sfcityduck

Russ Cochran brokered a deal from Gaines to Mitch Mehdy, who sold to the Donnelly brothers, who have now put it up on Heritage.

I think they'll be two of the bidders. But, I'm sure there will be others. There are other EC art collectors out there. There are other institutions. There are rich Jewish comic collectors who might view this piece as personally significant. There are industry guys with money like Miller who might want it. How this plays out will be very interesting to see.

Master Race is not a touchstone of pop culture. So I don't think it will ever be displayed at a history museum next to the Muppets. If it goes to a history museum, it would be the Holocaust Museum (DC) or the Contemporary Jewish Museum (SF) or some other institution focused on the holocaust or Jewish history. But, I don't view that as likely. The Library of Congress might be interested in it, but I don't think they are spending much on acquisitions. So I think the likeliest bidders are institutions focusing on American art that are expanding their collections in to areas beyond the limited universe of artists favored by the rich fine art establishment. The Whitney Museum of American Art would be a natural for this piece. It collects pieces on paper and displays them in groups (we're talking about an eight frame group here). The Lucas would also be a natural contender because Lucas is trying to expand the notion of what "fine art" is.

I believe the owner is/was Big Moov. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I think you've participated in MF 73 threads he was on before. I have no idea what it will hammer at. Big Moov likes to puff his books, and received criticism for it. I think he was predicting close to a million for a book that hit only five figures in a thread titled something like "This is my life, guys." So I'm not inclined to give this one a guess. I'll let him puff his own book.

That's pretty amazing. I take it you don't like EC? Fantagraphics' EC Library includes the volume "Master Race and Other Stories." The story is also featured in various compilations such as the "Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Comics" and "We Spoke Out: Comics and the Holocaust", as well as other Krigstein specific volumes like "B. Krigstein v. 1" and "Messages in a Bottle: The Comics of B. Krigstein" by Fantagraphics. The story has been widely discussed in various fan publications (Squa Tront, Comics Journal, etc.) and in the serious press (New Yorker, Forbes, NYT, etc.), and Frank Miller, Art Spiegelman, and a number of other prominent arts have acknowledged their debt to Krigstein. Admittedly, it sure would have helped if you were collecting when Miller began his DD run, because that was a time when Krigstein was discussed quite a bit.

John Byrne X-Men page is "cool art." Master Race is "fine art" which is influential, historically important, and will stand the test of the time as a result.

Read the threads on MF 73 on this site, and you'll see the owner making a lot of statements.

You mean the 9.2 extensively restored and married D27. You will have many chances to buy as nice or nicer D27s. But, this chance at the "Citizen Kane" of comic book stories likely comes just once. I expect a battle royale for Master Race. The NYT is way off on its comment on the likely hammer price. I don't recall there being an $150K estimate, and its already beat that. It will likely beat that by a fair bit. After all, Halperin owns the cover (and you would think he would like the interior to accompany it) and Master Race is likely to be sought by several different institutions. It is a unique piece which transcends the "collectable" status of most comic art, and it truly a piece of fine art. This is not like the Hulk 180 page by Herb Trimpe (not a fine artist), depicting a superhero who looks like a refugee from the Cats musical, this is art that real museums would want. Both serious art museums and Jewish cultural institutions. And Lucas may want it too. Will be fun to see what happens.

Challenge them on the tax. The rate should be the tax at your location. Shipping may be accurate if they are charging for the shipping materials, not just the transport fee.

Mods, The election's over. Can we get our thread back? Or at least an explanation for why it crossed a line? Thanks in advance for your anticipated response.

Master Race is already at $156K, and the big bidders likely have not bid yet. There are a large number of registered phone bidders. So what's the upper limit on such a piece? I don't think it exists. I can see savy collectors and cultural institutions driving the bidding in the live auction to multiples of the $156K it sits at now. Here's why: Master Race is NOT a pop culture collectable like the vast majority of comic original art. It is NOT a piece which is artistically devoid of merit and derives significance only because of a character appearance (I'm looking at you Hulk 180). Master Race is culturally significant and influential FINE ART. And for bidders on fine art, $150K to 250K is, frankly, chump change. If, as I think is the case, Master Race attracts fine art bidders (probably institutions), then we could see the price driven up to shocking heights by an epic battle between cultural institutions and comic art collectors. If any comic book story belongs in a serious museum, it is surely Master Race. It is accurately referred to as the "Citizen Kane" of comic books. It's artistic merit is seriously discussed in the serious press. The first and last pages of that story are arguably the two most influential comic pages ever drawn. They are a masterpiece of comic art. In short, the significance, reputation and value for Master Race will likely only grow over time as its influence becomes more and more appreciated, whereas some of the other big ticket comic art faces the prospect of fading as the characters which drive the value of those pages lose popularity and significance. Yes, people love Wolverine, but Herb Trimpe is no fine artist and one panel depicting a superhero who looks like a refugee from the musical Cats is never going to end up in a serious museum or artistic study. Master Race, on the other hand, is truly fine art. So here's my prediction: I predict Master Race to break $450K at least, and the sky is the limit. I would not be shocked at all to see it beat the Hulk 180 page.

