MarvelComicsArt

What's remarkable to me about Mike is that he has been practicing this for at least 25 + years . I honestly applaud his no pun intended "SPIDEY" sense. Well ...a little pun intended. He had a vision , mostly due to the love of the subject matter (Spiderman) and the fact that it was some of the cheapest Spiderman art out there at the time. So it was a perfect match. Buy what you love at the price that you can afford. Done and done. But it still amazes me that he cornered the market when numerous other savvy art dealers passed on the artwork. Namely Albert Moy who has a magnificent eye for quality. And you are correct his method of rotation is on point. He has a firm belief that certain art will always rebound. Or will mature better over time . He plays the quantity game exceptionally well. Trade a cover for some splash pages... than unload the splash pages and use the money to buy more inventory. Its a revolving investment . The dynamics of his business practice are solid and therefore he always makes a substantial profit. And is there some "manipulation" .... he has to protect his long term blue chips. So no Romita spiderman art will ever sell below a certain price if it ever does he just reintroduces it into his own flourishing collection. But i will say this, there are a great deal of high end collectors . 'WHALES" in the hobby that truly appreciate the Romita Spiderman art especially the covers . So if it sells for a premium its because (a) it's highly sought after and (b) it's highly sought after because it's beautiful iconic art from the heyday of Marvel Comics. The historic and awe inspiring Silver Age! Its is what it is ..... And now that the WONDERFUL WORLD OF Disney PR machine is involved and running on all cylinders John Romita Spiderman art will always be primetime! Mike is a smart guy because he was always ahead of the curve. I have no problem giving praise to anyone when its warranted. And was there some luck involved ? Of course right place right time, but he took the initiative. So Kudos

I myself have heard numerous tales. Some say John romita still has it. Some say Stan Lee has it. There is another person who claims a certain Collector from the U.K. has it.

Mike out of sheer curiosity may i please ask does the Amazing Spiderman #39 exist and if so have you ever had the privilege of seeing it for yourself. Of course you never have to divulge any private info beyond a simple yes or no, unless you wish out of kindness to give out any extra details. I had always heard somewhat conflicting reports , so i wanted to ask the Romita Spiderman connoisseur. In my humble opinion that is the greatest amazing spiderman cover that he has ever drawn, his first and best! It has an undeniable charm to it. An innocence that can only be described as pure Marvel Silver Age magic at it's finest. ( i know that John himself feels otherwise about ASM #39 since spiderman is not wearing his signature mask, and he actually prefers the ASM #40 ) Its like the great debate... chocolate or vanilla ... man thats a tough one............ but I'll take chocolate every time! Congrats on holding onto the Hulk covers and interiors. Very wise of you in many ways. And i say the following with admiration. If you wanted to , you could teach a master class in collecting and reselling original comic book art. Profit 101-Lecture Hall A-San Diego Comic Con 2018- And if any other knowledgable parties wish to chime in on the ASM#39's whereabouts please do, the more the merrier! And now i must get back to re reading Moby Di*k... that whale is such a cheeky bast*rd .

