Thursday, July 10, 2025

Neal Adams, Rayguns & Rocketships, Real Ghostbusters, John Constantine, Sherlock Holmes, Will Eisner, and DC Finest!

Click on the banner above to see all 100 of our 2025 Bestsellers, or see them on our blog with commentary from Bud!

Busy week! Neal Adams, Rayguns and Rocketships, DC Finest: JSA/All Star Comics; Real Ghostbusters; John Constantine Vol 2 & more. Lots of News & Notes, the latest on Diamond; RIP several of our favorite creators; and dozens of excellent new Rare Books.

3…2..1 Gone books are back this week--we only do them every other week now.

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Summer 2025
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Art Books

 



NEAL ADAMS' CLASSIC DC Artist's Edition Cover A Batman
Highly Recommended. Neal Adams is regarded as one of the most important comic artists of all time: A hugely influential and popular artist, Adams redefined the way comics were viewed by both fans and creators. It's all here, work from Batman, Deadman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, House of Mystery...his finest work from decades as DC Comics' finest artist for both cover art and stories. This presents Neal’s original artwork scanned at high resolution and in color (though the art appears to be in black and white) so the reader can view pages and covers as close to their natural state as possible, mimicking the look and even the feel of original art. IDW, 2025. Rush Service and International shipping could require an additional charge....More.

Item Code: NEADHA
Hard Cover, 15x20, 232pg, b&w
$150.00
 


NEAL ADAMS' CLASSIC DC Artist's Edition Cover B Green Lantern
Highly Recommended. Neal Adams is regarded as one of the most important comic artists of all time: A hugely influential and popular artist, Adams redefined the way comics were viewed by both fans and creators. It's all here, work from Batman, Deadman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, House of Mystery...his finest work from decades as DC Comics' finest artist for both cover art and stories. This presents Neal’s original artwork scanned at high resolution and in color (though the art appears to be in black and white) so the reader can view pages and covers as close to their natural state as possible, mimicking the look and even the feel of original art. IDW, 2025. Rush Service and International shipping could require an additional charge....More.

Item Code: NEADHB
Hard Cover, 15x20, 232pg, b&w
$150.00
Click here for more Neal Adams. We still have two of his self-published sketchbooks from 2006: Rowdy and Beautiful Women [NEALRO] and Savage [NEALSA]. $30 each. The Neal Adams Vault is on sale at $10 off [NEAV01. $40, $30].
 


RAYGUNS AND ROCKETSHIPS Vintage Science Fiction Book Cover Art 2nd Edition
By Rian Hughes. Foreword by Steve Holland. Art by Josh Kirby, Ron Turner, Jack Goggins et al. This is one cool book. We've all seen those wonderful classic pulp covers...on U.S. pulps. But there's another universe of pulp and paperback classics all produced in England and rarely seen in the U.S. Here at last is a full collection! - Bud. Rayguns and rockets! Spacesuited heroes caught in the tentacles of evil insectoid aliens! Who could resist such wonders? Science-fiction paperbacks exploded over the 1940s and ‘50s literary landscape with the force of an alien gamma bomb. Titles such as Rodent Mutation, The Human Bat vs The Robot Gangster, Dawn of the Mutants and Mushroom Men from Mars appeared from fly-by-night publishers making the most of the end of post-war paper rationing. They were brash and seductive — for around a shilling, the future was yours. Korero, 2025....More.

Item Code: RAYGRH
Hard Cover, 6x9, 456pg, Full Color
$49.99 $44.99
 


THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS The Ultimate Visual History Deluxe Edition
By Troy Benjamin and Craig Goldberg. This deluxe edition package includes: An exclusive firehouse-inspired slipcase and cover. A folio enclosing two acetate “animation cel” replicas. A unique firehouse flagpole-inspired ribbon bookmark. The ultimate collector’s dream. This overview combines rare and never-before-seen visuals including conceptual artwork, storyboards, script excerpts, internal memos, packaging art, unseen prototypes, abandoned concepts, and brand-new stunning photography with new and exclusive interviews. Dark Horse, 2025....More.

