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Update Archives For October 2005

31 October 2005

Premises update

Surveys of our premises following the fire have now been carried out and due to structural damage to the flat above our shop, we won't be able to trade from there for at least 6 months. We will shortly be relocating to an alternative shop in Putney (as soon as we can find one!), and full details of that will be posted here as soon as an address is confirmed and we have a re-opening date.

Customers with standing orders for new comics or other reservations please note: until our new shop opens, we will be operating a restricted collection service from a nearby location on Friday lunchtimes and Saturday afternoons. Please email us at sales@30thcenturycomics.co.uk and we will advise you of the details. We will be trying to contact you all by phone over the coming week or so in any event. If you have an order with us, please get in touch -- you won't miss an issue!

Posted by Rob | 08:48 p.m. GMT | 31 October 2005

27 October 2005

Shop temporarily closed

Following a fire at the premises above our shop on 26th October, we have had to close temporarily whilst the damage to the building is assessed and for forensic and fire services investigation.

Although the fire did not reach inside our shop, there was damage to our frontage and entranceway. At this stage we see no evidence of damage to our stock. Repairs have begun to be effected, and we hope to be open to the public for trading very soon.

Our shop phone is out of order due to damage to external wiring, so we are currently only contactable by email at the normal email address (sales@30thcenturycomics.co.uk). We hope to have our mail order service up and running very shortly.

Customers with standing orders for new comics should note that there will obviously be a short delay to their orders being available, but that all orders will be filled and posted/collectable when we resume trade. If you have an order with us, you will not miss an issue.

Further bulletins will be posted here on a frequent basis as soon as we have any further updates.

Posted by Rob | 12:06 a.m. GMT | 27 October 2005

26 October 2005

British update - Vintage UK/Aus reprints plus Picture Libraries

Some 1950's gems in this week's British update in the following categories:

*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: A multiplicity of oddities and rarities from the 1950's to the 1970's, including UK & Australian editions of Adventures Inbto The Unknown, Blackhawk, Forbidden Worlds, Justice Traps The Guilty, Mystic, Out Of This World, Race For The Moon, Spellbound, the Strange Suspense Stories Giant Album and the anthologies Diamond Adventure Comic and Fantastic Tales. The best, worst and weirdest of DC, Atlas, Fiction House, Charlton, Quality and more, all lovingly remastered in stylish black and white or blotchy off-register colour for your enjoyment!

*Boys' Adventure & War Picture Libraries: New stock for several popular titles in this category, with additions to Action, Battle, Commando, Cowboy, Combat, a Super-Detective with Rick Random's space-age adventures lavishly illustrated by Ron Turner, and a brace of the very scarce Thriller Picture Libraries. (How many are in a brace, precisely?) [2 - Ed.]

Posted by Rob | 09:40 a.m. GMT | 26 October 2005

16 October 2005

Star Collections American update - Golden Age DC, Doll Man, Timely, EC, Fiction House

Another melange of vintage Golden Age rarities from our Star Collections in our American update this week in the following categories:

*DC: Several outstanding Golden Age items from National's founding years: All-American with Green Lantern and the Atom, All-Star with the Justice Society of America, Comic Cavalcade starring Green Lantern, the Flash, Wonder Woman and dozens more, Detective featuring Batman & Robin, Air Wave and the Boy Commandos, pre-distribution Superboys and Wonder Woman herself, patron saint of submission to loving authority. Sufferin' Sappho!

*Miscellaneous 1940-1959: Additions from several companies: Quality's Doll Man, with outstanding work from Fine, Crandall, Katsky and others; EC's Incredible Science Fiction #33, the scarce final issue with the controversial and ground-breaking story 'Judgement Day'; Timely's Marvel Mystery Comics starring Human Torch, Captain America, Sub-Mariner. Miss America, the Angel, the Patriot and all their crime-smasing chums; and Rangers from Fiction House, with gals, gunmen and GI's galore!

