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I just realized that the plummet of the CGC 9.8 Groo market might not just be attributed to the movie rights announcement and nothing happening after. It looks like it's the entire CGC slabbed market that is going downhill because of other factors that I am not very familiar with as I have not been following. I am sure there are discussions of that in other places in this forum. At heart, I really joined this forum because I am an original art collector. So it was comforting to find out that the Groo original art market has been setting record results so far in 2024 - it's getting stronger than ever. Here is the latest from Heritage in 2024 with my annotations:

As a huge Neal Adams fan, I was quite surprised at the $15k result for the World's Finest #203 cover from 1971. I am also a huge Byrne fan, and also surprised that a 40-year old cover from 1984 which is peak Byrne - Thing #7, went for "only" $6.6k. I'm not sure if it is the Comiclink platform, or if the comic art market has really declined that much.

I read someone comment - perhaps in another OA forum or in social media - that the Kirby Avengers #1 page was a weak result. As a kid growing up in the 80's, I do have some nostalgia for Kenner Super Powers. Pure Kirby pencils from the 1985 series featuring Superman and Firestorm just sold for "only" $1250 which I feel is a bargain for pencils and large art. But that's just me - I used to have two Super Powers pages that I disposed to cover my wedding expenses in 2015. Maybe at these low prices, I would be in the market for again and there is one coming up for auction in Heritage soon. Hmmmm....

I haven't been acquiring superhero comic art the past few years, and have even been disposing them to make room for personal expenses. I have been into the "cheap" humor genre (Groo/Archie) just to say I bought a piece of OA every year. But when I just checked the recent Heritage Auction results, I was shocked. I guess the market has really fallen on the regular pages? All prices are with buyers premiums, so the sellers may have probably netted well below their expectations. Jim Aparo, Brave & Bold (1979): From his peak period, featuring Batman is every panel .... $1,080! John Buscema, Conan (1980): It features the main character and incredible brushwork from Ernie Chan .... $516! Tony DeZuniga, (undated): It's DeZuniga - creator of Jonah Hex, it's a painting with watercolor, its huge at 12.75" x 15", and it's a beautiful sexy half-naked woman ....only $144! Carmine Infantino, Avengers (1981): It's two pages so the price per page should be divided by two, it's a major title in Avengers, it features heroes and action, and it's a bit of a rarity to see Infantino who is mostly associated with DC and creating Barry Allen to be doing a Marvel title, for two pages .... $690! Jock, Batman Who Laughs (2019): One of the most popular modern day British artists who is closely connected to Batman Who Laughs co-creator Scott Snyder, with a huge panel of the main character in the bottom, all for the grand total with BP of .... $336! Gil Kane, Warlord of Mars (1977): Prime period Kane, with leaping action, animals, shadows, dynamic poses, lots of dialogue, lush inking and sold for only... $240! Jim Lee, All Star Batman (2005): This is a semi-splash page, it's an origin scene of Grayson losing his parents, it's by the one of the hottest Batman artists in Lee from a story by Frank Miller, in a comic that is issue #1, and to top it all - it's inked by Scott Williams, and it's almost 20 years old ....and it's sold for the price of a Jim Lee blank sketch cover or ...$1680! Al Milgrom, Secret Wars II (1986): It features so many Marvel characters, including black costume Spidey (didn't he have a Secret Wars page sell in the millions?)... and this one went for only $840! George Perez, New Teen Titans (1989): One of comics most beloved artists, drawing his most popular comic in New Teen Titans - and the final panel is such a Perez-ism with the shadow flowing into outer space, sure there is no action or superhero in costume, but a 35 year old Perez Teen Titans page has no business selling for $432! Sal Buscema, Red Sonja (1979): 45-year old page, inked by Al Milgrom and features Red Sonja in a few panels, I'd say this would have sold for higher some years ago, not the final gavel price of ...$ 552! Well I don't really post here but I guess I can't help but comment on these final prices because is this a sign that the roof is falling? Is the OA market - at least for the budget pedestrian pages - crashing?

Latest market report.... On Valentines Day on February 14, a CGC 9.8 copy of Groo #1 Pacific sold on the bay in an auction for $102. This is a new low! Also, DD#1 CGC 9.8 just sold for $332!

