Sideshow Bob

There are five of Sean's pieces coming up in the ComicLink auction ending on Tuesday night. Each are coming out of my collection, with much pain, but I was presented an opportunity to buy a very special single piece from my childhood and have to part with some treasured OA to finance it. Every one of these is "wall worthy". GTLA! There are three amazing selections from Sean's work with Scott Snyder on Detective #27, including two double-page splashes showing future Batman/Robin combos with new villains and alternate Gothams spread across two 11x17 pages. These are hyper-detailed, echoing outside themes like Mad Max, Robotech, Pacific Rim, and Bladerunner, with all of Sean's amazing rendering skills. Hidden in the inks of the Mad Max/Bladerunner DPS is Sean's rendition of how he and Scott decided to add an African-American Robin to the story (a first for DC); only the owner can read it as its written in the page's inks and too hard to make out from an electronic scan. Also from that issue is the splash page that was used to model Sean's Batman: Black & White statue. That 'Tec #27 story ended up as the set-up for Snyder's Super-Heavy storyline in his acclaimed Batman run with Greg Capullo. Lastly, the auction features the Joker-on-gargoyle cover from B:COWK #8 and another great Joker half-splash from B:COWK #1 with his trademark long-barreled pistol that Sean justly brought back from 1989 archives. As we say in Chicago, vote early and vote often! GLTA. https://www.comiclink.com/Auctions/search.asp?FocusedOnly=1&where=auctions&title=murphy&GO=GO&ItemType=CA

Moved to marketplace.

No issues whatsover on lots and lots of transactions.

It really is a mixed bag. WD pages did well, but you could argue its based on the strength of the story, just like Watchmen OA prices have zero to do with the movie and the HBO series. Preacher pages didn't go up at all as a result of the multiple seasons on AMC. Locke & Key doesn't really have pages commonly available, so no comp there. Did Jupiter's Legacy even register with the public? Same with Umbrella Academy and Deadly Class, with no noticeable change in OA prices, and I would put The Boys in that same category with some uptick in desirable splash pages spilling over post-broadcast. I would argue that Infinity Gauntlet prices are 100% tied to the success of the MCU and Infinity War/Endgame. And with YTLM, it feels like a different property that could easily have legs like WD did and spillover into OA prices. The Vaughn writing that shows up on the early OA pages will always be better than the later pages. We'll see what happens soon enough.

Sold for $589. I would say that was a good deal. Two more early pages coming up in the next CL auction, and then that's it for my YTLM sales.

Early (with word balloons) page from Y: The Last Man (Pia Guerra) [#11, pg 11] is ending tonight on CL. Rare opportunity to get an early page before FX on Hulu releases the TV show later this year based on this beloved series with a stellar ensemble cast. Word balloons disappear on the OA after issue #12, depriving you of all the Brian K. Vaughn goodness. This page features Agent 355 meeting Natalya Zamyatin for the first time. https://www.comiclink.com/Auctions/item.asp?back=%2FComicTrack%2FAuctions%2Fauctions_first.asp&id=1473857#detail

WTB should be in the Marketplace, not here. You hit it right on the head...uncouth indeed.

May ComicLink auction: https://www.comiclink.com/Auctions/item.asp?back=%2FComicTrack%2FAuctions%2Fauctions_first.asp&id=1471227

https://time.com/4499648/nirvana-nevermind-25-baby-spencer-elden/ He's in his 30's now....

That's awesome. I'd love a Tony Moore WD cover.

Who's the artist on these?

Two cover recreations and the pinup from Detective #600. Was the underbidder for the two Kraven covers that went through Heritage...no regrets but maybe a little. https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerydetailsearch.asp?artist=Mike+Zeck&GCat=92556

I picked up my commission from him in 2017 at NYCC. No more published OA as it was all digital, but commissions still done traditionally.

