ORIGINAL ART: Heros the Spartan x 10!!!

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 5 Jan 1963 (Vol.14:01) Lot#340

I'm sorry to have to do this to you but 10 lots have come up and all are Frank Bellamy's "Heros the Spartan" As if that's not enough, they are all consecutive numbers!! I won't say much about them except to point out they are a bit faded again! It's such a shame that fans love the works and hang them in sunlight. But you can still see the excellent composition and line work. 

This auction is with Stanley Gibbons Baldwin who I think started selling comics in November 2025. They had had several auctions from "The Northern Collection" which they describe as 

"The Northern Collection is one of the most important collections to reach the European market, representing the life's work of a dedicated collector who sought to own every comic book ever produced."

This particular auction is "Northern Collection: From The Vault | CB26004" and besides Bellamy there are loads of 2000AD artworks too, as well as underground comix and 'overground' comics galore!

So let's capture it all the Bellamy artworks for posterity - especially as I've never seen these before, and all links to individual pieces can be found in my summary below.

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 12 Jan 1963 (Vol.14:02) Lot#341

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 19 Jan 1963 (Vol.14:03) Lot#342

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 26 Jan 1963 (Vol.14:04) Lot#343

 

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 2 Feb 1963 (Vol.14:05) Lot#344

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 9 Feb 1963 (Vol.14:06) Lot#345

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 16 Feb 1963 (Vol.14:07) Lot#346

 

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 23 Feb 1963 (Vol.14:08) Lot#347

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 2 Mar 1963 (Vol.14:09) Lot#348

"Heros the Spartan", Eagle 9 Mar 1963 (Vol.14:10) Lot#349

 

They've described the artworks in this manner, I've only listed the first here and would say these are all inks done in the usual Bellamy 'watercolour' style but no watercolour has been used. 

Frank Bellamy Eagle Magazine Vol 14 #1 "Heros The Spartan: Episode 11" Two Page Original Art (Longacre Press, 1963). 

Part of the story arc “Heros The Spartan: The Island of Darkness" with story by Tom Tully and art by Frank Bellamy. This two page centrefold story is episode 11 of this 19 part story. An installment [sic] of the ongoing saga “Heros the Spartan” created by Frank Bellamy in ink and watercolour over graphite on a single sheet of illustration board. Signed by Frank Bellamy in the ninth panel above Paxas' head in the top left corner. 

This artwork is framed with a wooden frame under glass. The back is taped down and we cannot confirm the quality of the edges without damaging the frame. The board itself is slightly toned, small tear to the top left with tape on top, some marks have transferred from the art to the glass, a correction to the script was glued on top and has come loose on one side (2nd panel), some wear to a few of the corrections (two panels), wear to the art in the last panel and overall in good condition.  

Provenance: a friend of the vendor worked at IPC Magazines and gifted these artworks to the vendor.

Measurements: Frame: W: 26" x H: 16.5" x D: 0.5". The artwork itself is usually: W: 25" x H: 15.25".  

I'll update the spreadsheet and this page as usual as soon as I know the hammer prices. 

 AUCTION SUMMARY

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:1) (Lot #340) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:2) (Lot #341) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:3) (Lot #342) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £1,600
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:4) (Lot #343) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:5) (Lot #344) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:6) (Lot #345) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:7) (Lot #346) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:8)  (Lot #347)
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin AuctionsEstimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:9) (Lot #348) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 14:10) (Lot #339) 
WHERE?: Stanley Gibbons Baldwin Auctions
Estimate: £2,000 - £2,500
Starting bid: £1,600
ENDING PRICE: £PASSED
END DATE: Friday 6 November 2026

Frank Bellamy in latest Peter Hansen auction (Part Two)

"Fantasy Figure"

It's unusual for me to split an auction over two articles but this one justifies it. The first part of this auction I wrote about was here So let's cover the second part of the Peter Hansen Collection of British Comics and Comic Art taking place on 24 October 2026, starting at  10:00 at Excalibur Auctions. All links are at the bottom of this article.

"FANTASY FIGURE" 

 The interesting fantasy figure (named by me!) has an interesting proven history. 

"Frank Bellamy was so chuffed to be the guest of honour at Comicon 71 that he produced five new colour visuals for us to auction off. 

The photo shows a bearded young Dez Skinn (who gave me permission to use this from his webiosite) holding one of them - this is mentioned as "Fantasy figure"in the 'Unpublished' part of the Frank Bellamy checklist and to our knowledge has never been published. Of course being me, I asked Dez about the five pieces and he quite rightly pointed out to me this was 55 years ago!

