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Update Archives For April 2009

28 April 2009

American Update: DC 1940s-1960s inc. Flash #123 & other key issues, Marvel Bronze inc. Defenders #1, Pre & Post Code Horror

Lots more US gems in this weeks' update in the following categories:

*DC: A nice top-up to titles from the 40s, 50s and 60s, inc many classic issues: All-Star #31, Flash #123 (Flash Of Two Worlds), Green Lantern #4, Justice League Of America #4, Metal Men #2 & #3, Showcase #45 (Sgt Rock) & Tales Of The Unexpected #43 (1st Space Ranger cover). Plus DC Special Series, House Of Mystery, pre-distribution Jimmy Olsen & Mystery In Space. Scans of All-Star #31, Flash #123, Justice League #4 and Showcase #45 may be seen by following the links in the catalogue listing.

*Marvel: A small bronze-age batch of additions in lowish very affordable grades, focusing on the Defenders, with #1 and other early issues and the Defenders preludes from Sub-Mariner #34 & #35, but also featuring touch-ups to Avengers, Fantastic Four & early issues of What If.

*Horror 1940-1959: A nice (if one can use that word in this category) selection of new stock in affordable low-mid-grade, including Hand Of Fate from Ace, Pre-code Journey Into Mystery and Pre and Post code Marvel Tales from Atlas, and a title new to our listings from Stanmore, a trio of Mister Mystery, a series that really put the schlock into schlock horror.

Posted by Rob | 11:20 a.m. GMT | 28 April 2009

British Update: Alan Class, Humour titles inc Christmas & Free Gift issues and Girl 1962/63

Another sweep through some of our most popular sellers being refreshed with new stock this week as follows:

*Alan Class Reprints: A much needed refreshment to our Alan Class stock, with a few dozen new additions across all major titles, both pre and post decimal from both regular stock and Alan Class file copy certificated issues.

*Humour Comics & Picture Libraries: A big sweep through many traditionally favourite titles this week from the 1970s and 1980s and later, including Christmas and Free Gift issues. We have updates to: Beano, Beezer, Buzz, Cheeky, Cracker, Dandy, Jackpot, Knockout, Oink, Sparky, Whizzer & Chips and Whoopee (inc Best Of); in addition, there are new Free Gift issues of 1980s Buster, Dandy 2007/8 (inc 1st Xtreme issue), Krazy #2, & Nutty; plus a 1990s Viz Special. We always laugh ourselves sideways as we’re grading and listing these, so I’m sure it’s infectious!

*Girls’ Comics: ‘It’s Never Been Such Fun To Be A Girl!’ Our final visit to the classic Girl title from our recent haul. This time we focus on the years 1962/63 (the title ceased publication early in 1964). By this time the ‘jolly hockey stick’ years were truly over, and the comic featured strips and features aimed firmly at a teenage market, as evidenced by the mix of pop hunks and perky, pouty teenage models that adorned the photo covers. Most issues from 1962 (with a couple of free gift issues) and the first half of 1963 newly added to our listings; note that Girl changed to a smaller format in February 1963. Among the more entertaining cover headlines are: ‘Do Your Parents Approve of Make-Up?’ ‘Are You A Ton-Up Girl?’ and ‘Go Gay For Easter!’ Ah, what balmy days!

Posted by Rob | 11:05 a.m. GMT | 28 April 2009

19 April 2009

British Update: Sun 1954-1959, Buster 1960 from #4, yet more Schoolgirls' Own

Hundreds of true vintage gems this week in our British update:

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Hundresds of issues of Sun, from the years 1954-1959, have been added in this week. The Amalgamated Press weekly, which had a long and peculiar history (having started out as a naturist mag, ‘Fitness & Sun’, and having kept its wartime paper allocation despite considerably altering its content!), had by this time settled into a slender 16-page booklet of US comic-book dimensions. Its line-up, too, was remarkably consistent; Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp, Roy Rogers (at one point in 1957, it billed itself as ‘The Cowboy Sun’, to tie in with the Cowboy Picture Libraries), but also featuring some non-western adventurers: Happy Hussar, Robin Hood, Battler Britton, Dick Turpin, and, by way of comic relief, ‘The Terrible Three’ starring Tom Merry and his chums of St. Jim’s, who seem to have spent a lot of their time caning schoolmasters. Sound training for future positions in Parliament, then. In 1958, a bit of a rebranding was attempted, with Knockout-émigrés ‘Deed A Day Danny’ and ‘Stonehenge Kit the Ancient Brit’ upping the comedy quotient, some decent new series including a reasonably sound adaptation of ERB’s ‘John Carter of Mars’, and ‘Battler Britton’ usurping the cover, which was now black, white & red rather than full colour. This look didn’t grab fans of either the old faux-US format or the traditional British weekly, and with the issue dated October 17th 1959 (included in this update!), it was time for the dreaded banner of ‘Great News, Chums!’ as ‘Billy the Kid’ and ‘Battler Britton’ moved into Lion. This run averages a pretty consistent VG, with very few dipping below that standard.

