Koa

To each his own, i guess. After his health issues it's really cool to see Frank is doing art again especially featuring Elektra, I love his Sin City on style of drawing and always hoped he return to hell's kitchen one more time (at least) as an artist/writer (I loved his DD:visionaries covers) but if he does draw more comics I expect they'll be Sin City or DC books so these art pieces are a wonderful treat. hope he does some Daredevil stuff.

Looks like Frank has been drawing again. Rob Pistella also has a recent FM batman piece in his gallery that's reminiscent of his Ronin days. I know his recent artwork has rubbed many people the wrong way but I think it's pretty strong stuff. this Elektra makes me realize how much I'd love for Frank to return to her for another story. http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1295186&GSub=172962

Nobody likes to be told they should be responsible for the actions of other people but I think erasing you from caf without communication was kind of a quick reaction. Maybe you should email bill, miscommunication causes lots of unnecessary grief Are you a premium member?

yeah but it would be interesting. Some of the Mcfarlane inked stuff might do pretty good.

I wonder why greg doesn't introduce his work to the market via an auction house. I think a careful selection at a well promoted auction would set a market value where his work could be priced in a way, even if it was high that wouldn't seem absurd to the average collector.

Thanks for the great response Matt. You can count me as one of Simon's biggest fans as well. So many paintings he did between 88-94 still hit me as hard today as they did when I first saw them as a teenager, which is such a rare thing. Most things lose their luster, but not BIZ paintings, not for me. How many times in life can we go back to something that hit an emotional chord at 14 and still get goosebumps revisiting it 20 years later? It's hard to put on a nirvana, soundgarden or dr. dre album or watch many Stallone or Schwarzenegger movies from the 80's or 90's without cringing and wondering why I found it all so captivating but with BIZ, show me a painting from 92 and I'm right there, 14 again in awe. I agree that he's left a body of work between 88-00 is undeniable. He was a rock star. I guess it's selfish of me to expect a talent that burns at bright as Simon's to go on forever at that same intensity,that he was able to create the body of work he did over 10-12 years, in paint is a bit of real magic in itself. It just kills me that people will see his DK3 cover and wonder what all the fuss was a about. It's like watching Jordan on his last comeback. It hurts. I'm not saying i don't enjoy some of his work in the years since, some of it is very good but the flood of mediocre in that time, it's just not something I want to associate with BIZ. How I wish their were high quality art books reprinting his best work published alongside some of these newer high profile projects he does.

Please don't jinx the reunion Seriously though, this whole reunion is surreal. After a 20 year blood feud Axl and Slash become facebook friends and set up a tour in less than a year and still no Image united #4. I keep waiting for them to be like April fools, fool

The crazier the prices the more likely that whoever buys now at the asking price will be eventually burned, but as you said best of luck to anyone who decides to jump into the water. At ~30K for 50 issues worth of covers, I can't imagine it being optimal to just sit on everything. Heck, I'd pay 15K for a few covers, which is Jim Lee pricing. I can't help but believe he's just going to sit on these for decades. From an investment standpoint, it would be far more lucrative for him to sell some and invest those earnings. He's taking a huge gamble on the long-term hype and market for his run, which he is seemingly dismissing at it's peak. If Greg is turning down 10-15k for Batman covers, wow. I guess he wants what he wants but he's done so much artwork over the years that it seems crazy to set 30k and up as a price point. what does that mean, 2k filler pages? I think He's basically locking out 99% or more of the people who would be in the market for his work. I love Greg and as popular as his batman seems to be I don't know that it's reached Hush or ASBAR proportions with fans or that he has reached or passed Jim lee's popularity over the last 15 years. Hush still seems to be the barometer for 21 century artist driven comic book popularity That's if he wants to sell them. Maybe he just doesn't want to sell them. You could be right. I can only go by what greg has stated on twitter over the past couple years, that he was going to sell his artwork. He also made a website to do just that. Danny Miki's rep the artists choice has a section for Batman art by he and capullo set up, although it's empty last i checked. Guns n roses have put together a reunion tour in less time it's taken Capullo to put some art up for sale on his website

The crazier the prices the more likely that whoever buys now at the asking price will be eventually burned, but as you said best of luck to anyone who decides to jump into the water. At ~30K for 50 issues worth of covers, I can't imagine it being optimal to just sit on everything. Heck, I'd pay 15K for a few covers, which is Jim Lee pricing. I can't help but believe he's just going to sit on these for decades. From an investment standpoint, it would be far more lucrative for him to sell some and invest those earnings. He's taking a huge gamble on the long-term hype and market for his run, which he is seemingly dismissing at it's peak. If Greg is turning down 10-15k for Batman covers, wow. I guess he wants what he wants but he's done so much artwork over the years that it seems crazy to set 30k and up as a price point. what does that mean, 2k filler pages? I think He's basically locking out 99% or more of the people who would be in the market for his work. I love Greg and as popular as his batman seems to be I don't know that it's reached Hush or ASBAR proportions with fans or that he has reached or passed Jim lee's popularity over the last 15 years. Hush still seems to be the barometer for 21 century artist driven comic book popularity

I know you collect lots of vintage BIZ, do you think all the lesser stuff post 2000 is/will hurt Simon's reputation among collectors? BIZ has been doing some high profile gaming related stuff and when I see it i cringe, because I wonder if this newer stuff is wiping away the BIZ those of us who collected him in the 90's know.

