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Update Archives For September 2007

30 September 2007

American update - the most amazing selection of goodies and oddities we've ever unleashed on you in one week!

As previously mentioned, 30th Century’s Will Morgan has been on an expedition to the New World, seeking out strangeness and esoterica in the wildness of New York and New Jersey – and hasn’t he done well? Armloads of oddities in no fewer than sixteen sections of our catalogue, with pre-distribution, non-distribution, vintage, heroic, horrific, and just plain wacky collectibles for your entertainment and enlightenment!

*DC: Two classic examples of the definitive duo, Superman and Batman, in high-grade Action 107 and Detective 149 (with a very cool Sprang Joker cover), as well as the first issue of Kirby’s Spirit World magazine from the early seventies, complete with original giveaway poster; cover scans of these three items can be found on our catalogue listings by clicking the links.

*Archie: We have further adventures of the Fly, Little Archie, Tales Calculated to Drive You Bats, Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch, and the first issue of Ginger (who could be Archie’s long-lost sister) from 1951.

*Charlton: All-American Sports (Tony Tallarico at the height of his powers! Sorry, I just had to see if I could say it with a straight face…), more Ditko Blue Beetle, a near-complete run of the variable but fun second series of Space Adventures (issue 4 featuring the lovely ‘Imitation People’story which is possibly Joe Gill’s finest hour) and Magilla Gorilla (which isn’t!).

*Dell: A selection of oddball heroes - Brain Boy, Frankenstein (his debut as a superhero!) and Toka Jungle King battling Amazons, as well as the indescribable Millie the Loveable Monster, from Katy Keene’s creator Bill Woggon.

*EC: We’ve got only one EC this time, but it’s a doozy – the premiere issue of Shock Illustrated, one of the company’s short-lived ‘Picto-Fiction’ attempts to move into the slick magazine market when their comics were persecuted out of existence. Lovingly illustrated by, in this case, Jack Kamen, ‘Picto-Fiction’ was basically comics without word balloons – the dialogue and narrative were carried in text blocks under the panels – and the stories were surprisingly frank for the period. The ‘Picto-Fiction’ mags are astonishingly rare, and we’re proud to offer this #1 in VG+ for £40. Check the catalogue entry for a link to a cover scan.

*Gold Key: This time, we offer My Favourite Martian, Turok, Krofft Supershow (starring Wild Boy & Bigfoot!), and the superbly daft Jet Dream and her Stuntgirl Counterspies.

*Harvey: Blondie and Dagwood, Richie Rich, Sad Sack, Unearthly Spectaculars and Spyman, an heroic creation of the young Jim Steranko (though Jim was still in the not-thinking-things-through stage; I mean, going around with ‘US Spy Corps’ emblazoned on your helmet isn’t the subtlest way to, well, spy, now is it?).

*Miscellaneous 1960-1979: Ogden Whitney’s Herbie, Skywald’s Jungle Adventures, and Red Circle’s Super Cops; the latter, sporting big moustaches which make you wonder, ‘What if the Village People fought crime?’, is beautifully illustrated by Gray Morrow.

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: We open with a trio of Airboy, including the origin of the Heap, Cavalier Comics, a selection of Ziff-Davis and St. John Wild Boy, Quality’s Doll Man, and from Atlas It’s A Duck’s Life!, and the second series of Snafu, when it was a Mad-imitating magazine. Click on the link in the catalogue for a cover scan of Snafu V2#2, with work by Severin, Maneely, and other classic artists.

*Horror 1940-1959: The final issue of Black Cat Mystic (the long-running title formerly known as Black Cat Mystery), and two Tales of the Mysterious Traveler from Charlton, one with several Ditko stories, and the other with a striking Ditko cover.

*Horror/Mystery 1960-1980s: Additions to Witching Hour from DC, Red Circle Sorcery with stunning Morrow art, Ghostly Tales, Midnight Tales, and a near-complete run of the second-series of Strange Suspense Stories from Charlton.

