Peter L

Up to now, I have been bullish on comic art and believed it could continue to go up.  I have a different opinion now.

A lot of my opinion was that comics would still be relevant, especially Marvel because Disney was such a smart organization on how to keep their IP relevant.  Based on the poor choices at Disney management, it looks like they are destroying every part of their empire.  I read they just sold the rights to make physical media for their films to Sony.  Disney looks like they are bleeding money making flop after flop for choices other than what fans want to pay for.  Of course I am trying to explain this in a non-political way, but if you know the context, I'm sure you understand this.  Making money and making fans are not the priorities of Disney as it has been in the past.  Comic store owners I speak to also explain how Disney is hurting their businesses with bad distribution deals and bad business practices that take short term bucks over long term investment decisions.  I am taking a huge loss on the Disney stock I own.

WB Discovery is also making bad business decisions for other reasons, but also quite a mess.  

I suppose both corps could be bought out or have new management but I wouldn't bet on that or that things will turn around or be ok for either company.

The comic book industry is suffering from downstream bad corporate choices.  They are not making new fans.  There is a big collectors swap meet like show called Frank and Sons in Los Angeles. I use it as a barometer for what is popular among kids.   It used to be mostly comics and some cards maybe 20 years ago.  Now it only has a few tables for comics, and a few more rows for sports cards, and a lot of pokemon.  Times change and kids nowdays do not seem interested in the latest political message comics for some reason.  The best selling comic in the US is Dogman now.  They are actually good but they are for kids.  I spoke to a huge comic store owner who is my friend and he never heard of Dogman even though he has a kid.  

I have and read every Superman comic from something like the early 80s to early 2000s, and some after but they became harder and harder to read.  The new comics are mostly awful and unreadable, not just for politics but storytelling flaws.  

Comics used to be disposable and cheap.  In an era where everyone is being squeezed by $18 Big Mac meals, most kids don't have money to throw away on 18 page decompressed comics of mostly art and little plot and with perhaps objectionable or insulting messages.

I think Pokemon will be relevant and see the 30 year bump in values down the road.  After we die off, I don't see new comic readers being created who will be interested in the art that is left.  I tried reading early Marvel Masterpieces (first few Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-man) to kids recently and no one was interested.  No one was interested in any new book or Star Wars show or Marvel tv show.  I'm not going to show kids the comic where Superman was raped in prison.  History will look back at the last few years of the destruction of Disney and WB and the comic book industry as a turning point as we do as the start of the Silver Age or the release of DKR and Watchmen.  This is a big inflection point and we are going to look back at this time with sadness where things could have been different but the worse case scenario occurred.  

If something I really want comes up for a good price like a particular DKR page or something I liked, I would still buy it at the right price.  I'm young enough to appreciate it before I enter the retirement phase and need to sell before my death.  But as an investment or even for fun, all of the modern bad current iterations of the characters are staining my previous good feelings towards the characters.

On 2/1/2024 at 2:05 PM, malvin said:

I've never bought art from them but I'm seeing social media posts that some artists are posting they are no longer with Cadence.

Malvin

I'm not a fan of Andrew.  I have bought from all major dealers, and mostly who I have good things to say about for the most part.  Even when I had some issues, I would still buy from all of them again without reservations.  I would try to avoid dealing with Andrew if I could.  In my dealings, because of Andrew's activities, it cost his client artist money.  If I was an artist, I would go to a rep who would not cost me the best opportunity to get the most money.

If it is the A Williams with the first art in the upper left a Luis Royo and then a Greg Williams as the second art in the featured area, then I can absolutely vouch for the person. 

Does anyone know where this art is?  I would like to track it down to see if the owner would sell.

This is from Youngblood #3 and by Roger Cruz and Danny Miki.  It sold at Heritage in Jan 2021.

On 12/9/2022 at 2:59 PM, KingOfRulers said:

You've heard of others that have been scammed by Jae Lee?