Item Code: REALGBD
Hard Cover, 10x14, 248pg, Full Color
$109.99
 


THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS The Ultimate Visual History
By Troy Benjamin and Craig Goldberg. The ultimate collector’s dream. This overview combines rare and never-before-seen visuals including conceptual artwork, storyboards, script excerpts, internal memos, packaging art, unseen prototypes, abandoned concepts, and brand-new stunning photography with new and exclusive interviews. Dark Horse, 2025. ...More.

Item Code: REALGBH
Hard Cover, 10x14, 248pg, Full Color
$54.99 $49.99
 


THE ANATOMY OF STYLE Figure Drawing Techniques
Newly Revised Edition. Highly Recommended. Patrick J. Jones, the esteemed multi-award-winning figurative artist and teacher, returns with a brand new collection. Patrick invites you to a life drawing masterclass, where he dives deep into the art of capturing the human figure with unmatched style and confidence. Patrick in inspired by Conan, Dejah Thoris and fantasy men and women, and they are on show here, from nude models in fantasy outfits, to fantasy settings and costumes. From photos of men and women models, to sketch, to final finished piece, it's here step by step. Nudity. Korero, 2025....More.

Item Code: ANAST
Soft Cover, 8x11, 160pg, Partial Color
$36.99
You will find more Patrick Jones in Infected by Art 6 and 7 and he did some special artwork for At the Earth’s Core Deluxe Artist’s Edition.
 

Comic Book & Comic Strip Archives

 


DC FINEST JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Plunder of the Psycho-Pirate
Collects All-Star Comics #13-24, 1942-45. Our Higheset Recommendation. Art by Jack Burnley, Simon & Kirby, Shelly Moldoff, Bernard Baily et al. Written by Golden Age all-star, Gardner Fox, the Justice Society is back in 12 more classic Golden Age issues. Join Hawkman, Doctor Mid-Nite, The Spectre, Starman, Doctor Fate, the Atom and Sandman as they continue to defend the world from Nazis, invaders from outer space, crazed madmen (other than Nazis!) and more. DC Comics, 2025....More.

Item Code: DCFJSAL
Soft Cover, 7x10, 608pg, Full Color
$39.99 $36.99
 


ALSO AVAILABLE
DC FINEST JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA For America and Democracy
Collects All-Star Comics #3-12, 1940-42. Highly Recommended. By Gardner Fox. Art by Sheldon Mayer and Jack Burnley. Welcome to DC Finest, a major new publishing initiative presenting comprehensive collections of the most in-demand and celebrated periods in DC Comics history, spanning genres, characters, and eras! Here are collected some of the most fabled comics of the Golden Age—the rare origin and first appearances of the JSA, with all the top DC heroes working together. Includes superlative artwork (each character was in is own story segment, usually drawn by the regular artist on the series, by Sheldon Mayer, Bernard Baily, Martin Nodell, Shelley Moldoff, Cliff Young, and Starman's superlative artist Jack Burnley, who also contributes a cover. DC Comics, 2024....More.

Item Code: DCFJSA
Soft Cover, 7x10, 608pg, Full Color
$39.99 $36.99
More DC Finest here. Plastic Man made it onto our 2025 Bestsellers; it has my Highest Recommendation.


MORE DC FINEST AVAILABLE

Superman: The First Superhero

Wonder Woman: Origins & Omens

Doom Patrol: The World's Strangest Heroes

 
 


JOHN CONSTANTINE HELLBLAZER By Jamie Delano Omnibus Volume 2
Collects Hellblazer #23-40, 84, 250, Hellblazer Special: Bad Blood #1-4, and much more, 1989-2009. Recommended. By David Lloyd, Sean Phillips, Tom Zuko et al. Following the initial omnibus collecting Jamie Delano’s groundbreaking Hellblazer work, the second half of the writer’s John Constantine work is back in print in this volume! This includes Constantine leaving Britain for what he believes to be a well-deserved vacation — but a twist turns it into a nightmare populated by literary heroes. In “The Family Man,” Constantine trades supernatural intrigue for the all-natural horror lurking inside the worst of humanity! And in a special issue drawn by the legendary Dave McKean, John Constantine meets an alternate reality version of himself who somehow made all the right choices in life! DC Comics, 2025. Rush Service and International shipping could require an additional charge. ...More.

