Some ebay sales figures for first issues of UK comics

[wilsia]

Very true Le and of course te 1970s Knockout done the same by boasting on the front cover "The all colour comic" not that us kids minded

[Lew Stringer]

Very true Le and of course te 1970s Knockout done the same by boasting on the front cover "The all colour comic" not that us kids minded

To be fair, Knockout was all colour. Just not all full colour.

[dishes]

In the 90s Image US bought out a short series called BIG BANG COMICS which was a collection of comics imitating the golden age style of superheroes.The interesting thing is that around the third issue they produced a comic number 0 and that must be a first.Inside the comic they give a long explanation for this which is tied up with store sales.

I think there'd been a number 0 before then, but anyway, as a kid, I made my own comics, and one in particular I enjoyed drawing so much I made another earlier issue which I called Number 0. That was about 1967, and may be the first such issue 0. Of course, it was thrown out years ago and I can't prove it. (The comic was called FAB!, because, y'know, it was 1967).

There was a Zap Comix #0 in 1968 (intended to be #1 but the artwork was lost and later redrawn from scratch), and a Cerebus #0 in the early nineties, to cite two other examples. (NP still the frontrunner).

[abacus]

In the 90s Image US bought out a short series called BIG BANG COMICS which was a collection of comics imitating the golden age style of superheroes.The interesting thing is that around the third issue they produced a comic number 0 and that must be a first.Inside the comic they give a long explanation for this which is tied up with store sales.

Not sure why I mentioned Image US instead of Caliber press which is on the comics.Here is a photo of said comics.

http://pho.to/8oFMt

As you can see they have an old style look even though they were created in the 90s.Number 0 also has a few black and white pages and this seems to be for financial reasons.It seems strange to think of a comic created in the US struggling to make money.We tend only to think of comics struggling in this country.

[starscape]

Couple went the other day:
SPIKE COMIC NO 1 WITH FREE GIFT 1983
£8.50
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271761359561? ... EBIDX%3AIT

EAGLE COMIC NO 1 WITH FREE GIFT 1982
£4.20
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271761336634? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Both look pretty reasonable prices to me. Wish I'd bid!

[TwoHeadedBoy]

In the 90s Image US bought out a short series called BIG BANG COMICS which was a collection of comics imitating the golden age style of superheroes.The interesting thing is that around the third issue they produced a comic number 0 and that must be a first.Inside the comic they give a long explanation for this which is tied up with store sales.

I think there'd been a number 0 before then, but anyway, as a kid, I made my own comics, and one in particular I enjoyed drawing so much I made another earlier issue which I called Number 0. That was about 1967, and may be the first such issue 0. Of course, it was thrown out years ago and I can't prove it. (The comic was called FAB!, because, y'know, it was 1967).

There was a Zap Comix #0 in 1968 (intended to be #1 but the artwork was lost and later redrawn from scratch), and a Cerebus #0 in the early nineties, to cite two other examples. (NP still the frontrunner).

Cosmic Comic had an issue 0 as well, although that was around 1997-ish... Besides being issue 0, it was also free!

[geoff42]

Spellbound with free gift went for £63... bounder

[Phoenix]

Spellbound with free gift went for £63... bounder

And what's more, Geoff, I didn't even need the Spellbound as I already had one.

[Hen Broon]

Were you bidding someone up and got stuck with it ?

[Phoenix]

Were you bidding someone up and got stuck with it ?

No, I wasn't. If you had been reading members' posts in every category, as I'm sure most of us do, you would have read one of mine in which I talked about my third book, currently in the planning and preparation stage, which will cover the history of D. C. Thomsons' titles for girls between the ages of nine and thirteen. I was trying to buy all those free gifts on eBay to feature in a colour section of illustrations of a selection of the gifts given away from issue 1 of Bunty through the run of all ten relevant titles. So, to answer your rather mean-minded question, I bought the Spellbound for the free gift. One day, when I'm good and ready, I'll sell it on.

[Hen Broon]

Aww have i upset you by asking you a nean-minded question,what do think the collectors you were boasting about bidding up,just for fun think about you ?

[AndyB]

That is quite enough.

[Phoenix]

That is quite enough.

Presumably, Andy, you meant to write That is quite enough, Hen Broon. I really and sincerely hope that not even a minuscule amount of that admonishment is directed at me, given that all I did was to respond to her question. Not to have done so would have been rude.

[stevezodiac]

Phoenix, I hope i'm not making your endeavour even more arduous but will the book include the Picture Library stories for Bunty, Mandy, Judy and Debbie? Or is that a bridge too far? I suppose the comics will have adverts for all of these so the titles and issue numbers would be attainable.

[Phoenix]

Phoenix, I hope i'm not making your endeavour even more arduous but will the book include the Picture Library stories for Bunty, Mandy, Judy and Debbie? Or is that a bridge too far? I suppose the comics will have adverts for all of these so the titles and issue numbers would be attainable.

It will include them, Steve. As with the free gifts, I have been buying them in for over three years. I have approximately 120 issues, roughly thirty of each of the four comics, and all major characters feature. I have a complete list of all the titles issued, which will be in the book, and I should be able to get fifteen covers in colour to a page if Ray is able to provide the names of the artists, twenty if not. There are a handful that I am still looking for, the most important being Debbie number 1 Lost On Planet X, but I'm not trying to get every issue from all four comics. The annuals are a different matter because, apart from listing the contents, I do want to display all those in colour. So far I have bought in 105, but I have plenty of time to get the rest even though I am only bidding for copies that are as near mint as possible. Six arrived this morning.

It's fair to say that as yet nothing is set in stone, but as some sort of overview for you, I envisage first an Introduction that will hopefully see the serials in all ten titles in the light of the fiction that preceded them. This will certainly involve novels for girls, or boys and girls, the 2d weeklies such as The Schoolgirls' Own, and post-war comics such as School Friend, of which I have most from the first decade. Apart from the main purpose of the book, which is to scrutinise the serials, I aim to have sections, all fully illustrated in colour on Free Gifts, Flyers, Lucky Charm, and Summer Specials. Beyond that, as I have them all, I am tempted to illustrate every first issue, last issue, and possibly even every first amalgamated issue. To be fair, I don't have a plan as such, just a series of ideas. I'm assuming that just reading the many books and articles about girls' fiction that I have at home will produce more ideas, but I'm open at this early stage to sensible suggestions from Comics UK members, male or female. My British Library research starts on Thursday with as many issues of Bunty that I don't already have that I can take notes on in one day, about five hours I reckon after I have updated my membership. The other seven days will be spent with my granddaughter Aurora, the flora and fauna on Wimbledon Common, crayoning, converting letters into words, oh, and her first ballet lesson on Saturday. A challenge to Lorna Drake?