Most recent CGC 9.8 eBay Auction results: DD#1 - $306, November 2023 Groo Pacific #1 - $140 January 2024, $114 February 2024. The price keeps dropping. At what level would they be low enough as to tempt one to buy and hoard? Hmmmm...

I will just try to add more notes as they come along, as this thread might be a reference point for future Archie artist attributions. I scoured through thousand of pages of digital issues of Jughead - mostly Double Digests. It seems in the past decade or so, Archie Comics worked hard in adding credits to the story, art, lettering, and colors to each story as much as possible. But I still have these comments: 1. Jon D'Agostino - It seems like he was the primary inker during this early 70's era of publications, and he did a good job keeping the Archie house look and some uniformity in pencillers. 2. Malmgren - Here's a name I just came across. His attributions are all over the place, usually with styles similar to Al Hartley and Stan Goldberg from this era. Hence, for all my Stan Goldberg attributions above, I will have to include Malmgren as a possible penciller too. 3. Stan Goldberg - The later day Goldberg around the 80's had a very distinctive style, specially enhanced by his primary inker Rudy Lapick. But he did have some early 70's Archie work that looked more "house style" which I would attribute to D'Agostino's inking. So I am not sure anymore if it is Goldberg or Malmgren, or even another artist drawing. So these are all best guesses. 4. Gus Lemoine - I will stand by my image above on that being the style of Gus Lemoine because he slipped in "Gregory Lemoine" in the last art page I shared above. I have seen attributions of Lemoine in the style of "Unknown Artist A" or in that of "Stan Goldberg / Malmgren" attributions. I will disagree with all the attributions and just limit Lemoine to that style I identified. Also, Lemoine attributions are very very scarce - maybe only appearing once or twice in every ten digital double digest issues. 5. Unknown Artist A - This style only appears in one page gags so that his why the style is prominent in this issue. However, it has rarely appeared in 5 to 6 page complete stories - and when it does, it remains uncredited. So whoever this artist is, he was primarily assigned to the short gags - and remains unidentified. So this must have been a house artist. 6. Dan Decarlo - There is a very distinctive style one how he draws Jughead's sideburns and side hair, and none of them appear in the interiors here so it is safe to say Dan DeCarlo was not part of this issue except for the cover. It also seems like he was the go-to cover artist during this era. 7. Dexter Taylor - While Michael Browning said that Dan Parent attributed some pages to Dexter Taylor, I would disagree. He is primarily a "Little Archie" artist and it is only in that genre where he got credits in the digital editions. Conclusion: After scouring thousands of pages of digital editions of Jughead, I have found so many that seem wrong and all over the place. Also there are quite a number of stories that are unidentified. Thus, it is just all guesswork to identify Archie Artists from this era especially since it seems Jon D'Agostino was a "unifying force" to somewhat keep the art uniform - that's why his inking of Hartley, Malmgren, and Goldberg seem to mix up their styles and confuse those trying to attribute. It is especially harder with 1-page gags like this particular issue of Jughead's Jokes because it seems editorial assigned them to many unnamed "test artists" to see their mettle. That's why some styles of work here is lot of the best quality and never appeared in complete stories. The only positive is that I think I have definitively identified Gus Lemoine's style. Anyway I have already uploaded all these pieces to CAF and just tried to attribute the artists as best as I can. https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=242837

After looking for attribution on my most recently acquired artwork which is a (near) complete issue of Jughead's Jokes #26 (October 1971), I have finally uploaded them on CAF. Here it is - all 30 plus pages of original art, stats, and just a few recreations for the missing pieces: https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=242837

With all the examples of Dan Decarlo, it seems none of the interior pages are by Dan DeCarlo as there is a distinctive way he draws Jughead's hair, especially the sides. But here are what I have gathered so far as examples by the artists from this issue. What i can say is that Gus Lemoine's style is pretty clear and distinctive - and it might debunk some of Dan Parent's attributions. But here is my photo summary. "Unknown Artist A" can still be Gus Lemoine with a particular inker who is too lazy to ink his side hair strands. Check the file below and it can be quite clear what the differences between the Archie artist styles are.

