RBerman

9 minutes ago, Rick2you2 said:

Personally, I don't show most of my collection for the simple reason that people would be bored or think I am nuts ("You collect what?"). They may nod their heads and say how nice it is, but I doubt the average person gives a dam'n. Around here or at shows, it is different, or course.

Yes, comic book reading is a dying hobby, so the number of people interested in collecting comic book art for nostalgic reasons will drop off sharply in the next twenty years. I wonder what that will do to the investment collectors. So far, the people most interested in seeing my portfolio are other artists at conventions.

In a semi-recent thread, we discussed the idea of formally pooling information about a particular original art dealer, and I had broached the idea of a broader project where people could record their positive and negative experiences with all dealers so that potential buyers could know what awaits them in advance. I still think that's a good idea though I'm not in a position to implement it. I did discover something else along those lines, which was news to me but may be familiar to the rest of you: A thread in which people record their experiences commissioning art from various artists, giving either a +1 or -1 to the artist and briefly explaining their score. If there's already a thread on this, sorry!

http://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=100146

52 minutes ago, ZimmermanTelegram said:

Am I crazy? I was following a bunch of art for awhile that had the live bidding scheduled for 4/10 but now when I go down the list the majority of them have started with the live bid on 4/24 or even 5/2. 
 

Is this normal or are they trying to wring more money out of people?

If there's a live-in-person component to the bidding, Coronavirus has presumably impacted that.

There are two separate issues being discussed.

1) Most comic book art before some certain date (1980?) was stolen at some point. Marvel and DC held onto it rather than returning it to the artists. Then it was stolen from Marvel/DC or given away without the artists' permission. Much of it has since changed hands multiple times, though there are probably some pieces which have stayed with a single black hole owner. The market does not appear troubled by this; I have not seen a groundswell of support for returning the pages to the artists (or their estates) so that they can sell them at today's valuations.

2) What is the purpose of collecting? Some people mainly enjoy the knowledge of owning a collectible, even if it's locked in a warehouse somewhere like the Ark of the Covenant. Some people more enjoy looking at their art, even if the act of displaying it gradually causes degradation (which it often does) in the integrity of the piece. Some people enjoy being seen owning the art, because it elevates their social standing. Some people enjoy the shared pleasure of looking at the art along with a fellow connoisseur. And so on.

I"m new at this game, but so far I find myself primarily in the last category. When I get something, I think, "Who would gain pleasure from seeing this?" If I'm honest, there's probably a partial "social standing" component mixed in there, but it's not just that. Either way, having it and owning it Smaug-style, never showing it to anyone, is for me not a great value. But YMMV.

This issue has three consecutive blank pages, so if you missed your chance this time around, I bet you will have another opportunity in the near future.

2 minutes ago, cloud cloddie said:

Don’t see that happening. I was mainly interested in them because they were complete. I think Bill was happy I wanted to keep them all together, and he’s randomly found more prelims from the book and gotten up with me for that reason. It’s so rare to find any book complete, published or prelim, that I’d think it’d be a shame to break em up. 

You are a prince among men. May your tribe increase.

12 hours ago, thethedew said:

One of my favorite old Art History lessons was from a series of infamous portraits delivered by overqualified masters to wealthy yet artless patrons.  A hint of buck-teeth here, a slight cross-eye there, perhaps a wig just a bit off-center or a beauty mark just a touch too large – all presented to clients who were too clueless to recognize that they were being savagely mocked for posterity.  Perhaps one can draw a line from those old traditions, through Michael Golden’s infamous ‘Patience Is a Virue’ debacle, all the way to my little project?  I’ll let others decide that one.

I was reminded of this comment while perusing the current ComicLink auction, which among other things features one of the three consecutive BLANK PAGES published in John Byrne's Sensational She-Hulk #37. So far this blank Bristol board has attracted 17 bids.

Is there a good online resource with examples of the "infamous portraits" you mention? I know Goya was infamous for this.

My collection just began last year, so my "longest owned" piece is from a little more than a year ago.

And my "oldest piece" is from Classics Illustrated "Robinson Crusoe" from 1957, colored at some point.

