Jack Kirby Captain America 6 page 8 original comic book art

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?

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

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 1 page 30 !!

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.

Avengers 1 page 1 - wow!

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.

Kirby Captain America 105 page 15

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

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.

Is original comic book art recession proof?

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

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.

2007 Review - Byrne, Kirby, McFarlane, Romita and more

** Happy 2008 Comic Book Artwork Collectors! **

It's been a great year for collecting original artwork, collectible investments (short of historic homerun balls) and all forms of art seems to be a great investment value again. I can't remember a year where there has been so much good art showing up for sale or being auctioned off in the public market. Let me touch on the original comic book art market, from my limited perspective and extremely biased opinion. :)

Of particular note for me, I've noticed quite a few nice Byrne Uncanny X-Men pieces sell on eBay the past year. Could this be a sign that Byrne UXM pages will be hot again in 2008? McFarlane Spider-Man artwork seemed popular as well, and some finished "sketches"even went as high as $5k-6K range (Read previous posts for more historical info on previous realized auction sales). Kirby FF pieces were selling fast and furious early in the year. Even a Kirby X-Men 1 page made an appearance on eBay, albeit a couple times not meeting reserve.

Jim Lee artwork always seems to have a following. His comics still pretty much fly off the rack and his still hard to come by original artwork consistently sell from dealer/collector's portfolios. With his All-Star Batman & Robin book often late, and with many grumbling fans bitter from not getting their book on time, it is difficult to get a good read on valuation for "current" Jim Lee original artwork (ie. All-Star, Superman, etc), although the prices are high and pieces are in demand. His older work to me seems to be the better value, especially where he got his roots at Marvel --Punisher War Journal, Uncanny X-Men, X-Men were just a few of the titles he worked on early on. Prime pieces of his will always draw interest, but it does seem that even "average" pages/art of his are getting attention. Regardless, I recommend you always buy artwork you want to keep regardless of price and intent to sell.

Moving on to the Wonder Woman artist, Adam Hughes AH! artwork has been hot, no need to mention that. I remember a mega-auction of his artwork that averaged something like $200+ a piece of art. Impressive. And Ethan Van Sciver artwork is still hot, especially his work on Green Lantern, and any Batman/Superman or Wonder Woman artwork of his gets some looks.

For 2008, I think Colan DD pages will start showing up more often, and more early Arthur Adams artwork will appear for sale. Buscema artwork is underrated and will become more collected once people figure out it doesn't show up for sale often. And Romita Sr ASM pages will sooner or later get hot in the public dealer/collector/eBay market, although it would be great if the one BIG Romita Sr art dealer would sell/trade me something. Hint, hint. ;)

Ok, I'm hoping for these things to happen in 2008 anyways.

What stood out for you in 2008? Any artists or characters get more attention that you expected?

It's almost comic book convention season. See ya at the next show and thanks for reading.

Buscema Silver Surfer #4 Cover Recreation

Here's something you don't see often. A recreation of the cover to Silver Surfer #4 penciled and inked by the late great John Buscema. This is a classic cover image depicting the surfer coming down against Thor. The seller says that these recreations go in the range of $2500.00 - $3500.00. I actually believe this one will exceed this estimate. How often do you see these recreations become available and if you do, how much will it cost to get it out of the owner's hands? With early Sal Buscema artwork already fetching higher prices due to the great work he had done, I think collector's are coming around to these "old school" masters of the comic book medium. Sure, everyone talks about the Romita's, the Kirby's and Gene Colan's, and of course Neal Adams should get a lot of respect. It is long past due, that John and Sal Buscema original artwork will start to pick up in value and become more collected. Just a hunch, but look for it in the coming year+ if not already.

X-Men #1 Kirby page on eBay

Guess what's re-listed and for sale again? Yes, the Kirby X-Men #1 page that didn't sell in late August. I guess it never changed hands. Personally, I think it's a better overall investment than the FF pages. It won't be cheap but a better investment for the long run, probably, with all things equal as compared to a Kirby FF page. I can't factor in final realize price since, well, the auction is still going and won't end for some time. The X-Men franchise is very healthy --movies, merchandising, comics and their characters are doing well too. Broad appeal too. Stay tuned and we'll keep an eye on this.

