rocket1312

That was a fun episode. Robert's about a year older than me and it sounds like we both got into comics at the same time. It was fun to hear such enthusiasm for the art of that era. I will admit that it was a little bittersweet to hear him talk about his love for Youngblood. An early Youngblood page is pretty high on my checklist and they don't pop up very often. Knowing that someone like Kirkman is after the same stuff is a bit disheartening.

I was stunned to see that Daredevil cover show up in a Sunday auction and figured it had to be some sort of mistake. I assume it was meant to be included in the Summer auction. I've never consigned to Heritage, so I don't know anything about their usual procedures, but if I was the consignor of that cover, I'd be pretty upset to see it relegated to a weekly auction.

I can't help with the Flash 218 cover, but your best bet for Kolins pages is to get in touch with Scott directly. He's active on Facebook and Twitter and is a super nice guy. When I saw him at a show last summer, he definitely had some nice Rogues' Revenge pages in his portfolio for sale. He also told me that if there was anything I was interested in that was not in his portfolio that he'd be willing to mail me the art (if it was available).

I've only been at this for about 2 years, but compared to just about any other hobby I've ever taken up, it's the one that has hit me hardest. However, I voted only moderately addicted vs. crazy addicted mainly for 2 reasons. The first reason is that CAF has recently been rendered mostly unusable by my workplace's firewall, so I just kind of fell away from checking it every day. The second, and bigger reason, is the escalating dollar amounts. I know that there are plenty of ways to engage with this hobby at lower price levels, but the bottom line is that most of the stuff I want is priced well beyond what I'm willing to spend. That tends to take a lot of the fun out it.

I can't speak for the winner, but I was the under-bidder on that one and the note on the back didn't have anything to do with my bid (not that it isn't an interesting curio). I'm just an X-Men fan whose budget will not accommodate even a mediocre first-run Cockrum or a Byrne. I thought the page in question was actually really nice for a second run Cockrum and I get the sense that the window for quality Cockrum pages going for low 4 figures is quickly closing. If I had been doing this even 5 years ago, I'd probably scoff at that price, but every day that goes by brings me closer and closer to getting shut out of the pre-JRJR X-Men market completely so I'd like to fill that hole in my collection sooner rather than later.

So if everyone if off by over $1000, then no one wins? Even if 1 person is within $1001 and everyone else is off by, I don't know, $5000? I guess I don't see the point of the limit.

That's all well and good, but what's the size of the pie 20 years from now?

I'll also add that while I prefer art with lettering 99% of the time, if the dialogue of a page in question doesn't make a lot of sense when taken out of context, or feels incomplete without the subsequent page(s), that can sometimes diminish the quality of an otherwise good page in my mind as well. However, this is more likely to come in to play when comparing lower end talkier panel pages. The higher end splash/action pages are more or less immune to this phenomena.

As someone who collects both vintage and modern OA, I will say that for the most part I much prefer the vintage stuff (I just wish I could afford more of it). The lack of word balloons on modern OA is a bummer, but it's not a dealbreaker for me as long as the page tells a coherent visual story. In my opinion, digital coloring and backgrounds are the much bigger issue. The large areas of blank space (or x's to denote black) that you sometimes get with modern OA leave the pages feeling incomplete or off-balanced. I'm not really interested in a page that looks like a collection of random figures or headshot doodles with no discernible context.

The leg on that Flash strip is distracting, but what makes it worse for me is the way it lines up perfectly with the roll of the map makes it look like a dismembered limb with the femur exposed. I feel like if the out of place leg had been covered up by something else, it wouldn't be near as noticeable.

If FMV was not a consideration, I would trade my entire collection in a second for the Lee/Williams cover to X-Men #3. Unfortunately, my collection amounts to a small fraction of what that cover's worth. If I were to trade based on value, I would probably end up with something most bigger collectors would deem a throwaway piece. I could name any number of pages I'd love to have in the range of what my collection's worth, but I don't think I would trade everything I have to get one of them. Furthermore, if my collection were to ever catch up to that X-Men cover in terms of overall value, it would mean that my collection would most likely be filled with lots of great stuff, thus decreasing the likelihood that I would make the trade. All that said, the idea of cutting the collection down to a handful of key pieces that I could put on permanent display is very appealing to me. If I could somehow trade my entire collection for my own personal top 5, I might be willing to do that, regardless of what I'd be giving up.

I'll play... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Notebook Series: Raphael cover (SDCC 2016 variant) - Kevin Eastman (Published/Unpublished: Covers) Kevin Eastman and IDW have done great things with the TMNT property in recent years. Eastman in particular has produced some great covers for both the main series as well as the various spin-offs and collections. I was quite thrilled to add to my collection this one featuring the classic team-up of Raphael and Casey Jones. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=8695 Superman/Batman #66, p.06 - Scott Kolins (Published: Splash Pages, Pinups) Scott is one of my favorite current artists and I added a lot of his work to my collection this year. Despite having no particular attachment to either the comic or character in question, this page easily stands as my favorite. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=8689 New Warriors #16, p.18 - Mark Bagley & Larry Mahlstedt (Published: Interior Panel Pages) A great page from my favorite arc of one of my all-time favorite series. I don't care how many issues of Spider-Man the guy has done or will do. For me, Mark Bagley = New Warriors. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=8686 X-Force #16, p.04 - Greg Capullo & Harry Candelario (Published: Interior Panel Pages) I know this page has been around the block a few times here on CAF, but it's new to me. There isn't another page in my collection that pushes my nostalgia buttons quite like this one. While they almost always disappointed in the end, this page nicely sums up everything that was great about those giant X-Men crossovers that seemed to rule the comic scene for a time in the late 80's/early 90's. I know Capullo is more well known these days for Spawn and Batman, but with all apologies to Rob Liefeld, I will always remember him as the definitive X-Force artist. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=8693 Flash vs. Zoom commission - Scott Kolins (Published/Unpublished: Commissions) The Johns/Kolins run on Flash is a personal favorite, with the highlight being the introduction of Zoom. No matter what Johns has done in subsequent years to relegate Wally to second-tier status, he'll always be "my" Flash. When I contacted Scott about doing a commission, there was really only one choice of subject matter in my mind. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=8688

