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I've updated the note again. I've added a newsletter, a new book, and made a few other minor changes. As always, comments are welcome.

A wishin' a hopin'

Wrong! Dikto isn't fighting Spidey. I think you were cheated! Despite that, it's a very cool page.

I'm sure that for some the stories about Cameron Stuart will taint his art and for some they will not. Both are reasonable reactions, IMO. Same goes for Gerard Jones' books (Men of Tomorrow is terrific) and comics. My decision was that I would not buy from them, but I won't get rid of what I own.

I do provide a warning about this path - "prepare for odd/funny answers, unsolicited offers, and the usual social media snark." I'm open to a better warning.

The man is so talented and clever. BTW, it's his birthday today.

I've added and updated the list of paid services for obtaining art prices. I added Terapeek, AskArt, and Worthpoint. As always suggestions are welcome. Thanks for the suggestion Timothy Scott Guerrero.

New Art Day - Superman Annual 10 pg 27 by Curt Swan (p) and Murphy Anderson (i) Note: New Art Day is also known as Squander my Daughters' Inheritance Day. Sure, it's not a Sienkiewicz or a multiply pubished Gorilla page, but I like it. George Klein and Murphy Anderson were Curt's top inkers and I'd love a page by each. However, GK pages are way more expensive and SwAnderson pages are plentiful as Heritage auctions off Murphy's collection. I bid in the 2020 May 17-18 weekly auction where the "minor" pieces are usually found. There were two that I quite liked, but they were the last two pieces in the auction. I wouldn't have enough time to lose the first one and bid on the 2nd (HA live bidding by computer is too fast for me). I decided to go for the latter piece and won it for less than I expected! Click the image to see a bigger image, the other piece, and a write-up describing why I liked this page. The reason may surprise you.

To have a piece from a specific artist for an amount they could afford, i.e., it's not always about the image. Still, it is not attractive to me and is that a smile on ST's face?

Have you asked Mark? He's on Facebook and Twitter.

I have no cares or fears at all about my art becoming worthless. I spend only money that I would spend on any other hobby. [I have tried to break the rule twice, but failed both times.] Other hobbies, e.g., golf, season tickets for sporting events, or flying, have no return at all. That's my benchmark. It's a good thing that resale isn't really an issue for me because I buy a lot of commissions and they aren't worth much after I get them. I mean seriously, how many people would buy a collection of faux Sugar and Spike #100 covers? Not many since the books haven't been in print for 50+ years with the exception of a DC Archive and one special edition. I do worry a bit about fire and flood and such. Insurance would help, but the loss would be awful.

About the artwork in the Nate Sanders auction, it turns out that it was not from All-American #6. The story was indeed told there first, but the art being sold was recreated by Sheldon Mayer in The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told published in 1990. The image below explains the art's origin. It seems that this was the art placed in auction. I don't care, I still love it, but not $30K worth.

That is excellent advice. 20% BP, 8.25% Texas Sales Tax, plus $20 S/H can really add up. I pay with an echeck so no CC fees. (Do they still take CCs?)

Did you ask Stan if he sold it?

My advice? Determine your maximum. Enter it in the live bidding. Go away and have a nice dinner.

It's all on the CAF which reports that I have 350 pieces posted. Some are from sketchbooks. I have about 20 framed (6%) and on the walls. You can see those here.

New Art Day - A new faux Sugar and Spike #100 cover commission! This one is by Dave Aikins and features S&S meeting Superman! I think it's spectacular. Dave went over and above. It's a photorealistic representation of a "real" S&S #100 cover. It's full of little Easter Eggs in the details. Utterly delightful and a great addition to this sub-theme! Thanks, Dave! Click the image and read more about it.

New Art Day - A new faux Sugar and Spike #100 cover commission! This one is by Dave Aikins and features S&S meeting Superman! I think it's spectacular. Dave went over and above. It's a photorealistic representation of a "real" S&S #100 cover. It's full of little Easter Eggs in the details. Utterly delightful and a great addition to this sub-theme! Thanks, Dave! Click the image and read more about it.

Those are all fun, but Michael Dooney's is really clever, @Doc McCoy.

You landed a great catch, @fishbone.

I enjoy the list. Thanks for doing it. These may or may not help (yes, I'm a Legion fan. :) ) Q: Quislet from the Legion of Super-Heroes Querl Dox = Brainiac 5 from the LSH Queen Projectra from the LSH (she was crowned their queen and moved up from Princess) V: Val Armoor - Karate Kid from the LSH Validus of the Fatal Five from the Legion books Vandal Savage who has tangled with the LSH Valor a version of Mon-El from the Zero Hour Legion Violet, a.k.a., Shrinking Violet from the LSH Y: Sodom Yat a GL who made it to the 30th century in one LSH version Yera Allon who married Colossal Boy of the LSH after impersonating Shrinking Violet

Have you had to go out and buy a piece yet to make this work?

Reposted so I could change an image. The original post is here. ---- I need to put together a DB Q&A. I started one once, but ... I'd like to preface this with that my relationship with Coollines Art has been primarily through e-mail and while we've never struck a deal they have always been prompt and polite. I've met Rich a few times and he's been cordial. I don't recall meeting Steve, but we've corresponded and he too has been cordial. I've never traded or bought from them. That said, they do things differently than I would and one of those is "restoration" of their art. Before we go on, I'd like to share my opinion: I believe that they are really collectors in disguise. I believe that they use the advantages of being well advertised dealers to build their collection at a discount. Advantages include potential tax advantages as a reseller, e.g., sales tax avoidance on purchases, early con access, and so on. I am not contending that there is anything wrong with this. As I mentioned above, they alter their art work to "restore"it and to "enhance" its value. Often they do not disclose the alterations. They have turned drawings into "preliminary/rejected/unpublished" variant coverss and they do special things to make drawings into "covers." We are going to discuss one example: Curt Swan's cover for Superman Annual #7. This Curt Swan piece was sold on Heritage in 2007 - Note the words on the statue's base. As I understand it, the Heritage buyer sold/traded it to the Donneleys some time later. They now show it on their site as: Note the words on the base of the statue. A conversation on the Curt Swan FB fan page led to an e-mail conversation with Steve. Steve told me in that note that: They "restored" the cover to its original state by re-creating stats using an unknown artist. Curt passed away in 1996 and the art was acquired by the Donnelly's after the Heritage Auction in Jan 18, 2007 in a trade with the buyer. An interesting point was made on the Swan FB page by Ray Cuthbert about Steve's assumption: While I would not have mounted "replacement stats" on the original Swan piece, I might have done it on an overlay. There are several takeaways here: People do try to "restore" art and Coollines is one place that does. Proper restoration is hard. Be an informed buyer One man's restoration is another man's fake. By the way, this piece was not originally designed for the cover of Superman Annual #7. Ray Cuthbert says: The statuette image was originally used prior to SUPERMAN ANNUAL #7 - as the Independent News Initiative Award. This is why the actual original art has a different inscription than on the ANNUAL cover. Here’s that original image:

Still glad I got it when I did!