Varanis

I've only really done it once and had an amazing interaction. I got in touch with Ian Bederman to see if he'd sell the painting he did which inspired the character Cosmic Ghost Rider. Ian is a tattoo artist by trade and this is a split flash piece he did with his buddy Jeremy Cook. Ian is also Donny Cates' tattoo artist (and collaborator on Atomahawk). Ian showed Donny this piece and Donny showed it to Geoff Shaw as a template for Cosmic Ghost Rider. This piece was done 4 years before the character ever appeared in Marvel Comics. If you're familiar at all with my collection, you can probably imagine how massive of a grail this is for me. Interacting with Ian has given me a lot of insight on the character's creation and I'm actually working on an article to document it all. Ian is phenomenal and I'm really excited to hopefully share all the background on Cosmic Ghost Rider's artistic origins soon.

Congrats @aka_RAMSES! That's a really great piece from a really fantastic book. It's actually not uncommon for artists to do prelims like that. I know I see Daniel Warren Johnson do something very similar, although his prelims are usually traditional. In this case, the traditional pencils are definitely part of the publishing process. It may have been easier for the artist to either skip tight pencils or do the pencils digital only, but it's pretty evident based on the images that the traditional pencils were used for the final piece. One thing possibly worth pointing out is that colors are digital 99% of the time. The only common colored pieces are paintings - and in those cases, the painting is essentially always the most desirable piece regardless of what else exists. Almost always the only consideration around colors is to ask if the final piece is a painting. If it's not, colors are pretty much guaranteed to be digital and a moot point.

In that scenario, it sounds like the pencils are the only piece which physically exists. I think it all depends on the quality of the pencils at that point and how many (if any) changes were made from pencils to final piece. Not a great answer, but I think in this scenario the answer is really - it depends. I think it's a big plus you're getting the only board, but opinions vary substantially around pencil only pieces.

Generally I'd be hesitant to buy a piece that has pencils floating about, but I feel it's usually an exception if the artist's final product is a painting. Not sure how this piece was colored, but the colored piece is definitely highly distinct from the pencils and likely vastly more desirable. There also seem to be slight differences in the pencils and the colored piece, which indicates the pencils were largely prelim, even if very tight and close to final image. I like the example @John E. gave of Alex Ross. Even if Ross did pencils, you want the painting - there are no questions as to which is more desirable and the owner of the painted piece would have zero qualms about a pencil prelim existing separate. There are many variations in which art can exist. Generally I only avoid buying a piece if 2+ boards exist for the same piece of pen & ink art and I can't get both boards (but even then, I'll make an exception for the right piece/price). If an artist does digital pencils and traditional inks, the piece is still 100% that artist and only 1 board exists - in my opinion, that isn't really any different from a single board with both traditional pencils and inks. Collectors obviously differ greatly on this though. I suspect collectors of modern art are likely more open to different formats as modern artists work in so many different formats.

Cosmic Ghost Rider #3, Pages 14-15 by Dylan Burnett There's a Wolverine...

Less than 24 hours left and still cheaper than the last big 2 Tradd panel page to sell at auction. Good luck all!

Ultimate Fallout #4 cover sold for $225k. That might be the peak piece from 1999+. Seems wild to me that a box of Pokemon cards sold for almost double. I often wonder if the WATA VG and Pokemon sales are a sign of shifting tastes or an indicator that OA still has room to grow. Or maybe a little of both.

I've dipped my toe into the dangerous waters of regret with the current ComicLink auction, consigning the first piece of art to ever leave my collection. On offer is a gorgeous cover by modern master Tradd Moore. Demand for Tradd's work has hit stratospheric levels recently with the success of Silver Surfer: Black driving most panel pages from his DC and Marvel work into the $2,000+ range. This is a fantastic opportunity to take home a Marvel cover featuring Tradd's signature level of incredible detail. The art is full bleed edge to edge on a standard 11 x 17 board. This piece is really a sight to behold in person and search for all the details Tradd has hidden in the bevy of weaponry surrounding Deadpool and Madcap. Feel free to contact me with any questions about the piece. Tradd Moore | Deadpool Annual 2013 Cover | ComicLink Auction Cover published on November 27, 2013

I know nothing about the Silvestri Wolverine market, but I would err on this side of suggested FMVs. I think the fact this page is from issue #50 and it's an ideal image (moreso than the comps cited) means it should be a good deal more than the comps. Not to mention how absolutely crazy the market is. I'd hesitate to sell it any way but at auction - where you're essentially guaranteed FMV.

NFTs are held in "wallets." Wallets have private keys which grant you access. If you can access the wallet, you can transfer the contents to the public address of any other wallet. You can put the private key for the wallet holding the NFT somewhere not publicly visible on the physical art, thus giving a future owner access to the wallet holding the NFT. I find this somewhat problematic, however, as it substantially increases the odds of theft of the art's NFT. It will be curious to see if better, similar solutions are derived.

