INDEX antiques Comic A collection
The earliest comics are thought to date from about 1860 and by the 1950s the great British comic was enjoying its heyday. So how much is that old Dandy or Beano worth today? asks Jennie Buist Brown
Once proudly known in its heyday as the home of jam, jute and journalism, Dundee today can boast only the latter as one of its thriving industries.
artists were cavorting with characters from The Dandy, The Beano, Oor Wullie, The Broons, and Commando comics. I would sneak in to watch characters being inked or to look at the fabulous cover artwork. And I’m not alone in admiring this it seems – in 2004 a collector from Essex paid £20,350 for a No 1 edition of The Dandy, issued in 1937. This comic was in mint condition and still had its free gift – The Express Whistler – a tinplate pan pipe – which made it a rarity. The Beano appeared a year after and also came with a freebie – The Whoopee Mask – and the last example sold for nearly £7,000. The top illustrators at D.C. Thomson were Reg Carter and Dudley Watkins responsible for Lord Snooty and his pals – a 1955 piece of artwork selling recently for £1,000.
The earliest comics
D.C. Thomson has been publishing newspapers in the city since 1905, and it was here as a 17-year-old that I began my career in journalism in a junior role for the women’s magazines division. Whilst we toiled away
writing and editing love stories and horoscopes, on the floor below us in the beautiful red stone building in Meadowside which still houses the company’s headquarters, talented
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date from about 1860 when Comic Cuts made its debut, and by the 1950s the great British comic was enjoying its heyday when children could use their pocket money to buy Topper, Beezer, Valiant and more. Most of these do not command such high values – comics from the 1950s and 60s are worth about £2-£3 each if in good condition. Value is determined: age, condition and scarcity and it’s almost always the first issue that becomes a collectors item.
The success of The Dandy
and The Beano resulted in the introduction of the hardbound annuals – my brothers and I always had one or other in our Christmas stockings. The first Dandy annual was issued for 1939 printed in 1938, the number 1 Beano arriving in time for 1940 but printed in 1939. Value wise, a No 1 Dandy has sold for £3,500 with the first Beano doing even better at £4,500. The most sought-after annual recently is the 1973 ‘Brown Face’ Rupert annual. Rumour has it that in 1972 the managing director and publisher of the annual, Express Newspapers, gave Rupert a brown complexion. Rupert’s creator, Alfred Bestall, was vehemently against the idea – so much so that he never worked on a Rupert annual again – although a handful of the 1973 brown face annuals survived, one having sold not so long ago for £15,000. The white face version sells for £8. Collectable American comics command very high prices with the first Marvel Mystery Comic of 1939 rumoured to have
changed hands for $350,000. Superman, published by DC (Detective Comics), made his entrance in 1938 whereas Spider-Man appeared courtesy of Marvel comics in 1962. Both No 1 issues are said to be valued at $100,000. If you’re looking to begin
collecting now consider buying Japanese Manga comics from the 1980s because of their high quality artwork, or if you want to keep it British then The Eagle can still be bought for around £5. If you’re interested in starting a collection, visit Whatever Comics on St Peter’s Street or www.
whatevercomics.com Canterbury Heritage Museum has a permanent exhibition dedicated to Rupert The Bear.
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The INDEX magazine October 2011
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