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Update Archives For August 2008

31 August 2008

British Update: Smash, Hotspur, Hornet, Wizard, Victor & Lion Summer Specials, Look-In & Tops, Buster 1974-75, Jackpot, Whizzer & Chips, Nutty, Whoopee, Wow, early Girls' Picture Libraries and latest issues of Spaceship Away and Crikey!

Wow (or Whoopee if you prefer)! We've pulled out all the stops this week to bring you another huge selection of British goodies right across the board as follows:

*Power Comics: We focus on Smash this time, from the latter days of its numbered, Power Comics run through its transitional phase, in 1969-1971, to a Valiant-clone when the company was bought out by Fleetway/IPC several of the Power Comics strips survived the transition, however – Sgt. Rock, the Swots and the Blots – and they were rapidly joined by new series such as escapologist/adventurer Janus Stark, mystery man Cursitor Doom, super-hero Tri-Man, and supernatural investigator Simon Test, to make for a cracking read. This update contains more than 100 issues, in varying grades, ranging through to the final issue (3/4/71), where Simon test, His Sporting Lordship, Janus Stark and the Swots & Blots moved over to Valiant, and the last vestige of the Power Comics empire was laid to rest.

*Boys’ Adventure and War Comics: An unfeasible amount of Hotspur graces our stock this week, beginning with #56 in 1960, when it was still ‘New’ Hotspur, and concluding with #1108 from 1981, just two short of the series’ very final issue. This range of 200+ issues concentrates mainly on the latter days of the run, when the super-heroic King Cobra and the next-generation adventurer ‘Son of the Big Palooka’ reigned supreme. We’ve also got Hornet from #21 (1964) to #590 (1974), Wizard’s second series from 1970 and 1971, Victor Summer Special 1971, Lion Summer Specials from 1970 and 1971, and a selection of Antipodean imports, among them Edgar Wallace Comics and the first two issues of Steel Barr and the Phantom Man!

*TV Related Comics: Our spanking-new section gets an early recharge, with more Look-In (this time from the early 1980’s), and a short-lived series called Tops, which we hadn’t heard of before, but turns out to have a pleasing mix of TV-inspired strips (a rather good ‘Professionals’ story), and original material.

*Humour Comics and Picture Libraries: Our Bumper Buster Bonanza continues, with 1974 and 1975, years which saw the amalgam with the fallen Cor!, bringing more humour to the comedy/adventure balance that had been Buster’s balance, plus new continuing drama 'Marney the Fox', in which a lonely fox cub suffers appalling cruelty as he flees from ‘hated man’. It’s a tearjerker, really. But we don’t stop there! We have Jackpot including the final issue, Whizzer & Chips including Christmas issues, Nutty from 1980’s, a whole wad of Whoopee from the early 1980’s, and a lot of the short-lived Fleetway series Wow, which featured some of the more bizarre and grotesque concepts, such as 'Spare-Part Kit' (prosthetic limbs enable a lad and his dad to flee to freedom in England!) and 'The Family Trees' (they’re a family. And they’re trees. No, that’s it for your high concept), as well as some more inventive material such as 'Shipwreck School' . A little over a year after its debut, Wow merged into Whoopee, but it remains a showcase for some of the wackier synaptic misfires in the comics world.

*Girls’ Comics and Picture Libraries; An astonishing array of dozens of early Picture Libraries, many in FN or better, from titles such as Bunty, Judy, June & School Friend, Princess, and Schoolgirls, featuring popular characters like Sue Day, Zanna the Jungle Girl, Sandra of the Secret Ballet, and Mamzelle X of the Resistance. Who are 'The Slaves of Happy Valley'? What’s the deal with 'Shari and the Snake People'? And why precisely is it that 'Nobody Wants Nina'? You’ll never know – unless you cough up and find out!

*Magazines And Books About Vintage UK Comics: Two more issues each of the labours-of-love magazines Spaceship Away and Crikey. Spaceship Away, now at its 15th issue, is devoted to the original incarnation of Dan Dare, plus his imitators and rivals, and in addition to lovingly-crafted new adventures in the classic style, features a plethora of recollections, retrospectives and reminiscences from the surviving creators. Crikey has a wider remit, dealing with the entire field of British comics, and the current issue, #6, is a DC Thomson special, focusing on the company which gave us (and is still giving us) the Beano, Dandy, and Commando, plus countless other titles over the last 80-odd years.

