Sideshow Bob

Double page spread from Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters #3. Great Shado/GA face-off. This classic from Mike Grell is one of the books that got me into comics, and understandably this was a great pick-up for me.

Picked up during Bernie's 1/2 off sale (which looks to be concluded)...

 

And now you tell us....

I posted details on Jan 27 in the OA Marketplace while it was going on...

1/2 Wrightson Frankenstein Alive Alive sale

Picked up during Bernie's 1/2 off sale (which looks to be concluded)...

Been dreading the end of Locke & Key for quite some time, but having a little OA takes some of the sting out. First time a comic book made me cry.

And here are two pages from IDW's Wild Blue Yonder #3. Zach Howard pencil and inks on both. Some action, and some romance.

Manifest Destiny #1, pg 6 (pencils and inks). Matt Roberts on both.

I picked up one of the Blacks...David Petersen.

Nice pages, Bob! Did you also pick up the pencils for those pages?

Court, you're supposed to be on vacation! Be on vacation!

And yes, the pencils are magnificent.

I was going to wait for Thanksgiving so I could say I was thankful for this Manifest Destiny #1 OA from Matt Roberts, but if I wait that long, this thread will have been thoroughly hijacked...

So, an early Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and be sure give thanks that our Founding Fathers sent Lewis and Clark out into the nation's unchartered frontier to check for monsters.

pg 1

pg 2

pg 6 (if you haven't yet read this book, well, this is somewhat of a spoiler, but its in the previews anyway)

What is the demand side, though, outside of Greggy and one or two others.......

 

You can count me in as part of the "I would be interested in having a Batman #238 in 9.6 or better" club.

That description is priceless, especially as the seller combines the concepts of "most valuable" and "undervalued" in the same breath:

OFFICIALLY NOW THE MOST VALUABLE NEAL ADAMS DRAWN BATMAN COMIC

EXTREMELY UNDERVALUED FOR A 43+ YEAR OLD BOOK.

The discoloration on the cape is external on the case (whew). I hadn't expected one of the three 9.4's to ever become available, and had resigned myself to the 9.2 (Greggy's old under-copy when he upgraded to one of the other 9.4).

I know the label says Neal Adams, and GCD says it's Neal Adams with Giordano inks, but this must be one of the lamest Neal Adams covers ever. I don't say that to disrespect the comic or the purchase, because it's great to have one of the 100-pg giants in great condition. Maybe the cover was drawn by someone in Neal's studio, and Neal got the art credit for it. Usually, Neal would make even such a static cover seem like there was action. Plus, I don't see a signature anywhere on the front or back. There's a character map on the inside front. Does that indicate it was drawn by Neal?

I took a look at the character map on the inside back cover...no reference to Adams there, but the front inside cover says "Cover by Neal Adams and Giordano". CGC seems to have it wrong on solely crediting Adams...

I agree, the art for this cover has all the excitement of a deflated baloon, especially when I look at the #235, but its one of the scarcest Bronze Bats in high grade, so a completionist like me is stoked to be able to secure one.

Picked up a couple upgrades to my Bronze Bats collection:

Sorry about the glare, but I can't get a clean scan on these deep CGC wells.

The discoloration on the cape is external on the case (whew). I hadn't expected one of the three 9.4's to ever become available, and had resigned myself to the 9.2 (Greggy's old under-copy when he upgraded to one of the other 9.4).

Delivered today was the prelim in pencils for the Alpha #2 cover by Bernie Wrightson.

L&K: Alpha #2, Wrightson prelim

A little perseverance and a fair dollop of luck was required to pick this up, and I couldn't be happier.

That seems a bit suspect since Batman 355 last sold for $50 in June.

Thought that too so I went to check. Winning bidder on both had 688 feedback, and losing bidder had 1164 feedback. While those are low census 9.8 Bats with Ra's on the cover, and one was perfectly centered, I am at a loss to explain this one.

It might just be two bidders who thought they would put in their crazy high bid to beat the snipe-bots, never thinking someone else had the same idea at the same time.

Batman 334 in 9.8 just went for $355 on ebay. Whoa.

And then Batman 355 went for $455 a couple minutes later. Holy smokes.

Had been looking for a high grade Batman #226 for quite a long time...finally found one! Only a little miswrap, but with that black cover by Adams, I wasn't sure if I'd ever see one in 9.8.

Ghosted #1: "I want you to steal a ghost."

Treasury Edition from Crown of Shadows came out on Wednesday, in its huge format, which considering there are so many full page splashes with the Giant Tyler and the shadow monster, its the greatest way to enjoy the art. Here's the cover with the OA.

So apparently there are going to be a ton of variants for Alpha #2. Not sure how I feel about that...

 

Do the Sienkiewicz and Fabry covers seem to referencing some female character we haven't seen yet? The eyes seem somewhat similar, but they don't match up to any current L&K characters I've seen thus far. Can't figure out if they are just abstract characterizations, or something more.

Doors open both ways...

I had a 9.6 Adams Bats in an old CGC holder on ebay last month at a price well above GPA (there were only 2 copies in 9.8), and it sold much faster than I would have expected. My best guess on the transaction was that the buyer was looking for the old labels as a better candidate for pressing and an uptick to 9.8, and if it didn't work out, they were only out the sub fees. Downside would be a downtick in grades, but that is the game, right?

Same thing happened in NGC slabs with coins...

Picked up this lovely copy last week! Been looking for one for awhile.

I have noticed prices are dropping across certain Adams Bats, #232 especially.

 

Yes Ive noticed it too. #227 CGC books are stalling at high prices....

 

It looks like the supply/demand is finally catching up to the prices on the 232...Ra's is popular and 232 a legitimate Bronze key, but there is a glut of 232s in 9.8 that the market needs to soak up. Here are the census quantities on the 9.8's for four of the higher priced Bats/Adams books:

227 5 + 1SS

232 32 + 3SS

234 7 and no SS

251 11 and no SS

Plus on the 232, there are 72 copies in 9.6 and 97 copies in 9.4, which to me is a lot of slabs to go around.

The opposite of oversupply on Bats/Adams in high grade? Bats 238, no question. 3 copies in 9.4, and 8 in 9.2. Not a key, but slim pickings if you're looking for a high-end copy.

Super impressed. Congrats!

Way to go on the Locke & Key cover! A Dodge cover with an Omega Key appearance is a heck of an aquisition, and I know what you went through to get it. Patience pays off...