Michael Browning

I picked these up today. I sold off all my DCU variants a few weeks ago and hadn’t intended on buying anymore. Anybody need them?

Rom is one of the better series Marvel published during that time. In my opinion, it stands with Tomb of Dracula and Master of Kung Fu as one of the most consistently-good series from beginning to end. I have the full run collected in custom-bound hardcovers, but I will still be buying the omnibuses.

Here are the two PUBLISHED covers that started off as commissions. 

On 5/30/2023 at 4:59 AM, The Voord said:

That's a well thought-out response, Garf, and presents a key element missing from Barney's communications (see emboldened text in the above quote extract).

Most creative-types like to have their egos stroked . . . and I'm not seeing any appreciation for the artist's craft in any of  Barney's messages to this unidentified artist. 

Instead, he says:

"Most artists have gotten rid of their pages"

Rubbish is something you get rid off . . . "released to the marketplace" might have been a better, less harsh, choice of words.

Also, because Barney states he's had no luck in tracking down any published work from the series . . . it suggests to me that the artist in question was down the list of creators to contact who worked on the book (hardly first choice) . . . which is, perhaps, why the artist became irritated in later communications (everything seemed to be going okay until Barney's "got rid" comment, and things then begin to quickly sour).  

Putting myself in the artist's shoes (I'm trying to look at this from both sides), I'd be asking myself:

"Does this guy (Barney) actually like my work . . . he doesn't say so . . . who else has he contacted before me?"

As to the business of artist's materials . . . he sounds like he relies on tried and trusted materials he's used for a long time.  Product lines do get discontinued . . . and new (replacement)  materials would need to be tested by him to see what works best.

Another thing people here might want to consider is that commissions (those that require time and effort) are usually intended for an audience of one (some commissions do end up as published pieces later on, as was the case with Mike B's Steranko piece . . . but I would imagine these a far and few between?).  As an artist, what would you prefer . . . creating work that's seen and enjoyed by thousands . . . or divert your time and effort for the benefit of just one single person?  I know where my priorities would lie.  Sure, when the work later dries up, commissions can be a good source of income . . . but the mysterious artist sounds like he's very busy with regular work being fed to him.

Been an interesting thread to follow, and it's always good to compare notes with other takes on the subject.  I'm sure Barney is a decent guy, and I wish him luck in future commission requests.

 

I’ve only had two of my 100 commissions end up as a cover — the Steranko Cap and a Luke McDonnell/Bill Wray JLA Detroit on an issue of Back Issue magazine. The McDonnell/Wray cover was thought up entirely by me and pitched to Back Issue editor Michael Eury BEFORE it was drawn, though. I then paid Luke and Bill to draw it after Michael gave it his approval. Michael liked the idea so much that he published it and my article about the JLA Detroit because the cover feature.

On 5/29/2023 at 2:37 PM, Rick2you2 said:

Consider something no more than 3-4 sentences. If the artist has done something you really liked, mention it, particularly if you know he is proud of it or if it is obscure (something only real fans would know). Artists don’t always like drawing the same old thing, so if you want something different, like Hoppy the Marvel Bunny (part of one of mine), mention it. You want his creativity and his design; don’t micromanage (“his left arm should be holding a wand…”).

I'm with you on everything except not giving direction. When I have an idea for a commission, it's that idea I want drawn. The only commission where I said "do whatever you want" was the Steranko Captain America commission he drew for me that eventually became a published Captain America 75th anniversary variant cover.

On 5/23/2023 at 3:32 AM, MagnusX said:

They are for sale now?

you should told in the first post that was you intention.

I hate when people do this.

 

Yeah, he should have been up front about that from the beginning.

Trading is a heckuva lot of fun. I’ve gotten some of my best pieces through trades. You have to trade with a reputable person and be ready to give a little up. If you are trying to get someone to trade with you, you should be prepared to make it worth their while — meaning to be prepared to give up more than what their piece is worth. When trading with dealers, you’ll have to give up quite a bit more, because they aren’t in the business of trading dollars for dollars.

On 5/22/2023 at 12:48 PM, grapeape said:

Did everyone who viewed a page get a reduced price offer? The guys were talking about that feature where a seller can tag all their viewers with a message, and first to respond wins.

Anyone take advantage of that or were the lowered prices not sufficient?

I "liked" three pieces and was hoping to get some sort of email offer, but did not. Oh well, their loss. I was ready to buy at least one, maybe two of the pieces.

On 5/22/2023 at 8:01 AM, Rick2you2 said:

All a seller needs is one enthusiastic buyer, and since each piece is unique, neither the seller nor the buyer can replace it. 