The search for the "best effort" attribution to the pages of this near-complete Jughead Jokes #26 book (1971) has led me to do a ton of research. With all due respect to Michael Browning and his communication with Dan Parent, there might be some Gus Lemoine attributions I may disagree with but new ones I will add which was actually aided by Dan Parent's attributions. As I type this, there is an ongoing auction in Heritage for Archie art with some Dan DeCarlo attributions. I have also dug up the book "The Art of Archie - The Covers" from 2013, which was edited by Victor Gorelick and Craig Yoe. In that book, virtually most of the early 1970's covers were by Dan Decarlo. I am attaching the examples from that book I have collaged which led me to two findings I will elaborate on in a future post: 1. The cover to Jughead's Jokes # 26 (1971) is by Dan DeCarlo 2. Gus Lemoine did not have a single published cover in that 2013 book. So from looking at the interiors of Jughead's Jokes #26, I am able to spot art that has a distinctive style from any of the 1970's covers - so that can be attributed to Gus Lemoine. There is also a way Jughead's hair is draw that is similar to all Dan DeCarlo art from that era, that I may be able to attribute some of the pages to Dan DeCarlo. I have also heavily edited my post right before this one - to include my attributions and my reasons for attributing them to the said artists. Please feel free to add your own insights, comments, and objections if ever.

