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Update Archives For September 2009

29 September 2009

American Update: Miracleman, Watchmen, V For Vendetta & Marvel Silver/Bronze focusing on Avengers

It's an Alan Moore special update this week plus lots of Marvel goodies thrown in for good measure:

*DC: The series that inspired the recent movie blockbusters, V For Vendetta and Watchmen, are new to our listings this week. Both creations of Alan Moore, these two series, together with Batman: the Dark Knight Returns, were universally regarded in the 1980’s as bringing comics to a previously unprecedented level of maturity, and establishing credibility for the art form among the wider public. Watchmen started off as a thinly-disguised pastiche of the defunct Charlton heroes, but became a definitive treatise on the responsibility and abuse of power, while V For Vendetta, created at the height of Thatcher’s Britain, projected a grim, oppressive future which… well, pretty much came to pass, come to think of it. Apart from the nuclear devastation bit. Or at least not yet. So, before the holocaust happens, grab yourself a complete set each of two of the industry’s finest.

*Marvel: A Merry Miscellany from the House Stan and Jack Built, with highlights being a very impressive selection of Avengers between #50-#100, including the Neal Adams Kree-Skrull war epic, Barry Smith’s Olympian War, and early Englehart & Cockrum work; a high-grade selection of 1970’s Fantastic Four from #135-#200, including many non-distributed issues; from the Star Wars universe, Ewoks #1, incredibly hard to find at any grade, this issue in an affordable FN+; an extremely attractive vintage Amazing Adult Fantasy #9, missing a text page but with all the Lee & Ditko weirdness intact; and additions to Amazing Adventures, Defenders, Dr. Strange (ancient & modern), Journey Into Mystery with Thor, Jungle Action, Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Spider-Man (Amazing and Spectacular), Spider-Woman, and the ever-uncanny X-Men. ‘Nuff said!

*Modern Comics Special Interest: Continuing the Alan Moore love-fest this week (he has done some things we don’t like, honest!), we’re pleased to present a range of Miracleman, the series which, together with V For Vendetta, brought him to public attention when serialized in the pages of Warrior magazine. A revamp of the 1950’s hero Marvelman, (himself a Captain Marvel analogue), the campy kiddy comic was brought forcibly into a contemporary world, as a middle-aged Michael Moran was disturbed by dreams of flying… and his secret past unravelled. These full-colour comics were issued by Eclipse, initially reprinting the Warrior strips, then continuing with new material, illustrated by luminaries such as Garry Leach, Alan Davis, and John Totleben. After Moore’s departure, the scripts continued under the auspices of some new kid named Neil Gaiman, who showed a bit of promise. The character being caught up in endless copyright litigation, there seems no way that these stories are going to be reprinted any time soon, so here’s a rare opportunity to grab most of the run at affordable prices!

Posted by Rob | 02:30 p.m. GMT | 29 September 2009

British Update: Bunty 1990-2001

*Girls' Comics: And the Bunty juggernaut rolls on, with more than 300 issues new to our listings this time from 1990 until its final year of publication in 2001. In 1989, Bunty had transitioned from her traditional pulp format to glossier paper. 1992 saw the second phase of the transformation as the comic strips were taken off the cover, to be replaced by a succession of interchangeable photo-covers of pre-teen moppet models faking ecstasies over the likes of Kavana, the Vengaboys, 911, Upside Down, and a host of other people who don’t have careers any more. Inside, despite attempts to make Bunty take the place of the recently-fallen Jackie with pop pinups and make-up tips, the stories continued unabated, with ‘The Four Marys’ and ‘The Comp’, plus perennial photo-story ‘Luv, Lisa’ being joined, at various times, by ‘Backstreet Hospital’, ‘Carly’s Crowd’, and ‘Invisible Isla’. This mammoth update exhausts our Legion Of Substitute Buntys for the time being, but there are no doubt many more in the future. Coming soon – Sandie and Tammy!

