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Update Archives For January 2008

29 January 2008

British Update - Hundreds of new Commando Picture Libraries!

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: The first of two massive updates to our stock of Commando, the enduringly popular digest series, this one ranging from an attractive #14 (VG at £30) through to issues in the 3000’s – more than 300 added to our lists this week! A further update, twice the size of this one (or maybe two similar-sized ones, depending how fast our twinkling little fingers can process the stock) will be posted over the next few weeks, so if you can’t get enough of he-man battle action (and who can?), keep checking the website for further developments!

Posted by Rob | 12:13 a.m. GMT | 29 January 2008

28 January 2008

American Update - New section for Modern (post 1970's) Complete Sets by popular demand!

*Modern Comics Complete Sets: A brand new section, inaugurated for your comfort and convenience. Following the success of our ‘Complete Set/Year Initiative’ in other sections of the catalogue, we’ve come to realize that many of our cherished clientele are lazy buggers who can’t be bothered to track down individual issues of a series. So now, you won’t have to! We’re assembling complete series of modern comics (1970’s upwards) which are not normally listed on our website, to add yet another dimension to your shopping experience. This week’s listings include Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again and several other Batman minis, Fantastic Four Vs. The X-Men, Universe X, Infinite Crisis, the acclaimed Punisher mini-series from 1986, Paradise X, the much under-rated Body Doubles and many more. These modern series average VF/NM grade unless otherwise stated, and feature the talents of Joe Philips, Ed Brubaker, Howard Chaykin, Mark Waid, Barry Kitson, Alex Ross and a whole bunch of upstart newcomers, including someone called Joe Quesada – wonder if anything ever came of him? Best of all, many of these are offered at prices considerably less than buying the issues individually! Lots more to be added in future weeks, so if you feel like venturing beyond our regular vintage confines, keep watching this section. A heading for this new category can be found in the Catalogue Index at the end of the American section.

Posted by Rob | 09:04 p.m. GMT | 28 January 2008

22 January 2008

Complete Year/Set Initiative Kicks Into High Gear

Whew! We've got so much wonderful stuff arriving into stock this year that we're having to introduce extra website updates to keep up with it all, so you'll often find the site updated more than once a week! And what better way to kick off these 'extra' updates than with a massive boost for our Complete Year/Sets in both our British and American sections as follows:

Posted by Rob | 03:44 p.m. GMT | 22 January 2008

British Update - Complete Year Sets 1950's Adventure, Hotspur, Rover & Wizard

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: A veritable midnight feast of classic DC Thomson story-papers, the first batch in an enormous acquisition from the 1940's and 1950's which will be appearing in instalments on our website, both as Complete Years and as solo issues over the next few weeks. Re-live more innocent times, when the winner of ‘The Great Fag Contest’ only excelled at making tea and polishing shoes! This week, we offer Complete Years of Aventure 1953 (with muscle-man ‘Strang’, ‘Nick Swift of the Planet Patrol’, and cowboy adventurer ‘Solo Solomon’), Hotspur 1950 (with ‘Team of the Doomed’, ‘The Talking Desk’, and the confidence-inspiring ‘Squadron of the Blind’…), Rover 1953 (featuring ‘Morgyn the Mighty’, ‘The Clutching Hand’, and ‘It’s Runs that Count!’), and Wizard 1953 (starring ‘Limp-Along Leslie’ – who was still being recycled as recently as the 1980s in Buddy – ‘The Flying Porcupine’, and ‘The Year of the Shattered Stumps’…). Full details of all these in the appropriate section of the catalogue.

Posted by Rob | 03:40 p.m. GMT | 22 January 2008

American Update - Complete Sets of Marvel Horror & more!

