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United Comics 24 
Great early Peanuts.

Just got this book in from Bob Storms of HighGradeComics. It is a VG copy of a very rare book. Printed in 1953 it is the first comic book to be titled Peanuts. 
I will add pictures of the interior to document the sweet Chuck Brown stories. I have owned several copies of this book over the years and ended up selling a few to people in Japan, years ago. While maybe not an iconic cover, the characters certainly are. I think the girl is a character called "Patty" but not to be confused with Peppermint Patty or the "Red-haired girl' that came later. 

Archie Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the Archie UK Price Variants (UKPVs) that I have found hiding between the cover dates of March 1960 to August 1960.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
         
The Headlines
Archie UK Price Variants have been found to exist between the cover dates of March 1960 to August 1960 inclusive. Across those cover dates, a total of 54 cents priced comics exist spanning 16 titles. At the time of writing, 26 of them have a matching single printed price UKPV confirmed spanning 11 of the 16 overall titles The first known Archie UKPV is, appropriately enough, Archie #108 priced at 9d. This book is not only the only known March 1960 cover dated Archie UKPV, but the earliest known UK Price Variant of any of the seven known pence producing US publishers (Archie, Charlton, DC, Dell, Gold Key, King, Marvel). It may be the only March dated Archie UKPV because it was the last to be printed according to the 'on-sale' / Library of Congress dates that can be found on Mike's Comic Newsstand website. Here are the March applicable issues, plotted by production date:
You can see how the instruction to produce a 9d book might have hit the printers some time after January the 18th. If this theory is correct, we may never see a UKPV for the other March dated books.  The last known UKPV copies are Archie’s Pal Jughead #63 and Laugh #113, both cover dated August 1960 and also priced at 9d. I plotted the titles for the final months using their 'on sale' dates, and found no meaningful pattern. Consequently, the others August cover dated books may exist.  Of the 16 titles in scope, the following 11 titles have one or more UK Price Variant confirmed:
At the time of writing, no UK Price Variants have been found for the remaining 5 eligible titles:
I haven't found any UKPVs for giant 25c issues after four years of looking, so it's reasonable to assume that they were excluded from the UKPV experiment. The two remaining 10c titles, Jughead's Fantasy and Life With Archie, could have a UKPV hiding out there somewhere.
All 26 issues have a printed cover price of 9d (nine pre-decimal English pence) in place of their US counterpart's 10c price:  
Only one pence copy may turn out to exist for the three ‘adventure’ titles of Adventures of Pipsqueak, Adventures of Super Duck and Adventures of The Fly, each of which currently have only one UKPV each confirmed. Adventures of The Fly #6 has surfaced multiple times as a pence priced copy but no pence copies have ever been seen to date for issues #5 and 7. It is not currently known who was responsible for distributing Archie Comics in the UK and copies have been found to exist with both ‘L Miller & Co’ and ‘Thorpe & Porter’ price stamps in evidence. My research here indicates that Thorpe & Porter were the more likely of the two Happy hunting, if you decide to try and build a set! 
By Stephen Cranch based on v2.0 of the ‘Archie Comics – UK Price Variant Summary’ 
 
Here are eleven 9d cover examples - one from each known title 
    
    
    
  

The grade is in and the experiment is now fully complete - I am officially a conservation nerd!

CGC correctly flagged the married cover as well as all the work done - and all of that passed the test in order to get a Conserved grade of 3.0! This is honestly slightly higher than I was expecting (my initial estimate was 2.5 at most), and even the White pages is an amazing cherry on top.

How it started:  0.5 incomplete, its life is in shambles. 
How it's going:  3.0 conserved, ballin' with white pages.  



 

Books are on display usually between 2-4 days. My bedroom faces south and gets a lot of sunlight but nothing directly onto the display. 

United Comics - 23

United Comics 22 from May-June 1952 and it should be the 4th appearance in a comic book.

What's that you say? The mystery of the Harvey 15c variants, you say? Never heard of them!
Well, I certainly hadn't until last year when, whilst researching the distribution of Harvey comics in the UK by our old friends L Miller & Co, I happened across a book on eBay proclaiming an unexpected cover price. "Oh", I thought, "I didn't know there were price variants for these?", and I started Googleating. I like to think I'm quite good at Googleating now, after years of scouring online for variants, but I couldn't find anything about them. Not one reference, one comment, one loving blog column - nothing. And not one copy on the GCD either, or in any of the usual comic places (including here). Odd.
More in depth Googling ensued until I finally found one reference in a wonderful book called 'The Harvey Comics Companion' by Mark Arnold, which I duly purchased.
Here's what it had to say, on page 411: "These (Hot Stuff #110, 111 and Little Dot #143) are the only Harvey books known to have these variants":
  