Yes quite a bit.  There is a facebook group called Comic Art Buyer Beware.  Jae Lee seems to be the most frequent name and a kind of Hall of Famer in his own way.  

On 12/1/2022 at 6:48 AM, KingOfRulers said:

Having run comic conventions for 10 years, I've commissioned many artists in a professional arena. For every convention we hosted, we commissioned one of our guest artists to produce artwork for the convention poster. This was a poster that we gave out for free to all attendees. The posters were large too; usually 18" x 24". We commissioned some really great pieces over the years. There were some duds in there as well, but only a couple of deadbeats...

Deadbeat #1: Jae Lee. Jae Lee is the absolute worst. If I ever get back into the convention business, I'll never work with him again. We booked Jae to be a guest at the convention, which entailed an appearance fee of $5,000. Part of the deal was that Jae would create an illustration for us. Jae appeared at the convention, got his $5,000, but never delivered on the commission. He's a flatout, liar.

Here's some screenshots of the emails for your enjoyment. There were a lot of emails. This entire charade went on for approximately 2 years. 2 years of Jae "giving his word" as he would say. The final email was Feb 2017. After that I just gave up. Here we are almost 6 years later. His word means nothing, apparently. 

 

 

This is terrible to hear about Jae Lee.  It sounds like everyone should stay away from him.  I am surprised that the San Diego Comic Con still allows him a booth.

Hi all,

I'm trying to track down Ted McKeever art.  Does he have a current rep?  I found an old CAF profile but it apparently has dead links and not working email address listed.

Thanks!

On 11/14/2022 at 11:14 AM, Xatari said:

That was a really nice piece. All in all, I really enjoyed looking at all the fun pieces out there. 

Maybe Bill could add a queue system in the future so the person who inquired first knows, and those in second, third, etc positions feel more comfortable moving on. 

At one point, two other buddies and I had all gone for the same piece. None of us landed it, but it would be cool to know if any of us still had a legitimate shot or which of us was most likely if it were still available. I don’t know anything about the back end of programming and design so it’s just a thought. 

I was really happy with a piece I bought.  It was probably more than many of you would think it was worth, but it was worth it to me because of the high prices on published stuff by this artist.

I would think it helps the seller to not have the number of who inquired first revealed, so the seller can decide if the top person is reliable or not.  Most likely most of the bidders will be legit, but sometimes they may not be as reliable as the guy who backed out on a bid.

I recall seeing him at one convention and he was painting on a commission at his table and he was amazing to watch.

Hi,

Does anyone have any Invisibles art?  I am looking for some for my collection.

Out of the blue with no notice, I got mailed one of the commissions.  

I think the disappointment that made me start this thread was because I was led to believe I would get both commissions at the cons where I gave the money.  Subsequent messages also confirmed my thoughts and later messages confirmed that they would be produced soon.  We can say this should be worked out at the time of payment but when the artist doesn't come through, what recourse is there?  Sure we could cause a scene or get mad and stuff like that, but where I am in my life stage right now, I don't really feel like expending that energy.  At no time did I ever think I was going to get stiffed and never see the work with these two artists.

I had a famous/infamous contractor design and build my office.  I knew him for about a decade when I hired him.  I was warned by some not to use him, and confirmed by others on how he does great work.  He gave me an estimate that it would be ready in about 8 months.  I doubled the time estimate in my mind, knowing his history.  He came in right on time in my mind.  I think if either of these artists/reps had said it will be an undetermined time frame, I would have probably accepted that better.  I may not have commissioned them or might have.  

Regarding Frank Miller, at a recent con I inquired about two small commissions.  I first was told he couldn't because he didn't bring anything to do them with, but then said if I bought him the pens, pencil and eraser he would.  So I did.  I was told it would be ready by the end of the con in a few days.  I got a call before the con was over and the commissions were ready early, in fact so early I wasn't prepared to physically pick them up yet.  So the bottom line is that we can say this and that and make excuses for artists, but Frank Miller came through really fast ahead of schedule with what looks like quality work.