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980's: Terrifying top-ups for DC’s Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion, Ghosts, Dell’s Ghost Stories, and Marvel’s Man-Thing, plus – breaking new ground in our Complete Set Initiative – complete sets of Giant-Size Dracula (with superb art from the Colan/Palmer duo), Tomb Of Darkness (classic reprints from Kirby, Ditko & Co.), Tower of Shadows (Marvel’s late-60’s answer to the House of Mystery revamp, with artwork by then-newcomers Steranko, Adams, Smith and Wrightson, among others), Supernatural Thrillers (adaptations of classic horror tales, rapidly segueing into the ongoing ‘Living Mummy’ series), and – if you’ve ever wanted a complete Giant-Size Man-Thing without the painful surgery – the extra-thick adventures of everybody’s favourite muck-monster, with art by Mike Ploog and including Howard the Duck’s early solos by Frank Brunner. All the details of these complete sets in the appropriate catalogue section.

Posted by Rob | 03:37 p.m. GMT | 22 January 2008

20 January 2008

British update - Marvel UK inc. Complete Set Titans, Tiger 1979/1980, Complete Year Eagle Volume 13 1962, Judy 1970-71

Another bumper fest of British goodies for you this week as follows:

*Marvel UK: Extensive additions to 1976’s Spider-Man Comics Weekly (during its landscape 'Super Spider-Man' phase), and the short-lived Super-Heroes, as well as – continuing our Complete Set Initiative – an entire run of landscape weekly The Titans, 58 issues featuring a diverse selection of the Inhumans, Sub-Mariner, Captain America, X-Men, Fantastic Four and the Avengers, among several others. Averaging VG/FN, the entire set will set you back £40 for a panoply of vintage Marvelmania!

*Boys' Adventure & War Comics: Our Complete Year Initiative continues with a full 52 issues of Eagle from 1962 (the entirety of Volume 13). This run averages GD-, with two issues having small coupons out. Issue #9’s coupon backs onto an advertisement, while issue #13’s slightly affects the ‘Sgt. Bruce. CID’ strip. Other than those defects, this attractive collection is clean and complete, most issues having a small number written unobtrusively in the upper left cover corner. 1962 was a year with top-notch talents; ‘Dan Dare’ was off the cover and no longer in colour, but still beautifully rendered in wash by Keith Watson, Brian Lewis illustrated ‘Mann of Battle’, and first ‘Montgomery of Alamein’ and then ‘Heros the Spartan’ are superbly rendered by Frank Bellamy. In addition, our marathon stroll through Tiger continues; working backwards, we hit the years 1979 and 1980, with most of the issues from those years available, including the Silver Jubilee issue in 1979, and the first Tiger & Speed combo in 1980, which added tragically disfigured racing driver ‘Death Wish’ and teenage stunt-biker ‘Topps On Two Wheels’ to a lineup already replete with long-running series ‘Johnny Cougar’, ‘Hot-Shot Hamish’, ‘Skid Solo’, and ‘Billy’s Boots’.

*Girls’ Comics and Picture Libraries: A triple treat of Judy from the years 1970 to 1971, previously severely under-represented in our archives; ‘Bobby Dazzler’ continues to outwit the puny males of Westbury School on the cover, while inside we find ‘Megan of the Magic Lantern’ (coal-mining orphans? It’s a classic!), tennis enslavement with ‘Chained To Her Racket’, the intrepid Sandra taking on not only the ‘Backstreet Ballerina’, but also ‘The Sultan’s Ballet’, and – hey! – ‘Wee Slavey In Paris.’! How can you resist?

As always, full details of all these (and all our other items) in the appropriate section of the website catalogue.

Posted by Rob | 09:54 a.m. GMT | 20 January 2008

American Update - DC esoterica: Golden Age Wonder Woman & Sensation, Maniaks, Binky, Strange Adventures, Sugar & Spike plus Sgt Fury and other War titles

*DC: A medley of esoterica from the 40’s to the 60's, with a low-grade but very affordable Sensation Comics #79, featuring Wonder Woman, Sargon the Sorceror, Wildcat, and, okay, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, science-fiction escapades with Strange Adventures from issue #105, a comedy update with Showcase issues of the Maniaks and Leave it To Binky, and a further selection of the very scarce Sugar & Spike, Sheldon Meyer’s masterwork. Topping the bill is Wonder Woman #13, from 1943, with the Amazing Amazon’s 'Adventures In Bitterland' (that’s bitter as in very cold, not as in the emotional state – though from the mind of William Moulton Marston, it could go either way!). Strangeness and charm aplenty this week – click on the link in the catalogue to see WW#13’s cover in all its glory!