Yes. I did that. A response from a moderator would be appreciated.

You need to change your topic. It is CGGroup not CGCGroup.

I just don't want this:

Mod Love - "As Long As I Win"

It's a great thread. The original links to pictures broke, so the OP updated his original article and added new picture links on p. 2 or 3 of the thread. Prior to that revised post by the OP, I added a side bar on one of my collecting interests related to the topic.

Ok - now you're baiting me to criticise the moderator publicly, but I'm going to bite -- a tiny bit. I've never seen a post discussing WW2 comics deleted. Even when what is being discussed is the racist and bigoted portrayals in those comics. Some of my very favourite threads are those discussing Japanese internment comics and the Okajima pedigree on the GA Boards. Those topics are way more loaded and political than the deleted thread. But, we (hopefully) allow them because they are important discussions of historical documents. Here's an example: I don't know what line the moderator thought the Superman poster thread crossed, but I'm eager to find out.

No. There was no political debate or argument at all. It is a pretty plain vanilla poster (being discussed because it is being auctioned by Hake's right now), so I'm baffled by the deletion of the thread. I have taken it up privately with the moderators and will save my discussion for them. I just posted here so make sure that I get some confirmation from the moderators that they've seen my private post. I've never had an interaction with moderators before.

To whoever is the moderator, Could you please let me know if you are in receipt of my private posting regarding the deletion of the "Superman Says Don't Be 'Un-American'" thread? I look forward to your response to my private post. Thanks, sfcityduck

Don't they know who else viewed the collection?

"Relax," said the night man "We are programmed to receive You can check out any time you like But you can never leave!"

Updated status on books submitted at San Francisco Con: MAGAZINE MODERN Stated turnaround times when submit.: CCS = 35 b days; CGC = 45 b days (Total 80 b days or 16+ weeks) Date of Con Drop Off - 6/10/2018 CGC Received Date ("Rec-CCS Required") - 6/14/2018 (Bus. days since Con submission = 4) "At CCS" - 7/3/2018 (Bus. days since "Rec-CCS Required" = 13) "Received" - 9/14/2018 (Bus. days since "At CCS" = 52 b days or +17 b bays or 3.5 weeks over estimate!) "Verified" - 9/18/2018 (Bus. days since "Received" = 2) "Scheduled for Grading" - 10/5/2018 (Bus. days since "Verified" = 13) "Graded" - 10/8/2018 (Bus. days since "Scheduled for Grading" = 1) "Grading Quality Control" - 10/31/2018 (Bus. days since "Graded" = 17) "Shipped Safe" - 11/1/2018 (Bus. days since "Grading Quality Control' = 1) TOTAL Business Days since "Rec-CCS Required" = 99 CAVEAT = I have now learned that CGC does not use the ordinary understanding of the term "business days." For this post, I am using that tern in its normal sense. I will re-calculate the TAT based on CGC's unique definition which excludes a number of Fridays from being "business days."

Now I'm really impressed! How about some i.d. on the pictures. Was one of those of Steranko?

Updated status on books submitted at San Francisco Con: MAGAZINE MODERN Stated turnaround times when submit.: CCS = 35 b days; CGC = 45 b days (Total 80 b days or 16+ weeks) Date of Con Drop Off - 6/10/2018 CGC Received Date ("Rec-CCS Required") - 6/14/2018 (Bus. days since Con submission = 4) "At CCS" - 7/3/2018 (Bus. days since "Rec-CCS Required" = 13) "Received" - 9/14/2018 (Bus. days since "At CCS" = 52 b days or +17 b bays or 3.5 weeks over estimate!) "Verified" - 9/18/2018 (Bus. days since "Received" = 2) "Scheduled for Grading" - 10/5/2018 (Bus. days since "Verified" = 13) "Graded" - 10/8/2018 (Bus. days since "Scheduled for Grading" = 1) "Grading Quality Control" - 10/31/2018 (Bus. days since "Graded" = 17) TOTAL Business Days since "Rec-CCS Required" = 98 CAVEAT = I have now learned that CGC does not use the ordinary understanding of the term "business days." For this post, I am using that tern in its normal sense. When they ship the book, I will re-calculate the TAT based on CGC's unique definition which excludes a number of Fridays from being "business days."

Maybe they are from his store stock, not his personal collection? Verzyl has literally sold tens if not hundreds of thousands of comic books that passed through his store stock. Labeling books that passed through a dealer's store as being from the "collection of dealer" would be more than a little ridiculous.