If you’ve not really seen or owned any original comic artwork before, there’s an item in the latest Phil-Comics eBay auction – a copy of Wonder comic, published in 1945, that nicely demonstrates how the process of creating an original page came about, starting with pencil roughs and then inking over to get the final piece.

Roy Wilson was the artist in question and had several attempts at a single panel before settling on his final version (in this case he had at least five attempts with varying degrees of inking). Both the rare Wonder comic (No. 1514, cover dated 3rd February 1945) and the even rarer Preliminary Artworks by Roy Wilson are right here on eBay, right now..

“To most other people, all the panels would have been perfectly fine,” auctioneer Phil Shrimpton notes, “but Roy was a perfectionist and had to be completely happy with his work, otherwise he just started again and these went in the bin (only to be rescued by his wife who couldn’t bear to see even his discarded work going to waste).”

Run by Phil Shrimpton, the award-winning Phil-Comics specialises in vintage comics and related items such as annuals, holiday specials, free gifts and original artwork. 

This auction includes some Free Gift issues, several early issues of Commando, more art by Roy Wilson, for an issue of Tip Top, more comic strip scripts by David Motton, two consecutive “Doctor Who” issues of TV Comic (Nos 795 and 796) and other collectables to entice your bids.

All listings in this latest fortnightly auction – 121 items in total – closing from until Monday 2nd February 2026.

• Check out the current full Phil-Comics catalogue here on eBay 

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John Freeman

John  is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of  comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.

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Categories: Art and Illustration, Auctions, British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds

Tags: Auction News, Comic Art, Creating Comics, downthetubes News, Phil-Comics, Roy Wilson, Tip Top, TV Comic, Wonder