Posted by Rob | 12:51 p.m. GMT | 16 October 2005

Star Collections British update - Bunty 1961, Judy 1960

Something really special from our Star Collections this week: in the Girls' Comics & Picture Libraries section of our online catalogue, the 'Big Girls' of D. C. Thompson's weeklies, Bunty & Judy, in a rare selection of Bunty from 1961 and Judy from 1960. The Judy issues in particular are a nice first year of publication cache, beginning with #6 and running almost unbroken through to #45. Almost never seen, these mid-grade copies will sell swiftly to devotees of the Four Marys and Sandra's Secret Ballet etc. You have been warned...

Posted by Rob | 12:40 p.m. GMT | 16 October 2005

13 October 2005

Star Collections American update - Dell & Gold Key

Once again we dip into the extraordinary depths of our Star Collections this week for a swathe of wonderfully eclectic Dell & Gold Key issues in the following categories:

*Dell: Numerous additions to the cult and esoteric Dell range with many film and TV tie-ins, including the Beverley Hillbillies, Bewitched, Car 54 Where Are You?, Dracula, Get Smart, Lassie, Monkees, Mr. Ed, Sea Hunt, 77 Sunset Strip, Sherlock Holmes, the Untouchables and a substantial run of Sam Glanzman's hallucinogenic Kona, Monarch Of Monster Isle, a caveman vs. mutant critters saga which defies the need for mind-altering substances!

*Gold Key: Comedy and adventure replenished with new listings for the Girl from UNCLE, Magnus Robot Fighter, Mighty Samson and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, plus TV comedy from Mr. Ed, and funny animal antics from Andy Panda, Baby Snoots, Tweety & Sylvester, Woody Woodpecker and scores more!

*Western: Brave Eagle, Dale Evans, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Idaho, Maverick, Restless Gun, Rex Allen, Wagon Train and Zane Grey's To The Last Man - a rootin' tootin' round-up of wranglers and rannies from the Dell corral!

*Tarzan/ERB: John Carter of Mars comics debut in Dell's 4 Color 375, plus a selection of mid-grade 1950's Dell Tarzans, and additions to the Australian version, the UK 1950's Tarzan Adventures and the first issue of 1977's UK Tarzan Weekly with free gift - grab a vine and start swinging through the bargains!

As always, full details of these and all other updates may be viewed in the appropriate sections of our online catalogue.

Posted by Rob | 12:23 p.m. GMT | 13 October 2005

American update - Pre-code horror

New this week in our Horror 1940-1959 section, a panoply of Atlas pre-codes: Journey Into Unknown Worlds, Marvel Tales, Mystic, Strange Tales and Suspense, plus a copy of the notorious Story Comics' Fight Against Crime, Horror and Terror, one of the most infamous titles in the genre.

Posted by Rob | 12:08 p.m. GMT | 13 October 2005

British update - Buster, Sparky, Tracy & Nikki!

Extensive additions to popular titles in this week's British update in the following categories:

*Humour Comics & Picture Libraries: Further lengthy top-ups for Buster from 1978-1989, and Sparky from 1969-1977, refreshing our stock of these fast-selling humour weeklies, plus additions to Oink, Whizzer & Chips and Whoopee.

*Girls' Comics & Picture Libraries:
'Hasten now and come to see
New listings for our chum Tracy!
We love her antics all to bits
But those rhymes don't half get on our... nerves.'
Comprehensive new stock for both Tracy (#2 through to the 'stealth' last issue #277) and Nikki (#1 through to the final #237) probviding a one-stop shopping opportunity to pick up some virtually complete runs of two popular late 1970's/early 1980's titles, featuring tough chix in rough schools, super-girls, plucky war orphans and a small blue budgie (parakeet for our American readers) named Elton. What more could you ask?

Posted by Rob | 12:01 p.m. GMT | 13 October 2005

Exclusive Alan Class signing at 30th Century

Alan Class will be making a personal appearance at our shop on Sunday 27th November 2005 from 2-5pm, to sign copies from his file collection, and to talk about his lengthy career in comics publishing.
Also available will be a limited number of Collector’s Sets – comprising the comic, the four-colour printing plates used to produce that issues’ cover, and one or more proof pages, each with a signed Certificate of Authenticity from Mr. Class himself.