Posted by Rob | 02:24 p.m. GMT | 29 September 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:

*DC 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 | 02:22 p.m. GMT | 29 September 2009

22 September 2009

British Update: Battle 1975-84, Topper 1954-59, Blue Moon with Free Gifts, Boyfriend, Marilyn, Valentine & Poppet

Once again, we've pulled out all the stops this week to bring you an extraordinary selection showcasing the wide variety of material available in British comics. Something for everyone in this stellar line-up:

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: New listings for Battle, the hard-bitten weekly which, under the auspices of editor/writer Pat Mills, revamped the staid ‘war comic’ for a modern generation. With stars such as ‘Major Eazy’, ‘Darkie’s Mob’, ‘The Sarge’, ‘Johnny Red’ and ‘Charley’s War’, the series courted controversy and the wrath of irate Middle Englanders, but successfully absorbed fallen stablemates Action and Valiant before becoming a home for ‘Action Force’, the cuckoo-in-the-nest UK-retitled ‘GI Joe’, which subverted the weekly’s mission statement quite a bit. More than 70 new issues, from the first year of publication, 1975, to 1984 when we were firmly in the grip of Cobra & Co.

*Humour Comics & Picture Libraries: An extraordinary run of early Toppers, from the second year of publication, 1954, to 1959, over 200 new issues added to our stock, starring Dudley Watkins’ ‘Mickey the Monkey’, ‘Beryl the Peril’, ‘Foxy’, ‘Big Fat Boko and His Crafty Crow’, and unaccountably, reprints of Ernie Bushmiller’s newspaper strip, ‘Nancy’. On the adventure side, ‘King Solomon’s Mines’, ‘The Fighting Frasers’, ‘Rob Roy’, and ‘Lucky Dickey Dolphin’ kept the thrills going alongside the laughs in Topper’s oversized pages – only 12 of them, but, as the strapline never tired of promoting, colour on every page! (Sometimes not more than one colour on a page, but these were frugal times for the thrifty Dundee publishers…) Owing to their broadsheet size, Toppers tend not to keep well in captivity, and to have so many of the early issues in is quite a feather in our caps; grades range from affordable Poor/Fair to highly collectable Very Good/Fine, something to suit every pocket.

*Younger Readers’ Comics: A Free Gift Farrago Update! We’re delighted (and a little surprised – we’re always learning about something we didn’t previously know existed) to offer Blue Moon, the 1999 fortnightly which was launched by Enid Blyton’s daughter, Gillian Baverstock, in a brave attempt to restore some traditional values to the comics world at the turn of the last century. Baverstock wrote most of the scripts herself, with a stellar roster of creators including Charlie Adlard, John Burns, Phil Gascoine, and Steve Parkhouse. Sadly, these charmingly-executed tales of the Pied Piper, Aladdin, Tom Thumb and company failed to grab much of a contemporary audience, and the series ended with issue #12. We have the first ten issues available, #’s1-3 and #6-10 possessing their original free gifts. (#’s 4 & 5 aren’t missing free gifts, they weren’t issued with them.)

*Girls’ Comics: Well, more ‘Young Ladies’’ comics this week, as most of our update was intended for teens or young adult women, beginning with 1964-1966’s Boyfriend. Featuring romance strips and fashion tips, this slick-paper title with comparatively lavish production values (full colour on cover AND centrefold, now there’s posh…) was designed to ease the transition from Bunty to Woman’s Own, providing junior misses with ‘appropriate’ career advice and safe pop pin-ups. Not only is it a fascinating sociological snapshot, but some of the artwork is really quite lovely. Marilyn and Valentine provide us with more soft-focus romance comics from 1959 to 1963, with Valentine’s oddball habit of naming its stories after pop hits full to the fore, and we close with Poppet, an oddball companion to June and School Friend (whom it ended up sharing a billet with post-merger). Poppet, though aimed at schoolgirls, had a distinctly more sophisticated vibe, as it featured longer comic stories, up to 12 pages per instalment, and a lot more focus on pop stars than the comparatively stuffy June. This 1964 selection of Poppet is in very nice condition – in every other respect averaging Fine – but has been regraded as VG owing to two neat punch-holes in each spine, which do not impinge on the stories.

