Original Comic Book Art + more

Jim Lee Scott Williams Batman 617 panel page from Hush

2012-02-02T20:55:00.001-08:00

I remember when these pages were first available in 2002/03 and they were selling like hotcakes. Turns out these pages are still worth their weight in gold, and given the large number of bidders on this recent Hush panel page auction that just closed, things could be heating up in 2012.

20 bidders brought this auction to $3050.00. The original art of Batman 617 page 20 featuring Jim Lee pencils and Scott Williams inks is a nice example of the art from Hush. This is all-in-all a pretty nice panel page. Has some excellent large images of Batman especially the 2 large views of the Dark Knight at the top of the page.

Hopefully with the large number of bidders and high realized original art prices for recent auctions (see above and see previous post today re: Neal Adams Brave and Bold page), we will see more great pages come out of hiding and go up on eBay before comic book convention season starts.

NOTE This page sold on Heritage in Nov 2011 for $4780.00

Neal Adams Brave and Bold 86 page from 1969

2012-02-02T20:41:00.000-08:00

Welcome 2012.

I've been distracted with life since my last post. But I have been browsing original art on eBay again since late last year and noticing original art price trends seem to be going upwards slightly. Am I reading this properly? If so, forget the banks. I'm investing in original comic book art. Case in point...

The post I'd like to share today is a sweet early Neal Adams Brave and Bold 86 page 4 that sold today. Iconic Neal Adams Batman in the top pane and gotta love the irregular shaped panels. This page is just so clean in layout makes me wish I bid a tad more. All Neal Adams artwork.

According to the auction description, this page was purchased from Heritage for $3107.00 in Nov 2011. Couple hundred bucks profit in a few months. That:)

Adrianne Palicki is the new Wonder Woman

2011-03-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

Adrianne Palicki is the new Wonder Woman. Good choice. I'll be watching the show.

They released some photos of her in the updated costume couple days ago. The new series is suppose to be less campy and portray her as a more "complex woman." We'll see how that goes but does seem in contrast with those shiny blue pants she got on. No red boots?

Does this mean artist will use Adrianne's face and body for their sketches and drawings of Wonder Woman moving forward? I hope so.

UPDATE 3/30/2010:
Ok, I guess we spoke and they listened. Here are some new images and video footage of the updated Wonder Woman costume shot while filming in LA.

Is it too late for them to change it back to the tight shiny hot pants? I keeed, I keeeed. :)

Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns original art sketch

2011-03-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" original artwork doesn't come on the market very often, if ever. I think the last public transaction for a page from that book was more than $35,000.00. So when this sketch hit eBay, it was difficult to figure out true value. While on one hand it is clearly era accurate and from Frank Miller, this sketch wasn't published and wasn't as detailed as his inked pieces. But it sure is a BIG 11by17 large piece of art, and features Batman and Robin from the mini series.

Regardless, this selling for a tad North of $10k seems like a good price for whoever was lucky enough to win the auction.

From the auction:

Important ... there is a bend ( maybe an inch or less) in the lower left hand corner (non live art area) ... and there is also a stain on the upper left hand border ( also non live art area) of what appears to be possibly rubber cement or another yellowish type substance... there is a bit of pencil smudging in places and on the back of the paper! see pics above please.. i do not want to mislead anyone of the condition... And only serious bidders please! thank you

Frank Miller original artwork ...drawn on dc cover stock paper (measuring 12 x17 inches) in 1990 as a special 75th birthday gift to former DC comics editor Julius "julie" Schwartz.... this is a fully penciled and inked illustration of Batman and Robin from Millers Dark Knight 4 issue comic series. It also has a signed inscription from miller on it to Julius. I had asked Julius to sign the artwork in the border area (non live area of the art work) ... and after much debate he agreed to sign the artwork ... my argument was a simple one... this type of museum quality piece has a great deal of historical significance to it and thus it would make perfect sense that Julius should sign it. After all it was the mans 75th birthday ( that's significant enough in it's own right.. a milestone indeed), but to be honored in such a way because he was so beloved by the artistic community , both comics and sci-fi! Julius was a no nonsense kind of a guy... he was the first one to tell you " to always be on time with the work " ... yet he was also the first guy to tell a dirty joke! He was a character all right... he will never be replaced! I miss the days of having dinner and hearing the best stories about the hay day of DC ... about Carmine Infantino...about the greats... the ins and outs of the business. Even after Julius retired from DC he was always welcomed back in the offices... in fact everyone was always excited to see him... this goes way back to the 666 address or the devil building as everyone called it ( dc has moved twice since ) .. and frankly without people like Julie ... the heart and soul of the industry no longer feels the same. Comics aren't comics these days... Thats why pieces of this magnitude are so vital to the legacy of comics ! Frankly i know i didn't even have to mention all this... most will look at this artwork... and the true connoisseurs of this medium will immediately recognize just how amazing this piece is. For one it was a period in Miller's life when he was about to do Sin City... his style ...his technique would soon blossom into what we old timers see as the Steranko-Eisener- Wood style. Yet Miller made it his own..that's what true masters of the medium often do, they transform, they morph... they emerge as front runners of evolution. This art is still inspired by Millers 1980's look yet it is a hint of what's to come on Sin City. Julie was still editor when Miller was doing Ronin--- his ode to Moebius and slew of other artists ... than he decided to simplify his look... once again... and so Dark Knight was born... This artwork is simply gorgeous . This is a holy grail piece in any collection... if it was published it would command way over $150,000 easily! But this is a different type of treasure. It was a gift made to a friend... and the work shows... it is a labor of love... it is a master piece ( just look at the detail in the work, wow.. that my friends takes skill, effort and lots of time). Like i said i didn't have to say any of this... but the old sales man in me just can't help himself. Just imagine trying to find something of this quality ...guess what ...an average dark knight page sells for $40,000.... try finding a splash or a cover ... over $100, 000 easily each one...maybe more ( what am i saying a cover would fetch more like $200,000)! and you can't even find them, no one wants to part with them! now try to get a sketch... good luck since miller hardly ever even does a doodle these days and if he does... it's just that a doodle... And lets play devil's advocate and say that somehow you convince Miller to draw you a piece... ( lets say you are a millionaire and it's for a good cause... and for the sake of argument he agrees... trouble is... miller no longer draws in this manner. This is a bygone era stylistically ... so unless you have a time machine you can no longer ask miller to draw in the same iconic style as his days of the Dark Knight! Simply put the odds of getting something classical like this are well... 1 in a million. Imagine being able to say to someone "oh yeah i own a dark knight miller piece circa 1990" than watch the jawdrop... now picture having this piece in your home... i mean it humor me .... close your eyes than pick out a wall in your home and picture this artwork hanging up in a beautiful lustrous thick jet black ( pure ebony) frame, with professional archival matting ( trust me don't cheap out .. a good framing job is worth it..around $500 to $600, after all this is an investment in art , in history, and for the real collector... the love of comics). What more can i say... i mean i can go on and on and never shut up... but it's late and i am tired and i have other auctions to put up... segway into... please check out my other auctions.. i have a drew struzan ...sent from drew to me personally ...we actually traded artwork! And from the master Jose Luis Garcia Lopez a beautiful illustration done for me... the images were used for DC Products.. lunch boxes.. etc... and there is a JC leyendecker painting and an Andrew Loomis painting! What can i say my life's collection... well its time to pass it to others... no no don't get me wrong this old war horse is not dropping dead anytime soon... i am just looking to acquire bigger and better things ( of course beauty is all in the eye of the beholder) Good day my dear readers! god bless..happy bidding! Cheers

James Jean REBUS opening reception - Martha Otero Gallery LA

2011-03-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a weekend in LA which included attending the public opening night reception for James Jean's REBUS art show at the Martha Otero gallery. If you are a fan of his work already, you will be blown away when you see these pieces in person and up-close. From the large scale to the minute details, to the exquisite palette color range, to the depth of the pieces, just a magnificent showcase of his work.

The gallery was full and lots of excitement in the air. I got there shortly after it opened at 6p but within 30 minutes it was filled up where your photos of the art include shadows, heads, arms or random people in them. The standing room only crowd was very pleased with what they saw including a dozen or so large wall sized painted pieces as well as pieces from his sketchbook, and smaller painted pieces. His new scarf is much more impressive when viewed in person. I just learned that proceeds from the sale of it will go to the Red Cross towards assisting those affected by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear fallout problems in Japan.

UPDATE See the Michelle Phan narrated YouTube video of how you or your girlfriend can fashionable wear it. I'm gonna guess they weren't selling well previously...until this video came out and or the change to donate funds. I heard only the black/white variation remains. The scarf looks pretty nice framed though, and it's different. 9 Different Scarf Ideas

James Jean arrived by 7:00p and hung out towards the garden patio, greeting guests and chatting with friends. After moving inside, crowds started forming around him and then a modest line to chat and or get photos and autographs.

He had a limited number of invitations printed and available on the table at the show. Beautiful heavy card stock with the REBUS logo in silver on black, and the backside had information on the event on white. He signed these for guests and was as always very gracious in meeting his young and old fans. A very small number of large digital prints of selected pieces were available for sale from the gallery as well, from what I could tell quickly sold-out.

If you attended the event, feel free to post links to your photos in the comment section if you want to share with others. Nice meeting some of you at the reception. Nice to finally put a face to the email address. :)

Here is a link to the gallery which has some nice images of the final REBUS installation.
Martha Otero Gallery

This installation will be there through April 30, 2011.

Awesome Byrne Uncanny X-Men, Perez Sinnot FF, Pollard Thor, Starlin Dreadstar and JRJR Ironman 80s art jam

2011-02-24T10:28:00.001-08:00

Here's a sweet Byrne Uncanny X-Men, Perez/Sinnot Fantastic Four, Pollard Thor, Starlin Dreadstar, and Romita Jr Ironman jam piece. Current going for $11,000.00 ($13,145.00 with premiums). This one will go up more.

I'll update this after the auction ends in about 10 hours.

Miller Daredevil 172 page 15 original comic book art

2011-02-19T00:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a sweet Miller Daredevil 172 page of original comic book art that featured Bullseye and Kingpin from that classic run. This was the last issue that Miller fully penciled.

This fits the definition of an interior page in every way. Smaller individual artwork from the "middle" of the story. There is no splash element to this page. If anything, this page is extra dark with the (moody but great) Klaus Janson inks from that period.

But what makes this page so great is the awesome layouts, fascination storytelling (layouts) by Frank Miller, wonderful inks by Klaus Janson, and the uniqueness of the long elongated panels. This won't be the last time you hear me say this (or write it in this case) but boy do I miss the way comic books were drawn from back in the day! Most everything nowadays is splashy and storytelling is usually the afterthought. Publishers and artists are now so intent on making the book "look" pretty that they miss out by only using larger images. And artists also will tend to be able to sell more of their pages at a higher price if they are splashier, which may or may not be a coincidence. Whatever happened to creating a mood on the page by using blacks or different film-esque camera angles for the panes. Telling the story like you are watching a movie. That might also be why I enjoyed watching Watchmen the movie. If you watch it again, compare it to the graphic novel and the panels in the GN are almost identical to the way the movie was shot (camera layout). Eerie but done the way it should have been done.

21 bids @ $7800.00

Super Rare Omega Speedmaster Missions Moon watch set and briefcase

2011-02-12T22:12:00.000-08:00

Just came across this very awesome ensemble of Omega Speedmaster Missions Moon watches up for sale. I didn't know this collector's set was available but when you see it, you'll shake your head in disbelief at how unbelievable this collection of watches would be for your trophy room. haha.

There is a buy-it-now of only $145,000.00 which I think is down from the original post of $175,000.00. Considering another same set sold for upwards of $368,900.00 (!!!)

If you are into watches, this is a very bad-ass and rare collection of timepieces.

There are many other close-up images of this collection here.

From the auction:

First of all I want to thank GIZMODO.COM, THEAWESOMER.COM, HODINKEE.COM, and TIMETOCLOCK.COM for their efforts on helping me sell these watches. I didn't even know you guys had made a special blog until a couple of people let me know and for that I thank you. I also would like to thank everybody who's showed their appreciation for these watches. Now for those fraudulent bidders who keep bidding and disrupting this post please don't bother with any of your scams as I will only accept a bankwire so don't waste my time. This is the 5th time I've had to post the watches due to fraudulent bidders and thanks to you, all the links from my friends up above are broken.

DESCRIPTION

I have set a buy it now at $175,000.00 but I do consider every offer when a good one is made, so please don't be discourage on the price. As you may already know the set before this one which was #33/40 sold in a European auction for $368,900.00 http://www.antiquorum.com/eng/brandindex/pages/catalog_action=load&lotid=235&auctionid=158.html

This is a rare collection that will not lose it's value even in this economy if anything through the years it will go up in price.

The watches were made in 1997 and bought in 1998 when they were released. I am the original owner and have had them stored away all these years. They were released as a tribute to 40th anniversary of the Omega Speedmaster Professionals. A collection of 23 Speedmaster watches presented in a case fitted with a an Omega briefcase, that doubles up as a display case, fitted with genuine NASA Apollo-Space suit. Each watch in the collection is adorned with a different NASA mission patch on it's dial at the 9 o'clock position: Starting with the 1965 Gemini V to the 1973 Skylab SL-4. It also contains areplica of the original 1957 Speedmaster. This comes comeplete with all certificates and booklets.

