The ruthless Mekon and, at bottom right, our hero, Dan Dare, in a full-page artwork by Frank Hampson for a 1958 issue of Eagle comic that made £2250 at Comic Book Auctions.
An original artwork by Frank Hampson for a 1958 issue of the Eagle comic showing Dan Dare’s crew held hostage by the Mekon, but in which our hero’s plans to rescue them begin to take shape in the final two images of the page.
Frank Bellamy’s 1960 artwork showing Dan Dare’s spacecraft Anastasia in dramatic action was sold at £2650 by Comic Book Auctions.
That lot sold at £2250, while another full-page artwork, this time created and signed in 1960 by Frank Bellamy, which features Dan’s famous and distinctive Anastasia spacecraft zooming down towards the city that is home to the fearsome Nagrebs, was sold at £2650.
‘The Amazing Mr X’, or the ‘Mysterious, Breath Taking Superman’ in a spread from a 1944 issue of Dandy – part of a complete year’s run of the comic from the publisher’s own files which Comic Book Auctions sold at £1000.
Also offered in the opening section of the London sale were a number of what were described as Second World War propaganda issues of the Beano and Dandy.
One such lot, which had its estimate quite sharply reduced prior to sale day, presented the publisher, DC Thompson’s bound file copies for the 1944 issues of Dandy.
One of them introduced the first superhero in British comics, billed as ‘The Amazing Mr X’, or ‘Mysterious Superman’, and the lot sold at £1000.
Huge collection
A great many of the lots were part of an enormous collection built up over some 40 years by a British collector who had been resident elsewhere in Europe but brought his collection back to England around six months ago. The lots were offered by CBA without reserve.
Among the notable inclusions were a 1964, UK first issue of Marvel’s Daredevil, originally priced at 9d (nine pence) but overstamped at 6d, which made £1740.
A 1966, UK issue of Fantastic Four, originally priced at 10p, sold at £1820 by Comic Book Auctions.
Among a large number of copies of Fantastic Four on offer, three dating from the year 1966 sold for sums in the £1540-1820 range – far more than any of the other copies on offer. Originally priced at ten pence, the most expensive of the group introduced the ‘Black Panther’, whose dark form obscures a small portion of the title.
Another comic to impress was one of a small group of early issues of Silver Surfer from the 1960s, in this instance No 4 of 1969. Once again overstamped with a UK price, 2/- in this case, it was sold at £1120.
