dichotomy

I must say I didn't know what to expect from this 'Best of' but it's been absolutely great to go through the submissions and then the associated galleries. Also, the selecting of my 5th piece is proving practically impossible.

Whimsy, you say?

I was really torn between these two - sketchbook published Sink at $300 or unpublished Sook at $150. Full disclosure, the Sink is on typing paper. I eventually went with the Sook just because it was so reasonably priced and I wanted to show the low end of the premium artist market. What do you guys think?

Unpublished Yasmine Putri Deadpool Cover - $350

Steve Rude commission - $450 ($300 originally for just Superman - great deal from the legend at FanExpo Boston - added my daughter for another $150).

Unpublished Ryan Sook Joker - $150

IMHO Sandman Art is different from Walking Dead or Preacher. The collectors are fans of both Sandman and Gaiman - the market is wider than Walking Dead and preacher. Because Sandman was such a unique project (reading a young Gaiman’s scripts is absolutely mind boggling - the complexity and depth, and compassion for his co-creators) and the artists so accomplished and hand picked as it were - the work is all exceptional. Prices have been rising steadily and it’s probably the most competitive segment I’m involved in. A page from issue 1 main series without Morpheus can go as high as 10k. While I find the pricing on this page high, I would still like to have it. At the end of the day though, I’ll probably spend the money on main series pages. Great page though. A lot of Sandman is also concentrated in a few hands (though this may also be the case with WD/Preacher?)

Thunderstrike!

Another interesting aspect to Black Label that I noticed after one of my Wonder Woman : Dead Earth re-reads is the inclusion of Michele R. Wells in the end credits. I don’t see much YA synergy with Bat Wang, but actually WWDE is an interesting, out of the box potential read to introduce young readers to some classical content. I volunteer in the library at my son’s school and it’s mostly re-shelving books, but it’s very interesting to see what the kids are reading. I’ve been trying to get more graphic novels in there too. I don’t know about k-8, but I can definitely see WWDE at the High School. When you read the book, while monsters are halved and people injured, there’s almost no blood (a weird arbitration point apparently set decades ago) and very few human deaths. The language is accessible, and images captivating. I’ll definitely be handing this out to some older kids. It calls to mind authors like Paolo Bacigalupi (The Wind Up Girl and others - highly recommended - superb comic book adaption material) who write really well in one book for both adults and younger readers.

Low 5 figures?

Thanks Felix, fantastic stories, exactly the kind of explosive tmz content I was hoping for. And I think you can give up the pretense - everyone has figured out that you pay me in pre-drop picks! 😈

All of this. I hate the pressure to buy, and be quick, and to not treat the art with the respect it deserves. The problem is, there is no perfect solution, right? Unlike gambling, here, the more you play the more you win - provided you keeps your wits about you. The way I see it, to enter the hobby and to aspire to a serious grail, whether it be a six figure monster, or simply something ultra-rare (and most likely there is a great deal of overlap), one has to play, play, play. A big wad of cash helps, but it’s not everything. You need the connections. You have to start to understand where the art even is, and who has access. Felix’s model at least gives poozers like me a chance. I’ve written about how I bid elsewhere, but I feel it’s fair to the vast majority of people. People have asked about automated responses to let them know if their bids aren’t first, so they can bid again, and I can understand that, but let me play devil’s advocate. A wealthy collector or head of a large organization wants something. Felix won’t hold art for anyone so this individual tells 30 employees to bid at the drop and likely they will get it for him, right? With the current system, I imagine Felix can look at the IPs and deduce who are legitimate individuals trying to buy pages, and which might be speculators or dealers trying to game the system. Think this sounds implausible? It could easily happen in the ‘first world’ and most definitely can happen in the ‘third world’. That’s half of it. The other half is me dedicating time and resources to the hobby. It’s far better than any video game, and I can hang the results of side-quests on my wall. Or trade them for bigger and better weapons... and so the game goes on. Who is REALLY out of luck? Johnny Joe Average who just cannot devote the time or resources, but who would really like a page from SSB. I will say it was fantastic that Tradd and Felix included some sketch covers with the SSB 5 drop. Similarly with WWDE - pages for all budgets, but you better also be able to afford a fast internet connection. End of the day, the buyers are deciding what they are spending their money on, and if they buy too much, too quickly, that’s definitely on them. This conversation could (and has, and always will) spin on and on. Personally, I love the thrill of the hunt. The thrill of a Heritage or comiclink win is tempered by the knowledge that I just spent more money than the other person. But a commission that I put time into, or a piece that I patiently extracted from a protective shell, or a splash I out-traded you for - when that package arrives and I open it - that’s the shiver down my spine I live for.

Here too?!?!

Both, but that's an interesting point you bring up, which of course leads to more Felix admiration hour. Personally, I can't drop serious money ($200+) on something that I haven't seen or if I don't have a relationship with the source material. The point you bring up about Felix's artists is the keystone here. @nexus shows a great acuity for emerging art. Whatever his system is, and I suspect a large portion of his selection process is his eye. Felix does the hard work of sourcing the prime material, and as a result almost everything connected with him is solid. So I will happily take his lead when exploring new books. I really try not to be a blind fanboy, about anything, but over the last few years I think a lot of my tastes are just aligned with his. Approaching DWJ relatively freshly, I had a healthy critical eye with this first book, and as a result it had to work extra hard (unfairly) to get me to like it. I liked it very much, and thus the post. The other point is that I get the impression that there is even diagram intersection of people collecting art and people reading current books. I certainly don't read a lot of current books, but I'm also in my LCS every week. There are a fair number of people, as you say, buying the art first, and then maybe reading the books - and often not. I read the book first, and then went after the art (and got 2 really nice pieces - whoever got Cover B, I'd really like that too. Also, a page with Cheetah arm please). I personally would not like to do it the other way around, and going through the boards the ultimate credo always seems to be 'buy it if you love it - no regerts'. Don't snicker at my spelling mistakes. Felix made some very heavy claims leading into the drop I don't think he would lightly compare DWJ to Frank Miller, but he is also the rep, and his job is to generate interest and sell art. But I'd like to think he does it out of love...

