Rick2you2

What is Ale Garza’s excuse?

I followed your suggestion; I posted it under "Art Under Glass". It can also make for a terrific display.

Another use of glass to show off your art. A few weeks ago, a received three inked pages from Victor Cifuentes which came in a tube. They were rolled pretty tightly, and remained curled out of the tube. You can see them on the thread involving shipping art. After posting them, and what I was doing to uncurl them, Eseffinga suggested that I place them under glass and leave them there while they flattened out because it had worked for him. As luck would have it, I own two art deco tables (supposedly from an old 1920's jewelry store) which has beautiful legs and a flat top I covered with glass. Following the suggestion, I put them under the glass. You know what? They look so good I am planning to keep them there (after a little clean up). The table top was dull and they gave it a real spark, as you can see below. Now, I would not do this with expensive pieces because it is not protective glass, and there is natural sunlight in the room. Whlle I can keep the blinds closed most of the day, I remain concerned about long term fading. But for now, they look great, IMO. And the "framing" was $0.

There is a Facebook page called Comic Art Buyer Beware and which lists a whole host of miscreants. You may want to see if your artist falls within that list. And, if it is Jim Kyle or Ale Garza, ... good luck. Also, if you paid by Paypal, there can be resort for someone who makes a timely claim for reimbursement (you may be too late, by the way). I have never paid an advance for a commission, although I have offered it a few times. The ones I most respect have turned it down and absorbed the risk. I also would never consider paying more than half up front. In the future, try getting creative. Say a lesser percentage up front, and if the artist gets it done to your satisfaction within "X" months, you will give him a bonus of "Y". Make sure you give him enough time, and don't chisel him out of the bonus if it isn't perfect. No commission is ever perfect.

I wonder if they first tried to “deacession” staff.

To my way of thinking, a splash or a cover is generally judged as though it were”fine art”, not “sequential art”. The difference being that sequential art requires an appreciation for the way the pictures move the story along, and that will be to a smaller audience. Smaller audience, fewer bidders; fewer bidders, lower price.

Sadly, some collectors like them for the wrong reasons: they claim it's like getting as many as 6 small splash pages for the price of one.

I saw the link you identified. I wouldn’t use PVC either. I also don’t think that is the way most people here use the term, but more generically— like a “xerox” copy doesn’t necessarily get made on a Xerox machine. I was referring to products like those by E. Gerber that they call “archive envelopes”.

When you wrote “bags/mylars”, that might be the same thing, or not. A top loader is a pair of Mylar sheets in which 3 sides are sealed together, leaving one side open. The art is dropped or loaded into the open side which is the top. Mylar is pretty rigid, not like a comic book bag, so I can’t tell if we are talking about the same thing.

Size doesn’t matter.

How do you keep it in order? Do you drop them in top loaders and just store them alphabetically that way? Yes, the portfolios are difficult. I roughly store them by size, and type, moving them around as newer things are acquired. My document tables are also badly outdated. My intention is to set up tables with the raw data, and hyperlink an image to each line. And eventually, stop moving things around.

In this case, I would say no, and that would be true in most cases. But, if the changed dialog affected the flow of the story on the page, or didn't "jell" properly, that would affect my interest regardless as to what others might feel. I think the impact of dialog isn't given its due, and I sorely miss it from artwork. Here is an example of what I mean. I just bought a few pages from Shane Davis on the Metal Men maxi-series, a splash page, and what is below. Now when I bought it, the book was not yet out, and I did not know how it related to the story. I did know, however, that it immediately reminded me of an old movie Western staredown before two gunslingers draw (or not) on each other. Each one looks the other in the eyes to see if the other one is going to give away an intent to draw, and then "boom", or not. So, I thought I was getting a clever homage page. Well, I was wrong. The page turned out to just be PS and the Nth Metal Man talking. While I still like the art, and I am happy I bought it, the difference in dialog definitely affects the page's desireabliity to me regardless as to the art.

I used the toploaders in part because I was concerned the ink may stick a bit to paper. Also, I wanted to even the pressure around to the whole of the sheet (the box does cover the whole page). Holding down the corners might result in spots that weren't quite flat. I am also flipping them upside down every once in a while, which worked some comics I have flattened. But, I could be wrong; the physics of paper bending is not one of my areas of expertise.

If anyone was wondering how my flattening effort is faring since last Tuesday, the answer is way better than expected. I placed each page in a top loader, face up, and then placed them all under one banker's box full of old comics. Out of curiosity, I took them out of their top loaders this morning to see how they looked. Here is the result: One of the reasons this may be working so well is that the paper feels less like Bristol Board and more like oak tag (or at least a slightly thinner material than normal). Who knows? I have now placed them back in the top loaders, and flipped them over so that the flattening process evens out. At this rate, they should be good by next weekend. Who knew that a box of old comics had so much worth?

I don't see why it would be difficult since the site would be open to all. Just like CAF is open to all once one registers. For example, Splash Page could set up a separate site in which they post the pencils or inks of anyone they represent (but where they don't represent both, as that would already be covered on their site). Just list the book, volume (how many Spectre volumes are out there already, for example), issue and pages, identifying the owner/location. Anyone else can log in and enter the same information for the other missing one. Set it up as a grid, and then add a third column, so that purchases of both at the same time offer a discount if the parties agree to do so. It is in the interest of both sellers to post together. I expect it would increase sales.

If any of you could carve out an exception for a Phantom Stranger image, please do so. I have been looking for one for years, and do not want to commission one.

Anyone got a volunteer? Maybe someone who runs a website already with new art from their stable of artists could add it as a separate part. It could improve their own sales, and bring in new eyes to their other artists’ art for sale.

You should be able to do better with time. A lot of plans these days are only digital. No need for storing the blueprints; no need for cabinets.

Personally, I have no problem just buying the inked page. And don’t forget, this is just a hobby. You have every reason to like what you bought; it is quite nice. I just did the same with some rolled-in-mailing pages from WW 757 you may have noticed on another thread. As to value, who knows? In my view, I don’t care; it isn’t going anywhere.

Try looking for blueprint drawers. They are by no means as pretty as the piece you highlighted, but they will hold large items, like blueprints, and they can be had for a few hundred dollars and up. Safeco is a well known manufacturer. As for me, I just stack Itoya’s on an old TV table, although they do NOT all fit, and that will eventually be a problem.

Are you sure the pencils aren’t just a prelim? Some artists do pretty detailed ones.

What I would to get are the matching pencils if I can find the artist. One of the reasons I bought them is that they are half of the biggest art editing screw-up I can recall. That issue, WW 757 was done by a different art team than 758. The last page of 757 is the one with WW in a half splash before the Gates of Heaven. Issue 758 picks up at the identical moment, but with the aforementioned different art team. Now, look at PS’s costume in 757. It is the basic modern costume he wears. But, if you look at the next issue, the new art team is using his older costume with the medallion on it. Who the Hell proofed this stuff? Okay, sometimes artists use an older costume, or vary its design a little, but at the same moment in time in two different books? Now, I realize Kirby would leave off one of Ben’s fingers occasionally, but that’s part of the idiosyncrasies of just one artist. This is a bad hand-off someone should have caught.

I confess I’m a little too timid to do that. But, if what I am doing doesn’t work over the next 6 months, I may try it on the fully curled one (they came as a package deal).

You could also get a Ford GT. There are some cleaning ladies who work in my building who pull up in BMW 3 series from which they take out their vacuum and other supplies. It’s less about what you drive than how you drive it, and maybe, mod it. If you love the art, buy it, and accept the price plus its consequences.