"Blimey" I thought, "Only three examples? These are rare", so I started looking for them. Oddly, given the obvious pedigree of Mr Arnold, I soon found quite a few more than the three listed and I thought "Aye, aye, I'm on to something here...."
Fast forward a year or so and not only have I found a whopping 26 examples, but I've also, I think, established why they exist. That doesn't happen often - the what and the why. And happily, given my UK credentials, I think they exist because we - The UK - exist. I'm going to drop Mark Arnold a line shortly, to let him know what more I've found and it will either be a pleasant surprise for him or he's been keeping updates quiet for the next volume of the Harvey Companion (go buy it by the way, it's brilliant). Mark, if you're reading, Hello 
Anyway, Harvey 15c price variants exist for at least 26 books dated between April and October 1972. Amazing really, to be posting this information, in depth, for what appears to be the first time, when the books themselves are 50 years old this very year. Happy Birthday, books.
Here's a nice looking example, with its 20c regular US copy alongside it:
  
Cracking cover, isn't it. And notice how Harvey always chopped the code off?  
Read on, if you're interested, for the full fifteen cent variation low down!

Hello, friends! I've made a couple new videos I thought you might enjoy.
 
First, here's a look at the revolutionary storyline science fiction grandmaster Samuel R. Delany had planned for Wonder Woman, and how it got abruptly cancelled by DC after just one issue thanks to some very unexpected and highly ironic political interference:
 
And here's a look at some of the back issues I've been buying as retail therapy during the quarantine. This is part one of what looks like could be an infinite part series, as I've got a ton of other books still en route from ebay and the boards here:
 

Call this a rant, if you like. Crom and Mitra, but I'm seeing stupid prices on things and it's dam irritating!  Books a little nicer than normal...books I turned my nose up on a couple of decades ago...cost as much as I'm willing to spend on a used car for my soon to be college student daughter.  I just don't know that I can enjoy tying that much money up into something that isn't really the very best and/or that I don't find captivating.  Kudos to you guys who got in early and avoided the temptation to sell over the years.   I really do love books with a vintage look to them.  But I can't afford vintage anymore...especially in light of other things I can buy with that money.
I'm having a hard time with the fact that spending $100 can buy me something absolutely beautiful and interesting in other collecting genres, such as vintage video games, but $100 might get me a first appearance of Spidey's black costume in an acceptable grade. Puleez!  I just can't get excited about that...it doesn't move me and it's not rare.  I want rare, beautiful, interesting things.  There comes a point where I refuse to pay big dollars, not even to buy the gems, but (to extend an analogy) not even to buy the agates or the slightly prettier stones.  I feel bad about all of the nice books I sold in the past, and the rising prices continually remind me of those mistakes...this stuff is supposed to be fun, right?  (not jog bad feelings)
I'm just saying I can have fun going to flea markets and actually finding other kinds of collectibles.  But if I want something remotely interesting in the comic book genre, I have to buy it from a wall at a show.  There's nothing in the wild of interest unless I have the luck of a lottery winner.  Tired of that.
On the bright side, I'm still here. I do love my Conans, and I have a head start on a nicer set of those (I have the keys), so I guess that's what I'll pursue moving forward.  I know that the money I spend on them won't be wasted because people collect Conan for the love of the series, not because he's going to be in a movie soon, so maybe if a crash ever comes, they won't take a hit.  Holographic covers, anyone?  And that Barry Smith Artwork looks so freakin' good!  Yeah, that'll be my fix for comics, other than reading low grade good bronze stuff.  And best of all, I won't look at my collection, constantly wondering if I should sell, or not enjoying them because I have so much money tied up on them when I have kids needing school books.
So I'll buy Conans and retro video games.  Because they are cool and still cheap.  I'll be an early adopter in that genre, I guess...
 

Marvel Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the Marvel UK Price Variants that I have discovered hiding between the dates of May 1960 and December 1981 inclusive.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
         
