British Comics Update: Pre-Code Horror Fest UK: Spellbound Magazine
*Vintage UK/Australian Reprints of US Material: In the early 1950s, a small number of horror comics (around 40) were produced by a variety of UK publishers reprinting US pre-code horror stories in black and white. Just as in the USA, these became notorious and subject to censorship which led to their discontinuation. There’s a lot of information online about the banning of UK horror comics if you want to know more, and I particularly recommend a youtube video by Canadian Dave Dustin on the subject. These UK horror comics have become both extremely rare and much sought after in recent years, and we’re delighted to have one new in this week. This is from the obscure Scottish publisher Cartoon Art Productions, titled Spellbound Magazine, although it’s a thick normal comic-sized issue. There’s no issue number, although recently the existence of a #2 has come to light, so this can truly be called #1. Beneath what is believed to be an original British painted cover, the contents comprise stories from Ghost Rider #11, Nightmare #12, Monster #1 and Ghost #8. Not in the best of shape, the cover is held on by tape, with the spine split and shredded, although the cover image is intact, marred by a ‘9d’ pen price on the ghost figure, multiple long creases which break colour and heavy edge wear. Some of the pages have ink bleed through, but all remain perfectly readable. You’ll probably wait a long time before you see another.
PICTURED: SPELLBOUND MAGAZINE NN (#1) FA £75 SOLD