Smokinghawk

That's a shame; even when I was 13 I recognized Bill S. as one of the best, but my friend s didn't get it ("No way! John Byrne and Walt Simonson are the hot artists!"), so I always felt a bit proud to be ahead of my time. And I still like Bill's work a lot. I had a similar issue with Josh Medors, who accepted a commission from me and continually said "next week" for about a year. I do have to say, though, that the quality of the work I got was stunning. But another board member went through even worse with him, and couldn't enjoy the final product because of the bad taste in his mouth about the experience.

Okay, here's an addendum: Age 15: now that Conan is contraband, I'm as addicted to it as ever. I find a copy of #100 at a comic book store in London, Ontario. To sneak it home, I keep it literally bootlegged, rolled against my shin in my sock, all the way from Canada to Alabama, in a polybag. Conan himself would have been proud. Ages 13-15: D&D games with best friends, Allen and Denis. This trio would later be documented in the show "Freaks and Geeks," which I am 100% convinced was based on us. Age 16: Denis and I mow lawns to raise money to buy Daredevil #1 fn. Age 18: Denis is killed by a drunk driver. Daredevil #1 becomes my most valuable book, in a way no Overstreet can ever measure. Age 29: birth of first son. Age 35: First trip to LCS with son. He's hooked. Age 35: track down Allen after 16 years, finding him working for Amazon in Seattle. He remembers every detail of our friendship since 2nd grade. We finally openly grieve Denis together. Age 37: The legacy of Allen, Denis and I lives on, ready to pass to my younger generation.

1971 - born Age 12 - reading Conan the Barbarian Age 13 - found a drug store that would sell Savage Sword of Conan to a kid Age 13 - Mom discovers Conan comics, browses them, and destroys them in outrage. Age 13 - Hopelessly hooked on comics' ability to outrage my mother. Age 14 - discover local back-issue comic book store, and begin biking there to spend weekly allowance. The concept of "valuable" back-issues dawns. Age 15 - Take a gamble to buy ASM #14 for $20. That's the fun part of the story. The rest is "collecting as usual."

Actually, I have an 8-year-old boy, and he thought this room looked REALLY cool. He loved the Doctor Who toy display--it's his favorite!

These are just a few of my original Conan art pieces. I really liked Conan drawn by Buscema and inked by Chan; I can't stand Chan's own "solo" Conan drawings in recent years, though. I really wish I had a Buscema/Alcala piece from SSOC, too. Conan was the first comic to get me hooked at age 11-12.

His right hand--! I'm so juvenile.

Enough comic book art, then, can we see your wife?

There's a page form Conan the Barbarian, an issue in the mid-140's by Buscema, where Conan is in a dark tavern (as usual) and he drunkenly hefts up a heckler and says, "fellow,..." [next panel, throwing him through the air] "...GO AWAY!" My friends and I just laughed and laughed at that scene (we were 11), and it was the first Conan comic I ever bought. I was hooked on Conan by Buscema, and began ravenously devouring comics. That was the start of my collecting.

I noticed that, too. I'm wondering what's going on, because he never charged my card last week after we finalized the deal. However, Anthony Snyder has a tendency to leave pieces catalogued in "new arrivals" long after they've sold.

Just bought this form Alex Maleev: Hopefully the link will remain live for a while...

Very nice Back when Bill could actually draw. What are you talking about? Bill S's drawings are AWESOME! They're just not typical Neal Adams stuff anymore; they're strange and schizophrenic but superb.

did they color the original pencils/ink and who did the work? Super nice piece It was done by Photoshop on a scan by Terry at mycolorist.com for $100 in about 3 days. Thats who I used for the last Medors piece, too. I'll frame this print side-by-side with the original drawing and hang it in my office at the hospital!

My Josh Medors commission, now colored:

How do you get Lark pages from DD?

Benes draws a nice .

If you really wanted it, he had it up on CAF for a week prior.....sorry Of course, I'm only teasing in good-natured envy. Congrats! I love that page.

You jerk, micmack! You're the reason I didn't get that splash!

Just received this painting in the mail:

I now have a CAF gallery at http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=11413 You've all seen my newest piece though:

Anyone ever bought an ungraded book from comic-keys that turned out to be 7.5 or better and NOT restored?

Yeah, I remember that odd coupling - back in '91, I think it was (I was travelling across the U.S. at the time). Never got to see any of those gigs - would've been a very interesting clash of subcultures. The Sisters (especially the Eldritch/Hussey/Marx/Adams line-up) were my favorite band of that era. Their music still holds up very well while most of their contemporaries doesn't, particularly. The first Sisters CD was really nice, but Floodland is the amazing one for me. I'm waiting for Andrew to get off his haunches and record his new material. Maybe he can't find musicians still willing to work with him. Ever get into Siouxsie or Oingo Boingo or Love and Rockets?

Saw 'em a few times, a long time ago during the post-punk era. They were good. Do you like the Sisters Of Mercy? For a while a collected their stuff. LOVE the Sisters. Saw them tour with Public Enemy. Weird crowd. Gangsta Goth.

I collect racist Native American "Americana" items--comics, figuringes, postcards, souveniers. This is used for youth education in our tribal cultural center. I also collect memorabilia related to the original gothic band, Bauhaus. A personal favorite.