Posted by Rob | 11:07 a.m. GMT | 22 September 2009

American Update: DC Silver Bronze, Fawcett Master Comics, Yellow Claw, Flash Gordon & Liberty Meadows

And just as big a helping incoming to our American stock this week in the following categories:

*DC: A Silver/Bronze update from three decades! Highlights include complete runs of the Jack Kirby Demon and the acclaimed revival of All-Star Comics, which returned the Justice Society to prominence under the auspices of Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, and Wally Wood, plus Showcase #43 (the comics debut of James Bond), Hot Wheels #1 by Alex Toth, and early issues of Lois Lane from #5, plus additions to Adventure, Aquaman, Sea Devils, Strange Adventures, Sugar & Spike, and Tor. Scans of Lois #5, Lois #10, and Showcase #43 may be viewed in our Cover Gallery feature – click on the link in the catalogue listing!

*Miscellaneous Publishers 1940-1959: Captain Marvel Jr. Vs. The Yellow Claw! No, not really – but we do have the second issue of Jack Kirby’s master of villainy, the Yellow Claw, from Atlas, in very affordable FA+ grade, plus several classic issues of Master Comics, featuring Bulletman & Bulletgirl, Nyoka the Jungle Girl, Radar (no, not the Corporal from M*A*S*H…) and Captain Marvel Jr. The definitive CM Jr. artist, Mac Raboy, graces the covers of #35, #56 and #58, as well as providing the interior art for #35, but Raboy was succeeded by Bud Thompson and Kurt Scahffenberger, neither of them artistic slouches by any means. Perplexingly, while the cover of #35 advertises his battle against ‘The Flame’, the interior story features CM Jr. against an underage super-villain, ‘The Jolly Roger’, no doubt to be revived by Grant Morrison any day now… Covers of Master #35, #58, #60 and #110 may be seen in our Cover Gallery Feature.

*Flash Gordon: The plucky defender of Mongo soldiers on in the early issues of his 1960’s comic book, published by King Features, and showcasing stellar art from Al Williamson, Reed Crandall, Gil Kane and Rick Estrada, capturing the breathtaking majesty of his outer-space adventures in ways few have managed since the days of his creator, Alex Raymond.

*Modern Comics, Special Interest: This week, we are pleased to spotlight Frank Cho’s
Liberty Meadows as a new title for our catalogue. Beginning as a newspaper strip, the meticulously-illustrated adventures of the world’s most bizarre animal refuge quickly became hugely popular – not least because of Cho’s spectacular rendering of the heroine, Brandy, depicted as the virtual lovechild of Frank Frazetta and Lynda Carter. But if ‘Good Girl Art’ was all the strip had to offer, it would quickly have worn out its welcome – in addition to the lovely illustrations, there was a saga of warmth, humour and great charm. Cho, frustrated by newspaper censorship, transferred to the comic books, re-presenting his strips as they were originally intended to be seen, first under his own imprint of Insight Studios, then with Image. After 37 issues (including the confusing ‘Wedding Album’, which should by rights have been numbered #26 but was dubbed #36 because of a ‘flash-forward’ plotline), the series was suspended as Cho’s superstar status meant he had less time to devote to it, but we live in hope that he’ll return to Brandy & Co. someday. In the meantime, however, these flawless gems remain available for all to enjoy.

Posted by Rob | 11:00 a.m. GMT | 22 September 2009

Housekeeping Update

*Magazines/Books About Vintage UK 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 | 22 September 2009

20 September 2009

Improved Communications

As part of our improvements this Autumn, we've now completed the transition of some of our office functions to the shop, entailing having email directly there as well as in our office. This will result in even quicker responses to your enquiries than some of you may have been used to in the past, so that if you email during shop hours, you should get a response fairly quickly, and outside shop hours you will only have to wait until the shop opens.

All part of the new and improved 30th Century. We like to think we've got a great stock and offer a great service, but that doesn't stop us always trying to improve both!

