A restored copy of the first issue of The Beano fetched over £4000 in the latest ComPal “Winter 2024” auction, and a copy of 2000AD Prog 2, featuring the first appearance of Judge Dredd, complete with Free Gift, went for £1020.
Following the record price of £31,000 for The Beano No. 1 with its extremely rare “Whoopee Mask” free gift in the auction house’s September auction the latest copy of the first Beano, offered with strengthened spine and page edges sold for £4050.00.
In fact, it was a good auction for humour comics in general: a copy of the first Beano annual, published in 1940, the second highest graded copy ComPal had ever sold, went for an impressive £2800. A full year of The Beano from 1944, 27 issues in all, because the title was then fortnightly during the war years, featuring first appearances of “Jimmy and His Magic Patch” and “Strang the Terrible”, both by Dudley Watkins, took £640.
These propaganda war issues are collected outside of their pure comics interest with one Save Paper ad showing Hitler in a hangman’s noose, visually referencing a hanging paper-hanger) with the strap line ‘Pile Up Waste Paper By the Ton – That’s the Way to Smash the Hun’.
A complete year of The Beano from 1954 heralding the first Bash Street Kids incarnation, “When the Bell Rings” by Leo Baxendale and first full-colour back page of “Dennis the Menace”, went for £660, while a complete year of Buster from 1962 starring “Maxwell Hawke”, “The Black Axe” and “Buck Rogers”, whilst including the first Buster and Film Fun starring “Johnny Wingco”, sold for £470.
All 187 issues of WHAM!, a title that included “Fantastic Four” reprints from #1, offered with its scarce free gift, The Whampire Bat, went for £880.
Other top sellers were a scarce complete 20 issue run of Scoops, “Britain’s First Sci-Fi UK Weekly” in a bound volume in high grade, that scooped a strong £520.
The Woodard Archive of British Comics continues to achieve high values and 85 Boyfriend comics from 1959-60 led the field. With love stories based around pop and TV hits, free gifts, fashion and beauty pages and full-page ads targeting early teens the readership was huge back then, so, ‘Remember Kids, Clearasil Starves Spots and Pimples!’ There were no spots on our winning bidder with £520.
Other girls’ titles did well, too. Never offered in a complete run before, all 21 issues of Serenade comic from the early 1960s, with Nos 1, 2 and 3 free gifts, a Cliff Richard Flexi-disc, Pop star colour Booklet and Helen Shapiro’s Hair and Eye Book sold for £680. 53 issues of pop and romance comic Valentine sold well at £420, a title well known for its coverage of The Beatles, Hollies, Elvis, The Animals and Manfred Mann.
A rare Frank Dobson’s Fantasy Advertiser ‘Comicon ‘69’ issue was offered with a selection of US DC correspondence regarding the early British event, with one letter signed by artist Carmine Infantino. The lot sold for £460, nearly ten times the auction estimate.
A copy of 2000AD Prog No. 2, which includes Judge Dredd’s first appearance, with free gift Biotronic Stickers, sold for £1020. These early issues currently sought after by American collectors.
There was demand for British comic art, too, with pages of “Charley’s War” from Battle, the episode set during the Battle of the Somme, drawn by Joe Colquhoun, selling for £1060.
There was much demand for the US comics in the auction, too, with a copy of Tales of Suspense #39 cents copy selling for £3250, a Journey Into Mystery #85, a UK price variant, selling for £1060, and a fresh copy of Iron Man 1 with high cover gloss reached £420.
One successful bidder was, we’re told, delighted to win not comics, but a set of 1990s toys in the auction.
“We offered a near complete set of 29 Beano and Dandy Figurines by Robert Harrop in the auction,” Malcolm Phillips of Comic Book Auctions Ltd. explains. “They included Biffo, Big Eggo, Korky, Dennis, Gnasher, Rasher, Lord Snooty, Beryl, Minnie, Roger, Desperate Dan, Danny and Little Plum. All 29 figurines unplayed-with in their original, as-new boxes.
“When the winning bidder called us in delight having secured the lot with the opening bid of £135, I asked him if he collected toys? ‘No,’ he said, ‘but that’s the grandkids Christmas prezzies sorted”.
“I replied jokingly that it must be an eternal struggle buying presents for 29 grandchildren. Laughing, he responded that he only had a few little-uns but, quick as a flash, he countered that even if he did have that many it would represent pretty good value at under 5p each!”
• Check out the full Auction Report here on the ComPal Auctions web site
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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.
Categories: 2000AD, Art and Illustration, Auctions, British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds, US Comics
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