Brazier rocked by thieves

Auckland musician Graham Brazier. Photo / Richard Robinson

Bad boy rocker Graham Brazier has been stung by thieves, who made off with a "priceless" 100-year-old collection of 24 HG Wells comics.

The Hello Sailor lead man has been "babysitting" his 97-year-old mother's antique bookstore, Brazier Books in Mt Eden, since she went into a rest home two years ago.

Brazier discovered the theft only after an international buyer turned up at the shop and said he was interested in the collection, penned by the author of War of the Worlds.

After failing to find the set at the time, he painstakingly grid searched the shop, front-to-back, top-to-bottom.

"They are extremely valuable and this was probably the only full set left in the world," he said. "The set could fetch tens of thousands of dollars."

The series, titled The Outline of History by HG Wells, was released in 1909 in fortnightly instalments.

Illustrated by well-known artists of the time, and with photographs, the series chronicles the lead-up to World War I, technology innovations and English natural history.

In the comics, HG Wells also predicted advancements such as the computer and the satellite.

Shoplifters have never targeted the shop, so Brazier's mother had never seen a need to keep the collection under lock and key. "I think the person who stole them knew they were valuable."

Brazier has not had the heart to tell his elderly mother about the theft. "She would be too heart broken," he said.