Posted by Rob | 12:48 p.m. GMT | 31 August 2008

American Update: Complete Sets DC & Marvel, Harvey Humour, Charlton & DC Horror, War, Spirit & Modern Complete Sets

A wide range of new American stock this week, exploring some of the neglected corners of our range as follows:

*DC: Continuing our Complete Set Initiative, we have an excellent collection of Jack Kirby’s New Gods, the groundbreaking series which pioneered his Fourth World epic, a backdrop which has been an integral part of the DC universe since its inception. The original series only ran 11 issues, but we have also included all the revival issues from the mid-1970’s, by talents such as Don Newton, which are flawed but interesting sidebars to the main event. This collection averages VG/FN, with an attractive FN #1, and is on offer at £80. Plus, a new experiment: the Complete Series Set! From House of Mystery in the 1960’s, the entire run of #156-173, which introduced 'Dial H For Hero' to a bewildered world! The story of young Robby Reed, whose discovery of an alien artefact enables him to ‘Dial up’ a new super-identity every time crises occur (and they occur with surprising regularity in his sleepy country town), ‘Dial H’ encompassed some of the more outlandish concepts in the field of super-heroics, requiring as it did a desperate turnover of new characters every issue. King Kandy? Mighty Moppet? The Human Starfish? Whoozis, Wotsis and Howzis? They’re all here, and dozens more, to bewilder and baffle you. Drawn by Jim Mooney, these stories have a bucolic charm that belies their off-kilter origin, and remain a truly unique reading experience.

*Marvel: Our Complete Set Initiative rolls on, with two of the more experimental titles of the 1970s: the 12-issue run of Marvel Presents, which introduced Bloodstone to the world, but is perhaps best remembered these days for Steve Gerber’s outrageous and satirical take on the Guardians of the Galaxy. Averaging VG, the entire series is available for £15. We also have Warlock, the controversial ‘messianic’ hero created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in 1972, and revived to great effect by Jim Starlin in 1975. The 15-issue series averages Fine grade, (VG on #1) for £75. Both these complete sets include several non-distributed issues, which were the bane of comic collectors in the Sizzlin’ Seventies.

*Harvey: We pay another visit to the land of the Friendly Ghost, and top up such esoteric but keenly-sought series as Baby Huey & Papa, Casper, Richie Rich Digest Magazine, Spooky Spooktown, Sad Sack & The Sarge, and – I kid you not – Little Dot’s Uncles and Aunts! (One in the eye for the Man of Steel, eh? Having your ‘Girlfriend’ or ‘Pal’ in their own series is one thing, but spinning off your uncles and aunts into their ongoing title? Now that’s selling power!)

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1979: A collection of Charlton and just a dash of DC – titles refreshed include Beyond the Grave, Haunted (from #1, an all-new all-Ditko issue with a very striking cover), Monster Hunters, Scary Tales (from #1, with the origin of the lovely but lethal Countess Von Bludd), Unexpected and Weird Mystery Tales.

*War: Another run through the gruelling world of men in combat, (Hm… did they ever do a title, ‘Men In Combat’?) with titles ranging from the Fifties pre-Code War Battles (Harvey) and War Comics (Atlas), Marvels’ Sgt. Fury (including the rare #13, guest-starring Captain America and Bucky), and DC’s GI Combat, Men of War, Our Army At War, Star-Spangled War Stories, Unknown Soldier, and Weird War Tales.

*Spirit: More than 30 issues of Kitchen Sink’s lovingly-crafted reprints of Will Eisner’s famous crime-fighter, from #17 to #71, averaging VF/NM condition. Also, new listings for the DC Spirit Archives series.

*Modern Comics Complete Sets: A wealth of material here, with more than thirty new sets in our inventory: highlights include Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the complete set of Amalgam Comics, all 125 issues of Marvel’s Excalibur, Spider-Man 2099, X-Men 2099, X-Men The Hidden Years by John Byrne, Angel, Buffy, Green Lantern: Rebirth, Hulk: Future Imperfect, Knights of Pendragon, Replacement God, Xena Warrior Princess, Tokyo Storm Warning, and more.