Thank you Mike for your reply. First things first ,congrats on having the foresight to purchase almost every major Romita Amazing spiderman cover. Years back when a certain Mr.Moy would shake his head and say ... whats wrong with this guy why is he buying every Romita Cover , and every Romita interior Spiderman page. Albert would just chuckle and shake his head. After all "everyone" knew that Ditko Spiderman pages were the "pages" to get! Ditko was the definitive Spiderman artist everyone agreed. And yet you proudly protested with a joyous grin on your face . To anyone who would listen that John Romita was indeed the greatest Spiderman artist ,"in your humble opinion". I respect that for many reasons. Not only did you see a great opportunity by purchasing Romita art at $30 a page but you genuinely loved the artwork. And that i respect the most. You stuck to your guns no matter what the popular opinion was at that time. Is it any coincidence that the Romita version of Spiderman was printed on a united states postage stamp. Is it any coincidence that the Hollywood version of Spiderman was directly modeled after the Romita illustrated version of Spiderman. There is a reason why aesthetically Romita's version was not only a bigger hit with comic book fans but also beloved worldwide by a whole new generation of the cinema going fan base. Legions upon legions of fans buying t-shirts, toys, mugs, etc...etc. And every piece of merchandise has one familiar attribute. An officially licensed image of John Romita SR Amazing Spiderman Artwork! What can i say i am in a generous mood tonight, i believe in giving praise where praise is due. And Mike, if you ever invite me over for poker . I promise Only real Doritos, i give you my word buddy. However (here it comes ....drum roll please) . I politely disagree with Mikes's opinion about Mary Jane Watsons face. Not only are her eyes the 'IDEAL" but i see absolutely no indication of a so called hair lip so therefor i wont even address that nonsense. Come on Mike shame on you...... that face is gorgeous. And to illustrate my point i will use some photography as examples . These examples consist of real life beautiful women that have a similar Golden Ratio of beauty. (do't get too excited gentleman no x-rated photos here, just some examples of one of a kind "idealized exotic" beautiful women's faces) The space between the eyes is a key component to the ideal standards of beauty. Why is it that some artist draw better than others. (besides practice , duh) Simply because they follow scientifically (mathematically) proven standards of proportion. The golden ratio of beauty . The magical unicorn if you will. Adam Hughes comes to mind. So does John Buscema and John Romita. There are many other artists who follow these guidelines of universal beauty. Travis Charest is another one. Dave Stevens, Gil Elvgren, George Petty .... the list goes on and on. Some artist's are even confident enough to slightly exaggerate or "enhance" the features so as to create a more stunning version of the human head. Drew Struzan comes to mind. Drew can take any Actor, male and female and make them look their very best. There are many artist who do the opposite, i would like to think it's because they have a broken hand or have suffered a stroke. AH what the hell I will cut those guys some slack. I mean after all , us "internet critics are all secretly master artists ... i mean who isn't Michelangelo here, right?!) Now before everyone falls asleep on my art thesis . I will show you exactly what i mean. Consider me Mr.Rogers but much more handsome. ( Because everyone knows we internet guys are all super models, 6 foot 3, dark hair, wearing the latest Gucci runway fashions. And above all else we are secretly 007 in our daily lives jet setting all over the world. Buying the $500,000.00 ASM #100 cover without a care in the world!) Applause please..... takes a bow... Now without further ado. I will lay it out in laymans terms. The proportion between the eyes ( the bridge of the nose ) should at the very least be the size of 1 eye or roughly slightly over an inch in real human proportion. The idealized version is actually an inch and a half or an eye and a half sometimes as wide as 1 and 3/4 inches . This proportion gives the most pleasing visual . Thus the Mary Jane Watson headshot has a unique character to it. Otherwise Mary Jane would simply be Gwen but in a red wig. Don't get me started on generic comic book head shots. That lecture is strictly for another day. And the excuse of "its only comic art" . Nope good art comes in all forms . Comic art can be as masterfully executed as any "so called real art." example one---- scroll down Amanda Seyfried--- her eyes are 1 and 1/2 inches apart.... and most likely 1 and 3/4 inches apart width wise. example two my ex wife ( shut up its my reply, when it's your reply you can say whatever you wish, until than just be nice and play along) Michele Phieffer--- again her eyes are 1 and 1/2 apart... at least. example 3 Emma Stone-- same thing ... same proportions -- 1 and 1/2 apart check all of the photos and make up your own mind .... use your eyes... best way to judge anything of real value. P.S. i do believe Mike when he says that he was buying the ASM#100 to resell . Of course he was why wouldn't he. He is in the business of flipping art, thats the reality and he makes no apologies for it. Nor should he. His modus operandi has always been to get quantity . He would much rather get an entire issue and split up the interior pages than hold unto something so pricey. He takes a cover and turns it into an issue ... sell a cover buy a whole book , split it up than rinse and repeat! ahhh the sweet smell of Benjamins. Makes perfect sense to me financially. The guy is brilliant at what he does . Whether you love him or hate him. (I don't think anyone actually hates Mike that honor goes to numerous other well known dealers ... for example the brothers Grimm as the Cabal calls them) Now what i truly love about art is that it invokes public opinion. And thats all it is "opinion". Art is subjective. But the golden ratio is based on science and therefore carries a lot more weight than any opinion ever will. Of course some comic book art is actually universally revered as dreadful garbage ... but we won't speak of such horrors ... like Mr.DeadPool himself... a legend in his own mind. More speed lines, more cross hatch, less drawing, no feet, no hands... he who shall not be named .... Rhymes with BOB Anyway i obviously have way too much free time on my hands, what can i say ... I am MarvelComicsArt.... and gosh darn it i know my stuff ... again applause please ... takes a curtsy Knight to queen bishop 3... oh what the hell am i talking about i'm more of a checkers kind of guy. ....goodnight gentleman Mike if you ever get your hands on ASM 39 .... let me know

John Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man #61 Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1968). Any ideas how much this twice up Amazing Spiderman Gwen Stacey Cover will go for on heritage? over/under ? https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/john-romita-sr-amazing-spider-man-61-cover-original-art-marvel-1968-/p/7187-16001.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

