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.

2000AD, TV21 and Whoopee art offered in latest Compalcomics auction

Bionic Woman art for Look-In 13 by John Bolton. Lot details here

There's artwork and British comic rarities in the Spring 2011 auction at Compalcomics, which has just opened, including 2000AD art by Ron Smith and superb work by artists such as John Bolton, Frank Bellamy, Ken Reid, Robert Nixon and Italian artist Giorgio de Gaspari.

There are 292 lots in the winter catalogue, including a Thunderbirds page by Frank Bellamy published in TV Century 21 Issue 168, and a continuation of individually lotted Dandy Comic war years issues, many not seen at auction before.

The British section also includes Film Fun Issue 1, complete with its incredibly rare free 'Fatty Arbuckle' gift and a rare Beano No 2 is at lot 26 (only a handful of copies are known to exist) and there's a beautifully fresh second Dandy Monster Comic at lot 58, published in 1940.

The Compal team have also unearthed a Radio Fun first issue graded Very Fine for your consideration at lot 19, the comic that introduced readers to comic strip versions of the likes of George The Jolly Gee-Gee, Flanagan & Allen, Sandy Powell, Will Fyffe and brought them the Clark Gable Picture Story ‘Along Paths of Peril’, back in 1938.

Denis Gifford was a comics historian of great importance whose input was well known and the auction featuresa collection of his Gerald G Swan albums and comics as well as an unpublished 1944 album by him entitled 'Corker Comics issues 1-12' for which all of the page settings and original artwork is included.

There is also a minor contribution of artwork characters Larry, Horace and Pop and Percy Pig by RAM, a talented young artist and writer later going on to international comedic fame as one Robert A Monkhouse. Surel a unique piece of British comics history.

This Corker Comics lot features comic strip by the late, great Bob Monkhouse

Dick Daring cover art by Giorgio de Gaspari
for Thriiler Picture Library 244

While there are some terrific lots of comics - both individual and collected, including TV Century 21, Eagle, Junior Express Weekly and many more, it's the art in this auction that is sure to attract attention, not least from Western comics fans who might be salivating over several pieces of cover art for Cowboy Comics and Thriller Picture Library by Italian artist Giorgio de Gaspari whose atmospheric action style is well captured with Kit Carson, The Kansas Kid, Dick Daring and Spy 13.

There's also some 2000AD art on offer - including a page of Judge Dredd by Ron Smith, Ant Wars art by Alfonso Azpiri, and a joint lot featuring art by Adrian D. Beeton and John Stokes.

The Broons and Oor Wullie by Dudley Watkins are up to their usual tricks along with Frankie Stein and the World Wide Weirdies by Ken Reid, and a Frankie Stein piece by Robert Nixon - plus a special Viz artwork that ComPal is  offering on behalf of the charity Sunshine Project International.

You may notice that Simon Donald's snowman theme is well blessed in the testosterone department.  If you don't fancy that there's always the Dennis The Menace Clickity Clicker, given away in an issue of The Beano in 1960 -- in full annoying working order!

• Bids will be accepted until Tuesday 15 March at 8 PM UK time. Catalogue at:  www.compalcomics.com/catalogue/index.htm

(With thanks to Graeme Neil Reid for additional info)

In Review: Classics from the Comics Issue 170

The latest issue of DC Thomson's Classics from the Comics sports a new look, complete with revamped cover masthead reflecting it's 'retro' appeal, but the line up of humour and adventure strips inside is the usual engaging mix of material from yesteryear that again reminds readers of how vibrant British comics used to be. While not every story was a memorable hit - this issue's The Space Kids, from Beezer, drawn, I think, by Ron Smith, being one example - experimentation and enthusiasm for the work positively oozes from most pages.

Highlights this issue include an archive look at 50 decades of Desperate Dan, from an incredibly detailed 15-panel one page story from 1940 (Dan wins a makeover but filing his nails proves near-impossible) through to 1985 (just how will Dan quench his thirst?); a single page of Ken Reid's creation, Jonah, the jinx-ridden sailor (more, please!); Little Plum turns rock star, a barbed tale about celebrity that proves timeless; Davy Law's loose style wonder of a 1967 episode of Corporal Clott; L Cars from Sparky... There's even an episode of the quickfire half pager Desert Island Dick from Topper, as well as more General Jumbo adventure, up against a gang of terrorists with his toys.