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: A sparkling selection of fluffy brightness, with Harvey’s Bunny (backed up by Fruitman, possibly the world’s strangest super-hero – and you know we’re experts in that field!), the incomprehensible Cool Cat, two classic Dan DeCarlo My Friend Irma, the charming Susie Q. Smith from Dell, and some scarce Giant Scooter from DC, including the ultra-rare #35, wherein Superman guest-stars! (We kid you not – a cover scan is available via the link in the catalogue listing.)

*Western: Three titles from Skywald’s short-lived colour line of the early seventies; Blazing Six-Guns, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid (that’s Butch & Sundance in two separate series..) in giant-sized issues featuring new material and a selection of copyright-free Pre-Code reprints.

*Flash Gordon: The entire run of Charlton’s Flash Gordon, from issues #12 through #18, with Reed Crandall in the opening issue and Pat Boyette in the remainder, classic sci-fi soap opera never distributed in the UK.

*Religious Comics: Behold The Handmaid, (secret origin of the Virgin Mary!) plus two of the Spire Christian Comics, in which tales of transformation and suffering are drawn by Archie artist Al Hartley; The Hiding Place, and Tom Landry and the Dallas Cowboys.

*Vintage Magazine-Sized Comics: New stock listings for Skywald’s hard-to-find Nightmare, Creepy from Warren, and the entire run of Marvel’s Howard the Duck magazine, with work by Colan, Mayerik, Rogers and more.

Whew! We're going to have a little lie-down now...

Posted by Rob | 01:56 p.m. GMT | 30 September 2007

Coming Attractions

*No British update this week due to the vast range of American material added to our catalogue, but we've just bought in an amazing collection of hundreds of British comics from the 1920's to the 1980's, including dozens of #1 issues, many with free gifts. Plus very shortly we'll be resuming our girls' comics bonanza with near complete runs of Bunty and Judy and many more. Keep watching this space for details of these items as they become available!

Posted by Rob | 01:49 p.m. GMT | 30 September 2007

24 September 2007

British update -- Loads of Boys' Adventure Annuals and early Picture Libraries inc. Battle, Combat & War #1s!

An emphasis on war time adventures this week as told in the 1960's, featured in the following sections:

*Annuals: An astonishing selection of vintage and high-grade boys’ adventure annuals this time, including Boy’s World from 1965 and 1968, Dan Dare from 1974 (reprinting the classic Frank Hampson 'Red Moon' story among others), Eagle from #3 to #9, then 1963 to 1972 in the dated sequence, with very high grade copies from the late 1960’s, a scarce Hurricane from 1972, Tiger from the early 1970’s, Valiant from 1965 and 1971, and a seldom-seen Victor from 1964. That would be enough in itself, but we’re also throwing in a couple of oddities; 1972’s Birthday Book For Boys, in which Fishboy, Captain Hurricane, Skid Solo and other Lion, Tiger and Valiant alumni are jumbled together randomly, and 1953’s Tip-Top, with a charmingly old-fashioned selection of characters who were never seen again, to the best of our knowledge (any subsequent sightings of 'Dodger & Diddle, Two Dogs On The Fiddle' – notify us!).

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: Battle and War and more! Extensive updating of our stock on two pivotal Fleetway Picture Libraries, the Battle and War series. We have approximately 150 new additions, including the first twelve issues of both titles. Scans of the covers of our high-grade Battle #1 and War #1 can be found in the catalogue section – click the link to see the pics! Most of this run of Battle and War are in VG or better, though if not for the rusty staples endemic to the format, most would be FN or better (the first dozen of each are mostly FN) – an extremely clean, bright selection, with high ‘eye-appeal’. We also have the first two issues of the lesser-known Combat Picture Library (link to scan of #1 also in the catalogue), which actually predates War, Battle and the celebrated Commando. In addition, a new Fleetway Super Library Stupendous series, featuring the Steel Claw, in adventures original to this format. This concludes our massive upgrade of our Picture Library stock for the time being, but plenty more to come in the future – keep watching the website…

Posted by Rob | 08:39 a.m. GMT | 24 September 2007

Coming Attractions

No American update this week, but fear not; 30th Century's Will Morgan has just returned from a voyage to the wildest boroughs of New York (and a sizeable chunk of New Jersey) seeking out vintage oddities and rarities for future website listings. Keep watching this space for some titles even we hadn't heard of in the very near future!