For thirty years, the comics published by Alan Class – Creepy Worlds, Astounding Stories, Secrets of the Unknown, Sinister Tales, Suspense and Uncanny Tales – were part of the landscape of every comics reader growing up in the United Kingdom.
These black & white squarebound compilations, usually 68 pages, gathered together an astonishing array of material from diverse publishers, including ACG, Charlton, Atlas, Tower, Archie’s super-hero line and the early years of the Marvel heroes.
A vintage Lee/Kirby “Big Monster” tale would nestle in next to an adventure of the Jaguar, a handful of Charlton mystery stories, and a 1966 Spider-Man tale, without regard to the original provenance of the stories.
Appreciated by readers, but ignored by collectors as ‘Not the real thing’ for most of their run, the Alan Class reprints were just beginning to be appreciated as economical sources of vintage stories, many pre-distribution, when the last Class titles appeared in 1989.
Once filler for bargain boxes, many Class issues are now highly sought-after, and have become collectibles in their own right, with buyers keen to acquire not only the ‘Big Six’ titles, but the shorter-run science fiction series, Out of this World and Weird Planets, and the experimental runs into other genres such as romance, western and war.
There was speculation about what had happened to Alan Class, which ended earlier this year when a chance encounter in Charing Cross Road’s Comics Showcase led to him being put back into contact with the comics world, and to the sale of his file copies, including early numbers and short-run series, exclusively through Putney’s 30th Century Comics.

Mr. Class will be signing copies available for purchase on the day, but if you have previously bought from his collection and want those copies signed, bring them along and he'll be happy to do so. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, only certificated copies from his private collection can be signed. If you can't make it on the day, but would like to get something signed, that's no problem. Just get in touch with us no later than Saturday 26th November.

Posted by Rob | 11:33 a.m. GMT | 13 October 2005

4 October 2005

British update - Collected Editions & Annuals

A cornucopia of compendia this week, with the following:

*Collected Editions: She's beautiful - and deadly! The Modesty Blaise series of softcover collections from Titan Books continues with four new volumes in this update. The companion James Bond series, by comparison, manages only three new volumes, but make allowances for him being the weaker sex... And the stellar saga of the spaceways goes on, with the hardcover full colour adventures of Dan Dare in the two volume Operation Saturn.

*Annuals: a cacophany of comedy, with updates to Beano, Beezer (from 1963), Broons, Dandy, Dennis the Menace, Knockout (1950's), Sparky, Topper, Whizzer & Chips and Whoopee! Plus: a medley of Film & TV: Daktari, Doctor Who, Flash Gordon, James Bond (1st Annual from 1965), Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan.

Posted by Rob | 05:02 p.m. GMT | 4 October 2005

American update - Marvel & Modern Reprints inc EC, DC Showcase

New to our American listings this week:

*Marvel Comics: A mellifluous mishmash of Marvel-ous memorabilia, with new stock for Astonishing Tales, Daredevil (copies from the Alan Class Private Collection!), Ghost Rider, Invaders, Marvel Premiere, Marvel Team-Up (inc. ND #2), Nicky Fury, Agent of SHIELD (inc. Steranko issues), Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Strange Tales, Tales To Astonish and X-Men.

*Modern Reprints: Additions to Marvel's Masterworks series (Captain Marvel Vol 1) and Essential paperbacks (Ghost Rider Vol 1), and DC striking back with Kamandi Archives Vol 1, and the opening salvo in their new superb value Showcase editions, black and white collections of the Silver Age Green Lantern and Superman , over 500 pages for £6.50! Also, a splendid run of the 1980's full colour magazine-size EC Classics by Russ Cochran in NM, some rare volumes from the Kitchen Sink Batman newspaper strip reprints, a 1978 Wonder Woman paperback featuring seldom-seen 1950's stories, and more!

Posted by Rob | 04:55 p.m. GMT | 4 October 2005

Alan Class Rough Guide - Further Update

As we continue to progress through the remarkable Alan Class Private Collection, we're updating our rough guide to the diverse contents of the Alan Class series. This time, new data has been added for Suspense & Uncanny Tales, the final two of the Alan Class 'Big Six'. Look for the comics listings real soon now!

Posted by Rob | 04:44 p.m. GMT | 4 October 2005