Item Code: JOHH02H
Hard Cover, 7x11, 960pg, Full Color
$99.99 $90.00
Volume 1 came out in 2024 and is available by special order only (takes 3-4 weeks) [JOHH01H. $150]. Also see Hellblazer by Garth Ennis and Justice League Dark Rebirth Omnibus.
 


SUPERGIRL The New 52 Omnibus Volume 1
Collects Supergirl #0-40, Supergirl Features End #1 and more, 2005-20. By Mike Johnson. Art by Mahmud Asrar. A new retelling of Supergirl's origin and first adventures in the New 52 series, a fresh new take on the girl of steel. Crashing to earth on an escape pod through turbulence and chaos is the last daughter of Krypton. Unlike her cousin who landed on warm Kansas fields among kindly farmers, this Supergirl first lands on a frozen tundra and is met by immediate threats to her life. She can’t understand how her powers are activated by the yellow sun and to the common person she might pose a threat to the world. Can her cousin, the only other living Kryptonian, Superman, help her become his crime-fighting partner? DC Comics, 2025....More.

Item Code: SUPGN01H
Hard Cover, 7x11, 824pg, Full Color
$125.00 $110.00
No copies after filling advance orders, but more will be here shortly.
 


THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN Volume 1 The Absolute Edition
Two Volumes, Slipcase, 416 pages; issues #1-6. Recommended. By Alan Moore. Art by Kevin O'Neill. It is an era in need of champions. In this amazingly imaginative tale, literary and fictional heroes from throughout time are brought together to face any and all threats to Britain. Allan Quatermain, Mina Murray, Captain Nemo, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde and Hawley Griffin, the Invisible Man, form a remarkable legion of intellectual aptitude and physical prowess: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Now in a deluxe new collection, oversized, handsome. DC Comics, 2025. ...More.

Item Code: LEA01H
Hard Cover, 10x15, 416pg, Partial Color
$100.00 $90.00
I think this is a new edition of the 2005 first printing. We have just one left after filling advance orders, but more will be here shortly. Here’s more by Alan Moore.

We have both original editions, first printings of Vol 1 and Vol 2. Both are also two volume sets in slipcase, one volume with the comics, one with the original scripts by Moore. 2005 editions, both as new still in the shrink wrap [RB7085. $200 and RB7356. $200].

Here’s more from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

 


ALLEY OOP AND KING SOLOMON'S MINES 1944 V.T. Hamlin
Daily strips, 1944. Highly Recommended. By V.T. Hamlin. Alley Oop has lost his memory! Why is he surrounded by cats? How will he find King Solomon’s Mines? And can he be brought back home by the Caveman Rescue Squad? And if that weren’t enough, when Alley’s giant pet dinosaur gets sick it’s even more mayhem! Wonderful wartme work by Hamlin, at the height of his art skills and his storytelling prowess. Acoustic Learning, 2025....More.

Item Code: ALLE44
Soft Cover, 11x7, 160pg, b&w
$27.50
Here’s much more by V.T. Hamlin.
 

Prose Novels

 


CONAN CITY OF THE DEAD
Recommended. B&w illustrations by Richard Pace. By John C. Hocking. Two complete novels in one very thick book, with illustration. Author John C. Hocking continues his new prose sagas of the Cimmerian. In the first novel, Conan and the Emerald Lotus, the seeds of a deadly, addictive plant grant sorcerers immense power, but turn its users into inhuman killers. In the exclusive, new here, long-awaited sequel Conan and the Living Plague, a Shemite wizard unleashes a hideous monster on the city of Dulcine. Hired to loot the city of its treasures, Conan and his fellows in the mercenary troop find themselves trapped in the depths of the city’s keep. Fully authorized by the Howard estate. Titan, 2025....More.

