Rare Roy of the Rovers art, Dan Dare toys go under the hammer

Roy Of The Rovers original artwork (1993) drawn and signed by Barrie Mitchell.
From the last issue of Roy Of The Rovers

Comic Book Postal Auctions Summer 2013 auction has another wide range of British comics lots, from the first issue of Comic Cuts published in 1890 (one of only eight known copies to exist), Radio Fun Number One from 1938,  a fine run of early Dandy comics and Desperate Dan’s fourth appearance original artwork by Dudley Watkins , from the Dandy No 4 Christmas issue 1937 – Dan’s first use of the famous blow-torch for shaving!

Desperate Dan art by Dudley Watkins from The Dandy Number 4, published in 1937

The auction closes on Tuesday 11th June, so nip over and take a look at the catalogue, which also includes a number of US comics.

In ComPal's March catalogue a number of Beano printer’s proof covers sold strongly and their vendor has decided to offer eight more covers - this time Dandy proofs. all signed by legendary editor Albert Barnes, whose granite jaw was copied by Dudley Watkins when creating Desperate Dan.

The Beano is also well represented with bound volumes of the complete years of 1945, 1953 and 1955. There’s also a copy of The Beano Number 1 but it is in dull, brittle condition and offered at No Reserve.

For only the second time in 20 years ComPal have unearthed a Broons At The Seaside Jigsaw from 1944. This one is missing 14 out of its 400 pieces and is estimated at £350-400. One for Sunday Post readers, perhaps.

The company has never featured Thomas The Tank Engine before and a run of his first print books along with the rarer Isle of Sodor Railway Map are also in the auction.

Of interest to Eagle and Dan Dare fans will be a number of scarce Dan Dare toys and games feature so now is the time to consider your skills at Dominoes, Draughts and Rocket projection -- plenty to write home about using the Eagle Stationery Set and Dan Dare postcards.

There’s also a high grade run of Girl comics and some rare TV Century 21 gifts and spin-offs including issue 90 with Thunderbirds Cap (yes, I do remember wearing mine to destruction), Thunderbirds Are Go original film poster and a Stingray-inspired space pistol.

The 1970s offer key runs of Buster, Cor, Shiver And Shake and Valiant with the rarer Summer Specials including Beano, Dandy, Victor, Krazy and Tammy.

2000AD 1-3 are also up for grabs with their free gifts and there’s cover art by Colin MacNeill from Classic 2000AD #1, artwork from The Trigan Empire, Frankie Stein, Rupert and an exceptional Roy Of The Rovers board to complete the UK line-up by ace artist Barrie Mitchell.

The US section highlights a third tranche of 1950s pre-code horror, science fiction and EC titles with key issues of Astonishing, Beware, Vault Of Horror, Weird Science/Fantasy and the classic bondage/headlights favourite, Phantom Lady #17. The Silver Age offers Avengers #1, Hulk #1, Journey Into Mystery #83 and Tales Of Suspense #39 – all in affordable low grades.

• The Summer 2013 auction bidding ends on Tuesday 11 June at 8.00pm UK time.

• More info: www.compalcomics.com

• Receive an email before auctions open and closes: Click here to join their mailing list

ComPal auction offers Dan Dare, Spider and Kelly's Eye art

The Spring 2013 Comic Book Postal Auction closes next week - and they have some fantastic British comic lots on offer, as usual, including original art from strips such as Dan Dare, The Spider and Kelly's Eye as well as complete runs of comics such as New Eagle

Sure to attract top bidding are artworks such as Keith Watson's Dan Dare art for The Eagle Vol 15: No 46, published in 1964, in which the evil Mekon has begun a systematic destruction of London from an immense metal mushroom growing in the heart of the ciy (Lot 107).