You can find more info on these sites;

http://theawesomer.com/tag/watches/page/6/

http://timetotock.blogspot.com/2008/11/omega-speedmaster-missions-watch-set.html

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/11/23_nasa_missions_omega_watches_for_ijusti_125000-2/

http://www.antiquorum.com/eng/brandindex/pages/catalog_action=load&lotid=235&auctionid=158.html

http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2008/11/7/from-the-earth-to-the-moon-23-limited-edition-speedmasters.html

23 watches total:

Gemini V, Gemini VI, Gemini VII, Gemini VIII, Gemini IX, Gemini X, Gemini XI, Gemini XII, Apollo 7, Apollo 8, Apollo 9 “Gumdrop & Spider”, Apollo 10 “Snoopy and Charlie Brown”, Apollo 11 “Columbia and Eagle”, Apollo 12 “Intrepid and Yankee Clipper”, Apollo 13 “Odyssey and Aquarius”, Apollo 14 “Kitty Hawk and Antares”, Apollo 15 “Endeavour and Falcon”, Apollo 16 “Casper and Orion”, Apollo 17 “America and Challenger”, Skylab 1, Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and the 1957 Speedmaster.

Zatanna color cover study by AH!

2011-02-05T12:02:00.000-08:00

I'm a fan of Zatanna. Here's a beauty done-up by none-other than Adam "AH!" Hughes. Looks to be like a cover warm-up but looks very finished all in all. Nice use of color markers on drawing paper.

From the auction:

"Up for auction is a sketch study by Adam Hughes of Zatanna. Adam is the new cover artist for the DC Comics Zatanna comic book (starting with issue 11), and this was a piece he did as a warm up before starting work on a cover. The piece is rendered in warm Copic markers on drawing paper. Piece measures 11 inches wide and 13 inches tall, and the image fills most of the paper. "

28 bids @ $3,270.51

1981 Byrne Storm and Nightcrawler pencil sketch

2011-02-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

Was watching this sweet John Byrne "Storm and Nightcrawler" pencil sketch from 1981 ending in the last few minutes earlier today and boy was there some serious bidding. Auction had been parked at around 300 bucks for the longest time, then up to around 700 mid day. Then in the waning last 10 minutes, it kept going up. Last minute probably went from $1500ish to $5,500.00 (53 bids in all).

Makes me think the Wolverine and Sasquatch sketch from late last year may have been a bargain, although this was no slouch in any way. I've got the image and some notes if you look at my post from that time by clicking here.

Personally I would have stopped at a little under $4k. Then again, this is a full figured sketch of 2 characters, Uncanny X-Men no less, and from one of the greats on that book, drawn back in the period when his work was King, great details. Art was on 10 3/4" x 14" sketchbook paper. So maybe you value it as $2500 per character and throw in $500 to have them both on the same page, have Storm in her birthday suit, have a great pose with great detailed expressions, have period accurate drawings from Byrne, have the art in great (clean) condition, and have some art that has not been shopped previously (fresh art). Hmmm, maybe this one was a bargain after all.

Must be getting close to comic con season. Feels like this year will have a turn-around in original art valuation and people will be buying up everything and anything again.

The Eight Rules for collecting...

2010-11-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends! I can't believe it's already the end of 2010 and here comes 2011.

Came across this interesting article from cnbc.com that talks about the "Eight rules to remember about memorabilia". While original comic book art might not exactly fit into the category of memorabilia, many of these "rules" may apply to those of us that collect original comic book art, especially if you are treating the original art as an investment. Regardless lessons can be learned if you are in it strictly for the love of the art, too!

1. Don't fall in love with your investments.
This is especially true if you are treating your artwork like an investment. However, it's probably exactly the opposite if you are a collector. But I always remind those new to collecting art to love what you want to buy and buy it because you love it, not because it will go up in value.

2. Go with the tried and the true.
There probably is truth to this if you are investing as the more people that the art may appeal to, then it may be easier to sell/trade it later on. However, that doesn't mean you should completely skip stuff not mainstream. Again, acquire pieces that appeal to you individually, that has meaning to you. Then again, if it's not mainstream, good chance it will be easier to acquire and maybe at a price point that fits your budget. It could also increase in value later on.

3. The law of supply and demand is in effect.
While all original art is one of a kind, "supply and demand" still does come into play esp if an artist is more prolific in getting out quality pieces. Take for instance Jim Lee. Does he ever stop drawing or sketching for his fans?? There is a lot of his art out there but does his demand ever really slow down? Perhaps it may fluctuate some over the course of a year but his stuff is still very sought after.

4. To get top dollar, it has to be pristine or museum quality.
Perhaps in theory, but again all original art is one of a kind. Buy it if it appeals to you. Will that older Neal Adams, John Byrne, Dave Cockrum or Jim Lee Uncanny X-Men cover art that has yellowed over time be worth less than a pristine white cover from a current issue of X-Men?

5. The market is fragmented.
There is truth to this in that big auction houses are not the only game in town. eBay, comic book conventions, smaller auction houses, other collectors, art dealers, even some comic book shops have come into the game and make art more widely available.

6. No matter whom you deal with, make sure they are reputable.
This is so important and I can't emphasize this item more. There are many dealers that are flaky, unreliable, and often try to get the best out of any deal. Trust me, I have met quite a few and have had unsuccessful transactions which have not been fun to sort out. Find fellow collectors that you can trust, meet them in person at conventions, talk to dealers at shows and on the phone, etc. While email, websites and the internet make things easier, don't think you are exempt from getting scammed just because you have their email address. Making a few friends in the hobby will go a long way, in comparing experiences, sharing stories, and getting tips on best ways to make sure you don't get cheated. Great to have a knowledgeable friend who can help you value a piece of art you want to get. :)

7. Prices fluctuate.
Yes they do. This then leads us to the question, what exactly is current market value? Is this solely based on sales numbers within the past 3-6 months for equivalent pieces? Related to trends for similar artists/art from the past years? What the seller wants to sell it for? All of the above and or none of the above? :)

8. There's no accepting for taste.
Great point. What I may collect does not mean everyone loves it. Stick to things you enjoy if you are collecting. If you are in it for investing, go with mainstream and things that you think would appeal to most others if you want to later move that piece. The more obscure may be more difficult to move.

I'd love to hear your feedback and opinions on what you think are your rules for collecting original comic book art.

Here's a link to the CNBC article.

Amazing Spider-Man 252 original comic book art sells for close to $5k

2010-10-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to note that 2 pages of original comic book art from Amazing Spider-Man 252 sold for close to $5000 each page today. They were pages 6 and 22. Of course this issue is the first appearance of the black costume which then later led to Venom. These pages are of historical significance in the Marvel Universe and an important time in Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man 252 page 6 sold for $4919.69
Amazing Spider-Man 252 page 22 sold for $4600 even.

Congrats to the winner of these original pieces of comic book history. With comic books become more and more mainstream, original comic book artwork seems to be poised for more recognition as well as "historical" significance to those following pop culture.

1983 Byrne Wolverine and Sasquatch pencil sketch

2010-10-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Was just watching this auction end and it sold for about what I thought it would, although it did more than double in the last 10 seconds. :)

Here's a great Wolverine and Sasquatch (of Alpha Flight) pencil sketch from John Byrne done up around 1983 time frame. If my memory serves me right, this is around the time Byrne was working on the Alpha Flight title. This sketch looks highly detailed and in decent shape for a piece of art from that many years ago. Wolverine in the front is 3/4 full-body sketch and with his claws out. Sasquatch takes up all of the background, and looks great. The detail on his hair looks sweet.

Seems like higher quality pieces like this are slowly coming out of the closet and being offered for sale. The realized price seems quite healthy considering we are still in an economic downtime. Don't tell that to the winner of the auction though. Congrats on a stellar piece of original art.

This sold for $2313.88.

Cockrum Uncanny X-Men 164 page 1 Title Splash For Sale

2010-06-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

In gearing up for the big San Diego Comic-Con comic book convention coming up next month, I've got a small update to the original art for sale section. Added a few pages for sale and lowered some prices. Sorry been away from the site for so long, just busy with work and all that comes with work.

Email me if you have any questions, want to hold something, or ready to buy. Also I take time payments as well. My email address is burton@11by17.com

You can see it all here: http://www.11by17.com

Dave Cockrum Uncanny X-Men 164 page 1
2 Jim Lee Uncanny X-Men pages
Mike Mayhew pencil sketches and cover prelims
Mike McKone "Teen Titans and The Outsiders Secret Files" cover
George Perez "Teen Titans Archives 1" cover featuring the entire NTT team!
Whilce Portacio Uncanny X-Men page
New lower price for a John Byrne Wolverine 23 page with a large panel of Wolverine
A Dave Cockrum Uncannny X-Men 150 page feature Professor X
Lower prices on 2 Paul Smith sketches
and much more...

Drew Struzan Indiana Jones drawing auction

2010-06-24T00:21:00.001-07:00

Lots of great art was auctioned off this past Sunday, Father's Day, all for a great cause. Pres Romanillos is a long time animator had a relapse in leukemia, so his great friends put together a fundraiser auction to help cut some of the big medical bills.

Among the many wonderful pieces auctioned include this niiiice Drew Struzan Indiana Jones drawing inside the Drew Struzan book Oeuvre. Bidding was fast and furious and this finally settled in at $2000.00 before it was all over. You don't see Struzan pieces for sale very often, and when you do, they sell fast.

Here's a link to the Pres-Aid site. Please donate to this worthy cause by clicking the link and then following the link for "Donate".

2010 BOWMAN CHROME SUPERFRACTOR STEPHEN STRASBURG 1/1

2010-05-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

OK I know what you must be thinking. Why would anyone spend this much money on a freaking baseball card and on an unproven new player at that? Well, it's speculation for potential appreciation, its the rareness of the item, and it could be a great investment in the long run and maybe short run. Potentially this could be a steal in the long term.

So I present to you, and up on eBay, the super rare 2010 Bowman Chrome Superfractor Stephen Strausburg baseball card. It's 1 of 1. Not only are the Superfractor cards highly sought after, but it is the only one of it's kind, and it's for kid phenom flame thrower from the Washington Nationals Stephen Strausburg. This kid can throw some zingers and break some lumber, maybe crack some skulls along the way. This kid will be a star someday soon, right?

Current price with 4 days to go, a cool $14,099.99.

Would you spend $20k+ on this investment?

Jack Kirby Captain America 6 page 8 original comic book art

2010-04-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

Lots of Kirby pages for sale recently but this one clearly stands out... Jack Kirby Captain America 6 page 8, Timely Comics, 1941.

From the original auction:

This auction is for nothing less than the most significant piece of Jack Kirby Original Art to reach the market in at least 20 years. From the pages of Captain America #6, Timely Comics, 1941, this very recently discovered lost Kirby Original is Page 8, the penultimate page from "Meet The Fang - Arch Fiend of the Orient". To call the action on this page spectacular would be understating it. Cap and Bucky are both nearly beheaded. But they recover and turn the tables, in action that can't be contained by the panels, with arms and legs spilling into 2 panels, almost 3. This story was reprinted in the easy to find Fantasy Masterpieces #6. We will include a free copy of that issue as a bonus. In searching through auction archives to find something to compare this to, we came up empty. We didn't find a single Kirby Timely page. The only thing we saw of a similar magnitude was a Bill Everett Sub-Mariner page from Marvel Comics #1, 1939 which sold for over $86,000 5 years ago. All the significant reports we saw of Kirby Originals were from the Silver Age: a splash page from Tales to Astonish #27 sold for $65,000 in 2002. An interior page from X-men #1 went for $54,000 in 2008. Even Fantastic Four pages from the late 60's sold for big prices - a page from FF 63 sold for $23,000, and a page from FF 55 sold for$39,000. We normally list auctions with no Reserve Price, but for this very special item we have set a very reasonable, modest Reserve. This Reserve Price will NOT be revealed, the auction will NOT be ended early, and it will NOT be sold off ebay. If the Reserve Price is not met, it is likely we will relist this page at some future date with No Reserve. But don't wait, get it now.
Just a few words on where this piece came from. In 1941, a young man worked at Lewis Artists' Materials, a store in Manhattan about 3 blocks from the Timely Studios. Part of his job was to make regular deliveries of illustration boards and other Art supplies to the Timely Studios. He did this at least once a week, possibly more often. The people at Timely got to know him and apparently liked him. At some point they asked him if he would like to have 2 pages of Captain America Original art. He gladly accepted, but didn't think it a big deal. 69 years later, his grandson was helping him clean out his home in upstate New York. He had long since forgotten that he had the 2 Kirby pages, and when the grandson found them, he gave them to the grandson as a gift. Neither realized exactly what they were or who the artist was. That brings us to this auction. The back of the other Kirby page that's up for auction now, ending 5 minutes before this page, shows the Lewis Artists' Materials store logo on the back of the illustration board. The back of both boards also shows the Timely Comics, inc. stamp.
We couldn't find a definitive answer on who inked this page. The possibilities are Syd Shores, Al Avison, Al Gabriele, or Kirby himself. We saw reports which said that Kirby's normal procedure was to give the pencilled pages to one of those 3, then apply finishing touches or make corrections himself. Perhaps some of you will know just by looking. Any comments from experts will be appreciated.
Below are a large number of scans and photographs, of various sizes. There are probably more than necessary, but we thought we'd show them all anyway. Take your time. Overall, this page is in excellent condition - only minor blunting at the corners but no creases and no marks to the image area other than those made by Kirby or the Timely production staff. The color is excellent, only very minor soiling near the edges. Check the scans below. The board measures a huge 15" X 20", the image area measures 13 1/2" X 18 1/2".

Bidding is currently at $30,200.00 with 49 bids. Any guesses at where it will end up?

John Romita and Mike Esposito Amazing Spider-Man 52 original comic book art title splash! 1967!

2010-03-14T22:30:00.001-07:00

Here's an early Amazing Spider-Man 52 original comic book art page with art by John Romita Sr and inks by Mike Esposito (penname Mickey Demeo). This is from September 1967. The page features Spider-man and JJ Jameson taken prisoner by the Kingpin. This title splash is from the issue "To Die A Hero!".

