John E.

It's nice to read this. Yeah, it's obvious that this time period is not well liked by a lot of collectors and I certainly understand those arguments. My only rebuttal is that the 90s still had some talent doing interesting things, like K. Jones cover run on Knightfall. If I had the money, I certainly wouldn't have minded the "faults" on the faces. Having a Knightfall cover is good enough for me.

Regarding the Kelley Jones / Batman 496 / Knightfall, part 9 cover... My estimate for the hammer price was 25K with the juice, minimum. So in my mind, the cover "underperformed" (as if a cover from '93 that sold for 21K could be called an underperformer). I take it as common knowledge that Kelley Jones keeps all his artwork and those KJ panel pages you see floating around are the ones his inker John Beatty released into the world. If KJ is penciling and inking his stuff, which he has in his last two projects, you're not gonna have the chance to buy 'em; but I don't keep a GPS tracker on his art, so don't hold it to me. Nonetheless, considering the market rarity of an all-Kelley Jones cover and Knightfall to boot, I'm really surprised it didn't hit a quarter-K. The question I have is where did this cover come from? A collector or Jones himself? Man, if you bought this cover for 3K-4K back in '93... As far as the quality of the rendering, I agree with you. The faces on both Bats and Joker aren't attractive, and the quality of Robin's face is arguable too. Perhaps that's what kept the bidding at bay. Personally, this isn't my favorite cover between Knightfall parts 1 and 11. Two of those that lead up to Batman 497 are drawn by Sam Kieth. One of those Albert Moy sold a couple of years ago. I'm not sure when another Knightfall cover is going to pop. This one might not be the strongest rendered, but this is a delirious Batman beating Joker to a bloody pulp while the ghost of Jason Todd watches on. There aren't many of those covers in general either. When collectors realize this, and if this ever pops up again 5 from year from now, I think the current owner will get his money back and some.

Bidders don't pay for their items all the time, and it's not uncommon for sellers not to sell what they sold. If the OP wanted to, he could call up eBay and complain, eBay would then review eBay message exchanges, and from there they may decide to put a strike on the seller's account and suspend him *if he keeps doing it*. The problem is that if the OP happened to have violated eBay policy through the messaging, by say, offering to pay outside of eBay, then he would get a strike too. Either way, what frustrates a lot of users about eBay is that there are a lot of bad actors who operate with impunity.

I'm lucky enough to have most, if not all, of my first comics. I thank Mom for not tossing them away. As such, collecting art from my first comics is part of my focus and I'm lucky enough to have acquired a few pieces. In fact, I just won an auction for one yesterday. In another fact, suddenly there has been a deluge of offerings this week that I don't know what to do I have pre-school age children now and naturally I've given them many comics. They often end up torn to shreds and tossed out. This tells me that they will never remember their true first comic, and instead, their "first" comic might be something they get at age 6, like me. This leads me to believe that my "first" comic may not be that at all. Otherwise, if I focused solely on first comics art, I would've quit the hobby because they hardly pop up on the market (or when it rains, it pours). Also, since this is early copper age stuff, the prices are pretty hefty, and forget the prices for covers. For sure one cover from my childhood is in David Mandel's collection; another one is for sale for $11.5K. Coollines has a bunch covers and pages and even a complete book from my childhood...but at outrageous prices. It makes sense that they have so many because of their high prices, they don't move. This is to say that it doesn't surprise me if not many collectors go after these types of nostalgic pieces because they don't pop up often and they tend to be expensive.

That's a shame for the seller to back out like that. I remember seeing this piece pop up in my saved searches. His marketing wasn't all that poor, and he did the "right" thing by ending the auction on a Sunday evening. He even had 11 bidders. This is to say that it didn't really go under the radar and if your winning bid was $66, then that's what it's "worth." I'm not sure what he thought it was going to end at? $500? It's just another hard lesson (or, tuition) about the "real" value of art. Just as aside, this is another example of Eduardo Barretto being undervalued, as Brian Peck just stated in the "Underappreciated Art" thread.