 Excalibur describe it thus: "FRANK BELLAMY Original Art - An original piece of fantasy concept art by the legendary British comic book artist Frank Bellamy created at Comicon 1971, London signed to the bottom underneath the character. (V)" It will be interesting to see what it sells for. 

Unpublished King Solomon's Mines Part 3

KING SOLOMON'S MINES Part3

 I've written about this strip previously (and Parts 1 and 2) and would have loved to have seen more by Bellamy as he does a double page spread in colour for the first time (before "Montgomery of Alamein" and "Heros The Spartan" in Eagle) and covers the area of his special interest: Africa!

The auction states:

FRANK BELLAMY - 'King Solomons Mines' Episode 3, an unpublished story for the British comic book EAGLE. Three 'Episodes' were produced and illustrated in colour by the British comic artist Frank Bellamy, but it was then abandoned in favour of another strip. (V)

It's wonderful that Terry Doyle and Peter Hansen have preserved this strip so well. If you win this auction PLEASE get a copy made to display and keep the original out of the sun! 

"Heros" Eagle Vol.15:39 (26 September 1964) 

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 15:39) 

"FRANK BELLAMY - Original comic art for EAGLE volume 15 #39 (1964) 'Heros The Spartan' Episode 17, "The Axe of Arguth" storyline. Heros The Spartan was one of Frank Bellamy's most acclaimed works, set in Ancient Rome and was most likely inspired by the 1960 movie Spartacus. Ink on board, signed by the artist. (V)" - well, I'd say most of the strip occurs in the wider Roman Empire myself, but let's not be pedantic! I was talking about preservation and this example shows some fading. The blues are the first thing to go, but I'm not blaming anyone as how could we know! It has some iconic Bellamy touches - the hand pointing out of the picture, the Heros portrait, the weird monster. Wonderful fantasy which he said he much preferred drawing to other people's works or science-fiction. 

"Heros" Eagle Vol.16:20 (15 May 1965)

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 16:20) 

 "FRANK BELLAMY - Original comic book artwork for EAGLE volume 16 / 20 (1965) Heros the Spartan - The Slave Army storyline Episode 12. Heros The Spartan was one of Frank Bellamy's most acclaimed works, set in Ancient Rome and was most likely inspired by the 1960 movie Spartacus. Ink on board, signed by the artist. (V)"

I've said about fading and the story so I'll stop here. But just look at dagger ornamentation at the top-left! This helpful site tells you a lot about the Jile Dagger whose hallmark is the T-shaped pommel at the end. Another instance of Bellamy's love of producing interesting art - not just the dagger but how he has placed it where it is, balancing the visual interest of the page!

Well, that's me done. I'll update the spreadsheet and this page as usual as soon as I know the hammer prices. 

AUCTION SUMMARY

"FANTASY FIGURE" (Lot #447)

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £550
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

KING SOLOMON'S MINES (Lot #448)

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £2,200
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 15:39)  (Lot #449)

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £1,100
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

"HEROS THE SPARTAN" EAGLE (Vol. 16:20) (Lot #450) 

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £1,300
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

Frank Bellamy in latest Peter Hansen auction (Part One)

"Thunderbirds" TV21 #200, p.11

I hope you've got yourself a nice cup of your favourite beverage as this is a long article! The latest auction to include Frank Bellamy original artwork is very exciting as there are many pieces, so many I have taken the unusual step of splitting this article in two! Peter Hansen Collection of British Comics and Comic Art taking place on 24 October 2026, starting at  10:00 at Excalibur Auctions  includes the following pieces

 "THUNDERBIRDS" TV21 #200 (16 November 1968), page 11

This second page of a two-page story looks to be in good condition, the blues still looking bright. Compare this (above) to the printed page below (or at least a scan of it!)

The printed TV21 #200, p.11

The description by Excalibur is minimal and states: "FRANK BELLAMY - Original comic book artwork for the British comic book TV21 #200, page 11, featuring a Thunderbirds comic strip. (V)" But take time stare for a while at how Bellamy uses coloured inks on CS10 board - which didn't show up in TV21 towards the end of his run as the printing seemed to deteriorate. 

Garth: The Mask of Atacama (G197)

GARTH: THE MASK OF ATACAMA: G197

The next lot is from "The Mask of Atacama" Garth story - number G197 published in the Daily Mirror Monday 20 August 1973 and we see Tiahuaca try to make a human sacrifice of Garth. Three panels but great staging from one to the other. The description states: "FRANK BELLAMY original comic strip artwork - GARTH: THE MASK OF ATACAMA, G197 (20th August 1973) Published in the Daily Mirror, Ink on board (V)" You'll notice the reverse of the board, on the auction site, has David Bellamy's authentication of his sale to a buyer - he, together with his mother Nancy, sold many pieces of art shortly after Frank's death.

