Added to my collection: Hulk 257 and Iron Man 46

I've been busy on ebay the last few weeks and picked up some bargains which have filled some gaps in my collection.

Hulk 257 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema completes a run from 191 to 290. Exactly 100 issues! I suppose I should get 291 -312 which will complete a run upto 444.

Iron Man 46 in VFN condition was a One-Day only sale and I was the only bidder at the starting price of 4.99. Very nice too. For Iron Man I now just need the next issue and I have a run from 44 to 161 which covers the era I'm most interested in for the bronze age. Other earlier issues will be collected via masterworks unless I'm lucky enough to pick them up cheap.

Added to My Collection: Tomb of Dracula

Very pleased to win these two Tomb of Dracula back-issues on ebay last weekend. I little bit more pricey than I would have liked to pay at £4 each but, if you include the trade I bought a few weeks ago, I now have issues 1-63. Just a handful of issues to get and I'll have the complete run to issue 70.

New Trades: Fatale and Morning Glories

Lots of new purchases at the moment - as I'm on leave and my credit card has just "clicked over".

Fatale was a no-brainer considering how much I've enjoyed Brubaker and Phillips's work so far.

Also got Vol 3 of Morning Glories and I'll be reading all three trades next. Despite the fact that I only read vol 1 a few months ago.

Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction

I've just finished reading four hardcover collections of Matt Fractions and Salvadore Larrocca's current Iron Man series. I think this is the only current Marvel title I am reading and the end is in sight for this one too when the creative team leave as part of the Marvel NOW strategy.

The hardcovers were vols 7,8 and 9 with Fear Itself slotting inbetween 8 and 9. Vol 8 featuring Doc Ock was poor but Fear Itself was an improvement. However, I really enjoyed Vol 9 "Demon" with Tony being manipulated by the Mandarin, Stane and Hammer. The story continues in Vol 10 but that hardcover hasn't been published yet.

Hector Umbra

Something a bit different. A 216 page graphic novel in the style of of Hellboy or Constantine by a German writer/arist Uli Osterle.

It was pretty cool. Some great visuals, dialogue and ideas.

A nice change of pace - but now back to the Iron Man hardcovers.

Added to my collection - More Bronze Age goodies

Just added via one ebay purchase 2 more comics to my collection and an upgrade of Marvel Team-Up 84. My old copy was water soaked so it was nice to pick up a FN+ copy for 95p together with Defenders 38 and Two-In-One 86.

The Defenders fills a gap so I now have16-39 except for No. 30. That's a priority. At the time of writing I can't decide if to get some Masterwork editions to get the early issues some of which are quite expensive. No. 10 is approx £40. Too steep for me on this title. All the others I've bought have been about £2.

The 2-in-1 Sandman issue is supposed to be notable due to the fact it goes towards redeeming the Sandman. I know that storyline has now been abandoned but at the time it was popular. I couldn't resist adding this so I could read it even though 2-in-1 beyond issue 75 were not really high one my wants list.

Added to My collection: Marvel Team-Up 37 from Sept 1974

Just purchased this nice FN/VFN copy of Team-up 37 for £1.95 incl. P&P from ebay. Quite a bargain -esp as it was a buy-it-now!

Avengers/FF Annual x-over from 1985

I read these two annuals which I bought from Fantasy World back in 1985 because Bronze Age Babies were doing a review of them on their site and I thought it would be nice to chip in with a comment.

Unfortunately, what with the Olympics and all that, I've only just finished both double size-issues so it's a bit late now. :-)

I thought they were a bit harsh at first, but although it's an interesting experiment to merge the end of the story at the end of each annual, the FF annual in particular was a bit of a mess in terms of script but fantastic with Byrne and Sinnott on art.

Batman in Comics and at the Movies!

Batman Illustrated by Neil Adams Vol 1 arrived on the same day I went to see "The Dark Kinght Rises" at the cinema.

Well pleased to finally get this trade. The paperback version at £10.06 was considerably cheaper than £29.99 hardback version I'd been coverting for some time.

The movie was good. Not as good as "The Dark Knight" but still gripping.