Here is the rundown and scans so far, hope you can help me out complete and correct this. Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! p 1 - Prize Size: Al Hartley >draws Jughead with his crown facing down and usually with no bangs p 2 - Shame Game: "Unknown Test Artist" -Most likely a test or non-regular artist because although Jughead has the Hartley crown facing up, Ethel is drawn with two front teeth sticking out, defined and she has all-black curly hair. There are no other examples where she has had this look. p 3 - Wet Set: "Unknown Artist A" -Archie's eyebrows look too thick and too close to his eyes to be identified with DeCarlo. -Jughead's eyes on the 4th panel which look like an upside down letter "J" is drawn this way in p. 5 "Bath Wrath" and p.44 "Dipsy Doodles" so it's safe to say it's the same artist. p 5 - Bath Wrath: "Unknown Artist A" -The drawing style of Jughead is similar to page 3 - particularly the sideburns which are just two black curves instead of waves or strands like how other artists do it. The way the eyes are drawn are also the same as p. 44, so it is the same artist who I am calling "Unknown Artist A". p 7 - Serve Verve: Stan Goldberg inked by Jon D'Agostino -I will have to deviate here from Dan Parent's (c/o Michael Browning) attribution of Gus Lemoine. My explanation for Lemoine's style will be found in p. 46 "Borrow Sorrow / Deep Sleep." -The two horizontal lines or "blush" in Betty and Veronica, the headband of Veronica, and the way the details of the ears are drawn seem to indicate Hartley although it is not Jughead with the crown facing down. From my studying in this forum of issues owned by Joe Sinnott where he identifies the pencillers of his work, some were attributed to Stan Goldberg as early as the late 60's. And basically, Golberg's style was similar to Hartley except that Jughead's hat was not facing down. p 10 - Puzzle Page: "Unknown Artist A" -This is probably the same artist as page 3 "Wet Set." The tells are Jughead's side hair, the inverted "J" style his eyes are drawn, and Archie's eyebrows very close to his eyes. p 11 - Dipsy Doodle: Gus Lemoine -As my annotations to p.46 "Borrow Sorrow / Deep Sleep" will establish Gus Lemoine's style, this page has the same tells. The many strands in Jughead's side hair and the bangs sticking out that is Lemoine's signature style. p 12 - Sun Fun: Samm Schwartz -There is no argument in Samm Schwartz. p 13 - Ace Place: Gus Lemoine -Check out Jughead's hair strands, this is the same artist as p. 11, 36, and 46 - whose distinctive style will be established as Gus Lemoine. p 14 - Blunder Wonder: Stan Goldberg inked by Jon D'Agostino -This was attributed as Gus Lemoine by Dan Parent c/o Michael Browning but I beg to differ. Jughead's eyes in the first panel, and all the character ears are in the style of Stan Goldberg based on the attributions by Joe Sinnott of other work. It also seems to match Goldberg's Reggie style from this era. Jon D'Agostino's inking style is quite strong, distinctive and identifiable especially in how he inked the shine in the black hair. p 16 - More Childhood Snaps: "Unknown Artist A" -Jughead's eyes drawn as two inverted J's in the title header upper left. Since the other panels show little Archie and Jughead, the styles are so clearly not Bob Bolling or Dexter Taylor which can be established with a simple Google search. Hence, this also debunks the possibility of p.44 Dipsy Doodles is Dexter Taylor, even though it was Dan Parent who attributed it because it seems that based on the "inverted J" eyes and the solid rounded black Jughead sideburns, this is the same artist as pages 3,5, 10 and 44. p 19 - Bright Sprite: "Unknown Artist B" -This artist draws Jughead's hair with his bangs parted in the middle, as seen in panel 1. This style is also the same as page 29. p 20 - Jughead Says: Gus Lemoine -See Jughead's eyes in the upper left and hair p 21 - Boat Banners: Gus Lemoine -The sideburns of Veronica, with all the strands, are similar to how he draws Jughead's. Archie's eyebrows which are inked with straight vertical lines using a finer pen (as opposed to a blob of black), is similar to page 13 that is already attributed to Lemoine. This is also not the same artist as p.20, even though the theme are both boating, because of the differences in how the waves are inked/rendered. p 22 - Puzzle Page: Gus Lemoine -Jughead's sidehair, and the vertical lines used in inking Archie's eyebrows - as established in other Lemoine pieces. p 24 - Archie Club News - All Stats p 25 - Archie Club News - All Stats p 27 - Lil Jinx: Joe Edwards p 28 - Box Yocks: "Unknown Test Artist" -Looks very similar to p.2 "Shame Game" artist in both the linework and inking. I use the word test artist because this style did not recur often in future Archie comics. p 29 - Grid Kid: "Unknown Artist B" -Similar to p.19, see Jughead's bangs that are parted in the middle p 30 - Snack Attack: "Unknown Artist A" -Check all previous annotations of "Unknown Artist A" - and why I may either disagree with Dan Parent's attribution of "Gus Lemoine and unknown inker" or that maybe that combo is actually the identity of "Unknown Artist A" p 32 - Rare Pair: Stan Goldberg -While Dan Parent also identifies this as Gus Lemoine and Jon D'Agostino, I will disagree. The lines, especially the details of Jughead's eyes in the second and last/sixth panels seem to indicate Hartley's signature style minus the cap facing down - which means it is probably Stan Goldberg with a unidentified inker. The inking may not be D'Agostino but perhaps someone who also worked in superhero comics. This style is seen in the last two panels, particuarly the Hotdog outline and Jughead's mouth. p 33 - Hitch Switch - "Unknown Test Artist" -This is not exactly the strongest example of how to draw Jughead, both in linework, inkwork, and proportions. Even the inking of the grass and bushes are different. This must just be a test artist or an extra or filler or someone practicing. p 34 - Real Cool Kid - Stan Goldberg -Jughead's mouth and eye definition lines in the second panel, and Reggie's sideburns seem to point to Hartley. But it's missing the "blush" horizontal lines on the cheeks except for Pop Tate in the last panel. Thus, Hartley who is not-so-Hartley is Stan Goldberg. This also looks to have been inked by a heavy handed superhero comic inker as there is more rendering that is uncommon for Archie comics. In the fourth panel, check the shadow and feathering in Jughead's neck. Check also the vertical lines on the table to indicate it is shiny. Then also check the black hair and black background and the white space to separate them. Usually that won't be necessary in Archie comics. So perhaps this could have been inked by Joe Sinnott? p 36 - Chap Trap: Gus Lemoine -Jughead's hair, Archie's eyebrows, similar artist to pages 11, 13, 38, and 46. p 37 - Spray Cans For Teens: Samm Schwartz p 38 - Pic Click: Gus Lemoine -Jughead's hair and eyes are similar artist to pages 11, 13, 36, 42 and 46. p 39 - Lil Jinx: Joe Edwards p 42 - Dive Jive: Gus Lemoine -Jughead's hair and Archie's eyebrow vertical inking are similar artist to pages 11, 13, 36, 38 and 46. p 44 - Dipsy Doodles: "Unknown Artist A" -Jughead's side hair and inverted "J" eyes p 45 - Still Life: Gus Lemoine -Gus Lemoine as identified by Dan Parent c/o Michael Browning and matches the styles attributed to him on pages 11, 13, 36, 38, 42, and 46 p 46 - Borrow Sorrow: Gus Lemoine -This is the page of all pages that definitively identifies what Gus Lemoine's style is like. And it is most obvious by Jughead's hair from the sideburns with many strands drawn, to the bangs sticking out below his cap, to how his eyes are drawn. This is a very recurring style in many Archie comics from this era. However, this style of drawing Jughead does not appear in any single cover published in "The Art of Archie - The Covers (2013)". Well, there is also no cover attributed to Gus Lemoine there. Hence, this is his style! Why? Check out the second to the last panel - he slips in "Gregory Lemoine Owner" in the text. Thus, this was probably penciled and inked by Lemoine. The 1970's are the time when there were just so many Archie house artists and it was hard to identify each one. But I guess it has always been safe to say that some artists specialize in some characters and books. So it seems like the bulk of the Jughead's Jokes book during this time was assigned to Gus Lemoine.