*Humour Comics: We’re very pleased to offer seven first-year-of-publication Busters, beginning with the fourth issue, 18th June 1960. When launched, Buster was a large-format weekly, similar in dimensions to Eagle, with at least 50% adventure strips – despite its comedy frontage, it hadn’t quite decided which way to go, and indeed it always kept a sizeable adventure quotient up until the late 1970’s. The lead feature, of course, was billed in the first year as ‘Buster - Son Of Andy Capp’, a tie-in with the Daily Mirror newspaper strip by Reg Smythe. This raised a few questions with the readership – most notably that Andy and his long-suffering spouse Flo, in the strip, never had any kids, and also that Buster’s Mum looked nothing like Flo, leading indignant parents to conjecture that Buster was, in fact, the son of one of Andy’s ‘fancy pieces’! The ‘Son Of Andy Capp’ subtitle was dropped soon thereafter. Other highlights of this early year include ‘Dick Terrapin the Turtle Boy, and Myrtle His Turtle’, ‘Warlord of the Sioux’, ‘Johnny All-Alone, Orphan In Outer Space’, Sexton-Blake-alike ‘Maxwell Hawke’, and ‘Cocky Doodle’, the misadventures of an overconfident rooster. (Why, what did you think it meant?) A photo of #4’s cover may be seen in our cover gallery – I shouldn’t have to tell you what to do by now, should I?

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Our comprehensive Schoolgirls’ Own Library restock concludes, for the time being, with issues ranging from #350 up. In addition to the regular Queenscourt Co-Eds and Trixie’s Diary, we see the debut of new recurring stars Babs Bright, Wendy of Bramvale College, and Nurse Anne Arnold, as well as one-offs such as ‘The Green Colleen’, ‘Pop-Singing School-Master’, ‘Gwen – The Wren’, ‘Schoolgirl In Command’, (steady, boys; don’t go there…) and a single-but-dazzling ‘Mam’selle X’, belle of the French Resistance (who seems to have frequented the same couturier as DC’s ‘Mam’selle Marie’ – still, you can’t expect too much chic in wartime…) That’s it for now, but with any luck we’ll be back on the hockey pitch before you know it!

Posted by Rob | 11:39 p.m. GMT | 19 April 2009

American Update: Golden/Silver Age Detective Comics plus Magazines

This week's incoming American stock features the following:

*DC: A deadly half-dozen of Detective Comics from 1947-1959, all pre-distribution issues. Backstopped by, at various times, Pow-Wow Smith, Air Wave, the Boy Commandos, Roy Raymond, and of course the Martian Manhunter, the stars of the show were Batman & Robin, who over the course of these issues face hi-tech threats (‘The Satellite From Gotham City!’), weird bodily transformations (‘The Giant Batman!’), inversions of law-abiding institutions (‘The Underworld Crime Committee!’), pretenders to their crimefighting throne, (‘The Second Batman And Robin team’, ‘Batman’s Armoured Rival’), and of course various costumed crooks (#123 sees the debut of The Shiner, whose costume is a canary-yellow Klan hood with fetching white polka dots; his USP is that he steals radium – which he carries around in his pockets! Bafflingly, #123 is also the *last* appearance of the Shiner…). Scans of all six may be seen on our Cover Gallery Feature – click on the catalogue link and ogle away!

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: New issues of the Marvel Mad-imitator Crazy grace our listings this time, along with a hefty run of Savage Sword of Conan from #5 onwards, and touch-ups to our stocks of Tales of the Zombie and Marvel Graphic Novel – the original series, back when it meant something other than a bunch of reprinted comics slapped together. Warren is represented by additional Creepy listings, and Skywald by early Nightmare. In addition, we have two debut issues from the late 1970’s, Chilling Tales of Horror, and Shock, which were issued by the UK’s Portman Publishing and reprinted z-list Pre-Code horror stories which aimed more for gore than finesse. Must be seen to be deplored.