1 hour ago, NoMan said:

I wish I had the AF15 OA. I'd make prints of it and sell 'em on t-shirts at that Forever-21 store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and the one in Sherman Oaks. I'd bring the t-shirts to the store in person, they would sell out so I'd have to restock the store. I'd become friends with all the young lady sales staff, maybe asking one or two for a date. I'd go out with lots of young ladies. Meet their friends. Go to parties and stuff. I think this would be a better use of AF15 OA then having it sit in some musty old museum nobody goes to.

Speaking of an amazing fantasy...

This story belongs on the "Comic Book Art Buyer Beware" Facebook group. It seems some older artists don't realize/care how easily such stories of misbehavior can get spread on social media.

1 hour ago, delekkerste said:

Is there a Boris appreciation thread somewhere?  I couldn't find one using the search engine, so, this seemed to be the most logical place for it.  

Saw this one on CAF today (not mine obviously).  There is so much wrong with this painting that I don't even know where to begin:    

Yeah, that's terrible. To whoever owns it: I can help you get rid of it...

Frank Miller did pencil Daredevil #172 "Gang War" (1981) But those nice-looking pages on Heritage Auction do not match that issue. Here is page 5 for sale:

Vs Page 5 of Daredevil #172 "Gang War"

Likewise throughout all the other pages of the story.

Its "For Sale" status is "YES I CAN," whatever that means.

So Heritage Auction's description is inaccurate; the image in question is not in the book in question. Hope the buyer has recourse. And hope the seller didn't know the description was inaccurate.

According to Heritage Auction, "This piece was printed in the 2008 The Hellboy Companion by Dark Horse." Does that book contain a piece that looks like this?

21 minutes ago, J.Sid said:

Looks like dealers brought their Con Pricing to the Virtual Con....  

I was wondering about that. Do prices tend to get marked up for cons because buyers perceive a "now or never" pressure?

"Refusing some tests when requested" could be good or bad. Not everyone who thinks he needs testing necessarily does. But it wouldn't shock me for any country to pretend things are better than they are. Russia, for instance, reports a low prevalence which seems unlikely.

1 hour ago, tth2 said:

Don't believe the stats from Japan.  It is absolutely not in control there and neither the government nor the general population is taking it seriously yet.  I am the farthest thing there is from a conspiracy nut, but the Japanese government is deliberately under-reporting infections and deaths.

What data do you have about this? My friend in Japan felt the actual situation was comparable to the reported situation.  I do know that Japan has a reputation for reclassifying deaths as "not murder" in order to reduce the perceived rate of unsolved murder.

He was drawing four books every six weeks during the Fourth World period at DC in the early 1970s.

What constitutes a "small country"? Italy's population is #23, on a par with France and the UK. It also has the world's eighth largest GDP. Its death rates are higher than China because China mobilized unprecedented resources to construct a dozen pop-up hospitals, whereas Italy quickly ran out of ICU beds. Yet Italy has more ICU beds per capita than the United States does. American doctors practicing in Italy report that this is not a matter of Italy being some backwater without proper medical resources. Rather, the resources have been overwhelmed by the power of exponential growth.

1 hour ago, Rick2you2 said:

While Coronavirus is highly contagious, it is not a bad disease. This isn’t like a smallpox epidemic, or a really bad flu like the attack in 1918   (although any data on deaths has to be scaled due to the much smaller population back then). But shutting down all “nonessential business”? Tell workers their work isn’t essential when it puts food on their table.

Coronavirus is 10x as deadly as seasonal influenza and has already killed half a dozen doctors in Italy working with the coronavirus patients who are overflowing the ICUs.

1 hour ago, glendgold said:

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/83117258_signed-pencil-drawing-after-jack-kirby?from=alert&utm_source=SavedAlert&utm_campaign=SearchAlert_20190911_B&utm_medium=email&utm_content=item

Another copy from the Roz sketchbook.  Please enjoy the stamp on the back. Clearly the forger thought he deserved to give himself a kind of prize. 

At least it says "After Jack Kirby."

1 hour ago, tth2 said:

Heritage's packing is second to none.  Almost too good.  It takes me forever to open up their packages.

Likewise. I worry about damaging the art while removing it from five layers of protection.

Wow, that Sunday Peanuts is huge! I wouldn't have expected that.