But, it is a bit ridiculous. I have been following one cover around from dealer to dealer since it was in the $3-4,000 range. It went up to $5,500 and has now settled down at $5,000. It still won't move at that price. About 4-5 years ago, I bought a better piece by the same artist for $3,200.

I’ve always wondered why you hadn’t bought that cover.

On 5/22/2023 at 3:17 AM, thethedew said:

Bought one piece only, a MICRONAUTS page, which I was not expecting.  Also; at a reasonable price, which I was also not expecting.

I don't know why I was so surprised, CAL has been pretty good to me the past few years, a DYNAMO JOE page last year.

A few people viewed it before I did but either didn't like it much, or decided to leave it for me.  If the 2nd, thanks for cutting a guy a break!  

I saw that one and was hopeful you got it. 😊

On 5/22/2023 at 12:31 AM, Darkly said:

I think most people buying SSB love the art and think it will retain its value well enough. I don't think it's insane to believe the prices may double over the next 10 years. That isn't the 10x return the initial buyers had, but that is a performance people would have killed for prior to the markets going bananas over covid. Things may normalize, that's fine. SSB may go down in value a bit over the next year(s) if tough times are ahead -- that's fine as well. But Tradd is a special artist and SSB was a special book. While buying Berkshire Hathaway stock would be safer investment, I don't think many here would get as much joy hanging the stock certificate on the wall. If you are just here to flip OA like NFTs, then god speed. For some this is just a hobby that has the added benefit that what is bought can increase in value -- no different than someone who collects classic cars or watches. Not everything has to be a bored ape. Just my 2 cents.

Let’s be clear: this is a hobby where the buy-in starts at around a grand for a decent page of anything, so it’s not JUST a hobby and you’d better be aware of what you can get back out of the art, unless you’re lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills every hour.

I don’t buy art thinking I am just going to flip it. I buy it because I genuinely like the art and want to own it. I really like Tradd Moore art, but I don’t like it enough to pay the super-high buy-in prices and, at that price point, yes, I am definitely thinking “if I pay five figures for a page, what will I be able to get for it in four or five years?” I’d be crazy not to consider that.

I don’t sell many pieces of art and haven’t in the last couple of years; I really like every single piece in my collection. I’ve also been in this hobby for more than 25 years now, far outlasting most of the collectors who loved everything they’ve ever bought and who never intend (or intended, I should say) to sell a single piece. I’ve also bought a lot of collections of art from those-who-will-never-sell-because-they-love-their-art-so-much.

Again, I like Tradd Moore art. I was one of the people really excited about his Ghost Rider and figured he would be a hot artist one day. But, I simply don’t believe people will get this huge return on investments that everyone is talking about.

On 5/21/2023 at 10:20 PM, KirbyCollector said:

Good luck on that. The more likely outcome is you will see the same unsold pages at the next con with a HIGHER price 😆 

There sure were a LOT of retreads in this one. Probably means even more in the next. After awhile, does it all become new again if the price keeps going up? 😉

On 5/21/2023 at 10:04 PM, Darkly said:

I suspect that will be more of an issue for the Doctor Strange art than the SSB art. SSB was really what launched this rocket ship and is still held in high regard as a comic series. Doctor Strange didn't get the same attention and this might be anecdotal, but most of the people I know that went after pages rather have a SSB page. It was sort of a "next best thing" situation. There will be another DS drop, probably several, and we'll see how well it holds up. It's fully possible if Tradd just slowly rolls his art out over the years this just stays firm and the market just absorbs it. That being said, some people do buy OA because they like it and not because they want to flip it ;) I know at least two collectors who have multi million dollar collections and have no plans on selling their SSB pieces, ever.

Every collector will sell one day. Or their family sure will.

I didn’t buy anything because I just might be saving up for the next Tradd Moore art drop. 😂

On 5/21/2023 at 9:35 PM, Darkly said:

It's a 4 panel action page that features Knull in all and has all of the trippy Tradd detailing on full display. It's fully consistent with what Knull pages have been selling for privately. I don't know why you are surprised, I have never seen a page from SSB sit for sale for more than 48 hours anywhere. Ever notice how all the pages that have gotten shared on CAF in the last year as just regular NFS uploads have been removed? That's because collectors with no intention of selling are getting dump trucks worth of cash pulling up their driveways the moment they let the internet know they have a page. The Doctor Strange sellout was partially a wave of FOMO for people who have cash and can't find SSB pages.