Posted by Rob | 09:51 p.m. GMT | 19 April 2009

Cover Gallery Update

Cover Gallery Update: Another step in our objective to get images of all our more noteworthy stock onto the website, as time permits; this week, time has only permitted three new scans, but they’re good ‘uns – All-American #56, starring Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite, and the Atom; and two classic adventures of the Justice Society of America in All-Star Comics, #18 & #49. Go to the DC catalogue & give ‘em a click!

Posted by Rob | 09:46 p.m. GMT | 19 April 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 files in our British section:

*Marvel UK
*Power Comics

As of the time of writing, these categories are bang up to date with every item listed available, so you may order with confidence! More soon!

Posted by Rob | 09:22 a.m. GMT | 19 April 2009

12 April 2009

American Update: Marvel Silver/Bronze, Fiction House 40s/50s, high grade 70s DC & Gold Key Horror/Mystery, US & UK Classics Illustrated, UK & US Mad

A huge update to our American stocks this week in the following categories:

*Marvel: A long-overdue Silver/Bronze sweep takes us through Amazing Adventures – both the Beast and Killraven years – Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Defenders, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Jungle Action, Logan’s Run, Marvel Classics Comics, Marvel Premiere, Ms. Marvel, and the sensational second Spider-Man Annual, for a panoply of entertainment from the House of Ideas.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: It’s a fabulous Fiction House update, with new stock for Jumbo - including one very attractive Matt Baker cover – Planet, Sheena, and Wings, for a heady combination of sci-fi, jungle adventure, aviation action, laughs and thrills. Artists represented in this selection include the aforementioned Baker, Lily Renee, Maurice Whitman, Bill Benulis, Fran Hopper and more, for some of the most sumptuously-illustrated series of the Golden Age. Scans of Planet #72 and Sheena #15 can be seen in our Cover Gallery feature – as before, click on the relevant links in the catalogue.

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980’s: We’re very pleased to have acquired a high-grade selection of scarce 1970’s titles in this category; from DC, we have Ghosts, beginning with a stunning #2 from 1971, and featuring several others in the first twenty issues, with Nick Cardy covers on all. The first five issues were in DC’s 52-Page Giant format, and all are in a remarkable state of preservation. From the same collection, Gold Key brings us Grimm’s Ghost Stories, The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor, and Spine-Tingling Tales. The anthology title Grimm’s Ghost Stories ran sixty issues from 1972 to 1982, and featured, among others, Williamson, McWilliams, Bolle and Spiegle illustrating tales of tension narrated by our ambiguously-gendered host. Our run commences with #3, through to the final issue. The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor was a moderately successful attempt at a series character. Supernatural investigator Adam Spektor and his shapely companion Lakota Rainflower fought Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, Jekyll and Hyde, zombies, and many other eldritch threats, managing along the way to briefly revive the careers of old super-heroes Dr. Solar and the Owl. We have most, though sadly not all, of the series, from 1973’s #1 to 1982’s #25, the last one published. (Both Dr. Spektor #25 and Grimm’s Ghost Stories 60 were among the last comics Gold Key/Whitman published – but try not to hold that against them!) In addition, Dr. Spektor had his own short-lived spin-off, Spine-Tingling Tales, in which he guest-hosted anthology stories. All four 1975/6 issues, the complete series, are included in this update. Every comic mentioned in this section of our ‘What’s New’ this week is at least a FN+, with the majority being VF/NM and several NM’s. As those of you familiar with us will know, Near Mint is not a grade we carelessly award, so be assured this acquisition is of exceptional quality. Scans of the covers of Ghosts #2 and #5 and Occult Files of Doctor Spektor #1 may be seen in our Cover Gallery – click on the link in the catalogue listing.

*Classics Illustrated: New stock for both the US and UK versions of the popular series, with Hunchback of Notre Dame, Invisible Man, Julius Caesar, and From The Earth To The Moon, among others, re-stocked. We also have a new Classics Illustrated Junior – Puss in Boots – and the rare UK spin-off Classics Illustrated Super-Deluxe, featuring |Mysteries by Edgar Allen Poe.

*Mad: Mad’s UK version gets a boost this time, with close to 300 issues added to our stock, including many Super Specials, Artists Specials, and various other ‘Thick ‘Uns’; launched in the late 1950’s, the UK series repackaged material from the American version, but often included original, UK- generated covers and, more frequently as the decades went on, UK-created strips as well. This selection runs from 1973 to 1992, and includes, among the reprints, original first-run parodies of the British TV shows Coronation Street, Eastenders, Dr. Who, The Professionals, That’s Life! and The Generation Game (oh, ask your Mums, youngsters, I can’t explain everything…) This assortment also includes a smaller range of US Mad, and even a token issue from its Australian version – who knew?