To everyone, I just got the original pages to this issue - Jughead's Jokes 26, cover dated October 1971. Being a "Giant Series", I have 30 interior pages of original art plus 2 pages of stats (letters page). I am only missing 5 interior pages and the cover, but recreations of those will be my solution to complete them all - and I'll even include a house ad for good measure.

Thank you for this! It is of much help, it seems like Gus Lemoine was the missing link in many of the art I could not identify. However, I still have some reservations on the ID's of some artists. But I will post them in my next post, as all the original art has arrived and I have scanned them already so I'll share here. It is the complete issue of Jughead's Jokes 26, October 1971.

After doing much study on the style of Stan Goldberg, particularly: the lines to define the inner ear, the hair of Veronica and Jughead, I am of the opinion that Serve Verge and Real Cool Kid are Goldberg. The others don't match up though. And even if 1971 was a period Goldberg did not officially work for Archie, there are accounts of him doing it on the side - and what better way to do it than one-page gags. Again, thanks a lot for getting the ball rolling and opening me up to the fact that Goldberg already did Archie work during this time. But none of this is still conclusive, as there is a need to look closer at the Heritage auction results from Al Hartley's estate because the provenance there is certain and it seems Hartley did also draw Jughead with his crown facing upwards so it seems like there might be more Hartley pages in this issue here than I originally thought. Meanwhile, a fairly modern Dan Decarlo cover - Betty & Veronica #1, 1985 - just sold in Heritage for $4,560. That could be the biggest sale for a non-Bob Montana, non-bikini Archie cover. The come-on must have been that it is from an issue #1.

It would be great if these other Archie artists can be identified. Meanwhile, in the Heritage Auctions that closed Jan.10 to 12, two modern double digest covers sold: Stan Goldberg 2001 $159 and Rex Lindsey 2022 $119. Those prices are pocket change for any OA collector. I think everyone should get and own an Archie cover just to have one because why not at those prices. Curiously, there is a just completed auction of an Archie interior page listed as being by Gene Colan. Did he ever draw Archie? Nothing in that art would indicate so. By the way, it sold for $73.

Thanks to all the replies. Now I have done more research through original art in Heritage and their attributions. Some are absolute because they are signed by the artist, or in the case of Al Hartley - it is from his estate. This is what I have gathered so far: Al Hartley: draws Jughead without bangs, and his crown facing down and near his eyebrows. So I think all he drew is "Prize Size." Dan DeCarlo: little details on ears, usually just as "S" or vertical "M" or "W"; Betty's side hair is usually feathered in horizontal lines going to her ear, while other artists draw that part as a single line. It looks like he did not draw anything from this issue. Samm Schwartz: line weight has less contrast/variation from thick/thin; hardly uses feathering techniques; Jughead's eyes are always closed and he draws it with one horizontal and one vertical line - unlike others who add a bit more definition. I have him for "Sun & Fun," "Vacation Elation," and "Spray Cans For Teens." Joe Edwards as the creator of Lil Jinx surely drew "Beware of Dog" and "Constructive Thinking." There is an unknown artist whose style appears at least four times: "Dipsy Doodle (page 11)," "Chap Trap," "Still Life," "Borrow Sorrow," and "Deep Sleep." His style is that Jughead has bangs drawn as a rectangle, and there is horizontal feathering of fine lines in this bangs and also in his side hair that drops to his sideburns. Would anyone know who this artist may be? As for Stan Goldberg, my searches came up dry with Golberg Archie art from this period (1960 to 1973) so I am not sure where he fits in here. There is also another style similarity I can see in "Dipsy Doodles (page 44)," "Real Cool Kid" and "Snack Attack" where the artist draws a single strand of hair sticking out above the bangs below Jughead's crown. But they could be different artists or inkers. So that is the best I can come up with.

