PhilipB2k17

I corrected it before you responded.

I guess that's kind of an experimental test case where the exact same piece of art was published first based off of a black and white version, and second a colored version? (If I read your correctly). So, you are saying there'd be a certain market preference for the black & white version (pencil and ink) vs the colored version. I would also expect this to be true for someone who asks, say, Laura Martin to color an original pencil and ink page. Even though she may be one of the best colorists in the business, and may do a superb job, it still lowers the value of the art in the hobby. What I was referring to, however, was when the original art is in color. I should think that the Punisher cover paintings by Phil Zimelman over Mike Zeck pencils, to use an example, are no less desirable or valuable to the hobby collectors, just because they were painted in color.

Depends on the artist. This Cover to Grumble by Farel Dalrymple is great.

What if the art was originally painted in color? Why would that be worth less?

Feed a 1980’s, Mostly naked, metal babe a fish, and she’ll eat for a day. Teach her how to ride a giant flying fish without getting wet, and she’ll be employed for a lifetime as an Album Cover model.

Well, Saddam Hussein was a big Rowena fan. 😂

I’d love to own one of the Asia covers.

It won’t go for the same price as it otherwise would have. The Irony is that an Arnold Sig tastefully in the margins or on the back (not in blue sharpie) might actually have benefitted the piece.

Those signatures won’t hurt its price at all. It’s stellar.

Yep. I have a Sal Buscema page that he signed in the art (although in a decent spot), 25 years ago.

I’d add “verifiable chain of custody” for more modern covers. If you can trace the original sale to the artist or artist’s authorized art rep, it helps authenticate it. Doesn’t help for a lot of older stuff, though, considering the shady chain of custody history for many pieces.

That should not be happening. They should not be releasing packages to people without checking ID. You should file a complaint with the US Postal Inspector.

You can request that your local post office hold the package for pick up there, rather than deliver it to your home. But, their online tool is somewhat unreliable, as I've had a couple of problems with them either getting the wrong instruction, or ignoring it. It's best to make the request in person.

Photo stats of the main cover image. It’s quite common to see a photo stat of the trade dress (Book title, Marvel or DC logo, etc). What you care about is whether the art itself is hand drawn. And even that might have some stats to correct or change things. The point is, you want to see that the art image is entirely, or very substantially, hand drawn vs a pasted on photo copy.

One is mostly a stat, I.e a photo stat that was pasted up to use as the cover. The other is original hand drawn. If look at and enlarge the hi res version of the stat cover you can see the lines of the paste up.

WTF? I scour eBay for stuff and constantly miss gems like this. How in the hell do people find this stuff?!? That said, there’s an arguably underpriced Kirby silver age page on there right now that I am close to buying.

I don't see it? I still have that comic, so I was interested.

I had the opposite problem. I won a page on eBay, and after I was given the tracking number for the art, I made an online request to hold the package for pick up at the post office. Instead, they scanned it in as a “refusal,” and sent it back to the seller! They would not turn the package back around, so I asked the seller to resend it to me after he receives it. Quite fidiculous. I pushed my complaint all the wah up to the local Post Master.

The painting was in the Frazetta Collection tour presented by Robert Rodriguez. Is this owned by the Frazetta family, Robert? Someone else? https://uproxx.com/gammasquad/robert-rodriguez-frank-frazetta-gallery-sxsw/

I think Ditko has to be on the list.

And possibly Michigan State University. They tend to focus on comics, but I suspect they ay branch out into OA in a few years when their main curator retires.

Or, you can donate the art to a college entrance exam scammer's "charity" to get your kid admitted to Yale on a women's soccer scholarship.

I would stick to local, regional museums who might want to add this kind of art to help attract foot traffic.