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http://wednesdaysheroes.com/top-10-john-romita-covers/ The ASM #100 in Mikes own words is his 4th favorite Romita Spiderman cover of all time . (see mike's list down below) So when he implied that both the Gwen and Mary Jane head shots looked "off " because Giacoia inked them, His comment did nothing to impede anyone who had a serious interest in owning the asm 100 from bidding. Obviously when you rate a cover as high as #4 on your own list , than the head shots were always on point and never an issue. It was simply a strategy on Mike's part to possibly discourage buyers from bidding. In this "Hobby" any serious collector takes that with a grain of salt. I can't blame Mike for trying, he loves that cover and simply wanted it back. Unfortunately Mike's strategy did not play out as he intended. Unless his intention was to always drive up prices by proclaiming his offer of 250k in the first place . In that case it worked perfectly. (To me he is a true Romita collector and just wanted it back.) The ASM 100 is a very rare and unique cover. And therefore it was always going to sell for a world record breaking amount at auction. The ASM 100 was always going to break 400k ... the question was never if, it was always by how much. And its not even a question of if you like the cover or not. I know not everyone loves Romita or sees him as a pioneer like Ditko. Its (A) a matter of it having the largest (full body) spiderman figure on any asm cover ( the asm 50 is partial body so it does not count ) and (B) the fact that it has 34 head shots plus spiderman , propels it into truly being a one of a kind masterpiece of comic art illustration. Theres nothing to take its place or compare it to. Absolutely nothing! 35 major characters on one cover. No one can argue with those facts. I don't like using the word Iconic. But the ASM 100 is indeed Iconic! A good way of looking at it, the rule of thumb is this. Can you replace the ASM #100 with something else. The answer is no....What other ASM Romita cover has 34 major character head shots plus a huge figure of spiderman? All drawn in his prime. The answer is simply none. So therefore it is beyond rare . And by definition Iconic. Thus the price point reflected it. My own humble opinion is that the ASM # 100 cover looks like an incredibly powerful poster (a movie poster) , especially since it was inked masterfully by the great Frank Giacoia. The Gwen head shot looks sultry , while Mary Jane looks very striking . Conveying a sense of playfulness with her expression ("you've hit the jackpot tiger"). And every surrounding headshot like the Goblin has a true sense of "character" about them. Sometimes Romita would ink his own work and every headshot started to look a bit "generic". Same expression , same facial proportions, same Line weight, etc..... This usually happens when you have to go over your own pencils, you basically get tired of drawing it twice. You lose something when you go over your own drawing. But a gifted inker with true artistic sensibilities has to concentrate , no only to make sure the purity of the drawing stays fully intact but to also add a touch of "shine", a subtle air of "luster" a touch of class if you will. (And all of this is achieved on the inkers behalf with fresh eyes ,since they are viewing this artwork for the very first time.) Now with that said i have seen numerous Romita ASM pages where his inking is beyond gorgeous and every headshot is full of life and character as well. The Giacoia line work really added an extra touch of beauty to the ASM 100. It has an illustrators feel to it. Very subtle but it shines through so elegantly! As an example look at ASM #121 (also a type of floating head cover), ASM 121 is inked by Romita and yet its missing those wonderful and delicate character traits that only appear on the ASM 100 cover inked by Giacoia. The Gwen headshot is okay on ASM 121 but the Mary Jane looks a bit generic , lifeless . And aunt May looks like she has been mummified. The rest of the head shots are just there, very bland. With that said asm #121 is will always be an iconic cover no doubt about it. And whomever owns it has an incredible piece of history. So kudos to them! But the heads look a bit generic to me and lifeless . Amazing Spiderman #100 is magnificent for many reasons. $478,000 reasons to be exact. http://wednesdaysheroes.com/top-10-john-romita-covers/ Romitaman's (Mike's) top 4 Romita Amazing Spiderman covers of all time are as follows 1)asm #50 2)asm #39 3) asm #122 4)asm #100

The price per Alcala line isn't bad. That's one way of looking at it.

thank you so very much that was extremely helpful i sincerely appreciate it, would you happen to know why the color scanning feature does not give you an option of RGB or CYMK ? it just says color

So looked at a few youtube videos and what i have seen is that the the full feature software is only under the windows options... is it possible that there is no full feature software for a mac.? is that possible. thanks

may i please ask someone for help, unfortunately not computer savvy at all here . i am trying to install the driver which allows for 600 dpi scanning . i guess its the all in one hp driver. but when i reach the option of which drivers to install i only see the HP easy start and a third party driver called readiris pro. where can i find the driver which would allow me the maximum 600-1200 dpi scanning capability ? sincerely appreciated , i am currently using a mac version 10.11.6. thank you very much!