In April 2019, CGC changed their labels from "UK Edition" to the more appropriate "UK Price Variant" for these first printing books. You can see their official confirmation of this here 
Meanwhile, here is an up to date summary of what I have discovered so far, which I hope you will find interesting.
The Headlines
Marvel UK Price Variants (UKPVs) have been found to exist between the cover dates of May 1960 to December 1981 inclusive. Across those cover dates, a total of 6,744 cents priced comics exist spanning 260 titles. At the time of writing, 3,023 of them have a matching single printed price UKPV confirmed spanning 119 of the 260 overall titles. The comics are believed to have been printed at the same time and in the same location as their US cents priced counterparts, but with pence only printed cover prices and, in the early years, regional UK indicias. There is currently no evidence to determine which books were printed first – cents or pence – or indeed whether they alternated (Matt Nelson of CGC has taken up the challenge of trying to establish the sequence, having noted page quality differences between pence and cents copies). The first Marvel UKPVs known are Gunsmoke Western #58 and Journey into Mystery #58 cover dated May 1960. No pence copies dated prior to May 1960 have been found: Gunsmoke Western #58 (with a regional L Miller & Co indicia) Journey into Mystery #58 (with a regional Thorpe & Porter indicia) The last UKPVs are cover dated December 1981. From January 1982, Marvel introduced dual cents / pence pricing for all their Direct Editions, effectively ending the existence of UK Price Variants for Marvel (Newsstand Editions remained cents only priced). No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated December 1964 to July 1965 inclusive. Most monthly titles have a 9 or 10 issue gap around these dates, potentially due to shipping strikes. Almost every title which crosses the cover dates of October 1966 to December 1966 has a two issue pence gap. This may explain why Amazing Spider-Man completists haven’t found #42 and #43 yet - they probably don’t exist.Ditto Avengers 33/34, Daredevil 21/22, Fantastic Four 56/57, Sgt Fury 35/36, Tales to Astonish 85/86. However, Strange Tales only misses one issue (#151) as does Tales of Suspense (#84). Two-Gun Kid has all issues as pence copies but as a bi-monthly title you can see there may have been a missing issue had it been monthly. No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated December 1967 to March 1969 inclusive – a 16 issue gap. No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated April 1974 to July 1974 inclusive. This 4 issue gap coincides with the transition from 6p to 7p. No UKPVs have been found for comics cover dated February 1981 to March 1981 inclusive. This 2 issue gap coincides with the transition from 15p to 20p. Many single issues do not appear to exist when the issue was double sized, e.g. Avengers #200, Astonishing Tales #8, Ghost Rider #50, The Invaders #41, Thor #300, X-Men #137 No UKPVs have been found for the ‘Giant Size’ titles of 1974 and 1975 (72 issues across 28 titles). Only 5 annuals have been found with pence only printed copies, all cover dated 1965 (Amazing Spider-Man #2, Fantastic Four #3, Journey into Mystery #1, Marvel Tales #2, Sgt Fury #1). A further 96 issues exist without UKPVs across 32 titles. All UKPVs were requested by and distributed in the UK by Thorpe and Porter. The only known exceptions are the following 9d cover priced issues which were exclusively distributed by L Miller & Co (Thorpe & Porter took over these three titles from September 1961, becoming the sole distributor for Marvel comics in the UK from this point): Gunsmoke Western #58 and 59 Rawhide Kid #17 Two-Gun Kid #54 and 55 The following pence prices exist: 9d, 10d, 1/- (one shilling), 6p, 7p, 8p, 9p, 10p, 12p, 15p, 20p, 30p and 40p. No other cover prices exist. In November 1971, UK cover prices changed from ‘old money’ to new as a result of decimalisation. Accordingly, UK copies changed from a one shilling price (1/-) to the modern pence price. The November 1971 US issues of the time were mostly one off 25c over sized issues and ten pence priced copies are known to exist. Of those ten, six were priced at 8p and four were priced at what would become the standard price of 6p. Despite better reflecting the increased content of the oversized issues, the 8p price appears to have been a mistake as many UK copies can be found with a standardised 6p sticker covering the 8p printed price: Amazing Adventures #9, 6p Amazing Spider-Man #102, 8p Avengers #93, 8p Conan The Barbarian #11, 6p Daredevil #81, 8p Fantastic Four #116, 6p Incredible Hulk #145, 8p Sub-Mariner #43, 8p Thor #193, 8p Where Monsters Dwell #12, 6p As well as the 3,022 ‘regular sized’ comics, 23 Treasury Sized Editions exist with 50p and 75p cover prices (see my discussion thread for the full list). A handful of magazine titles also exist. Marvel UK Price Variants differ from those of other publishers in as much as they have a number of printed differences between the pence and cents copies, and those differences vary throughout the UKPV production period. Early books have missing cover months, regional UK indicias and, of course, pence cover prices. Later in the run, the cover mastheads were amended to 'Marvel All-Colour Comics' to inform the UK audience that these books were indeed printed in colour (many UK reprints were not). I have covered every known difference in the discussion thread. So, only 3,023 books to collect if you want the set. Marvel have the most price variants of any publisher by far and I feel they are the most interesting to study with so many quirks and variations to track. I believe that there are no more UKPV books to be discovered, based on my research into regional indicias and US price fonts. Only time will tell if I'm right.
Happy hunting, if you decide to build a set!
13/03/21
By Stephen Cranch based on v5.1 of the ‘Marvel Comics – UK Price Variants Summary’
 