I remember reading a comic and it changed my life and view of the world. I thought someday it would be great to have that page art, and this was even before I knew about collecting art as a thing.  

About 15 years later, now I am working and I discover art collecting.  In my first year, after I have maybe three pieces, it appears on ebay and my friend buys it for me.  I figure I am done collecting at that point.

Then later I run across a few other pages that I recall thinking when reading the comic when I was young, that I would like to have that page.  I found those too, mostly on ebay.  

Then maybe 5 years later, I see Heritage has an art cover that I had thought that would be my last one collecting.  Then I won the auction.

I guess that means I have been blessed greatly.  I still collect art, and there are a few things that I would want that I am looking for.  But fortunately I got pretty much all of the grails that I had originally wanted.

I think that was really nice of Jim Lee to do that and it must have a great sentimental value to you.

If I were you I would put the art in a mylar and then put that in a routine frame you can buy inexpensively online for display in your room or office or house.  I not sure it would have much resale value personalized like that which is why I would not custom frame it.  The reason I don't custom frame my signed baseball jerseys is because the frame is often more expensive to do than the jersey.  

Hi, there is an App called Clear that was acceptable in San Diego and other locations.  The App is available on iphones and android phones.  You just upload your ID like a passport, and your vaccination card and then it checks it and then issues you an ok, especially if it is to an event.  For the SDCC, the event was listed for it.  

However they accepted seeing a vaccination card, or a digital vaccination card which is given in the US.  

Update:  Both of the artists that I mentioned were at the San Diego Comic Con.  I messaged both and confirmed they were there and they both said to drop by.  

I went to the booth of the first one.  He didn't have the commission but he remembered me.  He was working on other commissions.  He said he was using SDCC to "catch up."

The other had appearances at some booths and got a photo of her drawing live at a booth, but I realized that neither artist had my commission.  

I doubt I will get other commissions in the future unless I have had success with the artist in the past.  What do you think is a reasonable time to wait?

On 6/1/2022 at 5:03 AM, vodou said:

As good a time and place as any to post this:

https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/mail-internet-or-telephone-order-merchandise-rule

Is this a real thing that can be used?

I think there are good points brought up on this thread, but ultimately it is up to whoever creates the show to whatever they want it to be.  

I love a certain type of old films and I was a member of the largest facebook group that I was in on these old films.  The moderators ran the group the way they wanted which was arbitrary and often inconsistent with film journalism, clung to weird marginalized theories about films, and looked like a bunch of people where power got to their head but also were not that smart.  They ran the group the way they wanted to which was their right.  I started my own group just before covid and for a long time I was the only one posting.  Then in about six months I had more people in the group than that toxic group which was in existence for over 10 years.  Today there are almost five times as many people in my group as in their group.  

This is not a criticism toward either party on this thread.  Simply that I know how hard it is to create something.  If you want something different, you should create it yourself.  I didn't like the toxic film group so I made my own the way I thought it should be done.  The Comic Art Live people are making the kind of show they want to see.  I would probably like the webcast that Race envisions better.  But making your own show the way you want is a more effective way to deal with this than trying to remake someone else's show.

On 5/22/2022 at 10:35 AM, RBerman said:

My sister tried this once when buying a car. It turned out to be a scam. Beware people who want to bypass the auction house payment method and its safeguards.

I am now suspicious about some red flags that it might be.  It is odd that I haven't heard back from him.  

Hi all,

At the last SDCC in Nov, I commissioned a fairly well known artist at his booth.  He said it would be done by the end of the show.  At the last day of the show he said he would like to mail it to me because it wasn't ready yet.  I agreed.  I've traded a few texts with him where he said he would get to it soon.  Last week I texted him and said I was just checking in and I am also ok with a refund.  He has not responded.