Lot 117 is a great piece of Spider art by Reg Bunn, published in 1966, in which The Crook From Outer Space becomes the Spider's evil twin, while Lot 148 is a page from Kelly's Eye published in 1972 by Solano Lopez, in which, coincidentally, Tom Kelly, owner of the life preserving 'Eye Of Zoltec' travels back in time to battle Ragnar his other world evil self.

Also offered, among others, is cover art from humour comic Shiver and Shake by Robert NiXon (Lot 159); art by Eric Parker for the cover of an issue of the Sexton Blake Library (Lot 53); a smashing piece of Desperate Dan art drawn and signed by Dudley D. Watkins, published in 1952 (Lot 65), and a 1956 Topper cover by the same artist (Lot 72). There are several Picture Library and Rupert the Bear artworks also in the auction, as well as a page from Saber, published in a 1969 edition of Tiger and Hurricane by Denis McLoughlin (Lot 96).

One of the stalwarts of British comics illustration, Denis McLoughlin (1915-2002) is best known for his work for TV Boardman where he drew Roy Carson, Swift Morgan, Blackhawk, The Spirit and Buffalo Bill. His 'hard-boiled detective' comic style won him legions of fans in the 40s and 50s and his work on Okay, Adventure, Buffalo Bill, Super Coloured and New Spaceways Annuals further enhanced his position. In 1967 he went to work for IPC where 'Saber', illustrated above, was his first project.

Later employed by D C Thomson, he drew stories and covers for Buddy, Bullit, Crunch, Victor and Wizard and his last work was illustrating Commando War Stories in pictures.
Tragically, he took his life with a Colt revolver a week after his 84th birthday. His work is rarely seen at auction.

A promo copy of the short-lived Tornado - absorbed into 2000AD after just 22 issues - is among the comic rarities. The title featured artist Dave Gibbons as super-hero Big E on the cover of the first issue, posing inside with Tharg. Also on offer is a promotional issue of Whoopee, as well as other rare and sometimes elements of unpublished comics, such as Viking, a DC Thomson title that is being offered along with a authenticated script for the Scottish company's Starblazer title (Lot 165).

New Eagle fans may also be interested in a 93 issue unbroken run of the title, offered in five bound volumes starring Dan Dare and The Mekon by Gerry Embleton, The Fist Of Danny Pike by John Burns, The Tower King, House Of Daemon and Fifth Horseman all by Jose Ortiz. Included in the lot are free gifts Action Force Mini Comic 1-5, an Eagle Convention Programme 1980, Mekon poster and Bubbly World Cup Chart poster, a Matchbox Toys poster and several other toy posters and leaflets, plus a Boys And Girls Exhibition programme from 1962, a Radio Luxembourg 50 Pop Years magazine, Christie's Dan Dare artwork catalogue (1993), Eagle Days Remembered supplement (1994), Dan Dare At 50 (2000), a BT Dan Dare phone card and several other 1990s pieces.

One of the star items in this catalogue is a Dandy Comic No 1 (Lot 30). Its grade is [gd+] and with the demise of the weekly print Dandy late last year ComPal know there will be strong interest in this scarce first issue. Several early Dandy comics from 1938 are also on offer.
When the printers at DC Thomson checked the registration and colour of a comic before a print run the ‘printers' proof’ was signed off by the editor or his sub prior to printing. These unique pieces of DC Thomson history have never been seen at auction before and there are five Beano covers available at Lot 37.

There are plenty more comics on offer too, including runs of Magnet and many more.

• Bidding will close at 8.00pm UK time Tuesday 5 March More info: www.compalcomics.com

• Receive an email before auctions open and closes: Click here to join their mailing list

Heritage Auctions heads for London Super Con

Heritage Auctions, the US-based leading collectibles auctioneer, will once again be exhibiting at the London Super Comic Convention, with company staff on hand to talk with potential consigners, bidders and other interested parties.

“Consignments of comics and comic art will be accepted directly at our table, and you can also stop by to see the catalogs for our latest auctions and to find out more about Heritage and the auction process,” says Heritage’s Barry Sandoval.