Confirmed UK Price Variant Titles / Issues             Title Confirmed UKPV Issues Total    Title Count         2001: A Space Odyssey 1-10 10 1 Amazing Adult Fantasy 7-14 8 1 Amazing Adventures  5-6 2 1 Amazing Adventures 2nd Series 3-22, 26-39 34 1 Amazing Fantasy 15 1 1 Amazing Spider-Man 1-17, 28-41, 44-54, 71-120, 215-223 101 1 Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2 1 1 Astonishing Tales 2-7, 9-22, 25-36 32 1 The Avengers 1-8, 19-32, 35-45, 63-120, 153-182, 184-199, 201-203, 206-214 149 1 Battle 70 1 1 Battlestar Galactica 2, 9, 19 3 1 Black Goliath 1-5 5 1 Black Panther 1, 7-15 10 1 Captain America 159-171, 176-253, 256-264 100 1 Captain Marvel 12-21, 25-30, 34-48, 53-62 41 1 Chamber of Chills 19, 20, 22, 25 4 1 Chamber of Darkness 6-8 3 1 The Champions 1-12 12 1 Conan The Barbarian 11-35, 41-53, 57-81, 121-129 72 1 Creatures On The Loose 31-37 7 1 Crypt of Shadows 21 1 1 Daredevil 1-3, 9-20, 23-33, 51-108, 112-149, 151-160, 163-168, 170-177 146 1 Dazzler 2-10 9 1 Dead Of Night 10 1 1 Defenders 4-7, 9, 11-12, 15-54, 71-91, 94-102 77 1 Doctor Strange 4-21, 25-34, 46-50 33 1 The Eternals 1-18 18 1 Fantastic Four 1-31, 42-55, 58-68, 85-143, 149-175, 177-189, 212, 229-237 165 1 Fantastic Four Annual 3 1 1 Fantasy Masterpieces 1-2 2 1 Fear (Adventure Into) 23-31 9 1 Frankenstein 12-18 7 1 The Ghost Rider 1-6 6 1 Ghost Rider 1-4, 7, 9-19, 22, 36, 39-49, 51-52, 55-63 40 1 Gunsmoke Western 58, 59, 66-77 14 1 Howard The Duck 1-26 26 1 The Human Fly 1-19 19 1 The Human Torch 8 1 1 Incredible Hulk 1-6, 114-152, 161-166, 258-266 60 1 The Inhumans 1-9 9 1 The Invaders 3-40 38 1 Iron Fist 3-7 5 1 Iron Man 12-42, 47-66, 69, 71-111, 122-142, 145, 147-153 122 1 John Carter Warlord Of Mars 24-28 5 1 Journey Into Mystery 58-60, 62-109, 119-125 58 1 Journey Into Mystery Annual 1 1 1 Journey Into Mystery 2nd Series 8, 9, 12-18 9 1 Jungle Action 11-23 13 1 Ka-Zar, Lord Of The Hidden Jungle 5-18 14 1 Ka-Zar The Savage 1-9 9 1 Kid Colt Outlaw 91, 95-119, 124-129, 133-137 37 1 Kull The Conqueror / Destroyer 7-11, 18 6 1 Logans Run 1-7 7 1 Luke Cage / Power Man & Iron Fist 20-57, 65-66, 68-76 49 1 Machine Man 10-18 9 1 Man-Thing 8-22 15 1 Man-Thing 2nd Series 1, 6 2 1 Marvel Chillers 1-5 5 1 Marvel Classics Comics 5, 7, 9-36 30 1 Marvel Double Feature  10 1 1 Marvel Feature (2nd Series) Feat. Red Sonja 2-7 6 1 Marvel Premiere 22, 24, 26-34, 37-57, 59-61 35 1 Marvel Presents:  1-9 9 1 Marvel Spotlight 8-13, 17, 26-31 13 1 Marvel Spotlight (Volume 2) 1-7, 9-10 9 1 Marvel Super Action 30-37 8 1 Marvel Super Heroes 72, 80, 103, 104 4 1 Marvel Tales 104, 126-134 10 1 Marvel Tales Annual 2 1 1 Marvel Team-Up 24-37, 39-80, 82-99, 101, 111-112 77 1 Marvel Triple Action 28, 30, 32, 43-47 8 1 Marvel Two-in-One 11-71, 74-82 70 1 Marvel's Greatest Comics 68, 93 2 1 Master Of Kung Fu 36-96, 99-107 70 1 The Micronauts 28-36 9 1 Monsters on the Prowl 9-12, 15-16 6 1 Moon Knight 1-3, 6-14 12 1 Ms. Marvel 1-23 23 1 My Girl Pearl 7 1 1 Night Rider 5 1 1 Not Brand Echh 1 1 1 The Man Called Nova 1-16, 20-24 21 1 Omega The Unknown 1-6 6 1 Patsy And Hedy 70-71 2 1 Patsy Walker 89 1 1 Rawhide Kid 17, 24-42, 48-54, 56-60, 151 33 1 Red Sonja 1, 7-14 9 1 ROM Space