This is truly an amazing piece of artwork. Currently at $28,988 with reserve currently not met. We'll see about that in the coming week. :)

Neal Adams X-Men 61 original comic book art page

2010-03-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

Doesn't get much more rare than a Neal Adams X-Men page, and no less than from issue 61! X-Men 61 page 18. This page feaures Sauron battling the X-Men team including Cyclops, Iceman, Beast and Marvel Girl!

This auction completed and the original artwork sold for $8,000.00 with 38 bids.

Charles Schulz Peanuts Strip Original Art - Charlie Brown

2010-03-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

I've been away for a bit but no time like the present to come back and post a quick note.

Here's a great looking Peanuts strip original art piece for sale with a few hours remaining. This strip features Charlie Brown. Currently at $10,000.00

Al Migrom Jim Mooney Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man original art

2010-01-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

Nice Al Migrom penciled splash with Jim Mooney inks from Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man 96 page 8.

A little surprising that it sold for as high as it did but still a nice piece of artwork. From 1984.

Cockrum/Layton The X-Men 105 page 30 original art

2010-01-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a sweet page from The X-Men 105 page 30 (before they became Uncanny) with art from Dave Cockrum and Bob Layton. Great looking artwork with large panels featuring the entire team including Phoenix prominently in the center. You even get Wolverine in a pane down below! Signed by Layton.

This piece looks to be very representative of that time. Don't forget pages from this early Cockrum run don't come out for sale publicly very often. From June 1977.

Currently at $6500 (13 bids) with 9 hours to go. Anyone betting on this one doubling before it's done??

Happy 2010 !! Darwyn Cooke Justice League New Frontier original art

2010-01-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 Everyone!! Can't believe 2010 is already here --I coulda swore it was only 2008 like last week. Oh man where have I been? ;)

In the 2010 art front, there were a couple nice LARGE Darwyn Cooke style Justice League New Frontier original art pieces that sold on eBay recently. These were 14" x 18" ink and water color on bristol of various characters from that popular GN (and DVD) several years back, all done by Darwyn Cooke himself. The pieces I saw looked fabulous and hopefully there will be more coming and more being auctioned off. Also some other smaller and prelim Cooke artwork sold around this same period.

The Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman original art piece sold for close to $2500.00 with 37 bids.
The Darwyn Cooke Green Lantern piece had a BIN price of $600.00. In hindsight, that might be a steal but I think the auction was ended rather than realized.
A smaller black/white Catwoman prelim original art piece sold for close to $700.00 (Darwyn Cooke original art)
A large Batman and Robin piece by Darwyn Cooke, very nice too but more simple!

I'm looking foward to seeing more of these gems from Darwyn Cookie in the coming weeks/months. Stay tuned here for more details as they come in. :)

***

2010 San Diego Comic Con Update: Did you get your 2010 San Diego Comic-Con tickets yet? I know the 4 and 5 day (preview night) passes are long gone as in SOLD OUT, and Saturday individual tickets are sold out as well. I think this will be a good year to check out the show as I believe there will be a healthy selection of quality original artwork for sale. Of course the big summer movie marketing machine will be at full power during the show too, and who knows which premium movie star will attend to promote their films. Can you say Twilight boys and girls? Whoa that Ashely Greene sobe painted swimsuit was uh fascinating.. ;)

All the big name comic book artists will be at the show as well. What better way to beat the crummy economy than by attending a 4-5 day comic book convention this summer in sunny and warm San Diego. Think vacation. Don't forget your swim suits kids! Party responsibly. :)

McFarlane Spider-Man original artwork

2009-12-19T21:12:00.000-08:00

Here was a sweet piece that realized more than $4800 on eBay.

Todd McFarlane Spider-Man original comic book art for a promotional piece, with crazy disjointed hips and all, probably from around the time of his run on Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man. Large 11by17 art with some white-out around the eyes and near the arm. Plus a large lower corner cut off but then re-attached. All in all, not a bad looking piece for a McSpidey fan.

Hero Initiative Wolverine: Weapon X #1 sketch covers

2009-11-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

Hero Initiative is at it again! :)

"Marvel Comics graciously created blank-covered editions of the landmark new Wolverine: Weapon X #1 and gave them to The Hero Initiative to have a bountiful bevy of stellar artists do ORIGINAL drawings on the cover. Each of these covers is an original, one-of-a-kind piece! Hero will be auctioning these off at the rate of approximately 12 per week ’til we get thru ’em all!"

Artists that have donated sketched covers include Chris Bachalo, Joe Bennett, Colleen Coover, Clayton Crain, Ken Lashley, Steve Lieber, Jorge Lucas, Mike Kunkel, Mike McKone, Danny Miki, Todd Nauck, Jeff Parker, Brandon Peterson, Humberto Ramos, Stuart Sayger, Aaron Sowd, Dustin Weaver, Skottie Young and many other surprise guest artists!!

Check it out before they all sell out!!

This link is to the Hero Initiative eBay store and all the different Wolverine Weapon X #1 original art sketch covers and other original comic book art for sale.

Dave Cockrum Uncanny X-Men 101 DPS original comic book art

2009-11-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a great page that just sold from eBay!!

Dave Cockrum Uncanny X-Men 101 DPS original comic book artwork feature their ship down and the team (or their heads anyways) in one large pane. Looks great framed!

This sold for $6500.00 with 36 bids.

For you X-Men fans, you already know this is a very prominent issue from 1976. Classic and historic splash.

"Where The Wild Things Are" original artwork

2009-10-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here's something you don't see often. An original Maurice Sendak "Where the Wild Things Are" original art piece and it's for sale from Sendak.

The art isn't cheap though. This piece had an asking price of over $100k. This is the original artwork for a Harper's poster from 1990. 15" x 21" unframed, graphite on vellum, 25" x 31" framed. Looks super super detailed.

Check out the other great Sendak pieces for sale here.

1978 Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men original art

2009-08-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

One more to share. I love this stuff. :)

Super cool 1978 Byrne/Austin Uncanny X-Men 116 page 14 which sold for a tad more than $4100 recently. Wolverine, Nightcrawler (Dig it when Wolvie calls him Elf heh) and Storm, all done up in vintage and classic (now timeless) John Byrne and Terry Austin X-art team style. Maybe the best X-art team!

I miss the stories and art from that time. They just made the characters feel more human and less super "tough-guy" mutants, but somehow it was easier to related to them too, like the back and forth dialog back then was as if maybe you or me were talking to them. Maybe it was the late 70s and 80s period, where life maybe was simpler with less sophistication. Today's stuff is more formulated, more defined and less about the reader experience, less about what super hero said. Heck, most books nowadays have at least one, maybe multiple splash or 2/3 splash pages where someone will sell it off for a buck. Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words. But somehow, a picture back then was worth more visually and much more of a treat to the senses. I'm not talking about value of the original art itself. You just got more from the story and books back then... background details were killer sophisticated and elaborate.

If you have any Byrne/Austin Uncanny X-Men pages or splashes for sale, anything Wolverine, Colossus, Cyclops, Phoenix, Marvel Girl, etc.. ping me (email addy on the sidebar). I'd love to throw a cash offer your way. :)

80s George Perez New Teen Titans Who's Who Twice-up team pinup

2009-08-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice twice-up George Perez New Teen Titans Who's Who piece that recently sold for $4411.26. From either 1986 or 1988, clearly this double-page splash was either the center foldout or maybe a pull out pinup. Regardless, this large art features the whole team. Has a great 80s feel to this one with the team charging out and the Titans team heads along the 2 sides. Gotta love the way Raven's smoke billows are drawn --so darn consistent every time too. Awesome piece of original comic book art.

Post-San Diego Comic Con news and Byrne/Austin Uncanny X-Men

2009-08-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

Hello original comic book art collectors!! Sorry for the lapse, had a fun-filled early 2009 so far with lots going on in my personal life but hopefully most of that is now sorted out and I can try to share more of what I'm seeing in the market.

For those of you that attended San Diego Comic-Con several weeks ago, hope it was a great show for you. I've seen tons of photos and read many stories. But I'd love to hear more of your own personal stories and your own experiences. Were there any great original comic book art pieces for sale?? Notice any trends for what is selling or being marketed to sell?? Shoot me an email when you get a chance.

As a side note, I do know that Jim Lee X-pages are clearly increasing in value. I'm aware of a couple deals that concluded within the past year of nice pages moving. I'm not going to bother giving specifics but they were really *really* nice splash pages. Is now the time to shell out and upgrade that piece you have sitting at home? Can't answer that, but you can always try to see what you can get for it and if it works, move the piece.

If you have any Lee/Williams X-Men or Uncanny X-Men pages for sale, please do contact me. Would love to throw an offer your way!! :D

-----------------

Wanted to share a great looking page from Uncanny X-Men 137 that moved. This was from the Heritage Auction that recently concluded this weekend. Uncanny X-Men 137 page 43. This page features Wolverine and Colossus in a (Reverse) Fastball Special move against Phoenix on the moon. It was the all or nothing move. The layout is pretty sweet on this page and it's a key action sequence. Funny how the pages from this time were not as "splashy" as those in the current books you read. No doubt this is a great historic page!!

This gem sold for $16,132.50 including the gravy.

Super-Con 2009 in San Jose

2009-05-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

I attended the first day at Super-Con 2009 in San Jose. With warmer weather hitting the area this weekend, I wasn't sure if attendance would be good or bad at the show. Looked pretty full to me.

The doors opened about 5 minutes late but with a long line already cued up out front, eager fanboys (and fangirls) raced into the convention straight for what seemed like the Adam Hughes table! :) The next large group of people seemed to be around the Eduardo Risso table. The artist of 100 Bullets fame had a crowd about 2 rows deep after I did a short loop around the "main" artist alley area. I was a little surprised to see that artists were in the back of the main show section as well as along the sides and front section of the show floor, generally spread out. This makes sense though since it seemed to prevent large clusters of people in only one area (other than those waiting for a particular artist) and maybe it would encourage more foot traffic throughout the show.

After some more slow geeking and looking at everything, I found the table for Whilce Portacio. Whilce wasn't there yet but his friendly and extremely nice wife (Their entire family is really nice!!) was there to manage the table till he got there shortly thereafter. They had some nice pre-done original art pieces as well as a few published pages so I couldn't help myself and picked up some goodies for me. :)

Feet kept moving me around till I slowed down and browsed the original art portfolios of some of the long time comic book artists --Ernie Chan, Pablo Marcos, Danny Bulanadi, Tony Dezuniga, and Alex Nino. Great great stuff there. Their use of pencil tones are incredible. If you haven't yet seen their pieces up-close, I encourage you to check out their work at the next show. Their fine lines and extraordinary backgrouns will really amaze you. I ended up getting a nice full figured and large Baron Karza sketch from Danny --funny and great guy too. I'm tempted to get another sketch from him now that I'm back from the show and finally have a chance to look at it more thoroughly. hahaha :)

Ended up perusing the many booths to see if there are any new or cool toys I need for my office. Amazed to see those "Super Hero Squad" figures still selling so well, but hey they are kinda cool. Lots of Star Wars toys still. Speaking of my Baron Karza sketch, I'm still waiting for a Micronauts movie and renewed interest for this untapped market and potential mega-franchise --just think of all the consumer merchandising here people. Think Transformers but think less tires and fenders. Just get Megan Fox to be Marionette, it will be a hit. ;)

I ended up finding my way back to Whilce's table and saw Whilce in action working on my piece. Woo hoo!! We ended up chatting for more than an hour about stuff, but it was great catching up. I think the last time I was able to chat face-to-face with them may have been 2004 in San Diego. Hope the next time isn't another 5 years.

Many familiar faces at the show including Eddy "I'm not Jim Lee" Choi. And finally was able to attach some faces of other art collectors to their email addresses as well. Overall fewer original art dealers, but still I'm glad I was able to make this show.

Watchmen original art still selling well

2009-03-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

Watchmen original art is still selling well.

I guess people never get enough of nice original art, especially the kind that is hard to come by. The latest is this entire Watchmen team shot from Gibbons, co-creator and original artist on the series. Penciled and inked.

Ended @ $4850.00

Ditko Spidey & Dr Strange art

2009-03-14T02:09:00.000-07:00

Another cool piece available is this Steve Ditko Spiderman and Dr Strange sketch! How often do you see Ditko original art for sale?!? And a Spidey and Doctor Strange piece, to boot.

Here is the original description from the auction itself. Currently @ $5200.00 and rising...

DESCRIPTION:

We have for you Comic Art Collectors and Fans alike a very special piece of artwork by the legendary artist Steve Ditko! For all of you who have not lived under a rock for the past 40 years know Steve Ditko is the artist who first gave live to two of Marvel Comics most iconic heroes SPIDER-MAN and Dr. Strange! We offer here now for you to own the PIN-Up art Steve Ditko drew for an early 1960’s Comic Book Fanzine.

This Marvelous Masterpiece Pin-Up features not one but both of Steve Ditko’s most monumental heroes: Spidey and Doc Strange master of the mystic arts, both together on one page! Drawn in pencil, pen and brush with black magic ink on 8 ½ by 11 typing paper. If you look close enough you can see the pencil work around Dr. Strange’s waste, where the lines were erased for the mystical fog.

Artwork is on 8 ½ by 11 typing paper; shows some age; little nick out of lower right edge corner (Dr. Strange side) with a piece or two of tape on the back from many years ago when it hung on the wall. This is a pulse-pounding piece of art from the Marvel Age of comics that any true believer worth their no prize would proudly love to own!!

Steve Ditko - Early career. Ditko studied at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in New York City under Jerry Robinson and began professionally illustrating comic books in 1953. Much of his early work, beginning in the early 1950s, was for Charlton Comics (for whom he continued to work intermittently until the company's demise in 1986), producing science fiction, horror and mystery stories. Later in the decade, he would also begin drawing for Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursor of Marvel Comics. He is well known for designing superheroes that wear masks that show absolutely no facial features. Such examples are Spider-Man and the DC Comics character the Question.

