Original Art: Heros the Spartan

There is now another chance to own a Heros the Spartan doublepage spread. On eBay right now. Mind you, you will need some money to buy it! It's always awkward when I know who owns the piece to keep the seller's anonymity without sounding too cold, but this person is very trustworthy and a nice person too!

Episode 12 from the "Eagle of the Fifth" story by Tom Tully comes from Eagle 25 May 1963 (Volume 16:11).

Eagle 25 May 1963 - the comic

I have taken the pictures below from the Ebay auction and you can see how pure the colours are after all these years - 53 years! Someone smart has not stored it on a wall in sunlight!

It was this piece when I saw it in the original, that convinced me that poor Bellamy must have been very frustrated by the later run of Eagle comics which really muddied his colours. Just compare, say "Happy Warrior" to "Montgomery of Alamein" to "Heros the Spartan"


As a child - and I've told this story before - I read the Eagle after my older brothers and found Heros a muddy multi-coloured mess. It was only reading Dez Skinn raving about it that made me think again, but this piece convinced me that what Geoff West and Peter Richardson did in reprinting the run, was a Godsend!

The seller has this description on ebay, which includes something about me - no commission or money has exchanged hands ;-)


It doesn't get much better than this! (That is, until we show you a little something else which will be coming up soon).
As an example of Bellamy's mastery of layout and use of colour these Heros double page spreads for Eagle in the 1960's take some beating. Included in our pictures with this listing is the scan from our original that was reproduced in the fantastic book collection of these strips 'Heros the Spartan', from Book Palace books. Cut and paste the link below to see an article on this book at the unbeatable Bellamy Blog resource run by Norman Boyd (also involved in the production of this outstanding collection.. follow the link :)
http://frankbellamy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/heros-spartan-is-here.html
This has been conservation framed and is in amazing condition for a 50 year old work. It has some lovely details, including the famous 'wolf's head' that has been much imitated.
Postage will obviously more than the £7.50 that this platform allows me to specify? Let's talk :)

The original art

Just look at the rich colour

And I suppose I should mention the reprinted Heros the Spartan books are still available from Book Palace. The last I heard from Geoff the numbers were certainly going down so do not hesitate!

If the piece sells and the seller is knd enough to share, I'll complete the listing below

SUMMARY

WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: Tweedacademy
BUY IT NOW: £6,000
MAKE AN OFFER: - BEST OFFER ACCEPTED
END DATE: 22 February 2016

Original Art: Garth on eBay - The Orb of Trimandias

F98 The Orb of Trimiandias

That kind Chris Power has pointed me to eBay where an original Garth strip is up for auction (with 7 bids at £16 which tells me there's a few people really hoping to get this cheaply!). Last time it came up for auction it got £233 in 2012. It will be interesting to see how much it goes for this time. Previously another strip from this story sold for £156 but they are coming up less and less so who knows?

The seller says:
A superb example from one of the UK's greatest comic artists, Frank Bellamy. This is an original from the series 'Garth' which appeared in the Daily Mirror in the 1970's. An outstanding example we think you'll agree and all starting at 99p with no reserve in sight.

This is from the story 'The Orb of Trimandias' and it finds the time travelling hero Garth at the sharp end of a rumble with the henchmen of Cesare Borgia no less. Featuring one of the few wordless panels of the run and emphasising the no nonsense sword play. We hope to have some lovely things for the discerning palette listed in the days to come.

A tantalizing description!

The story appeared in the Daily Mirror 28 January 1972 - 22 May 1972 (#F24-F121) and has been reprinted a few times

• The Daily Mirror Book of Garth, London: IPC Limited, 1975
• Garth Book One: The cloud of Balthus Jim Edgar, London: Titan Books, 1984 
• Menomonee Falls Gazette #67  (26/03/1973) - #83 (16/07/1973) - 6 daily strips reprinted in B&W
• Daily Mirror Monday 3 June  2013 to - Monday 29 July 2013 Two tier reprint coloured by Martin Baines

UPDATED:

SUMMARY

WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: Tweedacademy
STARTING BID: £0.99
ENDING PRICE: £351
END DATE: 27 January 2016
No of bids: 31
No of bidders: 8