Reno McCoy

Hughes women can often look the same in the face as well. A certain plastic, perfect narrow symmetry.

 

Still, he had the fabulous idea to do an Audrey Hepburn Catwoman and I do really like those covers, and no, not for the reason that often gets tossed around. The reason I prefer Hughes over JSC (by a very large margin) is because he can convey human emotion in his images. I rarely see JSC even attempt to do that.

This. Always this.

Hughes draws great boobs, sure. He he captures emotion in a way that's lightyears better than most other artists. With Hughes covers, it's not hard to imagine what the characters are thinking or what their motivation is for doing whatever they're doing in the image. For the most part, his images are much more than a pretty face and tight body.

The main cover guys I see the most talk about are Hughes and JSC - what do they have in common? That's right.

 

Hughes has longer lasting appeal in my opinion, I think his talent is broader and more expressive.

 

Who else has drawn some of these 'high-dollar "cover artist keys'? As I said before, it's still a hard topic to discuss because it's so subjective from individual to individual.

 

D'O?

 

Hughes

JSC

Dell'Otto

 

Lets keep it going - identify them, identify the covers in question, then you can have a much more focused talk.

Those were the only three I could think of when starting the thread. I doubt there are others, but if there are, there certainly aren't many.

I suppose a good litmus test will be if the person who purchased the ASM#667 for $9K (from an admittedly greedy type) can recoup their layout.

 

This seems to be apples to the OP's oranges again...

 

Well, it's the one way we'll know if these items are holding their value.

It seems people only want to talk about relatively affordable books here, not high dollar ones.

 

So basically they want to know if Hughes non-variant non-members cover specific books will maintain value.

 

You make it sound like we should only talk really high dollar stuff or nothing at all. Everyone buys/collects different things, and everyone wants to talk about different things. If discussing such insignificant comics is such a bad thing for you, shift the conversation where you want it to go or create another thread.

 

This is a conversation. Conversations move around a subject based on new input. Feel free to talk about variants, or comics that cost $1000 instead of $150. I don't care. My original question was intended to discuss non-variant comics that are valued higher than their counterparts because of a cool cover. That doesn't mean we have to focus solely on that.

 

I don't know of that many books that were produced in the last 10 years that are selling for $1000s that aren't variants, so I've tended toward discussing the $150+ range. Mostly because if you add a rarity element to the mix, it muddies the water on why a book is demanding a lot of money.

 

Not at all, I'm just saying the question is very narrow and the answer seems obvious. It isn't as nebulous as the more interesting high priced books that cause so much angst, that's all. May as well ask if keys will maintain value... Sure, as long as whatever makes it a key remains relevant. It'd a bit tautalogical.

 

Actually, that's another great way to look at it. Keys remain valuable as long as they remain important/relevant. So, is an artist more or less likely to remain relevant than a character? That's a complete crystal ball sort of question, sure, but to me, it's an interesting question while I'm sitting at work. (More interesting to me anyway, in part because I don't care a bit about insanely priced variants that aren't attainable or even desirable.)

I have come to realize that the current state of comic books is so awful right now in both stories and art that the only thing a modern collector has to look forward to every month from the big 2 is a cool new variant cover to gaze at.

I can understand the sentiment. As far as Marvel and DC goes, I rarely buy a book for any other reason. There are, however, some great comics out there, they just aren't being made by the big boys.

I suppose a good litmus test will be if the person who purchased the ASM#667 for $9K (from an admittedly greedy type) can recoup their layout.

 

This seems to be apples to the OP's oranges again...

 

Well, it's the one way we'll know if these items are holding their value.

It seems people only want to talk about relatively affordable books here, not high dollar ones.

 

So basically they want to know if Hughes non-variant non-members cover specific books will maintain value.

You make it sound like we should only talk really high dollar stuff or nothing at all. Everyone buys/collects different things, and everyone wants to talk about different things. If discussing such insignificant comics is such a bad thing for you, shift the conversation where you want it to go or create another thread.

This is a conversation. Conversations move around a subject based on new input. Feel free to talk about variants, or comics that cost $1000 instead of $150. I don't care. My original question was intended to discuss non-variant comics that are valued higher than their counterparts because of a cool cover. That doesn't mean we have to focus solely on that.

