Carlo M

Just to mention the ones I am following the closest: 1) Defenders 9 cover (such large images of major characters from super major storyline - a classic IMHO) 2) Kirby Thing Pin-up 3) Dark Phoenix - I have already expressed my surprise at how high the XM 129 page - Kitty Pryde premium????? 5) Golden Avengers Annual, by a thin margin 10) Wolverine plate - nicer to look at.

I am based in Italy and have received art from all over the world with no major problems for many many years. Obviously you have customs to go through so as sender you will need to describe the item and put a value on it. For items for less than USD100 there will be no additional work to be done and the item should go through directly. For items over USD100 there will be some minor paperwork to be filled out to the shipping company by the receiver. Typically an email confirming item description and value. Then the receiver will need to pay VAT and duties when they receive the parcel. I would recommend Fedex as they have their own customs agent and the last mile locally, so the process is a bit quicker. USPS uses the local posts as agent both for customs and final delivery and they tend to be a bit more cumbersome, but nothing major. Cost is typically around USD100 (indeed Fedex tends to be higher), plus VAT and stamp duties. Please note that for items of value the receiver should be able to claim VAT for arts to be applied, which is 10% as opposed to 22%. Feel free to PM me privately if you need more info. Carlo

20k + (with premium) for the Uxm 129 Byrne Austin page. That is already very strong, I would have thought the Phoenix page to be ahead. In any case, obviously the classic Byrne run continues to be a major favourite... Carlo

The cover vs splash debate is a really interesting one and might actually deserve a thread on its own. A few considerations. First, I understand why covers would attract a premium over a splash with similar content. Sticking to X-Men Cockrum, nobody would argue that the covers to GS and to XM 101 would capture a major, major premium to their interior counterparts , even though the content is quite similar (the splash to GS XM is very, very similar and the Phoenix splash in the interior is almost the same as the cover). But there is no doubt that certain splashes can be extremely high quality, on par if not superior to the relative cover. SS 6, which I have brought up in a separate thread on the (in)famous Buscema debate, is an example where the splash is IMHO infinitely superior to the cover, and would actually command a premium. FInally, and I would like some expert's input on this one, I feel that comparing the two is not entirely appropriate. Because of the medium on which they were printed (glossy paper) and the commercial role they have, covers are "intrinsically" different from splashes. They tend to have simpler content, aiming more at impact than subtlety. They also tend to have less backgrounds. Finally, and here I am threading on unfamiliar grounds - I feel the inks tend to have a different style. Inks on covers must have less texture, less shading, less cross hatching, less zip-a-tone. Al this in favour of clarity and impact. I have not checked, but I suspect inkers like Palmers and Janson have done fewer covers relative to their interior production precisely for this reason. As an example, look at the cover to Avengers 57 and the relative splash. The splash has richer texture, what with the shading on the characters and the rain effect, while the cover is obviously much more impactful. So it will always also come down to personal tastes, and what one wants from their OA. Personally, I like both, but have in fact bought more splashes than covers.

Recently acquired....twice up art where have you been all my life?

The ideal splash ìs pin-up style and yet consistent with the story / the situation. X-Men 107 seems to me the perfect example. Better than any cover, IMHO.

Have to agree with Gene on this one. Great splash, but small Wolverine and - of course - no Phoenix. So based on recent prices of interiors 76k feels about right. Great looking splash and very historical, though. Great congrats to the buyer.

Next 5-10 years, stable, with more and more differentiation between A pieces and standard pieces. A pieces being prime pages from Kirby, Ditko, Byrne, Miller and Jim Lee. I have given a lot of thought to the 25 years + scenario. Assuming Earth is still healthy, and society and economy structures are more or less the same as today (and this is a big, big assumption, considering climate change and technological disruption), I think OA coming from the second half of the 20th century will gravitate towards an "intrisic value" reserved to a one of a kind piece of art-craft (let's no go into the art vs craft bit here), well made, pleasant to the eye, sympathetically representative of a culture from a certain historical period. For somethig like this, I think there will be demand, and there will be an "intrinsic value" of arounf USD3000 per page and USD15000-20000 per cover, with progressively less differentiation as content will become less and less relevant to new buyers. Can't wait till I can get my hand on a Kirby Sinnott twice up FF cover for 20K - even though I will be able to enjoy it only for a couple of years! Carlo

I have pondered on BWS comments on Big John and on artists needing a "vision". Thank you very much for the link. Even though BWS admitted vision was a concept not so easily defined, I think we all somehow "get it". Going back to a post I made a few weeks ago on this very same topic, I really do believe John Buscema circa 1968 had a vision. Look at the two examples below. I consciously refrained from quoting the obivious SS 4 cover or Avengers 57 cover. But still, looking at these two splashes, I do see art coming through. And if Kirby's vision was energy and fantasy and invention and the ability to imagine fantastic new worlds, Buscema's "vision" circa 1968 was IMHO to show the conflict, the torment of being a hero and yet confined by humanity, and showing how either an alien in cold space or an android in relentless rain can still find humanity. That was what Buscema's perfect and yet contorted anatomy circa 1968 was expressing. And that is voision and art, IMHO. PS - apologies for the poor scans but they should be enough to make my point.

