Newspaper Comic Strips For Sale

[Jump Down To The Listings ] [Ordering Info Page ]

Daily Comic Strips, Cartoon Panels and Editorial Cartoons

This Sale Category Last Updated: 5/15/08

How To Read The Listings

To understand the following daily strip listings, it is probably easiest to explain by example. Given the following sample listings:

Blondie - classic humor strip by Chic Young (1930~present)
    1950 - 215 4c strips $25.00
    1951 (Feb-Mar) - 32 5c/4c strips $3.00

Dennis The Menace - Hank Ketcham's household hurricane (1951-present)
    1955 - 125 2c panels $12.50

The title of the strip, obviously, is Blondie. Following the title is a very brief description of the feature along with the running dates (Blondie began in 1930, and is still running today). On the next line we have our first lot of Blondies - it is a set of daily strips from 1950. The number 215 refers to the number of strips in this particular lot. For reference purposes, the maximum possible daily strips for a year is 313 (365 days minus 52 Sundays). The next number (4c) refers to the width of each comic strip in this lot. In the newspaper biz, widths are measured in columns. Looking at a newspaper you will notice that the page is divided into columns of text.

When we say that a strip is 4 columns wide (4c), it means that the strip was printed to cover 4 columns worth of space in the newspaper. Until recent times, the standard newspaper column width was about 2 inches. With these Blondie strips, you can get a better idea of their size by simply multiplying the number of columns by 2. These Blondie strips are about 8" wide - actually somewhat bigger since collectors always cut strips from the newspaper with a margin (strips cut right at their panel borders are considered to be damaged). Finally we have the price - this is the price for the whole batch of 215 strips, not for each strip in the lot.

The next listing shows a few other situations that might occur. This second lot of Blondie strips is from 1951, and only strips from February and March are in the lot. Also of note is that the size is listed as 5c/4c; this means that some of the strips are 5 columns wide and some are 4 columns wide. This may occur because the lot is a combination of strips running in different papers at different sizes, or it may mean that the newspaper shrank the comics from one size to the other during this period.
Our final listing for Dennis The Menace illustrates the listing for a panel cartoon. Everything is identical except that the number of columns is smaller - this is normal since a panel cartoon takes less horizontal space then a strip, but it is typically much larger vertically.

Condition Notes: I only note condition of strip lots if they are significantly better or worse than normal. All strips should be assumed to show some paper yellowing. In many cases when strips are clipped from bound volumes they will exhibit some brittleness along the page edge - typically this is well away from the actual strip and is not considered a defect. If the strips themselves are brittle that will be mentioned. Because a lot may contain hundreds of strips, it is not unusual for a strip or two to have some condition problem - such isolated problems are not mentioned. One defect that I should explain is called fold damage - for strips that have been clipped from the fold in the middle of the newspaper page. In bound volumes this is not an issue, but for strips that come from unbound copies that have been stored folded for decades, the fold gets the worst wear of the whole paper. If I cite fold damage for a group of strips, this means the strips will be bowed or folded with a permanent crease line. In its more severe form the strips will be brown or brittle in a horizontal line across the strips.

* All comics listed are from actual vintage newspapers - these are not photocopies or reproductions.
* All comics have been clipped with proper margins (i.e. whitespace) around the actual strips. None are clipped to the panel borders.
* Strip counts should be exact but may be a couple off plus or minus due to miscounting.
* Many other titles and runs available (including over 50,000 Sunday strips)~please inquire for your wants
* New listings added semi-regularly. Bookmark this page
* I buy and trade, always looking for older and obscure material and large bulk lots of newspapers - please inquire

Dates

Count

Size/Format

Price

Sold?

Comments/Notes

Abbie An' Slats - Raeburn Van Buren provides superb illustrative art to this classic strip (1937-71)
1946 (Oct-Dec) 75 4c strips $13.00

1950 (Jul) 26 5c strips $5.00

1950 (Aug) 27 5c strips $5.00 SOLD
1951 (May) 27 5c strips $5.00

1951 (Jun) 26 5c strips $5.00 SOLD
Abe Martin - a favorite in Indiana, this panel cartoon didn't take long to become a national success (1904-60s)
1929 (Jan-Feb)

25

1c panels

$10.00

 
1929 (Jul)

27

1c panels

$10.00

SOLD
1938 (May-Jun)

49

1c panels

$18.00

SOLD
Aggie Mack - Hal Rasmusson's teenage girl strip(1946-72)
1950 (Jul-Aug)

53

4c strips

$7.50

SOLD
1950 (Nov-Dec)

