New School Fool

Not really sure that's a good analogy, seeing as digital photos do exist, and sell. Not sure I've seen any rep claiming a monoprint is Original Art. In fact the name monoprint actually states it isnt.... There's clearly no love for monoprints here, which is cool. But there also seems to be a great deal of misinformation in this forum. I think the biggest mistake is assuming monoprints are a substitute for Original Art. They aren't and contrary to popular belief, I've yet to see any artist or rep claim that they are. Completely different mediums that shouldn't be so closely compared imho. They both depict comic art and that's it. Some collectors would like a digital artists work on paper. A medium the artwork doesn't actually exist in, so having one 'print out' of the artwork with a signed and dated COA stating it's the first negates any remorse one would feel if there ever were subsequent 'printings'... Totally appreciate that more traditional OA collectors have their preferences. Full discloser, my collection is currently 80% OA and 20% monoprints. I personally collect the artwork and not the medium. I realised this when I bought a bunch of artist editions and saw a lot of high res scans of OA in those books that had recently sold at auction. I would be totally bummed if any OA I bought was in those books, much in the same way most of you would be bummed if a monoprint you bought was reprinted.

It was actually Tradd's work that kick-started my comic art collection. Once I knew comic art was available to purchase, it was his work I wanted. My biggest regret is holding off on buying a few of his pages because something better was bound to come along. When that moment arrived Tradd decided not to sell 😭 It's agonising and amazing seeing his art disappear and prices shoot up in real time! 🥲

Oh no! Damn that must be really annoying! 😰 This is what I mean, the artist knows he messed up with the first commission. So much that he felt guilty to put it right with the second. I mean, they're aware of them messing up. But then only to do it again (when I assume they're actively trying not to....!). Are their schedules just so hectic that they can't avoid it, or are they just so bad at scheduling and forever putting it off to tomorrow? Surely this behaviour can't be intentional right? Coincidentally, I've just been updated that an artist I requested and paid for a commission that I have been waiting a year and a half for has finally finished it. The artist works digitally so I asked for a traditional recreation of one of their digital covers. This enables me to directly compare the two, and while I'm glad the artist finally finished it after so long, it's obvious they rushed it in the end so left feeling a little bittersweet.

I started collecting late so nowhere near done! I have noticed now though after 5 years, is that I have a 'type'. i.e. there's certain pages that I gravitate towards over others. I'm happy with what I have but what my collection's missing are good examples of these pages I like featuring certain characters or by certain artists. It's almost as if my collection is dictating what I should collect!

I am by no means an expert in the commission game but I hear of this situation often. I myself am currently waiting a year and a half to receive my commission. I'm not really sure why artists do this. Is it truly the fact that they have no time or are they purely just slacking off?

I was tempted to go for that Spider-Gwen head shot by Paolo during the auction. Glad I held back in the end!

I agree with a lot of what has been said here: A lot of the art was wayyyyy overpriced. It's a shame because CAF is great resource for new collectors, I would highly recommend it to those finding their feet in the hobby. I don't think I can say the same for Comic Art Live unfortunately 😢

Same for artists repped by Kirby's Comic Art. Zu Orzu posted a wonderful Storm piece by Olivier Coipel to her Instagram Stories. They don't allow those posts to be linked unfortunately.

I think the point he is trying to make is that it is someone known in the hobby and not an outside investor with new Crypto Money.

I read somewhere or heard in an interview that someone was privy to who made that Secret Wars 8 purchase and it was in fact a seasoned collector and not a Crypto-Newbie. I'm pretty sure it was Joe Mannarino being interviewed by Bill Cox on Comic Art Live....will have to double check. I have heard of fractional ownership. This exists in the world of contemporary art buying. I have yet to see it being attributed to comic art though and don't think we can attribute this to the recent rise in prices. Edit : here's the video I was referring to. Listen from 7mins 15secs. Nick says the buyer is someone 'they know' and not a crypto buyer.

I would love to agree with you, but I don't purely on the fact that the recent rise in comic art prices seem to follow the buying trends and habits of this board. i.e. The old school collectors. 'Crypto money' seems to be the go to explaination for all purchases that people are confounded by, or refuse to believe are made by genuinely wealthy collectors. I have yet to see one piece of concrete evidence of a Crypto Wealthy individual put their new found money into comic art. (apart from certain dealers claiming that's the case) Until I do, it's all hearsay. @Xatari mentioned this in another post. This hobby is far to full of nuance and insider knowledge for a wealthy outsider to jump in and navigate successfully. If young crypto millionaires were suddenly jumping into comic art, I would expect to see sales and price increases indescriminately across *all* facets of the hobby. I'm 100% not seeing this. Art by popular modern artists that sell monoprints are selling but not flying off the shelves. New art by traditional artists neither. On the other hand, prices for Silver and Bronze age artists, Jim Lee, McFarlane, Erik Larson etc. Are flying. In other words, trends that follow the buying habits of this board, a certain subset of comic art collectors. Why would new comic art buyers automatically fit into this subset? In contrast, What I have seen those with new Crypto money buy are those Ape and Beeple NFTs....there are various Twitter posts when one of them brags about making such a purchase. Why do they go silent when they supposedly buy comic art? I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but definitely not to the extent that some here believe it does. Not enough to sway the market for example. Once again, show me some concrete evidence and I'll likely change my mind.

