Rick2you2

From what you have described, there is a very good chance it was misplaced, not taken. He probably placed it somewhere with the intent to ship it and then died. Did he have any regular workplaces, and were they throrougly checked? Hopefully, nothing of his was thrown out. Or, it could have been misfiled and it will turn up in the equivalent of an old closet.

How does one isolate comic art from the rest of the material on the site, including comic books?

Try him at __________.

Are you referring to comic art or dating partners?

If you look them up on this boards, they have a less than sterling reputation of selling genuine art. Try the subheading "Fake, Fake, Fake", but it isn't the only comment out there. That new name was probably a more accurate name than they should have picked. A Taurus is Bull. So think of them as "Bull ____ Auctions".

Every once in a while, I get into a mood where I want to buy an example of every artist who has drawn a published Phantom Stranger image. When in that mood, I saw a Jerry Talaoc page and put in aa bid for it at about $500. Thankfully, someone else must have been suffering from a similar problem, because I was outbid. A few weeks later, another page came up which eventually sold for about $175.00–no, thank you.The madness had passed.

I don’t begrudge someone for trying to make a profit. The ones which I find outrageous is where someone buys a piece, particularly a so-so piece, and posts it at a resale price that is insanely high for the market. Like much of Coollines stuff, except you have to ask for the pricing. I am not that enamored with the Byrne art in that example, and I do like his style (particularly his older one), but I notice you are not listing a price, either. If I were in your shoes, I would list it at a price and see if you can make a few bucks.

Feel free to ask her: I could be wrong.

I don't know, but she is trained in portraiture. So, I assume it's freehand not tracing. This one is one she also painted (and it's a favorite of mine): Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) Breakfast at Tiffanys:

Drop her a line; she draws like that and likes muscle cars. That's two plusses in my book. Is there anything I can do? I don't get anything out of it, she's just a really nice person.

If you are looking for someone who I think is excellent at drawing females, with intelligence, and should be reasonably priced, I am going to recommend someone under the radar: Michelle Delecki at http://mdartstudio.tumblr.com/ I think her work at DC is mostly inking, but she is a top quality artist (nice human being too). Here is a version of Betty Page she did:

Super-easy. You will have to be more specific on artists, preferences, etc. If you want anyone, you can always go to Comic Art Fans and on the home page, you will find someone or someones offering to do commissions. Various dealers who represent artists will also list those who are doing commissions. Here is one example: http://www.splashpageart.com/

Are you looking for general commission suggestions of people or something specific? I am not an artist, but there are some threads on commisssions which have been done, and recommendations available.

But if they are hidden does it matter? Is he trying to start a revolution for his followers, like in a plot for a movie? I don't think for a second that the reference to jewelry store was accidentally placed near Kitty Pride. But it doesn't offend me, and I'm Jewish. It just tells me that the artist is somewhat juvenile in his outlook. And while I don't care for Mel Gibson's comments over the years about Jews, I still like his movies. If I cam across a piece of his I liked, from Phantom Stranger no. 42, I would buy it.

Correct me if I am wrong here, but is Adrian Syaf making any money off of this sale? Or your continued possession of it? If not, it's just a piece of art. No one is expecting you go out to dinner with him. I'm not particularly offended by what he wrote, either. Why is it okay for artists and writers to voice their views on politics in their work, but not their religion?

I think the close-up answers the question. Not good.

I think it has to depend on the piece. Most OA is inspirational in the sense that very few people have the physiques of superheroes. To the extent the artist is drawing a piece where the distortion is part of his/her vision, it’s okay. What tends to bother me more is when a person’s pose is unnatural, like a bent leg that doesn’t really bend that way, or a woman with long hair resting on her hair (which would tug at it). None of thse Frazetta covers could be called realistic. People don’t stand on spaceships pointing guns (assuming there were spaceships). The lack of atmosphere would cause them to explode. So I can accept the errors if they further the vision.