Same here, no disrespect to Simon intended only wanted t have a discussion about the changes he's made over the years. I know that each new phase of life brings out different aspects of an artists personality. I wonder sometimes, when I see stuff like the DK3 cover if Simon has lost it as you mention has happened to other artists, Then I see stuff like this done in the last few years that while the style is quite different than "vintage" BIZ of the 90's the painting a lot smoother, more realism to the faces, a shift in color palett has a high quality to it. I notice his better stuff these days is still done for Kevin Eastman and it makes me wonder, if the fees being paid by publishers/patrons for commissioned work aren't as competitive as they were in the 90's or Eastman and if that accounts for the shift in BIZ's work more than his abilities.

Here's a good example of the changes in BIZ more finished acrylics. His color mixing isn't as vibrant and his application is much flatter. Actually it's more like acrylic painting than his earlier work which had almost, but not quite the look of oils. I wonder if there was some kind of medium he added to his paints to keep them fluid and workable longer that's not available anymore. Maybe even the types of paint he used

, sorry for unintentional bait and switch! i would love that BIZ cover! It was the first art by BIZ I'd seen and still one of my favorites. I agree that art is very subjective and artists do evolve and sometimes they lose those of us who get "stuck" in a certain era of their work. I could be wrong but I don't feel that's the case with simon, that his work is evolving past my understanding.I think Simon at his best has been one of the most brilliant artists in comics over the last 30 years which is why I find things like the deathstroke cover or this DK3 variant perplexing. I'm not saying he's a bad artist nowHere's his latest batman cover. A DK variant and it's almost like a different artist painted this.

Here's some more BIZ art http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=513685&GSub=56875 http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=93596&page=1&order=Date http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=3421

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=168786 James Halperin has his collection posted online with terrific quality scans of the originals http://www.jhalpe.com/items/index/page:1/search:simon%20bisley BIZ hit American comics with an explosion in 1990. even though people can point to artists like Frazetta or Corben, Sienkiewicz as being influences on his painting his work was really unlike anything else out there at the time I've been looking at a lot of Simon's work again recently. when i first saw his work in Lobo, then Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham. I thought he continued to grow and change through those years but even The subject matter, Bisley's lack of subtly, the over the top exaggeration of his figures isn't your cup of tea the quality and craftsmanship of Bisley's drawing and painting through the early 90's is undeniable. What do you guys think of the Simon Bisley's artwork from (what i think) his prime years of 1989-1997 and the changes he's made over the last 15 years or so? Has it hurt his reputation among fans? Is he capable of doing work the quality of those early years again?

It's hard to price Capullo cause there isn't much out there. 1-2k?

Better distribution? comics are hard to find in most places.

That's complete insanity. Still available on CAF: http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1058355 Those comments. Normally fans are discreet in their commentary on artist pricing. You've really got to be an outlier to get that kind of reaction. The comments are unsurprising, though I think some of the fears expressed ("Awesome cover! But if you don't want to sell it, don't sell it. $50k is a seriously dangerous number. If every artist out there sees that and starts asking those kinds of prices, it's really going to hurt availability for the fans. Even in the past decade the prices have skyrocketed, but this type of pricing has the ability to really, really hurt the market.") are silly. Pricing doesn't determine the market -- buyers determine the market. No buyer, no effect on the market. I agree that this is probably just a smart way to avoid endless pricing/sales inquires from eager fans. He obviously wants to keep the piece, but he also knows what level of silly offer would change his mind. So how silly is a 50k price? I'm asking because I really don't know. Not a lot of comps to compare it to. But I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that this run on Batman is the best received in maybe 10 years or more? I'm not saying this fact alone warrents a 50k price tag necessarily, but I really doubt Capullo would have much problem selling the cover to this first issue for at least 20k, maybe 25. Still a very, very long way from 50k, but since someone here asked how crazy this price was in today's market, this is my 2 cents. Scott Has any comic art from 2000 sold near 50k? I'm a huge fan of Capullo but I'm not sure where he stand with comic fans in general. He doesn't get the same buzz as Joe Mad or J scott Campbell, Adam Hughes and some other artists of his generation Yes. There have been examples of art produced since 2000 that has sold for over 50k. But it is rare. Scott In that case maybe it's not so crazy. As you've pointed out his run on Batman has been very well received. If it were me I'd go for something a bit more vintage at that price though.