Posted by Rob | 12:37 p.m. GMT | 31 August 2008

24 August 2008

British Update: Great News Chums! New section for all your favourite TV related titles! Bumper bundle of Look-In new in!

We are delighted this week to present the latest addition to the British comics section of our catalogue: TV Related Comics. This section will feature comics predominately dedicated to strips featuring TV shows (and, where appropriate, radio and film). We've taken all the relevant titles from our Boys' Adventure & Humour sections and relocated them into this new section where you'll now find Countdown & TV Action, Film & Radio Fun, Mickey Mouse Weekly, TV Century 21, TV Tornado, TV Comic and many more. And what better way to kick off this new section than as follows:
*TV Related Comics: Look out for Look-In! Originally scheduled to be called Magpie, after the TV show, a last-minute name change gave the ‘Junior TV Times’ a wider remit than its original ‘edutainment’ brief, and allowed for the inclusion of some memorable comic strips over the years, including Timeslip and Follyfoot by Mike Noble, Catweazle, Kung Fu by Martin Asbury, and the Tomorrow People by John Burns in this selection from 1971 (the first year of publication) to 1974. Owing to the frequent inclusion of pop pin-ups (particularly after the first year), Look-Ins in unmutilated condition are very scarce, and this 100+ range is checked and all issues intact (albeit in a very few instances with loose centre pages). Frequent cover-features include On the Buses, Magpie, the Freewheelers, sundry Osmonds, more David Cassidy than you can shake a stick at, and, in an unexpected burst of topicality, Gary Glitter. Never mind. From the second ever issue, this attractive assortment averages VG/FN, and we anticipate these genuine rarities to move swiftly.

Posted by Rob | 03:52 p.m. GMT | 24 August 2008

British Update: early Alan Class, Annuals, huge Picture Library update inc War At Sea, Buster

Yet another enormous influx of stock this week across the following categories:

*Alan Class Reprints: New listings for several of the Alan Class titles, including Outer Space (from #1), Uncanny Tales (from #1 – featured in our Cover Gallery, follow the link from the catalogue page), and a splendid range of the first series of sci-fi title Out of this World, commencing with the second issue and running through to #23. We also have additional copies of the scarce one-shots, Astonishing Stories and Eerie Tales.

*Annuals: Additions to many popular titles, with new stock for Boys’ World, Ranger (including the Trigan Empire and TV’s Danger Man), Roy of the Rovers, the first Look-In Annual from 1971, Scorcher, Diana, June, Judy, Princess Tina, and Tammy.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries; A superlative selection of war and adventure digest this week, including lots of pre-decimal war: Air Ace (from #3), Battle, Commando, and, er, War, plus a substantial batch of War At Sea, lacking only #3 and the final six of the 36-issue run. We also have the scarcer Valiant, Lion and Buster Adventure Libraries, Super-Detective, and a bunch of extra-thick ones: Fleetway Super Library starring the Spider, Secret Agent Holiday Special, and Space Holiday Special. This section has also been completely updated, with all stock checked and present at the time of writing – for a narrow window of time, order with confidence!

*Humour Comics and Picture Libraries: Our Big Buster Bonanza rolls on, with close to 200 incoming issues from 1971 to 1973, including the merger with the short-lived Jet, which brought the bonkers-but-brilliant 'Von Hoffman’s Invasion' (mad scientist tries to take over England with giant budgies and bunnyrabbits) to the line-up, as well as soccer antics with the 'Sludgemouth Sloggers', Ken Reid’s legendary 'Faceache', and the inexplicable 'Kids of Stalag 41'. Elsewhere in this period, 'Zarga, Man of Mystery', 'Pete’s Pocket Army', and Leo Baxendale’s 'Clever Dick' and 'Nellyphant' were significant additions to the series. Averaging VG/FN, this appealing range greatly enhances our stock of one of the UK’s best adventure/humour ‘hybrids’, with many more to come in future updates.

