If personal heavens are a different construct for each and every one of us I think I’ve had an early preview of a piece of mine.

Bookshelves and cabinets filled to bursting with omnibuses, collections and bound Publisher copies of almost every conceivable comic available in Britain since the 1920s.

A ‘tardis-like’ barn equipped with reinforced shelving to withstand the weight of one of the finest comic collections in the world.

Peter Hansen and his wife Gill allowed me to visit this nostalgic Narnia of sequential art in July 2022 – and the experience was incredible.

Pulling folio after folio from the hundreds lining the racks in the ’barn’, Peter bombarded my eyes with a seemingly endless stream of pages from the finest artists this country has produced. Bellamy, Embleton, Lawrence, Lewis, Reid, Asbury, Putzu, Bunn, Blasco… it simply went on.

Peter’s collection is vast, and the five hours I spent were magical, but barely opened the lid on the pieces inside.

He allowed me to photograph some of his pages, and with an artists eye that first hand experience is priceless. With his permission I’ll put some of the choice pieces on here with my own take on their influence.

Courtesy of the PETER HANSEN Collection – Part 1

Wulf the Briton – Ron Embleton

Express Weekly No. 155 September 7 1957