That's complete insanity. Still available on CAF: http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1058355 Those comments. Normally fans are discreet in their commentary on artist pricing. You've really got to be an outlier to get that kind of reaction. The comments are unsurprising, though I think some of the fears expressed ("Awesome cover! But if you don't want to sell it, don't sell it. $50k is a seriously dangerous number. If every artist out there sees that and starts asking those kinds of prices, it's really going to hurt availability for the fans. Even in the past decade the prices have skyrocketed, but this type of pricing has the ability to really, really hurt the market.") are silly. Pricing doesn't determine the market -- buyers determine the market. No buyer, no effect on the market. I agree that this is probably just a smart way to avoid endless pricing/sales inquires from eager fans. He obviously wants to keep the piece, but he also knows what level of silly offer would change his mind. So how silly is a 50k price? I'm asking because I really don't know. Not a lot of comps to compare it to. But I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that this run on Batman is the best received in maybe 10 years or more? I'm not saying this fact alone warrents a 50k price tag necessarily, but I really doubt Capullo would have much problem selling the cover to this first issue for at least 20k, maybe 25. Still a very, very long way from 50k, but since someone here asked how crazy this price was in today's market, this is my 2 cents. Scott Has any comic art from 2000 sold near 50k? I'm a huge fan of Capullo but I'm not sure where he stand with comic fans in general. He doesn't get the same buzz as Joe Mad or J scott Campbell, Adam Hughes and some other artists of his generation

He has directly stated on Twitter multiple times that he will be selling original art on the new site. he has been announcing the sale of original art for 3 or 4 years now without actually doing it and the artists choice has a listing for Capullo/Miki batman pages that says coming soon. http://www.theartistschoice.com/miki.html#BATMAN Maybe he's a fan of Axl Rose?

That's complete insanity. Still available on CAF: http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1058355 Boy, that listing just makes it feel like he's taunting his fans, don't it?

I'm sure you were being serious when you wrote this, but I have to ask: have you seen any pricing on any new artwork from any creator lately? Some new guy on a new, creator owned title would go for 65% of those values. This is Capullo on Batman we are talking about. Whether you like the work or not, there is such an appetite for the work that he'd be choosing to lose massive amounts of money at those prices. The secondary market would make more profit that Capullo himself, if your prices were his prices. At least double everything, then you would be closer to what the market would support. But that price would still be low. I do think that some Spawn covers, inked or finished by mcfarlane could justify Jim Lee cover prices of 10k plus. I've seen some Spawn covers inked by Miki sell for 5-10k. Or at least that was the listed price at dealers before the sold sign went up. of course that doesn't mean they sold for that price. It'll be interesting to see where the Batman art is priced. I've been a big supporter of capullo since his early days on Spawn but the batman stuff doesn't have many splash pages which is where many of the popular 21st century artist price higher. Even when Capullo gets the chance for splashy imagery he tends to go for the storytelling shot which works great reading the books. i would pay more than what Rick's estimates but not the insane prices that have been quoted so far.

He responded to me once...a year and a half ago or so, when I asked the price on the Batman #1 cover. He responded with "$50k". I'm not sure if you can call that "luck" on my part. That's complete insanity. Capullo is not Jim lee level in terms of name recognition and commercial appeal of his artwork but has anyone entered comics since has? Jim lee was one of the last artists to achieve "rock star" status among fans and has maintained it relative to the comic book marketplace. Glapion inked on Bluelines but Miki is inking over Capullo's pencils. I'd much rather have the Miki inked pages

On twitter Greg has said he's selling his artwork now it seems by the page but doesn't respond to price/availability requests.Has anyone had any luck ?

There is lots of talk here about the record auction sales of recent years here and it's lots of fun but for the most part they're anomalies. Key covers based on first appearances or iconic storylines. In many cases the artist is incidental to the sale price. I was wondering about Artists whose work seems to under-performs at auction. 1. Mike Zeck (80's-92) jumps to mind. I know that a deathstroke cover sold for around 8k during the last Clink auction but for a long time most of those DS covers topped out at around 2-3k. Zeck drew some hugely popular comicbook mini series and cover runs during the 1980's. At auction though, in general his work can be had much cheaper than many of his contemporaries. 2. Jim Lee Uncanny X-men interiors. I'm sure covers are highly coveted but interiors often sell below the average bar set for 21st century Lee art.There were a few very nice pages from 274-275 sitting on ebay at reasonable (for lee) prices that sat for years unsold. I've seen that a few times in private/dealer sales. 3. Jose Gonzalez, artist of Vampirella. His storytelling wasn't so great but Jose did some of the most beautiful comic book drawing I've ever seen. His pen ink technique and style seems to have influenced many artists over several generations. 4. Marc Silvestri. Een though he's been around for decades and his cover art gets lots of fanfare from publishers and seems to be popular among comic collectors Marc is another artist whose interiors seem to sit around 300-500 bucks a page. His modern Covers (2000-2015) stall out at around 3k at auction.