PhilipB2k17

As a modern art collector, there is something fun about buying new art from books that are still ongoing, or just concluded. Felix capitalizes on that, which he should.

I saw one collector put up an Extremity page for, probably, less than what Felix sold it for. But it wasn't a flip attempt, I think the guy just needed cash. I didn't see a lot of takers for it, and this was on a Facebook OA group.

Or, the highest graded, non-restored copy of Detective Comics #27.

Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know when Murphy started developing the story for this (and his idea of Harley becoming Joker). I posted my similar story idea last may - in the CGC boards of all places. UPDATE: I see he gave an interview where he went to see the Batman Lego movie, and was worried they would use his idea about the Batman/Joker relationship. He ment9ones he was "5 issues in" to Batman White Knight. The Batman Lego movie came out in February, 2017, so he developed the story in 2016. Serendipity!

As I said, if the art is comparable to other art by the same artists for the same character for the same book and same storyline, then it gets a bump from being from a Key book. Like, comparable Trimpe art from Hulk 182 is worth less than Trimpe art from Hulk 181. They key word there is "comparable." Obviously the Wolvy & Hulk title page in 182 is better than the talking head military guy panel page in 181.

Pages from key issues do command a premium over comparable art from other books.

Golden’s best Micronauts pages are things that are “close to” grails for me. I don’t have any true grails. But I would love one of those.

I don't get what the problem is. Felix is an art rep. He believes in his stable of artists and promotes them. Some of that includes hype, which is part of doing his job to promote them. Each person who buys art from his site should do so based upon their own judgment of the art, not what Felix says about it. That being said, it 's a coincidence that a couple of Felix's artists happen to work on hot books recently. Riley Rossmo's Batman Who Laughs one shot, and Geoff Shaw's Thanos run for Marvel (which got a bit of interesting additional publicity because Jim Starlin criticized Tom Brevoort over approving the plotline for Donny and Geoff's Thanos run, knowing - according to Starlin - that it was similar to a graphic novel he was working on already. Starlin, incidentally, says it was serendipity, and doesn't blame Donny Cates). And, Paper Girls is also an indy hit, not to mention God Country. I also think Felix has done a tremendous job getting the word out on Daniel Warren Johnson. Dan doesn't seem like the self-promoting type. He's a pretty humble, down to Earth guy. So it's good that he has Felix promoting his talent to the masses. I think that's helped sales of Extremity. Not only that, Felix was pretty open about how even his podcast was started initially as a tool to help promote his artists, but evolved from there into a more general discussion about the hobby. I take the promotional stuff with a grain of salt. Not that I think Felix doesn't believe every word of it, of course. But I recognize that he's just doing his job as a salesman, to generate interest in his guys and to help make them money. It's just part of the hobby.

Bill's explanation is interesting. I had a similar problem getting art from the post office. Their tracking system stinks. They were delivering stuff to my front door during peak "steal stuff from people's front doot stoop" season. So I sent them a request to hold the art for pickup at their local branch. I even got a confirmation e-mail with a confirmation number saying exactly that. Nope, when I went to pick it up it was "on the truck" and they couldn't find it. I said: "I have an e-mail from you saying it was to be held here, and not sent out for delivery. I made this request yesterday." They said it was out on the truck, again. And I said, "so what's the point of me asking you t hold it here, then? Why even offer this service if you ignore it?" Then, the next day I went back and it was "lost." They couldn't find my art. I was happy that the artist who sent t to me insured it! But, I went back the next day and they "found" it. So all is well that ends well. But the USPS sucks around the Holidays.

I am having a hard time believing that Batman commission was under $300. LOL!

Yep. Like I said. I'd rather have one of those Ditko spidey pages over a WM page, even though I really like Watchmen.

Yes. I think so.

I've seen some Extremity art go up on the secondary market already. It's starting to be re-sold.

If I recall, Glen Gold said that in his opinion, the Doc Oc vs Spidey page was one of the 6 best Ditko Spidey fight pages. It got about $100k? That's well under the best prices for the top TDKR pages.

Yeah. I looked at the Extremity art on Felix's site. I liked a lot of it. But, I had not read any of it yet. I wanted to know what I was looking at. Some of the most dynamic pages were not as important - overall - to the story arc. I read the entirety of the series, and THEN selected art from it I wanted. That way, knew what the page I was buying meant to the story and the characters, and not just as a piece of art. Now, I also bought the pages I liked from an artistic standpoint too. Don't misunderstand me.

Or, because he can't get rid of them.

I'll shoot you an e-mail.

Yep. "Under the table stash" is exactly how I would describe what I saw.

Back in, I think, the very early 80's (or very late 70's) I attended a Comic Convention where I first encountered OA. Some dealer (God knows who it was), had stacks of art on a table, and I was looking through it...fascinated. It was all outside of my price range. I had like $20 total to spend, and I was looking for comics, not this stuff. One page would have blown my whole budget (and the better stuff was out of my reach). I recall the dealer, at one point, asking me...and another person looking at the art at the table, if I "wanted to see something really cool." Of course I did, so he reached under the table and pulled out what I believe was the COVER to Batman #232...which would be the literal first appearance of Ras Al Guhl. The older collector at the table's draw dropped. Mine didn't. The reason was because I was a Marvel collector, and had never even heard of Ras Al Guhl, and didn't care about Batman. Of course, I was an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. The other collector there asked the dealer if he wanted to sell it (because, of course you have to ask that). He said "no way." I wonder where that page is.

I'm not sure I agree with that. Ditko, per se, has an interesting style that may not be for everyone. But, his work on Spider-Man fit that character perfectly, so the compositional, and anatomical idiosyncrasies he brought to the table were less of an issue. When he drew those Rom books, yes. It was bracing. But, for the rubbery world of Spider-Man, he was perfect. Can't imagine even Kirby pulling that off.

I agree with this. I think the sheer quality of Ditko's work on Spider-Man, which was an artistic high point, is going to keep interest high. Miller's TDKR art is an acquired taste, and many not play with younger collectors. I think Ditko has more of a classic style that even non-collectors appreciate. One thing I do, incidentally, is show my art to my wife and ask her opinions. Some she likes. Some she doesn't. But she has ZERO interest in this stuff, or comics, or even the pop culture surrounding it all (except to a limited extent because I like it). She has literally NO nostalgia at all. It's pure aesthetics for her. And, while I use my own taste as the final arbiter on things, I do feel better about a purchase if my wife thinks its cool. It means that the art, in and of itself, has an intrinsic appeal to complete hobby outsiders. It's a nice corrective to my nostalgia haze.

Quite the collection. Pretty amazing. Congrats!

No interest as in "if someone offered it to me in a price range I could afford, I wouldn't buy it?" Or "that's so unobtainable, I don't pay that much attention to it?"

It takes a few years for this stuff to shake out. I think those prices will come down. Or, at least, the price inflation will slow to a relative crawl.

I also think Romtia Spidey pages are significantly inflated. Yes, the KEY pages and covers should be worth a lot. But, the run of the mill Spidey fighting some nondescript random villain in an issue that has no story importance, is just too expensive for what it is.