Item Code: CONCIT
Soft Cover, 6x9, 512pg, Full Color
$18.99
 


FANTASTIC FOUR The Coming of Galactus
Prose Novel. By James Lovegrove. Adapted from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's classic comics, now a 288-page prose novel. Marvel’s First Family faces a desperate battle for survival against a planet-devouring god. Includes the origin and first appearance of the Silver Surfer. The sky is on fire. Across the globe, the people are convinced that the end is nigh. They’re right. Galactus is coming. His herald, the Silver Surfer, has come to Earth and judged it perfect for his master’s needs. And his master is hungry. Titan, 2025....More.

Item Code: FFCOMH
Soft Cover, 5x8, 36pg, Full Color
$18.99
 

Graphic Novels

 


SHERLOCK HOLMES LEVIATHAN Signed
Sherlock Meets Capt. Nemo! Signed by Mike Baron with bonus postcard and cover print. Recommended. By Mike Baron. Art by Richard Bonk. A new graphic novel from the co-creator of Nexus. The world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, has faced many challenges, but none has prepared him to deal with a wary shipping magnate grappling with freighters that are disappearing without a trace. When a lone survivor, clinging to a capsized lifeboat, blames the disappearing ships on an iron monster from the deep, the undersea mystery leads the world-famous investigator to the brilliant and enigmatic Captain Nemo, who has built perhaps the greatest war machine the world has ever known to embark on a quixotic quest to end global conflicts. And is this Frankenstein, now a hunter in the great Arctic wastes? Baron Comics, 2025....More.

Item Code: SHERLHS
Soft Cover, 7x10, 72pg, Full Color
$25.00
Click for more Sherlock Holmes.
 


MINKY WOODCOCK The Girl Called Cthulhu
Book 3 of the Minky series. With 22 covers and a factual, well-illustrated afterword by Cynthia Von Buhler. Nudity and sexual situations. Inspired by a true WWII maritime operation, shocking satanic events, monstrous men, and one salacious sea creature, the tale of the slinky, sexy Minky’s encounter with legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, creator of the dreaded Cthulhu. Following the death of Harry Houdini, Minky is approached by the occultist and writer Aleister Crowley to help vindicate him from an accusation of murder. This throws Minky into an occult underworld and leads to a much bigger investigation involving a missing man and Britain's secret service. Lovecraftian horrors plague her dreams, and it’s up to Minky to discover the connections between the two writers and the mysterious death of her mother. Titan Comics, 2025. Mature Readers....More.

Item Code: MINKGIH
Hard Cover, 7x11, 112pg, Full Color
$24.99 $21.99
The previous two Minky GNs are sold out.
 


WILL EISNER A COMICS BIOGRAPHY
Recommended. By Stephen Weiner. Art By Dan Mazur. Afterword by Jeff Smith. Explore the life of Will Eisner, one of the most influential artists in the history of comics, through the most appropriate medium: a graphic novel. From his immigrant roots and childhood in New York, starting his own comics studio and business, and the creation and publication of his beloved comic, The Spirit, through convincing a general trade publisher to publish the groundbreaking A Contract with God, you’ll follow along in Eisner’ s life journey. The story of one of comics' most important innovators. NBM, 2025....More.

Item Code: WILLCBH
Hard Cover, 6x9, 300pg, Full Color
$29.99 $26.99
Here’s far more with Will Eisner!
 

Mature Readers

Two new DVDs and a revised and expanded Metart Book; World's Top Models is in a new edition. And we have Sex and Satan Double Feature, and Naughty Pack Triple Feature. See more Metart collections here, and more adult DVDs here.

