Vintage Tin Adverts

These beautiful signs sold last week at auction, and I simply couldn't resist sharing them here. Made of tin, such signs were common in the first half of the 20th century and were often tied up outside newsagents - it's not rare to see them in the background of old photos.

Should you have any more cool old adverts, or even just photos of some, please do send some photos of them my way. They're a joy to behold, and I'd love to share some to the site.

The Big New Year

I've blogged about The Big One before, quite a long time ago when this blog was just starting up, when I shared some pages from the last issue. A short-lived experimental comic published by Fleetway, The Big One lasted only 19 issues from 17th October 1964 - 20th February 1965 and, as the name suggests, is the biggest comic ever published in Britain (and maybe even the entire world). With the exception of the front cover of the last issue, the entire contents consisted of reprinted material from earlier Amalgamated Press comics. The front cover features Smiler illustrated by Eric Roberts. Smiler has originally appeared under the strip's original name 'Mike' in both Knockout from 1945 - 1957 and then in Sun from 1957 - 1959. 

Besides Shiner only a handful of strips had a new year's theme. Two of those appeared on the back page in full colour. Handy Andy at the top is an ex-Knockout strip illustrated by Hugh McNeill, and at the bottom Georgie the Jolly Geegee is from the pages of Radio Fun, illustrated by John Jukes. The layout of this back cover reminds me very much of the back of early Buster comics. It's bright appealing colours would be gone by the last issue though, replaced with nothing more than black and red ink.

The Big One Birthday Club is the only editorial feature inside and it offered readers the chance to win big prizes. The letter claims that "week after week hundreds of parcels leave the Club store on their way to members of the Big One Club", but I wonder how much of an exaggeration this is seeing as the comic lasted less than five months. The section also says members will receive a special red and gold club badge. I wonder if any still exist.

The idea behind the comic was that it's size would make it more noticeable than anything else on the newsstands, driving up sales. Of course no newsagent in their right mind would stock it as it is, and they were all folded in half then half again, making them the same size if not slightly smaller than other comics at the time. To get an idea of just how big an unfolded copy is, here's a photo of this issue next to a random issue of Buster (the closest comic I had). Now imagine having that open and trying to read it anywhere with even a slight breeze - it's next to impossible! It's big size was ultimately its downfall, it merged into Buster on 27th February 1965.

Superman in the U.K

Superman was ever popular in the U.S.A and still is today, with the latest Superman film piling up over $650,000,000 USD, so it seemed obvious for comic publishers in the U.K to try his strips out over here, using American reprints. His first appearance in Britain was in 1939 when he appeared in Triumph. Although he was kicked from the paper after only a short run in 1940, it wasn't the last time he would be seen. 

He appeared again almost two decades later in 1959 when he braced the pages of Radio Fun. Here he would enjoy a much more popular run and would continue right up until the title folded in 1961 when Radio Fun merged into Buster, and Superman went with it. However, despite his success with Radio Fun readers he didn't fit in with the Buster fans and his strip was cancelled that same year.

He would appear again in 1969 in the now-scarce Super DC comics, which lasted for less than a year - producing just 14 issues and one annual.

London Editions would try their hand with the character by featuring him in Super Heroes, but he was there for just two years.

All the scans featured here are from Superman's short run in Buster comic. I am personally not too keen on the Superman strips myself, I prefer the humorous British super heroes such as Super Dad, Super Mum and Full O' Beans, to name three, but I'm sure they appeal to many others.

Summer 2013 Compal Comics Catalogue

A brand new Compal Comics catalogue has gone online, and there are a lot of goodies in this one! The very first auction is for the very first issue of Comic Cuts, which is apparently very rare with only eight known copies in existence, although I'm sure Compal have sold lots of them! It has an estimate of £200 - £250 and is in VG condition.

At auction #5 is the highest graded copy of Radio Fun issue one known to exist, in very fine condition! With George The Jolly Gee-Gee having fun on the bright front cover, this Beano challenger is expected to sell for anywhere in-between £250 - £300.

And at lot number 7 is some very early original Desperate Dan artwork by Dudley D. Watkins, which appeared in issue four of The Dandy.

Next up is a selection of early Dandy comics, from issue #41 - #47 (1938) in auctions #8 - #14. Each comic is in FN (fine) condition, and each has an estimate of somewhere between £70 - 150.

Between lots 15 and 22 are six front cover printers proofs for The Dandy, and have a signature of approval from Dandy editor Albert Barnes. Here are my two favourites.

At lot number 27 is the very first Beano comic in very rough shape. This exact same comic sold for £786 back in the spring 2012 catalogue (which I covered here). Let's see if it does any better this time.

Two early Beano books are available, the 1942 book in good condition and the 1944 Magic Beano in fair condition.

There are also a few bound volumes of early and war time Beano comics, all of which are extremely scarce and are expected to fetch very high prices, and a selection of bound volumes from the 50's.

At lot #61 is the 1951 Oor Wullie book, which is very collectable, and, in very good condition, is expected to go under the hammer for £200 - £250.

This was followed by some original Oor Wullie artwork by Dudley Watkins.

And there are also some bound volumes of Topper comics, with some comics reaching near mint condition!

This is just a small selection of the comics from the British comics section, and there are lots more in the American section as well, so be sure to check it out - there are 325 lots in total! Even if you're not going to buy, it's still very interesting to look through.

www.compalcomics.com