KirbyCollector

A year from now the stock market will be in severe distress and then we'll see what happens to collectibles. I was not buying OA after the 2000 dotcom crash, but I was buying after the 2008 crash and there were many OA bargains to be had. The crash in 2020 was a complete outlier b/c so many outlets for consumer spending were cut off that internet-available collectibles became of the direct beneficiaries of the idle cash. The coming stock market decline (and Gene can probably back me on this) in the spring/early summer 2024 will be significant but under "normal" economic conditions, so it may look more like 2008. Personally, I am preparing for something much worse and divesting myself of those collectibles I do not absolutely "love." This is not meant as a warning; you have to do what you think is right, and what is appropriate for your financial situation. I hope OA retains its values, but a broad-based decline seems more likely.

Too cartoon-y, has Guy's trademark "jerk" face and -- oddly enough -- he is flying/running away from the bad guys. You REALLY have to like Guy to buy this.

I cannot stop laughing

There are many who say the same about Picasso. If you ever get a chance, visit the Picasso museum in Madrid. Picasso was a very good, classically trained artist and the museum is a showcase of his very early work as he was learning his craft. He would have had a decent career as a fine artist, had he not found his own voice. But he would not have been "Picasso."

I look at Bill's work on NM and think, "What if Neal Adams had been bold enough to cross the line into avant garde art?" Neal used exaggerated figures and angles, was not afraid of white space, drew art outside of panel borders, and above all conveyed an intense energy which leapt off the page: These elements are all present in Bill's art b/c Bill was a huge admirer of Neal's, but he was able to take it the one step further Neal never took -- or maybe never wanted to take.

Just a believer that Sienkiewicz's NM work has some real staying power and this page will do very well for the seller in a few years. His choice to show Xavier "screaming" his psi-thoughts was always particularly striking to me, considering most other X-artists depicted what would arguably be an assault on one's mental state in a more gentle, "polite" manner (Cockrum comes to mind). I sometimes wonder if Bill's take on psi-activity influenced the interpretation of Xavier as a public menace in Logan, for example. I suppose I wasn't up to date on Bill's NM w/o NM values, in the end -- otherwise I would have taken a crack at this page.

Yes, in 4pt font 😆 As I said, lesson learned

Some really fun pieces in CLink's first 2024 auction! A nice mix of old and new

I dont love 45 days but it was worth it to consign the art to HA; that's where the most likely bidders were (it was an older piece, but another had done well there over the past year), and the hammer proved I was right. I can't complain about success, I guess.

1st time HA consignor, got this email today: Once the auction is fully reconciled on January 3rd, we will mail you a final settlement statement, along with final prices realized and your payment. January 3?!? WTF... CLink pays quicker than that.

Perhaps this is why HA is offering 7.5% commissions on OA... they can't get enough decent pieces right now

STEAL OF THE AUCTION

Wow a little off-topic but Dr. Seuss painting goes for $31,200 w/BP

Surprised it is crickets in here... maybe some buyer fatigue after all?

John Buscema original Avengers run art seems to be plateauing over the past year... thought the two pages today were light (outside of BP).Wonder if the Avengers art is cooling off now that the movies are in the rear view mirror...

Yes Phil, I know -- I bought the first 30 or so issues when they came out. How much would this page be if he was in costume? 🤔 PS that comic he is reading is flagged

Yes, it is issue 1. But $15K for a guy on the toilet? AND no inks?

Thor 1/2 face in one panel, 1/8 face in another, two space panels with no Thor + Colletta inks? This price is correct. Colletta does a nicer than normal job (for him) here, but the inks are nowhere close to those by Sinnott or Royer.

Annnnnd all credibility lost

For those of us whose first exposure to BWS was his slick Weapon X or Uncanny issues, his early Conan art looks really, really amateurish -- and downright terrible next to prime John Buscema Conan (pick your fav inker).

This

Trying to buy one but something tells me the heavy hitters on auction day are going to crush me

The last decent comic book movie with a female lead was the first Wonder Woman. Why was it good? A) It featured male characters doing a lot of the fighting with her, not just serving as props to make her look stronger. B) Wonder Woman was a real woman in the film (fell in love, had sex), not a goofy asexual symbol like Ms. Marvel. But I guess I don't know as much as the $20M/yr head of Marvel Studios, which is why he made both Ms. Marvel films the way he did.

Lol the demographic shifted? No, the writers changed how they wrote the books -- just ask Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. They decided they wanted to do comics their way, and in doing so left the next generation of children out of their precious world.