22 September 2025
|
There have been multiple early US comic book sales for over £1 million but there is another side to these comics that is emerging from the shadows. That is the contemporary UK reprints of their US versions.
In today’s marketplace, there is one field that towers above all else in financial terms: comic book collecting. Specifically, classic US comics.
Here is your full guide to the rare British reprints stealing today’s superhero spotlight.
Why did UK reprints of comic books have to be made?
After WW2, Britain did not want to encourage swapping its pounds for US dollars, so imports of US comics were not allowed.
This meant that few full-colour US comics were seen in Britain, but the demand was still high. Some British companies struck deals with the US distributors and gained licences to reprint US material for the British and Australian markets.
The printers here had enough stories for two UK issues for every one US copy but only had one cover. This meant the artists had to come up with new covers for US comics; hence a new collectable was born.
Suggested article: The History of Collectable Spider-Man Toys
DC Comics and Atlas Publishing
The reprinted DC comics were produced by Atlas Publishing, which had branches in Britain and Australia. The same comics were reprinted, with the main difference being that Australian comics were priced slightly higher.
Who is Hart Amos?
Hart Amos were the primary creators of the new covers. This is where the most exciting collectable came into play, as he produced some wonderful cover art. Since there were far fewer of these comics published than their American counterparts, they are much rarer today.
The market for these issues is expanding rapidly as more Golden and Silver Age US comic collectors discover contemporary covers they have never seen before.
Not only were the covers changed, but often the US issues had the title Action Comics, while the British versions used Superman. Similarly, many US Detective Comics were reprinted as Batman. Spelling differences were also visible and even in the case of the Batman villain Two-Face, his trademark coin was changed for a US dollar to a British crown.
These quirks have created a ‘must-have’ collectable now.
What is the Value of the UK Reprints
The agreements formed for reprinting American comics were mainly for post-war issues, so there was never a reprint of the first Batman or Superman stories, and most started from 1950s onwards. But the reprints that were made can be valued rather highly today.
The Australian reprint of Batman #1 was published and printed by KG Murray in 1950. In 2020, a copy was sold for £3,050 with another one sold in 2024 for £1,607. If you happen to own a near mint edition of issue #1 then you could earn up to £8,570.
The Superman All Colour Comic that was released from 1947-1959 can be valued anywhere between £273 and £8,130 depending on the condition of the comic, so if you have any of these stashed away it may be worth getting them valued!
An interesting pre-publication of Superman #1 was sold by Comic Book Postal Auctions for £253 in Spring 2008, it is thought that there are only two existing copies of this version. If it came back to auction now it would make a significant amount more than £200, some people online believe it could make around £1 million.
All of these different editions have resulted in a rich tapestry of collectables bubbling beneath the surface of the mainstream comic collecting scene.
For more on this story and many more collectables, subscribe to Diecast Collector/Collectors Gazette today!