Flambit

I managed to discover Love and Rockets in 1990 and that gave me a reason to go into comic shops for the next five years. Of course, the Bros didn't exactly produce on anything like a consistent basis, but it was definitely worth waiting for! A absolute masterwork of American comic books. Alex Ross was what ultimately drew me back into comics, though. I think I read Marvels and Kingdom Come around the same time - I missed Marvels when it came out, I think - and was totally blown away that there was an artist doing that kind of incredible work! I'd always wondered what would have happened if someone like Joe Jusko had done a few painted mini series - could his star have been lifted a bit as the "pre-Alex Ross guy?" Jusko is a monster talent and Ross really underlined that for me. I feel like he is a bit under appreciated in retrospect. And I completely missed Keown. I actually didn't discover him until very recently: looking though caf, in fact, and seeing these unbelievable Hulk pencil pieces! I want one! This guy is outrageous!

I'm just a product of a very specific time. I was such a late 70s to mid 80s Kirby/Byrne/Miller fanboy, so when those late 80s/90s guys came out, it seemed like there was a whole paradigm shift in comics which left me totally cold. And it was really spearheaded by those two particular artists (along with Jim Lee, whom I much preferred and still enjoy). With their success, of course, comics seemed to get populated with their clones, and I realized none of that was going away. I get that McFarlane is beloved while Liefield's art is sometimes questioned aesthetically. At the time, I personally could not stand Liefield - I hated the characters with the pouches and giant guns, and I particularly hated Cable and Deadpool (shows what I know!) but I did think McFarlane was interesting. I did read his ASM and SM at the time.

Yeah. He and Liefield were mainly the reason I stopped reading comics (when I kind of "aged out" the first time, in my late teens/early 20s). I have no love for either - although I've come to appreciate McFarlane a little more now, in the Kirby-esque way he took liberties with anatomy to tell his stories.

Congrats on whomever got that Preacher 45 page! I don't know how I missed that one - that is an incredible page!

It's a great page, too. Great shot of Wolverine, and first appearance of Vindicator (in shadow). It was on clink a few years ago, so the exposure might work to your benefit; it might not perform that well since it's not fresh to market.

Yeah. Sales tax + the juice. I always dread when I see something on Heritage that I have to have --- vs something on Clink. And now that Kirby stuff isn't sold on Clink any longer...

I thought it was a great price, if you consider that it was the first appearance of all of those characters - it was the "BA 12" of the Boneyard universe

I really wanted that Boneyard cover, but let it go. I got more than I intended this time around.

Love that Flash cover.

I was more or less joking and I basically agree with you for the most part. All I might suggest is that Harley has the potential of becoming a very big goldmine for DC, not in my generation, but perhaps the generation after mine; she seems to me like the biggest breakout character DC has had since she first appeared. I mean, I vividly remember seeing the first Ninja Turtles book at SDCC in 84 or 85 and being totally unimpressed. I would have never, ever guessed it would be the commercial juggernaut and icon to the generation that came after me. Can Harley be the TMNT for DC in ten-twenty years? Who knows. What do pages for TMNT #1 go for?

This is one of my big issues with this cover hitting 100k (even though I assume it would): it never really felt like it was a "true" first appearence in the same way that, say, Daredevil 168 was the first appearance of Elektra. I don't know Harley's history extremely well, but wasn't she already pretty well established (in multiple episodes) by the time the BA book came out? I do vaguely remember when it did come out and I just thought, "Meh." It just seemed like an adaption of the cartoon.

My guess is just over 100k. She's almost the Wolverine of the DC universe now.... soon it will be up there in the 657k page range along with the last Hulk 181 page

I think the Donnellys set their prices 10 years or so in advance of the market. Case in point, in May 2005, I asked them how much their Kirby Cap 204 and 208 covers were. They said 14k and 18k respectively (204 is an admittedly weaker cover). 12 years later, 211 sells for 20k (24.5 with juice)! Tomorrow's prices today!

Definitely. I didn't think it would even break 20k for these reasons. It did very well, I thought.

Yes! I even started to make that very observation but decided not to for some reason. No offense whatsoever to the person who won that DD cover - it's a gorgeous piece and I was going to bid on it - but I'd rather have a piece with Cap, a pretty Kirby gal and evil Nazi monsters for just a little more...

I remember that sale! I wanted it to buy it but didn't find out it was available until just after you'd sold it!

I am kinda stunned that Captain America 211 cover only went for 20k. I know it's been passed around a lot since 2012, but I think it sold on Heritage back then for right around the same price. That CA annual cover sold on Comiclink since then for 40k... a little better Cap image I guess, but wow, double? I'd say that maybe all that lawsuit garbage is hurting the Kirby sales - but it obviously didn't stop the Thor cover from crossing the 100k mark....

Finally heard Scott's podcast! Great stuff! And thanks to both Felix and Scott for the shout out! -Sam

You know, Reddit has these AMA - ask me anything - threads periodically... We should do one for Scott!

Thanks! Really looking forward to hearing the podcast! I did reach out to him, and sent him a link to this thread, but I haven't heard back. Hopefully he'll drop by at some point...

Scott doesn't have much original art these days as far as I know, but he does have an assortment of collectibles he sells. I will ask him if he'd create an account and answer some follow up questions if anyone is interested.

Post deleted... sorry to waste everyone's time! Apologies!

Wasn't that X-Men 109 page on Clink recently, or am I mis-remembering?

In all my years of obsessing and collecting, I finally did my first trade ever, last year, for a piece I had been long searching for. A top five grail piece, low five figures. Thing is, I could have just spent cash and got it, and I could have made that work financially. But emotion + not wanting to spend the $$ = bath time. I must have had "sucker" floating in neon type above my head. Ultimately I let myself get so burned, that it's driven me deep into the black hole collector status. Even had someone offer me something recently in trade that was extremely fair and I couldn't pull the trigger. I don't know if I'd ever do another trade again -- it's probably easier to front the money then put a potential trade piece on Heritage. At least you know you're getting FMV. Yes, I adore the piece I got. But I paid much higher than I should have. My first real "hobby tuition" I've ever paid.

And then..... https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/04/26/another-fake-jack-kirby-page-sells-2000-ebay/