Posted by Rob | 11:41 a.m. GMT | 20 September 2009

15 September 2009

British Update: Lion 1973/74 inc. final issue, Lion & Valiant Picture Libraries (& more), Beano & Dandy Comics Libraries, Mandy 1969-1976

A veritable avalanche of British comics boulders this week as follows:

*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: We continue our massive Lion update with a consecutive run from September 1973 to the final issue in 1974 – what would have been #1,136, if the title had continued the numbering it began with back in 1952. Although Lion’s publishing schedule became a bit hit & miss (several ‘weekly’ issues were skipped during its final year), the quality remained undiminished, with headliners ‘The Spider’, ‘Zip Nolan’, ‘Spellbinder’ ‘Robot Archie’ and newcomers ‘Masters of Menace’ and ‘Sark the Sleeper’ staying lively and entertaining until the very end, when the title merged with Fleetway stablemate Valiant.

*Boys’ Adventure & War Picture Libraries: More tales of derring-do in World War II (with the occasional sidetrips into western, espionage and historical adventure) as we update Action, Lion (from #12) and Valiant (from #4) Picture Libraries, thirty new items listed including scarce early issues, in a wide variety of grades, plus a 1983 Top Secret Holiday Special with three adventures of secret agent John Havoc.

*Humour Comics & Picture Libraries: Small but perfectly-formed, we offer a new range of Beano and Dandy Comics Library/Fun-Size Digests this week, with ‘Walter 007’, ‘Minnie the Jinx’ (no, that’s not a typo…) and ‘Gnipper Son of Gnasher’ holding up the Beano half of the equation, while Dandy is represented by ‘Corporal Clott’, ‘Colonel Blink’, ‘Baby Crockett’, and… hang on, weren’t they all from Beezer? Oh well; we also have a selection of Beano Puzzle Books and Dandy Cartoon Books, the latter collecting miscellaneous funnies rather than one themed character, new to this section.

*Girls’ Comics: Approximately 200 issues of Mandy from 1969 to 1976, including popular series ‘Valda’, and ‘Wonder Girl’, and endless variations of the slave theme, such as ‘ Prisoners of the Sewing Machine’ or ‘Slave of the Dancing Dolls’, in which one or more plucky young schoolgirls are placed under a highly implausible influence. Of even more interest to contemporary readers are the ‘What were they thinking?’ series, where you wonder how the pitch ever got past the editor’s desk, such as ‘The Oldest Schoolgirl’, (mother and daughter as classmates), ‘Sogga From the Swamp’ (backwoods troglodyte becomes star athlete), and ‘The Kazoo Kids’ (…no, that’s pretty much it for the concept). Join us for more wackiness from Mandy and her stablemates in future updates!

Posted by Rob | 11:29 a.m. GMT | 15 September 2009

American Update: Lady Blackhawk, Green Lantern 1970s/80s, Guardians Of The Galaxy & Western Round-Up

A plethora of goodies in this week's American update in the following categories:

*DC: Hawk-aa! This update, we have a special selection of Lady Blackhawk Silver Age spotlights in Blackhawk, beginning with her debut in Blackhawk #133. Once consigned to the trashbin of comics history, the team’s distaff member Zinda Blake was brought back into continuity via Zero Hour (the one thing for which we can thank it!) and has enjoyed a thriving career in Birds of Prey since, so these appearances, whether as blue-clad heroine or as the violent voluptuary Queen Killer Shark (schizophrenic ladies being a staple of 1960’s DC), are of increasing interest these days. Also, in keeping with our previously-announced upgrading of our catalogue stock, we now add the entire first series of the Emerald Gladiator, Green Lantern, to our lists – just in time for the forthcoming Ryan Reynolds-starring Hollywood flick! This update runs from #88, when the series was revived in 1976 after the O’Neil/Adams run, to the final issue, #224… Though of course, Hal Jordan would return in many later series of his title, but we’ll get to them in the fullness of time! Highlights of this GL run included the first appearance of Guy Gardner as Green Lantern, the short-run transition to Green Lantern Corps in the latter days, and a series of stunning Brian Bolland covers, plus star creators like Dave Gibbons, Gil Kane, Steve Englehart, Denny O’Neil, Bill Willingham, and more.