Knight 1-3, 17-22, 24-25 11 1 Sgt. Fury And His Howling Commandos 1-10, 21-34, 37-47, 107-117, 128, 132, 152, 163-167 54 1 Sgt. Fury And His Howling Commandos Annual 1 1 1 She-Hulk, The Savage 9-10, 15-23 11 1 Shogun Warriors 4-20 17 1 The Silver Surfer 11-18 8 1 Skull The Slayer 2-8 7 1 Son Of Satan 1-4 4 1 (Peter Parker) The Spectacular Spider-Man 1, 53-61 10 1 Spider-Woman 5-34, 37, 38, 40, 41 34 1 Star Trek 13, 14, 16, 17 4 1 Star Wars 2-5 4 1 Strange Tales 75-77, 79-125, 136-150, 152-162, 175-187,  89 1 Sub-Mariner 12-69 58 1 Super Natural Thrillers 13, 15 2 1 Super-Villain Team-Up 3-9 7 1 Tales of Suspense 10, 13-58, 69-83, 85-95 73 1 Tales To Astonish Volume 1 10, 14-61, 71-84, 87-97 74 1 Tales To Astonish Volume 2 4-14 11 1 Tarzan 24-29 6 1 Thor 126-132, 135-146, 163-221, 226-282, 285-299, 301-303, 306-314 162 1 Tomb Of Darkness  10-20, 23 12 1 Tomb of Dracula 7-18, 23-28, 55-62 26 1 Two-Gun Kid 54-55, 60-72, 77-90 29 1 Vault Of Evil 23 1 1 Warlock 4-5, 9-15 9 1 Weird Wonder Tales 5-11 7 1 Werewolf By Night 6-14, 20-39, 41 30 1 Where Monsters Dwell 3-23, 25-27, 30, 32-37 31 1 Worlds Unknown 8 1 1 Wyatt Earp 29 1 1 Uncanny X-Men 1-7, 13-24, 27-37, 55-66, 73-86, 89-93, 96-101, 108-120, 123-136, 138-141, 144-152 107 1                   Confirmed UKPV Total:              3,023               Title Total: 119  
Titles With No UK Price Variant Issues Produced / Confirmed     Title Title Count     A Date With Millie 1 Adventures On The Planet Of The Apes 1 Amazing Adventures Feat. X-Men 1 America's Best TV Comics 1 ARRGH! 1 Beware! 1 Captain Savage 1 The Cat 1 Chili 1 Combat Kelly & The Deadly Dozen 1 Crazy 1 The Deep 1 Dennis The Menace 1 Devil Dinosaur 1 Doc Savage 1 Doctor Strange (1st Series) 1 Dragonslayer 1 Dynomutt 1 Fantasy Masterpieces (2nd Series) 1 The Flintstones 1 For Your Eyes Only 1 Francis, Brother Of The Universe 1 Fun & Games Magazine 1 Giant Size.. Titles (See separate tab) 28 Godzilla 1 Groovy 1 Gunhawks 1 Gun-Slinger 1 Harvey 1 Homer The Happy Ghost 1 Iron Man & Sub-Mariner 1 Island of Dr. Moreau 1 Kathy 1 Ka-Zar (1st Series) 1 King Conan 1 Laff-A-Lympics 1 Life With Millie 1 Li'l Kids 1 Li'l Pals 1 Linda Carter, Student Nurse 1 Love Romances 1 Mad About Millie 1 Man From Atlantis 1 Marvel Adventure Featuring Daredevil 1 Marvel Collector's Item Classics 1 Marvel Feature  1 Marvel Spectacular 1 Mighty Marvel Western 1 Millie The Model 1 Modeling With Millie 1 My Love 1 My Own Romance 1 Nick Fury Agent Of Shield 1 Night Nurse 1 Our Love Story 1 The Outlaw Kid 1 Patsy Walker's Fashion Parade 1 Peter The Little Pest / Petey 1 Raiders Of The Lost Ark 1 Red Wolf 1 Ringo Kid 1 Scooby-Doo 1 Shanna The She-Devil 1 S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury And His Agents Of  1 Special Marvel Edition 1 Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends 1 Spidey Super Stories 1 Spoof 1 Spotlight (Hannah-Barbera) 1 Tales of Asgard 1 Teen-Age Romance 1 Tower Of Shadows 1 TV Stars, Hanna-Barbera 1 Uncanny Tales (From The Grave) 1 War Is Hell 1 Western Gunfighters 1 Western Kid 1 Western Team-Up 1 What If? 1 Where Creatures Roam 1 Yogi Bear 1 Annual.. Titles (See separate tab) 32     Title Total:  140  

