NC101

Made my first purchase, a Stray Bullets page from David Lapham's holiday sale:

18 minutes ago, Varanis said:

I'm definitely not saying there isn't speculation. Of course any hobby like this will have rampant speculation. I'm moreso saying that in my limited experience, it seems like fine art has more and bigger pockets tuned in and seems a lot more inaccessible than comic art. I believe that's what @NewCollector101's fear was - the entrance of the right players that would make comic art inaccessible to the middle / upper middle class. Right now I feel like comic art is relatively accessible for a good number of people - collectors, speculators, and fans alike. In my assessment, the individual who spent $120,000 on the banana did so to be part of an experience and not to purchase an appreciable asset. That sort of experience for that kind of money strikes me as a defining symptom of inaccessibility. I'm not sure there's anything comparable in the comic art world. My experience is pretty limited in both markets, so I'm probably off base, but your response did make me realize I articulated fairly poorly the thought I was trying to convey originally.

I agree, and my guess is that prices just aren't high enough for the real big-money speculators to consider it worth their time.

1 hour ago, Varanis said:

I may be wrong, but I don't think the "spend $120,000 on a banana taped to a wall" kind of wealth is in on comic art yet. Or at least very few are. I feel like there's a big difference in spending six figures on a piece of comic art that has large personal significance to the buyer and "throwing away" six figures on performance art. The comic art buyer will stretch their wealth to realize a dream. I have to imagine whoever spent six figures on the banana, that money was nothing to them. I could be wrong though and others are much well informed than I on the buyer base in both markets.

That's the kind of money I was referring to, people who throw away 150k on a banana or buy a Picasso for fun. There's also a lot of money laundering in high-end art, which can really drive the prices up. I was thinking it doesn't seem like all of that money's interested in comics art.

11 minutes ago, Rick2you2 said:

If you are just starting out, perhaps I can give you some assistance.

First, treat this as a hobby, not an investment. Even if you buy something that one day turns into real money value, you are more likely to buy a lot of things that don’t. And even when you hit, you won’t get full value, or close, selling to a dealer.

Second, IMO, there is a lot of excellent OA produced these days which collectors don’t give the time of day it deserves, or which isn’t from a favored run of books. A lot of people here like “the classics” sometimes more for nostalgia reasons than skill, I think. Go with your gut. There are also some under appreciated “ old timers”, too, but you will probably do better with the newer stuff, if only because it is drawn more for the modern reader than the old common “6 panel” page.

Third, try to get the best example of something you can afford instead of a few mediocre examples for the same price. Better to hold onto your cash and wait for the right piece.

Fourth, try to limit your purchases to a topic or topics, at least for now. There is so much volume out there, you will go broke or eventually want to sell things you bought when you were a newbie, and may lose money.

Fifth, unless you really love an artist, stay away from commissions—for now. Too many artists competing for your dollars for you to know what you will later regret. I get commissions on occasion, but I know where I want to waste my money.

Thank you! I've started going through the new collector thread too, it's really helpful.

4 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

Not this many. Some of us are just venting our frustrations and laughing at its hypocrisies. Personally, I don’t care. I don’t need someone else’s approval of my hobbies.

I wasn't asking because I'm interested in approval, I was asking because I'm just starting out and I don't want big-money art collectors to start coming in and making things more expensive than they already are...personally, I'm very glad to hear that the art world doesn't take comics art too seriously, I'm not sure that will always be the case so I'm all for preserving that state of affairs for as long as possible 

3 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

It's not about the banana. It's for lovers of fruit flies.

Apparently, he sold two more of them.

Gotta unload 'em before they go bad...

2 hours ago, ESeffinga said:

Well there is the Art Basel banana...

i.e. The modern fine art market has little to do with meat on any bone, and more to do with people just being insane.

And if you don’t know what banana I’m talking about, Google that mess, but make sure you are in the mood.

