PhilipB2k17

Didn’t say they weren’t running a business. The IRS requires businesses to actually do things like that in order to treat their sales as business revenue.

How much time is left in that auction?

If you're a collector, you have to pay taxes on the capital gains of any art you sell. If you're a "dealer," who is in "the business of buying and selling original art," you only pay taxes on your overall profits. So....

Everyone who collects commissions should watch this presentation on intellectual property law at San Diego’s Comicon a few years ago. Bottom line, yes...that Batman commission arguably violates DC’s copyright.

Published DPS from Swords of Sorrow: Vampirella & Jennifer blood #4. By Dave Acosta. All Pencils, not inked.

I highly doubt it. Even then, TDKR had far more industry and hobby renown and buzz than BMWK does.

The elephant in the room, is that commission contracts might be unenforceable as a matter of public policy anyway, unless the artist is creating a truly original work, rather than using copyrighted material as the basis of the Commission. A Batman commission for money is - unless authorized by DC - illegal. But, if you are asking an artist to do an original commission, or of a character they own the rights to, then it's not a problem.

With published comic book art, the artist has already been paid to produce the art by the publisher. So, anything they get for the original pages is gravy for them. And, a well-paid artists like Murphy can just sit on his stuff and demand whatever price point he wants and never feel motivated to reduce the price. I predict that a lot of these pages will start showing up in a couple of years - being offered by the people who bought them from Murphy - and you can get them for a "discount" at that point.

I think a lot of the criticism of Murphy is from collectors who can't afford his stuff, and do not want to see this trend continue for other modern artists. This isn't necessarily due to worried about overpaying or investment. It could just mean that some collectors may get completely priced out of the market. And that would be a shame.

Would you hire a contractor to remodel your kitchen for thousands of dollars without getting a written contract? No. I think an enterprising art reps somewhere should work with a lawyer and develop a standard art commission contract that sets the rights and responsibilities of both parties, but also has some degree of flexibility built into to it.

Define "high priced." More than $1000? 2000$ There are some modern pages sitting out there that I think are criminally undervalued (for various reasons), if you assume the two numbers above are "high."

I have 5 KTM pages that I could have listed here. LOL! This is a good one, though!

Published. Trees 13. Pg. 13. Jason Howard.

Bought the first issue. Because, well, it’s Neal Adams Deadman. Quite honestly, the art was not up to snuff. He hasn’t done sequential storytelling in a while, abd has mostly been doing pinups and covers. That aside, I’d absolutely rather have an original run Adams Deadman Page than one of the new ones for that kind of money.

I saw a nice Mignola Rocket Racoon mini series Page for $700 Almost pulled the trigger

The people who collect artist commissions should watch the film: The Agony & the Ecstasy http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0058886/

Terrific cover.

I am lucky, then, that virtually every piece of art I've acquired via the mail has met or exceeded my expectations in person. But, I think that's because I do the vast majority of my art shopping on my smart phone.

The Complete interior for Zeck's Cap #275 is sitting at the Comic Link OA exchange with a current bid of $10K. http://www.comiclink.com/items.asp?id=17713

I know at this stage of my collecting, I tend to err on the high side with auction estimates. Mostly, I think, because I have not had as much experience seeing the "wow" pieces so I tend to overestimate them somewhat more than the more experienced (i.e. jaded) collectors. But I feel like I'm practicing target shooting, and my groupings are starting to get tighter and tighter at least.

“Just walk away, and there will be an end to the horror.”

I think the story criticism for BMWK is getting a little off topic. I plead guilty to some of that. I think his art is excellent, and very stylish. The overall story may not necessarily have a lasting impact, but I think the "two Harley's" concept may have some staying power. So, pages featuring either, or especially both, of them may actually wind up being valuable.

A cheap wall poster that you put in a frame has exactly the same aesthetic value as a giclee. And Stan will sign that too!

You can buy a wooden reproduced comic cover at Wal-Mart for $20-$30 and get a really cool thing to hang on your wall. But if you want to shell out thousands, buy some original hand-drawn and inked art (as others here have said). Stay away from giclees or prints.

Felix, Have you thought about doing another audience panel podcast at one of the bigger cons, like C2EZ, SDCC or NYCC? You kind of did one at Heroes Con (I think, right?), but it might be interesting to get some more audience participation.