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Thinking about it, perhaps an acetate overlay with the missing trade dress and piece of white to make the Phantom Strange fade like on the printed cover would make it more interesting.

I thought it was the Shadow, too.

I think that's pretty good advice. I can see the price going high to a Jae Lee fan who can't find another example of a cover in this price range. I wouldn't buy it, but that's probably not a surprise.

When I graduated from Rice University in 1978 with a BS in Electrical Engineering, I made $17K/yr, ~$325 week. I was paid weekly and my rent was about one week's check. I'd say that $250 in '72 wasn't bad at all.

I have never liked the Judas solution to the mystery.

Sounds like Kieth. Congrats

Some things just make one happy. Here's one of mine. Jim Shooter driving a pencil to give me a commission! Most of this audience knows who he is, but I will share a bit of his history. He's been an entrepreneur starting two three comic publishers, a publisher, an editor, a writer, and a layout artist. More than that he's worked in the industry since he submitted his first script at 13 years old - sixty years ago. He's still active as a creator and is now on the con circuit which is how I got him to draw this. Thanks, Jim. You've (once again) made me very happy. Keep it up! Click image for a bigger picture.

Some things just make one happy. Here's one of mine. Jim Shooter driving a pencil to give me a commission! Most of this audience knows who he is, but I will share a bit of his history. He's been an entrepreneur starting two three comic publishers, a publisher, an editor, a writer, and a layout artist. More than that he's worked in the industry since he submitted his first script at 13 years old - sixty years ago. He's still active as a creator and is now on the con circuit which is how I got him to draw this. Thanks, Jim. You've (once again) made me very happy. Keep it up! Click image for a bigger picture.

I think this is the best that I have seen by Jeremy and I've seen some great pieces. Congrats!

As I said on my Facebook post: A few pictures: One of my all time favorite covers Keith's recreation for me Keith with me at HeroesCon from one of my all-time favorite stories. 5YL was amazing. Something that I could not pass up on eBay. A memento of Keith's 5YL Legion run which appeared long before the iPad, I present the Omnicom (both UP and Dominator brands):

A friend has it and thinks it looks great. He hasn't read it yet. There is a YouTube video: Collaborating on The Mysteries - Bill Watterson and John Kascht

I just sent art with a purchase value of $10K, which is a lot to me, to a restorer. I sent it USPS Priority Registered, i.e., under lock and key, to the restorers PO Box. I put an AirTag in the box and watched it travel. Because of the lock and key requirement, it's slow and ground, but it got there. It was kinda fun to watch its journey from Houston up I45 to DFW, east on I20, down to Tampa, up to Orlando, down to Tampa, back to Orlando, and finally to the restorer. Two weeks. Most of that time it was in a PO waiting for the next step. No clue why it migrated from Tampa to Orlando to Tampa to Orlando though.

I read this as these pages will be sold individually, i.e., as separate Lots, and not as one Lot with all of them. It with will be interesting to see.

That was interesting. Thanks for posting.

Wow! I wonder if the buyer was a fan of the artist or the band. Amazing.

The Boston Cover referenced above with in an Illustration Signature Auction as you can see here (click to go to auction results):

I did bid, but it went for more than $2K. I probably stopped about $700.

Not I.

Updated my Jeff Smith pieces with a few I missed the other day.

Thanks for doing this. I have a little Jeff Smith Bone art. Click on image for a bigger picture and the full story behind each piece. Lightboxed from the pencils by Jeff. Colored by Steve Hamaker Sketch in the sketchbook that my wife built for my 60th birthday. A gift for my daughter bought off eBay long, long, long ago. For a friend who likes Batman on Gargoyles as a theme - note the gargoyle I'm a fan of all things Sheldon Mayer and Jeff Smith so this was the obvious thing to do at HeroesCon 2023:

Rick, I had a similar experience with my mom. I lived in the town where I went to college. A girl I liked was a member of the Baptist Student Union. For some long forgotten reason, I invited them to hold a meeting at my place. One of the kids was Black. Never occurred to me to mention it to my folks. At some point during the evening, I was away from the group with my mom. She said, "Why didn't you tell me there would a black person?" I said, "It never occurred to me to mention it. Is there a problem?" She said, "No, I was just surprised." Not so long after, a good friend in the neighborhood sold their house to a black family. She had no problem with it "so long as they kept the yard mown and the house painted." I think she'd have felt the same way if they were next door. Still, occasionally, she will say something that surprises me on a racial topic. TL;DR, people are complicated and seldom all one thing.

There are a bunch of different questions here. I'll try to capture them with my answer: Is the image a racist stereotype - yes. Is the dialog a racist stereotype - yes. Was Jack Kirby a racist when drawing them? I don't know. I doubt that we will ever know. Was Jack Kirby a racist all/most of his life? Again, I don't know and doubt that we will ever know, but I think he out grew it. His portrayal of the Black Panther and the Black Racer certainly violated the racist stereotype.

Per my CAF Dashboard, I have: 30.9% con sketches 29.9% commissions Of my true commissions, only one was less than I hoped and I take full credit for that. I should have let the artist do his thing. Sigh... That said, it's very nice and I have no urge to hide it or sell it. For the rest, I've been very lucky. Yes, I agree. Commissions lose 50% of their value when you receive them. Some might gain value, but most won't. However, I don't mind. I like the images and the interaction with the artist. I also limit my spend to my "play money," e.g., from selling my comics, so my risk tolerance is high. Here are a few that I've commissioned (L->R, T->B: Various, Cardy, Colan, Heath, Kubert, Fradon, Swan):

I updated my standard answer above with Alexandra vonHawk's shipping address and with Amanda H. Malkin - https://www.paperlovesconservation.com

I'm sending four pieces to Alexandra vonHawk for quotation and (most likely) restoration. I also finally fixed Gordon's snail mail address above.