Posted by Rob | 10:35 a.m. GMT | 12 April 2009

British Update: Complete Year Sets of Battle, Victor & Warlord, Girls' Crystal 1958, more Schoolgirls' Own

Another chunky selection of Britsih goodies for you this week as follows:

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Complete Year Sets of Battle (1984 & 1985), Victor (1983-1985) and Warlord (1984-1986) have now been added to our inventory. Battle, at this time, was masquerading as ‘Battle/Action’Force’, tying in with the popular toy franchise that was the UK rebrand of the American ‘GI Joe’ relaunch. In addition to the valiant defence of our freedoms by plucky plastic figures, the weekly also continued all its old hit series like ‘Charley’s War’, ‘Johnny Red’, and ‘The Sarge’. Warlord was a long-running title from Dundee’s DC Thomson, mainly revolving around the titular spy hero, but backed up by, among others, ‘Big Willi’, ‘Waggers On The Frontier’, and ‘Pawnee Patrol’, all of which are much less saucy than they sound. A veering away from regular war to future war in its latter years didn’t save it, however, and 1986 saw its final issue, with ‘Code-Name: Warlord’ and ‘Union-Jack Jackson’ marching off into the pages of Victor. Victor itself was a long-term survivor, lasting thirty years from 1961, and the mid-Eighties range here includes the first amalgamation with Buddy in 1983, and the absorption of Champ in 1985. ‘Tough of the Track’ Alf Tupper and strongman ‘Morgyn the Mighty’ were mainstays for most of its run, but the title flirted in the Eighties with some variety in its war/sports themes, including ‘Boomerang Boy’, ‘Cadman, Fighting Coward’, and mind-bogglingly, ‘The Potterton Pansies’. All of this enabled it to continue, after the 1986 absorption of Warlord, as the last surviving ‘traditional’ boys’ adventure comic until its 1991 demise left the field to 2000 AD and its subsidiaries.

*Girls’ Comics: Our substantial Girls’ Crystal influx continues through the year 1958, with ‘Allies of the Girl Stowaway’ being succeeded on the cover by ‘Pat’s Tyrolean Pen-Friend’, while the interior line-up features Silent-Three tribute band ‘The Phantom Circle’, ‘The Invisible Japer’, ‘Judy of Moose Park’, ‘Her Strange Quest in the Ballet’, and ‘House of Secrets’. Most of the year is present, averaging GD/VG.

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: Our mammoth Schoolgirls’ Own Library update continues with issues from the #250-#310 number range. Regular series stars Trixie’s Diary, the Co-Eds, the Manorcliff girls, and the Queenscourt crew crop up frequently, as well as a succession of ballerinas, impostor sports mistresses, wonder dogs, fashion models, and mysterious masked maidens – burglarette ‘Elaine the Elusive’ and ‘The Mystery Girl of Study 13’ being among the latter category. More to come – keep watching the website!

Posted by Rob | 10:26 a.m. GMT | 12 April 2009

Housekeeping Update

*Mad

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 | 10:20 a.m. GMT | 12 April 2009

11 April 2009

Postage and packing charges

Reluctantly, we must announce an increase in our standard UK postage and packing charges this week, following the latest price rises by the Post Office. We always try to keep these charges down to a reasonable level, and indeed we absorbed the previous Post Office increase without raising our charges, but the increase this time is significant, and the cost of packing materials has also gone up considerably over the last couple of years.

The new rates for UK postage are shown on our 'How To Order' page. Outside the UK, each package is weighed individually and charged at postage + materials cost. As always, orders over £50 are sent insured (but insurance is also available for lower amounts if requested).

Of course, our shop is open 7 days a week and orders can always be collected to save on p&p!

Posted by Rob | 08:33 a.m. GMT | 11 April 2009

5 April 2009

British Update: Complete Sets of Champ & Spike, Girl 1960-1961 (with free gifts), School Friend 1959-1960 (with the Silent Three), more Schoolgirls' Own

Another big dollop of goodies heading your way this week in our British Update:

