Koa

Oh man. I think that's bad form for an artist to buy his own piece at a benefit auction... I remember it selling for under 5k but I couldn't get set up in time. It's one of my favorite pieces by either artist. One of the best ink jobs Todd ever did, IMO. Really? He bid the highest. If he didn't bid the beneficiary's of the auction would have received less money. I have zero problem with what he did. I respect your opinion but I think If you are donating an item for auction I think it's bad form to "win" it. I would disagree strongly. I can not see how that is bad form. Can you explain why it is inappropriate? I'm going to preface this by saying I'm a big fan of Joe. I think he's a fantastic commercial artist. I'm not accusing him of anything illegal or immoral. i'm saying it's in BAD FORM. Etiquette. Joe is a very nice guy and most likely wanted to make the most money for the charity as possible. Was it possible he was trying to pump up the bids for the 9/11 charity, probably. Joe is also a brilliant marketer. He propelled himself to the top of the comic book industry because he's a great promoter. Of course he promoted this auction as well as he could on every level. I've been to a few charity auctions as I'm sure many of you have as well. What celebrities who donate auction items for charity typically do when they want to raise more money is add something on the spot and/or offer to match the winning bid. That's an assumption. How do you know he didn't chase off bidders who felt he was shilling to get a higher price? Even if it was with good intention to raise money for charity, the PERCEPTION other bidders might take away could have hampered the price.

I respect your opinion but I think If you are donating an item for auction I think it's bad form to "win" it. I'm with LB, it doesn't matter who donates it, whoever bids the highest should win it, and the charity benefits. It's only a problem if the auction is "rigged" and someone was allowed to win something for way less than it should have gone for (e.g. by not allowing others to bid). I don't sees problem with someone giving something away and paying market value to get it back. Malvin For some bidders it might change the dynamic of the auction. There are artists I'm such a fan of I would back down if they were in the room trying to reaquire a piece of art. I know I'm not the only one.

Oh man. I think that's bad form for an artist to buy his own piece at a benefit auction... I remember it selling for under 5k but I couldn't get set up in time. It's one of my favorite pieces by either artist. One of the best ink jobs Todd ever did, IMO. Really? He bid the highest. If he didn't bid the beneficiary's of the auction would have received less money. I have zero problem with what he did. I respect your opinion but I think If you are donating an item for auction I think it's bad form to "win" it.

Let's put it in Walking Dead terms for you. Do you remember this one? The speech bubbles have been added to the art by printing the speech bubbles onto a clear acid free sheet and simply placing it on top before framing. It's pretty obvious in the pic below. The art isn't damaged, it's not glued down or anything, just laid on top. Example taken from an ebay image (nothing to do with Cool Lines) What Cool Lines are doing is virtually the same... but, the reports here are that they don't make it obvious on their site that they are showing an image of the art enhanced with an overlay on top. An overlay that wasn't actually used in the production of the comic but something that could have been printed yesterday. The overlay or other enhancement may be misrepresenting what the art actually is e.g. it looks like a cover now but never was a cover. Finally it seems that they don't fully disclose things when asked. I have had no prior dealings with Cool Lines other than to inquire once about a page a few months ago and respectfully decline the insane price. Just trying to sum up the thread a little for you. Make your own mind up here It's absolutely NOT the same as adding a lettering overlay. The Sam Kieth Predator vs Batman pin up was just that, a pin up. They turned it into a cover. it was never a cover. it never appeared in the state they now present it in.

Yes. Scott No need to be coy. (I kid, I kid! ) From the CGC Boards, 7/27/2010: Yes, guilty as charged. I re-inked all the faded marker work from the page in question [the Uncanny X-Men #133 end splash]. And with all due respect Hari, I think the page looked like hell when Albert commissioned me 3 or 4 years ago, so besides being paid for my service, I felt I was rescuing the piece from some hideously drastic fading. It was beyond an eyesore, and not in the way that glue stains or random white out can be, but more like something that was damaged. In the end, I was quite satisfied with the final result, and would defy anyone to be able to distinguish my line from Terry's. This is as much as anything due to the fact that Terry had a super clean, almost mechanical line at this time, which is the type of line easiest to "ghost" for an inker, as opposed to an expressive, organic line. My goal was to be as invisible and unobtrusive as humanly possible, and in my mind I succeeded. I can see how this might rub some people the wrong way, but it is what it is. I don't know how common this practice is. I was asked at this years Comic Con by Joe M at All Star to do some similar restoration on a couple of Neal Adams Batman pages that had marker work by Adams that was badly faded and water damaged. For various reasons I won't go into, I declined. If Albert sold or tried to sell this piece without full disclosure, tell me, and I will give him holy hell. Seems unlikely to me. But, I wonder if I should have noted and dated my work somehow in the margin or on the back of the page since it seems less and less likely that disclosure will be made as the piece changes hands. The quality of the piece won't fade, but the history of it might and that's a problem. So bring out those torches and pitchforks, and I'll be waiting for you at the top of the windmill! Scott Williams Does an extensive restoration like this effect the value? I've seen at least one other Byrne/Austin Uncanny page that was badly faded. I'm conflicted about this. If I was going to keep the page permanently having someone like scott who has a history with the X-men restore it would be my choice but if it was something I knew i was going to resell in the future I'd be more than a little nervous having it re-inked. Even by Austin. A restoration must be fairly expensive as well. On the other hand, i imagine this was in horrible condition, probably sepia which would likely effect the value in the open market negatively. So what choice does one really have. Comic book fans tend to be OCD when it comes to what they like and some might view this as sacrilege. Same with the Mcfarlane page. Pages that are inked by other artists rarely com near the prices McFarlane inked pages pull on the Spider-man. Some fans are very particular about that