 


 

 
 

King Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the King Comics UK Price Variants (UKPVs) that I have found hiding between the dates of August 1967 and November 1967 inclusive.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
          
The Headlines
King Comics UK Price Variants have been found to exist between the indicia dates of August 1967 to November 1967 inclusive (King Comics for this period have no cover months). Across those indicia dates, a total of 24 cents priced comics exist spanning 6 titles. All 24 of them have a matching single printed price UKPV confirmed. All 24 UK Price Variants are priced at 10d - on some issues, the US 12c price is still visible behind the UK price, indicating that they were likely overprinted at the end of the US run. The title Jungle Jim commences with issue #5, is cover dated December 1967, and therefore misses the UKPV date range by one month. Its cover date of December 1967 also coincides with the move from 12c to 15c for US priced editions and may have a bearing on why the pence copies ceased. All UKPV copies are standard sized issues and no ‘oversize’ copies exist e.g. double size, giant sized or annuals. The only difference between a pence priced UKPV and its cents priced equivalent is the cover price. Unlike, say, Marvel UKPVs, no other elements differ for King Comics books and the indicias are the same in both editions. This is true of every copy I have found so far. It is not currently known who was responsible for distributing King Comics Comics in the UK. I have not personally seen any copies which betray branded UK distributor marks around the UKPV period, or any 'smoking gun' evidence to indicate who it may have been. Some of the issues for the lesser known titles are extremely scarce, so happy hunting if you decide to build a set!
By Stephen Cranch based on v1.8 of the ‘King Comics – UK Price Variant Summary’

 

 

 
Here are six cover examples - one from each known title 
  
  
       
 

Gold Key Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the Gold Key UK Price Variants (UKPVs) that I have found hiding between the dates of March 1973 and November 1975 inclusive.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
            
The Headlines
Gold Key UK Price Variants have been found to exist between the cover dates of March 1973 to November 1975 inclusive. The total number of cents priced comic titles existing across those dates are too numerous to list – the salient point is that only 8 titles have pence copies. At the time of writing, 122 single printed price UKPVs are confirmed across those 8 titles. The first known Gold Key UKPV copies are Pink Panther #11 and Tweety and Sylvester #69 cover / indicia dated March 1973 and priced at 6p. The last known UKPV copies are Pink Panther #30, Star Trek #35 and Tweety & Sylvester #51, all cover / indicia dated November 1975 and priced at 8p. Of the scores of titles in scope, only the following 8 are confirmed as having one or more UK Price Variant (the eligible issue numbers are shown in brackets): Beep Beep the Road Runner (#35-54) Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery (#46-64) Pink Panther (#11-30) Ripley’s Believe it or Not! (#39-58) Star Trek (#18-35) Tom and Jerry (#270-300) Tweety and Sylvester (#29-51) Yosemite Sam (#13-32) All UKPVs are priced at either: 6p - cover dates March 1973 to June 1974 inclusive 7p - cover dates July 1974 to July 1975 inclusive 8p - cover dates August 1975 to November 1975 inclusive All known UKPVs are standard sized issues and no ‘oversize’ copies are known to exist e.g. double size, giant sized or annuals. As a rule, only difference between a pence priced Gold Key UKPV and its cents priced equivalent is the cover price - the indicias and all other aspects are the same in both editions. The only exception to this is for the following UKPV issues which are missing the ‘16 Page Fun Catalogs’ that can be found in their US cents priced equivalent issues. The UKPV covers are also missing the ‘Fun Catalog’ cover wording and have masthead banners noting the comic title instead where applicable (or a missing bottom corner cover blurb in the case of Boris Karloff #58). The eight affected UKPV issues are: Beep Beep the Road Runner #40 & 47 Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #51 & 58 Ripley’s Believe it or Not! #44 & 51 Yosemite Sam #18 & 25 For the title Tom and Jerry, only seven consecutive UKPV issues have been found (#270 to 276) despite the title having eligible issues up to and including issue #300. It is possible that pence copies ceased with issue #276, dated November 1973, so as not to clash with an existing UK produced comic titled ‘Tom and Jerry Weekly’ (first issue dated October 1973). The total, continuing absence of UKPV issues between #277 and #300 seems to support this theory. Given the popularity of the TV show and films, the title Star Trek has been researched at length by various collectors over the years and the list of missing UKPV issues is widely accepted as being accurate. Consequently, UKPV copies are not expected to exist for issues #21, 24, 27, 30, 32 and 34. This shows that the distributor was clearly happy to miss issues and it therefore follows that the missing issues for the other seven titles may be permanent / by design. Six of the 8 titles have ‘one on, one off’ gaps towards the end of their UKPV runs where pence issues are absent over an eight consecutive month period. For example, Beep Beep the Road Runner has the following pattern: Apr - #49 – 7p May – no issue this month Jun - #50 – 7p Jul - #51 – no pence copy found Aug - #52 – 8p Sep – #53 – no pence copy found Oct – #54 – 8p Nov – no issue this month The ‘on / off’ pattern appears to exist by design with only the Star Trek title breaking the pattern (Tom & Jerry has no UKPV issues in the date range so is out of scope). See the illustration below showing each title’s end of UKPV run gaps, and also the detailed explanation in the discussion thread (here):
I believe Williams Publishing were responsible for distributing Gold Key Comics in the UK. Whilst there is no direct printed evidence to support this on / in the comics themselves, a number of UK fanzines of the time state that to be the case and they are the logical candidate based on their publishing history. A number of copies exist just prior to the printed UKPV dates which have ‘official’ looking 6p price stickers on them, which mirror the eventual printed price font, indicating that Williams may have started this way prior to requesting printed priced copies.
Happy hunting, if you decide to build a set!
18/02/21
By Stephen Cranch based on v2.9 of the ‘Gold Key Comics – UK Price Variant Summary’
 

