550 lots of comics in online-only auction
July 26th, 2019
550 lots of comics in online-only auction
GREAT Caesar's ghost! Another treasure trove of cool comics is up for sale in a timed, online-only auction.
Richard Winterton Auctioneers' latest specialised Comics Sale is hosted by The Saleroom and runs until 10pm on Thursday, August 8.
A huge amount of titles date from the 1960s - the Silver Age of comic books.
Watch out for Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, The X-Men, The Flash, Iron Man, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Green Lantern, Thor, Metamorpho, The Justice League of America, Daredevil, Captain America, Metal Men, Superboy, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.
There are Action Comics, DC and Marvel and titles including Blackhawk, Challengers Of The Unknown, Atom, Doom Patrol, Tales Of Suspense, Mystery In Space, Strange Tales and Tales To Astonish.
Lots include the September 1963 introduction of The X-Men. Volume 1 Issue 1 "X-Men Versus Magneto Earth's Most Powerful Villain!!" features the first appearances of Angel, Jean Grey, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Professor X and Magneto.
Other first appearances include that of Daredevil in April 1964 - Volume 1 Issue 1 "Here Comes… Daredevil The Man Without Fear!", the Puppet-Master in November 1962 Fantastic Four Volume 1 Issue 8, Super-Skrull in September 1963 Fantastic Four Volume 1 Issue 18 and Metamorpho in DC's The Brave And The Bold Volume 1 Issue 57 in January 1965.
Further Volume 1 X-Men comics introduce Juggernaut (July 1965, Issue 12 - also featuring The Origin Of Professor X), The Sentinels (November 1965, Issue 14) and Banshee (January 1967, Issue 28).
Tales Of Suspense Volume 1 Issue 63 from March 1963, "Somewhere Lurks The Phantom", includes the origin of the Silver Age Captain America.
Everything can be viewed in person at The Lichfield Auction Centre on Saturday, August 3, from 9.30am until noon and on Monday and Tuesday, August 5-6, from 9am-4pm.
You can watch a video of some of the comics on our Facebook page.
The Silver Age of comic books was a period of artistic advancement in mainstream US comics matched with commercial success. It also spelled a resurgence of the superhero archetype following new regulations cracking down on comics’ content in the mid-1950s.
A new version of DC Comics' The Flash in October 1956 is commonly regarded as the start of the Silver Age, which ran until around 1970.
Reacting to popular demand, DC published more superhero titles including Justice League of America – prompting Marvel to introduce The Fantastic Four followed by Spider-Man, The X-Men and the Hulk.
But as well as having superpowers, these were revolutionary superheroes, often with flawed characters and realistic human failings.
Important artists and writers who contributed to the Silver Age include Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Gardner Fox, Jack Kirby, Robert Kanigher, John Broome, Gil Kane and Curt Swan.