And I thought ...that costume looks familiar. It must have been the inspiration for the '80s armoured Psylock look. Do people agree? and to make this into a slightly less off-topic, any OA you can share of old images that must have been inspiration for modern uniforms of super heroes?

Browsing Heritage auctins I bumped into this Ditk / Wood piece:

And now there is also Cap 137 cover coming up. There are not many Sal Buscema Bronze Age covers, at least compared to how many books he drew. Funny that two of the best ones are coming up in the same auction. It will be interesting to see how they fare price-wise compared to one another.

Defenders 10 (Romita on vellum) was 78k, Avengers 118 (Wilson and Romita on vellum) was 66k, I would have thought Defenders 9 would not be too much lower, especially if not on vellum. Carlo

IMHO the run was fantastic through the Sal Buscema and Giffen issues (circa 52). Then there was an interesting, albeit weird, Buscema three parter (Defenders for a Day, 62-64). After that the writing was not so bad but the art... Carlo M

Defenders 9 cover coming up....Predictions? It is possibly one of the top three covers by Sal Buscema, major storyline (Avengers vs Defenders cross-over) and it features four very popular MCU characters. I would say 60k? Carlo M

Sorry but the Ditko page did not have a price on it (otherwise I have to say that all the other pieces Bechara had were orderly priced ...)

That one was priced at 60, you can see it is actually marked in pencil in the top right corner.

I can’t contribute to the debate as to whether this is legit, but as a simple country boy I have to say that both the pencils and the inked job by Layton look quite nice ...tricky hobby...

This event was much better than last year. Good fans’ attendance, and yet no big crowds. So there was time to peruse the few dealers’ tables at leisure, without being pressured by the next guy in line. I am not into chatting with artists, but I could see there was good access. I don’t have pictures of dealers’ tables, but these two twice-up pieces were the best of the show, IMHO. Both from Bechara. Great show, I will definitely go again next year.

Overall I also got the sense the auciton results were a bit soft. Some thoughts: Strong results: - Buscema FF 112 pages - Infantino DD page (not sure I have ever seen a Marvel Bronze age page from Infantino this high) - J Kirby page from Cap 100 - GPerez XM Annual page with Storm Fair prices - FF 247 page (may look high but high quality pages with all 4 members in action from prime period are fairly rare) - Colan DD 20 (must be impressive in person at large art size) - McSpidey cover (it is a nice image after all, even though I am not a McFarlane nor Spiderman fan) - BWS Conan cover, considering the status of that market at the moment Good buys (wish I had bid on those) - Byrne Iron Fist page (good action page) - G Kane Defenders 52 cover (Hulk! Namor! Defenders...cm'on!) - JLee UXM 248 DPS (again, must look great in person!) - GPerez XM Annual with Cyclops (not a fan of Cyclops but looks cheap in comparison to the other one) - Brigman / Nowlan AF cover (character may be B tier, but artistically very very strong) Just my 2cents....

One interesting angle (which I think has been covered before) is to think about great inkers and pencilers who simply did not mesh well together. Some of the less fortuate parings in my mind: Sinnott on Byrne (Byrne is virtually unrecognisable on those FF issues), Sienkiewicz on BWS (one Excalibur issue) , Rubinstein on Silvestri (some UXM issues), Colletta on Sal Buscema (on the other hand I have a Colletta Kirby which looks simply fantastic, IMHO), BWS on Kirby (on Cap bi-centennial issue) and yes - dare I say it - John Buscema on John Buscema.

I had another good look at the UXM 137 DPS. The piece is stellar, no doubt about it. The signatures are truly unfortunate, but they are hardly distracting. I would not change my bid by one single dollar because of the signatures, either way (up or down). Let's look at it from a positive angle - the placement of the signatures could have been much much worse...

Thanks! The links should work now!

Yeah I am leaning towards having the job done professionally. The staining is quite confined to where the balloon was, so maybe there is no need to have the staining removed. Not sure I can get that kind of treatment here in Italy. Balloons reattached with acid free glue, probably yes, stain removal....mmmmhhh maybe not. But in general I think a comic book page should have the balloons on, if still available. For me looking at the text is quite a big part of my enjoyment of comic OA.

White eggs....I might try that after proper testing! So I take it the vote would be try and restore the piece, so long as it is done properly. I guess it makes sense, comc OA is after all combination of words and pictures...