Comic book

Grey rather than green for his debut, the Incredible Hulk made his first appearance in 1962 and continues to enthral comic collectors.

The name Steve Ditko (1927-2018) scarcely needs an introduction to comic collectors.

Firmly in the British jingoistic ‘boy’s own’ tradition, a collection of Commando comic books turned heads when offered at Stourbridge saleroom Fieldings last year (see ATG No 2556).

A bound volume presenting the first seven issues of Magic Comic issued by DC Thomson in 1939 proved a highlight in a Comic Book Auctions (19% buyer’s premium) sale of June 4.

Around 750 lots of comics featured in a May 10-11 auction held by Anderson & Garland (25% Buyer’s Premium) of Newcastle.

For many British schoolchildren Roy of the Rovers was just as famous as any of the real-life footballers of the day.

A copy of the very first 'Superman' comic of 1939 that came to auction in the US was not in the finest of conditions, indeed rated only VG/FN 5.O.

While a Beano No 1 will always take the headlines, not so well-known titles can also impress

Four auction records were set in the first 90 minutes of a recent four-day comics and comic art auction conducted by Heritage (20% buyer’s premium).

Newcastle auction house Anderson & Garland is holding The Comics Auction on September 28-29.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including a copy of The Beano No 1 selling for a five-figure sum at auction.

Priced on the cover at nine pence, it was a British copy of a Marvel comic of 1983, one that saw the first appearance of the mighty Thor, that led the bidding at £6300 in the comics section of a July 21-22 sale held by Fieldings (24% buyer’s premium).

Sold for $2m (£1.62m) in a major and hugely successful comics sale held by Heritage (20% buyer’s premium) of Dallas was an original cover artwork produced in 1986 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1.

A real stand-out success in the Comic Book Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) timed online sale that ended on May 29 was to be found among the large collection of US comics that were offered without reserve – albeit a British issue of the comic bearing a cover price of nine pence.

The six lots described here are drawn from a hugely successful sale of comics and comic art held in Dallas by Heritage (20% buyer’s premium) over four days, from April 7-10.

'Bewegungsstudie', or ‘Study of Movement’, by Rudolf Koppitz, is the most famous of six tipped-in photogravures, each with a protective glassine sheet, that make up Pictures from the Tyng Collection, a 1931 publication of the Royal Photographic Society.

Billed as the star lot in a sale that ended on February 27, a scarce copy of the 1937 first issue of Dandy made a high-estimate £3450.

A four-day US sale of comics and comic art produced some extraordinary results – with 4900 would-be buyers registered and every one of the 1333 lots sold to bring a premium-inclusive total of $23.76m (£17.34m).

In a world in which American superhero comics featuring Superman, Batman and other characters regularly sell for substantial six and seven-figure sums, it is really quite refreshing to be reminded of more modestly priced British rarities.

Spider-Man became the most expensive comic book superhero in a Heritage (20% buyer’s premium) sale this autumn.