They will be at tables D221 and D222.

• For more on Heritage Auctions visit: http://www.ha.com

• For more information on the show, please visit the convention’s site

Bonhams to auction off Sarah Jane's 'Figaro' car

Bonhams upcoming Entertainment Memorabilia sale, to be held next week on Wednesday 12th December, will include an array of props, posters, costumes and related memorabilia from legendary science fiction movies and television shows including Alien, Superman, Star Wars, Blake's 7, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Red Dwarf and Captain Scarlet.

Of particular interest to downthetubes readers might be Sarah Jane Smith's green Nissan Figaro car seen in the Sarah Jane Adventures – and Captain Jack Harkness' greatcoat, used in Torchwood.

The highlights from the sale include a detailed miniature model from the 1979 Alien film of the engine room of the Nostromo mothership, being offered directly by the model maker William "Bill" Pearson. The model engine room was designed for an establishing shot in the film, and is clearly visible in the scene when Ripley sets the ship to self-destruct.

Original models used in the production of Alien have rarely come on to the market and are highly sought after.

Following the same theme, included in the horror and science fiction section of the sale is a large airbrush illustration created by the Alien film’s Academy Award-winning designer and surrealist artist H.R. Giger. The artwork depicts a sinister skeletal creature, and was discovered painted on a door panel in the boiler room at Shepperton Studios, a bolt-hole frequented by the artist throughout the making of the film.

Both lots are offered with an estimate of £2,000 – 3,000.

A number of items from the archives of the BBC will also be offered for sale, including costumes and props from renowned television series Doctor Who. One of the key pieces is a large prop latex shark used in the 2010 Christmas special A Christmas Carol, valued at £1000-1500.

It will also be the first time key props and costume from the popular Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures series’ will be offered at auction, including Captain Jack Harkness’ RAF blue Great Coat, valued at £700-900 and Sarah Jane Smith’s emerald green and white Nissan Figaro car £4,000-6,000.

Created due to the burgeoning interest in European classic cars amongst Japanese car collectors in the 1980s, Nissan produced four retro inspired cars emulating 1960s European styling but incorporating up-to-the minute Japanese technology. Previewed in 1989 and launched in 1991, the Figaro was the fourth of these. A turbocharged, Micra-powered sportscar, it was soon in such demand that a lottery was organised to determine the lucky owners of the limited run of 20,000 produced.

Other pieces available to collectors will be a large collection of concept designs from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with estimates ranging from £500-3,000, an original Captain Brown puppet used on the 1960s original Captain Scarlet series, estimate £12,000-15,000, Christopher Reeves director’s chair, £500-700, and two handmade spacecraft models used in series 10 of Red Dwarf, valued at £500-700 each.

Music memorabilia, including rare Beatles items, are also part of the auction.

• Full auction details at www.bonhams.com/auctions/19801

Rare first issue of Victorian 'Comic Cuts' goes under the hammer

A rare piece of British comics history goes under the hammer on Tuesday, when the online bidding for Comic Cuts Issue 1 closes over at Compal closes.

We covered the auction in general earlier in the month, but this lot deserves closer attention given its importance to our industry.

Only nine copies of the first issue of the UK's third longest running comic, started in 1890 by reporter Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe, founder of the Daily Mail) are known to exist, one of them in the British Library. This item is expected to sell for around £350 - 400 by the auction organisers.

Comic Cuts was not the first British comic: that privilege is accorded by many to Funny Folks, first published in December 1874, published by James Henderson as a free supplement to The Weekly Budget Christmas Triple Number for 1874, a successor to satirical cartoon sheets like Everybody’s Album, an eight-page tabloid with initially a roughly 50/50 mix of text and pictures, though picture strips would soon come to dominate the title.

As you can see from the pages below, sourced via the public domain only comics site ComicBookPlus, which states it only publishes out of copyright items, the first edition of the 'comic', also eight pages in extent, is far from being anything we would recognise today as such.

