Zanna – plus Princess Picture Library from #4, with Sally Doyle dancing her tutu off at the ‘Jungle Ballet’, ‘Big Top Ballet’, and ‘Ice Ballet’, among others, while Sue Day, not to be outdone, demonstrates her multifacetedness by writing a hit play and becoming a film star! My, those girls lead full lives… wherever do they find the time?

Posted by Rob | 04:13 p.m. GMT

6 November 2009

American Update - DC 1950s-1970s plus Next Men, Rocketeer & Aphrodite IX

A nice range of American goodies this week in the following categories:

*DC: A comprehensive top-up of Silver Age classics, Bronze Age esoterica, and adventures under the sea, beneath the earth, and in outer space! A splendid selection of Sea Devils, with lovely art and often hallucinogenic stories that make you wonder what the late Bob Kanigher was on (“Discover a new sea locked in everyone’s brain!” What, like there was an *old* sea there?), and complete runs of E. Nelson Bridwell’s ‘Mission: Impossible’-inspired Secret Six and the 1970’s Secret Society of Super-Villains, which spawned the 21st-Century hit Identity Crisis. Early House of Mystery, from # 24, in very appealing mid-grade, and additions to our stocks of All-Star Comics, Black Lightning, Brave & Bold (including the rare first appearance of ‘Cave Carson – Adventures Inside Earth!’), DC Special, First Issue Special, Flash, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Metal Men, Mystery In Space, Showcase, Star Hunters, Steel, Strange Adventures, Super-Friends, Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman!

*Modern Comics Special Interest: Our ever-burgeoning Special Interest section expands yet further with three cult series: Aphrodite IX, the tale of an implausibly-endowed, artifical amnesiac assassin (that is, she kills people and forgets about it, rather than she only kills amnesiacs…) and her wacky pals, illustrated by then-newbie, now-superstar, David Finch. We then move on to the Next Men – officially, ‘John Byrne’s Next Men’, but we’re having none of that ‘auteur’ nonsense here, thank you! The tale of abnormally-powered youngsters raised in a virtual reality environment to be a generation of living weapons, Next Men merged super-adventure with political machinations to great effect, and remains in many people’s opinions the finest thing Byrne’s done. All 31 issues (#0-30) are present, (including the rare #21 which features the debut of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy) as well as the standalone 2112 prototype. And we close with the small, but perfectly formed, Rocketeer Adventure Magazine, with a charming nouveau-retro heroicism reminiscent of the old movie serials, but, under the gifted artistic hand of Dave Stevens, far, far better looking. Taking a scant seven years from issue 1 to issue 3, these are nevertheless one of the rare items of which you can say it was worth the wait.

Posted by Rob | 06:00 p.m. GMT

30 October 2009

British Update: All Worlds Sci-Fi Album, Bullet, Express with Biggles, Comet final issue, Film, Radio & TV Fun, Blake's 7, 1960s Beanos, Knockout 1971-73, Jackpot, latest Spaceship Away! & Crikey! & more

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: We open with the All Worlds Album, a 100 page compendium of mostly science fiction stories from the 1950’s, featuring ‘Swift Morgan and the Feathered Serpent’, and further tales of interplanetary derring-do. We have new stocks of Bullet from 1976, featuring mustached & mulleted medallion man ‘Fireball’ in espionage adventures battling, among others, slinky adventuress the Cat; and Lion from the early 1970’s, just post it’s merger with the late Thunder. A splendid selection of Express from 1960 & 1961 is new in, with ‘Biggles’ as the lead strip, handsomely illustrated by Ron Embleton. And – “Harry’s got that shining purple plague!” – why yes, it’s the very final issue of Comet from 1959, as ‘Jet-Ace Logan’, ‘Buffalo Bill’, and ‘Commando One’ packed up their kitbags and shuffled over to Tiger, bringing the adventure weekly’s 13-year run of close to 600 issues to a sadly low-key finale.

*TV & Film Related Comics: Fun, Fun, Fun – and Blake’s Seven! We have new stock of the great trinity of media weeklies – Film Fun, Radio Fun and TV Fun – from 1951 to 1957, presenting a cavalcade of faded stars, rising stars, and people nobody had heard of even at the time. The roster includes Laurel & Hardy, Terry-Thomas, Petula Clarke, Issy Bonn, Tommy Steele, Arthur Askey, Jewell & Warris, and Peter Sellers – we’ll let you decide who fits which category! Plus, Blake’s Seven, the Marvel-UK produced adaptation of Terry Nation’s cult TV show. Featuring comic strips by Ian Kennedy and some new guy named Steve Dillon, it showcased the plucky crew of the starship Liberator as they thwarted the dastardly plans of space-vixen Servalan. (said plans mostly involving swanning around disused quarries in high heels and a sparkly evening frock. As you do.)

*Humour Comics and Picture Libraries: Beano from 1961-1969, second series Knockout from 1971-1973, Whizzer & Chips from 1980 up, and the 1991 Comic Relief Comic one-shot, all newly listed this week, plus almost the first year of Jackpot, the popular 1979 title that shamelessly appealed to readers’ greed with spectacular prizes such as the chance to ‘raid’ a sweet or toy factory, and featured some of the most blatantly pandering TV rip-offs such as ‘Little & Large Lenny’, ‘Angels’ Charlies’, and ‘Incredible Sulk’. Nevertheless, it managed a lot of charm and originality, as well as some more offbeat notions – the ‘Amazing Three’, a virtual love letter to Fawcett’s ‘Marvel Family’, is a clue that some old fanboys were at work behind the scenes. 1st and 2nd issues as well as the 1979 Christmas issue included in this latest update.

*Magazines & Books About Vintage Comics UK: A double delight this week, with new issues of Crikey! and Spaceship Away! Spaceship Away’s 19th issue features all the usual ingredients – new stories of ‘Dan Dare’ done in the classic style, plus ‘Jet Morgan’ and ‘Nick Hazzard’, plus, as a special treat, the beginning of a series of reprints of Frank Bellamy’s ‘Garth’ newspaper strip, presented for the first time in gorgeous full-colour by John Ridgway! Crikey’s 12th issue features an extensive issue with Pat Mills, the ‘Godfather’ of the ‘gritty’ UK comics revival of the 1970’s, a retrospective on the comic strip career of ‘Dr. Who’, ‘D-Day Dawson’, and an appreciation of comic artist Frank McDiarmid. All issues of both publications are now fully restocked and available as of the time of writing.

Posted by Rob | 04:06 p.m. GMT

American Update - Bronze Age Batman "Family"

*DC: An update to the Bronze Age Batman titles this week, with Batman himself, Batman Family, Brave & Bold, and Detective Comics, including noted creators Alan Brennert, Jim Aparo, Steve Englehart, Mike Golden and Marshall Rogers. Catch the Darknight Detective in some of the stories that radically changed the public’s perception of this iconic character.

Posted by Rob | 03:37 p.m. GMT

Search entries: