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Northampton’s Close Encounters offers British comic rarities, including first ever Rupert the Bear annual

By John Freeman on July 26, 2022

Northampton’s ace comic shop, Close Encounters, has recently acquired a very large collection of rare British classic comic annuals, which will soon be offered in their eBay store.

The team have given downthetubes a heads up on what will go on sale, including The Beano, The Dandy, Topper, Oor Wullie, The Broons and Rupert the Bear books, as well as an assortment of other UK titles.

Here are some of the DC Thomson titles, some of them offered in auction and in specialist bookshops for eye-watering amounts in the past, especially early, wartime titles which are rarer because of paper rationing and recycling for the war effort at the time.

Scroll through some of the DC Thomson titles that will go on sale soon, here…

The Dandy Monster Comic Annual 1940
The Dandy Monster Comic Annual 1941
Dandy Monster Comic Annual 1941
Dandy Monster Comic Annual 1942
Dandy Monster Comic Annual 1943
Dandy Monster Comic Annual 1944
The Dandy Book 1958
The Beano Book 1940
The Beano Book 1940
The Beano Book 1942
The Beano Book 1951
The Beano Book 1953
The Beano Book 1955
The Beano Book 1956
The Magic Fun Book 1942
1950s Oor Wullie books

The Rupert books go back to the 1920s, and include the first ever Rupert annual, while the The Beano and The Dandy Books on offer include rare 1940s editions.

The titles will be listed on Close Encounters eBay store here over the coming weeks – or are available directly from the Northampton store.

• Close Encounters, 29 Abington Square, Northampton, NN1 4AE | Tel: 01604 602311 | Web: www.closeencounters.co.uk

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.