Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns original art sketch

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

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

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.

1978 Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men original art

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

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.

Liefeld New Mutants original art fans rejoice?

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. ;)

Charles Schulz Snoopy Peanuts original strip art

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.

Byrne Austin Uncanny X-Men 132 page 12

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.

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

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!

Ironman 141 splash!!

Here's a great splash page from the great duo art team of Romita JR and Bob Layton. Ironman 141 page 1 splash sold on eBay for $3,150.59 This is a great page representative of the great and almost under-appreciated art from their great run. The art from their work on Ironman will continue to be sought after.

Uncanny X-Men 131 page 18. Colossus in action.

I don't know the seller, but here's another very nice Uncanny X-Men 131 page from ultimate X-art team of John Byrne & Terry Austin. Classic representation of Colossus (in metal form and as Peter), Cyclops, Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, and of course Nightcrawler. Don't forget Wolverine is lurking in 2 panels. The art on this page jumps out and oozes with 80s charisma. Love the third (middle) pane drawn with the cool perspective.

As you can tell, I love the art and story from this time in Uncanny X-Men. Who doesn't like this art, although I know there are a few of you that loath the art and story (Uh don't email me about it, just add your own comments eh and step out of the shadows), although I'm not talking about liking the artist or not for their personality. That could be it's own discussion. Byrne/Austin, Dave Cockrum, Neal Adams, and maybe Lee/Williams, really did some of their best work on this cornerstone Marvel title years ago.

Which brings us back to today. Don't get me started on what I don't like about today's art. I'm really not a fan of the art from current comic books where it usually seems the artist will tailor their artwork towards selling the art after the fact (ie. splashier = $), rather than telling a great story in the book using art. With the exception of a few artists, such as Ethan Van Sciver, most current comic art lacks intricate background details, even details in how the character is drawn, hair, etc. EVS seems to put his heart into each page he draws and esp when he inks his own work. This is good stuff kids. Really outstanding. It's easy to see why he is so popular and in demand. I really started to take notice when he had his run on Green Lantern Rebirth couple years ago.

Back to the auction, 7 days and 18 hours remaining and it's at $4550.00. To refresh your memory, another page from this book featuring Dark Phoenix recently sold for more than $7k. I'll update this post at the conclusion of the auction with realized price and number of bidders.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The auction has ended at a realized price of $8076.00 with 29 total bids. Seems like Byrne Uncanny X-Men pages are going up as not only they don't come out for sale often, but people are snatching them up when they do.