 
 
 
Here are eight cover examples - one from each known title 
 
  
  
 

Dell Comics - UK Price Variants
Hello Reader 
Here is a summary of the Dell UK Price Variants (UKPVs) that I have found hiding between the dates of April 1960 and July 1961 inclusive.
UK Price Variants were printed in the USA at the same time as their cents priced counterparts. They are part of the same first printing run and are not reprints. If you would like to know more about them, please click the picture below and you'll be magically transported to the Archie discussion thread in which we talk about them in more detail:
        
The Headlines
Dell comics are unique among the seven known UKPV producing publishers in respect of their cover / indicia month format – often, Dell books are dated with multiple months rather than a single month as is the case with Archie, Charlton, DC, Gold Key, King and Marvel. For the purposes of my research, where titles are cover / indicia dated with multiple months (e.g. May-July) the first month is recorded as the cover date. Dell UK Price Variants have been found to exist between the cover dates of April 1960 to July 1961 inclusive. Across those cover dates, a total of 421 cents priced comics exist spanning the 40 titles for which one or more UKPVs has been confirmed. At the time of writing, 223 of them have a matching single printed price UKPV confirmed. Within the 40 titles which have at least one UKPV book confirmed, Dell Giant and Four Color represent one title each. At the time of writing, no UK Price Variants have been found for the following 15 titles which exist in the UKPV date range: Beep Beep, The Road Runner Beetle Bailey Carl Anderson's Henry Comic Album Daffy Duck  Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan  Little Iodine Marge's Little Lulu  Marge's Tubby Nancy and Sluggo  New Terrytoons Peanuts Popeye  Tip Top Comics  Walter Lantz Woody Woodpecker The earliest Dell UKPV books I have found are cover dated April 1960, priced at 9d. 16 ongoing titles and a further 3 Four Color issues currently share this honour (18 books in total). Three books are currently tied as being the final dated UKPV books, dated July 1961. They are Have Gun Will Travel #10, Wagon Train #10 and the Four Color #1205 (titled David and Goliath). Four Color #1236, titled King of Kings, is indicia dated 1961 making it difficult to place. It is believed to have hit the newsstands in September 1961. 69 of a possible 150 Four Colors have been found (150 being based on issues #1087 to #1236). Most of the current UKPV gaps are expected to be by design, especially towards the later dated issues. Peter Gun (#1087) is the first known copy indicia dated April-June 1960. The King of Kings (#1236) – the first UKPV after a 30 numerical issue break – is indicia dated 1961 and is believed to be the last sequential Four Color UKPV copy. 10 of a possible 17 Dell Giants have been found. Bugs Bunny Beach Party (#32) is the first known copy indicia dated August 1960 and The Flintstones Bedrock Bedlam (#48) indicia dated 1961 is currently the last known UKPV copy. All 10 copies are priced at 2/-. I have found only three UK cover prices on Dell books. The ‘regular’ size titles change from 9d to 1/- during the cover months of February and March 1961. The Dell Giant oversize issues are all priced at 2/-.  The three known cover prices are: 9d (nine pre-decimal old pence) 1/- (one shilling)   2/- (two shillings) for the Dell Giant books The majority of UKPVs are 'dual priced', i.e. the UK versions have both US and UK prices on them. The US versions have, of course, only the US price (sometimes printed twice!). The only difference between a pence priced UKPV and its cents priced equivalent is the cover price. Unlike, say, Marvel UKPVs, no other elements differ for Dell books and the indicias are the same in both editions. This is true of every copy I have found so far. My research shows that a potential maximum of 421 UKPV copies may exist based on the current known appearance dates. However, a number of the gaps in which no pence books have been found are clearly there by design, making the likely eventual UKPV total much lower. I believe the final figure will be 223. The Dell UKPVs were distributed in the UK by World Distributors limited - see here for confirmation and the self explanatory back cover ads below (click to enlarge):
 