I do taxes professionally, including some work in the crypto space. If you purchase anything with crypto, you have to recognize gain or loss on the crypto as if you had sold it and used USD to make the purchase. It's a really bad tax answer for a lot of folks and very administratively burdensome. I imagine many people buying NFTs or trading crypto pairs either don't know how the taxes work or willfully ignore how it works

I believe she is confirmed for Into the Spider-Verse 2 and there has been discussion / rumors of a live-action show or movie. I agree with the assessment of $50-60k. I have no idea how to value it, but based on bidding a piece usually doubles its last day. I wouldn't expect there to be too much more bidding action before the last day.

By those standards, none of it matters anyways. Comics as a whole are a blip relative to history. Considering Miles Morales in the context of comic history, I think it's pretty safe the character and this cover are going to age very, very well. But time will tell.

The current market cares substantially more about context right now. I think that trend is going to continue as newer collectors are most likely to come from the comic book market and/or because they're fans of the movies. Comic book collectors care about context above all else. Movie fans will want to contextualize their collectibles in terms of how they relate to the movies. The contextuality of comic collectibles is inseparable from their value since it's ultimately the 60+ years of aggregated lore which gives them meaning. Agreed. I believe this is likely the most important cover of the last 20+ years, and arguably one of the most important covers in comic history.

Great article! I got a set of these coasters by Tom King at HeroesCon 2019. Tom wasn't at the event, but had donated them to raise money for charity.

Heritage will auction blockchain backed digital comic art in 10 years or less. And it will sell for a lot of money.

Modern wise, I think it’s hard to go wrong with the following if you’re looking to check something out: Thor: God of Thunder #1-#11 by Aaron and Ribic Thanos #13-#18 by Cates and Shaw Vision #1-#12 by King and Walta I’m a Marvel guy, so definitely a bias. King’s Mister Miracle story is one of the best on the DC side.

I feel like monoprints already kind of have taken off. Kubert, Larraz, Reis, Marquez, and many others are producing them and they seem to sell about as well as OA albeit at reduced prices. The blockchain energy problem is fixable. It’s only an issue with proof of work models. You hear a lot about the issue since Bitcoin uses proof of work and it’s the current poster boy for anything blockchain. However, many cryptocurrencies - including Ethereum, the second highest market cap coin - use a proof of stake model which doesn’t have energy use problems. All that said, it’s anyone’s guess what the future of cryptocurrency will look like, but it’s essentially a guarantee blockchain will change how we do a lot of things in the coming future.

I'm probably one of the youngest collectors on the boards. Here's my perspective for whatever it's worth: 1) I think there are a ton of new collectors coming into the hobby. I definitely don't have the data, but based on Felix's success and anecdotal conversations, it certainly feels like the hobby is getting younger. I personally got into the hobby indirectly from the movies and I imagine many other have and will as well. I think there's the chance for enormous market movement if OA gets the right exposure. See Pokemon cards as an example... 2) Good art is good art. I collect mostly modern art, but Jack Kirby, Moebius, and other masters are on my long term must have list. Much of the best old art transcends generations and nostalgia. In an era where access to any age of media is nearly limitless, newer collectors are often raised knowing the influence of an artist like Jack Kirby. I mostly collect modern art due to quality for price. I can sometimes spend low 5 figures. With that capital I can get some of the best work modern art has to offer. I can't touch a lackluster bronze age cover for that price. I want a Kirby, but I don't want any Kirby. I could spend $2000+ to own an ok Kirby panel page or I could spend that same money to buy an incredible cover from a modern book. As much as I love Kirby, that isn't really a decision. I need more buying power to get the right Kirby piece. Even at low 5 figures, the right Kirby page can be tough to find - and at that number the comparison is a modern grail. I think it's a fallacy to assume newer collectors don't appreciate older art when the buy-in for that art comes at such a huge multiplier. 3) There's an enormous discrepancy between price and quality when comparing modern art and older art. I assume it's largely driven by nostalgia. I think that gap could narrow over time as quality of art drives newer collectors more than nostalgia. I think the movies are creating nostalgia for newer stories as well. Ribic Thor, Granov Iron Man, and many others speak exactly the language of the films and will likely resonate for years with collectors. 3) I think we're going to continue to see an increased emphasis on "key" pages as well as comic collectors move into the market. I expect more granularity to emerge as to what is "key" as well. Just look at the comic market to see how much folks obsess over true-firsts, cameos and other nuances. 4) Get ready for monoprints and blockchain art to be much more of a thing. Collectibles evolve, and those are likely the next steps for art as more artists work digitally and younger collectors look for more affordable buy-ins.

I think we'd need more results. This result seems to imply $2500 is near the bottom for his Big 2 work. This page sold for more than a cover from the same series did 4-6 months ago. For now, just something to keep an eye on.

I'm pretty bullish on Tradd's work, and I'll be honest, this result still blew me away. I'm really curious what this means for the market for his art as a whole.

@Brian Peck Are we able to vote for 5 pieces in each category or 5 total pieces?

It never happened. Not sure why.

Got it. My apologies. I should probably be quiet on this one anyways as I have no clue when it comes to that market.

That sounds like an exception and shouldn't be a reason to put all MTU Byrne at 10-20k.