I don't know of that many books that were produced in the last 10 years that are selling for $1000s that aren't variants, so I've tended toward discussing the $150+ range. Mostly because if you add a rarity element to the mix, it muddies the water on why a book is demanding a lot of money.

What other non-variant comics in the last 10 years sell in the $150 to $300 range? I don't really keep in touch with that sort of thing, but it might be interesting to compare similarly priced books.

Everyone is going to have a different thought on what high dollar is. I can dig that. I know there are a lot of people who think $150 is nothing to pay for a comic, but for me, for a modern, non-key, non-rare issue, anything over $40 is expensive. Keys based on storylines, sure, but cover art?

I think part of the concern is that if a series runs along and issues sell for $3 raw, but suddenly a cover artist does an issue and it's priced at $30+, can that non-key issue maintain that leap in price long term?

But let's look at some Hughes examples.I love Hughes. I've paid $150+ for non-key issues just for his cover. So I understand the urge to buy. But some of his prices compared to other issues with the same character are hard to compute.

Wonder Woman 184. Sold as best offer, but asking was $190. Even if it sold for $150, that seems high dollar for a comic that's not a key other than the cover. It sold for $200 in December.

Catwoman 51 sells for $250+ in graded 9.8. Sure, there's the argument that it's all about the Lost numbers, but c'mon, it's all about the cleavage on the cover. Catwoman isn't a big seller otherwise, so it's pretty evident this is a pricey book because of the art.

Catwoman 74. More cleavage. Sold for $200. No significant storyline or rarity that I can see.

Several other Hughes are up for sell now on eBay. Some with the asking price of $120. No storyline keys. Heck, no cleavage even. Sure, they won't sell for that, but still.

For me, the question about variants doesn't even come into play with the basic question. I'm talking regular covers with amazing cover art. Variant "rarity" helps drive the prices for those books. The question more revolves around regular comics that aren't keys yet still command decent prices.

My feeling is a little more nuanced...

 

I think keys and storylines will still be the dominant drivers of market value, but I think the "cover artist bump" is also here to stay.

I think it's that "bump" that has me questioning all of this. If there's a key issue due to a first appearance, and that has a brilliant cover, then sure, I get the increased value. But a comic that's $200+ solely because of the cover? I'm not so sure about that.

I'm a Hughes collector. Love his art. But I hesitate to buy a graded comic for $100+ just because of his art. Not when it's just another ho-hum issue of Catwoman or Wonder Woman.

I can appreciate the argument that the issues are "drying up" or finding their way into PCs. I can also appreciate the fact that art collectors buy for covers more and more instead of the story. I just don't understand some of the prices.

I probably shouldn't be anymore, but I'm still surprised at the increasing prices that covers by artists like Hughes, JSC, Dell'Otto and others can command. Even those that aren't "rare" variants or particularly low print runs can see high prices. For a book that's not a storyline-based key issue, it seems that those are some crazy numbers. I'm not sold on an issue being considered a key just because people like the cover image.

Can these prices for cover artist keys be maintained longterm? What happens if/when an artist retires and isn't in the limelight anymore...will those prices falter accordingly? If a character falls out of favor or is no longer important, that character's key issues typically lose value...will the same thing happen to an artist if his work isn't hyped anymore?

Looking to sell my set of Daredevil comics. This is volume 3, by Mark Waid and (mostly) Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin.

I accept paypal only.

First gets it, even if I've already made a deal in private.

Asking price: $45 shipped in the U.S. That's essentially $1 each plus shipping. If you're outside of the U.S. and are interested, let's discuss shipping fees.

Issues include 37 comics:

• Daredevil 1-34 (with 2 copies of 21)
  
• Avenging Spider-Man 6
  
• The Punisher 10

Comics average NM condition. However, most are NM+. The first issue has a spine crease and is probably a 9.4.

Over time, that accumulation of books starts to get on my nerves and I get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of books I have in my collection and begin to think "why the hell do I do this?"...then I have a big sales thread and all is right in the world again.

 

Wash, rinse, repeat...

This. Right here.

Someone once told me, "We don't own comics. We rent them." I laughed at the time, but I'm seeing now just how true that statement is.

I'm at the point again in which I'm selling off chunks of my collection to make room for other books or to simply get rid of books I'm no longer interested in. Sometimes I think about how much free time I'd have it I wasn't always cycling through comics to sell.

