John E.

Justice League Mortal movie storyboard featuring several OMACs by Ryan Sook - SOLD

Superman: Vol. 1: Before Truth, Superman sketch by Gene Luen Yang - NO LONGER AVAILABLE (MAY 3, 2017)

I find the price drop to page 7 of Action Comics interesting. I interpret the $900 as a huge market correction. When it sold for $1,777 in February 2016, it was one month before the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, back when it was 55/45 that it was going to be a stinker. Wasn't it about a month before its release that the new trailers revealed that Doomsday was going to appear in the film? If everyone was like me, I was quite surprised by it. I noticed how the 1st appearance of Doomsday issue rose in value (I dumped mine at a good price) between then and the film's release. I see the $1,777 hammer price purely driven by hype and speculation and the seller milked that page for all he could. A year later, now that we now that we've seen how fans and critics pummeled the movie and how {spoiler} Doomsday's no longer going be around, the speculative interest has inevitably cooled on a page like that. I'd be interested to know why the previous owner decided to put it up on auction in such a short time despite that it's a really nice page though with the type of detail you come to expect from Butch. $900 is the right price for it, but I'd love for it to go up on auction again a year from now so that I can pick it up for $450 

26 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

I think I posted these awhile back on another thread, but here are all of my Alias/Pulse pages.

This was the book that kind of got my wife and I into Marvel in the early 2000s. We followed Bendis over from his indie work to this and loved it.

The last image is her 1st app. The first page of the book was just her office door.

 

Does anyone else remember that convention in the hallway at Madison Square Garden in 2003?

That is awesome stuff, BCarter. I'm remembering that thread now. I'd love me a nice Gaydos-Alias example. That page 2/1st app is primo. Congrats on owning that. 

12 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

Um, first appearance of Jessica Jones... send me your bids over $65K!

Do you own the page and/or cover? I'd love to see it if it's on CAF...

55 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

Oh well.  At least the OA to the 1st appearance of Gwen Stacy exists, which is really all the matters.  

heh heh...good point

Much has been written this morning that I would like to respond to, but can't. Nonetheless, those conversations have led me to this:

• New Mutants #98 (1991) - 1st app Deadpool - traditional pencil & ink with traditional lettering.
• Alias #1 (2001) 1st app Jessica Jones - Cover: full "artistic" illustration (so it seems to me); interior pages: pencil & ink. Possibly heavy with stats. No lettering.
• New X-Men #128 (2002) 1st app Fantomex - Looks like pencil and ink interiors exist, but that's just a guess. No traditional lettering(?).
• NYX #3 (2004) 1app X-23 - Pencil only cover. No background, no traditional lettering.
• Ultimate Fallout #4 (2011) 1st app Miles Morales - I don't know if artwork exists
• Captain Marvel #17 (2013) 1st app Kamala Kahn - I don't know if OA exists, but if it does, there'd be a debate as to which pages is the best/true 1st app.
• Edge of Spider Verse #2 (2014) 1st app Spider-Gwen - I don't think OA exists
• Jane Foster-Thor, Moon Girl, Indian Spider-Woman -- your guess is as good as mine if OA exists and, if it does, how does it looks like? Pencils? Pencils and inks on separate boards, Inks over bluelines, etc.

First, it's sad that nowadays you can't take for granted if physical artwork exists. Nevertheless, the point I wanted to make across with this list is that that NYX #3 cover is part of a dying breed of physical art. Twenty to twenty-five years from now, if a collector wanted to buy a 1st appearance of a major/popular/important character from the turn of the century, then his or her options are limited. Despite its all-pencil rendering, that NYX #3 is starting to look mighty special right now. 

36 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

So many nice pieces in the last few days!

Who's the artist on MJ here?

 

I'd like to know, too! And that Darwyn-Wonder Woman...

Very good points, Gene and SquareChaos. I've been following the thread but I haven't had the time to respond to everything. I now remember that a few pages back I wanted to mention that if the cover for Alias #1 (1st app Jessica Jones) went up for auction simultaneously with NYX #3, and if I had the money, I would bid 3X as aggressively for the Alias cover. If anything, the "finished" Mack cover just has more value. 

