delekkerste

I have to say, the final prices look a little soft to me. Looks like the book is getting split up - the highest bid for the complete story was $156,797 ($184,236.50 with the juice) whereas the total of the individual pages was $172,483 ($202,667.50 with the juice). Only 3 pages broke the $10k mark - the splash, the page with Gwen & Harry's first appearance and the page where Gwen and Peter first meet. The median sale price was only $5,576 per page ($6,551.80 with the juice). Curiously, there were hardly any bids in the last few hours of the auction. Several prices were set days in advance, and the remainder were largely set by the morning/afternoon of the auction; I only saw a few bids placed in the evening.

A lot of the bids still look very low...I think it's going to be a wild finish tomorrow night.

This auction is freakin' endless. Can we just get on with the proceedings already...

Well, I got the Mastro catalogs this week and my interest is piqued. Any idea what is a realistic price expectation for the all-college scene pages (i.e., those featuring Peter, Flash, Gwen and Harry) but no Spidey? To me, Spidey has always been more of a human drama than a superhero book - I've gone back and re-read those early issues time and again just focusing on the out-of-costume sub-plots and skipping the battle scenes, so those pages would be of interest to me. Gene

Thanks, everyone! The piece is in San Diego for a couple of reasons: (1) I have limited wall space in NYC while there is a lot more space at my parents' house in San Diego and (2) I like having a portion of my collection in a separate location so that, if a fire or other disaster destroyed my collection here, I would still have *something* left over to show for my collecting efforts.

And, finally, I picked this little bit of cheesecake up directly from Rich Larson at the San Diego Con. It's a fully rendered study for the wraparound cover of the Fastner & Larson TPB "Haunted House of Lingerie 3":

OK, I've had this piece for a long time, but finally got around to photographing it while I was out in San Diego (where it is being stored). It's another of my Enrich Vampirella gallery paintings:

Picked up a stack of Artesia panel pages by Mark Smylie (this is the best, most intelligent series that you are not reading - go check it out at www.artesiaonline.com), as well as this, the upcoming wraparound cover to Artesia Besieged #2:

Picked up another Jose Gonzalez Vampirella #29 page in San Diego - from the Donnelly brothers at a very good price, no less!

Unless one of the very few people out there with the means really has to have this particular issue and intends to hold on to it, it's difficult to see this book staying complete. At $200K (which I agree would be difficult for a single collector to top), that's $10K/page and one would have to think the pages would fetch more than that broken up when you consider what the splash and a few key pages might go for. Some people on this Board were insisting either late last year or earlier this year that this artwork had been sold, but I have heard the same thing you have. Maybe someone from the former camp can provide some details of what they know that the rest of us don't? I don't think it is any secret that the Marvel warehouse that had all of this original art (including the art from many key early books) was systematically looted by certain individuals long ago. Every now and then the issue comes up about whether Marvel or the creators have any legal basis for reclaiming this art (likewise for the pallets of DC artwork that was stolen in the 1970s). Speaking of legal matters, didn't Steve Ditko threaten legal action against Heritage for auctioning off the ASM #10 complete story? Might he do the same with this book or are there differing circumstances on this one?

Any thoughts on what this might go for. Mastro to Offer Original Ditko Art Auctions/Prices, Scoop, Friday, June 30, 2006 Mastro Auctions has announced its full-scale entry into the comic books and comic art market with the roll-out of over 200 quality lots as part of the company's August 2006 Premier Auction. The Mastro Auctions' comic books and comic art division, headed by Chris Porter, was formed in early 2006 and is on schedule to become a major force in this specialized collecting genre. Phone and internet bidding for the auction will begin on Monday, July 31 and conclude on Wednesday, August 16. “Before we proceeded with our inaugural comic books and comic art effort we wanted to be sure we were prepared, not only from an operational standpoint, but from a content perspective as well,” said Chris Porter. “The Mastro Auctions brand is synonymous with excellence, uniqueness and high quality. We knew that securing the right material would be key, both for this auction and for future auctions as well.” Perhaps the most amazing masterpiece in Mastro Auctions comic books and comic art sale is an unprecedented offering of the original Steve Ditko art for all 20-story pages of the Amazing Spider-Man #31, including the splash page. The comic book for which the artwork was created was the first installment of the three-part Amazing Spider-Man story that still stands as a true classic of the Ditko-Lee collaboration. This Amazing Spider-Man trilogy began with #31, “If This Be My Destiny...!” (December, 1965), continuing into issue #32's “Man on a Rampage!” (January, 1966) and culminating with the unforgettable “Final Chapter!,” in issue #33 (February, 1966). Porter describes the condition of the artwork as “outstanding” with no discernable flaws. Mastro Auctions will offer bidders a unique opportunity to go after both individual pages from the book as well as the entire collection. If the total of the high bids for the individual pages exceeds the high bid for the collection, those bidders would will the individual pages. If the high bid for the entire collection is highest, then that one bidder will own the entire book. To register to bid in the upcoming Mastro Auctions August Premier auction, call 630-472-1200 or go to www.mastroauctions.com. Or, if you have additional questions, contact Chris Porter directly by phone (231-946-8510) or by email at cporter@mastroauctions.com.

Awesome Maroto pin-up! He is among the best artists ever to work in comics but since he didn't do much character artwork, he just never developed the fan base that he deserves. I actually just bought a 12-page complete story by Maroto from Creepy #52. Here are the first 6 pages (the last six pages can be seen in my CAF gallery: http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=24292):

ABOUT MARK SMYLIE AND ARCHAIA STUDIOS PRESS (ASP) Mark Smylie founded Archaia Studios Press (ASP) in 2002 as a new home for his epic fantasy comic book, Artesia (first published by Sirius Entertainment). Mark was nominated for the Russ Manning Award for Best Newcomer in 1999, and for an Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition in 2001. His illustration work has appeared in books by Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf and on collectible cards for AEG. Further information at: www.archaiasp.com Artesia Online site: http://www.daradja.com/index.html

And a panel page from Artesia #2, also by Mark Smylie:

A splash from Mark Smylie's indie "Artesia" series:

A Tony DeZuniga page from the cult favorite Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1:

I just uploaded a few more pix to my CAF site that I haven't had on display before, including a Mike Deodato Elektra DPS (my first OA purchase from 2002):

Rufus Dayglo is Carlos' rep and has a bunch of pages for sale on his CAF site. Gene

I also got a couple of killer Judge Dredd pieces by Carlos Ezquerra from the classic "Apocalypse War" storyline. I don't want to resize the pix (they are too big to save here) but you can check them out at my CAF gallery: http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=25251

Just received this in the mail today. The frontispiece to Vampirella #40 by Jose Gonzalez:

I was talking to a CGC employee who will remain nameless at the NY Comic Con today and they said that they "think" a G.I. Joe #21 was just graded 9.8. This person said to look at the next Census update. This person also told me that somebody had recently called CGC to complain about their #21 "only" getting a 9.6. Gee, I wonder who that could be?

Thanks for the PM, Deathlok. Looks like you were wrong about the book not being for sale, though - I e-mailed the owner and got a response right back indicating that he will sleep on my offer overnight (I made him an offer that he couldn't refuse ) and let me know tomorrow, but that he's pretty sure he'll sell it to me.

The book isn't for sale though. Nice book. Let me know if it ever goes up for sale.

Let's not forget the comic collecting lead character in The 40-Year Old Virgin. He's shown reading a comic in one scene, a framed comic or two is hanging on his wall (some Modern drek) and some comic boxes are shown in his apartment along with various comic-related paraphernalia.