Trade dress

I'd like to think that I collect cool pieces, that I have good tastes--well, the kind of tastes that my budget can afford--but I don't get a lot of comments. In fact, I'm very fortunate for those pieces of mine that get 2 or more comments. I've seen some cool pieces on CAF that have received no comments even though it's been posted for 8 years with like a thousand views. These pieces are often in the galleries of "quieter" collectors. Take a close look at who comments and it's the same collectors over and over. At my most cynical, the "silence" isn't "deafening," but rather it's because "you" aren't in The Circle, therefore it's not a reflection on one's tastes. At my most positive, there's a relatively small group of collectors who are active on CAF who take the time to participate in the hobby by leaving comments. I'm one of them. But as it has been established in this thread, there are collectors who don't pay for the Premium membership because all they want to do is post their art and want to do nothing else. By the way, for those you serial commentators--keep doing what you're doing! It's part of what makes CAF worthwhile!

Where is this Maxx piece you talk about? I want to make love to it on CAF if I haven't already

I get what you're saying. There was that thread a while back called "overrated art" and a couple of people named Skottie Young, whose art I like and own. That stuff doesn't hurt me. I like a lot of stuff that people don't like so my ego isn't attached to the art. You're the type of writer whose critique can be written with tact and (perhaps) sensitivity, but I don't trust the rest of the world to do that. I guess also that this hobby is a diversion for me, to escape from the stress of everyday life. If every comment I received was about how "poorly" the art is drawn, it wouldn't stop me from collecting but I would quit my public participation in the hobby. As such, the Boards have been pretty acerbic lately which has been off-putting and has been defeating the purpose of why I log in.

It's funny you mention Mark Badger because I admire his work very much. It's different and bold and a middle finger to the house style. He's an acquired taste and I don't fault anyone who doesn't dig him. Yes, he did an issue or two of Excalibur. I have several of his pieces on my CAF gallery. My most recent piece of his is a convention sketch of Wonder Woman. As I explain in my description, Mark forgot his brushes at home and drew me an all-pencil piece. I love the way it turned out, but the eyes are wonky--I'm not blind to that (no pun intended). It's not that Mark can't draw eyes, but it's likely because he uses thick pencils and filling in perfect placement of the eye balls is tough. It's also a con sketch so I'm willing to overlook it. I don't know where I'm going with this other the "love him or hate him" aspect of Badger.

I just don't see CAF as the place to do it. There's no point in critiquing someone else's nostalgia, and for reasons you stated. Actually, kinda going with your example, I've stated that my grandfather got me hooked on comics and the last comic he bought me was New Mutants #100. Yeah of all artists, Liefeld. I'm completely aware of the all the anatomical deficiencies, but I don't care; a page from that issue means much more to me than the art itself, though I've come to appreciate how fun those comics were. So why rain on my parade because Rob misproportioned the torso and *editorial* let him get away with it? I feel like this kind of commenting is akin to giving feedback on a piece like you would at art school, but instead you're giving it to a collector and not the artist. I guess that's where I scratch my head. But, yes, perhaps this your point and I'm missing it, some art misses the mark and it's best to be educated as not to spend huge wads of money on something poorly drawn. That I get, but to call it out publicly? I don't know if that's in good taste. If CAF was a place where that happened at its conception, I never would have joined.

This emoticon is severely underused

The dealer website being taken down after the auction (or your market report) makes me go

A Stan Lee signature.

That's what their emails look like when you "$Please inquire."A soon follows, then a .

The ocean?

Sure there's no action or costumes, but there's a talking gopher wearing nothing but a tie and that more than makes up for it. @Ducky13 You are also missing a back cover. They are more affordable than a front cover, but harder to find. Here's my example

That's right. All the places I've gone to, the scanners are just a few feet away, so there's no worry about the sales associate taking it to the back. Every SA I've dealt with handles my art with the utmost care. Some say that they'd like to wash their hands before they scan. Mind you, I never tell them how much the piece is worth. Whether it's a freebie or Mignola cover, they treat it the same. Better than the original artist(s).