 

Coming in August

 


THE H.P. LOVECRAFT EXPERIENCE Deluxe Box Set
Inspired by his waking nightmares, H. P. Lovecraft has astounded and terrified readers for more than a century. Now, fans can experience the visionary’s mystifying work in a format that both honors and celebrates his long-lasting legacy. In addition to Lovecraft’s complete fiction, this features a comprehensive reading guide provided by The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society and several pieces of exclusive and collectible ephemera from Lovecraft’s fictional Miskatonic University. Housed in a 3-D sculpted case made to resemble Cthulhu's visage. A premium collector’s set. Weldon Owen, 2025. Rush Service and International shipping could require an additional charge. Due: Aug....More.

Item Code: HPLEX
Hard Cover, 10x12, 188pg, Full Color
$100.00 $90.00
 

Coming in September

 


CARMILLA An Illuminated Edition Signed
Signed & numbered! Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s magnetic and sinuous 1871 novella introduced one of the iconic anti-heroines of gothic fiction, pioneered depictions of lesbian longing in European writing, and would go on to inspire Bram Stoker's Dracula. Today, Carmilla is considered a landmark work recognized for its major contributions to vampire fiction and gothic literature. Rosemary Valero-O’Connell contributes a tender and menacing portfolio of original illustrations that tangles with the complex legacy of a landmark piece of horror fiction suffused with unfulfilled yearning between two young women. Beehive Books, 2025....More.

Item Code: CARIED
Hard Cover, 9x12, 144pg, Full Color
$250.00
 


CARMILLA An Illuminated Edition
Recommended. Introduction by Poppy Z. Brite. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s magnetic and sinuous 1871 novella introduced one of the iconic anti-heroines of gothic fiction, pioneered depictions of lesbian longing in European writing, and would go on to inspire Bram Stoker's Dracula. Today, Carmilla is considered a landmark work recognized for its major contributions to vampire fiction and gothic literature. Rosemary Valero-O’Connell contributes a tender and menacing portfolio of original illustrations that tangles with the complex legacy of a landmark piece of horror fiction suffused with unfulfilled yearning between two young women. Beehive Books, 2025. Due: Sept....More.

Item Code: CARIEH
Hard Cover, 9x12, 144pg, Full Color
$100.00
Here are more illustrated editions from Beehive.
 

3...2...1...Gone!

$100, $59

$49.99, $34.99 

$49.99, $42.50

We're now featuring our GONER section every two weeks, and we're including 70 items instead of the usual 30 or so. These are items that are out of print or discontinued with only a few copies left. Once they are gone... they're gone indefinitely.

We are frequently adding blemished copies into our Imperfect Editions section, but often times the small quantity prohibits us from including them in the weekly emails. Check back often to find bargain treasures!

 

 

Rare Books This Week!

Signed & Limited - 2023

1984

2016 

Rare Books this week: The Complete Frontline Combat Slipcased; two Complete Little Lulu and a Complete Uncle Scrooge (Vol 3); Jeff Jones’ Definitive Reference; Alicia Austin’s Age of Dreams; Mark Schultz's Carbon 5; Lawrence Alma-Tadema (The Maxfield Parrish of his time); Joseph Pennell’s Pen Drawing and Pen Draughtsmen (2 copies); the Lost Artwork of Hollywood; Bond Girls are Forever; blemished PS Artbooks at $20-$30; Hildebrandt’s Robin Hood; Famous Monsters; Wolverton’s Culture Corner; Dondi, James Bama and more. We’ve turned up more Tarzan in Color volumes by Foster and Hogarth also, $20-$40.

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We just discounted a brand new batch of of 100 titles by 20%. Click here to see all 100.

And... we've also reduced our previous batch of Rare Books that were 20% off to 30% off, over 900 titles! We broke these into categories for easier browsing:

Artist & Illustration - Comic Book Archives

Comic Reference - Erotic Art - Pulps & Fiction

Comic Strips - Sketchbooks & Statue

 

News & Notes

 

Lost Marvels/Tower of Shadows 

This has gone out of print from Fantagraphics. However we found a secondary source and have more coming. Reserve a copy now, it may sell out for us shortly.