Some of its pages are text driven (as were most comics, including The Dandy when it launched in 1937), but its cartoon pages earn it attention as one of the first picture weeklies and it quickly began to publish more strips. By the First World War it is recognisably a comic, albeit with text to supplement word ballons on its strip pages.

Copies of Issue 2 and 3 of the comic are also on offer, along with a rare militaQry band-themed promotional poster for the comic, published, it's believed in 1914.

Comic Cuts was one of Britain's earliest weekly comic papers, published from 17th May 1890. The early issues contained reprinted cartoons from American magazines and reprinted from a previous title, Scraps. But after advertising for artists the reprints gave way to original material by creators such as Roland Hill, the first professional artist to work on the comic; Ken Reid, Albert Pease, Oliver Veal, Tom Browne and Jack Butler Yeats.

Published by Amalgamated Press (later Fleetway Editions) its success in its early days inspired other publishers to produce rival comics, and held the record for the most issues of a British weekly comic for 46 years, until The Dandy overtook it in 1999.

Lasting 3006 issues, down the years Comic Cuts absorbed Golden Penny Comic in 1928, Jolly Comic and Larks in 1939 and 1940 respectively before finally ceasing as a title when it was was merged into the original Knockout on 12th September 1953, that title running until February 1963, when it was merged with Valiant.

• Bidding closes on Tuesday 27th November at 8.00pm GMT. Full catalogue at www.compalcomics.com/catalogue/index.htm. If you have a question about any of the items in the catalogue, please send an email to Compalcomics director Malcolm Phillips at comicbook@compalcomics.com

• Broken Frontier carries a fascinating feature on early British picture weeklies here

 

Keith Watson Dan Dare art up for auction, first Joe 90 and more

Dan Dare art by Keith Watson

Art from Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence, Dan Dare by Keith Watson and Nellyphant by Leo Baxendale are just some of the lots in the current ComPal Auction, which closes soon.

Also up for grabs are first issues of titles as diverse as Comic Cuts, published in 1890, Mystic, published by L. Miller in 1960 and a first issue of Joe 90 comic - with free gift.

Comic Cuts is widely regarded as the first comic and the Number One on offer is one of very few known to have survived. "It’s a bit grubby and dog-eared," note ComPal, "but one might be after 122 years." Not so The Hotspur with some ultra high grade complete years of 1935 and 1938 on offer.

 

The first Rupert annual was published in 1936 and there’s a copy available with rare dust jacket followed by annual 2 with its original despatch box.

 

A Beano Book 1 is also in the auction.


There are more Eagle rarities in the current auction with, Keith Watson’s original artwork of a darkly threatening Mekon and another Dan Dare Walkie-Talkie Set (released early 1950s) produced by J & L Randall – a lot that includes one Jeff Arnold and two Dan Dare badges, Eagle Passport with all four inserts, Eagle Club Membership Card, Eagle Pocket Chess And Draughts Set in card (no pieces), three Eagle Annual and book flyers with Junior Shipmate of The Cutty Sark Eagle Certificate and six Dan Dare plastic figures.

One other fun item has to be a set of Dan Dare knitting patterns published by Sirdar in 1991, offered with some Dan Dare model figures set hand-painted metal and boxed, produced by Good Soldiers in the 1990s.

One of ComPal's long standing customers mainly collected Christmas and Fireworks issues of Beano and Dandy and he has consigned his entire collection of war years issues right through to the 1970s.

One non-comic offering is a 1939 run of Picture Post with brilliantly evocative covers and photo-stories of Britain preparing for war.

A rare TV Century 21 special is also on offer, along with Fleetway’s Super Library, all 26 issues, and a fine Trigan Empire artwork by Don Lawrence.

The US section highlights 1950s pre-code Horror comics with long runs of Dark Mysteries, Web Of Mystery and Marvel Tales. There are most issues of Superboy #3-75, Superman #102-300, J L A #1-164 and a Hulk #1 cents copy.


