artdealer

Inks were definitely not done in 1978 or 79. While the art was drawn in 78, the book didn’t come out till mid 79. I didn’t sell the original till a couple months later. MI

The short story is, I made a mistake. After doing research, it turns out Sinnott lightboxed the pencils and I sold the original pencils to the consignor after the book was published. Since the original pencils were sprayed with a fixative so the pencils wouldn’t smear. The consignor had Sinnott ink the original, and because it is difficult to erase pencils once the art has been spray fixed, is why you still see pencils. I conveyed this story to Heritage and that is what you see for the listing. MI

Thanks. No sales, but contact me via PM and maybe we can work something out. MI

Thanks!

It includes everything.

There is a search function on the site in which you type in a superhero name, and if I have it, it shows up. What more do you need?

Thanks!

Hey All, Wanted to let you all know, that I have a brand new website courtesy of Bill Cox. Go check it out at http://graphiccollectibles.com Thanks for looking. Best, Mitch Itkowitz Graphic Collectibles

Thanks!

I'd rip off my arm and beat myself to death before that happened. Not kidding. MI

Yes, I know all about it. I will have a new website through Bill Cox today or tomorrow, and this is one of the bugs to be worked out. MI

What I’m saying is that Neal said the Batman and GL stories were no longer complete. Now, that’s what he said. It’s possible he misplaced them. Maybe some were stolen. I know of at least one person who was taking art out of Neal’s studio about 12-13 years ago, and got caught. i haven’t seen pages from the 2 stories on the market, so who know what the real story is. MI

It was before DC was returning the art.

Batman/Detective covers were selling for $250.

13 or so years ago, I spoke to Neal about the Police report. This was when Neal was on a rampage to get all his art back, and everything was stolen. Neal and I had a sit down at his studio in NYC and discussed the specifics of the Police Report. Neal said he did file one, but it was a blanket report. No specific pages were listed. I told him unless specific pages were listed, there was nothing legally he could do to get back the art. I also had to remind him just how much of his art Tony Dispoto and I sold for him back in the 70s. Now, back in November of 1981, at the NYC Creation Con, Neal had asked if he could trade for Giordano's share of GL/GA #86, Batman #255 and the Superman/Mohammed Ali book. So in December of 1981, after the trade, Neal had the complete books for the Batman and GL stories. I had sold several of the Superman/Ali pages previously. When I had the sit down with Neal, I reminded him of the trade. Neal said he no longer had the complete books. So obviously someone had taken art over the 20+ years he had the art. But he never filed a Police report for those pages. Once I told Neal how much of his art Tony and I sold back in the 70s, he backed down from his rampage. MI

I sold a lot of covers for Neal back in the mid 70s, but Batman #251 was not one of them. There were covers and interiors that were stolen from the engravers back in the day. They never made it back to DC.

Good luck finding a copy of the Masterworks book. I have only 5 copies left. MI

The replacement stat is on the original. MI

Here is my only personal commission I've kept since 1977. Shary Flenniken Trots and Bonnie and I in my Art Gallery. Shary was a friend from the mid 70s till the late 70s when I moved from NYC. She would come to our apartment and hang once in a while. She was a lot of fun. Haven't spoken with her in decades and I don't know if my ex-girlfriend at that time keeps in touch with her. But I think it's cool. Too bad I don't look like that guy in the picture anymore.

As the co-publisher of the Masterworks book, I can assure you there was only one original done for the back cover. Any other original that looks like the inked back cover was either drawn by Jack later, or inked on a light box by Sinnott. i had to get permission from Jack to have Sinnott ink the original for the back cover. The pencil version is the inside back cover of the book. MI

Maybe if Ricky taps his ruby red shoes 3 times, his wish that the Kirby be 100% Kirby might come true. In the meantime, very, very few collectors would want this in their collection. It would always be in the back of their mind that it’s not 100% Kirby.

The fact is it’s not 100% Kirby. That’s an undisputed fact. Therefore this must be described as “drawn by Kirby and an assistant”. Regardless of how much you want this to be 100% Kirby, it will never be. And when you go to sell, you’ll be surprised to see how the attribution will affect the price.

Well, it's a partial Kirby. And it's not that magnificent considering is only a partial Kirby.

One of several Jack Kirby originals I own. Most of what I own are from the 1950 - 1956 period, but this is a special (to me) piece. Back in 1978, Larry Shell and I published Jack Kirby Masterworks. At the time it was only the 2nd art book of Jack's work. Jack and Roz were wonderful to work with. One day a package shows up at my apartment in NYC from the the Kirby's. Inside are a dozen or so illustrations Jack had drawn. I had no idea these were coming. I called Jack and he said he wanted the book to be special, so he drew these for me to publish in the book. Some of the full page illustration were for sale, but most weren't, at that time. However, I had sold this particular drawing to a friend back in 1978. He brought it to San Diego this Summer and asked if I wanted to buy it. I told him I couldn't afford to pay all at once, so he gave me a better price, and allowed me to make payments. And it doesn't hurt that Bulls Eye is one of my 3 favorite Kirby characters (the other 2 being Stuntman and Boys Ranch). MI

If a piece of art is not 100% pencilled by Kirby, then it’s not a total Kirby and therefore not worth nearly what a completely 100% pencilled Kirby would be worth. MI