At the last Wondercon in April, I commissioned a fairly well known artist by email ahead of time.  I gave her three options to draw and she agreed.  At the last day of the show she said she would like to mail it to me and will get it out by the end of this month.  I traded a few emails and then heard nothing.  I saw that she was offering commissions at the next con she was going to.  I emailed last week that I was just checking in and I was ok with a refund.  Her agent or person who was involved in the transaction said for me to hold my horses because she they are lining up commissions for this next show and nothing was agreed upon regarding the date.  I screenshot the email that he had got when she said she would get it out by the end of this month.  

I suppose maybe I'm just more tired than mad about all of this.  A few years ago I waited a few years for a Bill S commission that he did great on by the way.  After covid and the way the world is right now, if I don't do something right away for my job or treat someone without less than perfect communication, there are bad consequences.  I guess when I see this now I am less than thrilled and it sucks the joy out of the comic art.  I suspect both of these artists are reputable and you would know them.  I don't really want to go on the Facebook site Art Buyers Beware or something like that.  Maybe I'm just venting writing this.  I'm not sure what to really do.  What are your thoughts in the community?

On 5/18/2022 at 11:00 PM, wurstisart said:

I am pretty sure I get it, but your explanation does not apply to my question or comment at all, but please let us not start a heated discussion, that was and is not my intention. Simply put, why was only this cover colored over the pencil and ink version?

The explanation was not given yet and we all probably don’t have the answer, unless we say, we don’t know.
And here is why, at least in my view.

So who colored the DKR 1 cover - directly over the original pencil and ink version - from Frank Miller ? Lynn Varley.
So who colored DKR 2 and DKR 3 for example - however not directly over the original pencil and ink version - but a copy or similar ? Lynn Varley.

The point is she could have colored it over a copy as well, just as she did for other pieces.
She would have or was handed the same starting point/piece of art whether it would have been over a copy or the original.

But for this one it was done, as we know, differently because it was over the pencil and ink version. 

I totally dig that this is both, the original and colored piece and am just wondering. 

 

 

I'm no expert at this, certainly not as much as many of you, but I have some thoughts.  I have seen close up and in hand Frank Miller's work in this period and compared it to the Lynn Varley watercolors, as I am sure many of you have. 

I know the Ronin poster was painted over his pencils.  The other artwork I have seen from this period appears to be FM making a rough draft by pencil, then refining/tracing/inking it on vellum paper, then printing that image on a transparency, and Varley painting "under" that to get the colors.  Most of these have very complicated lines that I would wonder if she didn't want to obliterate the pencils/inks with paint in the case of layering paint or spray painting parts.  Many of her paintings on his pages bleed and overlap and are just abstract colors without the overlays, with his pens defining the image.  

The Ronin poster could have been her initial test of this technique so she did it directly over the pencils.  The Ronin pages appear to be done as I described above.  The DKR 1 cover could have been so simple with an outline of batman and a rough lightning bolt that she just painted directly onto the board and she wasn't afraid of obliterating his detailed pens.  

Look at his detailed pens on this one.  I think this was his finest artistic period.

On ebay, I made an offer to a seller with good ratings for a sports card.  It was lower than his asking but he wanted to talk to me by phone.  We agreed on the price.  Then he says no paypal, but wants me to pay in cash or wire transfer from a bank.  I am pretty busy and I'm thinking I don't have that much cash around as it was a big number.  I never really heard back but I didn't really inquire further either.  I thought the no paypal thing was weird for an ebay seller.  I would have been ok with venmo or zelle but he said no to that too.  If I just paid his price on ebay, I'm guessing he would have just had to do paypal.

Update: I chose not to have the writer sign, because I couldn't figure a way to make it non obtrusive to the art, and one I would have had to break out of a frame.

I did have the writer sign the Absolute Edition today, and another hardcover where the artist already signed.

On 5/20/2022 at 7:28 AM, Drewsky said:

I would not let them use a Sharpie. Bring your own pen or pencil and be very specific as to where you want them to sign or have it in an art bag and board with a taped off window cut into it if you want to be super specific and avoid a possible tragedy.

What kind of pen would you use?

But is it an advantage or not really?