I used to do that too, until I realized after getting back one, that the artist may not know a subject as well as I did and superimpose a rendition which was based on his/her guess and that would be at odds with what the character represented either in general, or to me. So, I usually bring along collections of back stories to let the artist thumb through for familiarity, and then explain in some detail what I want. I do not do things like tell the artist where to position hands and feet, like some people. But if I am looking for an image of the character throwing bolts of energy, or eating a slice of pizza, or wearing a particular variation of a costume, I will say something. For the Phantom Pherret commission I posted, the artist originally was drawing a ferret walking on all fours in a costume, instead of an animated animal like Bugs Bunny. So I stopped her, paid her some extra money because she had been working in good faith and my interest was apparently not communicated properly, gave her more information, and asked her to start over. She deserved the extra money because it was my fault not hers.

What about comic art tracker?

What popped up wasn't your art. It was my eBay activities.

What you see below is more than a grail; it has been on my bucket list for 35 years. Basically, I wanted this before it even came into existence. It is Bill Sienkiewicz's cover to Tales of the Unexpected no. 6 from 2006. Here's the backstory. In 1980, I went to a comic show in Manhattan. This was before there were Comicons, and it mostly consisted of people selling comics with a small smattering of artists. That's where I met Bill. I believe it was his first year working for Marvel, and he was a really nice guy. He was also trying to sell some of his pages, and even then, I thought his work was very good. But my collector interest was limited to Phantom Stranger artwork, and he wasn't doing sketches or commissions. So, I ambled down a few booths and had John Byrne and Joe Rubinstein do a Phantom Stranger (which I still have). Several years later, I took a break from this hobby to get married and raise children. After about 25 years, I came back. One of the things I still wanted was a Bill Sienkiewicz piece, but initially, I couldn't find one. Then, when I went to his "store" on CAF, I found one during a thorough browsing which was not properly identified . I figured out it was a cover, and emailed him about buying it. When I received no response, I was not pleased. The next year, it was still listed there for sale, so I sent a few more emails. Still no response. I even tried reaching him on Twitter. Nothing. Then I learned that Sal Abbatini was handling a lot of his sales, so I wrote him about it. He wrote back saying that the piece had not been sold, but it was on display in Italy. So, I asked him to keep me in mind. After not hearing anything for almost another year, I sent him an email hoping against the odds it might finally be available. This time, it was. I quickly sent payment by Paypal, and it arrived today--over 35 years from when I first decided I wanted a Sienkiewicz Phantom Stranger. Now I know Sienkiewicz has done some far more avant guarde art than this, and I would love one, but that's for another day. To my knowledge, however, this is the only published image of the Phantom Stranger Sienkiewicz has done, which certainly counts for something. And no, it will not be for sale while I breathe.

Don't forget this is a thin market. Not a lot of people buy this stuff, as compared to say, rare cars. And of those who do, the number interested in that classic pair is also less. So wide fluctuations shouldn't be too surprising. Now if several similar ones sold for a similar price, that's something. What do similar pages go for?

Only if she were topless.

Hi Lee, But, they aren't exceptional, and it is Dillin. The Phantom Stranger standing on the Batjet wing? All the characters are secondary, too. I can see a premium for Adam Strange's wedding, but that high? Look how many are coming up in the weeks ahead. Some of them are just as good (if that's the word to use in this context). I'm curious if that will cause a price drop what with the number on the market. It's great you have the time to write these things up. Rick

Regarding the earlier suspicious activities about Dillin artwork, the above piece with Despero just sold last night for $850, or with the Buyer's Premium for $1,020. That's in line with Lee's earlier predictions of price and slightly less than another piece from the prior week. Which means, that the two Dillin JLA pages which sold for well over $3,000 each are clearly outliers and remain as apparent examples of shill bidding used to drive up the market price. It also supports my theory that what all of us write on these boards influences the prices being bid. The prices came down after I attacked those earlier $3,000 amounts, as well as his artwork, and many people who commented felt the Dillin prices were more a function of nostalgia than anything else. There are a bunch more coming up on Heritage in 2 weeks. I'm curious if we have seen the last of the $3,000 Dillins.