Lee B.

Once in a while I'll see a piece of art up for auction and realize that I have an old 1980s or 1990s ad for that same piece. I am going to share these pieces once in a while, beginning with the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #176 by Ross Andru. Now: https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/ross-andru-and-frank-giacoia-amazing-spider-man-176-cover-original-art-marvel-1978-/a/7209-91007.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 Sitting at $15,600 with the buyer's premium on 5/9/2019. Then: Sold as part of a 33-piece art lot at the June 1994 Sotheby's auction, with a final price of $2,875 for the lot. (Big thanks to BCarter for his generosity in sending me a couple of Sotheby's catalogs this week!) Please feel free to share your own examples Best, Lee

The only individual page from Thor #126 that I have seen for sale is from a 1995 Graphic Collectibles catalog (see below). However, The Jack Kirby Collector #19, an excellent issue that featured articles by Glen David Gold on Kirby forgeries and by Tony Christopher on collecting Kirby original art, included an interesting little article entitled "A Provenance of Kirby's Art for Thor: 1/12/98," by Orlando Adiao. I have scanned the two page article and placed it here on my ComicArtAds website. The article lists at least 6 pages from Thor #126 that had been offered for sale as of early 1998. It would be really interesting to try to update that listing today. Best, Lee

Hi all! Another week, another bunch of weekly auctions from Heritage, and another batch of predictions from yours truly: http://comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-auction-ending-41419 Cheers, Lee

Hello! I just wanted to remind folks that my lot of four Charlton romance pages ends in a little over 5 hours. Thanks, Lee

I also just listed three very nice consecutive pages from Web of Spider-Man #64 on eBay (art by Alex Saviuk and Keith Williams): https://www.ebay.com/itm/WEB-OF-SPIDER-MAN-64-original-comic-art-Alex-SAVIUK-3-page-lot-action-NR/113711554389?hash=item1a79bc9f55:g:93UAAOSwRaFcqph1 as well as a George Tuska/Mike Esposito page from Marvel Two-in-One #6 featuring Dr. Strange: https://www.ebay.com/itm/MARVEL-TWO-IN-ONE-6-original-comic-art-George-TUSKA-1974-DR-STRANGE-CLEA-NR/113711572627?hash=item1a79bce693:g:t4oAAOSw~-ZcqqIU Thanks for looking! Best regards, Lee

Good evening! This evening I listed a group of 4 pages from a Charlton romance comic on eBay. The story is about truck driver love, and the art has been attributed to Art Capello. You can see the auction here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/CHARLTON-Romance-original-art-4-pages-Art-CAPELLO-1975-truck-driver-theme-NR/113708583858?hash=item1a798f4bb2:g:wigAAOSwdHhcprK0 Thanks, Lee

Nice Aparo analysis Rick! I have decided to take a break from Aparo analysis in my columns as you have it well in hand. Also, it seems like you have a candidate for the "Flip of the Day" thread, although maybe that was more of a flop. It is definitely predictable to see the Aparo market calming down as Heritage continues to offer a few solid-quality pages each week. Whether prices will dip below the "modest range" remains to be seen, but that can happen when a collector decides to sell off a stack of pages by a particular artist or title within a matter of months. Best, Lee

Hi all! I just posted a new bunch of predictions for the Heritage weekly auction ending on 3/31/19, along with some lovely old art ad images. You can see it all here: http://comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-auction-ending-33119 Thanks, and enjoy! Best, Lee

Nice work Rick! Watch out, you're going to put me out of business. I didn't nail very many of my predictions for today, but I was most off-base with the Ms. Marvel #4 page, which went for more than twice my estimate. Is there a movie coming out or something?

I was curious about that story Rick, and I'm not disappointed by the helpful and gruesome details you provided. Aparo really had a knack for bringing those disturbing stories to life, while also drawing in a lovely and appealing style. Looking forward to seeing how this page finishes. I always think bidders will be worn out after Signature auctions, but then these Sunday auctions can really surprise me by finishing strong.

Hi all! Glad to be back to work (even if today is a snow day), and also glad to have finally written another ComicArtAds auction preview for the Heritage weekly auction ending this Sunday 2/24. The last few weekly auctions have not been that amazing, but this week makes up for it and then some. You can read my predictions here, as well as the results of my predictions from mid-January: http://www.comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-auction-ending-22419 Thanks! Best regards, Lee

Good afternoon! I have another ComicArtAds auction prediction gov't shutdown special for you all, focusing on John Buscema, Gene Colan, and George Tuska art in this week's Heritage weekly auction: http://www.comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-auction-ending-11319 Thanks in advance for checking it out, and special thanks to Jay Olie for his supportive comments, which I just noticed. Best regards, Lee

Good morning! I am taking advantage of my status as a furloughed federal employee to put together a new ComicArtAds auction preview. (I think I am no longer able to edit my original thread and have started a new one.) This week, I looked at some interesting pieces from this week's Heritage auction, including some kung fu art and art featuring Hostess Fruit Pies. You can read all about it here: http://www.comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-auction-ending-1619 Enjoy! Best regards, Lee

