bisquitodoom

3 hours ago, Ironmandrd said:

I wonder if it's an editor's mock-up. 

That's what I'd guess.  The "machines" notations sort of go with that theory as well.  

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16 minutes ago, Rick2you2 said:

In your example, I think there was simply too much dialog. The writer could have let the art speak for itself and simply said something like: "The path of shattered dreams is a treacherous place; only Thor had the courage to find out its secrets." Maybe even do it in an artistic font reminscent of old Norse ruins. 

 

Very true.  I think placement was a lot of it for me too.  The published version seemed to have a very "just place those word balloons on there anywhere"  feel.  

1 hour ago, BCarter27 said:

Wonderful! Who is the artist?

This was Tom Raney on pencils and Scott Hanna on inks.  I've always dug Tom Raney and he and Scott Hanna ended up doing some really nice work on Thor. 

While I'm a huge fan of dialog on art, I think there are definitely exceptions.  I bought this Thor spread because I thought the image was just a great summation of what the book should look like.  I can't think of anything more Thor-y unless you crammed Loki in there somewhere.  But the published version has a bunch of word balloons that break up the image in a way that really does it a disservice.  It really is just a case of the specific art.  

I'm a huge fan of dialog on pages.  For many things I collect, like Alan Moore's runs on books, the dialog just makes it.  One of my favorite examples from his Swamp Thing run.  Without the dialog, it's not a great page.  With the dialog, some really sinister stuff.  In my opinion, dialog on the page almost always makes it better.  Modern stuff without dialog is fine, but to me, a lot of it is just too splashy.  It has its place, but I mostly like pages for the story they tell. 

Some of my favorite pages in my collection are the 1st pages to books, splash or not.  They set things up and establish the scene and the overall feel for the book.  When done well, they can be just as impactful as the cover.     

I just threw up a little.  Wish I'd started buying art in the early 90s instead of continuing to buy comics that were on a huge downward decline in quality.    

Very cool story though!  I think it always means more when you buy the art directly from the artist.  

Great piece, and a really neat idea!

1 hour ago, rotembk said:

Jim is like the Supreme Court, he decides which commissions he’s willing to entertain. So the real question is “is the Supreme Court interested in hearing the People v. K. Elf et. al. or not”.       

Who knows?  That might make it more likely that he'd take it on.  I can imagine him getting pretty bored doing all Batman sketches.  

3 hours ago, The Voord said:

Great costume design and the character had potential . . . but the strip suffered from lousy scripts for the most part.

And the worst villains.  Any time I need an example of the worst characters the silver age had to offer, I go to Ant Man and the Human Torch in Strange Tales.  

As for TTA 27, I don't believe the Ant Man intention was there at all.  It's a pretty normal pre-hero story, other than the character ended up being re-used.  

Congratulations!  Killer piece!

2 hours ago, Pete Marino said:

Bagley may have drawn more Spider-Man than anyone , ever.  He has done a long, long run in ASM and most of the 1st hundred issues of ultimate Spider-Man.

That's true, but this is from the early part of his ASM run.  To me, those are cooler than the later stuff.  They're very 1990's, but not too 90's like some of the later books, if you know what I mean.  Nice score!

Got my first pages in 1999/2000.  Used to buy a bunch of stuff mainly on ebay back then, but then slowed way down when prices started to get much higher in 2004/2005.  Of course, those all look like bargains now.  

Congratulations on the Swamp Thing win.  I love Totleben's art, and I think that's my favorite of his painted covers for any ST issue.  It's a "prelim", but it's really beautiful and probably could have been published as it is.  I don't think comps matter if it's something you really love. 

RIP Mike Murdock, the best secret identity ever.  

6 hours ago, comix4fun said:

I was talking to some friends the other day and it was about covers and how it almost doesn't matter any more who drew it, or what the characters are, as long as it's from Marvel or DC there's a huge bump upwards on the floor of any Bronze/Copper cover. 

I can see this.  It goes to recognition.  I've done more than my fair shore of combing through long boxes.  I may not have a strong nostalgic tie to a random B or C-list Marvel title from the 80's, but I probably recognize it and probably read it at some point.  That doesn't mean I'd shell out a huge sum for one or that I'm hoping that whoever's on it will end up with their own movie and go up in value.  I collect things that I like, without real thought about investment.  But I think there's enough coolness in owning the cover to a book I'm familiar with that it's worth something.  As opposed to so many of the non-important 80's/90's pages that are constantly on the market and low-priced.  For me, a cover I recognize is cool to own in and of itself, though usually not as much as the market thinks it's worth.  A page needs to have something more special about it.  

Wow, that's killer looking!  I love most of the covers from the last part of the run, but that one's definitely my favorite.  It definitely looks better without all the banners, etc.  

15 hours ago, Kwan Chang said:

This one exists.

ive seen it before.  i will see if i can get a scan from the owner.

 

That would be killer!  It's one of those I'd wished I'd saved a scan of.  Be nice to see it without all the extra banners and Secret Wars 2 stuff.  And if he'd ever consider selling it, I'd gladly discuss offers.  

I missed out on the cover to Defenders 152 on ebay back in the very early 2000s.  That run was always one of my favorites.  Lots of weirdness and good stories, with the last saved for the best.  I always loved the cover.

Very nice!  Congratulations!

55 minutes ago, PGEAR12 said:

Coollines Jr. :

No kidding.  Several things that were purchased at what I would consider FMV and then immediately listed for 3x that amount.  I know there's several threads about trying to figure out the San Mateo business model, but somebody's obviously decided it works. 

Wow, a 1300% markup and they didn't even bother to take new pictures.  

1 hour ago, 1webslinger said:

Check out mysterio's face on the original art , lower right hand corner of cover 

That's really interesting.  I guess someone decided to fix 2 Kingpins with a strategically placed banner.  Never hit me that it was so strangely-angled, but I'll never not see it now.  

14 hours ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

Jill Thompson Sandman #45 Stripper page.  Sandman is searching for his big brother, Destruction and asks his former girlfriend, Ishtar (now a stripper) if she knows his whereabouts.  This sequence with Ishtar was very memorable.

That last panel alone is worth a big pricetag.  Killer.  I'm sure this one will go pretty high, given the huge tear Sandman art is on. 

3 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

To be fair, 12/29 was a Friday. With the 3 day weekend Fedex probably picked up the book on Tuesday, two days to deliver on Thursday. What's wrong with that ? 

I'm not bent out of shape about it or anything.  It's just a little extra delay on an already long process.    Payment cleared on 12/12 and everything shipped 1/2.   Three weeks is a while to wait, though I guess there were a couple holidays in there.