No, it's typical of Sharpie work, not Pelican ink. I guarantee it's sharpie. Scott Okay. You mentioned inking Wolverine's trunks with a sharpie on the other Mcspidey page. Can i ask why? Because the rest of the page is so carefully inked, even the spot blacks are filled pitch black like you did 2 coats. Seems an odd choice for that small section

Is that Mcfarlane piece really faded or is it the pelikin ink Todd would use sometimes. I used it in art class after I read Todd mention it and ended up with that brown look. hated it.

that's pricey for Cassaday

A generous nature? I've heard he's given away other art, as well, including key G.I. JOE art (although, obviously, nothing of the magnitude of this page). My guess is he's a product of his time, when OA was seen as disposable, and he never grasped the possibility that it could have value. Either that or he simply didn't care. The reason i ask is I read the guy who owns it is donating most of the profit to hero initiative. That's a pretty generous thing to do. Although i wish he'd donated half the proceeds to herb specifically that's a pretty selfless thing to do. The owner must really love comics. I just wondered what their meeting was like that made him gift that particular piece of comic book history to that kid.Even in 1983 Wolverine's first appearance was special. He seemed to make an impression on herb.

I wonder what possessed herb trimpe to give this away? e

Funny you should mention this fact. I was reading the ASM "Brand New Day" TPB the other day and said to myself, "You know, [penciller] Steve McNiven is really quite good, and I'm really enjoying his cinematic storytelling ability". There's no question in my mind that, side by side, you'd have to say his artwork is technically more advanced and aesthetically nicer than many Spidey artists of yore. I'm sure there are other factors, but all of which goes back to the fact that it was the historic stories of old that impacted me in my impressionable youthful years and, without that, they're just pretty pictures. I mean, look at the work of a Lee Bermejo or Simone Bianchi and compare their work of the artists of yesterday - you'd have to say that they were more technically advanced, polished, etc., but they're working on drawing stories of long-established characters where, in all likelihood, the best and most memorable stories have already been told. Which is why the art from an interesting newer series like Fables or The Walking Dead might pique my interest, but I really don't care about buying any post-2000 art from ASM, X-Men, Daredevil, etc. no matter how nicely its drawn. Aesthetics only matter to me within the context of something I'm interested in for nostalgic or historical/collectible reasons. The artists you mentioned and comics in general are done in a much more objective fashion. Their symbols are less universal than the ones used in the past. I think the artwork that really sticks with us is subjective, regardless of style.

There have to be more than 2 or 3 guys driving these crazy prices right? How do you get on the magazine list? I get stuff for guitar auctions (not sure why) but nothing original art related

Oh man. I think that's bad form for an artist to buy his own piece at a benefit auction... I remember it selling for under 5k but I couldn't get set up in time. It's one of my favorite pieces by either artist. One of the best ink jobs Todd ever did, IMO.

I can't find a copy of the image online but if anyone knows where the Quesada/Mcfarlane art from the 9/11 tribute book heroes is and if it's for sale, let me know.

Have Millers layouts for the books ever hit the open market?

Franks layouts were pretty tight. Even though these later issues are my favorite of the run artistically, If I were buying pages from this period , i'd pay less than i would for pages miller penciled on board. I love Klaus but he's not Miller. My question how would collectors value Millers layouts compared to the published art?

Would love to know if this cover ever made it into a private collection. I just love this all to brief period FM/Varley worked in this style. http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Wolverine-TPB-Cover-Cover-Wolverine-Posters_i7382081_.htm

He sold 2 spawn books out of the 75 he drew. over 30k each. Don't know how much stuff his inkers sold, but I don't see much out there. Miki has a few covers over at the artists choice open for offer starting at 8k. Greg and his inkers appear to a black hole collectors of their own work

I wouldn't call it reasonable but I would say it's in the realm of possibility that it's priced that way. Not that it would sell but who knows.

I think you're probably pretty close on interiors but who knows. greg or jon aren't telling anyone what their price is. I love Greg's work and he can do what he wants but I'm disappointed by how he is handling things I wouldn't go near this stuff. They are really holding fans over a barrel and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks Rick. Not being a fan of giving away thousands of dollars maybe I'll just stick to buying work already finished from Bill. really appreciate the heads up here.

That Clayton Crain painting is amazing!

Any advice on obtaining a commission for Bill Sienkewicz online? Does anyone know his prices or feedback?

just because you steal from a lesser known source doesn't make it more legit.

When talking purely aesthetics I can think of 100 comic book artists hose work I'd rather have.