I have a terrible time with photos, even when I crop and adjust the lighting on iPhoto. I essentially scan my artwork at a FedEx Express after trying many stores. This particular store works well with me as they have the best price with scanning at $1.99/scan vs $2.99 at Office Max. It's not very convenient to go every time I get artwork but I'm 98% happy with the results (I wish they'd do more to capture the "blue" on the page). I probably have spent enough money on scans that I could've owned a scanner by now. But it's easier to swallow $10 every other month than drop $350 at once. If you scan at a store, ask for it in color, 600dpi, and jpeg. Also, cover the copyright stamp on the back (if any) or else they may turn you away. I've been turned away for sketch covers too; it just depends on who serves you. I use white artist tape to cover the stamp, and you can buy that at any art supply store.

You posted in the wrong forum, which might be why you're not getting replies. This forum is reserved for art that is actually for sale. Otherwise, there's a Bizarro head sketch on auction right now on eBay with a $100 bid. Follow that to give your a baseline. However well or poorly it does, give Superman one bid increment plus the cost of the CGC fees. That should give you a rough idea of the value. Otherwise, it's a nice sketch of a good looking guy--if the "S" was present it would likely have fetched you more of a premium. Just my -- the market wants what it wants and I don't care for Finch's art, however nice it may be. I've just sold enough sketch covers to know that 9 out of 10 times they yield disappointing results.

My response reflects awfully close to what Panelfan1 has stated. Actually everything he stated holds true to my experience. I do want to emphasize the "anomaly" aspect of it. Sometimes there are semi-retired artists who happen to find a stack of art lost in their closet two days before the con and will bring it with them. Those who get to the con get first dibs. Also, going to a con gives you the opportunity to ask the artist in person if they have X pages from Y title available. I did this recently to an artist I'm keeping close to the chest here--but he answer was " Yes, but I'm not ready to sell but check back in a year. Here's my card." But I guess you can do this stuff over email, FB, etc. Then there are artists who have a low profile online, so a con is the perfect opportunity to get some artwork. Lastly, whether it's at cons or online, it's harder to find the art YOU want to collect period (I intentionally avoided writing your verbiage of "good stuff" because one collector's trash is another's...). I feel like the inventory on the market is a paradox--there's a lot for sale (abundance) but never anything that you want to collect (scarcity).

If I have something to say about the piece, whether or not I know the owner, I'll leave a comment. If I'm familiar with the owner's gallery and this new piece fits into his goals, I'll write a note of congratulations. Often times I'm checking CAF on a quickie and I don't have time to write a comment, or maybe I like the piece but I don't have anything fresh to say about it, then I'll "like" it. I think that like button is underutilized.

I'm really sorry for your loss. This might be apple and oranges, but this April I lost the sketchbook that got me started collecting art. They were mostly freebies, but it's the memories of interacting with the creators, like Herb Trimpe, that I valued the most. This is to say that I feel your pain. Anyway, based on another experience, please file a police report. It's likely that you already did; but if you haven't, no one (e.g. a local comic shop owner) can do anything about recovering your stolen possession without a police report. Best of luck...

The OP's pics aren't very clear, but it looks like Surfer is really obscured in this page. $3K sounds like a lot of money for lettering. I'd certainly get outbid on this one, if Cosmic Marvel was my cup of tea.

Do you mean ComicLink? Ron Lim's page from Infinity Gauntlet #5, p. 37 from 1991 described as "Nebula Reveals Her Evil Plan to Eros/Starfox, the Brother of Thanos" sold for $1,922 on 9/19/2017 (just making an archival record here because we tend to lose track of these results). That's without Surfer in it as stated. So a page like yours, I've been persuaded, would probably end at around $2K, or even more with the right timing at the right auction house. If you're thinking of selling start talking to CL now before the market cools, as everything eventually does.