*Marvel: A collection of brightly-garbed adventurers from many worlds in the far-flung future? Sounds like it ought to be right up 30th Century Comics’ alley! But since we’re talking about Marvel, we’re referencing not the Legion, but the Guardians of the Galaxy. Created as a one-shot experiment by Thomas & Colan in the Sixties, the Guardians were revived by Steve Gerber for a short and controversial run in Marvel Presents, as well as numerous guest-appearances establishing them – despite their 31st Century milieu – as thoroughly enmeshed in contemporary continuity. Hotshot writer/artist Jim Valentino parlayed that prominence into their own series from 1990 onwards, for more than fifty issues in which he and his cohorts rewrote the ‘future history’ of the Marvel Universe, creating a massive ‘Imaginary Story’ which may – or may not – ever happen (Oops! Wrong company again!). Most of the first forty, and several Annuals, from that 1990 series are new to our listing this week.

*Western: A selection of sharp-shootin’ shenanigans from various publishers, including Dell (Gunsmoke), Charlton (Kid Montana and Six-Gun Heroes), #1 of Gold Key’s TV adaptation The Legend of Jesse James, Marvel’s Rawhide Kid (facing off against the villainous Red Raven!), and the oddball Western True Crime #20 – not only a Canadian edition of the notorious Fox series, but a double-covered misprint, meaning that the secondary cover is in a remarkable state of preservation for its years.

Posted by Rob | 11:21 a.m. GMT | 15 September 2009

Housekeeping Update

*Girls' Comics
*Girls' Picture Libraries

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 | 11:12 a.m. GMT | 15 September 2009

8 September 2009

American Update: Sgt Bilko, Teen Humour/Funny Girls inc Timely Joker, Luther Arkwright

A real mixed bag this week in our American update as follows:

*DC: Ten-hut! The TV phenomenon of the 1950’s, Sgt. Bilko, falls in for a further foray at 30th Century with new stocks from #3 of his own series and #2 of the spin-off starring his sidekick, Private Doberman. Wacky army fun with art by Bob Oksner (as witnessed by the shapely WACs who adorn the pages), as watched by millions in its heyday.

*Teen Humour/Funny Girls: A section we don’t get to update as often as we’d like, so we’re happy this week to offer you a kookie quartet from four dazzling decades! From the sizzlin’ Seventies, Date With Debbi, in which our maladroit redheaded riot rampages through the local male population; from the swinging Sixties, TV sensation The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis, by Drake, Oksner and Drucker; from the frugal Fifties, TV and Radio star Henry Aldrich; and from the fabulous Forties – 1943, to be precise – Timely’s Joker Comics #7, starring ‘Tessie the Typist’, Basil Wolverton’s ‘Powerhouse Pepper’, and a plethora of other comedy stars. This GD- copy has had restoration to spine and upper back cover, but remains in very collectable condition. A cover scan may be viewed in our Cover Gallery – click on the link provided for your comfort and convenience in the catalogue listing.

*Modern Comics Special Interest: We continue our enhancement of our stock listings into the 1980s/90s with a complete run of Bryan Talbot’s acclaimed Adventures of Luther Arkwright, the adventuring, parallel world jumping ambassador of Victoriana Englands that never quite were; stunning, complex early work by one of the UK’s premier comic creators.

Posted by Rob | 01:46 p.m. GMT | 8 September 2009

British Update: Bunty 1969-1989

*Girls’ Comics: Bunty returns! Twenty years’ worth of the premier DC Thomson girls’ title, spanning 1969-1989 and incorporating around 250 new numbers to our listings. From the days of ‘A Bed Called Fred’, ‘Hetty’s Happy Hippo’, and ‘Lee and Her Shadow’, through to ‘Jumping Jack’, ‘The Comp’, and photo-story ‘Luv, Lisa’, the hairstyles and hemlines alter, but the basic themes of ballerinas, equestriennes, schoolgirls, and plucky orphans remain unchanged, with the ‘Four Marys’ presiding serenely over the decades as though they’re never expected to leave school or get jobs! Future weeks will see major upgrades to our Bunty stock, taking us to its penultimate year of 2000, so keep your hockey sticks to hand…

Posted by Rob | 01:41 p.m. GMT | 8 September 2009

1 September 2009

British Update: Buster 1979-1988 (over 200 new issues) plus over 100 new issues of Viz and new Crikey!