• Bidding closes on Tuesday 27th November at 8.00pm GMT. Full catalogue at www.compalcomics.com/catalogue/index.htm. If you have a question about any of the items in the catalogue, please send an email to Compalcomics director Malcolm Phillips at comicbook@compalcomics.com

Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence

 

Compal offers TV21, Eagle rarities in latest auction

Trigan Empire art by Don Lawrence

Early issues of TV Century 21, Thunderbirds sweet cigarette cards, copies of Tornado, artwork by Don Lawrence, Ken Reid, John Bolton, Dudley Watkins and others are just some of the auction lots in the latest Compalcomics auction.

The previous summer auction saw the sale of a lot of Eagle-related mechandise, including the sale of a Dan Dare bust from an edition of 20 for £550, while Dan’s tie-pin, Eagle penknife and Membership Card sold for £330.

Other March catalogue highlights were Davy Law’s Beryl The Peril artwork from The Topper which sold £1222 and a copy of Tiger Number 1 with free gift Space Gun and Flying Saucers, published in 1954, selling for an interplanetary £935.

There are more Eagle rarities in the latest auction including an Eagle promotional Number 1, Keith Watson’s original artwork of a darkly threatening Mekon and Desmond Walduck’s double pager of Anastasia sinking into the Venusian quicksands from Eagle Volume 9, Number 10.

Early Dandy and Beano issues published during the second world war - considered very rare - are also up for grabs, along with titles such as Topper, Judy, Hurricane and Express Weekly and a copy of the first issue of Playhour Number 1, complete with free gift Red Indian Head-dress. (Make your reservation).

10 individual issues of TV Century 21 are on offer, too, the first issue complete with the all-important Top Secret Decoder free gift.

Artwork on offer include a page of The Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence; Faceache by Ken Reid; The Bionic Woman by John Bolton, published in Look-In; and Terry Wakefield’s five-page artwork of Morecambe And Wise from Eric And Ernie’s TV Fun Book.

There are US comics on sale too, including DC Comics Showcase #22 and 23, Green Lantern #1-137 and Jimmy Olsen #1-163 along with Marvel Comics Avengers #1, X-Men #94 and Giant Size #1.

• View the auction here. Bidding closes on Tuesday 4th September at 8.00pm UK time.

Bumper British comics auction announced

An auction of collectable British comics and annuals from the 1920s onwards - most published by DC Thomson - is set to take place next month on behalf of the estate of avid collector Des O'Leary.

Organised by Bloomsbury Auctions, the annuals of interest to British comic fans and other collection items are in Lots 143, 144, 146, 147, 148 and 149, with PF Westerman books in lot 310. The full catalogue does not have much detail but the sale includes substantially all of DC Thomson's annuals between 1924-1942, 1949, and 1950s Rovers, plus various Hotspur, Dandy, Beano and other annuals from the 1960s to date.

Also included are substantially all Percy F Westerman's story books, some Biggles books (including some in other languages) and rare Thomson one-offs like "The Truth About Wilson".

The auction will take place on Friday 8th June 2012 at 11.00am at Bloomsbury Auctions Baverstock House, 93 High Street, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1AL. Viewing: Thursday 7th June from 9.00am to 5.00pm.

- There's a list of the titles on offer on the DownTheTubes Ning forum here. This list is a draft intended to assist potential buyers to understand what will be in the auction. It does not claim to be comprehensive or wholly accurate. Annual dates are generally that of the following year - where an annual is undated, these may be inaccurate.

The auctioneers have sole responsibility for the sale and you may need to view the lots before the auction to be sure. Check out the auctionin full itself here: www.bloomsburyauctions.com/auction/35913


 

Dan Dare art, Marvel UK collections up for auction

The Summer 2012 auction at Compalcomics is open, with nearly 200 British comic-related lots up for biding, including Dan Dare art by Frank Hampson, a limited edition Dan Dare bust and collections of 1980s Marvel UK titles such as Captain America and Forces in Combat.