My first ever commission!

I personally think the comic art and crypto world have little to no connection. This latest auction will be very telling indeed.

I think you may have misunderstood me, and in an effort to not derail this thread, I'll keep this brief. My point was not on buying art you like from popular artists. Artists become popular because their art has universal appeal. There is more of a chance will want to buy their art compared to an unknown artist. Buying art you like from a popular artists doesn't put you in the spec camp in my opinion. What does put you in the speculator/investor camp however, is buying art with the hope or sole intention that it will appreciate in value at a later date. If given the choice between art from artist A or art from artist B and you choose B because you hope/think that this art will be worth more in the future, then you are a speculator/investor not a collector. Buying comic art on speculation and buying comic art on artistic merit are quite distinct, it's worth noting that a few of the pieces that have sold for large sums as of lately are devoid of artistic merit. (eg. that Black suit Spidey Secret Wars page, The Amazing Spider-Man #300 cover and the Ultimate Fallout #4 Cover) I'm pretty sure many comic art collectors would have initially passed these pages up when they first came to market. Also, just as general advice...I listened to a recent podcast from Felix Comic Art recently and he explained this well. You should just generally buy what you like regardless of who created it. There is no guarantee the piece you bought will appreciate in value. I'd admit it is more likely to, coming from a popular artist. But buying art solely from popular artists because they give the best 'returns' is the wrong way to approach the hobby imho

The best advice I received when collecting art is 'buy what you love, and you can't go wrong'. There's another thread in this forum where someone argued that all buyers of comic art at today's prices are speculators whether they like it or not. I don't necessarily agree with that statement but using your proposed 'screening method' puts you smack bang into the 'speculator' corner and quite distinct from a comic art collector.

I've had a similar experience as a new collector. In contrast to what has been said here, I've found it VERY easy to completely lose myself and find too many reasons to buy comic art. I personally have found that without limitations I'll easily run myself dry. So I restrict myself to published art from books that I have read. First it was Spider-Man related characters only then rapidly expanded to others if the art was cool. Within this constraint I found that I was actually finding cool art and then reading the books so I could justifiably purchase the art... I found myself slipping as of lately by buying art from a series I intend to read at some point in the future....just not now!

I disagree - I would say those folks are collectors! To me there's a difference in being a collector of comic art (i.e. doing the process outlined by @Xatari and @cbaileypacker), to - Just wanting to own a piece by McFarlane or Jim Lee in todays market. I feel you would like to achieve the latter, and are becoming discouraged by how difficult actually achieving that is. I'm pretty sure a lot of the early buyers of comic art didn't realise how much they would actually be worth today.

Thanks for the clarification - sorry - didn't mean to break your balls. Yes, I think this is what I was trying to say. Not 'obscure' but certainly if you're after stuff that is less popular to the mainstream, then you're spoilt for choice!

Don't you find it conflicting to say that you would like the hobby to be more open to new collectors, while at the same time you say you attribute your success in the hobby to being a member of a circle jerk that liken themselves to a closed shadowy boys club?

If you want to collect mainstream comic art from the 90s and older - then yes you're correct, that ship has sailed for newer collectors. If you shift your focus to newer or more obscure stuff, then the hobby becomes a lot more accessible.

I've never met her face to face though I have seen that she needs a translator in interviews...could be a possible explanation? I have bought a few pieces from her though and have communicated through social media, I assume I have been speaking with her directly, but who knows!

Doesn't Peach Momoko sell her art herself? You would have had a better experience contacting her directly....without the 'added fees ' of the middleman.

Welcome to my world! I got into this hobby relatively late. A lot of the pieces I would like are already locked away in other peoples collections or priced so high it wouldn't be considered 'fun' to actually buy them. But I love art and comics, so buying from modern artists seems the route for me to take. I'm not sure if a 'modern comic art dealer' at a show would work in this day and age though for the reason outlined below... Maybe because they don't have to...? I recently attended a comic art festival in the UK. The Cadence crew were there, as were artists repped by Kirby's Comic Art. I noticed that all but two pieces of comic art being sold between them both could easily be found and bought online, I didn't really see anything new. I have a feeling these reps and their clientele have more of an online presence and do better business there than at shows.

Thanks dude, I thought I had his facebook details - turns out it was just a fan page I've messaged him now and will keep my fingers crossed. Thanks once again!

Anyone know how to get in contact with Dan Mora? he doesn't appear to have a rep and he also doesn't seem to respond to messages on social media. Yet I see as lot of his OA on ComicArtFans. How are people getting in touch with him?