*Humour Comics & Picture Libraries: Our long-deferred Big Buster Bonanza concludes with a mammoth update from 1979 to 1988, taking in along the way the title’s absorption of Jackpot, School Fun, Oink, and Nipper as it wound its way to being the last survivor of the Fleetway humour line. More than 200 new issues added to the listing, featuring Master Mind, Boxatrix, School Belle, X-Ray Specs, Gums, Cliff Hanger, Clumsy Colin, Prambo and multitudes more of Fleetway’s finest funnies. And by way of considerable contrast, Viz, purveyor of smut to the gentry since the late 1970’s, is expanded by more than 100 issues, ranging from # 29 to #157 in a cavalcade of single-entendre buffoonery starring the Fat Slags, Johnny Fartpants, Sid the Sexist, Biffa Bacon, Spoilt Bastard, Tasha Slappa, and other sad indictments of our modern times.

*Magazines/Books About Vintage UK Comics: We’re always happy to welcome a new issue of Crikey! to our shelves, and #11’s a corker, the first of the full-colour issues with such diverse features as Commando Picture Libraries, Marvelman, Striker, Tammy, Jeff Hawke, and an interview with outgoing Beano editor, Euan Kerr. All other issues of Crikey! have been extensively restocked, so if you’re one of the laggards who has yet to acquire the complete run – climb aboard!

Posted by Rob | 02:06 p.m. GMT | 1 September 2009

American Update: Avengers 201-402, Supreme & other Alan Moore Awesome series plus lots more

We continue this week bringing you some quality series of later vintage than we've traditionally listed, as we progress the complete listing of our more modern stock:

*Marvel: Continuing our previously-announced revision of catalogueable stock, we turn our attention to Marvel’s Mightiest heroes, the ever-Assemblin’ Avengers! Extending our list range from #201 to the final issue #402, plus the full complement of original series Annuals, this encompasses some of the finest and some of the funkiest moments in Avengers history, with the Buscema/Stern definitive clash with the Masters of Evil, and the cosmic soap-opera of Sersi and Proctor by Steve Epting being the highlights. Also includes cross-over events aplenty, keynotes being Inferno, Bloodlines, the Crossing, Galactic Storm, Onslaught and the cataclysmic clash with the Tetrarchs of Entropy! (I think I still have their album on vinyl somewhere…)

*Modern Comics Special Interest: Additions to our stocks of B.P.R.D. (The Black Goddess and War On Frogs), Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose, Grimm Fairy Tales (and its spinoff ‘Wonderland’ series, including rare variants); in addition, we have added more titles to our inventory, in our ever-optimistic expansion. The Amazonian heroine Glory started out as a slavish imitation of Wonder Woman under the then-inexpert hands of Deodato and Benes – who were very much learning their trade at the time – and grew into something intriguing and multi-layered under the auspices of Alan Moore. All Glory series, plus various team-ups with her gal-pals Angela, Avengelyne and Celestine, are included in this update. Continuing the Alan Moore theme, the Big A’s take on Supreme, the already-established Superman-imitator, took the Silver Age clichés which Moore grew up with and spun them into a delightful mythology, infusing the old Superman Family mythos with a modern sensibility while maintaining a contemporary edge, ably assisted of artists Chris Sprouse, Melinda Gebbie, Rick Veitch, and Jim Starlin, among others.

Posted by Rob | 02:03 p.m. GMT | 1 September 2009

Housekeeping Update

*Humour Comics & Picture Libraries
*Younger Readers' 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 | 01:55 p.m. GMT | 1 September 2009