Comics UK

Thanks paw broon. Long may yer lum reek.

I got a bargain this morning with the win of the last issue of Whoopee! (30/3/85), paying £0.49 for it (had it been mentioned in the auction it would be the last issue, I think it would have sold for a fair bit more), and it looks like it's in very good condition.

It was a sad day when Whoopee came to an end but it led to a wonderful merger with Whizzer & Chips. Those W&C mergers with Knockout, Krazy and Whoopee were top notch (It was only about 20 years later I found out that Scouse Mouse also merged).

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:Just ordered a sizable chunk of HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE in my quest to broden my reading horizons......no, it has nothing to do with the notorious headbanging music also dubbed with the same title.

----now, I have to come clean and admit I have never actually looked through an edition of this mag, all I know are the famous sexist-fantasy covers , however I have known of the existance of this publication since the late 70s.


Whether it is worthy fantasy or pretentious tosh, I should find out soon----will report my findings on here if this mag is worth pursuing or not.

I was interested in this item that was posted awhile back and it seems we never got a conclusion from ISPYSHHHGUY.
I have just the one copy of this magazine and apart from the great cover it didn't seem to me to be very memorable.I know it is difficult to sum up a magazine with just the one copy and that is why I was interested in what ISPYHHHGUY had to say.I have seen the two dvd HEAVY METAL movies the first having some great artwork but neither really impressed me that much.

At the ephemera fair they had a small pile of Fantasy Advertiser fanzines but on closer inspection I noticed they were dated in the late 1940s so not the famous comic fanzine.

I notice that earlier this evening in Phil Shrimpton's auctions, issue 1 of Cheeky Weekly (Fine+ with Free Gift) sold for £23 but issue 2 of the same comic (VG/Fine with Free Gift) fetched £165. Apart from the obvious possibility that the winning bidder simply didn't yet have it in his/her collection, are there any other reasons for such a discrepancy in valuation?

Hi, Phoenix, I bought Cheeky issue one with free Jet Rattler nine years ago for a tenner. In July 2013, it went for £67, the highest amount I've seen it go for. Several times, I've seen the same combination on sale on ebay. As for no. 2 with free gift, that is far more rare and obviously commands a higher price and, as we all know, Phil's Auctions over inflates prices. Still, that is a helluva price! I was interested until it eclipsed £40. Patience is a virtue. And this is from a guy who paid over two grand for the unpublished issue of Action. But that was exceedingly rare and offered from an ex-staff of IPC. Also, issue three of Cheeky with free badge is far more common and can be usually be obtained for around a tenner.

"Yellow Submarine", Gold Key. This is interesting because it's obviously based on an early version of the script; a plot that differs in details, different dialogue that's full of Americanisms, and an extra character, Rita. Reading the comic, you get an impression of what it might have been like if it had been made as a special episode of the Beatles cartoon show.

geoff42 wrote:Hi, Phoenix, I bought Cheeky issue one with free Jet Rattler nine years ago for a tenner. In July 2013, it went for £67, the highest amount I've seen it go for. Several times, I've seen the same combination on sale on ebay. As for no. 2 with free gift, that is far more rare and obviously commands a higher price and, as we all know, Phil's Auctions over inflates prices. Still, that is a helluva price! I was interested until it eclipsed £40. Patience is a virtue. And this is from a guy who paid over two grand for the unpublished issue of Action. But that was exceedingly rare and offered from an ex-staff of IPC. Also, issue three of Cheeky with free badge is far more common and can be usually be obtained for around a tenner.

You will see the same thing happen with issues 1 and 2 of 2000AD. if you find either without the free gift, then they are roughly on a par with regards to price. But when you have the free gift attached, then you are looking at £60 to £100 for issue 1 and £200 to £500 for issue 2.

