THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Comic collecting YOUNG AT HEART
CAPER CHASE
On the eve of an exhibition celebrating the world’s longest-running weekly comic, Beano, we explore the world of comic collecting
W
hen it comes to collecting the comic book world of superheroes, fantastical beasts and intergalactic villains, the American titles beat their British cousins into the kind of pulped and bloody mess usually meted out by the hammer-heavy fists of the Incredible Hulk. Perhaps fittingly, the current world record price for a comic book belongs to a June 1938 copy of Action Comics #1, which saw the first-ever appearance of Superman, helping the comic to soar (like a bird) to an impressive $3.25m in a private sale earlier this year via ComicConnect.com. The comic reveals how, arguably, the world’s most iconic super hero first came to Earth, adopting the moniker of Clark Kent. The world-record price narrowly beat the earlier record set by another copy of the same title, which fetched just over $3.2m in 2014. While the condition of the comic was one factor in its sale success, the fact that only around 100 of the issues exist certainly added to its super powers.
26 ANTIQUE COLLECTING
Above Bash Street Kids, 1982. Courtesy of Beano Right Dennis and
Gnasher, 1993. Courtesy of Beano
It’s a highly impressive set of figures, particularly when considering the relative immaturity of a market that’s not yet 100 years old. The Glasgow Looking Glass, first published in 1826, is generally regarded as the first comic in a format that we would recognise today, utilising such elements as speech bubbles, caricature, captioned pictures and lines of narrative. By 1845, following the adoption of sketches and satirical drawings in a growing number of newspapers and magazines, the word ‘cartoons’ was coined to describe the artform. In 1841, the celebrated and influential British magazine of humour and satire, Punch, began publication, featuring the work of such luminaries as WM Thackeray, PG Wodehouse and Sir John Betjeman who regularly held up politicians of the day to cuttingly humorous scrutiny. However, it was the 1920s and 1930s when the comic book really came into its own as a form of mass media, with the US leading the way. With a far younger audience the key demographic, each week children in the USA and UK were soon eagerly reading about the high-octane adventures of their super hero favourites or a host of hilarious capers of larger-than-life characters. Fast-forward to today and it’s these early titles that pack a punch with potential collectors and investors alike, continuing to build on nascent interest stimulated by the growth in specialist comic stores in the 1970s which catered for a burgeoning collectors’ market. Yet, ironically, the current levels of interest are being driven by a host of modern platforms that are far removed from comic’s traditional environment of ink, paper and printing presses. Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland has been selling comics for longer than any other art auction house in the country, starting some 35 years ago. Auctioneer and Valuer, John Bullock-Anderson has witnessed the change throughout his career. “Just when