Posted by Rob | 08:27 a.m. GMT | 24 September 2007

17 September 2007

American update: Charltons, EC horror and 1950's Westerns

A nice range of new stuff in this week as follows:

*Charlton: Heroes & Monsters & Ditko, oh my! If it’s one thing Charlton delivers, it’s diversity, and here we have an update full of it! From super-heroes (Captain Atom, E-Man, Judomaster, Peacemaker, Thunderbolt) to adventure (Fighting Five, Sarge Steel), Humour (Flintstones), TV tie-ins, (Six Million Dollar Man), monsters (Gorgo & Kongo by Ditko) and the downright esoteric (House Of Yang, Top Eliminator) it’s all here waiting for you!

*EC: Our ‘EC Does It’ season concludes (for now) with a further sprinkling of horror from Haunt Of Fear and Vault Of Horror. Take a peak and see what made these the most infamous horror comics in history in all their pre-code gory (and we do mean ‘gory’). And EC fans take note: if you can’t find what you’re looking for among the dozens of issues that have come into stock this summer, we hope to have an even bigger collection of issues in towards the end of the year. Keep watching this space for details!

*Western: A small but choice selection of true vintage 1950’s Westerns for you this week: From DC, All-American Western with Johnny Thunder, All-Star Western with Johnny Thunder (what, him again?), the Trigger Twins and Madam .44, and from Atlas, the Apache Kid – was he Indian or White Man?

Posted by Rob | 09:38 a.m. GMT | 17 September 2007

British Update - Dandy, Rover, Wizard and more!

Emphasis truly on the 1940's and 1950's this week as we add the following favourites to our catalogue:

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: From the 1950’s, issues of the story papers Hotspur, Rover & Wizard in their first incarnations. A couple of Hotspurs from 1958/59, a handful of Rovers from 1958/59, with the legendary Alf Tupper, Tough of the Track, Morgyn the Mighty and Kidnapped illustrated by the incomparable Dudley D. Watkins, and 20+ Wizards from 1948, 1950, 1958 & 1959, featuring that other sporting legend Wilson, as well as the charmingly titled ‘Johnny Gets The Runs’ starting in issue #1680 (and before you ask, it’s a cricket story, okay?). Full of stiff upper lips, pluck and derring-do from an era the like of which will never be seen again, and, in the case of 1950’s Wizards, some startlingly non-P.C. covers which certainly never should be. The Christmas issue of Wizard for 1958 is included.

*Humour Comics & Picture Libraries: The ‘Star Turn’ of the recent BBC4 series ‘Comics Brittania’ is featured this week as we unveil a further selection of Dandy from 1946-1967, almost all lovely high-grade copies that would grace any collection. And as a bonus there’s a lovely copy of the Beano 1974 Summer Special, which we don’t expect to be with us for long!

Posted by Rob | 09:33 a.m. GMT | 17 September 2007

11 September 2007

American/British Update - Classics Illustrated

*Classics Illustrated: As regular visitors will know, this is one of our sections with ‘dual nationality’, where we list both British and American Classics to keep them all in one place. This update we have just one US edition: a nice copy of an early printing of Frankenstein, and a couple of dozen UK ‘1/3’s from across the run of the title. An always popular section, and dead useful for you culture types who can read the comic and save time not having to read the book.

Posted by Rob | 07:20 p.m. GMT | 11 September 2007

American Update - lots of early 1960's Silver Age DC

*DC: a large update to our early 1960s stock, including many issues of favourite titles such as Action, Adventure, Atom, pre-new look Batman, 80 Page Giant, Flash, Green Lantern, Jimmy Olsen, Justice League, Lois Lane, Superboy, Superman, World’s Finest and many more, as well as a high grade selection of 1970’s Shazam, inc. many 100 pagers. The Silver Age selection is particularly noteworthy for the Batman and Superman issues from the early 1960’s, which for many collectors is a classic and beloved period. A nice mix of grades here too, from lovely mid-high grade to presentable and affordable lower graded.

