alxjhnsn

On 10/17/2023 at 10:05 PM, ArtBana said:

I didn't know that!  Learn something new every day. ty

Thought you might enjoy this: https://www.10tv.com/article/news/entertainment-news/local-artist-donates-work-billy-ireland-cartoon-library-and-museum/530-9cf61672-44c4-449c-aa81-d8cc53cf2489

All, I can tell you is that everyone on this list was recommend by one or more satisfied client. I've not had anyone tell me to avoid a particular restorer. If that happens, I will add their names.

On 10/16/2023 at 8:08 PM, Will_K said:

Swiped from HA's Instagram ( notice the resemblance ):

Many artists use themselves as reference.

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.

On 10/16/2023 at 12:38 AM, The Voord said:

At first glance, in R2Y2's post, I thought I was looking at some kind of illustration of 'The Shadow', lol!

I thought it was the Shadow, too.

On 10/15/2023 at 8:03 PM, gumbydarnit said:

I find if I have to talk myself into the purchase I probably should save that money for something else.

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.

On 10/11/2023 at 10:37 AM, Bronty said:

$250 seems exceedingly low for the time period.    

On 10/10/2023 at 2:54 AM, vodou said:

Great money! Annualized that’s $13,000.

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.

On 10/14/2023 at 12:51 PM, Rick2you2 said:

He also confirmed something which was unexpected: who the Phantom Stranger was supposed to be. No, not Judas.

I have never liked the Judas solution to the mystery.

On 10/12/2023 at 5:52 PM, Rick2you2 said:

A Keith Giffen story.

I had met Keith a number of times, and on one occasion he told me he wouldn't do a Phantom Stranger commission because he really disliked the character. Too cold and distant he said (some truth to that, no thanks to many writers). In any event, I learned that an artist I knew he had mentored had given birth. So, between shows (of a few months), I decided to pick her up a baby present and bring it to the next show. She wasn't there, which probably shouldn't have surprised me, but Keith was there. I told him I had a baby present for X, and he offered to bring it over to her later. He was also sitting around with empty time on his hands, and he decided to scribble some sketches. He was also aware of my interest in the Phantom Stranger, he knew me by then. All of a sudden, he started scribbling a sketch. You guessed it: the Phantom Stranger. And here it is. By the way, he signed it twice, at my request, because his penmanship was so bad it was illegible. He scowled, but did it anyway.

 

Sounds like Kieth. Congrats

On 10/8/2023 at 1:15 PM, fenip said:

A Cursed Pirate Girl commission...

https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1961066
2DG For a better scan... https://www.2dgalleries.com/galleries/bastian-jeremy-5904

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

On 10/10/2023 at 12:51 PM, Brian Peck said:

Yes, but at least three packages have been stolen on their way to Heritage via USPS. Mine was priority. This is the only issue I have had with USPS in over 30 years of shipping artwork. Registered takes forever and the tracking sucks. No real update til it arrives at the destination.

 

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.

On 10/5/2023 at 7:34 AM, oldwhy said:

Good luck! Did you decide to sell the Hidden Years pages as a group or did heritage decide this? Never seen such a large group before..

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.

On 10/4/2023 at 3:39 PM, vodou said:

https://shungagallery.com/appetite-for-destruction-robert-williams/

That was interesting. Thanks for posting.

On 10/4/2023 at 3:34 PM, Bronty said:

Lastly, this Gerald Scarfe pink floyd piece was reported as having been sold for almost 2m, that's the biggest number I'd heard of in this genre.

"This artwork sold at our landmark exhibition in 2017 for $1.85 Million. This is a record-setting price for any original artwork from both the Rock & Roll and Film genres. "

https://sfae.com/Artists/Gerald-Scarfe/The-Scream-1981

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

On 10/4/2023 at 2:22 PM, Sideshow Bob said:

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pulp-like-digests-and-paperback-art/gary-norman-american-20th-century-boston-don-t-look-back-album-cover-1978-acrylic-and-airbrush-o/a/8030-71060.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

Don't Look Back album cover (1978) went for $81k in April 2021. 

 

On 10/4/2023 at 10:56 AM, Dr. Balls said:

I have never randomly run across an Album Art auction - and I'm not even sure what kind of art auction that would end up in.

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.

On 10/4/2023 at 9:02 AM, Captain ShipWreck said:

I might be remembering this wrong but didn't you win the charity piece at Heroescon this year as well?

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:

On 9/27/2023 at 5:31 PM, Rick2you2 said:

Frankly, I think he must have been racist, but the more pertinent question is how racist was he and how did he act because of it. That was the generation he was from, and racism was acceptable. But that doesn’t mean he was actively engaged in discriminatory behavior or harbored real ill will against blacks. Permit me to offer an example: my mother. My mother was an educated woman. She went to college and had all her credits for a Masters degree in pure math at Columbia. Our family had friends around the world due to my father’s work. She also believed that everyone should be treated equally, of course blacks should vote, and they were deserving of fair treatment. One day, in my early teens, I was discussing something with my mother about race relations, and she said all of those right things—but then she added a caveat. She wouldn’t want a black family living next door because the neighbors’ kids might be playing under the sprinkler or in a pool and she would see their black, naked bodies. My reaction was “huh”, and when I later mentioned it to my father he didn’t believe it. Let me add that I never saw her do anything discriminatory either. 

Racism, like anti-semitism has gradients. If you ever see the movie Gentleman’s Agreement with Gregory Peck, you will know what I mean. 

Kirby was of that generation. It was as surely a part of his DNA as it was in my mother. But that doesn’t mean he personally acted badly towards blacks. Or that he wouldn’t have supported their right to vote or stand up for themselves—like T’Challa. World War 2 was a real eye opener for soldiers—black people dying for their country just like whites. His racism would be the more passive variety, allowing him to draw Whitewash like that instead of, say, making Whitewash look like Bill Robinson. That’s what people wanted to buy in the comics, like the Blackhawk Chop-Chop. So, that’s what we have.

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.