comiconxion

I believe that Kevin told me that they didn't produce many of the iron ons - I think he said that maybe 10 of each were produced (or maybe still exist). Yes, very rare.

And don't forget Gobbledygook #1 & 2 (50 copies each) - 1st ad on back cover. Other cool early stuff to collect (that I don't hear people talk about very often) would include: - the first CBG in which the Turtle ad appeared (anyone know what issue that was)? Actually any of the CBGs with early Turtles ads/illustrations are cool - Colt #2 1st printing (KZ Comics) - 3000 copies with a Laird TMNT pin-up inside - The Turtles Role playing game books - some have early Turtles stories in them - There are some early fanzine books by Eastman & Laird that are cool - The early iron ons, lead figures, and buttons advertised in the back of the books Just some ideas...

Did anyone attend the special evening event with Kevin Eastman at the IDW art museum in San Diego over the weekend? If so, what special goodies did people get and/or learn?

There were a few printings of the TPB that you can find to read all the issues. Or, you can get Punisher Magazine #1-3. They reprint the entire Limited Series in B&W.

Sorry - should have clarified - meant to say... if you want any of the "other editions signed." Yes, the Remarques are signed by Zeck twice (once with the sketch and one with his full signature). But, if you want to get the two inkers/collaborators represented in the book to sign your AE, these appearances would be a good time to do that.

For those that want to get their Mike Zeck Artists Edition signed, Mike and John Beatty will be in Cincinnati this weekend and Mike, John, Bob McLeod (and myself) will all be in Baltimore next weekend. Would be great to get all those signatures in the book as they all worked on the art inside (except for me - I just helped compile it all).

There are 25 versions of the four images posted - similar to how Romita Sr. did the remarques in his Artists Edition - except Zeck inked the images instead of doing them in pencil.

It's like a baseball card pack - it's all about the surprise when you open it up!

I didn't see a message posted here about it, but it looks like IDW has finally released the long awaited remarque edition of Mike Zeck's Classic Marvel Stories Artists Edition. Mike spent a lot of time doing remarques that fans would appreciate - so you'll get your money's worth. There are four different designs (2 Punisher and 2 Cap). Get your copy before they sell out (as I'm sure they will) http://www.idwpublishing.com/product/mike-zecks-classic-marvel-stories-artists-edition-hc-limited-signed-numbered-remarqued-edition/

When they started the mini-series, the publishing schedule wasn't set. But, after there was such a positive response to the early work, they rushed the series to the shelves and set a monthly deadline. As you can see, starting towards the end of the 2nd issue, Zeck's penciling started getting looser. By issues #3 & 4, Zeck was primarily doing breakdowns. So, the editor decided to replace Zeck for the 5th issue as they were concerned about deadlines. When Zeck was taken off the penciling duties, Grant walked off the book with him. Now. as much as people may not have liked Vosburg's fill-in, keep in mind he was only given 1-2 weeks to draw the whole issue. And with that, he did a full set of full-size of layouts. He did the job as a favor, but ultimately, he received more grief from fans about it than it deserved and was worth. Just think how great the mini-series would have been if they had released it on a bi-monthly schedule rather than a monthly schedule. But, at the time, the focus was on getting product out on the shelves rather than the creation of a classic story.

According to Mike Zeck... The Punisher Limited Series was always intended to be five issues, but because most Limited Series at the time were four issues, someone in production mocked up the logo incorrectly. Zeck noted the mistake to the editors after the first issue which is why the 2nd issue was correct. But, they quickly forgot and the mistake was made again on the 3rd issue. After that point, Zeck didn't think it was worth it to note the mistake again so the mistake continued until they finally got to the fifth issue.

Yes, that UK version was a much better printing of the cover to #1. You can actually see the "Spidey Lives" graffiti that Zimelman painted behind the Punisher's head in the final painting. The printing on the original printing of Punisher #1 was just awful.

Along the lines of missing/stolen, has anyone seen the complete interior artwork to G.I. Joe Special Missions #5? Herb Trimpe had realized a few years ago that this book was missing after he took it to a New York show. If it was purchased legitimately, I'd love to clear it up. But, otherwise, I'd still like to return it to Patricia (Herb's widow) so that she can do with it as she sees fit. Sample pages of the published comic book can be seen here. http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=141519

I picked up a copy of #29 from Laird directly back when they came out. The thought was that Mirage was moving digital back in those days, but Peter wanted to keep some printed copies around. But in order to make it worthwhile, they had to charge $10/book as there was only a print run of 1000 copies ($10k isn't a lot to cover the cost of printing and the art team). But, to sweeten the deal, he offered to draw full size head sketches on the inside back cover. I think he offered this for the first 100 copies that were ordered (or if you caught him at a show like I did). So, you may see those on some copies.

