Cartoons, British comic art and more offers in this week’s Catawiki International Comic Art Auction

By John Freeman on April 16, 2022

This week’s Catawiki International Comic Art Auction closes on Thursday 21st April 2022, and as ever, includes cartoons, manga art, homage and more.

Here are some auction highlights, including the art created for British strips and comics…

First, another Marvel Comics artwork for the Spanish book market by Eduardo Alpuente, featuring Spider-Man and Kraven…

Two consecutive original pages by Koji Asaoka, from “Tokyo Top-Sha” published in the Asaoka Best Gekiga series.

Koji Asaoka was published in Shõnen Magazine in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but “Tokyo Top-sha” appeared as a Gekiga Daiben as early as 1960.

Gekiga is a term used to refer to adult-oriented manga, most of which were released between the late 1950s and ’70s. Daiben Manga or book rental refer to manga that were printed in the 1950s-60s, with the intention of lending them at low prices instead of selling them. This was due to rising prices after World War Two.

In its heyday, there were around 30,000 loan stores in Japan, and many great mangaka such as Watanabe Masako and Akatsuka Fujio made their contribution. This only changed when the big publishers, in the 1960s, started publishing comic magazines such as Shonen.

This gallows humour cartoon by Emiel De Bolle comes from from an extensive cartoon collection, the collector personally received the drawing from the artist around the 1980s.

Between 1975 and 2000, Emiel De Bolle drew political cartoons for Het Nieuwsblad, De Gentenaar and, since 2011, he’s been drawing cartoons for the weekly magazine, Pallieterke.

His pen name, Luk Cooke, is a “youthful sin”, according to the artist himself, and it eventually disappeared and was replaced by his real name, or a monogram.

A homage to Lucky Luke and creator Morris, by Thierry Capezzone…

One of several western comic art pages on offer, this page by L. en F. Funcken, for “Silver”, featured in Tintin magazine, caught my eye..

An original cover painting by José Gonsález…

As ever, this page from “Robot Archie in Menace of the Golden Men”, first featured in Lion in 1966, is a gem, art by Ted Kearon…

Two pages of art from the SF adventure series, “The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire” for Look and Learn by Don Lawrence – a page from “Last Hour for Elektron” (1966) and “The Struggle for Power” (1969). Both pages are commanding strong bidding.

Finally, another “Andy Capp” strip for the Daily Mirror, by his creator, Reg Smythe, with Capp hopefully getting his comeuppance from Flo if he misbehaves…

• Bidding on lots in this auction closes at 7.00pm on Thursday 21st April 2022 – check out the full catalogue here

Potential Additional International Auction Costs

This advice box was last updated on Friday 6th May 2022

The UK’s departure from the European Union means there may be additional import duties on sales.

Prior to Brexit, the effective rate of UK tax on imports of art was 5%, which is lower than most other European countries. An owner could previously import an artwork to the UK from outside the EU and was then free to transport it to other EU countries, where the import tax rates may be higher, without incurring any further import-related tax charges. If the owner then wished to bring the artwork back to the UK, there would also have been no further tax charge.

The Guardian previously reported that online orders up to £135 are now supposed to have the UK’s prevailing VAT rate added at the point of sale by the EU retailer, which has to have registered with HM Revenue & Customs.

While buying from European sellers carries the sting of larger costs, the auction house Catawiki does now endeavour to provide an estimate of those in its lot descriptions.

Unfortunately, many smaller EU-based retailers have decided that the paperwork of collecting UK VAT is not worth the hassle and as a result will no longer supply UK consumers. It has also meant that some British sellers will no longer export to Europe.

This apolitical guide outlines what you should be aware of when buying or selling art internationally but is a work in progress

• Don’t forget Catawiki runs several regular auctions, including a dedicated US Comics auction, too – check out all the current lots on offer here

John Freeman

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.