You can suspect anything you'd like. The truth is you don't know a thing about me or my politics and as you've pointed out repeatedly, this is not the place to discuss such things. I will concede that perhaps voodou's specific use of the terms socialism and communism was improper, but I still don't believe discussing the the Kirby situation within the context of the current legal climate as it relates to property law is improper, and I'll leave it at that.

Voudu's post was fine. All he was doing was putting the issue at hand within its proper legal/political context. I read no judgement one way or the other in his post. Condemning his post would be like condemning someone referencing the 2008 recession when discussing market fluctuations in the hobby. It's not good or bad. It just is.

I'm relatively new to all of this like you and had the same questions when I was getting started and the best advice I can give is to just move along and pretend you never saw any of that stuff on their site. It's probably not even worth taking the time to e-mail them. Seriously.

While I don't necessarily disagree with your assessment, the pages offered are for the most part bottom of the barrel. New Warriors does have a fairly rabid cult following, but relatively speaking, it's still just a small cult. (I'm reminded of the New Warriors Omnibus Marvel released a couple of years ago that went on to become one of the most heavily discounted and clearanced Marvel omnibuses of recent memory.) The market may grow in the next few years as more fans/potential collectors come of age, but as things currently stand, I think there are few enough of us out there that just about anyone who might be interested already has better examples in their collection. That said, I did grab 3 pages and probably would have bought more if I wasn't making an effort to curb spending for the year.

I only have one page. I foolishly passed on a couple of others before I realized just how competitive this tiny corner of the hobby happens to be. That said, the page I do have is from my favorite arc, so if I never get another, I won't be too disappointed.

You can add me to the list of Bagley New Warriors collectors. It really is tough out there. I'd happily call it a day if I were ever able to get my hands on a cover. After X-Men, it was my favorite series back when I was 11. I recently re-read the entire Bagley run (#1-25) and while it took a few issues to get going, for the most part it held up nicely. It's nothing ground breaking, but the characters are likeable and the stories are a lot of fun. It reads kind of like a New Teen Titans for the 90's. However, if you weren't born between, say, 1976 and 1980, your mileage may vary.

As a matter of fact... The streak continues! not sure if there was a single fact you guys agreed on with that DK sale We agree on some, but not all. It's fine...just wanted to illustrate how far Gene had come from 2009 to today. And also to shoehorn in another DKR reference:P Unfortunately I think the point was pretty well lost in the disagreement. But I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the conversation! I especially liked Gene's story about the X-Men #172 cover. As someone who's new to the hobby, it's fun to hear about those sorts of deals and the legwork involved. I realize that it's not always kosher to talk publicly about some of these private deals, but I'd love to hear more of that kind of thing on future episodes.

Thanks for the info guys. Hitting up inkers is something that makes complete sense, but never occurred to me before. Thanks. Another question: I know bargaining with art dealers in person at a show is an accepted part of the game, but what's considered proper protocol with regards to shopping via dealer websites? I know every dealer is different, but is it considered poor form (or even a waste of time) to try to negotiate a lower price on a piece posted on one of the major dealer sites? Does it depend on the piece and the price? For example, I'd imagine a little back and forth over a $30k cover is ok, but I mostly play in the $2k and under sandbox. Am I just being a if I try and get a lower price on something at that level?

It seems strange to me that someone looking to invest in a niche collectible at that level (especially someone like him with such a highly public, negative profile) would be asking these sorts of questions on a public forum. Especially under his own name.

Something I've always wondered, does the OA we see available on the internet offer a fairly comprehensive overview of the OA that is out there and available via dealers and artists? The reason I'm asking is because I've never attended cons before and was curious if I am missing out on a significant chunk of the OA being made available to the public. I understand cons are still important to the hobby when it comes to networking and private deals between collectors and things of that nature, but what about for schmoes like me who just want to plunk their money down and walk away with a new piece? Can I expect to find the same old, same old stuff that I've been looking at on the internet for months? Or is it common for dealers/artists to sell things at cons that never make up on any website?

I see that he mentions more (and perhaps cheaper) art to be put up on the site at some point. Does anyone know if he still has any of his X-Force art? That's the Capullo I'm interested in. I know some of it is out in the wild, but not much from what I've seen.

Huh? I wonder how I missed it on CAF? Thanks for the help.

Since we're on the topic of Classic X-Men covers, I don't suppose anyone has any idea where this Byrne cover to issue #43 is hiding? I probably couldn't afford it either way, but I'd still be interested to know if it's out there.