*Boys’ Adventure And War Comics: A Complete Set Update, with Spike and Champ. These two Eighties adventure titles, together with Buddy, were DC Thomson’s determined-but-doomed attempt to relaunch the boy’s adventure genre. Spike, slightly the elder, brought us a revamp of enigmatic ‘Wilson’, who’d been the mystery man of athletics since 1922 in various Thomson story papers, as well as roughneck soccer star ‘Iron Barr’ ‘Limp-Along Leslie’ (a comparative stripling, having debuted in the Forties) comprehensive school kids ‘The Bleak Street Bunch’, and ‘Ticker Tait – the Man with A Time Bomb In His Heart’. Sadly, this team-up of hyperbole and nostalgia, though quite well done, didn’t catch on, and Spike, having previously absorbed Buddy, merged into its younger brother Champ, with ‘Iron Barr’ being drafted into the line-up of Champ’s soccer-strip, ‘We Are United’. Other stars of Champ were 'The Sinister World Of Mr. Pendragon' (spooky stories related by a Phantom Stranger wannabe) and 'Mike’s Mi££ions', story of a boy tycoon, but the streetwise Champ, in turn, merged into the venerable Victor after less than two years, leaving the boys’ adventure field almost entirely to 2000 AD and its numerous spin-offs. Complete runs of both Champ (1984-1985, 87 issues), and Spike (1983-1984, 67 issues) are available, in decent mid-grades, with some genuine attempts to vary and innovate in the usual war/sport/crime trinity of the field..

*Girls’ Comics: Calling the Silent Three! Yes, Peggy, Joan and Betty are back in action as the shrouded guardians of boarding-school society, as we kick off with 1959’s 'The Silent Three At Clock House School' story arc (as they’d call it these days). School Friend’s publication hiccupped in 1959, but as far as we can determine, the last scheduled issue was June 29th, then it recommenced with two undated issues (the second identified only as ‘A’), and was dated again from the 29th August. We have them from the undated ‘relaunch’, including all 18 consecutive issues of the 'Clock House' story. Following that, we continue 1959 with 'The Phantom Ballerina' headlining, backed up by 'Tracy, Teenage Fashion Model', 'Trudie On Television', and, moving into 1960, 'The Gay Princess'. The latter strip stars lively Princess Lola of San Serano, who appears to rule by virtue of being the only red-headed Caucasian among her Latino people. Must be some pretty wacky recessives in the gene pool on that island… Tiring of idleness, she seeks adventure among the common people, all of whom spectacularly fail to associate ‘Carrot-Top’ with the only red-headed Caucasian in San Serano! Observation not a national priority, then… We also continue our massive influx of Girl weekly with the years 1960 and 1961, as student nurse 'Susan Of St. Brides' does little more taxing than fetching wool and arranging flowers for her undemanding charges. However, in November 1961, Susan was abruptly ousted and replaced with the zappier 'Calling Nurse Abbott!', a TV-inspired, less genteel take on the nursing schtick. Girl also embraced photo-covers of ‘celebs’ at that time, so if you’re looking for badly-reproduced pics of Elvis, Eden Kane and Helen Shapiro, look no further. This was the tipping point for Girl, as substantial rebranding loomed – but we’ll save that drama for a future instalment! This selection includes several ‘Free Gift/Supplement’ issues, including 'Here’s Fun With Milk' – can you stand the pace?

*Girls’ Picture Libraries: For the second successive week, we top-up with a digest library that isn’t pictures, but is popular nonetheless; Schoolgirls’ Own, the long-running text story series. This range runs from between numbers 300 and 350, and includes series stars 'Trixie’s Diary', 'Kitty and the Co-Eds', 'Ken and Joyce', and – yoiks! – 'The Silent Three'! Other highlights from this run include 'The Spectral Skiers', 'Three Make A Vow', with the secret origin of the Hooded Helpers, 'Beryl At The Boys’ School', 'Bette’s Spooky Brainwave', and 'The Girl Who Rocked Manorcliff'. In addition to being a slice of history, and of pop-culture perception of ‘suitable’ role-models for girls, these stories are cracking reads in their own right – try a couple and see for yourself!

Posted by Rob | 11:44 a.m. GMT | 5 April 2009

American Update: Adventure Comics from 4 decades!

Just one DC title in this week's new American stock, but spread mightily from the 1940s-1970s!

*DC: Stand by for Adventure! The venerable DC super-hero anthology is recharged with new stock from four decades: the Golden Age # 67, spotlighting Starman, Hourman, Sandman, the Shining Knight, and a host of other vintage features; a wave of Superboy-led issues from the 1950’s (although with the emphasis placed on Krypto the Super-Dog on many covers, one could be forgiven for thinking Krypto was the star – that’s not a complaint, mind); 1960’s issues featuring Superboy and the early days of the Legion of Super-Heroes; and Supergirl’s ‘Bondage & Hot Pants’ hijinx from the early 1970’s! Scans of Adventure #67, #217, #259 and #263 covers may be viewed in our Cover Gallery feature – click on the links in the catalogue page.

Posted by Rob | 11:36 a.m. GMT | 5 April 2009