Rick2you2

I do think that when he was clearly left to his own devices, his stuff is wonderful. Here is a page I grabbed off Comic Art Fans a few minutes ago, and it is nothing special in its own right. Not a splash, no fancy borders, just drawing. Look at the level of detailing and realism, and the way the mood is set to see what I am talking about. No, it is not highly stylized like Mignola, but as a piece of craftsmanship, the skill set is high:

One of the toughest things, I think, is for an artist to turn a 6 panel page into a real work of art, particularly when there is a lot of text.

I'm not sure I am following you, but I think one point is a difference between "fine art" and "sequential art". Sequential art is designed to move a story along, so it is best appreciated in the context of multiple pages with word balloons (oh, I miss those). As a story, there are things going on which are not visible in a snapshot, like secondary story lines, character development, and overall ambience. With fine art, we look at a snapshot, what's there is staring at you, with no next or last page to consult or think about, let alone how the character progresses. Lichtenstein's work dispels of many of the sequential aspects of the artwork. We know it is part of a story, but he essentially converts a panel in a page to the equivalent of a cover page (which in that sense is similar to fine art on a newstand). Gradations are minimized, subtlety is eliminated, and the artful impact of sequential art becomes the focus of what he does to those panels. That's a reason why Kirby, in my view, is so well liked. His stuff has a lot of impact. Brilliant artists like DeZuniga are not so impactful no matter how good they are as artists. People like what they like, and it's natural to favor impactful art work. But I remain surprised that the sequential aspect of comic art is not better reflected in the price. A great panel page deserves to be better appreciated.

So Andy Warhol is also a plagerist for his soup cans, et al.? Besides if you look closely at the images, they are not the same at all. What Lichtenstein did was to augment the the actual images, modify the shades and eliminate some seemingly small parts which had the effect of amplifying the comicy look of the art so you could see what made it fundimentally appealing and fun instead of banal. He isn't trying to create masterworks, just something fun.

Before I go redoing my current storage, As planned, I thought the safest way was to put them in the Mylar sleeves and place the sleeves in the Itoya? They are stored in a cool dry place already, I learned that lesson the hard way many years ago—as did my long gone Eisner Spirit page. I don’t just want to keep them loose with backers and let them breathe every once in a while. I know me: I won’t get around to it

I don't think there is anything wrong with it except expense and aethetics. I had done that on one piece a long time ago, and I thought the actual printed page distracted from the artwork itself. From what you are describing that will be a fairly large frame and possibly an expensive one. By the way, don't get locked into that black frame/white matte scenario which a lot of people use. This is going to be displayed somewhere, so you may want to consider a colored frame to blend the picture to the wall. Usually, I would get a simple frame, but if the piece is lush, it might go better with something more ornate. Take a look at some of the frame jobs pictured on this thread for examples of a lusher look.

If I correctly understood an earlier thread, this may not be the best method of storage. They should first be placed in a mylar sleeve (even better, with a backer sheet) and then the art in the sleeve should be stored. The plastic used in an Itoya does not actually protect the artwork.

Simple answer: any event can be taxed. If it can be taxed, it will be. It doesn't have to be consumed, just used. You use it by looking at it. I'm in NJ, and it's a minor miracle they haven't taxed the air we breathe.

Nonsense. You don’t have a problem. Everyone who doesn’t love the character, or what makes him so special, has the problem. I was wondering who bought that page. I had thought about bidding on it, too, but decided to pass. Interesting how much the villain looks like Broderick Crawford.

Agreed. This is called “spotting a bargain.”

Maybe Superman is kinkier than we know.

The girl is the least of the art, and I what I was mentioning was referenced in the initial listing (long gone once bidding opened) Regarding the balance: the upper left corner with the Mondrian, and all its white space balances out with the dark space in the area under the woman's butt (but more compactly). The blue rectangle in the lower left corner balances with the blue triangle in the Mondrian. Then, the red table holding the phone balances against the red and white rectangle behind the woman which picks up the small red triange in the Mondrian. Together, they force the viewer's attention to the woman in the middle. And since the "objects" are all very different in size, they are not even noticed as they pull the piece together. Try covering over the little blue rectangle, and the balance isn't there anymore. But if you tried to add something like it in the upper right corner, it would stick out like a sore thumb. It's also cool the way the phone, an inherently 3D object, sits on an object which is decidedly 2D. On a different note, I think I have known some women like that who could be had for $200ish. Bdum bum.

I expect my children to place it in my shrine, as all good children should.

Too much clothing left on the women.

What disappointed me more was something I wanted on Catawiki, that home of European soft porn. It was this one, which went for a little over $2,700, when the pre-bid estimates of the experts was in the $200-$400 range. So don't feel badly, they really blew it. By French comic artist Antonio Lapone, who I never heard of before the auction but is apparently a leader in something called the "Ligne claire" (clear line) school of art (like Tin-Tin), it combines two of my favorite things: the art of Piet Mondrian and women (but not in that order). The only reason I didn't bid really high is that the page is only about the size of a piece of paper, and a Mondrian work, which this piece incorporates (upper left corner) and honors really needs space to breath properly. I thought the sense of balance from completely disparate elements to be superb, and the blending of the style with Art Deco (the period when Mondrian was at his peak) to be wonderful.

I hit the range. It came in at $1,380 with Buyer's Premium. I think the prices are going to stablize for his stuff or sink further (unless something really top notch comes up of course).

There may actually be more than 2 people, but it's still not that interesting a page unless you have an unusual fondness for ugly ties.

Glue stick. Must be acid free.

He is excellent, but a major jump in the price is unusual. This is. In bulk, 9 pages are biblical characters. Only the first page has an excellent splash of a comparatively minor character. Those other 9 pages, in bulk, I figured about $200 each (separately, a bit more).

Notice Red Sonia’s eyes and the sway of the hips? Those are telltale signs of a real Timm piece (it can be replicated by a forger, but if it isn’t, it is suspicious)

The Secret Origins story containing one of the Phantom Stranger's origins by Garcia Lopez ended up going for almost double what I expected for the break down price of its pages. Wow. Nice story and art, but I didn't see that kind of love for it.

To be clear, I very much like his work, but when buying a whole book, the value is generally lower on a per page basis than selling the piece as a single unit. And that's not just in this hobby end. That's also true with illustrated manuscripts and the like.

Understood, but at least give me time to opt out.

You mean like having Dr. Who drive up in a DeLorean to the Tardis and asking: Is there a Doctor in the House? Which, of course, has Dr. Emmet Brown in it.