A rare bound collection of The Magic Comic, a British WWII-era comic book, has sold at auction in Dundee, UK for more than £15,000 ($22,740).
Launched in July 1939, The Magic Comic was the third title published by DC Thomson, whose previous books including the long-running Beano and The Dandy. But whereas the latter pair survived for more than 70 years, The Magic Comic ran for just 80 issues.
 The Magic Comic failed where stablemates Beano and the Dandy succeeded |
The outbreak of the second world war led to swift rationing of all vital supplies, including paper, and on January 25 the final issue hit the news stands.
It's believed there may be as few as 10 copies of The Magic Comic #1 left in existence, with individual copies previously sold for £1,331 and £1,925, respectively.
Characters including Koko the Pup, Sooty Snowball and Peter Piper were thought lost forever, until a bound collection of the comic's first 24 issues were discovered by a woman clearing her late father's possessions.
The collection was offered for sale in Dundee by auctioneers Curr and Dewar, with an estimated value of £2,000-£3,000 - but competing bidders quickly pushed it to a final price of £15,600 ($23,650).
"There was a lot of interest in it," auctioneer Steve Dewar told the BBC. "It is one of those collecting markets that just shows how rare that comic was, and to have a whole run of numbers one to 24 unbroken is a great draw and made all the difference to prospective buyers."