Posted by Rob | 03:40 p.m. GMT | 24 August 2008

17 August 2008

American Update: DC Gold/Silver inc. Sensation Comics, Misc Pubs. 1960s-1980s inc. Atlas Seaboard, Miracleman & more, Tarzan/ERB & Modern Complete Sets

A huge American update this week across the following categories:

*DC: Two gorgeous 1940’s Sensation Comics issues, home to Wonder Woman, Wildcat, Mr. Terrific and Sargon the Sorcerer (and okay, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, but not everyone’s a winner!), in attractive mid-grades; the Princess of Paradise Island’s wacky adventures (and with 1940’s WW, that’s often a double-edged adjective…) always sell briskly, so swift ordering is advised. Among our other treasures this week, a nice run of Silver Age Atom from #1, Inferior Five #1, My Greatest Adventure #81 with the second appearance of the Doom Patrol, and top-ups to Brave & Bold, Flash and Rip Hunter, Time Master. Scans of the two Sensation issues can be seen in our Cover Gallery – follow the link in the catalogue.

*Miscellaneous, 1960-1980s: Well, they don’t come much more ‘miscellaneous’ than this week’s listing! A selection of Atlas/Seaboard, the 1970’s company set up to rival Marvel, which was crowded off the stands by a rare Marvel/DC détente before any of its titles could take a hold. With some top-notch creators and genuinely offbeat concepts, the Atlas/Seaboard ‘failed experiment’ is often worth a look. Titles updated include Brute, Demon hunter, Grim Ghost, Hands of the Dragon, Morlock 2001, Phoenix, Planet of the Vampires, Scorpion and Tales of Evil. In addition, we have new entries for the Eclipse repackaging of Alan Moore’s acclaimed Miracleman, ACG’s Herbie, Fitzgerlad’s bizarre 1970’s ‘Blaxploitation Archie’ title Fast Willie Jackson, Fawcett’s Dennis the Menace, and Christmas Cheer! Top that for offbeat…

*Tarzan/ERB: A superlative selection of DC’s Tarzan, largely ND in the UK, with gorgeous art by Kubert, Heath and Redondo. This two dozen-plus update includes many high-grade issues and a couple of the scarce 100-Page Super-Spectaculars. We also have added Gold Key’s John Carter of Mars #1, Gold Key Tarzan, and 1970’s Top Sellers Korak and Tarzan.

*Modern Comics – Complete Sets: A cornucopia of complete sets this week, with mainstream Marvel and DC (the Infinity Gauntlet/War/Crusade trilogy, Loki, Hulk; Gray, Robin I, II & III), indy hot creators like the Hernandez Bros, Andi Watson and Peter Bagge (The Bradleys, Love Fights, Whoa Nellie!, New Love, Slow News Day, Girl Crazy) and ‘mainstream indies’ (Aliens/Predator, Spawn minis, Shi, and a whole big bunch o’ Lady Death!).

Posted by Rob | 03:38 p.m. GMT | 17 August 2008

British Update: Victor (inc. 1st year issues & Summer Specials), Buster, Shiver & Shake, Tammy

Another great batch of favourites this week as follows:

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Victor from the first year of publication, 1961 (lucky #13), through to 1980 (Blimey, who knew World War II could go on that long?), with 100+ issues added to our stock, and more scarce Victor Summer Specials from the 1970’s. We also have Warlord from 1978, including the first Victor & Bullet combo issue! Most importantly, this entire section has been overhauled and revised, and is now completely up to date, so order with confidence!

