VIZ

A success story in publishing beyond all other. Who'd have thought that a home-made comic produced in a back bedroom by a couple of guys would enter the national consciousness? Very funny, very clever and catches the absolute flavour of its northern roots. Early Viz issues appear on eBay UK quite regularly and command vast sums which people seem prepared to pay. For issue #1, it's important to have the free gift, stapled in Free Ice Cream!

A "perfect copy" sold for £1,220 Dec 2007 on eBay UK. An amazing figure but equally amazingly another copy with the red ice cream stapled in went for £1,220.01 in May 2008. It was signed by creator Chris Donald. A copy advertised as Mint but significantly browning pages (therefore not mint??!) sold or £670 in Apr 2008. See the picture for yourself. In Jun 2008 a copy advertised as Mint and offered at £775 didn't sell. Another copy sold for £920.01 in Jul 2008. The copy that Denis Gifford which was sold by Hamer Auctions in 2002 was offered on eBay UK in Aug 2009 at £950 but didn t sell. It looked to be in very nice shape. 

Issue #1 was published in three separate printings. The second and third printings have "second printing" and "third printing" (respectively) stamped on the back. Printing number 1 has non-sequential page numbers, and the free ice-cream is red, whereas in the subsequent printings the page numbering is sequential and the free ice-cream is black. 150 copies of printing number 1 were published, 250 copies of printing number 2, and 250 copies of printing number 3.