Alongside a wealth of European and manga comic art, there are three works first published in British comics in this week’s Catawiki International Comic Art Auction, closing on Thursday – but a dig around the site finds a lot more on offer, in separate auctions, too.

In this week’s Catawiki International Comic Art Auction, included are two pages by Roger Hall from the 1970s pre-school magazine, Hey Diddle Diddle, first published in 1973, the work of a British artist who began his career painting publicity images for front of house displays in cinemas. He later became a noted book illustrator – and created the first depiction of James Bond on a book cover.

A page from “The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire” story, “The Puppet Emperor“, by Don Lawrence, first seen in Look and Lean in 1970, is also up for auction, with bidding already at €950 (£794).

Plus, check out some great “Aladdin” art by Angus McBride (1931-2007) for Issue 10 of the magazine Once Upon a Time, published in April 1969. One of the most recognised illustrators of the 20th century, McBride is especially noteworthy for his works to illustrate the stories of the Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson was inspired by them when making the films. He remains one of the most respected historical and fantasy illustrators in the world, and contributed to numerous books, magazines and articles, and to more than 70 Osprey titles.

Check out items offered by Catawiki in their International Comic Art category – ends at 7.00pm Thursday 20th January 2022

Elsewhere on Catawiki, in their latest Italian Comics & Original Comic Art auction, there are some pages by 2000AD artist Massimo Belardinelli on offer, from the story “Atlan” featured in Germany’s Perry Rhodan-inspired Perry magazine 29 in 1969 – very early examples of his work.

That auction also includes a number of Corto Maltese-related lots, while in the current US Comics & Original Comic Art auction, which also close on Thursday, there are some great examples of two classic newspaper strips, “Secret Agent Corrigan” by Bob Lubbers (as Bob Lewis) and “Flash Gordon” by Dan Barry on on offer, along with a striking original Vampirella artwork by Rafa Vargas; and a Superman page from DCeased #5, pencilled by Trevor Hairsine, inked by Stefano Gaudiano.

But that’s not all. Also running right now is a fundraising Friends of the Museum of Comic Art Auction (MoCA) auction, which includes a complete “Billy Bunter” story from the issue of Valiant cover dated 13th December 1969.

Known as “Billy Turf” on the continent, the Greyfriars schoolboy appeared in Sjors and Libelle in the 1970s, and again later in Eppo and Eppo Wordt Vervolgd.

MoCA, The Museum of Comic Art is the only real comic museum in the Netherlands and shows originals by comic creators from the Ninth Art, located in the heart of Noordwijk aan Zee. The proceeds of the items from this auction, which ends on Saturday, will benefit the museum.

The auction also includes “Blueberry” prints by Jean Giraud (Moebius), rare Asterix figures and much, much more – all in a good cause!

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.

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

Tags: Adventure Comics, Angus McBride, Auction News, Billy Bunter, Catawiki International Comic Art Auction, Don Lawrence, downthetubes News, Humour Comics, Jean Giraud, Look and Learn, Massimo Belardinelli, MoCA, Rafa Vargas, Reg Parlett, Roger Hall, The Museum of Comic Art, The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, Trevor Hairsine