Michael Browning

Speaking of the Phantom Stranger, I saw the cover Anthony had up for a couple years finally sold recently. I hate that you didn't get that one.

I used to have a goal -- Charlton covers. Then, my goal changed to Jonah Hex art. But, I learned after awhile that that limited me and I was missing out or trading away some great pieces to achieve my goals. I dropped my goals several years ago and I buy what I like. I bought a TMNT Urban Legends cover yesterday at a local show. I don't collect TMNT Urban Legends art, but it was a cool cover and the price was right. Another collector told me the other day that I have no focus to my collection and that it was very eclectic. It makes me happy, though, and that's all that matters.

I appreciate it, but, after the bad experience with Paolo, I won't ever buy from them, again.

I don't know who you buy from, but the dealers I buy from -- and that's a lot -- all have good communication skills and ship quickly. Every. Single. One. EXCEPT CADENCE.

One or two pieces a year? Why so low a number? I buy what I like and can afford and don't set a limit each year.

A collector posted in one of the original art groups on Facebook this week that he was selling his collection and posted a link to his CAF page. I went in and looked around and didn't see anything I wanted, but I passed the link on to another collector friend who did want a couple pages from the guy's collection. The answer he got back: Those pages aren't for sale.

If I even get wind that a DC movie is coming out and I've got art of the main character or a character that is supposedly hot because he/she appears in the movie, I will sell quickly or hide that stuff away because I want to make sure it doesn't get the taint from the always-terrible-and-always-bombing DC movies.

Oh gosh no. Not AFTER the movie. DC movies tend to do terribly and can hurt the value of art (look at Shazam, Black Adam and Flash art right now). I'd want it in the auction BEFORE the movie comes out when all the hype is going strong.

How did you do profitwise?

I found this today. It’s a Daredevil: Man Without Fear #1 that is without its red foil on the cover. It’s clearly an error variant. Part of the embossed Daredevil on the cover is only half there and the white areas on the cover near DD’s head appear to have been made when it was printed. Has anyone ever seen another copy like this?

WHO authenticates Bob Kane ART? No one. Not even longtime reputable dealers and Bob Kane experts will not positively authenticate a "Kane" "original" (quotation marks are in the correct places).

Mike Alderman is his newest rep. I thought it was Ken Carson that was trying to get everything cleaned up with Larry and then gave up.

They’re both still there.

I tell my wife I got a deal so good that it was like they were giving it away. 😂

I think that happens a lot more often than we see in such a public way as the DD #169 page.

No matter how rich people are -- and how much richer they are than me -- I don't ever revel in someone else's loss/pain.

I've said for awhile now that collectors paying such outrageously high prices for art should think (especially when they're going crazy and bidding) about the eventual resale. Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of you say you don't care about reselling and that you buy because you love the art. Well, if the guy who sold the DD #169 page got $80,000+ worth of enjoyment out of that page in the short time he owned it, then he didn't lose a thing. But, I'm guessing he's sick after losing that amount of cash. Who is the market for the resale of these $100,000+ pieces? Who is going to pay more for that Secret Wars #8 page than what it sold for? All I know is, whoever bought it better love it for a long, long time. It's like the guy who thought he was bidding me up on that cover in the last big HA, earlier this year. He thought since he won it -- and surely he won it by beating me -- that he could make a profit by trying to sell it to me. When I told him I didn't even bid on it and really didn't want it at that price, he got shook about having to pay for it and he asked me to buy it and pay Heritage directly so he didn't have to. I did not do that. He later said he ended up selling it for a profit, but, if he did, it couldn't have been for much more than a few hundred dollars. I mean, he had already outbid someone who really wanted it -- again, not me -- but that underbidder didn't want it enough to drive it up another bid. And there ain't that many of us out there who are collecting those covers.

I think it’s a bargain, especially if Marvel ever uses it as a variant cover and considering it probably would have cost that to get BWS to do a commission.

Dang. That really is a bargain.

Yeah, I totally agree on that.

I think this is true more for DC art than Marvel. Mediocre Marvel art like Ayers Sgt. Fury, western art and art from books like Dakota North, Dazzler, Strikeforce Morituri and Thundercats all seem to be doing very well. DC art almost always seems to sell low unless it's a big name artist drawing it. I watched a Chuck Patton Justice League of America page sell in the Wednesday night auction for $34 (before fees, which would probably put the $34 page near $100 in the final total). I know that had to break the heart of the seller. I have watched some art sell fairly low in this auction, which was a surprise. I think it has made a lot of sellers with major pieces think twice about selling right now and I'm sure art is being pulled from future auctions as I type this. We will see how it all plays out tomorrow, I guess, since there are several pieces that are really nice that people are watching.

That result looks light to me, because it's a very nice page with great art and images.

I don’t put a lot of stock in movies and TV shows pushing art too much higher. I mean, it’s already higher than most comic collectors can afford. I think it gives a quick bump sometimes and it most affects the art that features first appearances when those characters are set to be in TV shows and movies. I don’t think those shows have much of a lasting effect on art prices, though. Take a look at Watchmen art and how people went crazy paying huge amounts for that art when the movie came out. The values on basic are finally catching up with what some people paid. I will say that DC movies cause some art to drop in value, with Jonah Hex being the best example that I know of. I don’t think the Black Adam and Shazam! movies helped the values of those characters’ art at all and may have actually hurt values similar to what the Jonah Hex movie did.

Warlock art has been rising steadily for 20 years. Believe me, I bought my first Starlin Warlock art way back 25 years ago for $800 and it's now probably a $25,000 piece. Suicide Squad pages from the original series still have a solid following and sell fairly high when they pop up. Basic pages still sell very high and covers rarely come up for sale much anymore. All New Mutants and Moon Knight art is hot, no matter the artist, with Sienkiewicz being the hottest for those two series.

Want to know why Atari Force art is on the rise? No chance DC will ever do a movie of it. ;)