*Humour Comics and Picture Libraries: Our Big Buster Bonanza launches this week, extensively restocking the juggernaut of the IPC/Fleetway comedy line, which racked up 2,000+ issues between 1960 and the year 2000, just about (depending how you define it) scraping into the 21st century. We commence in 1966, and add 160+ issues through to the close of 1970, taking in the amalgam with Giggle. Giggle was a short-lived and, frankly, (sorry, Giggle-fans) rubbish title, so rather than dilute Busters’ lineup, the editors only took on token Giggle alumni (notably ‘Patch-Eye Hooker’ – a pirate, not a lady of negotiable virtue), and created new strips owing their ‘DNA’ to neither ‘parent’. ‘Fishboy”, ‘Mickey Marvel’s Multi-Gun’, TV comedian ‘Freddie ‘Parrot-Face’ Davies’ and Leo Baxendale’s woefully underregarded ‘Mervyn’s Monsters’ all made their debut in the first Buster & Giggle issue. This new blood, and reworking two established strips (Victorian rogue ‘Charlie Peace’ got timewarped to the swinging sixties, and our cover-hero became narcoleptic in ‘Buster’s Dream World’), gave Buster a very successful makeover out of the Merger That Wasn’t. We also have 20+ copies of the fast-selling Shiver & Shake, a title that was a flop on its debut, lasting 83 issues before merging with Whoopee! in 1974, but has become hugely collectible since.. A ‘split’ comic a la Whizzer & Chips, each section had a different host (a ghost and a school-uniform-bedecked elephant, respectively – because those two concepts go so naturally together…), but the rivalry that catalysed W&C was never a factor here, and the show was rapidly stolen by Wham-import Frankie Stein, and enfant terrible Sweeney Toddler, both of whom went on to much longer careers in other titles.

*Girls’ Comics and Picture Libraries: A spectacular selection of Tammy commencing with the early Tammy & Misty issues, in 1980, when our friend of the mists joined up and sat (it has to be said) somewhat uneasily amongst the antics of gymnast Bella Barlow, troublesome schoolgirl Wee Sue, obese funster Bessie Bunter, and afflicted maid-of-all-work Mollie Mills. Still, they did try to make Misty feel welcome, even setting up a 'Misty’s House of Mystery' pull-out game supplement in the third through sixth ‘combo’ issues, in which you, too can play Bella, Sue, Bessie or Mollie having spooktacular adventures. This 30+ batch from 1980 & 1981 includes the first three Tammy & Misty’s, plus the 500th issue celebration and (a mere few weeks later) the 10th Anniversary special, in which Wee Sue is visited by Tammy stars past & present (or past & more distant past, looking at it from our perspective).

Posted by Rob | 03:21 p.m. GMT | 17 August 2008

10 August 2008

British Update: Annuals (1st five Buntys & much more), over 100 new issues of Lion 1953-1974, Scorcher, Shoot, Battle Picture Library #1-8, Beano 1961-2007, Dandy 1950-1999, Dandy Comic Library inc #1, Debbie 1979 and Judy 1975 both Complete Year Sets, Judy 1961-1975

Whew! It's another gargantuan British update this week, touching all the bases of collecting original British comics, with #1 issues, Complete Year Sets and six decades represented. Details as follows:

*Annuals: Some genuine rarities this week, with four of the first five Bunty Annuals (including #1 from 1960) in good grades with original dustjackets, the Eagle Book of Rockets and Space Travel from 1961 with dustjacket, and the Eagle Sports Annual from 1957. We’ve also topped up Whizzer & Chips, classic Eagle, and Misty, and added Charlie’s Angels to our film & TV-related Annuals.

*Boys’ Adventure and War Comics: To supplement our massive Complete Year update of Lion the other week, we now have more than 100 additional single issues added to our stock, from 1953 to the very final issue in 1974, taking in mergers with Sun, Champion, Eagle and Thunder along the way. We go from the early days with space ace Captain Condor to the last cover-feature, the Spellbinder (which, despite being the consistently highest-rated feature of Lion’s latter days, didn’t make the transfer over into Valiant owing to internal politics – little bit of trivia there!). The entire Lion listing has also been refurbished to accommodate this update, with sold items deleted, and is entirely up to date – order with confidence, but order fast, fanboy, or someone else’ll beat you to them! In addition, we’ve added issues of soccer-themed comic Scorcher to our recently depleted stock, have expanded our range to include the non-comics football mag Shoot, and have an unusual item in the rare 1976 Tiger Olympic Special, as we strive towards our ultimate goal of having every single UK comic in stock.

*Boys’ Adventure and War Picture Libraries: “The screaming Banzai Hordes closed in – but Diggers die hard!”. You guessed it, it’s time for Battle Picture Library, and we’re proud to present the first eight issues of the ongoing series from 1961, telling stirring tales of ‘The Rats of Tobruk’, ‘Devils’ Cauldron’, ‘Trained to Kill’, ‘The Island of Guilt’, ‘The Ghost Battalion’, ‘The Silver-Plated Luger’, ‘Killer at Large’, and ‘Tough Company’ respectively. These launched the title on its 1,706-issue career, which didn’t end until 1984. A scan of the first issue is available on our Cover Gallery Feature – click on the link in the catalogue listing!

