Comic Book Postal Auctions

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SUMMER 2019 MARKET REPORT

AMAZING FANTASY #15: £9,500.00 – TV 21 ARTWORK: £8,300.00


 

We start our Market Report with the star lot in our US section; Amazing Fantasy #15 which has sold for £9,500 hammer price. This copy had Stan Lee’s signature to the splash page and its authenticity was bolstered by a photo of the great man with the comic’s original owner who had had the foresight to get it signed by Stan when they met at the London Excel Centre Comic Con in 2015.


The Dandy No 2 is on many bidders wish lists and heated bidding took it to £4550

 

Free gift Froggy jumped to a high £560 and he was re-united with the Dandy No 2 by the winning bidder.

 


This fresh example of the second Dandy Monster Comic made a more modest £500 as prices for Dandy annuals have retreated over the last year or so.

 


The Beano No 2 we offered was accompanied by its promotional mini-comic and with a few  minor faults and creases made £3050, just above its upper estimate.

 

 

The first Xmas Beano, No 21 in [vg] also performed strongly at £920

 


The complete year of Beano 1941 was offered in two bound volumes (it changed back to larger format midway through the year) and sold for £920 as well.

 


With an estimate of £2500-3000 this scarce Beano complete year of propaganda war issues could not find any buyers and will be offered again in a later auction.

 


This time a large bound volume covering Beano July 1944 - December 1945 was chased to £2200

 


The saucy Jane’s Journal from 1944 combined with Cosmic Science stories at £110.

 


Eric Parker was an artist whose prodigious output illustrated many Amalgamated Press titles and this Sexton Blake Library cover from 1944 called The Swindler’s Stooge was knocked down for a big £1000. Grand.

 

Late 40s Wonderman and Oh! Boy by Paget weaved their usual magic with these five issues returning £230.

 


The first five issues of Ace High Western included artwork by Norman Light, Ron Embleton and Jim Holdaway and they galloped off into the sunset with £270. Light fantastic.

 



Australian reprints are gaining stronger value and this Batman 11-20 run with No 1 Album took £330. Rockin’ Robin.

 


A wonderful complete run of Eagle volumes 1-10 included an extra copy of No 1  to take a high flying £2050. Spaceships Away!

 

 


Another highlight from the Bob Monkhouse Archive was this Eagle artwork from 1960 by Frank Bellamy. He did not illustrate many Dan Dare episodes and his board went for £2050

 


Hal Starr in Strange Worlds from the Peter Hansen archive was a title we had not offered before and the five issues, most with Sidney Jordan cover art, reached out to £185

 


More rarities from the Hansen Archive included the Super-Sonic complete run 13-16, again with Sidney Jordan covers, recording a massive price of £350

 


Here is Dandy No 1043 front cover artwork by Jimmy Chrichton. With printer’s proof included in the lot it netted £1080

 

 

The Australian reprint of Daredevil 1 is rare. It was offered here in [vg-] grade and defied gravity at £560.

 

 

As did the complete year of 1961 Film Fun at £540 – high grades, high price.

 

 

Typhoon Tracy roared into action with £70

 

 

Three pages of Charley’s War by Joe Colquhoun focused on the horrendous battle of the Somme during WW1 and took £1120

 

 

We offered here the final board of Thunderbirds artwork from the Bob Monkhouse Archive. Frank Bellamy’s three-dimentional, action-packed episode was as good as it gets and a bidding war erupted to secure it which produced a record £8,300, almost doubling that achieved for the board we sold last March. This takes Bellamy into serious investor territory and time will tell how far the key pieces of his work will escalate.

 

 

Our US section featured Fantastic Story pulps from the early Fifties and a collection of 25 issues included some Schomberg covers. £280 took them away.

 

 

Fiction House’s Planet Stories from the mid Forties featured here and the full run of volume 2: 1-12 showcased covers from EC lead artist, Graham Ingels. £15 each offered Good-Girl art for good value prices.

 

 

Weird Tales is the pulp title that has the most notorious reputation and 12 issues featured here commanded £370.

 

 

All-Flash #2 from 1941 is a key book and even with its low grade tape repairs and re-stapled cover it unlocked £210

 

 

Another rare book is New Comics #4 which starred Siegel and Shuster’s Federal Men featuring pre-Superman look-alike Steve Canyon. With dull, worn, detached cover it rose to £300.

 

 

Zip Comics #18 from 1941 sported a ‘headlights’ cover and a bright lights £920

 

 

Our collection of the first hundred Amazing Spider-Man issues started with issue #1 at £1960.

 

 

Here was a faded cover #2 at £330 and lower grade #3 at £580

 

 

A further seven low grade Spidey issues totalled a winning bid of £760

 

 

£700 for [gd-vg] A S-M #13, 16, 17, 19 and 20

 

 

Here’s Fantastic Four 46 CBCS 8.0 taken to £270

 

 

Strange Tales 101 CGC 6.5 secured £370

 

 

A nice run of mid-grade X-Men mutated to £230

 

 

If only life could imitate art. As we go to press we commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day and salute those selfless souls who made the final sacrifice so we could enjoy the freedom that is so much taken for granted today.

 

 

In the war years The Dandy’s Desperate Dan drank the Baltic dry to scupper the German navy, The Beano’s Big Eggo captured a Nazi parachutist, Pansy Potter flew up and brought down several Messerschmidts and Hitler sent a letter to his lordship at Bunkerton Castle: ‘Send us new helmets or ve’ll bomb der Pals, Lord Snooty!’ Goodness knows we needed the humour then as we often do now.

 

During the war my uncle Stanley was a Flying Officer in the 617 ‘Dam Busters’ squadron. In September 1943 he was the navigator and rear gunner on a mission where he and his comrades successfully bombed the Dortmund-Ems canal in Germany. On their way home their Lancaster was shot down and they were all killed.

 

If only life could imitate art.

 

 

Malcolm Phillips
Director
Comic Book Auctions Ltd.