Is notoriously reclusive and very rarely, if ever, appears in public. He never gives interviews and the closest most people have ever been to seeing his face is in an early issue of Spider-Man in which a self-portrait of him sleeping at his desk appears.

He is the creator of such comic book characters as Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, the Question, Shade and The Changing Man. In addition, he has worked as an artist on many other comics. Although Ditko had returned to work for Marvel Comics several times after his mid-60s departure, he has steadfastly refused to again draw his two most famous characters, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.

Schulz Peanuts Sunday artwork auction passes $16k and keeps rising

2009-03-14T01:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you that haven't seen this yet, there's a nice Charles Schulz Peanuts Snoopy "Sunday" original artwork up for sale on eBay and it is currently at $16,050.00 but has not yet met the reserve. Looks very clean and in great condition, and nicely framed. From Sunday January 21, 1996.

Will this exceed $20k?

WonderCon 2009 SF Trip Report

2009-03-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

Yes it's that time again. It was WonderCon 2009 this weekend in San Francisco. I walked through the floor on Saturday and partial day on Sunday.

First off, I would have to say that the show looked very healthy, very large crowds as it was packed even till 5pm when I left. Talking to the folks working and selling original art, toys, comics, etc from the booths, everyone said that sales were very good and people were definitely buying! The line to get in on Saturday could have wrapped around the large Moscone Center block if they hadn't started to let us in. I was in line watching the end of my line wrap around my line and block the sidewalks completely. The lack of rain on Saturday also helped. If this is any sign, I think Comic-Con in San Diego later this year will be big as well.

I started the show by hitting the booths that were related to original comic book art --Albert Moy, 100 Auctions (Bechara Maalouf), Anthony Snyder Collectibles, The Donnelly's, Heroes Comics Book (Alan Bahr), Schanes Animation Art (awesome stuff!!), Scott Eder Gallery, etc. I didn't find Romitaman but I heard he was there as well. As always, there were plenty of original comic book artwork gems lining their booth walls. Impressive pieces I saw included a Giant Size X-Men 1 page, various Neal Adams' Green Lantern covers, some Dave Gibbons Watchmen pieces, Kirby splashes, Jim Lee covers, early Amazing Spiderman covers, etc etc really just too many beautiful pieces to list here. There were also some bargains to be had as well, and I couldn't resist. :)

Cutting through Artist Alley on Saturday, the commission lists were full for the top artists it seemed. If Jeff Scott Campbell wasn't sketching commissions, he would be selling those great looking prints from his table. Same for the Jim Lee table manned by Eddy Choi with a sign that read "I'm not Jim Lee". Lots of great looking high quality color prints for sale there and it was tempting to buy. I wandered to Travis Charest's table to find Travis there sketching (no fans surrounding him) and selling a couple stacks of Space Girl Vol 1 books still available at $20.00/each. I bought another! Great book if you haven't bought it yet!! I also spent some time at Mike Royer's table --the long time Jack Kirby inker, and had a chance to talk to him and show him some of the pieces I picked up that day. He also signed my Kirby page (Thanks again Mike!). I appreciated his insight and great stories about how it used to be when he first started. If you don't know who Mike Royer is, I recommend you stop and talk to him, and buy something from him at the next show you see him at which will be San Diego Comic Con. He's done some great work on Winnie The Pooh, various work at Disney, etc.

Best costume prob goes to either the Batman and Catwoman duo, or the woman in the Planet of the Apes with FX makeup, hair and costume. I did a double-take when I saw her. She looked so unassuming walking the show. If I didn't know better I'd say she walked off a tv/movie set.

I guess with the New York Comic Con couple weeks ago and WonderCon this weekend, it is officially the opening of comic book convention season in 2009. Get your pocketbooks out and enjoy the shows. :)

cheers.

More Dave Gibbons Watchmen Original Comic Book Artwork

2009-02-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

Before I run out the door, wanted to share another hot auction for those keeping track of what is selling and what isn't, trends, etc.

This is the original comic book art for Watchmen 5 page 20 by Dave Gibbons.

With the Watchmen movie finally ready to come out in a few short months after some studio wrangling, and the lack of Dave Gibbons Watchmen original art for sale on the open market (ie. eBay), this is another big auction. Big spenders are still coming out to drop coin as the bid count increases. Currently at $2035 but with a few days remaining.

Also, just wanted to thank all of you that are reading and following this blog. This is our 100th post already. Hope there is another 100+ in store for us. ;) Send us more email if you want to see more or less of particular subject matters.

Visit us on the web @ 11by17.com -- We buy sell trade collect original comic book artwork from the late 70s, 80s and early 90s. If you have any original artwork from Uncanny X-Men 267 for sale or trade, please contact us. Would love to work out a deal with you. cheers.

James Jean Fables original artwork

2009-02-02T00:49:00.000-08:00

This has got to be one of the best, if not the best Fables cover to hit eBay. Original painted cover artwork to the Fables TPB "Arabian Nights (and Days)" by James Jean.

Currently at $5.5k, this one may skyrocket before it's over in a few more days. James Jean artwork has been on the rise, esp with his transition to Fine Artwork from Illustration. His work has been very well received so far, and many speculate his work will only get better with time. Maybe that means you should buy some of his artwork now, before he really hits it big and you only see his stuff in museums around the world.

New Teen Titans 2 page 9 original comic book art

2009-01-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a nice piece of original comic book art that sold recently off eBay. You don't see many pages from the early NTT series come up for sale. They get snatched up quickly.

1980 New Teen Titans 2 page 9 original comic book art with George Perez pencils and Romeo Tanghal inks... Sold for just North of $1000.

If you have any early George Perez New Teen Titans pages (1980 series) for sale or trade, please contact me. :)

Dave Gibbons Watchmen Original Comic Book Art !!

2009-01-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

Just in case you missed it, there are 2 Dave Gibbons Watchmen original comic book art pieces up on eBay. First piece is a DPS splash from issue 5. Second piece is also from Watchmen #5. Super super rare. How often do you see Dave Gibbons Watchmen original art for sale? How about like never. :)

The DPS is currently at $24k but reserve not yet met... and ending very soon --Watch this auction for some last minute frantic bidding.

Walt Simonson Thor and Beta Ray Bill original art

2009-01-18T20:30:00.001-08:00

Before I call it a night, I've got one more notable sale that I want to report on. :)

Walt Simonson Thor and Beta Ray Bill original artwork, donated by Walt, with proceeds going towards The Lance and Carla Hoffman Burn Fund.

As most of you already know, Walt Simonson artwork doesn't come up for sale often as Walt keeps all of his art. You may see a sketch here and there, but rarely full sized finished art. From time to time, gems come loose from his private collection, and indeed this was a gem. Basically I see it as a full commission with backgrounds, penciled and inked. He doesn't do commissions as far as I know and I don't think you'll see any of his published covers hit the open market. That might explain the $5800 realized sale. Congrats to the winner of the auction.

If you want to help Lance and Carla, check out their site here.

Don Rosa Uncle Scrooge original artwork

2009-01-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

This recent auction realized in excess of $14k for the complete 24 page Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge story "Attack of the Hideous Space Monsters!" by Don Rosa.

See the complete interior artwork in large scans at the auction page. A truly beautiful collection of detailed original artwork by Don Rosa.

Jim Lee Uncanny X-Men 276 splash doesn't hit $4k on market

2009-01-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

There was a great Jim Lee Uncanny X-Men splash page on eBay last week but didn't sell there.

Uncanny X-Men 276 page 1 featuring Gambit and Jubilee.

It was only a year (or maybe less than a year) that this same page would have sold for $4k easily but it didn't even hit that number in auction. Does this mean Jim Lee artwork is gonna take a big hit in the coming months and years? Only time will tell. Could also be that the Jim Lee art market is getting saturated with a lot of his art out there, so it's only natural that prices will not be as high. The collectors with deep pockets might not "have to" have that page anymore. It's easy to blame the recession and crappy economy, as to why fringe collectors are not willing to drop large amounts of cash on artwork. Collectors might be betting against this artwork getting back to those once higher prices. However, it is surprising that more sellers are not trying to "cash out" now while there is still a market for premium artwork. Or it's plain too late, evidenced by this unrealized auction. I'm sure there will be some nifty deals in the near future once those bills start piling up, or more people are affected by the economy. It's all cyclical, in the long run the art market will come back up, but short run is anybody's guess how low things will get and how long (years) before they eventually turn back up to recent high levels.

In the meantime, if you have any Jim Lee X-Men or Uncanny X-Men original artwork for sale, email us. We are also still seeking interior pages from Uncanny X-men 267 --2nd appearance of Gambit issue by Lee, Portacio, Williams.

We buy $$$ trade and deal for late 70s, 80s and early 90s original comic book artwork. McFarlane, Miller, Byrne, Adams, Romita, Lee, Cockrum, Sienkiewicz, etc.

Jim Lee Batman original art auction

2008-12-21T12:14:00.001-08:00

Batman original comic book artwork by Jim Lee. Bid on this piece Jim created and is now auctioning off for a personal cause. Bid bid bid. :)

Quoted from the auction page:

As my schedule permits, every now and then I try and help out with worthwhile causes whether it's the CBLDF or the Clearview School Fundraiser...this time I am doing something on a smaller scale but for as big and worthy of a cause. Something for a friend of a friend. Someone I have never had the honor of meeting but has a plight which moved me into action.
On November 12th, 2008, a friend of a friend, Portia Cano, passed away after battling bone cancer. Diagnosed back in 2003, she underwent dozens of major surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments before she fell to the disease, leaving behind her husband, Marco, and four children, ages one to ten. Unfortunately over the years their bills mounted, as her health insurance didn't cover all of the treatment.
So every year, Will and Amy, friends of Carla and me put on an informal fundraiser to benefit the Cano Family. This year, I am contributing this piece I drew specifically for the fundraiser. I am giving any art collectors looking for an one of a kind holiday gift to check it out here first. It measures 11x14 and is on 2 ply bristol board and is drawn in ink and whiteout.

Alpha Flight Byrne original comic book art

2008-12-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

Here's another nice splash page that sold for a nice amount. Alpha Flight pages from John Byrne must be more hard to find than one thinks. Try looking for one. You just don't see them available very often. At least not really nice ones.

Then check out this eBay auction featuring Alpha Flight 26 page 1 splash with Guardian by Byrne pencils and inks by Wiacek. Sold for $2100.00 (realized price).

Jim Lee X-Men 3 page 13 for $2850.00

2008-12-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

Nice Jim Lee interior page from X-Men 3 (page 13) recently sold on eBay for $2850.00. Nice amount of money given these less than stellar economic times. I'm sure this page would have sold for at least $3500 had this been a year ago, maybe more. The page features Wolverine in a couple panels and a large furry Beast face in the middle panel. All in all, a nice panel page.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine HD movie trailer!

2008-12-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

Check out the new Wolverine movie trailer.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

Common sense and buying/selling/trading original comic art

2008-11-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I'd like to give thanks for the great art that we are all collecting. Hope everyone has a safe and prosperous new year, and everyone gets that grail original comic book art piece they are seeking. ;)

Regards
burton @ 11by17.com

------------------------------------------------

Many novice collectors over the years have asked me for suggestions to prevent trouble in their dealings. Here's a short list of things I tend to keep in mind (and come to mind as I ramble). If you have other ideas, please add your comments.

1. Know who you are dealing with as best as you can if you are dealing outside of eBay or your "known source". If you are a collector, ask around with your other art contacts or art collecting friends. If buying from another art collector with their own website, has the collector and site been around a while? Do you know anyone that may have owned the piece(s) that the source is now selling?

2. Get as much specifics as you can down in writing if the deal is a trade or involves time payments. What happens if you can no longer complete payment? What happens if you change your mind? From the dealer perspective, we hate flakey people esp when they say one thing and do another (ie. verbally agree to something, then back out). In most cases, a verbal agreement can be binding in a court of law. If you aren't sure, don't agree yet. Other questions... How soon is payment expected? Are there specific dates that payment needs to be sent? Will I get artwork after the last payment is received? etc.

3. Confirm what exactly you are picking up before you start the deal. Is it all original art or are there stats, paste-ons, zipotone, etc which make this less than what you visually expected? Is it a print or truly original hand drawn artwork? Is this the original published piece? With the advent of artists inking over blue-line copied pages or drawings, make sure it is exactly what you are seeking. Also look out for commissioned pieces. Scans don't always tell the whole story so ask about white out, aging of the paper if the art is not current (many times yellow with aging), type of ink or markers (ie. I've seen some 90s artwork that was inked by magic marker, and guess what, black marker ink can fade to brown or reddish brown ink later on), etc.

4. Confirm your shipping terms and method of packing and shipping. Is it gonna be rolled up in a tube when it shouldn't? Will it be shipped flat so the art isn't mashed? Will the artwork be securely bagged before packed, in case your delivery person leaves it out in the rain? What does the shipping cost include?

5. Use common sense. If it's too good to be true, be skeptical too. But at least ask to get details to be sure you are getting what you want. If you don't ask, you'll never know and maybe you'll regret not asking as you miss out on that grail. :)

Most legitimate dealers and collectors can handle the simple and honest questions so fire away. Have fun collecting and enjoy the hobby. The friends you'll meet along the way will be worth it esp when it comes to adding that "last" piece to your collection. ;)

------------------------------------------------

One more thing. Here's a sad story that I just read and wanted to remind everyone about. Use caution when working out deals, use caution down to the last detail including how you ship your artwork or collectible (valuables). You can't over apply common sense. Read the fine print. I hate hearing about these kind of stories but a lesson can be learned.

Shipping by UPS: In The Wrong Hands
http://cbs5.com/local/UPS.rings.shipping.2.874914.html

"Tiggers Don't Like Honey" fetched almost $50k in auction

2008-11-04T14:45:00.000-08:00

Great article about a recent high dollar amount original art transaction. He bought it for his wife.