Great pick-ups Ron! Thanks for sharing them, and for the always-enjoyable write-ups. In the interest of sharing provenance, and not because I'm a sadist, I thought I would share an old art ad that I just came across, from The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom #403 (August 14, 1981). If these prices are depressing, please don't note the fact that buyers could take 50% off the listed prices. Cheers, Lee

Hi Rick! I didn't have time to write up the weekly Heritage auctions that ended last night, but I did check the Dillin page that you mentioned and was satisfied to see it settle into the range that I thought was generally appropriate. Unusually high prices could always be the result of shilling, but by the same token lower prices can be the result of collusion (i.e., a bidder asking other potential bidders to "step aside" and not bid on a particular auction). I am leaning toward thinking the two usually high prices for Dillin JLA art over the past month or so resulted from two collectors really wanting an exceptional Dillin JLA page and bidding it up. I thought the more impressive result from last night was the very strong performance of this Gulacy/Gulacy (pretty rare, no?) Master of Kung Fu panel page that finished at $5,760: https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/paul-gulacy-master-of-kung-fu-40-story-page-5-original-art-marvel-1976-/a/121850-13072.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 That barely edged out the highest-priced MOKF panel page in Heritage's archives, a action-free Gulacy/Adkins page featuring the Cat from 2016: https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/paul-gulacy-and-dan-adkins-master-of-kung-fu-39-page-2-original-art-marvel-1976-/a/121649-11046.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515 Last night's page only featured Shang-Chi in one panel, from the back, but had a middle panel with interesting perspectives, and amazing inking throughout. Congrats to the winner, and consignor! Best, Lee

Speak for yourself--my prediction of a $825 final price for the Gene Colan Captain America #123 page certainly didn't set any prices as the page finished at $384 today. That's a decent bargain in my book. Congrats to the winner! So, are there still possible Dillin market shenanigans, or are they taking a break due to the board chatter of the past few days? Best, Lee

I'm enjoying this lively discussion and am starting to think that I will have to start focusing on a Dillin piece every time I write up a Heritage weekly auction. When I come up with my prediction (guesses), I look back at Heritage auctions over the past several months. Dillin panel pages had been bopping along at around $700 until the past few weeks. I doubt the $3K+ prices will because a steady thing, but I have been wrong before. Cheers, Lee

I wrote my column this past Sunday afternoon, before the second unusually high Dillin JLA price that you mentioned. I think it's possible that there could be some shenanigans going on, but I would expect to see these sales followed up by similar pages being made available to the public by dealers, collector-dealers, etc. at these new and very high price points. I haven't noticed that yet, but I may have missed something. Dillin drew hundreds and hundreds of JLA pages, and if one consignor's supply is fueling this steady stream of Dillin JLA pages in this weekly auction, then anomalously high results might float the rest of the consignments a bit higher price-wise. However, budget-conscious collectors should keep in mind that Dillin's art should not be scarce, and solid pages should be attainable in the future at the more reasonable $500-$1,000 range. I call that range more reasonable because JLA was a premiere DC title in the 1970s, and I don't think one should expect to find panel pages featuring one or more JLA members at the $200-$300 range anymore, even if one personally is not impressed with Dillin's drawing style. Thanks for reading my column, and thanks also to Hal for his kind words! Best, Lee

Hi everyone! The upcoming Heritage weekly auction has some great pieces, and I have written about them, and tried to predict the final prices, here: http://www.comicartads.com/content/heritage-weekly-12918 Thanks for reading, and enjoy the pictures too! Best, Lee

Totally agree! One or two sentences about condition, and then paragraphs of blah-blah-blah. And I'm not sure I can ever forget the the time that ComicLink's description of one piece of art basically was a golden showers "joke". Even if the consignor was in on it, it seemed juvenile and less-than-professional. --Lee

Hello! If you are looking for some very cheap art, please check out these auctions for art by Schaffenberger, Staton, and Giffen, ending in 7 hours. Thanks! Best, Lee

Good evening! I recently listed some art pages on eBay, including two Scooby Doo pages by Joe Staton, a Superboy page by Kurt Schaffenberger, and a Video Jack page by Keith Giffen. You can see the auctions here: https://www.ebay.com/sch/leebenaka/m.html?item=113400967148&hash=item1a67396fec%3Ag%3AfLUAAOSwcZ1b-1Qb%3Ark%3A1%3Apf%3A0&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 Thanks for looking! Best, Lee

$3K-$6K?

Good morning! Just wanted to remind you that my eBay auctions end tonight: https://www.ebay.com/sch/leebenaka/m.html?item=113369586526&hash=item1a655a9b5e%3Ag%3AzMUAAOSwUBtb6jIK%3Ark%3A1%3Apf%3A0&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 If you struck out at Heritage over the weekend, there may be some affordable deals from me tonight. Thanks, Lee