Eh, I still say that all the people paying these truckloads of cash will be sorry when the time comes to resell because there is no way that these pieces are ever being resold for 2X and 3X (and MORE! according to a few people on this thread 🙄) in my lifetime.

On 5/21/2023 at 9:25 PM, KirbyCollector said:

6491 lots offered, 607 sold as of 9pm. Considering more than 90% did not sell, what was the reason? Pricing? Bad timing with HA, CL and CC auctions all around the corner? Or is the economy finally rearing its head and impacting buying?

All of the above.

Prices were aspirational. Lots of buyers were tapped out due to the auctions and saving for the next one. And, the economy doesn’t help matters at all. I’d say it was a lot of factors. I went in today and thought I’d like to buy SOMEthing and still didn’t.

On 5/21/2023 at 5:10 PM, KirbyCollector said:

Yup, but whether it sold at that price is anyone's guess -- and it could very well have been a trade for no cash 

With all the other great art up for sale at CA Live that DIDN'T sell, I am supposed to believe someone paid $27,000 for THAT SSB page? Come on.

On 5/21/2023 at 9:45 AM, Aahz said:

Last point - the auction houses.  I think the reason the auction houses appear to be doing better than the dealers (according to Bill Cox's last few numbers) is 1) they are getting the newer, better stock and 2) that it feels more like a FMV on a piece.  As a buyer, when you know the dealers are buying there too, you are incentivized to go for the piece.

I agree, 100%.

Things I looked for that weren't there: Crystar, U.S. 1, Team America, published Bob Layton Hercules pages, Scott McCloud Zot and Bob Budiansky art. Even if I'd found any pages from any of those, I'm sure they would have been at sky-high prices.

On Saturday, there was very little Frank Miller Marvel or DC art, only one published Cerebus page, only one Steve Lightle piece, only one Ploog piece ... art we used to see for sale quite frequently just wasn't there and has been getting scarcer and scarcer with every CAF Live and with every auction.

I do think that means that people are holding onto a lot of their art because they are afraid of leaving money on the table and they know they can't get it back tomorrow for what they sell it for today.

I also believe that too many sellers went for the big cash grabs, rather than selling off some of their cheaper art, and they put people off with prices that were multiples of what the art sold for at auction recently. Sellers want to sell one piece that gives them a profit large enough to buy a car, rather than selling off a bunch of $250-$500 pages. Many of those sellers didn't sell much at all.

On 5/21/2023 at 5:11 AM, The Voord said:

I haven't bothered participating this year.  The only art I'd be willing to sell is stuff I've offered before that didn't sell.

There's not actually a lot of art out there that I'm now actively pursuing, so don't feel too inclined to have a look-see . . . though I may check things out later on today (Sunday) just to confirm my suspicion none of my 'wants' are there.  Generally, prices seem to be wishful-thinking . . . and not just by the dealers!

I intend each year to finally set up and sell, but I usually don’t pay enough attention to know it’s coming up and I also don’t sell a lot of art nowadays. I think I’ve sold one piece in the last two years and that was a couple weeks ago when a collector reached out and asked to buy a cover I had. He offered double what I’d paid and really wanted it - and I didn’t love the art - so I sold it to him. I have numerous portfolios of art I could pull from, but I just never do it. If I did, though, I’d try to give bargains instead of trying to make my fortune on one piece, like so many of the sellers do.

On 5/20/2023 at 4:26 PM, Twanj said:

All the Tradd pricing is umm interesting.

You should see it when it drops for the first time! ;)

On 5/20/2023 at 5:03 PM, fsumavila said:

you absolutely should try it, especially since you certainly have a much larger and more diverse collection than I do. I imagine you'd find success, unless you get too "aspirational" in your pricing

 

I keep a close eye on the market and probably would try to sell at discounted prices. My problem is that I don't ever want to let anything go nowadays. I'm turning into a comic art hoarder.  

On 5/20/2023 at 4:56 PM, fsumavila said:

there is a lot of really nice art available, including a significant number of pieces I haven't seen offered before. I do see some CRAZY prices, but hey, if its yours, you can ask for whatever you want.  (What is kind of annoying is seeing some retread pieces that have been listed in every single CAF Live, posted again with even higher prices)

**Disclosure: For the first time I posted some art for sale on CAF Live. Sold one page within the first hour, and had inquiries about some others. So already I consider the event a success.**

 

I saw one or two moderately-priced pieces I really like, but I'm not sure I'm ready to pull the trigger. Let's see what pops up tomorrow.

 

Mike

Congrats on the sale! I really do need to try selling in the next CAF Live so I could see how selling some of my art would do.