Overall, there's a much stronger sense of editorial selection to this issue and somehow it seems less 'scattergun' than recent editions. The continued inclusion of background info on characters such as Desperate Dan is welcome feature material.

The only thing lacking for me is a list of creator credits, even if only the artists, perhaps included in the contents page. While I know that traditionally, DC Thomson never allowed creator credits in the past, it does these days in The Beano etc. I'm sure readers of this title would be fascinated to know more about the character and creator history behind some of DC Thomson's most fondly-remembered strips.

This title offers a well put together example of how a regular 'classics' package could look, and it's one Egmont should be looking at, and, although it's sadly unlikely ever to happen, IPC.

• Classics from the Comics, published by DC Thomson, is on sale now in all good UK newsagents, price £2 Click here for subscription information

First Beano Book, Marvelman Cover Art up for auction

Over 200 items of British comics and art form the Summer 2010 auction at UK auction house Compalcomics, including a rare Beano book discovered in a charity shop and cover art for an early issue of Marvelman by creator Mick Anglo.

Beano Book No 1 was found in a pile of annuals at the back of a charity shop in St Andrew's, Scotland and luckily, the manageress, Tammy, and her volunteer, Matthew, realised it was something special and sent it to Compalcomics to be auctioned on behalf of Cancer Research UK. The book is in robust, bright condition and estimated at £1500-2000.

But that's not the only rarity in the catalogue which includes art by Ken Reid, Dudley Watkins, Martin Asbury and John M. Burns and some rare Dan Dare toys.

An 1890 bound volume of Comic Cuts 1-26 is available, the scarce first issue with creamy fresh pages. Cheerio 1-49 is at lot 4 and bound with Kinema 1-36 which it became in April 1920, and there's a bunch of low grade Film Funs (including No 1) at lot 10, all at No Reserve.

Tiger Tim was enormously popular in the 1920s and lot 21 includes his first six annuals with a Painting Book and the rare Bruin Boys wooden train set, the characters all with coupling and wheels (apart from Porky Pig, whose obvious weight put paid to a set).

Football is very much on many peoples' minds this Summer and The Football Post, which was only printed in Nottingham, concentrated on their great local teams, Forest and County. There are 146 clean, flat issues from 1935-39 at lot 30. Sports paper Topical Times gave away some superb free gifts and their 1933 selection of football stars coloured cards and supplements are highly collectable. You could've used a pair of Stanley Matthews' shorts to make a tent. Have a look at lot 32.

Hotspur complete years are well to the fore with unusually high grades for 1934 and '35 and the title is well represented right through the war years along with Wizard's two rare Holiday Books, one with a cover no-one in their right minds would surely ever commission today. The Beano and Dandy's lesser sibling, Magic Comic, only ran for 80 issues to 1941 and a particularly good selection including Nos 2, 3 and 4 awaits your attention. The Beano also competes in this rarified atmosphere.

Talking of atmosphere, Superman was first reprinted in the UK with The Triumph in 1939 and most of these issues should fly at lot 63. Also flying will be Dan Dare's Spaceship and Rocket Builder construction sets (Mum, whaty'do you do with my spanner?)

Wrapping off this huge auction, there's a fine selection of artwork on offer including Desperate Dan, Oor Wullie and The Broons by Dudley Watkins, Frankie Stein and Faceache by Ken Reid and Reg Parlett, a 1957 Mick Anglo Marvelman cover, two pages of John M. Burns Bionic Woman from Look-In, along with two pages of Battlestar Galactica from the same comic by Martin Asbury, plus rarely-offered with Ron Embleton art from his satirical Penthouse strip Oh! Wicked Wanda - and some great Rupert the Bear work, too.

The US section profiles The Batman #5 and #11, first issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, X-Men and Giant-Size X-Men #1; and there's also a high grade Brave And Bold #34 - the first Hawkman adventure.

• Bids will be accepted until Tuesday 1 June at 8 PM UK time. To go directly to the main page for the catalogue, click here: www.compalcomics.com/catalogue

• Compalcomics holds four auctions a year. As a member of this list you will receive a message shortly before auctions open and close. Results of most auctions are posted online two weeks after the closing date.