4 Jack King Kirby Fantastic Four original art pages!

What a crazy single day for original art! Can you believe 4 different Jack Kirby Fantastic Four original art auctions will all end on Thursday, Sept 6?!? I'm guessing the 4 pages in total will sell for in excess of $32k, probably more. I hope they meet their reserves. Currently they are at collectively $21,097.00 with a total of 41 bids. All from the same ultimate seller too, nice.

I'm not sure what kind of investments these will end up to be in the future, but I gotta say that at least whoever ends up ponying up and getting them will be really happy, and that's an understatement. But then again, Jack "King" Kirby and Stan Lee really were the early vision of comics, and really that's how we got to where we are today.

If you are playing at home, here are those auctions, in the order in which they will end. Hmm, so many choice and so little time.. Which one will it be?

Kirby Fantastic Four #16 page 10, "Thing Transformation"
Kirby Fantastic Four #36 page 6, "Twice-up interior art"
Kirby Fantastic Four #51 page 23, "This Man This Monster"
Kirby Fantastic Four #20 page 15, "Mole Man Battles Invisible Girl"

And this doesn't include the John Buscema Fantastic Four 123 splash page ending today as well. It's going to be a Fantastic Four kind of day on eBay..

UPDATE 9/6 9:30pm

FF 16 pg 10: $4950.00 Reserve not met (BIN $11750.00)
FF 36 pg 6: $2299.00 Reserve not met (BIN $3975.00)
FF 51 pg 23: $16,102.00
FF 20 pg 15: $4450.00
FF 123 pg 1: $4305.00 Reserve not met

Spider-Man 1 pg 5 McFarlane $7500

Another cool page came and went, sold on eBay. This time, Spider-Man #1 page 5, by Todd McFarlane.

Could this be a revival for McFarlane art? Seems like McFarlane pages are getting hot again and I don't say that because this page went for a nice number. This was a page from a first issue and a landmark best selling issue, from an artist that no longer or doesn't often draw anymore. Anything with McFarlane's autograph or a doodle seems to get a lot of attention. The pages I had for sale from All-Star Squadron #47 and Hulk #330 sold earlier this year too.

Hopefully those that have McFarlane art will start putting out some gems for sale. Also noticing some nice Kirby pages for sale lately. Even Jim Lee Uncanny X-Men art is showing up on eBay again.

X-Men 1 (1963) page doesn't sell on eBay

In case you didn't notice, a rare page from X-Men #1 (1963) appeared on eBay and did not meet reserve, and or was ended early. But did it switch hands into a new collector's gallery anyways? I was closely watching this auction as it hit the $25,300.00 price and actually expected it to go even higher, but the auction ended. Would it go as high as the Heck Batman cover that sold for $50k+? Would it sell for more than ALL the original art from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 as sold by Eastman Studios? Was that $250,000.00? Original art from 1963 does not become available for sale often, and when it does, don't expect it to come cheap. But in the case of art from X-Men #1, the original book, there are many reasons to buy a piece as prestigious as this one.

- The incredible art by a ground-breaking artist Jack Kirby.
- The landmark first issue of a landmark comic title.
- The original story by Mr Superhero Stan Lee.
- This is where the X-Men franchise started!!

Of all the titles and characters in the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are probably number 1 (or maybe 1A next to Spider-man). Regardless, the X-Men have the best characters (Wolverine!!), best storyline (Days Future Past!!), usually the best artists on it (Kirby, Neal Adams, John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Jim Lee, etc), and how many top grossing comic book movies have come out so far, with a few more spin-off movies lined up.

As more and more premiere art pages and covers show up at auction houses or eBay, stay tuned for more larger and more significant pages to sell in the very near future.