Compalcomics last auction in March saw Dan Dare and Eagle powered into the stratosphere with £555 pad for The Eagle Club letter and Membership Card, £565 for Dan’s interplanetary figures boxed set by Crescent Toys and £390 for the Horlicks Eagle Rocket Cup and badge.

In their latest catalogue they highlight the second part of a collection with a Frank Hampson Dan Dare artwork, one of his earliest boards, from Eagle Volume 1 No 33, pubishd in 1950, in which Dan's memory is restored by Volstar the Theron. Hampson's artistic devotion to detail is perfectly illustrated from Volstar's Venusian habitat down to Daniel McGregor Dare's argyle socks!

Also on offer are high grade bound volumes of Eagle from 1951-1959. There’s a super Super-sonic Space Pilot Gun, brilliantly boxed, a rare Dan Dare bust – one of only 20 cast, and an affordable double-page artwork by Carlos Cruz from 1987 featuring the Mekon and Dan in battle at London’s Natural History Museum.

There’s further original art of Beryl The Peril by Davy Law. David 'Davy' Law (1907-1971) found international fame by introducing Dennis The Menace to unsuspecting Beano readers in March 1951. He also penned Beryl The Peril, Captain Hound and the accident prone nitwit, Corporal Clott. Law's artwork rarely comes to market, so this lot, a page from The Topper, will attract plenty of attention.

There's also art from Look and Learn's The Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence, Grendel by Ron Embleton, Oor Wullie by Dudley Watkins and a six board complete Bionic Woman story by John Bolton pubished in Look-In, in which Jaime Sommers is bequeathed an ancient key – but faces mortal danger as she encounters the evil clan of Uncle Ebeneezer in The House of Six Locks!

This aucton's rare British comics selection includes The Dick Turpin/Spring-Heeled Jack Library from 1902, The Beano Comic No 1, The Beano Book No 1 and Beano and Dandy bound volumes from 1949 and 1950, Lion 1-45, Misty 1-23 - and Tiger No 1, pubished in 1954, with free gift Space Gun and 6 press-out Flying Saucers, all in their original bag.

The US section offers Classics Illustrated #43-74, mainly first editions, and the first tranche of our DC Comics one-owner collection spanning one hundred lots including Superman from 1948-1955, Action, Adventure and Superboy from 1959-1970s, Showcase #9 and #10 and Lois Lane #1-6.

Our favourite item - which may attract interest from beyond the comics community given his now international status as a fine artist - is a Rolf Harris self portrait, dedicated to a fan in the 1960s. Oh, and the DC Superheroes Pen Set from 1977!

• Bidding closes on Tuesday 5th June at 8.00pm UK time. Catalogue at: www.compalcomics.com/catalogue/index.htm. There are 316 lots in this catalogue.

• If you have a question about any of the items in the catalogue, please send an email to Compalcomics director Malcolm Phillips at comicbookATcompalcomics.com

Rare Dan Dare merchandise, Comic Cuts Number 1, up for auction

The Spring 2012 auction at Compalcomics is open and includes some terrific Dan Dare artwork and toys, an issue of Eagle signed by Dan Dare co-creator Frank Hampson, Trigan Empire art by Don Lawrence and the first issue of Comic Cuts - published in 1890.

There are 203 lots in this catalogue and Dan Dare rules the interplanetary airwaves with a wonderful collection of comics, artwork and toys.

Offered are two magnificent Eagle artworks from "Operation Saturn", copies of Eagle No 1 and No 52 signed by Frank Hampson, the impossibly rare Dan Dare Figures Set in original box by Crescent Toys and the Horlicks Dan Dare Spaceship Cup and lid which you could only get if you sent off 6d and a jar label in the early 1950s. It’s in mint condition.

