Frank Bellamy Checklist Website and Blog: Frank Bellamy in latest Peter Hansen auction (Part Two)

Monday, 12 October 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gave me permission to use this from his webiosite) holding one of them - this is mentioned as "Fantasy figure"in the 'Unpublished' part of the Frank Bellamy checklist and to our knowledge has never been published.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Unpublished King Solomon's Mines Part 3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FRANK BELLAMY - 'King Solomons Mines' Episode 3, an unpublished story for the British comic book EAGLE.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.