*War: A gold-brickin’ chicken-scratchin’ battle-fest of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, from #5 through to #148. Lee! Kirby! Severin! Friedrich! Hitler! And an utterly sensitive, totally non-stereotypical portrayal of the token Brit, eh wot? ('The Limey. The tea-drinker. He was one!' – Stan Lee, 1992.) Plus a nice couple of issues of Our Army At War from DC and one or two other bits and pieces.

Posted by Rob | 09:34 a.m. GMT | 20 January 2008

13 January 2008

American Update - DC Silver/Bronze Round-Up, and 1940's/50's gems from Atlas, Timely, Comic Media, Fox and more!

A big American update this week, with lots of lovely stuff from the 1940's-1970's in the following categories:

*DC: Another Silver and Bronze sweep-through, renewing stock of popular titles such as Action, Adventure, Flash (from #114), JLA (from #15), Lois Lane, Sea Devils (from #4, including some gorgeous Russ Heath issues), Showcase, Superman Family, Wonder Woman and World’s Finest, plus short-run oddities Champion Sports, Karate Kid, Kung Fu Fighter, and Super-Team Family (and what does that last title *mean*, exactly?).

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Comic Media’s hard-boiled adventure series Dynamite, from #2, with art by the criminally underrated Pete Morisi; Atlas’ Jungle Tales (with Jann) and the debut issue of Lorna the Jungle Girl (who was the Jungle Queen for her earliest outings..); St. John’s Spectacular Adventures #2, with the Caniff-esque 'China Bombshell', a 'Slave Girl' story, and a striking painted cover; plus a very tasty Zoot Comics #13 from Fox, packed full of Rulah, Jungle Goddess. For a scan of the Zoot’s cover, check out the catalogue listing and click on the link!

*Horror 1940-1959: More issues of ACG’s Forbidden Worlds, a series with gorgeous Ogden Whitney covers (and frequently interior art) and stories that combine the spooky with the sweet and melancholy. For a contrast, we also have the decidedly un-sweet Horrific #8 and Weird Terror #1, from Comic Media, with lurid and powerful art from Don Heck. Don’t believe us? Check out the listing and click the link for a scan of Horrific #8’s cover!

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: Only one entry in this category this time, but it’s a classic; the first issue of the 1948 series of Timely’s Comedy Comics, with Millie the Model, Tessie the Typist, and a double scoop of Hedy of Hollywood. A plethora of pulchritude (and Harvey Kurtzman’s 'Hey, Look!' as a bonus) all for you! Check out the cover scan in the catalogue listing – you know what to do by now!

Stay tuned for ever-more American gems through 2008!

Posted by Rob | 06:09 p.m. GMT | 13 January 2008

British Update - Battle & Commando Picture Libraries

*Boys’ Adventure and War Picture Libraries: Battle and Commando take centre stage this time, with more than 200 new Battle listings, many starring feature characters Maddocks’ Marauders, Top Sergeant Ironside, and (after the title incorporated Air Ace Picture Library from #505) Battler Britton. An extensive variety from #376 to #824 added to our roster this time. A further 50+ issues of Commando, from the Pre-Decimal #356 to the early 2000’s are also newly listed.

Posted by Rob | 06:01 p.m. GMT | 13 January 2008

8 January 2008

British Update - Annuals, Scorcher (inc. complete year 1973), Bunty 1970 & Jackie

We kick off 2008 with another big update to our British stock as follows:

*Annuals: A plethora of comedy favourites updated, including the grand old men Beano and Dandy (1972 upwards), their stablemates Beezer and Topper (from 1970), plus Whizzer & Chips, Oink! and Viz. Also, we have the oddball but rare Buster Book of Thrills (listed in the Boys’ Adventure sub-section), featuring reprints from the 1950’s Knockout, Sun and Comet, and in film & TV related, the unusual combination of Elvis (no comics content, but a 1964 VF Special hardcover of stills, articles and filmography of The King’s career), the Sweeney, Dr. Who (from 1975) and Tarzan.