I have nothing but respect for anyone who could sell that for $150,000 

3 minutes ago, Brian Peck said:

" I can't draw feet" - Liefeld exhibit at the Louvre

Lmao

16 minutes ago, ESeffinga said:

I think it’s a “When’s Liefeld gonna be in the Louvre?” kinda question. 

 

I’ve answered this one so many ways on here... Hoping someone else will take a turn. 

Yeah that's sorta what I mean, I'm not trying to debate whether it is fine art, just wondering if anybody has a sense of the attitude in the larger art world.

8 minutes ago, grapeape said:

OA= comic art? Is it recognized by the fine art community? Depends on who you talk to. I see crossovers all the time. That is their are certain artists that have created pieces that transcend a category and could-should be admired by “art” lovers period

I care very little for snobbish attitudes in any community. I get that we all to some degree categorize art and have opinions of what’s great what’s mediocre and what down right stinks.

But to ignore art because it “doesn’t measure up to fine art standards—-violates the instincts of mankind.

Love art for arts sake. What moves you? Why does it move you?

There are threads that have mentioned crossover art communities see Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Frazetta and more.

Welcome to CGC. Most criticisms here are meant to better the conversation. Some are for brutal comedy. Hang in there keep asking thoughtful questions and you’ll become a valued member here.

if you ever have a question about something you’re thinking of buying you can PM me. Again welcome.

🍇. 🦍 

Thank you! I really appreciate that. I'm excited to be here, right now it seems like there's a ton to learn.

Is OA generally considered fine art and taken seriously by the art world, or is it thought of as something lesser? My sense is that it's considered sort of provincial, but I don't know (just to be clear, I don't share this opinion).

You can also use the advanced search to search only for sold listings, it'll give you results from the last three months, and if the item didn't sell for the listed price then the price will be crossed out and it'll say "best offer accepted." Then you can use the tool O. posted about to find the actual price. It looks like this:

5 hours ago, shady64 said:

His Spidey work sure seems to fetch high prices, since that's the Larsen work I'm guessing most Larsen fans are going for.  Also doesn't help that the fire wiped out a lot of that supply.

Fire?

edit: nvm I saw in another post

7 hours ago, vodou said:

No Savage Dragon on this one.

Unpublished (important) and Atomic Huh?! (even more important).

Demand (against supply) sets price. Don't let anybody else tell you different (especially if they're trying to sell you something )

The only people that want the above two examples (and there are more, many, many more, of the same) are those that can't afford Erik's Spider-Man art. That's what everybody wants, but if you don't have solid-high four figures to spend (right to begin with), do you have high three? (probably not, or you want something else by somebody else "more", every single time) That's the situation right there. I don't think there's anybody seriously chasing Erik's non-Spidey art except to "have something"; this will probably change over time as the other things he's worked on the last 30 years hit the sweet age bracket of earning/spending power, but that's a few years off yet. Maybe you want to speculate on these for that time, where you can double your money -maybe, but the rest of us old folks don't want to get stuck with the stuff, in case that doesn't happen. Why? Because we don't like the art.

Thanks, that's really helpful! I'm not asking because I want to speculate, I don't have money for that though I wish I did, I'm interested in more of a learning-about-collecting sense.

I'm very new to this hobby, haven't bought anything yet, so I apologize if this is a stupid question. One artist I really like is Erik Larsen and I've been browsing current and past sales of his work. It seems like Larsen is selling for less than I'd think, given his talent, not to mention status in the comics industry. Does anyone else feel the same way, and/or have an opinion about why it might be? 

Here are a couple of examples of what I mean - they're not cheap by any means, but I'm also surprised they aren't more:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Savage-Dragon-Issue-2-Page-3-Inked-Original-Art-By-Erik-Larsen-1993-1st-App-Dart/183986722954?hash=item2ad676988a:g:zaQAAOSwOXBdnARq

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Cover-Art-for-Atomic-Clones-1-Unreleased-by-Erik-Larsen-Al-Gordon/362784811338?hash=item5477a8e94a:g:9GkAAOSwh4tdqhAw

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!