What comics did you buy today?

[Terry]

Yesterday I picked up Roy of the Rovers World Cup Special from The Works down too £2.99 from £12.99.

maybe we should have a generic Works bargain thread on here

[tony ingram]

I haven't bought anything today (skint) but a friend at Broken Frontier.com sent me the hardcover collected edition of Darkie's Mob: the Secret War of Joe Darkie (a review copy, actually; I'll have to put something together later this wek). Still a great series. I gather there are plans for a Rat Pack collection, too.

[alanultron5]

At my local (well, six miles away in the City) second hand bookshop - Dave (The owner) got in a very nice `Dr Who Annual 1970` was £40.00 which he thought might be a bit steep-but I bought it! I had one years ago, but it had to be sold off (With others) on moving house!

Nice to get that one again as its very rare now.

[paw broon]

"The other Commandos ranged from the 1970's (657) to 2000's (4273). I am still on a bit of a high from getting that comic. Plus it was a pleasant bonus to meet Paw Broon and we chatted and pointed out bits that the other may have missed. And I believe he got a few deals that he was pleased with as well. I am so going back there next month!" colcool007

As Colin said, he really was excited about that Commando. It was great meeting him, quite by accident as it happened. He was the first person I bumped into at the ephemera fair and he recognised the accent.
I bought Radio Fun #695, the first Winged Avenger (Falcon) story; a nice Rover from1934 with a cover featured Black Sapper story;Smash with the first Tri-Man story and a couple of Girl's Crystal with the Rebel Four and a few other things.
At the comic mart I bought 3 Dell Gene Autry comics; Masked Raider (Charlton) with lovely PAM art and 3 Gunmaster (Charlton) comics,again with really nice PAM art; Dell Frogmen #12. And between the mart and 30th Century Comics I shelled out for some pocket libraries incl. an Australian Gunsmoke; a WDL Gunlaw; Wonderman (Radar) #22 and a couple of Super Detective Libraries. Plus, some Frew Phantom comics. Great stuff.
It was a really good mart and a good weekend.

[stevezodiac]

I'm glad you found a few things at the ephemera fair. Ken Graham always brings lots of comics as he knows I'll be there. There's another one this Sunday at the National Hotel - its mainly a postcard fair but there is a seperate ephemera section opposite and Ken has his stalls in the postcard fair. I always find something of interest.

[philcom55]

I kind of liked Gunmaster (and Bullet the Gun Boy). Hardly anyone remembers it now but I tend to think of it as an unacknowledged 'Action Hero' series along with Peacemaker, Fightin' 5, Peter Cannon Thunderbolt, Judomaster, Sarge Steel and the redesigned Captain Atom and Blue Beetle. Group Editor Dick Giordano turned Charlton into a real contender for a short while there before he finally got poached by DC.

- Phil Rushton

[paw broon]

Yes, you're correct, Phil. Gunmaster was a genuine action hero and can be considered a genuine masked mystery man, secret i/d, mask,costume. When drawn by PAM, he looked really good. Unfortunately other artists such as Fraccio were not up to that standard. Interesting that one of my favourite costumed heroes is Thunderbolt. Probably because he was also drawn by PAM and, later, Boyette. I love all those Charlton characters and it's a shame that they couldn't keep up. Mind you, the stories could be very simplistic and the production values were awful at times. But there is something about the line that is rather endearing

[stevezodiac]

I am a big fan of Charlton comics and have vivid memories of buying Outlaws Of The West and the Cheyenne Kid from newsagents in the late 60s. Have most of their mystery titles almost all of which have a Ditko story. Don Newton started at Charlton.

[Raven]

I bought a Girl Annual No. 2 from a market stall, which I think is from 1953, but it had the penned in name and address of a girl from Wythenshawe, Manchester, dated, by her, 1969, which is presumably when *she* owned it.

The interesting thing is that she's used the two blank front papers for 'AUTOGRAPHS' and there are quite a range of sporting signatures, including George Best, Bobby Charlton, Matt Busby, David Sadler, Jimmy Greaves, Denis Law, Ian St. John, Pat Jennings, Billy Bremner, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Moore, Alan Ball, Francis Lee and others. They do look like a range of adult signatures in different handwriting styles, and it's reasonable to assume that if she lived in South Manchester she may well have got to meet the Manchester United and City stars, etc. back then. What made me wonder about their authenticity is that the signature of 'Steve Highway' seems to be spelt wrong - it should be 'Heighway'; but then the H does have a big loop at the top, which could be a rushed 'e'.

I thought it was worth spending £2 on!

[Phoenix]

As promised, I finally got round to buying some issues of Valiant yesterday, in particular to sample the football serial Raven On The Wing. These were recommended on a different thread some months ago by Phil Rushton and, possibly inevitably, Raven. I bought 21 issues in Fine condition between March 30 1968 and December 14th 1968 from 30th Century Comics for £75 the lot. If I like them, I may buy some from 1969 on my next visit to London.

[tony ingram]

Yes, you're correct, Phil. Gunmaster was a genuine action hero and can be considered a genuine masked mystery man, secret i/d, mask,costume. When drawn by PAM, he looked really good. Unfortunately other artists such as Fraccio were not up to that standard. Interesting that one of my favourite costumed heroes is Thunderbolt. Probably because he was also drawn by PAM and, later, Boyette. I love all those Charlton characters and it's a shame that they couldn't keep up. Mind you, the stories could be very simplistic and the production values were awful at times. But there is something about the line that is rather endearing

I loved Thunderbolt and the rest, but also the less remembered backup strips like the Sentinels. Sadly, DC appear not to have acquired the rights to them so they haven't appeared since, as far as I know (maybe the ever elusive Roger Broughton nabbed the rights?).

Regarding the production values: I always thought part of the charm of the Action Heroes line was the..er..unique presentation, particularly the blocky lettering credited to 'A. Machine'.

[Phoenix]

Waiting for me on my return home were Martin Barker's A Haunt Of Fears and British Comics - A Cultural History by James Chapman. I don't know how far I can trust the latter, given that the author claims, on two different pages, that the creator of Alf Tupper, Wilson and Matt Braddock was Gilbert Dawson, rather than Gilbert Dalton, but hopefully he will prove to be more accurate on more important issues. Either way, along with the Valiants I have plenty to read now so it should keep me quiet for a while. It probably won't, though.

[stevezodiac]

Here's Steve Heighway's signature (next to his printed name) from a Crystal Palace programmes I picked up a few years ago. Also Kevin Keegan's is here.

[big bad bri]

I got the free preview of comic football , its more beano than roy of the rovers but it was still quite good,Its a shame its finished & should have appeared in shops or comic shops.I'm surprised they still sent it out to me though as i thought i would try after looking on the website last week after reading comments about it.

[Raven]

Here's Steve Heighway's signature (next to his printed name) from a Crystal Palace programmes I picked up a few years ago. Also Kevin Keegan's is here.

Thanks. The one in the book is nothing like this (or the ones I checked online) and it's the one I most suspect to have been done by the girl who owned the annual. There are a few others, too - though it may be a mix of a few genuine autographs (which look written by different hands) and a few 'wish list' ones that she's done herself.