Any chance the pieces you attribute to Goldberg to be DeCarlo? What are the distinguishing marks in their styles?

Based on Wiki, Goldberg left Marvel in 69 and worked in DC for three years. Since this issue was 1971, it's possible that Goldberg did not work for Archie yet.

Thanks for this info, it will be very helpful though it only accounts for a small fraction of the book! Would you say "Spray Cans For Teens" is by Samm Schwartz? It's not the entire book. It lacks the cover and 4 interior pages, so it's only 28 pages. It's still in transit to me. Thank you so much for this info. This is also what I figured out. My detour is not for investing though, it's really because I used to read Archie so it's nostalgia. With having a near complete issue, this covers my itch - but if I were to move forward, maybe I'd be looking for a complete 5-6 page story and a nice cover example. I'd say covers are cheap - going for less than $500 usually. Yes, for some reason there is demand for bikini pages. It's just a bonus that these pages have a few of them bikini pictures or sexy women. It seems the artists really put efforts in bikinis and women's clothes as there is always great variation in designs and no two are the same from issue to issue. To everyone, thanks for your replies. I am looking forward to more attributions to the pages I just shared - and more insights on market trends for Archie original art.

I just got a near complete issue of a 1971 Jughead Jokes comic. As with Archie from this era, the artists are not credited or identified. So I'd like to ask some help in identifying these if possible. I quite enjoy this particular issue because each page is already like a self-contained story so can be displayed or viewed individually. Also, Archie art seems to go for very reasonable nowadays. So it's not really an investment but just a purchase because I like it. But now this has gotten me curious - are there Archie collectors here who believe there is upside in their low selling prices today? Or will this just go the way of most newspaper strips from nearly 100 years ago that are vintage, enjoyable to look at, but mostly worthless as investment and value wise.

I already added these to my CAF gallery: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1980878 https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1980877 To those who would rather not click on the links....

I already added these to my CAF gallery. I will also share these links in the original art forum of this board: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1980878 https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1980877

I just acquired this 3" x 17" Groo piece directly from Sergio through his daughter in FB. I believe Sergio is the only artist who offers original art at this odd size. This evokes vintage newspaper comic strip art. It also provides a way to tell a story. But I was totally blown away that Sergio was able to fit 11 full-figure Groos (12 Groo head shots counting the confused Groo!) and 1 Rufferto into something only 51 square inches in area. I was so excited I decided to digitally color the piece and create my own "imaginary cover". Maybe I should post this over in the original art portion of this page, perhaps when I already have the original art in hand and have shared it in CAF.

Change topic from all the market watch reports. Here is the most Groo piece that will be headed my way from Aragones Cartoons in FB (aka Sergio's daughter Kirsten). This is 9" x 12" that I acquired for $950 - pretty steep price, but this is not an investment. It's just for the love of Groo and I feel this image depicts some key elements such a Groo sinking ships, and Sergio's dragons (or sea creatures). When I will receive it, Sergio's signature will be there to replace that post it sticker in the bottom right.

I was just monitoring an eBay auction for Destroyer Duck #1 CGC 9.8, well actually I bid on it. I tapped out eventually. But it sold for $306 - a new low for a freshly slabbed DD#1. Looks like the Groo market is back to full niche. MCS also has listings for DD#1 at $430 - which means the actual auction result is 75% of the asking price. So I guess the actual current market value for Groo #1 Pacific is 75% of MCS listings which are $175 to $185. Hence, real world value for Groo #1 Pacific would be $130ish now that DD#1 is $306. On a personal note, I already have my CGC 9.8 copies of DD#1 and Groo #1 so my coming Groo-related purchases are original art, straight from Sergio's daughter.