A Space Pistol, and Eagle and Girl Table tennis Set (surely proof of the popularity of the tites in the 1950s), interplanetary Stamp Folder, Eagle Membership Card and letters are some of the other lots from this high grade collection featured in lots 74-93.

Other key artwork boards on offer showcase The Trigan Empire by Don Lawrence, full of action, Thunderbirds by Frank Bellamy, Oor Wullie in a terrible tangle with his pet mouse, Wee Jeemy and a Kit Carson cover from Cowboy Picture Library in 1958.

For those intrigued by the origins of British comics there's the first issue of Comic Cuts, publishd in 1890, alongside a 1901 Sherlock Holmes’ Hound Of The Baskervilles, all episodes collected from Strand Magazine in a bound volume.

Also offered is a very battered Beano No 1 at No Reserve, Beano Books 1 and 2, the first Beezer with free gift Whizz Bang, plenty of early Cowboy Comics to ride the range and Playhour 1 with free gift Red Indian Head-dress to fight them off.

Meet the Saint features in number one of Super-Detective Library and Robin Hood, Black Arrow, Battler Britton and Spy 13 in Thriller Picture Library.

If it's rarities you're after, then Lot 128 has the original printer’s dummy copy of Buster No 1 along with the actual first issue

There's also a bound set of the first 250 issues of 2000AD,  Bionic Woman art by John Bolton from Look-In, Faceache art by Ken Reid and much more, but the Dan Dare items realy need to be checked out by fans.

 
The US section offers an early run of 1940s Classic Comics from #1-42 including key first editions along with Fantastic Four #1 and a good run of Silver Age DC comics.

• Bidding closes on Tuesday 13th March at 8.00pm UK time. To go directly to the main page for this catalogue click here: www.compalcomics.com/catalogue/index.htm

Dan Dare art up for sale on eBay

A page of Dan Dare artwork from the original Eagle is currently up for sale on eBay, on offer from American comics creator and editor Scott Dunbier.

The art is a page from the story The Phantom Fleet, first published in Eagle 50 (volume 9) in 1950.

Written by Alan Stranks, the artists credited for this story are Dan Dare co-creator Frank Hampson, Keith Watson and Desmond Walduck, but the Scott says "there’s probably more Duck here than Ham".

In the story, radio and television transmissions are being disrupted throughout the Solar System by an unknown force. Spaceships are disappearing. After a rocket ship carrying Sir Hubert Guest goes missing, Dan and crew set out to discover what has happened to it.

They find a fleet of huge alien craft containing peaceful aquatic creatures called Cosmobes who are fleeing from another aquatic race, the warlike Pescods, whose "Crimson Death" weapon destroys all metals on contact.

Attempts to destroy the Pescods' pursuing fleet fail, and they dive into the Earth's ocean and begin to build themselves a city. Fortunately for Earth the Pescods' settlement is on top of the submerged volcano Krakatoa, and when it erupts due to seismic disturbances from the pesky Pescods, they are all destroyed.

A panel from the offered Dan Dare page

The art measures 9.5 x 12.5 inches on large illustration board; the art is in nice shape but has some staining (perhaps no surprise given the many horror stories told down the years about how such art was treated by some publishers) and shows some age.

Scott previously bought and sold original comic art since the early 1980s, but "gave it up full time in 1995 to work in comics publishing."

While we were on eBay, we also came across seller "alanb1109", who regularly sells copies of Eagle and has announced he is about to offer quite a substantial collection in coming weeks.

Could be worth keeping an eye on.

• View The Phantom Fleet art here on eBay

• Dan Dare comics checklist (GoogleDoc, corrections, additional information welcome)

Doctor Who costunes, rare Dalek art for sale at Bonhams

Up for auction at Bonhams: The evening suit
worn by Matt Smith in The Big Bang

A collection of 37 costumes from recent episodes of Doctor Who are being offered by Angels The Costumiers in the Entertainment Memorabilia auction on Thursday 15th December 2011 at Bonhams, Knightsbridge, London.

