I think the sign that Comic collectors are starting to migrate into OA collecting is a focus on condition. When I first jumped into the hobby in Earnest a couple of years ago, I bought a page from an 80's book that I liked at a con. The word balloons were glued on, and the glue had started to become brittle. So, I passed on a piece from that same artists and book that I liked a bit more because it was missing word balloons, and bought one that I still liked but was more intact.
If I had to do it all over again, I might have bought the other piece. I assumed, because I was a complete novice, that the missing word balloons really affected the value. Now, I know better. Those can be restored easily to a published piece, and so long as you disclose it, it doesn't really have any impact on the value. Moreover, unless the page is famous for the dialogue on the page, it is the art that matters more than the words on the page.
In any case, condition is definitely something that comic collectors who make the transition focus on, because condition is the most important aspect of comic collecting. It takes a while to figure out that these are unique pieces, and that there are not going to be any "better" examples of that page in the market to compare it to. That's it. If you want that page, you have to pay the price the owner requires.