LONDON – Tiggers might not like honey but collectors apparently do.

A sketch by Winnie the Pooh illustrator E.H. Shepard titled "Tiggers Don't Like Honey" fetched 31,200 pounds ($49,770) at auction Tuesday, well above the pre-sale estimate of 15,000 to 20,000 pounds ($24,000 to $32,000).

Bonhams auction house said the drawing, of Pooh dipping his paw into a honey pot while Tigger and Piglet look on, was bought by a private collector in Germany for his wife who had loved the characters as a child.

The large oval pencil drawing is an enlarged version of an illustration that appeared in A.A. Milne's children's classic "The House at Pooh Corner."

A sketch drawn for another of Shepard children's books, the Wind in the Willows, sold for 7,440 pounds ($11,842). The drawing outlines Rat and Mole having a picnic on the riverbank.

The sale also included items from the collection of Peter Rabbit creator Beatrix Potter, including a letter in which the author expressed her dislike of the merchandising of her character.

"There is nothing to be made of 'Peter' commercially," she wrote. "There have been dolls, china slippers, etc. for years — they bring in royalties; but somehow I never care for any of them."

The 1936 letter is addressed to dollmakers Elizabeth and Edith Todhunter, two sisters Potter entrusted to make Mr. McGregor and Peter Rabbit figures.

The Potter collection also included a signed first edition of "The Tailor of Gloucester," which tells the story of a poor tailor, his cat, and the mice that live in his shop. The lot sold for 3,840 pounds ($6,124).

The sale prices include a buyer's premium.

In another auction on Nov. 11, Bonhams will sell an unpublished watercolor illustration by Potter of a female rabbit who wore a pink ribbon around her neck but who did not appear in any of Potter's tales. Also going up for sale then, will be a Christmas card featuring guinea pigs designed by the author and illustrator, the auction house said.

Complete AP article found here.

Jets fans must not be hit by the economic woes

2008-10-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is doing well and surviving some crazy times --stock market chaos, more foreclosures all over, and pending extreme recession for years to come, etc etc. Sorry to remind y'all. I found this article interesting because it seems there still are many optimistic people out there and I'm sure the bad times will pass eventually. If you don't believe me, read on.

Apparently the NY Jets football team will raise at least $40 million dollars from PSLs for their new stadium opening in 2010. They are auctioning off the licenses for some prime location viewing, but that doesn't include the tickets to the games which are suppose to $700/game. The first PSLs sold for more than $65k. How far off can collectible investments be from recreational weekend investments such as this?

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/27287683/

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Big-spending New York Jets fans are sealing their bids for the best seats in the house with a click.

Online bidding went as high as $65,100 per seat through the first two days of the team’s unprecedented auction of 2,000 personal seat licenses. The PSLs are in the Coaches Club — located near the 50-yard line and behind the Jets’ bench — in the new Meadowlands stadium, scheduled to open in 2010.

Fans can specify which seats they want to bid on through the online ticketing Web site StubHub. The public auction, which started Sunday and runs through Oct. 27, marks the first time a U.S. sports team has done so with PSLs.

(more...)

Fans unite in auction to save Superman's house

2008-09-30T20:58:00.001-07:00

Here's a follow-up to the auctions that were running to help save the house where Superman was dreamed up.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081001/film_nm/us_media_superman

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Superman's home planet Krypton was destroyed, but his house on Earth will live on thanks to loyal fans and an online auction that raised $100,000 to restore the rotting home where the Man of Steel was created.

Everything from original artwork to a role on the hit television show "Heroes" was sold in the month-long auction, which ended on Tuesday, to save the dilapidated Cleveland, Ohio, house where Superman was dreamed up by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster more than 70 years ago.

"This was easily the most humbling spectacular project I've ever been part of, and showed just how much people care about this character and why today Superman still matters," said novelist Brad Meltzer, who organized the auction.

Meltzer said $101,744 was raised in the month-long sale of art, memorabilia and other donated goods, more than double the $50,000 goal. The extra money will allow organizers to fix up not just the outside but also the inside of the Cleveland house where an elderly couple now live.

Meltzer, who discovered the deteriorating house while researching a novel, said at first he wasn't sure people would care about restoring the red-and-blue house where the superhero who wears the red-and-blue suit was dreamed up in 1932.

But the response has been overwhelming.

"The house where Google was created is saved. The farm where Hewlett-Packard was founded is preserved. We protected the house where Dr. Seuss lived, where Elvis lived," noted Meltzer. "So the idea that Superman's house was just rotting away struck everyone as inherently wrong."

Meltzer, who offered the naming rights to a character in his next novel as part of the auction, takes no credit for saving the home, saying loyal fans of the comic book hero came to Superman's rescue.

"We're all Clark Kent. We all know what it is like to be boring and ordinary and we all want to be able to rip open our shirt and do something beyond ourselves. That's what happened here. Ordinary people made a difference."

Fundraiser for Siegel and Shuster Society

2008-09-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here is some great artwork for sale, and it's all for a great cause.

Join "Ordinary People Change The World" and bid on one-of-a-kind items donated by famous authors and artists to help repair and restore the house where Jerry Siegel first created Superman. 100% of the proceeds go to the Siegel & Shuster Society.

Auction includes items from:

and more.

Couple of notable items that standout to me include the Charest Superman piece, getting Jim Lee to draw you and Supes, Alex Ross original, as well as a Heroes walk on role.

$4650 - Dale Keown Hero Initiative Hulk 1 sketch cover!!

2008-09-03T01:34:00.000-07:00

Here's an awesome cover sketch on the Marvel Comics/Hero Initiative Hulk # 1 by Hulk supreme-artist Dale Keown. Pencil and ink plus grayscale pencil in super detail. This might be the best Hero Initiative Hulk art cover too!! You can see the glare off the Hulk's eyes... Love the way DK did Hulk's hair. There aren't many artist that have such a dynamic and unique vision of the Hulk. I can only name a few artists whose style on the Hulk really blows me away --Keown, McFarlane (pencil and inked!), Ditko, Kirby, Sal Buscema, Jeff Purves, Mike Deodato, John Byrne and Bruce Timm.

[ Speaking of which, if you have any Jeff Purves Hulk pages for sale or trade, email me!! ]

This cover "sketch" is a fine example of Dale's work and this piece would be great in anyone's collection, whether you are a fan of his art, or just collecting comics. Plus as a bonus, this piece could be sent off to the folks at CGC for authentication registration with the price of purchase.

Vintage Classic X-Men #2 cover by Arthur Adams

2008-08-22T23:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice cover that will no doubt sell for a high price. It is the cover to Classic X-Men #2 by Arthur Adams, from 1986. Many days to go but definitely an auction worth watching closely and bidding!! :)

This one has a pretty nice team shot too.

Dark Knight by Whilce Portacio!

2008-08-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

There are 2 sweet Whilce Portacio Batman pieces on eBay and ending soon. Some details.. The one ending first is inked and might be more "finished", the other sketch is tight penciled and I'd say is equally nice too. Whilce is still pumping out some cool stuff!

NOTE: One more Whilce Batman sketch showed up on eBay but it's a really nice one!!

Whilce Portacio original art hasn't really really taken off yet, in popularity nor prices. I can imagine that once people figure out that his early work on Punisher, X-Factor and Uncanny X-Men was actually very very good and solid, things will change. And let's not forget this body of work was done around the same time that Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, and the other "Image" artists came into their prime in the late 80s, early 90s. Maybe Whilce's work got lost behind their great work. His Image Comics Wetworks book was solid too. And don't forget Whilce also did some great work as an inker on a variety of titles including Alpha Flight and Longshot (over Arthur Adams), before getting his own book. His run on Heroes Reborn Ironman is very underrated.

If you have any of his early Punisher, X-Factor, or Uncanny X-Men original art for sale or trade, shoot me an email please!! Always interested in 70s, 80s and early 90s original art.

Liefeld New Mutants original art fans rejoice?

2008-08-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Let's talk Rob Liefeld.

Don't hate on the guy. No I'm not defending the guy. But he has got to be the most hated early 90s artist that I know of. I swear I think people love to hate the guy and his "art". I'm not sure where I stand with his stuff either, quite honestly. I mean, there are times when I look at some of his earlier work, especially his run on New Mutants 87 through 100 & X-Factor 1, and remember those days when I did actually pick up an issue or two to follow the story, characters and art. Then... I remember why I don't have any of his art in my collection now... when I look at the out of proportion human anatomy, the strange page layouts (ahead of his time?), and the strange looking "women" he draws. How many freakin muscle bulges can an arm have anyways? I'm not a doctor but damn I didn't know an arm could do that.

But to me, Liefeld will be best remembered as the guy who first drew Cable (who is a proportionally challenged character anyways), and the fact he had a Levi's commercial back when it was hip. Let's not forget Youngblood did sell many issues too. Someone bought them. And dude is still selling comics today.

Art is subjective. The reason I want to "talk" Rob Liefeld was that there was an interesting auction that ended today. It was a recreation to his New Mutants 87 cover by Rob Liefeld. And when you look at the cover, this is very representative of those early 90s. It is to me. His art style when he worked on New Mutants 87 was strong with period details including cross-hatching goodness and such. That was a good time to be collecting comics if you were a kid back then. But what intrigues me about the piece specifically though, was that someone asked him to specifically trace the cover because they liked his art the way it was back then. Apparently there were at least a dozen other people (bids) who also liked it and the auction realized over $500.00. Say what? Yes $510.00 for a Rob Liefeld cover recreation! I thought his art sucked. So my question is, did it get as much as it did due to the art or was it due to the significance of the issue/time period? Is this a good sign for Rob Liefeld original comic book art fans to get their cash ready?

Open the door already. Could there be a revitalization on his earlier style/art that put him on the comic book map? Maybe it was "only" a $500.00 auction, but I know that the interior art from X-Force 1 changed hands earlier this year and I can imagine the transaction was not cheap. Plus I'm pretty sure there will be a price jump on his art should any more of his stuff becomes available, especially pages/covers/art that hadn't been on the market previously. Like representative pieces. Nice ones. Those closet Liefeld fans are already wondering where is all his art and who is hording it all --New Mutants, X-Force, and didn't he do an issue (cover) of Uncanny X-Men long ago? I would think there is potential to make some money by setting the market price for his art. That seems inevitable.

In the meantime, if you have a representative Liefeld New Mutants cover or splash for sale/trade, shoot me an email. I might be interested. ;)

X-Men move to San Francisco

2008-08-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

Always get a kick out of reading the local newspaper and finding a comic book related story. With the X-Men moving out of their digs in Westchester County, NY, I guess they've found a new home in the City by the Bay. There goes the neighborhood. ;)

Link to SFGate.com article

X-Men go west, to San Francisco

If you pay attention to the national news, it's been the world against San Francisco lately. If we aren't getting hammered for the city's activism in the gay marriage debate, our role as a "sanctuary city" routinely causes controversy.

But San Francisco just got some pretty big (albeit fictional) allies in its progressive fight for equality: The X-Men have moved to the Bay Area.

This isn't a small deal in the world of comic books. The X-Men, who settled in the Bay Area in the just-released 500th issue of the Uncanny X-Men, are arguably the most popular and recognizable superhero team in comic book history. And they've spent most of their 40-year existence based out of a mansion in Westchester County, N.Y.

But it should be no surprise. The trials of the X-Men, who discover at puberty that they are mutants, and are often forced to hide their true identities out of shame, have a lot in common with left-leaning causes, most notably the gay rights movement. In the comics, the X-Men have had gay and bisexual team members and associates, and their numbers were once decimated by a virus that had strong similarities to the AIDS epidemic.

Marvel Comics Executive Editor Axel Alonso says the city will be more than just a backdrop for the comic.

"The X-Men moving to San Francisco isn't just a physical move, it's a spiritual move. I love San Francisco and we want to see it really represented," says the city native during an interview last week at Isotope Comics in Hayes Valley. "Anyone who looks at the X-Men, the analogy is right there: If you're different in any way due to race or sexual orientation or just being nerdy, there's an X-Men character for you. They're about being different and finding strength in that weakened position."

Action movie fans will note that the X-Men and their nemeses have already been to San Francisco, destroying the Golden Gate Bridge and much of Alcatraz in the 2006 film "X-Men: The Last Stand." But for that sequel, the filmmakers didn't do any meaningful filming in the Bay Area. The movie was shot in Vancouver, and visual effects were used to add a few landmarks to the background.

The comic has much more of an insider's vibe. Marvel Comics artists will be visiting San Francisco frequently to get a feel for the fashion, architecture and even the way residents walk and talk. There are no cable cars in the first issue, but the artists did include a KRON TV news truck and a panel where the iconic mutant Wolverine walks through Noe Valley. The heroes make their base in the concrete bunkers beneath the Marin Headlands and join the protest of a controversial art installation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Perhaps most significant, they seem to appreciate San Francisco's much publicized (and recently criticized) role as a sanctuary city.

"San Francisco is now a mutant sanctuary," X-Men group leader Cyclops proclaims, near the end of Issue 500. "Any of you - and your family or loved ones - are invited to join us here, and know safety and protection our kind has never known."

Of course, this being a comic book featuring a guy who looks like a giant blue cat, there are a few moments of pure fantasy. While the leader of San Francisco in both worlds is a young attractive politician with great hair who seems more than a bit starstruck, in the comics, the mayor is a woman not named Gavin Newsom. And the X-Men somehow establish their enormous base without a historical society protest or a single tree-sitter in sight - although, to be fair, they do set up a hippie-friendly hydrokinetic power plant, presumably using tidal power from the ocean.

"We believe that homo sapiens superior represent the future, so we better start living like it," says X-Men member Beast, sounding as if he's about to run for governor. "Soon the X-center won't just be green, it'll be positively viridian."

Whether the X-Men will settle here for the next four decades isn't known, although Alonso says the story arc is mapped out for at least a year. Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada says the length of their stay has a lot to do with reader reaction.