52

4c strips

$7.50

SOLD
Alley Oop - humor and adventure with the time-traveling caveman. (1932-present)
1936

39

6c strips

$7.50

SOLD
1943

35

4c strips

$4.50

SOLD
1944

178

4c strips

$24.50

SOLD
1945

251

4c strips

$43.00



1946

187

4c strips

$25.00



1947 (Jan-Mar)

58

4c strips

$7.75



1948

85

4c strips

$11.50



All In A Lifetime - great panel by Frank Beck, warm humor about childhood and the good old days (1936-61)
1946 (Nov)

21

2c panels

$5.00



And He Did - ultra-rare panel cartoon by 'Hen'(1913?-1916?)
1914 (Jul-Sep)

51

1c panels

$25.00

SOLD
America's Town Meeting Of The Air - ad strip for this war-time radio program (1944)
1944 (Sep-Nov)

8

5c strips

$4.00



And The Worst Is Yet To Come - one of Charles Wellington's early efforts, pre-Pa's Son-In-Law(1913?-1916?)
1914 (Jul-Sep)

71

2c panels

$35.00



Andy Capp - the most popular British import strip of all time (1957-present)
1985 (Feb-Jun)

82

3c strips

$8.50



Animal Crackers - Rog Bollen's talking animal strip (1968-present)
1986

45

3c strips

$4.50



1988

45

3c strips

$4.50



Apple Mary - before she was transformed into Mary Worth, Mary sold apples on a street corner in the original version by Martha Orr (1934-39)
1935 (Jan-Mar)

77

6c strips

$35.00



1935-37

42

6c strips

$4.25

SOLD
Archie - America's iconic teenage boy by Bob Montana (1946-present)
1983 (Mar-Jul)

32

3c strips

$6.00



Aunt Het - Robert Quillen's folksy panel sported uncredited art by Dixie Dugan's John Striebel (1920s-60s)
1940-42

191

1c panels

$5.00

SOLD
Babe Bunting - Started by Fanny Cory, this rare pretty girl strip was continued by Roy L. Williams after 1935 (1934-39)
1939 (Jul-Aug)

53

5c strips

$15.00

SOLD
Back Home Again - Ed Dodd's folksy humor panel was replaced by Mark Trail in 1946 (1930-46)
1943-45

103

2c panels

$5.00

SOLD
1946 (Jan-Jul)

56

2c panels ending with last panel

$5.50

SOLD
Balmy Benny - classic early Gene Ahern strip - rare! (1918-1919)
1919 (Jan)

9

6c strips

$18.00



Barnaby - One of the all-time comic strip classics and also quite scarce. Brilliantly written by Crockett Johnson (1942-52)
1945 (Sep)

25

5c strips

$18.75



1946 (Nov)

26

5c strips

$19.00



Barney Baxter In The Air - superb art on this air adventure strip (1935-1950)
1945 (Mar)

27

4c strips

$24.00

SOLD
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith - One of the funniest comic strips of all time (1919-present)
1920 (Jul-Sep)

65

6c strips

$32.50



1922 (Mar-Apr)

52

5/6c strips

$15.00



1924 (Mar-Apr)

46

6c strips

$12.00



1960 (Sep-Dec)

62

4c strips

$4.00



1961 (Apr-Dec)

210

4c strips

$12.00



1962-Feb 1963

245

4c strips

$13.00

SOLD
Baron Bean - George Herriman's ultra-rare classic, much harder to find than Krazy Kat (1916-1919)
1916

6

7c strips

$18.00

SOLD
Hank Barrow Editorial Cartoons - one of the premier southern political cartoonists
1943-44

45

3c panels

$9.00



1945

128

3c panels

$24.00



1946

87

3c panels

$10.00



1947-48

82

3c panels

$9.00



Batman - how many strips can you name that have had 4 separate runs? (1943-46,1953-53,66-74,89-91)
1943 (Dec)

27

4c strips

$14.00



1944 (Feb)

25

4c strips

$12.50



1968 (Jan-Feb)

50

4c strips

$40.00



1991 (Jan-Aug) 162 3c strips $48.00 To end of strip on 8/3
BC - Johnny Hart's popular stone-age strip(1958-present)
1960-61

104

4c strips

$15.00



1983-84

180

3c strips

$18.00



Beetle Bailey - the first of many feathers in Mort Walker's hat featuring the army that never goes to war (1950-present)
1954 (Jul-Dec)

150

4c strips

$22.50

SOLD
1959

73

4c strips

$10.00



1962

119

4c strips

$15.00



1983-84

180

3c strips

$18.00

SOLD
Bela Lanan Court Reporter - very scarce self-syndicated strip, you solve the crime(1936-39)
1937 (Nov-Dec)