Four years ago, I stretched and was able to pick up about 1/3 of the art for Detective #526 (18 of the 56 pages) and 1/2 the art from Batman #366; 'Tec #526 is my favorite comic book issue and I'd say Don Newton's top work. As the pages started showing up sequentially on Ebay, I called Felix and asked his advice, and he told me I'd regret it if I didn't try my damnedest. Perfect advice at the time, and I pushed my boundaries on OA spending to their limit. I was compelled to sell a substantial amount of OA to keep my financial house in order, but it took a year to work off that spending binge. Today? Not a chance I could justify doing that today. This recent shift upwards on price ranges overall, but for top pages in particular, has me all torn up. I just can't justify these prices. I just can't. I know others can, but I just don't know where they are getting the confidence to pay this much per piece. Maybe I'm too disciplined in keeping OA from moving past a certain percentage of my overall net worth, and others are more comfortable with a higher percentage. Maybe others got in earlier so they have more paper gains on art they bought or acquired cheaply as compared to these levels; house money is a lot easier to play with than wage money. Or maybe this is becoming a (very) wealthy person's hobby and I'm getting tiered out. All assets are inflating, as Gene so rightly points out, but not every single boat is rising with the tide at the same rate. No doubt, I'd love a KJ page, but instead I have two A-level Camelot 3000 pages. I'd love a DKR page, but instead I have some great Aparo and Newton covers and interiors. There are tiers of collectors in this hobby, and there are tiers of pages, as seen by the effort to refresh the A-page price levels. I had a chance a few years ago to get a quality DKR page, and I could have stretched for it and I passed. In retrospect on the DKR page, I should have tried. But now? At these levels? No way. I'm not going to plunk +$100k on a piece. I just won't do it. That's it...there are some things you aren't going to have an example of. And that's OK. So find what will make you happy. I'm looking at my wall with a framed Zeck recreation (1 of 1) of the Punisher mini-series #1 cover. It's not the original (a +$100k piece), but its an awesome piece of art. Still expensive on a relative basis, but it brings me tons of joy. I'm OK with that. Rick2you2's advice is solid. Find that level that makes you happy. Bob

Some cross-over events here and there, but there isn't a ton of overlap. All the OA from two recent Detective issues by Kyle Holz were pulled down by one collector. Earlier stuff like Brave & Bold pages (#199) just don't pop up very often.

https://yanickpaquetteblog.wordpress.com/paquette-con-2017/ Fill out the form and he'll get back to you. Same way he did it for pre-order convention pickups, but now without conventions! Bob

I've been getting Batman + Spectre commissions for a couple years. 13 examples and counting... https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=181214

Category placement question: I am putting this cartoon from Pia Guerra (of YTLM fame) into the "Published/Unpublished Strip Art" category for Best Of 2020, but debating if it should be in "Other" or "Commission". It is a line-by-line commissioned ink recreation (from EmeraldCon this year) of one of her digitally-created editorial cartoons (published on IG and Twitter), which were then assembled into a printed collection from Image Comics called Me the People. Any guidance? Is it a strip if its an multi-panel editorial cartoon? If it's a recreation of a published digital-only piece, is it published or just a commission? Bob

I will echo this sentiment. That fabulous couple does not stop being awesome. From sickbed calls for auction advice, to "oh you so overpaid but you be you" doses of reality, in a regular year, I'd be dragging you out to the third beer garden of the night as a thank you. Bob

PUBLISHED Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Dark Knights: Metal #1, pg 31 Penciller: Karl Mostert; Inker: Norman Rapmund

Brett Booth pencils, Norm Rapmund inks. I had asked for Batman protecting a member of his rogue's gallery from Spectre who is meting out his villain-specific holy vengeance. Brett opted for Penguin, and set him facing down an onslaught of mytsic umbrella missiles! I love it. The expression on Penguin's face, the action pose on Batman, all of it. And then taken to the next level with Norm's inking prowess (no stranger to Brett's pencils), it's a cover-quality commission. -Bob

The great thing is, even if not in the active process of buying or selling, the OA relationships and experiences don't have to go away. The artists that have become friends, the collectors that are mentors, the banter here on the boards, guiding my kids through Artists Alley at NYCC like a curator...all are still a part of my life. But yeah, the unplanned and unexpected never seem to take a year off!

Here are a couple broad brush strokes for 2021: 1) Would like to find the color guides pair of my favorite covers or interior pages in my collection. By chance, I've been able to do that with a few pieces and I've overjoyed at the result. 2) I wish I could say I was hunting for some pages, but really I'm just waiting for some to rise up from wherever they might be hiding. Like the back half of Batman #366 and the splash to Detective #526... where o where are they? 3) A key cover from my peak nostalgia period of DC circa 1986-1991 would be great. Fingers crossed. Email sent. 4) and I think I finally found my perfect commission theme, so the plan is to get one or two in 2021. First result is stellar and looking forward to sharing! Overall, pretty happy with the state of my collection after thinning it out a bit. This year, was lucky enough to add a couple great Batman covers, a pile of early YTLM pages, some more Sean Murphy and Zach Howard art, a Locke & Key interior and cover, and two big charity buys (Lee and Capullo) during the darkest months of the year. Not actively chasing anymore, which is a new feeling. May this sense of contentment not be fleeting... Thanks to all who helped turn the dumpster fire of 2020 into something slightly more tolerable! - Bob

I absolutely adored that cover. I have a Roosevelt Island tram on my Christmas tree! And I put the biggest online bid I've ever put on that cover last night. Wow. But even though I could liquidate a number of other pieces and get to six figures of OA-generated cash very quickly, I just couldn't push myself to type in six figures for it. And I don't know there are any examples of OA where I would be compelled to put in a six figure bid, which comes back to the criteria that knocks me out of the OP's original question.

The pool of buyers is clearly enough to support a $108,000 (+15% buyer premium) on the ASM162 cover at CC last night. Bob