*Boys' Adventure & War Comics: Phew, what a Scorcher! The soccer-themed weekly is extensively topped up from 1972 to its final year, 1974, including the adventures of Lag’s Eleven, Billy’s Boots, the Roly-Poly Rovers, Nipper, and countless other frantic reinterpretations of the basic theme of 'They play football. In a comic.' (Still, it worked for Roy of the Rovers for nigh on 50 years…) Anyway, this expansion means that we can offer you not only the first and final issues of Scorcher, but many of those in between, including the continuation of our Complete Year Initiative with a complete set of 1973, 52 issues in average VG/FN, including the Christmas issue. Fill yer boots! (and if they’re magic boots that enable you to cheat your way to soccer stardom – so much the better!)

*Girls' Comics & Picture Libraries: We’re continuing our Girls’ Comics Bonanza with Bunty from 1970, virtually the entire year represented, in average of VG/FN grade; highlight of this year was 'Broncho Buttercup', the heart-warming equestrienne tale of a farm girl who was so poor that she couldn’t afford a horse, so she used one of the farm’s cows, and… ah, you can probably guess how the rest of it goes. Definitely one of the loopier ideas in the Bunty canon, and given the competition, that’s saying quite a lot! And from Big Girls to Bigger Girls: the oversized Jackie, the iconic mag which Bunty readers graduated to when they wanted to start reading about (hushed voice) bras and ‘ladyproblems’. Between the picture-strip romances, completely bogus advice about boys, fashion tips and pop pin-ups, Jackie delighted girls and occasional furtive boys for thirty years. Our update this week includes scores from the years 1976, 1977 and 1980, plus the very final issue from 1993, when after more than 1,500 issues, Jackie went into retirement. Got a problem with that? Don’t tell us – write to Cathy & Claire!

Posted by Rob | 09:42 a.m. GMT | 8 January 2008

American Update - Complete Sets from DC & Marvel

Our Complete Year Initiative, over in our British Comics section, has been such a success that we’re introducing a similar project in our American section, and launching a Complete Set Initiative on selected short-run titles, initially from the Big two as follows:

*DC: From the two-parters Brother Power the Geek and Man-Bat to a complete Kirby/Englehart 25-issue run of Mister Miracle! If you’ve always wanted to try these series, but couldn’t be arsed tracking down all the issues – we’ve done all the work for you! The full list this update: Complete Sets of Anthro (Caveman hijinx by Howie Post and Wally Wood), Brother Power The Geek (Joe Simon’s ‘Thing That Lives And Fights For Its Soul’ – who doesn’t?), Demon (Kirby’s Etrigan at his nastiest), Justice Inc. (pulp adventure from Kirby and McWilliams), Man-Bat (Ditko & Marcos), Mister Miracle (Kirby and Englehart runs), Omac (Kirby’s near-future dystopia – no, the other one…), Sandman (Simon, Kirby & Wood, not Neil Gaiman!), Secret Six (‘Mission Impossible’ – inspired spy thrills from the masterly E. Nelson Bridwell), Secret Society Of Super-Villains (get the backstory on this central group in the new DC Universe!), Shade the Changing Man (from Steve Ditko), and the Spectre (Anderson, Adams, and Grandenetti). Phew! And we’ve even reduced the Complete Set prices from our regular retail – just for you!

*Marvel: Complete Sets this update: we offer you feminist adventures with the Claws of the Cat, a lovely short-run 1970’s series by Linda Fite, Marie Severin, Wally Wood, Bill Everett and Paty Greer, among others. (the lady who would become Tigra didn’t have the same creative team for any two of her four-issue run!) There’s pulp fiction from Doc Savage, including his one and only Giant-Size issue; and currently pivotal in the Marvel universe with the Annihilation saga, the original Nova! All 25 issues of this Spider-Man inspired hero, with art by Buscema, Infantino, and others). Forget about the current Marvel Universe’s Initiative – ours is much more fun!

Full details of these sets in the appropriate sections of the catalogue and look for more Complete Sets as we progress through 2008!

Posted by Rob | 09:31 a.m. GMT | 8 January 2008