"Temporary or permanent is a weird thing in the world of comics," Quesada says. "As far as we're playing it right now, we just got to San Francisco. We're not planning to leave any time soon."

X-Men and the sanctuary city

Parallels between the X-Men and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement have been so strong that some real-life conservative groups have denounced the comics and movies for being pro-gay rights. Here are a few themes from the X-Men comics:

-- The X-Men don't discover their super powers until puberty. They often try to hide their differences until finding others like themselves.

-- The mutants suffered (mostly in 1990s comics) from the Legacy Virus, which wasn't understood at first and killed many mutants before treatment was found.

-- Anti-mutant slurs are frequently heard in the Marvel Universe. ("Mutie" is a common one.)

-- Efforts have been made to "cure" mutants by changing them back into nonpowered humans.

-- One of the biggest struggles for the X-Men is a political: establishing rights for mutants that are equal to humans without powers.

- Peter Hartlaub

9 Kirby auctions!! X-Men 1 pages!!

2008-07-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

I count 9 Jack Kirby auctions on eBay this week!! Time to get out the wallet and get ready to spend some money.. Current prices but expect that to change as it gets closer to when these auctions end.

41460: Jack Kirby X-Men #1, page 10 Original Art	$5,500.00	-



41461: Jack Kirby - X-Men #1, page 11 Original Art	$11,000.00	-



41454: Jack Kirby Mister Miracle #17 Pg 15 Original Art	$180.00	-



41449: Jack Kirby Fantastic Four #90 Original Art	$3,500.00	-



41455: Jack Kirby Mister Miracle #17 Pg 20 Original Art	$240.00	-



41456: Jack Kirby Mister Miracle #17 Pg 17 Original Art	$300.00	-



41442: Jack Kirby Fantastic Four #21 Page Original Art	$600.00	-



41443: Jack Kirby Fantastic Four #28 Original Art X-Men	$2,600.00	-



41444: Jack Kirby Fantastic Four #37 Original Art Page	$2,200.00	-

Avengers 99 page 28

2008-07-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

The last page of Avengers 99, page 28, by Barry Windsor-Smith with inks by Tom Sutton sold today for more than $4000.00. I wasn't expecting that high of a price, but then again, how often do BWS pages and art come up on the market? Actually a pretty nice interior panel page with most of the Avengers, including Thor.

Avengers 52 cover by John Buscema

2008-07-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

And yet more great art can be found on eBay this week. This time, it is the cover to the Avengers 52 by John Buscema.

For sake of historical tracking, :) I'll update this post when the auction ends with realized price. Put in a bid now while it's still low.

UPDATE: More than $16,000.00

Hero Initiative Hulk 1 original art covers

2008-07-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah!! The folks at Hero Initiative are at it again. Last year, they had an amazing run of Hero Initiative Ultimate Spider-Man 100 covers auctioned off on eBay. This year, they are doing Hulk #1 sketch covers. And wow are they ever. They've got some SUPER nice pieces up for auction already including some gems from Dave Simons, John Cassaday, Guillermo Del Torro, Paul Renaud, Dean Yeagle, John Romita SR, Jay Lynch, Brian Denham, Marat Mychaels, Bob Wiacek, and more to be announced/ posted soon.

Keep this link handy as it it to the HeroInitiative eBay store. and they will be updating this store with new covers regularly.

Shown here is the John Cassaday Hulk #1 cover. I'd love to see a Todd McFarlane, Jeff Purves, or maybe a Dale Keown version. Drool drool... Bid bid... :)...

Avengers 1 page 30 !!

2008-07-16T00:57:00.000-07:00

Whoa, wasn't expecting another Avengers 1 page, and both auctions are running in the same week. Here we go.. Avengers 1 page 30, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Stan Lee, 'Nuff said. This page features Ironman, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, Wasp, and Loki too! This is the page where the Avengers get their name!!

I'll update this auction after it closes. Looks like a steal right now, at "only" $9,999.00 (reserve not met), almost 10 days to go.

UPDATE: $23,100.00 but reserve not met.

Daredevil 4 page 1

2008-07-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

Super rare stuff coming out of eBay this week, and from the same seller to boot! First Avengers 1 page 1, now Daredevil 4 page 1 by Joe Orlando and Vince Colletta, with story by Stan Lee. Currently at $12,300.00 and rising. 4 days to go.

Also gotta love the guy standing behind DD, with his fist clenched and looks like he's ready to sucker punch him. Lock and load. heh.. :)

I'll update this auction when it closes. Anyone wanna guess the approx final price before it ends?

Update: $12,701.00

Avengers 1 page 1 - wow!

2008-07-13T21:57:00.001-07:00

You gotta check this out. Avengers 1 page 1 by Jack Kirby from 1963. Rare rare rare. Check out the auction for more details. I'll update this post with the final realized price, but it's currently at $49,500.00 with 4 days to go.

Update: Seller ending due to error in listing, but why do I get the feeling this auction sold off-line.

Charles Schulz Snoopy Peanuts original strip art

2008-07-06T18:08:00.000-07:00

This just ended today. Here's a rare and really nice Charles Schultz Peanuts original strip art that sold off eBay for $23,100.00. Features Snoopy playing golf in all 4 frames of the panel. Really clean original art and doesn't seem to have authenticity problems either.

New York Times article on Collecting Original Comic Book Art

2008-07-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

Taken from June 30, 2008, New York Times article, "From Trash to Auction, Faster Than a Speeding.. Well You Know".

Comic-book collectors like their numbers. They know that the first issue of X-Men, which introduced Marvel’s mutant superheroes, was published in 1963 and had a cover price of 12 cents. They also know that today a copy of that issue, in near mint condition, is worth $16,500. (Parents, take note.)

And while the market for back issues is well established, more and more collectors are turning their attention to the hand-drawn covers and interior pages that make up a comic book. This original art has become the focus of auctions with sales in the five and six figures. It’s a surprising turn of events for work that in the early days of the industry, was considered so unimportant that it was used to sop up ink or spilled coffee, given away to fans or even destroyed outright.

The art eventually stopped being discarded, and in the 1970s it generally became policy to return the covers and pages to the artists, many of whom began selling it to fans and collectors, who are hungry for it. Last month the cover of Weird Science No. 16, from 1952, drawn by Wally Wood, sold for $200,000. In February an inside black-and-white page from the 1963 X-Men No. 1, by the influential Jack Kirby, sold for $33,460. Late last year two color paintings by Alex Ross, used as covers for a recent Justice League story, were sold by his art dealer for $45,000 and $50,000. In 2005 an auction for the black-and-white cover of Batman No. 11, from 1942, by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson, closed at $195,500. (read more)

---------------------

Read the rest of this New York Times article here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/arts/design/30comi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Rest In Peace, Michael Turner

2008-06-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

When I first heard the news, I was blown away. I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of such a great artist and person, at such a young age.

http://www.aspencomics.com/community/forum_posts.asp?TID=11978&PN=1&FID=25&PR=3

Monet painting sells for $80.5 million

2008-06-24T22:27:00.001-07:00

So much for a recession. The art market is strong.

Olivier Camu, head of impressionist and modern art at Christie's in London, said the sale "illustrates the continuing strength and confidence of the art market."

---------

Reuters.

LONDON - A Monet water-lily painting sold for $80.5 million on Tuesday, doubling the previous auction record for the artist and ensuring London's key art market season got off to a flying start.

"Le Bassin aux Nympheas" had been expected to fetch $35.4 million to $47.3 million, but after an intense bidding battle it smashed the previous Monet auction record of $41.5 million set in May.

It was part of the evening sale of impressionist and modern art at Christie's which raised $284 million, the highest total for an auction in Europe. All figures include buyers' premiums.

Olivier Camu, head of impressionist and modern art at Christie's in London, said the sale "illustrates the continuing strength and confidence of the art market."

Some experts have predicted a correction or even collapse in values due to deepening economic gloom caused by falling stocks, rising oil prices and the mortgage meltdown.

Christie's, its main rival Sotheby's and other London auction houses hold a series of sales of modern and contemporary art over the next 10 days during which works worth more than $1 billion will go under the hammer.

Elsewhere in the evening sale, a pastel picture by Degas sold for 13.5 million pounds, well above its pre-sale estimate of around 5 million and the second highest price paid for the artist at auction.

Rich Russians
Looking ahead, Christie's holds its main post-war and contemporary art sale on Monday featuring "Naked Portrait With Reflection" by British artist Lucian Freud, which is expected to fetch $19.7 million to $29.5 million.

The 85-year-old artist shattered the world auction record for a living artist in May when "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" sold for $33.6 million in New York.

Media reports said the buyer of the Freud was Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, underlining his country's growing importance in the art market along with the Middle East and Asia.

The owner of Chelsea Football Club was also reported to have bought Francis Bacon's "Triptych, 1976" for $86 million, another auction record, this time for post-war art.

On Monday Christie's expects Bacon's "Three Studies for Self-Portrait" to sell for more than $19.7 million, and a Jeff Koons sculpture called "Balloon Flower (Magenta)" to make about $23.6 million.

Overall the auction house is selling art estimated to be worth up to $591.2 million.

Sotheby's is offering more than $394.1 million worth of art, including two more Bacons — "Figure Turning," estimated at $19.7 million to $29.5 million and "Study For Head of George Dyer" ($15.7 million).

At the same auction next Tuesday, the company is offering a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting owned by Irish rock group U2 and estimated at $7.8 million to $11.8 million.

To coincide with the Wimbledon tennis championship, former champion John McEnroe is selling an Andy Warhol of him and his former wife Tatum O'Neal to raise funds for charity. It is expected to fetch $492,000 to $690,000.

Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men 132 page 12

2008-06-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men 132 page 12. I can imagine this one will get at least 3-5k with current valuation of Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men art. Nice Storm splash in the center panel to boot. :)

Is it just me, or does it seem like there have been many many high ticket items on ebay the past year+ ? With the San Diego Comic-Con just around the corner, maybe this is a sign of the quality of this year's show. I can only imagine the number of gems that will become uncovered there.

If anyone is seeking any other Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men artwork, I'm aware of a couple other pages that were offered to me from other collectors last month. Lemme know if you might be interested and I can put you in touch with them.

NOTE Image recreated from auction details.

FOLLOW-UP $5,600 and reserve not met.

Kirby Captain America 105 page 15

2008-06-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

More Jack Kirby original art with inks by Dan Adkins, from 1968, Captain America 105 page 15. If you are looking for Kirby Captain America, this might be the one to get. Capt in all seven panels. I can't remember the last Kirby Captain America page on eBay. I've seen many Kirby FF, esp earlier this year. See my other postings for more valuation on those Kirby FF pages.

UPDATE: Sold for $5,122.05

Kirby Sinnott FF 61 page 19

2008-06-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

Kirby/Sinnott Fantastic Four 61 page 19. Twice up. Nuff said.

Mr Fantastic and Human Torch taking on Sandman in this early FF page.

Currently at $17,877.00 with 2 hours to go. I'll update this one after it closes.

UPDATE: Reserve not met.

Hulk abducted. Hulk will smash.

2008-06-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

[AP Associated Press.]
LOWELL, Mass. - Missing: an eight-foot-tall green man wearing ripped purple pants and missing his feet.

Police in Lowell, Mass., say a promotional statue for the movie "The Incredible Hulk" disappeared from its spot in front of a local theater this week.

Police Captain James McPadden said the statue is probably in some kid's bedroom. But he thinks more than one person was involved and that a car or pickup truck was needed to whisk it away.

The statue is missing its feet because it was bolted to a platform and whoever took it snapped it off at the ankles.

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Hulk promo statue photo courtesy of Slash Film

Byrne Avengers 165 original art

2008-06-21T11:57:00.001-07:00

Byrne Avengers pages are slowly coming out of the closet and selling at 5-6k+ prices. These early gems hardly ever show up and when they do, they will command these high prices since many collectors are dearly seeking a piece for their own collection. Could it be that Byrne/Austin Uncanny X-Men original art has slowly made it's way around to all the "hard-core" collectors seeking pages from that run? Has this artificially created demand for his other early work that isn't as well publicized and not as well known?

Here are 3 auctions I'm aware of that ended recently:

Avengers 165 page 1 (Listed at $24,500.00)
Avengers 165 page 23 (Realized $6,050.00)
Avengers 165 page 27 (Realized $5,900.57)

Reportedly, an unknown page from this issue sold in the range of $7250.00 earlier past year.

If you are already thinking like I'm thinking, here is a checklist of Byrne artwork from the Byrne Robotics website (Official John Byrne site)

Romita Sr Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man 15 cover

2008-06-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

If anyone blinked, this 1977 Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man 15 original cover artwork by John Romita Sr auction ended this morning at $7050.00

Really nice large Spiderman image on hard to find early Romita Sr cover. Might not be from ASM, but still great great cover artwork for a nice price.

As noted in the auction, the published cover had a mask statted to Flash's face/head, and another body statted in the background amongst the rubble. Nevertheless, can't beat the original vision as shown in the original art without those 2 stats.

If you have any 70s-80s Romita Sr Amazing Spiderman (ASM) or Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man original art for sale, please contact me.

eBay Feedback experiences

2008-06-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

I recently was invited to and attended a focus group dealing with eBay's feedback, specifically their new feedback system and why it works/doesn't work. Generally it was an interesting discussion with some hardcore eBay buyers in the mix throwing down their opinions on the new eBay 5 star system.

On one side of the fence were those that didn't use it at all. This could be either they just weren't used to it, didn't see value in it, or didn't care to use it. The other side of the spectrum in our session included those that did not really care one way or another about it, or those that found it difficult to use and just filled in "5 stars" regardless.

I can imagine there will be changes in this area in the near future, based on what I heard.