As an aside, I believe the 1st app of Winter Soldier is on CAF. I never thought of it as a 30K page. Expensive, yes. $30K+? I have my doubts.

2 hours ago, Michael Browning said:

No, it was golden blond and cut in a bowl. But, I think we wore the same brand of pants - Toughskins.

Michael, congrats. It's a beautiful splash. You need to teach a course on how to track down your childhood nostalgic grails. Seriously.

11 hours ago, stinkininkin said:

I wouldn't go that far!    Having not read it, it might be great stuff.  I enjoyed Logan the movie.  For all I know, X23 is a great addition to the Xmen universe.  My embarrassment is more about how out of the comic loop I find myself sometimes, after being addicted for so many years.  

Scott

X-23 is now the "All-New Wolverine" in her own series. I read the first arc off the stand and it was enjoyable. It's like Gene says about modern comics: they are fun, but an hour later you forget what you just read. In this series, part of "X-23's" character arc is that she has to control her homicidal impulses. To me, part of the appeal of the original Wolverine is his "berserker mode." So to have a tame Wolverine? I don't know if that's going to be as appealing as Logan. 

That said, now that Disney owns Marvel, I'm not sure (re: I doubt) Marvel is going to take risks in their storytelling. I don't know if we're ever going to get a "Miller DD run" or a "Byrne FF run" or the like again. I could go on and on about this, but I won't. I will say that there's always the chance of poor editorial decisions that could ruin X-23/Wolverine, that can erode the character's popularity because she is still a relatively new character. (As an aside, wasn't Fantomex hugely popular and where is he now?) If I were a serious contender, I would seriously consider this in my run for the piece.

Lastly, I like the point that Gene made earlier (I think it was him) that there is a lot more nicer (and finished and "blue chip") to be had for $25K-$30K. If I had that kind of money to spend, I'd top out at $7K and then go buy 2 or 3 Sam Kieth covers.

9 minutes ago, Bill C said:

you have SDCC

I agree, but it's not easy to get to SDCC. Correction: not economical. 

I figure the good folks who run Comic Art Con are (obviously) East Coast people who keep it local; there's probably no real incentive to bring it to the west. A few months ago a similar thread was started and the conclusion drawn was to start your own. I kicked around the idea in my head for a day, but the biggest obstacle (for me at least) is having to pony up the deposit or fee for the venue rental up front. Second, it is getting the word out. Besides the additional cost of flyers, you'd be better served advertising Northern and Southern California (unless by west you mean Montana or Idaho ). 

Bronty, that is an awesome piece. How is that not a grail? I never played that game, however, it was everywhere! Funny, in 1992 I was a 9th grader and it was the last year the high school was an open campus. At lunch, I'd meet my friends at a nearby pool hall, pay $2 for two chili dogs and a drink (nutritious!), and play a G.I. Joe video game for quite some time on a quarter. That Addams Family pinball was in there. With a few minutes left before the bell, I'd walk a two doors down to the only comic shop in town and pick up my books (Da 90s schlock!) before geometry. Ah, good times!

Origin #2 - 1st appearance Wolverine remark by Herb Trimpe (Dynamic Forces edition) -

SOLD

Darth Vader (with Storm Troopers, Death Star, Star Destroyer, Tie Fighters) by Mel Smith (aka Chimp-9) - SOLD

Mixed Media

Gamorrean Guard by Gaz Gretzky (signed by actor, too) - SOLD

Ink and Copic marker

Batman and Riddler by Mark Badger

Brush & ink

SOLD eBay Link

2 hours ago, Nexus said:

I probably own more of a certain artist's work than any other collector. I bought everything I could get my hands on, and then proceeded to upgrade whenever possible. I love the stuff.

It was around the height of my mania when TO CATCH A PREDATOR became a thing on NBC's DATELINE. It occurred to me, as I was watching it, that if said artist ever "appeared" on that show, I may as well burn everything I had from him. Not just from a value standpoint, but I wouldn't want to own it anymore, either.

Luckily, he has avoided all stings so far.