When it comes PCs (as opposed to speculating/flipping or selling as a business), is it common for collectors to constantly go through the cycle of buying and selling? Or is this simply a product of the fact that I've never found a focused collecting goal?

I'm up to $1631 with 17 days to go. That means I'm fully funded, but have a couple of weeks to reach some stretch goals.

Looks like only a handful of people who provided a guess are out of the running for the prizes.

If someone doesnt post the surprise loot, should we just assume he didn't like it?

best of luck - the kickstarter campaign page looks great

 

as an elementary school teacher, I'd love to read/share it with my students.

All of my stretch goals have to do with sharing copies with schools, libraries, and children's hospital. When everything's settled down, I'd definitely like to send you copies. What grade do you teach? Do you have the technology in your class to have me share a video or even Skype with the students? I'd love to talk with them, even briefly, about how comics are made.

My first Kickstarter campaign is now live.

First step in the process of becoming a small comic publisher is now complete.

Closing this contest around noon EST tomorrow. If anyone else wants to get in on it, by all means, make a guess. No need to back or even look at my campaign.

As a fan, I stay on the look out for new issues with Hughes covers. I've been watching Betty and Veronica, and unfortunately, it's seen slip after slip after slip. According to Comixology, issue 3 is slipping a full year.

Granted, I'm sure that's just a placeholder date since the issue was canceled with a plan for resolicitation, but does anyone want to venture a guess as to when it'll see publication?

I'm liking the responses. Let's hope the campaign gets that high.

Two of the first four don't even think I'll fund the project. Gotta love this place.

I'm starting my first Kickstarter campaign for a new series of scary comics. The campaign starts Tuesday, January 10. Since many of you have supported me in the past, and because there's been a lot of giving around the holidays, I thought it'd be fun to have a little contest for my launch.

The rules are simple:

• Guess the final amount of money the campaign earns and post it in this thread.
  
• Board member with the closest guess, over or under, wins his choice of prize.
  
• Board member with the second closest guess wins the remaining prize.
  
• If there's a tie (either because someone picked a total that was over and another that was under, or because two boardies guessed the same amount) the winner is determined by the post time stamp.
  
• Editing a post or posting more than one guess is grounds for disqualification.
  
• Contest starts now and ends early on the morning of January 10 (I'll post here prior to launch)
  
• You do not need to back my campaign to enter/win the contest.

About the campaign:

• My goal is $1500.
  
• The campaign runs for 30 days, starting Tuesday, January 10.
  
• The comic is a stand-alone, scary comic. It's technically all ages, but I'm targeting kids in the 6 to 10 age group.
  
• The comic is 24 full-color pages.
  
• The goal of the campaign is to fund the print run of 1000 copies.
  
• Click here to see preview pages.

The Prizes

There are two prizes. One is Captain America 108.

The other prize is a set of three Tarzan comics: 222, 223, 237 (very nice, HG copies).

I just opened my package, and boy am I happy. I won item 67: Saga 1-12, donated by aszumilo. Although I was hoping for nice copies, I figured I'd get some NM issues. Instead, what I got was near perfection. These copies are frickin' beautiful. Not only that, but he included the first 18 issues, not just the first 12. And there's a second print of issue 8, too.

 

I'm stoked. I couldn't be happier. Andrew rules!

 

The box arrived in less than 48 hours, and it was package perfectly. Man oh man, what a raffle prize!

 

 

Lucky bum - that was #3 on my list

 

Well, 1-18, except for 13. Didn't have a copy of that one to throw in.

Oh, then never mind. This is a terrible prize.

Just kidding. Still the best!

I just opened my package, and boy am I happy. I won item 67: Saga 1-12, donated by aszumilo. Although I was hoping for nice copies, I figured I'd get some NM issues. Instead, what I got was near perfection. These copies are frickin' beautiful. Not only that, but he included the first 18 issues, not just the first 12. And there's a second print of issue 8, too.

I'm stoked. I couldn't be happier. Andrew rules!

The box arrived in less than 48 hours, and it was package perfectly. Man oh man, what a raffle prize!

I'm disappointed that his Betty & Veronica books are coming out so slowly, but this will be nice to add to the collection.

 

Is that the next cover? Like it.

No, sorry. Should've mentioned that in the post. It's a variant for the upcoming Sabrina one shot. I think it'll be solicited in the next Previews.

As far as i can remember, B&V have only been solicited to issue 3, out next week.