*Humour Comics and Picture Libraries: Just in time to celebrate the Beano’s 70th birthday this week, we have updates for both the DC Thomson comedy mainstays, Beano and Dandy. Our Beano restock runs from 1961 through to 2007, approximately 75 issues, and the Dandy is topped-up with 50+ new copies, from 1950 to 1999. We also have new entries for the digest-size (or ‘Fun-Size’ as the later editions call themselves) Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries, including #’s 1, 3 & 4 of the Dandy Library. The Beano is still going strong today, and the Dandy, although limping a bit (have you seen what they did to it last year?), is still going, so here’s a chance to pick up on some earlier versions of the characters you know and love.

*Girls’ Comics and Picture Libraries: Our Big Girls’ Bonanza skips onward, as Judy is doubly refreshed – a Complete 1975, featuring 'The Sound Of Fear', 'Slaves to the Moonstone', and 'The Survivours' in this drama-heavy year, as well as scattershot issues ranging from 1961, the second year of publication, through to 1975. Much more to come in the near future! Our Complete Year Initiative also scores with Debbie, bringing us the entire run of 1979, a transitional year with most of the selection being '& Spellbound' combo issues. Debbie also featured 'Della Must Die!', police horse 'Sherlock', spooky storyteller 'Damien Darke', and the credibility-defying 'Big Cheese', in which our heroines, for charity, roll an enormous dairy product from London to Diddlecombe, and wackiness ensues. No, really. Well, if you don’t believe me, buy it and see yourself…. Forthcoming in Girls’ – June, Sandie, Mandy, and Bunty aplenty, plus… the return of Twinkle! Keep your eyes peeled….

Posted by Rob | 12:21 p.m. GMT | 10 August 2008

American Update: Final part of our huge DC expansion, plus 1940s/50s misc. inc. Speed Carter, Wild & Zoot, several #1 issues and more!

Another big influx of vintage Americana into our catalogue this week as follows:

*DC: We conclude our intensive inventory of our DC reserve this week by adding new numbers and grades to Superboy, Super DC Giant, Superman, Superman Family, Super-Team Family, Swamp Thing, Tales of the Unexpected, Teen Titans, Tor, Wonder Woman and World’s Finest. With approximately 1,000 additional listings for DC over the last few weeks, this has greatly increased the range of issues and grades available, to give you the best possible selection for your budget.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: It’s 'rumble in the jungle' this week, with Magazine Enterprises’ Cave Girl (her debut issue, #11, with superlative Bob Powell art), Fox’s Zoot Comics featuring Rulah, Jungle Goddess (both #13’s – Fox weren’t too attentive to little details like numbering!), and Wild Boy of the Congo, in both his first and second series from Ziff-Davis and St. John. Back in the big city, we turn to crime – Down With Crime #1, from Fawcett. We also have sci-fi with Atlas’ Speed Carter Spaceman, mediaeval adventures with Toby’s Black Knight #1, and satirical humour from Atlas’ Wild (#1, with a stellar line-up of artists), and the obscure Get Lost!, Andru & Esposito’s self-published Mad-imitator. Scans of Wild #1 and the first Zoot #13 may be seen at our Cover Gallery.

Posted by Rob | 12:06 p.m. GMT | 10 August 2008

3 August 2008

British Update: New Hotspur #2-50, Wizard 1st & second series 1958-1978, Pow and Smash inc. final issue

Lots of stuff that turns up very infrequently in this week's British stock update. As always, full details in the online catalogue in the following categories:

*Power Comics: A brace of Christmas issues – Pow #50 and Smash #100 – plus a selection from Smash’s final year, 1971, after it transferred to IPC/Fleetway and became a Valiant-style adventure anthology – appropriately, as it merged into Valiant later that year. This batch includes the final issue of Smash, (the 257th, though they switched from numbers to dates mid-stream) wherein Simon Test, Cursitor Doom and co. met their final fate.