may i please ask someone for help, unfortunately not computer savvy at all here . i am trying to install the driver which allows for 600 dpi scanning . i guess its the all in one hp driver. but when i reach the option of which drivers to install i only see the HP easy start and a third party driver called readiris pro. where can i find the driver which would allow me the maximum 600-1200 dpi scanning capability ? sincerely appreciated , i am currently using a mac version 10.11.6. thank you very much!

may i please ask someone for help, unfortunately not computer savvy at all here . i am trying to install the driver which allows for 600 dpi scanning . i guess its the all in one hp driver. but when i reach the option of which drivers to install i only see the HP easy start and a third party driver called readiris pro. where can i find the driver which would allow me the maximum 600-1200 dpi scanning capability ? sincerely appreciated , i am currently using a mac version 10.11.6. thank you very gentleman in advance!

yes definitely wishing Stan a speedy recovery !

Thank you i just reposted it there, still new to this. i appreciate your advice thanks

thank you very much for the advice, its a bummer that he is no longer doing commissions

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5428459/Stan-Lees-longtime-manager-fired-honeytrap-claims.html (article link above) ( i posted this originally in the wrong section so i was asked to repost in the general section, i apologize for the double posting of this topic within the original art section) Uk newspaper claims that Stan Lee fires longtime Manager Max "Mac Anderson"... claims of embezzlement have reared its ugly head . But it does not stop there , elder abuse, trying to force Stan Lee to change his will...to write his daughter entirely out of the will. "Stan Lee claims he is afraid for his life!" I had always heard stories about Max his manager , tales of embezzlement , even of elder abuse. But those were just rumors ,even from reliable sources until proven are just that . There was never any factual evidence provided. If the above article is indeed true , than its just awful. And i feel terrible for Mr.Lee and his daughter. ( and hopefully no nasty remarks about "Kharma being a Bit*h". please keep in mind that elder abuse of any kind is very serious and terrible ) Has any collector had any interactions with Max, anything that stands out as being inappropriate ? Max was always buying high end original comic art at comic conventions ,was he using funds that may have been embezzled , was he trading in autographs for art? He also always bragged that he had at least 25,000 Stan Lee autographs stashed away for a rainy day when Stan passed. Whatever i have heard i have always taken with a grain of salt. Hopefully this entire article is just a misunderstanding. Just curious does anyone have any insight?

No malintent here, i have had no direct interactions with Max , and i truly hope that somehow this article is all a huge misunderstanding . I wanted to get insight from other collectors. And as i mentioned elder abuse is not something that should be ever be taken lightly. My point of reference is this article . Whatever stories i heard in the past no matter the source i always took as rumors... nothing more. I would never ruin someones reputation because i heard a story. Its just that.... a story. Does anyone have any insight?

i apologize i posted this twice somehow , also it should read( "Kharma being a bit*h) and not "Kharma being a person_without_enough_empathy"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5428459/Stan-Lees-longtime-manager-fired-honeytrap-claims.html (article link above) Uk newspaper claims that Stan Lee fires longtime Manager Max "Mac Anderson"... claims of embezzlement have reared its ugly head . But it does not stop there , elder abuse, trying to force Stan Lee to change his will...to write his daughter out of the will. "Stan Lee claims he is afraid for his life!" I had always heard stories about Max his manager , tales of embezzlement , even of elder abuse. But those were just rumors even from reliable sources until proven are just that , there was never any factual evidence provided. If the above article is indeed true , than its just awful. And i feel terrible for Mr.Lee and his daughter. ( and hopefully no nasty remarks about "Kharma being a person_without_enough_empathy". please keep in mind that elder abuse of any kind is very serious and terrible ) Has any collector had any interactions with Max, anything that stands out as being inappropriate ? Max was always buying high end original comic art at comic conventions ,was he using funds that may have been embezzled , was he trading in autographs for art? He also always bragged that he had at least 25,000 Stan Lee autographs stashed away for a rainy day when Stan passed. Just curious?

Does anyone know how to contact Mike Zeck to do a possible cover recreation ? any help appreciated ? thank you

Thank you everyone for your help i sincerely appreciate it!

Hi , does anyone know if i can take a bus from the port authority in midtown manhattan that will take me to the New Jersey comic art con show this up coming September 9th In New Jersey? In the past i was able to take a bus to the old location. Any help would be appreciated! thank you

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