The Magic comic number 1

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newcollector
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Joined: 03 Nov 2017, 19:11

The Magic comic number 1

Post by newcollector »

Hello, My name is Thomas and i'm quite new to the comic collecting world. I mostly collect wartime Dandy and Beano comics but some time ago I purchased what I think is number one of the Magic comic from July 1939. The spine is glued and the pages have yellowed with age. Someone has also written 'number 1' in pencil to the front. Is this an original or a later repro?

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koollectablz
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by koollectablz »

Looks original to me from those pics, but I'd have to see it in hand to be certain.

Rare comic.

newcollector
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Joined: 03 Nov 2017, 19:11

Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by newcollector »

Thank you for your reply, looking at it it certainly has the smell and feel of old paper and visible wear/ yellowing to the edges through handling. The only thing that worried me is that some of the colours just slightly go over the lines whilst others are very clean and perfect, would that be down to the printing of the period?
otherwise it looks to be printed on newspaper type paper with glued spine

Phoenix
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Phoenix »

newcollector wrote:Is this an original or a later repro?
Because of the overall browning I have to agree with koolectablz. There is no doubt in my mind that that is an original that has aged naturally. I have a modern reprint in my collection, the pages of which are white. If memory serves, which it doesn't always, I bought it in the late seventies/early eighties from the Vintage Magazine Shop in Brewer Street in Soho.

Having thought this through, I may be only half right. At the time I bought the reprint of The Magic, I bought the other seven as well, those being The Dandy, The Beano, The Wizard, The Skipper, The Hotspur, The Rover, and Adventure, all of which appeared, simultaneously I believe, in the volume D. C. Thomson Firsts (Facsimile Reprints 1921 - 1939), in 1978, but at that time Vinmag was in Earlham Street, which crosses Piccadilly on its way to Soho.
Last edited by Phoenix on 04 Nov 2017, 11:51, edited 1 time in total.

newcollector
Posts: 16
Joined: 03 Nov 2017, 19:11

Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by newcollector »

Phoenix wrote:
newcollector wrote:Is this an original or a later repro?
Because of the overall browning I have to agree with koolectablz. There is no doubt in my mind that that is an original that has aged naturally. I have a modern reprint in my collection, the pages of which are white. If memory serves, which it doesn't always, I bought it in the late seventies/early eighties from the Vintage Magazine Shop in Brewer Street in Soho.
Thank you, out of interest does the reprint have a glued spine or stapled? I will try and take some better pictures over the weekend, certainly the edges have browning but the centre of the comic looks quite clean.

Lew Stringer
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Lew Stringer »

newcollector wrote:
Phoenix wrote:
newcollector wrote:Is this an original or a later repro?
Because of the overall browning I have to agree with koolectablz. There is no doubt in my mind that that is an original that has aged naturally. I have a modern reprint in my collection, the pages of which are white. If memory serves, which it doesn't always, I bought it in the late seventies/early eighties from the Vintage Magazine Shop in Brewer Street in Soho.
Thank you, out of interest does the reprint have a glued spine or stapled? I will try and take some better pictures over the weekend, certainly the edges have browning but the centre of the comic looks quite clean.
Hi newcollector, As I said when you contacted me earlier, the original has a glued spine, so I'm pleased to see that others here agree that it's the original and not the 1978 reprint. Now I can see larger photos than the ones you sent me there's no doubt it's an original. Very rare! I've no idea how much it'd be worth but I'm sure others here can advise.
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
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Kashgar
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Kashgar »

It's certainly an original. All Thomson titles were traditionally glued not stapled. The colour not being exactly keyed with the original artwork is also typical of Thomson publications of the time. This was a consequence of the use of papier mache flonges as the means of relaying colour details to the printers and the effect that temp and atmospheric conditions had on the flonges in transit.

newcollector
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Joined: 03 Nov 2017, 19:11

Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by newcollector »

Thank you all for your help, I have taken some new photos in daylight to give a clearer few. In all it is in good condition with only two visible tears to the back cover, one corner missing to the inside page and tears to the corners of each page where it has been handled. The gentleman who owned it had it together with a Dandy number 4 and other early issues.

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newcollector
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by newcollector »

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Phoenix
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Phoenix »

It's definitely worth a few bob!! :cheers:

Hawkeye
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Hawkeye »

Looks a bit tatty to me, I'll give you a fiver for it !!

Lew Stringer
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Lew Stringer »

The tears will devalue it, and the penciled "Number 1" on the front, but apart from that, and the yellowing, it doesn't look too bad. It's very rare. Should fetch a few thousand I'd hope. Anyone here recall what the last copy of this sold for? (I don't really follow values too closely.)
The blog of British comics: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com
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Hawkeye
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Hawkeye »

Lew Stringer wrote:The tears will devalue it, and the penciled "Number 1" on the front, but apart from that, and the yellowing, it doesn't look too bad. It's very rare. Should fetch a few thousand I'd hope. Anyone here recall what the last copy of this sold for? (I don't really follow values too closely.)
Having had a look at compalcomics I would estimate its worth around £1500+ in this condition.

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Digifiend
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Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by Digifiend »

You've got a good one there Thomas. How much did you pay for it? A few hundred?

newcollector
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Joined: 03 Nov 2017, 19:11

Re: The Magic comic number 1

Post by newcollector »

Digifiend wrote:You've got a good one there Thomas. How much did you pay for it? A few hundred?

I paid £300 for it back in 2009, it came from a chap who also owned no 4 of the dandy, and had it bound with other wartime and later comics.

I don't tend to handle it very often but today I decided to have a read, all very enjoyable!

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