A CHARITY is thanking its very own superhero after thousands of collectable comics were donated to a Worcester bookshop to raise much-needed funds.

Collector Andrew Farthing also donated several dozen graphic novels from the 1980s and 1990s, including fan favourites such as Marvel’s X-Men, Hulk and Daredevil, and Vertigo to St Richard’s Hospice Snow-drops bookshop.

Mr Farthing, from Worcester, has been volunteering at the St Richard’s Hospice bookshop in Evesham and at the Leigh Sinton goods warehouse as a book sorter for just over a year.

And he has now decided to donate his own collection and make a clear-out worthwhile for a good cause.

“It seemed silly for books and comics that I’d read and was unlikely to want to read again to sit in my house when the hospice shops might be able to redirect them towards good homes and raise a few thousand pounds in the process,” he said.

He said he had been a keen reader of science fiction and fantasy since he was young and accumulated his collection over many years.

“My interest in science fiction and fantasy spun off into comics and graphic novels in the 1980s when I was a student and persisted into the early 1990s,” he said.

“I collected so many for a very simple reason – I enjoyed reading them.

“But I donated them because I felt the need for a clear-out.

“With a house full of 15,000 books, as well as the comics, I wanted to free-up some space, so I donated the comics along with a few thousand books.”

Emma Lamb, Snowdrops bookshop manager, said: “This is a very generous donation from Andrew and we are really excited to have such highly collectable comics.”

The comics are on sale at St Richard’s Hospice Snow-drops bookshop, in Reindeer Court, Worcester, and prices range from £3 to £300 for a bundle.

They are said to be in very good condition.