There are a number of British comic strip pages in this week’s Catawiki International Original Comics Art Auction, which closes on Thursday, 29th September 2022.
Art on offers includes another splendid “Robot Archie” page from the story “Mystery of the Giant Bats“, first published in Lion in January 1967, with art by Ted Kearon.
A page from “The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire” story, “The Three Princes“, first published in Look and Learn, in 1968; and a page from “The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire” story, “The Doppleganger“, aka “The House of the Five Moons“, published in 1973, both artworks by Don Lawrence.
“The Three Princes” features in the Treasury of British Comics collection, The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire Volume II.
“The House of the Five Moons” features in the upcoming Treasury of British Comics collection of The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire Volume IV, on sale next month, from 26th October (although still listed as on sale this week on some sites).
Also on offer is a page from the “Olac the Gladiator” by Ruggero Giovannini, a character created by writer Brian Leigh, the Tiger strip’s initial artist uncredited. The art on offer first featured in Tiger in June 1965, according to a date scribbled in the margin.
A former British slave, Olac was one of Rome’s foremost gladiators, some of his many adventures including the prevention usurpers claiming the Emperor’s throne – and battling dinosaurs, in this story!
Ruggero is the artist most associated with the strip, although episodes were also drawn by Don Lawrence.
Lambiek notes that although employed full time by Il Vittorioso during the 1950s and 1960s, Giovannini also provided art for Fleetway group through the D’Ami studios, working on strips such as “Dick Daring” and “‘”Robin Hood” for Thriller Picture Library, “Kansas Kid” for Cowboy Picture Library, and drew both “Olac” for Tiger and “Wulf the Briton” for Express Weekly magazine.
American, European and manga art includes tribute to Marvel superheroes by Eduardo Alupente; a superb action-packed page of the story “Davy Crockett” by Etienne Le Rallic; some stunning art by Brice Bingono for the first volume of his ongoing series Pavillion Noir, published by Soleil, working with Éric Corbeyran; plus items from the likes of Serrat Bernat, Pasqual Ferry, René Follet, Gil Formosa, Fred Funcken, Jacques Geron, Taro Ryu Harada, Fumio Hisamatsu, Kei Ikeda, Willy Linthout, Milo Manara, Bruno Marchand, Leonardo Di Matteo, Jeff Pickering, Tekken Sishirian, Manfred Sommer, Pascal Somon, Carol Voges and many others.
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.
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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: Art and Illustration, Auctions, British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds
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