Alliteration alert! Dastardly Duncan Leatherdale delves into the depths of comic collecting at the most amazing auction of all time.

THERE was an excited murmur among the two dozen dealers and collectors when Lot 100 appeared on the screen at Anderson & Garland Auction House in Newcastle.

This comic, which cost just 9d when it was first published in 1963, was the cherished prize for most of those gathered at the airy auction room, and many more sat at their keyboards around the world eagerly waiting for the sale to begin.

At around 1.15pm, bidding began on the super rare Amazing Spider-Man Number One, two stories of the arachnidly-endowed Peter Parker spread across 30 colour pages.

The cover features Spider-Man supposedly caught in a trap by the Fantastic Four, and drooling dealers were quickly caught up in a bidding web.

It started at £300, and like the nimble Parker scaling a sky-scraper, the price quickly climbed.

After a flurry of bids, internet bidder 343397 won the day, securing the first Spider-Man for £780.

But, as auctioneer John Anderson so proudly pointed out before hand, there were plenty of other entries in this exciting sale to keep avid fans happy.

Several thousand comics featuring the World’s greatest superheroes were sold during the five hour auction, three-quarters of which came from an unnamed Darlington man.

Mr Anderson said: “Clearly he was an excellent collector, what was really impressive was the number of full runs we had, like nearly the first 300 Spider-Man comics without a break.”

Comics are big business now, and the books being sold by A&G covered the births of some of the industry’s most loved characters.

Iron Man Number One (printed in 1967) sold for £100, two first issues of Daredevil (1964) made £280 and £320 while the debut comic for the X-Men (1963) went for £160.

Other notable sales included issue two of the Incredible Hulk (1962) for £150, and book 181 in the Green-anger’s run which featured the first full appearance of Wolverine, for £195, despite it missing its original Marvel coupon.

Thor also went under the hammer, as did Captain America, Superman, Batman and comics created by Marvel dedicated to Kiss and The Beatles (the latter two for £10).

There were also first issues of Green Lantern, Hawkman and Aquaman, while the oldest comic was a 1952 cowboy tale called Western by Detective Comics (DC).

A job lot of Eagle comics from across seven volumes, including several runs form issue One to 52, soared out of the room for £520.

And the North-East’s very own comic Viz proved a star turn, with a first edition issue one (December 1979) , complete with card for a free ice cream printed on paper stolen by creator Simon Donald from the Government department where he worked, fetching £880.

There were only 150 copies in the first print run, with a Viz Number Two (April 1980), numbered 89 out of a run of 500, fetching £480, issue three (July 1980) numbered 89 of 1,000 selling for £360 and a lot of Viz six to 10 making £320.

With some serious spending going on, this auction proved there is nothing funny about comics.