42

6c strips

$18.00



1938 (May-Jun)

51

6c strips

$25.00



Believe It Or Not - Robert Ripley's stupendously popular panel gives a daily dose of the weird and bizarre (1918-present)
1944 (May-Jun) 22 2c panels $3.00
1945 (Apr) 25 2c panels $4.00
1946 (Nov-Dec) 48 2c panels $8.00
1955 (Jun-Dec)

58

3c panels

$10.00



1957 (Apr-Sep)

100

3c panels

$18.00



Benny - J. Carver Pusey's wonderful pantomime strip (1929-40s)
1930-32

26

6c strips

$5.00

SOLD
1932 (Apr-Jun)

68

6c strips

$9.00

SOLD
1936 (Jan-Jun)

134

5c strips

$13.50

SOLD
Ben Casey - classic art by Neal Adams on this soap opera strip (1962-66)
1965 (3/23 -6/12)

63

4c strips

$15.75


This lot is high-quality photocopies, not tearsheets.
Ben Webster - one of the early adventure strips, this one saw quite a procession of anonymous artists (1925-41)
1929 (Jan-Feb)

34

6c strips

$7.00



1929 (Jul)

23

6c strips

$5.00



1936 (Feb)

25

6c strips

$5.00



The Berrys - Carl Grubert's long-running family strip (1942-74)
1946 (Nov)

26

4c strips

$5.00



Big Chief Wahoo - Saunders and Woggon's funny strip about an indian chief was revamped as Steve Roper in 1946 (1936-resent)
1941

189

5c strips

$45.00



1942

197

5c strips

$50.00



Big Sister - Les Forgrave's strip owes much to Little Orphan Annie, but with a gentler viewpoint (1928-72)
1932 (Apr-Jun)

76

6c strips

$10.00



1933 (Mar-Apr)

46

6c strips

$7.50



1935 (Jul-Sep)

76

6c strips

$10.00



1936 (Oct-Dec)

76

6c strips

$10.00



1937 (Jul-Sep)

75

6c strips

$10.00



1938 (Apr)

26

5c strips

$5.00



1942 (Mar-Apr)

48

5c strips

$7.50



Blondie - the prototypical and arguably the greatest family strip (1930-present)
1939 (Jan-Jun)

115

6c strips

$23.00



1940

41

5c strips

$4.25



1950

68

4c strips

$5.00



1955 (Apr-Dec)

199

5c strips

$16.50



1956 (Jan-Jun)

132

5c strips

$10.50



1957 (Apr-Dec)

186

5c strips

$15.00



1958

217

5c strips

$18.00



1959

213

5c strips

$18.00



1960 (Jan-Jul)

80

4c strips

$7.00



1960

292

4c strips

$30.00



1962

118

4c strips

$8.00

SOLD
Bloom County - Berke Breathed's tremendous breakthrough strip, a classic (1980-89)
1983-84

172

3c strips

$10.00



Bobby Sox - Marty Link's classic teenage girl panel, later renamed "Emmy Lou" (1944-79)
1950 (Nov)

16

2c panels

$4.50



1951 (May)

15

2c panels

$4.50



1952 (Mar)

15

2c panels

$4.50



Bobby Thatcher - George Storm's magnum opus in boy's adventure. Taken over by a very young Sheldon Mayer in 1937 1927-37)
1927 (Mar-Dec)

42

6c strips

$17.50

SOLD

 starting with strip #2
1928

22

6c strips

$4.25



1929

101

6c strips

$20.00



1930

124

6c strips

$6.00

SOLD

 many with fold damage
1930 (May-Jun)

30

6c strips

$7.50



1931-32

77

6c strips

$3.75

SOLD

 many with fold damage
1933-37

165

6c strips

$16.50

SOLD
Boner's Ark - classic screwball strip authored by Mort Walker and Frank Johnson (1968-99)
1982 245 3c strips $24.50
1983 274 3c strips $27.00
Bonzo - short-lived and very rare U.S. strip featuring the famed British dog(1929-33)
1929 (Mar)

12

6c strips

$36.00

SOLD

 somewhat brittle
Boots And Her Buddies - classic pretty girl strip with superb art by Edgar Martin (1924-68)
1924 (Jul-Sep)

76

6c strips

$75.00



1927 (Jul-Sep)

32

6c strips

$12.50



1930 (May-Jun)

29

6c strips

$7.25



1943 (Oct-Dec)

48

4c strips

$4.75



1944

223

4c strips

$22.25



1950 (Jul-Aug)

53

4c strips

$5.25



1959

40

4c strips