Also in the auction are costumes from other shows such as the original The Prisoner, Walt Disney animated film cels, film posters for Star Wars, Star Trek, music memorabilia and much more, including art from the 1964 Dalek Book.

Angels The Costumiers is the world’s longest-established supplier of costumes to the film, theatre, and television industries.

“Doctor Who is a perennial TV favourite," says Angels Chairman, Tim Angel, who, as a young costumier, first suggested incorporating the iconic, thick scarf into Tom Baker’s Doctor Who outfit, explaining why his company loves the show. "The Angels team always looks forward to working on the show because of the extraordinary diversity of costumes that are required to bring-to-life the Time Lord’s journeys.

On auction: The original preliminary

design artwork for The Dalek Book

"The costumes in the Bonhams auction offer the chance for fans to connect with their favourite episodes, and take home a beautiful piece of TV history.”

The costumes come from a number of recent episodes including The Shakespeare Code, Human Nature/The Family of Blood, Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of Daleks and The Fires of Pompeii, and have been worn by actors including David Tennant, Matt Smith and Freema Agyeman.

Highlights include a wedding guest outfit complete with top hat and a cream coloured silk scarf, which was worn by Matt Smith in The Big Bang, which it's estimated will sell for £1,200-1,800, a doublet and hose outfit worn by Lucian Msamati as Guido in The Vampires of Venice (£600, 700) and a three-piece suit worn by David Tennant in Human Nature/The Family of Blood (£1,000-1,500).

Stephanie Connell, Head of Entertainment Memorabilia, comments, “As the world’s longest running science fiction television programme, Doctor Who has attracted a cult following and we expect fans of the show to jump at the chance to bid for these items.”

The auction also includes a huge amount of film and TV memorabilia including costumes from the 1960s series Danger Man and The Prisoner, Walt Disney animation film cels, a Thunderbirds film poster, a 1997 Star Wars film poster, promotional poster for the 1980 Flash Gordon film, a collection of quad science fiction movie posters including Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a script for the fantasy film Willow and much more. 

• More info at: www.bonhams.com/entertainment

Ron Jobson Artwork Up For Auction

Ron Jobson is not that familiar a name to British comics collectors as he produced very few comic strips in his time, but mention the character of Captain "Space" Kingley to readers of a certain age or collectors of 1950s annuals and you tend to get a remarkable reaction.

Between 1952 and 1954 Sampson Low published three Space Kingley books all in annual size and format despite the character not actually appearing in any weekly comic. Kingley was one of the multitude of Dan Dare clones that were created by many publishers to cash in on the popularity of Eagle's spaceman. The only one to really approach the artistic excellence that was displayed each week in Eagle was Space Kingley and Ron Jobson was the artist who produced the vast majority of the artwork for the three books and four Kingley jigsaws that were released. His career was covered by Norman Wright and David Ashford in Book and Magazine Collector issue 320.

In addition to Space Kingley Jobson worked on may other subjects from 1950s children's picture books via 1960s Matchbox car boxes and 1970s Airfix boxes and instructions to 1980s aviation and space reference books. From a science fiction perspective he did the painted covers for the hardback versions of Charles Chilton's Journey Into Space novels and as well as some of the hardback covers for EC Elliott's Kemlo books.

Born in 1923 and called-up to wartime serve with the Royal Engineers and the War Office, Jobson retired from commercial painting quite some time ago but continued painting for pleasure until only recently. Twenty of these more recent paintings, mainly depicting military aircraft and including this lovely one of a World War One Royal Navy E Class submarine with a flying boat, are being auctioned by Aston's Auctioneers and Valuers of Baylies' Hall, Tower Street in Dudley on Saturday 15 October 2011 as part of their Toy Auction.

There are more pictures of all twenty of the Ron Jobson paintings to be auctioned, as well as details of the auction, on the Aston's Toy Auction blog.