Garth: The Wreckers (G302)

  GARTH: THE WRECKERS: G302

"FRANK BELLAMY original comic strip artwork - GARTH: THE WRECKERS G302 (20th Dec 1973) Published in the Daily Mirror, Ink on board (V)"  In the Thursday 20 December 1973 edition of the Daily Mirror , the three strips presented on page 18 were Bill Tidy's "The Fosdyke Saga", Jack Dunkley and Brian Cookes' "The Larks" and between these the above Garth strip. Again note the movement from frame to frame and how we know exactly what's going on as Bellamy (and Jim Edgar, the author) lead us from a trap to an open window and then onto the ledge. Bellamy loved films and his directorial eye here shows another career he might have taken! 

Garth: The Angel's of Hell's Gap (J70)

GARTH: THE ANGELS OF HELL'S GAP (J70)

The third Garth strip in this auction comes from one of the two Western strips illustrated by Bellamy in his Garth run of 6 years. A favourite topic of the artist, he went to town on this particular strip. This one appeared on Wednesday 26 March 1975. "FRANK BELLAMY original comic strip artwork - GARTH: THE ANGEL OF HELL'S GAP (26th March 1975) Published in the Daily Mirror, Ink on board (V)"

 PART TWO of this article and a further 4 exciting Bellamy works including two unpublished! If I sound excited, I am!

I'll add the finished prices to the usual spreadsheet and here when the hammer comes down! 

AUCTION SUMMARY

 "THUNDERBIRDS" TV21 #200 (16 November 1968), page 11  (Lot#428) 

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £1,300
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

 GARTH: THE MASK OF ATACAMA: G197  (Lot#436)

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £500
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

GARTH: THE WRECKERS: G302 (Lot #437)

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £350
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

GARTH: THE ANGELS OF HELL'S GAP (J70) (Lot#438)

WHERE?: Excalibur
ENDING PRICE: £480
END DATE: Saturday 24 October 2026

AUCTION: Garth and 2 portraits...again!

 

Garth: The Angels of Hell's Gap J90

I've got two auctions to mention this time round.

 The first is the lovely Garth strip (J90) for "The Angels of Hell's Gap" story which ran from 15 January 1975 - 2 May 1975 (J12-J101). It's with an Italian auction house - so watch for the hassles of getting it back to non-EU countries! But I'm here to keep Frank's name alive not navigate the intricacies of the political machinations of Customs and Excise! The auction has loads of original art including "Hugo Pratt, Will Eisner, Enki Bilal, Simone Bianchi, Sergio Toppi, Jack Kirby, John Buscema and many others" and can be found here and takes place over three sessions - Tuesday 20 October 2026, 10:30 am - SESSION 1 (Lots 1-183); Tuesday 20 October 2026, 2:30 pm - SESSION 2 (Lots 184-524); Wednesday 21 October 2026, 10:30 am - SESSION 3 (Lots 525-709) - Bellamy being in the last session.

The auctioneers describe Lot 637 and Bellamy's work:

pencil and ink on cardboard
54,5 x 17 cm
Daily strip n. J 90 of April 19, 1975, for "Garth." Signed and numbered. 

 

 

The two portraits are up for auction with Excalibur. They describe the lot:

FRANK BELLAMY SKETCHES (2 in Lot) - Two early original charcoal sketches both signed in capitals 'Frank A Bellamy' probably of his parents - measures 23cm x 32.5cm and 27cm x 36cm (V)  

We've met these two before and as you can see they are early Bellamy portraiture. We suspect they are Frank's sister Eva and her husband Stanley Viccars - not his parents - but would love to know for certain either way. 

Th whole auction can be seen here and it ends on Saturday 10 October when I'll add the end result below and add it to the spreadsheet.

 

AUCTION SUMMARY

"Garth: The Angels of Hell's Gap J90" (Lot 637)

WHERE?: Finarte, in collaboration with Urania Casa d’Aste (Milan, Italy)
Estimate: £170-£340 (€200-€400)
Opening Bid: £170
ENDING PRICE: £251.32 (€300)
END DATE: Wednesday 21 October 2026

"2 Portraits" (Lot 56)

WHERE?: Excalibur
Opening Bid: £
ENDING PRICE: £55.00
END DATE: Saturday 10 October 2026