The space spinner has survived much more easily than the biotronic stickers. For me, the surprise is that I have rarely seen issue 3 with the free gift command such eye-watering prices.

colcool007 wrote: You will see the same thing happen with issues 1 and 2 of 2000AD. if you find either without the free gift, then they are roughly on a par with regards to price. But when you have the free gift attached, then you are looking at £60 to £100 for issue 1 and £200 to £500 for issue 2.

Or more. I sold issue 2 (with unused stickers) for just over £600 a couple of years ago on eBay. As always, it's about the right people looking at the auction at the right time.

Regarding Cheeky No.1, I sold that with its unused free gift in 2013 for £55.

Both comics were ones I'd carefully read once and stored away flat out of sunlight so they were almost as new.

Just got those few `Sparky's` (Some better than mine!) from Bruce (Blaing) in Australia! Thank's Bruce!

abacus wrote:

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:Just ordered a sizable chunk of HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE in my quest to broden my reading horizons......no, it has nothing to do with the notorious headbanging music also dubbed with the same title.

----now, I have to come clean and admit I have never actually looked through an edition of this mag, all I know are the famous sexist-fantasy covers , however I have known of the existance of this publication since the late 70s.


Whether it is worthy fantasy or pretentious tosh, I should find out soon----will report my findings on here if this mag is worth pursuing or not.

I was interested in this item that was posted awhile back and it seems we never got a conclusion from ISPYSHHHGUY.
I have just the one copy of this magazine and apart from the great cover it didn't seem to me to be very memorable.I know it is difficult to sum up a magazine with just the one copy and that is why I was interested in what ISPYHHHGUY had to say.I have seen the two dvd HEAVY METAL movies the first having some great artwork but neither really impressed me that much.

Muchos Apologies on this, abacus! Quite simply, I have been busy on my blog, which has attracted 10, 000 hits in 4 months.


OK, I have had a look through the early issues of HEAVY METAL , [from 1977] and if you like artwork from 2000 AD of the same era, you will like this. The designs are very European, with Ezquerra-like artwork as well as more American-looking stuff which is fully airbrushed.

There are continued serials as well as many FUTURESHOCKS-like single tales with a twist in the end-----one extremely good, frankly unforgettable short story ---which is fully painted-----features a man lost in a desert who encounters a vast nude woman, and climbs 'aboard' her------this is easily one of the most striking short stories I have ever read anywhere, but sadly I cannot add frames on here due to the 'adult' nature of the imagery.


There is a helluva lot of full-frontal nudity on view---both male and female-----which is far beyond what even 2000 AD dares put out these days. All the covers are undeniably sexist---if well-executed------and there are sword-and-sorcery serials as well, but it is mostly set in spaceships and distant planets.

More recent issues contain modern CGI colouring, although the eaerly issues have great 70s-period charm.

heavy metal is an acquired taste, there is no denying that, but I have no regrets, thus far, in looking through their archives.

I will look into them again for you tonight, so do look back on here for further details in a couple of days.


I SPY

alanultron5 wrote:Just got those few `Sparky's` (Some better than mine!) from Bruce (Blaing) in Australia! Thank's Bruce!

No problems, Alan.

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:
heavy metal is an acquired taste, there is no denying that, but I have no regrets, thus far, in looking through their archives.

I will look into them again for you tonight, so do look back on here for further details in a couple of days.


I SPY

Thanks ISPYHHHGUY

In my eyes I feel I am reasonably intelligent though others may think I am a page or two short of a comic

O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us.
Robert Burns, Poem "To a Louse" - verse 8

I like comics with a good story line which can be enhanced by the artwork.Comics at times seem to be taken over by budding Picasso's ,William Blakes's or Francis Bacon's with to my mind incomprehensible story lines.I prefer comics that entertain rather than those pushing the boundaries of artistic talent ,that is unless it works.

abacus: I would say the British comics are striving for good stories and characters first--- HEAVY METAL is more 'arty' but there is some striking artwork i it, which is often enough for me personally.

I like almost all forms of comics, from MAD to BIMBO!

But I will be adding more on this subject on here shortly, with hopefully a page or two of material acceptable to the Mods.