*Boys’ Adventure and War Comics: An extraordinary selection of the New Hotspur, which replaced the venerable story-paper with a zippier comics-heavy ‘reboot’ in 1959. Starring 'Bandy Walker, the No-Gun Sherriff', 'Fister Flint', and 'The Black Hatchet', (the story of plucky schoolboy resistance against evil invaders who conquered Britain in 1998 – oh you must remember, it was in all the papers…) as well as the rhyming cover-adventures of mascot ‘Harry Hotspur’, this relaunch kick-started Hotspur (which ceased being ‘New’ around 1965) into a further 1,110 issues of life. (Though Harry himself wasn’t popular - perhaps too reminiscent of his ‘sister’ Bunty - and was booted to the letters page after #20). This is an unbroken run of Hotspur from the second issue through to #50, in grades ranging from Fair to Good on average, a very affordable opportunity to grab up a whole swatch of the early development of one of DC Thomson’s backbone boys’ adventure titles. And there’s more! We also conclude our mammoth Wizard update, from 1958 to its final year in 1963, with Wilson, Bernard Briggs, Limp-Along Leslie and the surprisingly downbeat post-apocalyptic tale 'The Last Six Hundred.' Then, we move on to the second series (though they for some reason balked at calling it ‘New’ Wizard) in the 1970’s, with selections from 1972 to 1978, in which one-off heroes faced Killer Cats, Killer Crabs and Killer Clams – no, really – in rapid succession, plus a plethora of sports stories in which hardly anyone ever got killed. Hardly. 200+ back issues added to our boys’ adventure inventory, with many more to come. Watch out for significant updates to Tiger, Victor, 2000 AD, Rover, Scorcher, Valiant, Roy of the Rovers, Adventure, and ‘old’ Hotspur (though not necessarily in that order) in the weeks and months ahead.

Posted by Rob | 12:12 p.m. GMT | 3 August 2008

American Update: DC & Marvel Silver/Bronze plus huge Warren update: Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella

Hundreds of new American items this week in the following categories:

*DC: Our thorough update of our entire DC stock marches on, this week taking us from Justice League of America to Strange Adventures, with stops along the way at Lois Lane, Metamorpho, Metal Men, Mr. Miracle, My Greatest Adventure, Phantom Stranger, Plastic Man, Rag Man, Sea Devils, Secret Origins, Secret Society of Super-Villains, Shadow, Shazam, Showcase, Spectre, Stalker, and Steel. As before, not only is our inventory being topped up with issues not previously on sale, but we’re also greatly expanding the range of grades copies are available in, so there should be copies to suit most budgets.

*Marvel: Another search through our Silver/Bronze ‘incoming’ enhances our range of many popular titles: Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Defenders, Eternals, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Invaders, Iron Man, Marvel Collector’s Item Classics, Marvel Super Action, Spectacular Spider-Man, Spoof, Thor, and What If? From the late sixties through to the late seventies, this update includes many of the non-distributed issues that so irked collectors in the mid-1970’s, in very affordable medium to low grades.

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: A huge range of Warren Magazines – the three mainstays, Creepy (from the range #3-144), Eerie (#4-102) and Vampirella (#25-109). In 1964, James Warren revived the dormant horror comics genre by producing them as oversized magazines, not subject to the Comics Code censorship, and scored a hit with his flagship title, Creepy, which he cunningly staffed with key EC comics alumni (Wood, Severin, Evans, Crandall, Craig), as well as mainstream talents who welcomed a chance to cut loose on more mature subject matter (Morrow, Colan, Heath, Ditko, Toth) and then-‘new’ talents (Adams, Wrightson, Corben). Creepy’s success was followed up by the taste-alike Eerie, then by Vampirella, Warren’s first stab at an ongoing character, and the adventures of the plucky and scantily-clad lass from Drakulon enthralled a generation of readers not old enough to buy real porn, er, that is, who liked fantasy-filled derring-do. The Warren mags offer a veritable pantheon of the great and the good (and yes, occasionally the bloody awful, but only occasionally) in the comics field of their day, and for almost twenty years, before financial mismanagement brought the company crashing down, they reigned supreme, fighting off attempts by Marvel, Skywald, and others to muscle in on their market share.

Posted by Rob | 12:04 p.m. GMT | 3 August 2008