A bound volume presenting the first seven issues of Magic Comic issued by DC Thomson in 1939, sold for £4050 at Comic Book Auctions.
Acquired by the consignor in the mid 1980s, it had been carefully stored to ensure that the contents remained in good condition. Koko the Pup and the many other characters that fill its pages prompted competitive bidding before the lot found a new home at £4050. Publication of that comic was actually cancelled after 80 issues had appeared, a victim of wartime paper shortages.
November 1943 issue of Captain Marvel Jr, £720 at Comic Book Auctions.
Lots of similar vintage also on offer included a professionally restored copy of Issue No 3 of Dandy Monster Comic of 1941, at £940, and, in the ‘US Golden Age’ section of the sale, a November 1943 issue of Captain Marvel Jr. On the cover of the latter we see our hero demolishing Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini at American Football and carrying the ball for democracy before securing a £720 touchdown.
A great many, in fact the majority of the lots in the sale – the Captain Marvel comic noted above among them – were offered without reserve, but a good number of them produced high prices.
One such was a copy of Issue No 83 of Journey into Mystery of 1962, which featured the first appearance of ‘The Mighty Thor’, a figure billed on the cover as the most exciting hero of all time.
A UK issue priced at 9d, it had a number of condition issues, but sold well at £2700.
Among examples of original comic artwork offered, the most successful, at £3250, was Frank Hampson’s cover for a 1957 issue of Eagle – one that I almost certainly saw as a young lad and a parentally approved and funded subscriber.
