UTOPIA/VALHALLA 1

I am offering a copy of the ultra-rare comic fanzine, Utopia/Valhalla, published as a one-shot in February 1970 (the April 1970 date on the editorial pages merely adopted the same system as for all U.S. comic books, which were issued a couple of months before their cover date to maintain their presence on the newsstands).

It gained renown for attracting an eBay sale of $5,100 in June 2014, with an under-bidder of $5,000, making it the most expensive comic fanzine ever sold.

Utopia/Valhalla 1 is acknowledged in the excellent Dales’s Comic Fanzine Price Guide 2015 (page 15) and is the only U.K. fanzine to be recognised in that volume.

The final selling price was reached after multiple bids from interested collectors across the globe because it included an article written in 1969 by the then 15 year old Alan Moore (see copyright Alan Moore 1969 as illustrated). It remains the first piece of work by Mr Moore ever published in a comic related fanzine (although a letter by Moore was printed in a horror fanzine, Shadow 9, which was dated Jan/Feb 1970) and the article was received, together with some unpublished artwork by Moore, several months before publication. Only Mr Moore could confirm what he first put to pen.

The concept for Utopia/Valhalla was conceived by the editors, Paul McCartney and Dave Womack. ‘Valhalla’ was an adzine containing copious pages of McCartney’s own comics for sale together with other advertisers. It was similar in style to the acclaimed ‘Fantasy Advertiser’, published up until that time by Frank Dobson. But McCartney had always wanted to combine fanzine-styled pages together with adverts, so the ‘dual-zine’ Utopia/Valhalla evolved from that idea, with Utopia being edited by Dave Womack and stapled together, back to front, with Valhalla. Both covers were drawn by the highly regarded fanzine artist, Alan Hunter and are reproduced here. Sadly, a second issue never reached print, primarily because McCartney took over the editorship of Fantasy Advertiser, together with close friend Dez Skinn, at the invitation of Frank Dobson who had emigrated to Australia. Their first issue was the mammoth-sized No. 32, published in the early summer of 1970 and it maintained and improved upon the concept of the dual-zine launched with Utopia/Valhalla months previously. Fantasy Advertiser 32 is also available in these listings.

Whilst Paul found combining university commitments with publishing FA on a regular basis too much to maintain by 1971, Dez steadfastly produced Fantasy Advertiser for years to come.

This copy of the Valhalla adzine has the previous owner name at the top of the cover and first page, together with a few annotations/lines denoting comics the owner purchased from the listings (which adds some provenance and period authenticity to the copy). The printing quality was not good, with some pages feint; this was acknowledged with an apology in the editorial at the time. All copies were similar. There is some minor staple oxidation, without migration, around both staples of the Utopia front cover(see illustration). There is some minor foxing to cover / some pages and minor creasing mostly at edges/corners. That being said it's a very nice example of perhaps the most sought after UK Fanzine/Adzine. It's all held together and presents nicely. 

The scarcity of Utopia/Valhalla 1 is unquestioned. Only 50 copies were printed and less than 30 sold to subscribers, such was the small scale of U.K. comic fandom at the time. The fragmentation of this early fandom was such that many collectors were in total isolation to all others with similar interests.

Research has revealed that there is unlikely to be more than 4 or 5 surviving copies, only 2 or 3 of which have ever been offered for resale in recent times. Utopia/Valhalla’s worth has been known since June 2014 and worldwide searches have not unearthed more copies, though many have tried. This copy has also been the personal property of Paul McCartney for some time before being passed on to me fairly recently but the time has come for me to say a fond farewell to the jewel in my fanzine/adzine collection.

I am offering this copy of Utopia/Valhalla way below the value the book has sold for in the past to encourage bidding from disappointed Alan Moore completists who failed to secure the copy sold to a U.S. buyer in June 2014.

Terms & Conditions of Sale

Postage is Free and will be sent via an insured method only. International sales through global shipping only will not be elegible for free postage. I will not accept Returns on this item, so please make sure you want it before buying. I have provided detailed pictures of the front & back cover aswell as plenty of pictures of some of the books pages to give a good example of the condition of the item so i am assuming you are aware on what you are bidding on. These particular adzines are hand made items made of paper and are impossible to find in mint condition.

This is a Paypal Only item, no postal orders or cash in hand. Global Shipping is charged by Ebay themselves so if in doubt about the cost of international shipping please check the drop down box in the listing under postage & payments. I am happy to answer any questions at any time so please if you are curious or require more information don't hesitate to contact me. Because of the books value immediate payment is required through PayPal, this will deter the trolls that usually have fun at sellers expense.

I will post the item out between strong unbendable cardboard within 24 hours of receiving payment and email you the tracking number so you can keep full track of where the item is at all times (UK)

Thanks for reading and good luck with your hunting & collecting.