---

Any other eBayers here notice that eBay no longer allows sellers to leave negative zingers? Yes no more negative feedback. I guess they were sick of dealing with buyers who complained they'd get a neg as retribution from a seller. Or they were noticing a lack of feedback being left in general, as a result of sellers holding out for the buyer, and buyers holding out for the seller to go first. Personally, I still think sellers should leave feedback immediately after the buyer has paid. Short of a shipping disaster, there really shouldn't be a reason for buyer to give a neg. I believe the seller should stand by the product they sold. That's why when listing an auction, they should disclose disclose disclose everything about the item, all potential problems should be brought out so there won't be any surprises later. Buyers on the other hand should realize that once the product is in transit, they can't really blame the buyer if there is a problem. The exception to that might be if the buyer took a long time to ship the item, packed the item carelessly, or fraudulently stated they shipped the item but didn't send it out. Delivery confirmation and tracking should be a no-brainer for all transactions, especially where large dollar amounts are involved.

I was mulling in the focus group that transaction dollar amounts be attached to each rating as well. A number like total and average transaction amount might be a good way to establish more trust in a particular buyer or seller, sharing more info that might make a difference to keen buyers/sellers. Although the dollar amount could be skewed rather easily with 1 or 2 large ticket items, etc. such as a car purchase. Of course eBay could calculate mean after removing high/low values. I bet they'd lose or confuse half of the US with this complicated numbers mumbo jumbo.

Anyways, back to regularly scheduled programming. Did anyone get the license plate of the truck that ran over the Lakers last night?!? DOH. :)

OT: Does scamming get worse than this?

2008-06-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry this post is waaay not related to original art, investments, or other comic book stuff. But oh man, this is the most endearing piece of spam that has showed up in my email's inbox in a long long time. I hate getting these (it's junk email and it's a fake request) and I cringe at the level these scammers are going to, but I know this is fraud and not legit. Fortunately most of the time, my filters catch them so I don't have to read them. :)

Ouch.

I am Mrs Joy Collins from London,I am 69 years old,i am deaf and suffering
from a long time cancer of the breast which also affected my brain,from
all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite
obvious that, according to my doctors they have advised me that i may not
live for the next two months,this is because the cancer stage has gotten
to a very bad stage. I was brought up from a motherless babies home was
married to my late husband for twenty years without a child ,died in a
fatal motor accident Before his death we were true Christians.

Since his death I decided not to re-marry,I sold all my inherited
belongings and deposited all the sum of $12million dollars with a Security
Company.Presently, this money is still with them and the management just
wrote me as the true owner to come forward to receive the money for
keeping it so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody
to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness
or they get it confisticated.
Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I have been undergoing
treatment for cancer of the lungs. I have since lost my ability to talk
and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live.
It is my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organisation
of your choice and distributed each year among the charity
organization,the poor and the motherless babies home where i come from.I
want you God fearing, to also use this money to fund churches, orphanages
and widows,I took this decision, before i rest in peace because my time
will soon be up.
As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the
Security Company.I will also issue you a letter of authority that will
prove you as the new beneficiary of my fund. Please assure me that you
will act accordingly as I stated herein. Hoping to hearing from you soon.
Waiting for your reply get back to me.
Yours in Christ
Mrs Joy Collins

Todd McFarlane original art gallery

2008-05-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was browsing the web earlier today and came across an interesting site. I'm sure many of you have already been there and seen the gems...

Todd McFarlane's spawn.com site has a TON of interesting stuff to read and look at, including, yup you guessed it, a nice online gallery of McFarlane original art including some of his favorites. And it's even narrated by him. Woot. The art was original presented as part of a retrospective exhibit showcasing Todd's art and career (Held at New York's MoCCA in 2006).

Shown here, Batman sketch, was the first McFarlane artwork published in a legitimate comic book (1981). Wild wild stuff but very very cool. Something about it sorta reminds me of his work on Detective Comics, Batman Year 2.

Other pages shown at the site include pages from Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man, New Mutants, Hulk, Spawn, and others. Even rejection letters and doodles from high school days.

Super-Con 2008 in San Jose

2008-05-19T00:22:00.001-07:00

I spent all day today at Super-Con 2008 at the San Jose Convention Center, South Hall. As a private joke, the Bar-Con was held next door at the San Jose Marriot. I heard Beer-Con last night was pretty good too. Then rumor has it the wining and dining will continue Monday at the estate of Charest's wifes family. Sounds like fun.

It was a hot day in San Jose but at least the car was cool in the not-so-cheap but safe underground parking. South Hall, for those of you that haven't been to the San Jose Convention center, looks like a small hanger. Almost like a tent. Fortunately it didn't feel too hot in there.

The show opened at 10am but by the time I got there, it was closer to like 11:30am. Entrance was easy enough since I had prepaid my admission but there were no lines at that time anyways. Seemed to be pretty light (crowd wise) but it did seem to get slightly busier later in the day. I started with a walk-through of the entire floor to get an idea of what the day would bring and just browsed booths and tables. I was immediately greeted by Michael Golden at the end of the first corridor. After some chatting, admiring his artwork, and fanboy geeking out, I regained composure enough to continue my walk. Actually saw a couple collector/dealer friends that I hadn't seen in some time, so it was good to see them and catch up. This show wasn't really a big "original art dealer" show. There was 1 dealer booth who had a couple portfolios of various artwork. There were many "smaller" artists and their dealers selling artwork though, probably more artists than I had seen at a comic book show in a long time. And of course, there was a fairly big list of "bigger" artists including Dan Brereton, Travis Charest, Tony DeZuniga, Ernie Chan, Frank Cho, Paul Smith, Tim Vigil, Greg Horn, Joe Jusko, Steve Leialoha, Ryan Sook, Adam Hughes, Michael Golden, etc etc.

After my once-around, strange enough, I ended up stopping at Paul Smith's table often. It was the first time I met him and got the chance to talk with him. Wow what a great person and artist. I have newfound respect for this guy, and his work on Spirit is k-i-l-l-e-r-!!! Get the book if you haven't yet. I didn't make it on his con commission list, but I did pick up 2 pre-made pieces he had done earlier. They had an unmistakable PMS feel to it... I'll post these later... If I run into PMS at the next local show, I'm gonna be sure to chat more with him. I'd recommend you do the same as well. This guy is just easy-going and how I would expect all professionals to be. Funny too. Also chatted a bit with his new inker, Walden Wong. Seems like a humble dude too. Paul had been working with Walden on making sure the "look and feel" for their book is right. Paul is inking his own work right now, but soon enough Walden will join in on Spirit. Hope this wasn't a big secret I just let out of the bag. :-)

I ended up sitting in on the "inking Q&A" panel. There were a few interesting questions on topics such as "digital inking", "Vince Colletta inks :-)", "inking as an artform", etc. The photo above is of that inking panel discussion, including Tony DeZuniga, Frank Cho, Adam Hughes, Ernie Chan, etc. The only annoying part of this panel is that they didn't use their mics or didn't talk INTO the mic, so it was hard to hear anything they were saying. Thank GOD Adam Hughes knew how to use his mic, otherwise the discussion would have been moot.

Next up was what I pretty much came for --the original comic book art auction. I don't recall the final count of pieces, and I didn't bother tracking values for each piece, but it seemed like the auction went on for 1.5/2 hours. There were 2 versions of a Wonder Women pinup, one by Michael Golden and the other by AH!, that were blueline copied then inked over by various artists. For the most part these pieces started at $100.00 (and surprisingly some got up as much a few hundred) but of course the AH! inked piece over AH! blue-lined pencils went for the most, over $3k. I believe the Travis Charest inked piece over the Michael Golden blue-lined pencils went for second most, around $2800.00 range (I forgot the exact number). Regardless, both pieces were nice.

Regarding these blue-line inked pieces, I know Charest worked on the piece, and technically it is his original art, but would you spent that much on a Charest inked-only piece?!? Maybe if it were his own pencils underneath, or maybe even his own blue-lined pencils, I would consider it, but this wasn't either. The AH! inked over AH! (blue-line) pencils to me might be closer to true value, but for some reason, without original pencils under inks, I personally didn't think it's value would be as high as what was realized today. Chatting with a few other collectors/dealers there, they pretty much agreed. We'll see how/if they retain their value *if* they hit the open market. I thought they were going to auction off the penciled originals (Golden or AH!) but alas, I think those were kept by the artists or organizer of the show and good for them. Oh yeah, there was a small pile of artwork that didn't meet the starting $100 value so those were kept. I can imagine there will be some of these unsold pieces for sale in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out on eBay if you are interested, or email me and I can tell you who you want to talk with if you are interested.

All in all, I thought the show was decent, esp if you were looking for some deals, although the few dealers I chatted with didn't seem as excited with the lack of sales in their booth. Not many art dealers either. Because the crowds were not of Wizard shows, WonderCon or SD Comic-Con levels, however, it was much easier to walk the floor and enjoy yourself without running into people or walking at a snails pace. At least I left the con with a couple sketches and some bargain basement priced compilations ("Essentials" books).

Looking forward to Super-Con 2009. If I could leave feedback for next year's con, I'd ask for more original art dealers, and also please bring back Paul Smith. :-)

Welcome to a World Without Rules

2008-04-25T11:46:00.001-07:00

The new Batman The Dark Knight movie poster is out. This movie is gonna be gooood..

Preview clips can be found at the Apple Movie Trailer site.

All the other Dark Knight posters can be found at MovieWeb.com.

Will you be there opening night?

Spider-senses tingling through flesh?!?

2008-04-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Whoa, this takes being a comic book FANBOY to a new level.

Here we have an individual with a very large tattoo on his body. The one shown here is on his torso, but he has matching tats on his arms, of the same theme. The tattoo is Spider-Man costume underneath his skin, and it looks as if his flesh is torn open to reveal the costume.

Can you imagine the looks this guy will get when he goes swimming? Anyhow, found this tattoo interesting and different, maybe too extreme for me but "clever." :)

Urban Star Wars

2008-04-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

Came across an interesting blog that featured images of Star Wars characters in today's urban environment. Kinda makes you think twice when you see some of these images. They are bold and visually exciting images. Worth checking out if you are a Star Wars fan.

Spring, emails, and artwork

2008-04-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

Spring is here. I've been away from the computer past few weeks, so I apologize for those waiting for an update. I'm back and have been thinking of only posting some thoughts here, and hope to have new art up on the main website as well. And will be adding some new stuff to the "Original Comic Book Artwork For Sale" section in a couple weeks. Get the inside track and stay tuned.

Email. Got an email from a couple collector friends recently asking about trying to help value some pages they have for sale. Got another email wondering if I've heard anything about a specific piece of artwork. First off, THANKS for your emails and keep em coming. I just want to reiterate that if you want to chat about art, please just shoot me an email anytime 24/7 and I try to help out as much as I can, and WILL respond to every request. Curious about trends? Want an inside tip for certain art by a certain artist? Want an opinion on your art? Recommendation on framing? Want a second opinion on something you are selling, etc. I can't tell you enough about the many passionate collector friends I've met through this hobby. In fact I know a great group of collectors that are in France, and which I try to meet up with every time I visit Paris.

Hot artwork watch. Took a look at my trusty Most Watched eBay Auctions page, and noticed an interesting auction ending soon.

Jim Lee/Scott Williams Uncanny X-Men 275 page 1 Splash!

Yo. These splash pages don't come up for sale often, or if they do, they get snatched up quickly. I should know. I sold a couple decent Lee/Williams X-pages last year from my site, and they sold faaast. Throw in a bid here, or check out the pages I still have left for sale. :) Original comic book artwork, either as investment or to collect, can't get much worse than this, and as you already noticed, Jim Lee X-art is still worth buying. Why X-art (Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, X-Factor, etc)? Have you seen the prices of his Hush and Superman, and All-Star BM & R? It's only going to be matter of time before his past (X-Men artwork which put him on every fanboy's radar), will increase in value, or better put catch up, with his more current stuff.

Is original comic book art recession proof?

2008-03-20T00:13:00.001-07:00

With all indicators pointing to the United States being in a economic recession, it's time to tighten your belt and start pinching pennies says traditional logic. But with original comic book art still flying off eBay at skyrocketing prices, maybe this is a sign we are already there. Don't agree? Hear me out.

When the Fed lowers key interest rates, they want us to spend more money. This subtle push is to keep the economy running, get people out buying and using they cash rather than investing it in a bank (and get some interest from it). Money stops circulating otherwise. But non-traditional investments, including collectibles such as comics, sport cards, original art, even movie memorabilia, tend to appreciate more during these times due to the high amount of quality items on the market (ie. those trying to sell to raise more cash) and so bargains can be had. I don't know off hand how many Kirby pieces were sold in the last month or two, but those blue-chip type pieces sold easily and often, and raised a lot of $$$ for their previous owners. It also made for great investments for those seeking an "in" to sought-after and rare gems of the original comic book underground. We can't forget that investing in original art also still probably has a higher rate of return than many domestic funds, and actually are relatively low risk, unless you buy something you don't like in the first place (Buy art you love).

It's not uncommon to see more than 20 bids and realized prices more than $4k for original artwork from the 70s-80s-90s, including gems from BWS, Romita, Miller, Byrne, McFarlane, and others. But I don't recall in recent history many Jim Lee (90s, early 2000s) hitting above that number. But did you catch that Hush splash selling for $6500.00 the other day? And I thought those art prices were artificially inflated when they first were sold into the market. Maybe the hype has caught up with the (limited) supply, and demand is finally coming around. Or people like that art more than their run on All-Star B&R. With that in mind, I still think Lee/Williams Uncanny X-Men have room to appreciate in my opinion. That time in X-history was significant, and really hooked many folks onto comics (including me), maybe starting to cement comics as a legit medium for story-telling as well. And then others will say that Image and the multiple cover syndrome killed any momentum it had. But you gotta admit that there have been many many comic book related movies since those 90s. I can't think of any core titles that hasn't had a movie yet, other than Justice League, and that's coming soon.