Posted by Rob | 07:19 p.m. GMT | 11 September 2007

9 September 2007

Comics Britannia BBC4 9 p.m. Monday 10th September

In case you don't know, BBC4 are running a comics season starting as detailed above, with the centrepiece being a three part documentary on the history of British comics. From the advance publicity, it really looks as if it'll be a well-made series treating our favourite medium with respect as well as fun. And we played our part in it too, since 30th Century supplied the BBC with many of the comics used for reference in the show. Strongly recommend you give the series a look!

Posted by Rob | 02:10 a.m. GMT | 9 September 2007

2 September 2007

American update - EC Weird Fantasy, Fawcett Captain Marvel etc & Atlas Marvel Boy

*EC: Our ‘EC Does It’ season continues with another key title: Weird Fantasy, from the second-ever issue (annoyingly numbered #14 – they brought the sequence back into step from #6) through to #21, not a complete run but many issues in mid-high grades with gorgeous covers and lovely interior pages. (There are also a couple of affordable ones in FA/GD!) Highlights include the first Frazetta EC art in the actual #14 (not the misnumbered # 2), the stunning Williamson/Frazetta ‘Women’s Lib’ cover of #21 (in which the roles of rescuing astronaut and scantily-clad victim are reversed), and some of the most poignant Ray Bradbury stories adapted, usually by Wally Wood, but every issue has its merits, and most are outstanding. By now, we shouldn’t have to push the line of EC all-star artists at you, but if by chance you haven’t seen them yet – now’s the time to get started! The covers of #10 and #21 may be inspected via our Cover Gallery – check the catalogue section and click on the link to get their full glory. Still more to come from EC this summer!

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Lost Worlds, Marvel Boy and the mighty Marvel Family. A half-dozen new Fawcetts, with representation for Captain Marvel Adventures, Captain Marvel Junior, Marvel Family, and Whiz; join Cap, Junior, and Mary, not to mention Spy-Smasher, Ibis, and Golden Arrow, in more exciting adventures illustrated by Beck, Schaffenberger and Costanza. Someone who wasn’t a Marvel Family member, but sounds like he ought to have been, was the short-lived Marvel Boy, Atlas’ sci-fi adventurer of the 1950’s; beautifully illustrated by Bill Everett, his second (and final) issue is here in FA; light cover damage mars an otherwise GD copy, but see for yourself on our spiffy scan – check the catalogue page and click the link! Lastly, and continuing the sci-fi theme, Standard’s Lost Worlds joins us with its second issue (#6), gorgeously illustrated by Toth with a classic ‘Giant ants Vs. Shapely Dame’ cover.

Posted by Rob | 07:31 p.m. GMT | 2 September 2007

British Update - Near complete run of Countdown & early Girls' Picture Libraries

*Boys Adventure and War Comics: Countdown, the successor to TV21s Gerry Anderson legacy, is re-stocked from #2 to #55, an almost-complete sequence featuring UFO, Thunderbirds, Lady Penelope, Stingray and their heroic ilk, plus Dr. Who, the eponymous ‘Countdown’ sci-fi strip illustrated by John M. Burns, and, erm, Motormouse and Autocat. Oh, well. Issues from 35 on featured the Persuaders from the Roger Moore & Tony Curtis thriller series, and signified a change of direction, as science-fiction was phased out in favour of crime and adventure series. The title changed slightly to 'Countdown to TV Action', in preparation for #59’s rebranding as TV Action – though Dr. Who managed to hang in till the bitter end! For classic space-adventures illustrated by Lindfield, Haylock, Embleton and more, though, the 58-issue run of Countdown can’t be beaten.

*Girls’ Comics and Picture Libraries: ‘Allo Princess! To be precise, Princess Picture Library, which joins us for a short but sweet run beginning with the second issue and running through to #26. You could have any type of story you wanted in Princess PL – as long as it starred Sue Day or Sally the Circus Ballerina, who had an alternating monopoly (duopoly?) for this part of the series’ run. We’ve also got a couple of Schoolgirls’ Picture Libraries doing a drive-by this week, so move fast – we seldom enjoy the company of early 1960’s Picture Libraries for long!

Posted by Rob | 07:19 p.m. GMT | 2 September 2007