Happy hunting, if you decide to build a set!
By Stephen Cranch based on v4.1 of the ‘Dell Comics – UK Price Variant Summary’
 
Confirmed UK Price Variant Titles / Issues               Title Possible UKPV Number Range* Confirmed UKPV Numbers              Total         Adventures of Mighty Mouse, The 146-151 146, 147, 148 3 Andy Panda (Walter Lantz) 50-54 50-51 2 Bat Masterson 3-7 3-7 5 Bugs Bunny 72-79 72-75 4 Cheyenne 15-22 15-18 4 Colt .45 5-9 5-9 5 Dell Giant 32-48 32, 33, 35,  38-40, 42, 43, 46, 48 10 Four Color 1087-1236 See separate tab 69 Gunsmoke 20-27 20-27 8 Have Gun Will Travel 5-10 5-10 6 Hi-Yo Silver, The Lone Ranger's Famous Horse 34-36 35-36 2 Huckleberry Hound 5-12 5, 6, 8, 11 4 Hugh O'Brian, Famous Marshal Wyatt Earp 11-13 11-13 3 I Love Lucy 27-32 27-29 3 Lassie 49-54 49-53 5 Lawman 4-8 4-7 4 Lone Ranger, The 133-140 133-136, 139 5 Looney Tunes 222-237 222-228 7 Maverick 10-16 10-14 5 M.G.M.'s Spike and Tyke  22-24 22-23 2 Mickey Mouse 71-78 74, 76 2 Porky Pig 70-77 70-72 3 Quick Draw McGraw  2-7 2-4 3 Rifleman, The 3-8 3-8 6 Rin Tin Tin and Rusty 34-38 34-38 5 Roy Rogers and Trigger 137-144 137-139, 141-143 6 Ruff and Reddy 5-10 5-7 3 Sea Hunt 5-10 5-7 3 Tom and Jerry Comics 189-204 189-195 7 Turok Son of Stone 20-24 20-24 5 Tweety and Sylvester 29-33 29-30 2 Wagon Train 5-10 5-6, 8, 10 4 Walt Disney Presents 4-6 5 1 Walt Disney's Chip 'n' Dale 22-26 23 1 Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 235-250 239-241, 244-245 5 Walt Disney's Donald Duck 71-78 73, 75 2 Walt Disney's Scamp 14-16 15 1 Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge 30-34 31, 33 2 Walt Disney's Zorro 10-14 11, 13-14 3 Walter Lantz New Funnies  277-284 277-279 3         Actual Issues in UKPV Cover Date Range: 421 Confirmed UKPV Total         223         *Assuming only April 1960 to July 1961 cover dates exist              
 


 
Here are three examples - one for each known cover price 
 
  

Welcome to my Journal. I'll update it from time to time when something noteworthy happens with my collection. I hope you find something of interest here.First up I thought it might be fun to bring the Class of 2013 together for an end of year bash. Let's start with the ECs...
 
I've been pecking away at runs of Two Fisted Tales and the Sci-Fi titles for the last four or five years, and I picked up a few nice ones this year.
 
Here are the Two-Fisted Tales. Very pleased to pick this one up on eBay.

I got this one at Metropolis back in March when I visited their office in Manhattan (highly recommended - the stuff on their walls is amazing).
 

The remaining two fill out my run from 34 - 41 (final), also from eBay.

 


Next up will be the Sci-Fi titles.
 
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