Rick2you2

You never know. I have been looking for some Tom Grummett Superboy pages with the Phantom Stranger on them for years, and they can't be expensive. I just don't know where they are.

You know how we sometimes wonder about the destruction of old comic art, and the reason given by the companies that they were concerned it might be swiped? Apparently, it was a serious problem. I saw the following description in a book being sold on Heritage: "Terrific Comics #14 (Comics Media, 1954) CGC FN- 5.5 Off-white to white pages. First issue, formerly Horrific. Classic injury-to-eye cover. Human Cross story. Some of the art from the book was swiped from Adventures into the Unknown #37 and Phantom Stranger #4. Don Heck cover. Rudy Palais art. Overstreet 2020 FN 6.0 value = $291. CGC census 9/20: 3 in 5.5, 11 higher."

Since I've always been more of a Jean Tierney fan, I won't argue about the rating, but Arnold didn't seem to complain.

How about a compromise and make it a threesome?

How about adding a young naked Jaime Lee Curtis?

I once got some pieces in “trade” when I didn’t have anything to trade. I simply asked the owner if there was anything “out there” for sale he would want in exchange. There was. I ended up winning a short Green Lantern story at auction, and we traded for that.

On a different note, anyone have thoughts about the the volume of low priced Kaluta art which has been coming up for sale lately, mostly from Madam Xanadu? Some of them are stirring my interest, but mostly as a form of future trading material.

All true—if you consider it as an investment, as a fair number of you do. The Disney guy doesn’t, and when he dies, he won’t really care what happens to his stuff. In my case, I generally consider what I buy to be a consumable, not an investment, which may have salvage value after I die, but I really don’t care at all. I buy what I buy for the rush of winning, and repeated viewing, finding my l’l treasures, and as a gateway to both nostalgia and a hobby enjoyed by similarly addled human beings who have refused to accept the strictures of supposedly adult behavior (good for us). I consider the hobby to be relaxing, like people who love to play golf, but I get better souvenirs and less exercise. I suspect I am not unique in this way. But, I also don’t spend tens of thousands of dollars on an 11 x 17 sheet of Bristol Board. That’s a different level of play; more like work. I do enough of that, and I don’t want to mix work with play.

To me it doesn't matter, but the generations X, Y and Z may be more sensitive about things like this. I suspect the answer will become more apparent in 2 years, and whether he gets more mainstream work or not. If not, I don't see a future for the price of his work.

Everyone collects in their own way; I have no problem with that and never did. But if someone wants to fill their house with a million bits of Disneyana, he may very well be getting as much pleasure as the curator of 10 selected, expensive pieces— value be damned. It isn’t so much the quantity as the personal enjoyment someone gets. In my case, I like variety of style, not so much about raw quantity. For preferred artists, more than one, but still, variety.

But don’t forget, there is a difference between “value” and “interest.” It isn’t the “ value” to me which matters too much, and I am not just being contrarian here. Look at the guy (Judas Hell?) here who loves buying those Baronness drawings. I doubt they will have the “value” of published art in the long run, but that is what he likes. Similarly, someone on eBay has been selling his collection of Batman on gargoyles he put together with a lot of love. I really admire that effort, just like the man with the cheap Disney works. Those are the hearts of collectors.

That is why I felt the example was too extreme. But what about $500-$1,000 pieces instead?

While I think the example is a little too extreme, I would probably go with 100,000 pieces. When it comes to art, “value” doesn’t matter much to me, so much as whether I like it or not. In a lot of 100,000 pieces, I can virtually guarantee that I will find more than 10 pieces I like at least as much as the high value pieces, even if my taste isn’t apparent to others. Now if the 100,000 are utter cr*p , then the analogy isn’t a fair one; but out of 100,000 of art by real artists? Yea.

If he shows up and gives you that motivational speech...I’ll smoke whatever you’re trying.

Looks like potentially delicate work. I would probably have characters talking out of their nose or chin (or way worse).

What would be the process for creating the overlay, if you have the OA and a copy of the book itself? How do you get clean scanned word balloons correctly positioned on the Mylar sheet to line up? Where do you get the right size Mylar, or do you cut it yourself? The easier the better, I am not a fan of spending my time doing “arts and crafts”.

The alternative thread showing art not likely seen before, from Heavy Metal, has some classic tea drinking black and white’s that I think are lovely. Not provocative, just elegant.

To be candid, I am not impressed. I find the pose to be more weird than sexy, and the apparent attempt to imitate a spider’s pose? Eh. I have seen some of his other work which I have liked, and in the cross-referenced thread in particular. This? Not so much.

I would put them back where they belong. This is sequential art; it helps tell a story. To me, removing the word balloons is like cutting the nuts off a bull because you like the look of a clean underside. Somewhat more controversially I would also let a restorer replace missing book titles, house ads and trade dress which have become lost with age. Some pages are designed with those things in mind to be added later, particularly with covers (not so much with publication notices at the bottom of pages). So, omitting them can affect the look and feel of the art. Of course, they have to be “real”, not like the Brothers shenanigans. I decided not to buy one piece of art several years ago because the artist was concerned that adding the title would violate copyright laws (no, it doesn’t).

Twnty-to

I have known Joe on and off for 35 years, mostly off, but when I have had dealings with him, he has been very good and professional. He inked a drawing of mine by Byrne back in 1980, and then, I saw him again after an eternity, just last year. The interim was the off period. My guess is the contraction in the comic market is hurting his income, so I cannot fault his aggressiveness. I also wouldn’t have a problem hiring him. He does have a website, so, you can always get something ready made if it is a concern.

One of the things I have noticed about this board— no trolls. No consistently annoying people, who seem to be more interested in being disruptive instead of helpful. Spats? Sure. Wiseacre cracks? Guilty. But no meanness of spirit. No skunks. Kudos to all for a great experience.🍺👍

Have you thought about adding Boolean search terms like w/10 or “not”?

I understand the artist’s point of view, but I agree with the change. The speaker’s sense of exasperation is fine when people are actually talking, but in print, that meaning may not come out and leave some readers confused. So, I still don’t think value would be affected.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. Aparo has done much more "artistic" pages, with nice splashes, etc., but as a self-contained little scene, I think this is tough to beat. The pacing, and the romantic elements of the story are well balanced by the simple panel layout, and focused content, with the grand finale at the end (or "only the beginning" as the case may be). That's the sequential aspect of OA which differentiates if from Fine Art. Yes, I have more flamboyant panel pages, particularly with action sequences, but they would turn a powerful story line into melodrama if used in this context, and this one already runs perilously close to that line. A less skilled artist would have crossed it. It could be said I overpaid for this piece, if measured purely as "art", but as sequential art, I love it.