Well, I thought I'd take a shot at listing some of my wants. - Any G.I. Joe #1 or #2 pages (1982) - Any Mike Zeck Punisher Portfolio Plate or Zeck/Zimelman painted cover I'll start there... I'm paying top dollar - for instance, I'll pay $3,000 for any page from G.I. Joe #2. So, why not gve me a shout?

I would agree that Mike's work has been a little undervalued when it comes up for public auction. I think it suffers because of a few things: 1) When they auction things art off alphabetically, Zeck's art is always the last in the auction, and by that point, many people have over-spent their limit or have left the auction. 2) For a long time, there wasn't much of Mike's art hitting the market and much if his prime stuff sold privately which left people questioning what it should really sell for. Without good comps, people get a little nervous on how to price things. 3) The best pieces you see are usually "re-cycled" - I've seen a lot of great Cap covers in the recent years being offered 2-3 times over the course of a 2-3 year period. When pieces are offered multiple times that quickly, typically it erodes the prices instead of increasing them. 4) Most of the prime stuff that people want is privately held and may not be going anywhere anytime soon. Seems that people have been waiting for nice examples of those to come along and resisted paying high prices for nice stuff, but wasn't the "best." Perhaps the recent Deathstroke cover sale is a sign that people are starting to realize that even his "nice, but not super-classic" 80's/90's covers should be priced closer to an average 70's Marvel cover and that they may never really get a shot at his most classic stuff outside of the Kraven pages that were offered a few years back. If you did see one of his most classic pieces (Cap Annual #8, Secret Wars #8, Kraven covers,Punisher covers), I wouldn't surprised if they would easily crack the $100k range which would send a bit of shock wave out that may have people looking a little differently at the prices of Mike's art (as did the Hulk #180 page with Trimpe's art). But, don't expect any of those pieces to hit the auction block anytime in the near future. I think quietly behind the scenes, the prices on his Secret Wars pages have risen in recent years. His Cap pages are still relative bargains, only averaging $500/page for decent pages, and his MOKF pages are even a better bargain. And, you can still find pages from lesser titles (Eliminator, Bloodshot, Damned) for around $100 which is a steal when you look at the quality of the art. More so than in previous years, there is a lot of great B+/A- material out there as well where you could still build a nice collection of Mike's art at reasonable prices.

I saw the Romita B&W cover for the first time around 8-10 years ago. I believe it's changed hands at least once or twice since then. But, it's out there!

Ended at $4605. Thanks to all that bid in the final hours. I hope that someone here won and enjoys!

Appreciate it - good luck to everyone here. I know this is where the true Turtles collectors assemble.

A little over 4 hours to go an still at $700... hope someone here wins it (and it goes for a little more than that). I've had some PMs from some of you about the book. If you have any last minute questions, feel free to ping me!

How about this one?

With a little over 2 days to go in the ComicLink auction, the Gobbledygook Prototype #1 comic is only up to $700 in bidding. I'm hoping people on this forum haven't forgotten about it http://www.comiclink.com/auctions/item.asp?back=%2FAuctions%2Fsearch%2Easp%3FFocusedOnly%3D1%26where%3Dauctions%26title%3Dgobbledygook%26x%3D5%26y%3D14%26ItemType%3DCB%23Item_1044524&id=1044524 I figured auction was the best way to sell it as there are no equivalents on the market. But is is rarer than the Turtlemania Golds and you essentially get what was in Gobbledygook #1 & 2 all in one issue with some changes. I would think it's worth at least as much as a regular Gobbledygook #1, but I guess we'll see after the auction ends. Good luck and hopefully it'll find a new home here.

Was the copy that Eastman pulled out for sale or was that his personal copy still in his collection? I was under the impression there may be three copies - one that Peter owned, one that Kevin still owned and then this "extra" copy that Kevin sold out of his collection. So, it sounds like these are the three? Any others been seen?

Thanks for posting that picture... cool to see the origins of the alternate cover and know that there's one other copy out there. Ultimately, it was probably the right thing to use Fugitoid for the cover to the final version of #1, but I wonder if there was another reason they decided not to use the drawing altogether when they published Gobbledygook #1 & 2. They did publish it years later in the 1986 version of Gobbledygook however.

The Silver Turtlemania wasn't mine, but it did seem to go for a strong price. Congrats to the winner. The piece I'm offering through ComicLink is the Gobbledygook #1 prototype. Although I believe Kevin and Peter still have copies in their files, I think this is the only one that made it into public hands. So, it's even rarer than the Turtlemania Golds and is an interesting part of early Turtles history! Well I hope your Stellar Silver Edition found a happy Turtle home:) I thought I might be the proud owner of it, but I was outbid in the final flurry:( Hopefully though, another fellow TMNT Boardie acquired it:)