If we are in a recession, will you buy more original comic book art, OR are you selling?

Kirby FF 63

2008-03-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

Jack Kirby Fantastic Four 63 page 14. Another great page from the King, featuring Ben, Johnny, Crystal, and others. From 1967. Currently at $7287.00 and rising.

Wolverine vs Thanos

2008-03-13T00:41:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else watch the Infinity Gauntlet 4 page 17 sell earlier this week? The page features Wolverine throughout and face-to-face with Thanos. Sold for $2025.00 with 22 bids. Actually much more than I was expecting, however there is some significance to this page, as well as the splashy-ness of the art. Artwork by Ron Lim of Silver Surfer fame.

Frank Miller - Daredevil 182 page 25

2008-03-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you saw this page sell off eBay recently (image left). Daredevil 182 page 25 featuring Punisher in all 6 classic Miller-esque horizontal panels. A cool $1499.00.

Also recently sold on eBay this nice original art, Daredevil 171 page 2. This one sold for $1875.00 with art by Frank Miller --Daredevil and Kingpin.

Amazing Spider-man 36 page 3 Steve Ditko

2008-03-08T21:39:00.001-08:00

Yet another grail-type piece shows up on Ebay. Twice-up Amazing Spiderman 36 page 3 with art by Steve Ditko. This page recounts the origin of Looter.

I'll update the realized price and bids shortly.

UPDATE $12,677.77 from 21 bids.

Daredevil 182 page 19 (Miller/Jansen)

2008-03-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

Another awesome page shows up on Ebay. Damn.

Daredevil 182 page 19 by Frank Miller with inks by Klaus Janson.

Uncanny X-Men 137 page 10

2008-03-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a great looking page from one of the most significant comics in the Marvel Universe. Uncanny X-Men 137 page 10 featuring Nightcrawler throughout in the Danger Room, and Angel in the last 2 panels.

These pages don't come up for sale often. If I were to offer a guess on value, I'd put this one at between $4500.00-$6500.00, maybe more for art from this issue.

1) Nightcrawler feature prominently throughout the page.
2) Art from a highly sought after issue (story and art).
3) Classic classic 80s Uncanny X-Men artwork.
4) Byrne, Austin, Claremont. Nuff said.

Get ready to see some all-out bidding in the coming days. Or last 2 minutes.

Rare Batman #11 CGC 9.4 book

2008-03-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

This appears to be the highest CGC graded Batman #11 comic out there, CGC 9.4. Sold for $36,800.00 over 4 years ago. Currently on eBay for $25,100.00 with almost 4 days to go. This will go in the $40k+ range.

The original art to this cover sold for almost $200,000.00 in 2005. Comics, especially high grade condition items, seem to be making a comeback with investors, and appear to be nice underrated collectible investment. With the Batman franchise doing as well as it has been past 5 years, and with more Batman movies coming out in the near future with better stories lined up, the potential for this investment seems solid.

Check out BayPulse.com for more rare and sought after collectible items including one of a kind posters, movie memorabilia, comic book related artwork and CGC books, high grade sport cards, fine art, paintings, watches and much more.

UPDATE $28,100.00, reserve not met.

X-Men 53 page 4 - Barry Windsor-Smith

2008-03-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

It must be comic book convention season as things are heating up on eBay's original comic book art category. ;) This week, X-Men 53 page 4 by Barry Smith (BWS) from one of his earliest works (1969). You don't see early BWS original art for sale very often. This is before his work on Conan and when he was just getting his start at Marvel from Roy Thomas.

This page features images of the entire team in all the panels. And underneath panel 1 has original uninked Barry Smith pencils due to a late editorial change where they pasted over new art.

Currently at $1500 with a week to go. Stay tuned.

UPDATE $4050.00 from 26 bids.

Amazing Spider-Man 51 page 5 - 1967 John Romita Sr.

2008-03-01T13:53:00.001-08:00

Early John Romita Sr Amazing Spider-Man original art. Amazing Spider-Man 51 page 5 Romita Sr with Mickey Demeo inks. Currently at $3301 with a few hours to go. I'll update this auction with realized price.

UPDATE This auction ended at $9,900.00 with 35 total bids.

Fantastic Four 40 page 15 - 1965 Kirby Colletta

2008-03-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

This one is worth watching. Early Doom verses Thing page. Fantastic Four 40 page 15 Kirby with inks by Colletta. Currently at $7301.00 with couple hours to go. Ebay. I'll update this page after the auction concludes with realized price.

UPDATE This auction ended at $10,099.00 with 29 bids.

Wondercon 2008 impressions

2008-02-23T19:55:00.000-08:00

It was rainy but I made it to Wondercon 2008 @ Moscone Center SF. Even met up with some art collecting friends which was great to catch up with them. And of course, I saw lots of superheroes including a few that let me take photos with them. Long story there and I'll save those pictures for another time. :) I would have tried to squeeze into my bright red spandex Flash costume for a quick jog around the show but...

There were a couple original art booths there including the few art dealers that annually make it to this show including Allan from Heroes Comics, Moy, Donneley's, etc etc. Also made it to Artist Alley to see who was signing/sketching including Ryan Sook, Art Adams, Ron Lim, Ernie Chua, Tony DeZuniga, JS Campbell, etc etc. Saw Jim Lee at the CBLD sketching event along with JJ Kirby, and couple other artists. They had a couple nice Lee sketches go for upwards of 800 (Sue Richards, Colossus, Ironman). Also was able to flip through the portfolios at Michael Turner's Aspen area (little more than I want to spend for those nice pencils), and saw Ale Garza and others doing a 90 minute Hellboy sketching battle.

It seemed fairly crowded inside for a Wondercon, but then again, weather wasn't great and Saturday tends to have some cool talks and presenters including the CBLD sketching and live auction, movie previews (Wall-E from Pixar Animation Studios), and other special guests, which tend to bring people off the main exhibit floor. The line out front buying tickets was long --I had to wait at least 30 minutes queued up out front and this was at around 1pm. It looks like the comic book industry is strong, and has a lot of influence out there. More and more movie/tv studios send stars and directors down to preview and talk up their projects.

And where else can u see Wolverine walking around, and then you shout, "Hey Wolverine, how about a photo?!?" and he goes into an iconic pose right then and there. Awesome. :) Of course there were the snickers and comments like "Looks like Wolverine doesn't have his healing power to lose more weight" and other zingers. But no matter. This is a comic book convention. It's normal to dress up as your favorite character and walk around the show with 100,000 of your other friends. :)

Buscema Sinnot Fantastic Four 125 page 3

2008-02-23T10:28:00.002-08:00

Now here's an oldie but a goodie. Don't see these go up for sale very often. John Buscema and Joe Sinnot work from Fantastic Four 125 page 3. This sold for $1611.00 with 14 bids. Easy to see why this page had so much interest --has some classic images of Reed, Thing, and Torch. From the late 70s..

Any Buscema and Sinnot fans?!?

Look out, Spider-Man! Gecko inspires new glue

2008-02-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

As reported earlier today, science may have finally caught up with Peter Parker's webbing...

(Link to original article @ MSNBC.com)

It could make you want to climb the walls.

Inspired by the gravity-defying, rapid attach-and-release movement of geckos scampering up vertical surfaces, scientists have invented a non-sticky adhesive that mimics the reptiles’ padded feet and actually gets stronger with use.

The strange material could become the basis for legions of high-speed search and rescue gecko-bots, Band-Aids that finally leave your leg hairs alone, and yes, perhaps even oversized climbing gloves to help you live out your Spiderman fantasy.

The adhesive is fashioned after the foot pad of a diminutive reptile that can go seemingly anywhere.

“For a gecko to move around in the world, it can’t just have Scotch tape on its feet,” said Ron Fearing, director of the Biomimetic Millisystems Lab at the University of California at Berkeley and the co-author of two new studies describing how it all works. “Simultaneously, it’s got to be easy to attach, easy to release, as well as providing enough force to keep the animal from slipping off the surface,” he said.

Meeting all of those requirements without leaving any residue behind is “a completely revolutionary approach to sticking things together,” said Kellar Autumn, a biology professor at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., and a longtime Fearing collaborator who led the effort to reveal the animal’s unique ability. “We could have the next Mars rover crawling around with gecko feet.”

Inspired by nature
Other groups have found similar inspiration from geckos. Last year, a research team at Northwestern University announced that it had produced a gecko-mussel hybrid adhesive, dubbed “geckel” and deemed suitable for underwater use.

The secret to the gecko’s success is the collective power of tiny forces exerted by millions of odd bristles that extend out from each footpad and then branch into a forest of forked tips. “This is such a bizarre solution that I don’t think engineers would have thought of it if geckos hadn’t evolved it,” said Autumn.

At a microscopic scale, nearly everything in nature is attracted to everything else, and the branching bristles are equipped to take full advantage. The van der Waals forces of attraction, as they’re known, may seem unremarkable to casual observers. “If you put your hand down on a flat surface, there are van der Waals forces holding your hand to that surface,” Autumn said, “but they’re not strong enough to help you climb the walls like Spiderman.”

Ah, but that dynamic would change considerably if your hand was covered in tiny gecko bristles, each brushing up against the wall and helping to build up a considerable attraction.

“Think of Velcro or tape that doesn’t stick until it’s pulled parallel to a surface. But if you relax it, it just lets go,” Autumn said. “That works really, really differently from anything you can find in the store right now.”

Continued @ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23073427/

SD Comic-Con and SF WonderCon 2008

2008-02-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

It's comic convention season already.

Just wanted to give a notice to those of you that will be attending the big convention down in San Diego later this summer, Comic-Con 2008, July 24-27. Today is the first day to book hotels through their website [Link to comic-con.org] and get some discount on the rooms. Rooms go fast.

Also WonderCon 2008 San Francisco, Feb 22-24 is coming up fast. Get your tix and travel accommodations lined up since it is almost 2 weeks away. Announced guests for this show include:

» Sergio Aragonés
» Kurt Busiek
» Mike Choi
» Becky Cloonan
» Darwyn Cooke
» Terry Dodson
» Mark Evanier
» Jim Lee
» Steve Leialoha
» David Mack
» Terry Moore
» Noel Neill
» Tim Sale
» J. Michael Straczynski
» Ben Templesmith
» Bruce Timm
» Herb Trimpe
» Bill Willingham
» Brian Wood

Here's a link to the Exhibitors and those that are scheduled for Artists' Alley.

Little Boy Latest Victim of Kiss Cam (from espn.com)

2008-01-31T21:37:00.000-08:00

Doesn't have anything to do with comics or original art, or collectibles, but it IS funny! Enjoy :)

Amazing Spider-Man 311 page 27

2008-01-29T22:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a pretty nice interior page from Todd McFarlane Amazing Spider-Man 311 page 27, featuring Spidey in every panel and literally all over the original art, and it's signed by Todd McFarlane himself. Comes with the matching color guide which is a nice touch, especially if you end up winning this auction and then framing them side-by-side. Currently at $4050.00 with a few days to go, but this will probably keep rising. I get the feeling McFarlane ASM and Spider-Man pages will be showing up on eBay in 2008. Maybe this is the year McFarlane ASM pages will take a healthy upward jump in value. In some ways, it's about time this happened.

I'll update this post with the final price when the auction ends.

UPDATE: The auction ended early but turns out the page is still available but the seller is hoping to pick up an Amazing Fantasy 15 from the funds. I kid you not. So if you have an AF 15 you want to trade for McFarlane ASM original art, be sure to get in touch with this seller ASAP.

Marvel Team Up #84 cover (Spider-man and Kung-Fu)

2008-01-19T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a great Marvel Team Up #84 cover featuring Spider-Man and Master of Kung-Fu from January 1979. This is an excellent and early example of Steve Leialoha, also signed by him in the corner box. You don't see Steve's work for sale often especially since he ended up doing more inking rather than pencils. To me, he is best known for his art on Spider-Woman and Howard the Duck.

Steve still appears at conventions including the upcoming WonderCon in Feb 22-24. I believe he still makes his home in the SF Bay Area.

The MTU cover is currently at $2075.00 with a few hours to go. I'll update this auction at it's conclusion.

UPDATE: This auction closed at $2276.00 with 24 bids. Great classic piece that was added to someone's collection!

"Justice" superheroes no match for striking writers

2008-01-16T23:22:00.000-08:00

Original post from news.yahoo.com
Images from mykey3000.com

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The superheroes of "Justice League of America" will have to hang up their costumes, because the Hollywood writers strike prevents Warner Bros. from sorting out problems with the movie's script.

The feature, starring DC Comics staples such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in live-action flesh, was to have been a special-effects extravaganza for the studio. George Miller ("Happy Feet") was attached as director.

Word leaked in the fall that the script, by the husband-and-wife team of Kieran and Michele Mulroney, was good but that subsequent rewrites, including the latest by Miller, had pacing issues and took the project in the wrong direction. With the 11-week writers strike in full swing, the studio decided it was best to wait to iron out the problems.

Adding to the woes were questions of tax-incentive qualifications in Australia, where Miller was preparing to shoot. The project's costs were escalating, and the script would need an overhaul if the movie didn't qualify for discounts.

The decision to put the project on hold now frees up the actors who had been cast in such roles as Superman (Scott Porter), Batman (Armie Hammer), Wonder Woman (Megan Gale), Green Lantern (Common) and the Flash (Adam Brody). Extensions on their contracts expired Tuesday. The studio is not afraid of losing the actors because playing iconic superheroes in "Justice" is seen as a starmaking turn.

"Justice's" delay is considered good news for Christopher Nolan's camp. The director is in post-production on "The Dark Knight," the sequel to "Batman Begins," and is said to have been unhappy with the "Justice League" movie because its version of Batman clashed with his one, starring Christian Bale. Nolan has been resisting directing a third "Batman" movie, though the studio would relish the possibility and could begin heavy courting.