Comic Book Postal Auctions has just launched their August / September auction – and there are some great British comics offerings, including original art from the Beano, and The Dandy – and rare copies of early appearances of Dick Boss, The Netherlands first comic book hero.

Their recent May auction achieved some strong results. The Beano’s first Christmas issue, No 21, sold for a staggering £1620, underlining its huge desirability. Twelve of Paget’s Wonderman comics soared to £330, as did six of Cartoon Art’s Super Duper title. The Dandy complete year for 1950 in a bound volume returned £1220 and TV Century 21 Nos 1-125 collected £1860.

As we previously reported, the top seller in the US section was a coverless copy of Batman #1 from 1940 which went stratospheric to £7,100 with over 20 US contenders undone by a winning bidder from Middle England.

Oor Wullie Book 1 (1941). The Wee Lad on his upturned bucket by Dudley Watkins

The star UK item in this latest auction is a fine copy of the first Oor Wullie book, an absolute beauty with the wee lad on his new upturned bucket in 1941.

Beano (1942) 174-184
Propaganda war issues. Hitler cartoon ‘Himmel!, Der pig-dog British are saving all their waster paper!’. Pansy Potter goes fishing and catches a U-Boat. Lord Snooty gives the Nazis laughing gas but Hitler thinks it’s not funny. No 180 Pansy Potter drawn by Dudley Watkins

Dandy Monster Comic (1948)

Artwork features strongly with original front cover boards of a Beano from 1953 with Biffo The Bear, drawn and signed by Dudley Watkins – and a Dandy from 1961 with Korky The Cat illustrated by Jimmy Crighton.

Beano/Biffo the Bear original front cover artwork (1953), from The Beano 558 March 28 1953, drawn and signed by Dudley Watkins. Biffo paints the fence, and everything else, red!
Poster colour and ink on cartridge paper. 20 x 14 ins. The ‘Beano’ header is a laser colour copy.

Dandy/Korky The Cat original front cover artwork by Jimmy Crighton from The Dandy 1043 (Nov 18 1961). Korky has a super wheeze but ends up with a great big sneeze! With original front cover printers proof. Bright poster colour and indian ink on cartridge paper. 19 x14 ins.’The Dandy’ header is a laser colour copy

Charley’s War three original artworks by Joe Colquhoun from Battle Action Force 485 (1984) pages 10-12. It’s October 1918 and the British advance continues. As Corporal Charley Bourne and his men rest in a recently liberated village the Jerries counter attack with devastating force …

Desperate Dan original artwork by Dudley Watkins from The Dandy (April 1969). Dan gets a close shave! (Most of the word balloons are missing. Indian ink on cartridge paper 22 x 15 ins)

There’s also a number of Black Bob art items offered, and Robbie The Bobbie, the latter two original artworks from the Dandy No 863 (1958) by Jack Prout.

Eight Black Bob original artwork panels from the Dandy/Black Bob Book (1950s) by Jack Prout. Indian ink on card, 8 panels arranged on two cards, each card 15 x 10 ins

Robbie The Bobbie 2 original artworks from the Dandy No 863 (1958) by Jack Prout. Artworks are worn with some word balloons missing. 21 x 15″ (x 2)

There are further high grade bound volumes of Beano, Dandy, the first year of Lion, Rocket , a complete run of It’s Terriffic – and Wild West Weekly.

Rocket (1956) 1-32. Complete run in bound volume, with two different style Rocket Space Club Badges (each only available with four tokens and 1/9d Postal Order). Starring Captain Falcon by ‘Frank Black’ (Basil Blackaller). With Flash Gordon, Johnny Hazard and Brick Bradford UK reprints. Issues 13-27 highlighted the new Forbidden Planet film starring Robbie the Robot, illustrating stills from the movie and offering free cinema tickets to Rocket Club members. Rocket only lasted for these 32 issues before amalgamation with Express Weekly in November 1956

Lion (1952) 1-45
In bound volume. With free gifts for Nos 1 and 2. Starring Outlaw of Space/Captain Condor by Frank S Pepper, The Jungle Robot (later Robot Archie) by E George Cowan and The Lone Commandos by Edward R Home-Gall

It’s Terrific (1967-68) 1-43

Countdown (1971). 2-10, 12-26, 29, 31-33, 36-40
With Countdown Holiday Special. Starring Dr Who, The Persuaders, Captain Scarlet and UFO

Also going under the hammer are Dick Boss 1 and 2 from The Netherlands. Dick’s creator, Alfred Mazure (‘Maz’), living in wartime Holland, had adventures every bit as harrowing as those of his fictional private eye.

We recently featured the work of Alfred Mazure on the 1950s Mirror strip Romeo Brown, but back in 1940 he devised Dick Boss, The Netherlands first comic book hero. A private eye fluent in six languages, Dick was a black belt in Judo, an expert in Jiu-Jitsu and a crack shot.

The Adventures of Dick Boss No 1 (1947) by Alfred Mazure printed in the Netherlands (English language). A 212 pg booklet published by the Literary Press Ltd, London

During the German occupation the huge popularity of Dick Boss’s fictional detective adventures came to the attention of the Nazi propaganda machine who offered Mazure safe status and a million issue print run if he transformed Boss into a Nazi spy. Mazure refused and his publications were subsequently banned until the end of World War Two. Amazingly, the Germans did not know he was a member of the Dutch Resistance.

Today, Dick Boss and his creator have legendary status and their scarce original No 1 and No 2 publications are keenly collected.

The US selection focusses on Golden Age Action Comics, Superman, Batman and Detective Comics, 1950s Hollywood heart-throbs and Lonesome Cowboys, many in low, affordable grades.

Action Comics 81 (1945)

Batman 106 (1957)

Black Cat 1 (1946)

There are also good runs of Avengers, Fantastic Four, Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales and X-Men.

Those of a delicate nature may seek to avoid the horrors of Creepy, Eerie, Nightmare and Psycho – in high grade abundance!

• The Comic Book Postal Auction August / September catalogue is open for bidding at the-saleroom.com. All postal and fax bids need to be submitted by Friday 7th September 2018 and CBPA will enter them on your behalf in thesaleroom.com/Comic Book Auctions website closing on 9th September from 2.00pm.

Their successful team up with the-saleroom.com continues to provide real time bidding, viewable online, as bids are placed by customers who have registered their details. You can also browse and view lots 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.

Categories: Auctions, Comic Art, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds

Tags: Auction News, Black Bob, Charley's War, Comic Book Postal Auctions, downthetubes News, Dudley Watkins, Jack Prout, Jimmy Crighton, Oor Wullie, Superman, The Beano, The Dandy