 

EC Fan Addict #7 and a new policy! 

Okay… we’ve figured out a way for you to reserve items that normally we do not list until they arrive. We do this because it can wipe out any profit when we have to ship a low-priced item separately and at additional cost.

So—if you would like to preorder EC Fan Addict #7 [ECF07S. $16] you need to order it by itself, as a single-item order, and pay the shipping cost. AND you need to call us and place the order because we have to override our system. This item will NOT appear on the website until it’s actually in stock, but we can override that. The same rule applies to any other item we are not yet listing as coming soon.

 

Dean Yeagle's Mandy 

Due to slowing sales (we’ve handled some of these since 2015 and 2020!), I have to drop Mandy Godiva, Birthday Suit, and One Mandy Morning, as well as Scribblings #2 and #6. We have 2 or 3 copies left of each, act quickly. Dean lost his wife and we are very sad for him; we haven’t seen a new release in some time and he’s been difficult to get reorders from. Act accordingly.

 

Interview with The Comics Journal

The powers that be (Gary Groth?) got wind that I am retiring. So they contacted me for an interview, which I did last week. It lasted nearly two hours and covered reasons for my retirement as well as some insight into being a collector and fan in the 1960s. I'll send a link when it gets posted.

 

Diamond Debacle

Diamond Comics Previews is going digital only with the next issue; we have to wonder how many more there will be, period. Diamond is not paying vendors for pre-bankruptcy bills OR for ongoing invoices for product received and sold; publishers are continuing to leave Diamond to make deals with other book distributors: SCB, Lunar, etc.

The good news is we’re back to direct with Dynamite, who was one of the last publishers who stuck with Diamond. So was Hermes, whose books we can now buy from SCB. Diamond’s long time buyer Steve Leaf, an old friend of ours, is now working at Hermes.

For us, in general, the flow of new titles and restocks is for the most part uninterrupted. We are buying very, very little anymore from Diamond. And, sadly, they seem to be in their death throes. Sorry to be blunt, but my sympathy and that of many others went out the window when “New Diamond” stopped paying their bills. And “Old Diamond” announced that, due to a legal loophole, a filing technicality that publishers didn’t know about, they are no longer returning publishers' books consigned to them nor are they paying for old or new books sold.

Publishers are working on a class action recourse (read: lawsuit) but meanwhile whatever assets there are left are being eaten up by exorbitant lawyer fees. The new owners of Diamond seem to be strip-mining the company. Our comic industry giant, once the indispensable source of comics, is gone. Long time agreements and contracts are suddenly null and void.

 

Rest in Peace

Jim Shooter of course, on June 30.

Peter David (May 24) a fine writer and a friend of mine.

I just now found out we lost Steve Fabian (May 6). A brilliant fantasy artist who carried on in the Virgil Finlay tradition -- winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025; we’ve carried countless books, portfolios and magazines he illustrated. He only became an illustrator at the age of 54, when he lost his day job! Both Gerry de la Ree and Underwood/Miller did collections of his best work.

George Barr (April 19), another fine fantasy artist whose paperback covers graced hundreds of books and his several illustrated volumes, such as REH’s Red Nails (Donald Grant) and Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth (Underwood/Miller), are legendary. Don Grant did a fine full color book of his work.

If you are looking for art collections on George Barr and Steve Fabian, check with Anne. She has work by both these illustrators in stock. Some may not be on the website yet.

~Bud

 
 

Our Catalog and Contact Info

We publish a color catalog every two months—if you’ve placed an order in the last 12 months, you will receive it hot off the press. If this is your first order, or if you’d like an extra copy, you can add one to your order: click here. Or call or send us your address and we’ll mail one to you. You can also download it here.

Place your order before noon PST, Monday through Friday for SAME DAY shipping (for in-stock items).

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Contact us: csr@budsartbooks.com or 530-273-2166 Mon-Fri 9-4

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