John Bamber 1973

I remember being blown away by the pricing the first tim3 I went to SAN Diego comic con. 2010 I think. It was even worse the second and las5 time I went (2012). I remember commenting to a good friend that I wasn’t a percentage out in my thinking but rather a factor. I feel that some of the most sane pricing for this con comes from the dealers. The private sellers want the cream, the cherry and the sprinkles for the next ten years in their pricing! Can anyone explain $100k for a Quesada modern cover? its all just nuts....

Well I was holding my breath for a lot of the last couple weeks but in the end very happy with the final hammer. Before I put it up for auction I asked one of the premier 2000ad collectors for his estimate and he said $18k.

Yep, this along with the stat on the first page of the issue 2 story is what has led to everyone having an opinion on what is first etc. etc. This is why I very clearly stated to Heritage (and they understood) that the pages from issue 2 represent the first published story of Judge Dredd. To add further weight to this I was contacted by the owners of Rebellion (who own Dredd) as they were very interested in the pages and consider Judge Whitey (as the story is known) to be the first appearance. Cheers John

The 2000AD from issue 2 are mine. I’ve owned them about 10 years or so. There is a lot of stuff surrounding the first story but it goes something like this. Carlos Ezquerra created Dredd and his story was supposed to be in 2000AD issue 1. He had a falling out with the publisher and walked away. He had drawn the complete story though and it was later published in the 1981 annual special (4 years later). They needed a new artist and sent a bunch of stories out to various artists. Mick McMahon was eventually chosen and the first story he drew was eventually published in issue 6. I believe the reason it wasn’t the first published story was because it was too violent. I haven’t seen where the first pinup advertising Dredd appeared but it may well be from the issue 6 by McMahon. The image on page one from my story Is from Carlos’s first story (again published in 1981). These pages are the first published story appearance of Dredd and I hope a real fan buys them. Cheers John

I personally think that trying to ascertain a top 5 when you are talking about something that is 8+ decades old and covering so many genres as well as international is almost impossible. most people would say that Kirby has to be there but then the Europeans would say Herge and Uderzo must be there also. Japan different again. So.... why not open it up? Create a number of categories like: Story-telling, action, drama, space, fantasy, sci-fi, longevity, strip, etc etc... I suppose what I’m getting to is that some people might put Charlie Adlard in a top 5 for story-telling when you consider he’s been so consistent with the walking dead. Eduardo Risso as well. You would never put J. Scott Campbell or Travis Charest on this list even though they are both great artists. Space may be Kirby, Moebius Just my two cents (worth the same as two pence now as well). Cheers John

FROM JOSEPH MELCHIOR >>>>> Hi all We have just updated the website today with new artwork from: Brian Bolland including a Joker cover and a Judge Dredd Dark Judges page Frank Quitely painted DD Elektra pinup, Flex Mentallo and a JLA DPS Mark Buckingham Fables pages and his first released Miracleman pages from the Neil Gaiman stories following the Alan Moore run and which he has held in his personal collection till now. In addition there are additions from a host of other artists including Adam Hughes, Phil Noto, Mark Brooks, Michael Turner, Gabriel Dell Otto, Moebius and Arthur Adams. http://www.britcomicsart.com/ Cheers Joseph

I sold a page from issue 191 through Comiclink 2 years ago from $3000. Not too far off and I've thought that JRJR 1st run was beginning to get up there.

I commissioned Paolo 3 times (each time about 4 months before a convention he was attending). Each time I got a good polished piece with no fuss. No problems for me at all. All three pieces are in my Sin City gallery on my CAF. Cheers John