In the roaring 20s we’ll make our own way.

The kids are asleep, the wife is working overnight in the hospital, and my teeth are brushed. I’m ready to put this ̶d̶e̶c̶a̶d̶e̶ arbitrary grouping of the last ten years to bed . I just finished reading Wonder Woman : Dead Earth. Rather, I just finished re-reading it, and not for the first time. I don’t re-read a lot of stuff lately, particularly with a spectacular tower of books and graphic novels threatening to topple over if I so much as look at it wrong. Yet WWDE deserves more than a single look. Hang out with it, leave it on your bedside drawer. The Black Label format really works here. Open in your hands, it approximates a widescreen image much more so than a standard book. It fills your field of vision, and Daniel Warren Johnson’s art moves the eye through that vista perfectly. The hardier paper and cover are perfect for the aforementioned re-readings. I’ll pause to inject gushing praise for Mike Spicer’s colors - I’d be very interested to learn how much coordination there was with the author on that note, but regardless, he hits a PERFECT pitch without being afraid of bold hues and super slick fades and transitions where they fit, including inside letters. Kudos. The printing of the book really does it justice too. Back to the art and the story. That really is the magic combination for me. That’s what’s impressive. DWJ has used his 40-odd pages to give us a silky smooth ride. Giant, bold, classically epic ideas are conveyed with a really seasoned economy, both of word and line. Plenty is left to the imagination and that’s FINE. It’s a firecracker of a beginning. I’m late to the DWJ party, I’ll freely admit. I’m a crotchety old stick in the mud and there’s so much beautifully packaged stuff out there, how does one keep abreast of all the must-read new books? So I stick with my Big 2 capes and whatever else a trusted source may occasionally recommend, and thus have missed Murder Falcon (I can’t even wrap my head around it - I’ve got to dig into it) and others. Luckily, there is Felix Lu. I guess I can’t end 2019 without yet another unpaid promotion for the one, the only, industry leading, hobby defining - the most hard working rep I know of - @Nexus. As a mailing list subscriber I won a copy of DWJ most recent ashcan - Old Man Skywalker - and it was quite the eye opener. Wonder Woman Dead Earth has kept them wide open, waiting eagerly for more. DC’s Black Label has been a welcome return to some of the risks that make DC stand out, with the only turn off being the sheer volume of them - a little restraint would be nice, and make the new releases that DO make it out even more special. And overall, I’ve read some great stories this year. 2019 was a marked improvement on the landscape as I saw it even 5 years ago. Innovate art like Silver Surfer Black (biased much?) WWDE, Grampa for The Golden Child!, and just as important, some fantastic and memorable stories. Zdarsky and Ewing absolutely crushing it. Speaking of absolute, I’m not a crossover guy, but Absolute Carnage was fun, compact if you wanted it to be, and accompanied by some of the most kick-hiney art/concepts I’ve seen in recent times. I really had fun every Wednesday at my LCS. Top class spill-over into TV/Film too with the Mandalorian, and the Watchmen in particular. AND OF COURSE HOXPOX!!!! The way Hickman grabs that IP like a wet gym towel and wrings Châteauneuf-du-Pape out of it was one of the most memorable rides of the year. Welcome 2020. Thanks to all the excellent fellow collectors out there that have shared their knowledge, artwork, and friendship. May your bids be ever the highest, unless I want that too.

or even creating custom sizes using mylar sheets and a hot sealing tool like a soldering iron? 4 mil might be too thick but might work with 2 mil. And would need to make sure that heating the mylar like that isn't toxic in some way.

Lots of food for thought. Has anyone ever seen something like this in mylar?

Not great for photos. Ok for line art. The itoyas also use Polypropylene.

One of my favorite characters growing up, The Flash! by Skottie Young.

The world of hurt that is the first piece of OA that one gets that is not standard. I just discovered screw-post binders and I found some great archival page protectors, but there are a lot of pages that just don't fit, particularly from the UK because of the damn metric system.

Not really my thing but one ends up with a few for various reasons. I can see why the people who collect slabbed books love them - they seamlessly fit into their collections. So far they won’t be my first choice but I’ll definitely take it if it’s the only option, as was the case with this Lee Bermejo sketch cover, which turned out great. I particularly like when sketch covers incorporate the logo. I also have a Tradd Moore Silver Surfer SC that I won, and an AH! Marvel Woman sketch that I bought in my early days of OA collecting, experimenting with eBay. I think it’s the only slabbed piece I own. The Marvel #1000 I carried around NYCC to collect quick sketches and honestly it was a lot of fun, and lot more satisfying than setting up commission that usually don’t get finished at the con, but even then I’d rather use a sketch book or jam on bristol, like @AnkurJ’s great idea.

And I really like that amazing Spider-Man 35 cover posted on CAF today by Tony Daniel but man is it pricey at 13k.