 

Funny you say this, Felix. In thinking about this topic more because I found an artist that checks off all the boxes on my list as a collector and whose work has the potential for growth, I thought about selling it all to buy as much as I could. Then I stopped to think, What if he committed a crime so despicable that no one including myself would want anything to do with him? What then? It's one thing if the market for his work softened--sort of like you say that if your collection's value dropped in half tomorrow, you would be okay with it. But it's another thing to be deeply ashamed of owning the art.

Even if our guys don't get caught in sting, there's always the "don't meet your heroes" scenario. What if I meet the artist and he's a total D to me? What then? (Well, at least I can sell off).

Rationally speaking, though, the chances of the artists having to register on a government list some time in the future is one in a million, while the chances of making a good "investment" call might be better.

At the end of the day, I figured owning 2-3 pieces might be best, but there too many artists out there that I like to remain...monogamous 

20 minutes ago, NinjaSealed said:

Well, I may end up looking like the village insufficiently_thoughtful_person but I still so no way in hell it sells for only 15k. $60k is my upper range bidding war number if a couple people really want it, but I would be shocked at anything less than $35k-40k.

I'm curious why everyone thinks it goes for ~$15k? Is it the artist? The fact that it is newer art and is kind of unfinished compared to the published cover? The fact that it is only a little over 10 years old? Technically not a first appearance since she was a cartoon character first?

Yes, Yes, Yes, and No.

The most important thing going for it is that it's a first appearance of one of the most popular characters created in the Modern Age. The original piece actually looks better than I thought (more on this later). But what it really comes down to, it's a pencil piece. There are a lot of collectors, myself included, who stay away from pencil pieces. If it was inked, then that's something else. And let's not talk about the lack of trade dress, though in recent conversations about modern art, modern art collectors aren't deterred by the lack of  it, so this might be a moot point. I am not a contender for this art, but if I was, there would be a point where I'd say, "Am I really going to pay $30K for a pencil piece? Am I buying this just to have it?" Furthermore, like @Matches_Malone points out, that right arm of hers is distracting. That has to be taken into account.

But, listen, my qualifier is that there are a lot of deep pockets out there. And if two "Hollywood" people want it, then it blows all reasoning out of the water. And apparently to some people, spending $30K on a piece of art is like me paying $30 for an action figure.

my initial prediction at the start of the thread was $9,200. If It doesn't break $20K, I'd say $18,700. If it does break $20K, I think $22,500.

1 hour ago, WoWitHurts said:

Not really original art but I always dug this promo poster I pulled off of my buddies store in the 80's

Hey, if it's vintage, it's okay in my book! That's a really nice piece--framing and all.

4 hours ago, AnkurJ said:

Here's a wall in my office. I'm very fortunate to have a local framer with whom I worked out a bulk discount. The large pieces cost me $90 to frame and the small pieces $75. They're all double matted with spacers and UV glass. Everything is archival.

 

Nice pattern of arrangement, Ankur!

Andy and Lucy Neanderthal illustration by Jeffrey Brown

1 hour ago, Captain Canuck said:

Just picked it up from the framers. Thanks for the advice Jay. I also had it signed by Lee, as on Kirby's drawing board is photo of me with Stan. This was a Kirby drawing, adapted and re colored by Mike Decarlo.

 

Very nice! That's a good width for the matted and the frame looks very simple and clean. Certainly show us how it looks on the wall. 

I just talked to the framing manager at Michael's about framing options this week. First, never mount anything. Ask for "conservation" options. The manager said he could create a matte with hinges (so it opens like a book) and the artwork can sit between the mattes and never have to be mounted in any way. 

Other than that, always opt for the non-reflective glass and UV protected glass. As I read in other threads, stick to simple black and white styles, whether you go with a black or white matte is up to you. Ostentatious framing will detract from the artwork. Lastly, make sure you give your art at least three inches of matte border, maybe more, to give it a "museum" look. 

1 hour ago, O. said:

New Article - 3/3/17

Market report on last week's Heritage Signature Auction is up!

http://comicbookinvest.com/2017/03/03/market-report-february-2017-heritage-signature-auction/

 

Nice write-up, Mr. O. I appreciate the summary. Also, it was nice to see you in the CAF profile this week.