Aahz

Leaving aside the specific cost/value of a piece. My issue is with the (for lack of a better term) provenance and description. With the unpublished Conan cover, after changing hands a few times, will it be noted that it is restored and by how much? This should be indicated by every seller. Also, again, regardless of price, trade dress in some ways legitimizes the older pieces.

I was very tempted on the Spectre cover ... but just decided not to raid the bank account and face my wife again. :-)

That Wrightson piece on his CAF also looks very familiar.

1) If it sells through Heritage; and/or 2) It hasn't been fixed previously. Now I am happy to admit that the restoration looks really, really good. Whoever did it looks to have done a great job, and I also would love to know who it is. I am also all for (within reason) restoring pieces to bring them back to "original" condition ... ie, taking out the browning/glue stains; fixing replacing word balloons, dealing with water damage, etc. However, it should be documented and move with the provenance of the piece. Maybe this is what NFTs could be good for.

I wish there was a way to preserve this information going forward. after a few years in the wild, this will be forgotten.

Interesting how they got the nose of the wolf to be over the logo.

Agreed on the Luxura. Start with the Vamperotica books.

It actually was a very good show. I think mind bending would be an appropriate term. Not normal Marvel superhero fare.

$1,080 for the inks over printed lines from Colleen Doran. https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/story-page/colleen-doran-absolute-sandman-2-story-page-22-original-art-dc-2007-/a/7340-95167.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

If there is squishiness, I'm not seeing it today.

Updated my Morlock art show. Technically, the Barron Storey piece does not qualify, but the others. do (or at least did when I bought them).

You have to wonder whether this is happening for other non-OA consignments for HA. It's sad to say, but I am completely off of USPS if I can avoid it. Just had an Amazon purchase (Bose earbuds) disappear. Seller filed a report. I filed a report. Mail carrier swore that it was delivered. This would involve a key to a box being placed in our specific, locked mailbox. No recourse. Amazon processed a refund (insured I guess). 5 weeks later, goes what shows up? Also this" https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-postal-service-warning-checks-mail-fraud-theft/ At this point, sadly, you have to question the purpose and the utility of the mail system.

There are probably a couple of factors at play. Externally, if you watch the news (not recommended), it is doom and gloom regarding the economy, and people may just be holding back making a bigger, expendable purchase right now. Internally to the hobby, the last few years have been a bit of a feeding frenzy. It could be that collectors that have gotten more involved in the past few years are reassessing their collection and being more (for lack of a better word) thoughtful in what works with their collecting interests ... especially when prices have gone up as much as they have. Also, the number of opportunities to buy art are more than ever. There are soooo many places to look, that people may just not see the art. Last point - the auction houses. I think the reason the auction houses appear to be doing better than the dealers (according to Bill Cox's last few numbers) is 1) they are getting the newer, better stock and 2) that it feels more like a FMV on a piece. As a buyer, when you know the dealers are buying there too, you are incentivized to go for the piece.

Whiteboard + magnets = Morlock Art Show. :-)

That was Ankur before autocorrect stepped in! Apologies!

Thanks Ankara! Who's booth had that Rusty Brown strip up top?

Not trying to be flippant, but if the markets are going to be that bad, then it doesn't really matter if you are spending the $$$ on a page now ... unless the only reason you are buying the page is to resell it in short order.

I think personal taste always enters in to it. Dollar for dollar, I'd rather have this from Michael Whelan than any Frazetta:

To more pieces up on the wall a Spectre Cover and a Phantom Stranger page

Maybe there is just a bit more of a "rational" approach. I think we have come to expect that is you put McFarlane or Miller in front of the art, the price goes through the roof.

I don't really think there is that much correlation between them. I could be wrong, but the spike in prices really started way after the advent of the MCU in movies. It may be keeping the pop culture aspect front and center, though. However, the number of projects on streaming that have their basis in graphic novels or comic book series may also be putting more focus on the art pages. As an aside, I think the MCU will come back, we are basically just in the set up mode for the next story arc. Also, I think I might be one of the few people that liked Eternals, although it had no relationship other than names with the comic book series.

Michael, I assume, given your other comments, you mean more on the vintage side rather than modern.

I think my collecting these days is 20% nostalgia and 80% "hey that's cool." I was lucky to get my grain early on in my collecting, and, for me, it has been as much about the story and emotion as the art. Honestly, this is why I am somewhat lukewarm about modern art because the word balloons are missing! This might actually track a bit with the discussion about Lichtenstein. There can be a lot of emotion and story in just one panel, let alone a page. A good example (for me) is the attached page from Warlock 5, a Canadian comic book. I bought this off ebay back in 1998 or so. Probably $25. I don't know anything about the story or the characters, but I loved the dialog ad the art. Denis Beauvais is the artist. never seen another page from this series, but it is still one of my favorites.

I think you could make that argument for any period of comic art as well. Sure the 90's had some artists that broke new ground style-wise, but there was also a lot of drawing to a specific style too. I think you can still find a lot of interesting art and story telling.

It's funny, I don't worry about my art gaining in value as not overpaying in a case of FOMO. To paraphrase a comment above, you'll probably get more joy out of the art than you will out of buying a stock, commodity, or gold. In terms of the long term viability of the market, I was looking at fine art at an auction the other day and marveled again at how many apples, trees, and ships have been painted over the years. All beautiful to look at and well executed. However, to a large part these do not have an impact on the day to day consciousness of the average person. I would hazard that chances are that if you took a random person from anywhere in the world and showed them a Picasso or a drawing of Spiderman, they would be more likely to identify the Spiderman. As long as these characters (in Spandex or otherwise) have an impact in the collective social consciousness, the market will be viable. (IMO).