Ecclectica

Just my 2¢ Kieron Dwyer's #368 "advanced" version of the cover ? (compare with #367 cover) #367 was the last Dwyer issue, with Lim doing the #366, and really beginning his run with #368. It was a transition time, so maybe the editor had to choose between the very last cover partially done by Dwyer and the one done by Lim, by then the new regular penciller. Maybe Lim was even given the idea of Dwyer cover composition, and Lim emulated it. I haven't looked already, but I'm already convinced the inks are not by Danny Bulanadi, the regular inker of the C.A. title at this time. Maybe inks were done by Dwyer himself (he inked himself sometimes - ex : Marvel Comics Present #42) to "finish" at least the job. But there are details here which remind me of Al Williamson inking... but others details seem not right for A.W. inking... (Williamson was one of the inkers Dwyer worked with at the time. Ex : Daredevil #289 & #290) So my best bet is it's a 100% Dwyer cover, roughtly finished.

For that matter, they should have included an issue of Checkmate. ... but I digress.

Just my 2¢ Issue #121 was a fill-in issue with an obscure penciler, Phil Gosier, doing the breakdowns. Maybe issue #122 was destined, for a short time, by the editor, to host a guest penciller too, until Steven Butler told the editor he had enough time to do all the breakdowns for this issue ? (so page 1 already drawn by the guest artist was shelved ?)

Just discovered there is also a "Mike Vosberg" near "Ariel Olivetto" on this site. Come on... LOL

I didn't saw it but with computer magic, Ariel Olivetto is gaining fame : I don't know how links are created in CAF, but let's hope nobody will add a new Ariel Olivetto original art, or the legend of the unknown brother will be on. :-)

Tech problem maybe. I didn't wanted to consume space, but, after all, we see enough fakes in this thread, so... in all its glory :

I saw this one too. The crudeness of this fake is indeed creepy compared to the original : https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Dg8I1epHlU/VAGK939aFXI/AAAAAAAAwdg/Jvv7NH_Zu94/s1600/aha%2B(355).jpg

"Ariel Olivetto" ?! https://www.comicartfans.com/ForSaleDetails.asp?ArtId=5424552 Seriously... Can't help but think about Mario and Luigi. He is probably his brother too...

Maybe you will be interested to see this : https://twitter.com/waltersimonson/status/1272381201370791938

Clearly Chris Foulkes signature and centers of interest. See : https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1655939

Difficult to say... Zooming doesn't help... Nice find, at a good price, anyway !

I think that too because we can see in the bottom of the ad the kind of signatures Kirby (at the left) and Ayers (at the right) did on these recreations (source : https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1417814) . The missing CCA stamp is probably an hint too ?

Let's say he put all his money in the collection... clearly not in the appartment.

Indeed. It's the opened white paint bucket nearby which worry me the most... One unfortunate kick in it and...

Since we aren't talking about a mysterious Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko original, it was a mystery that could be easily solved, asking directly Mark Spears. I contacted him through his CAF gallery (see my previous post) and got his reply. "Hello. Yes I drew that. I drew it as a concept for a Beast statue but it never got made."

I'm happy Mark Spears's name has surfaced now in this topic, because I was writing just before a long reply demonstrating (with several samples from the 90's to now) why it could not be Bart Sears signature and style... You saved me time and efforts. (relief) Several samples from Mark Spears CAF pencils gallery show these sketches are from him indeed. https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=2052 Many others B&W samples as significiant (style and signature) there.

Here is a reference for "Le trou noir", the french translation you were talking about (french site) : https://www.bedetheque.com/BD-Trou-noir-Le-Trou-Noir-30097.html It was published by Hachette in 1980. Several pics of this french version can be seen here : https://marswillsendnomore.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/scenes-from-jack-kirbys-black-hole-adaptation/

A few hours ago, before your new posts, I was thinking the blond guy with his pants could be Ka-Zar, so I looked in all Astonishing Tales (V1) and in Ka-Zar series (V1 and V2) issues without success. Maybe BWS did this Levi's ad story (?) when he was working on Astonishing Tales ? Or converted an unpublished begining of story from him into an ad ? For fun ? For the second piece : I have, myself, a prelim from BWS in my collection, and even without signature on yours, I'm convinced your art is from him too. The way some things are simplified on your prelim, like the feets, legs, anatomy, etc... on secondary characters, or details on the torso on the main character are very much in his style. Look at this BWS reference, for the torso case : Maybe your prelim was a cover prelim ? I have a suggestion : write an email to wsstudio@barrywindsor-smith.com and join your pics in it. Margaret Stewart will hopefully reply, and maybe she will ask Barry. I know at least one case of unsual art for which she did this in the past, and the owner of the art got a response. BTW, you have a nice collection of Kane's prelims on Warlock ! They're great !

For me, it was a Gene Colan page from "Tomb of Dracula", bought 25 years ago, more or less. I still have it, still love it and apply today the same view I had at this beginning of my collection regarding the acquisition of a new piece of art : questionning deeply myself if I would keep it forever, and buying it only if the response is "yes".

Well, I will have to try again this week, because the crook already put the replacement piece on sale... https://www.ebay.fr/itm/164349821917 (copy of this one - https://townsquare.media/site/622/files/2012/08/warriors3-1010.jpg - took me 30 seconds to find the original...) Any help would be appreciated (the voice of several persons will maybe help to decide Ebay to do something...). I'm still hope to kill the beast's eggs.

Very sad, today... Ebay termination system seems on holidays and that's a shame... The same crook from Ebay got another prey yesterday night : https://www.ebay.fr/itm/164338456551 (I sent Ebay the wonderful video showing the King drawing the original one as a proof - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ckt_yZAWFk - , and gave them even the time mark were the drawing is shown clearly enough to see this Ebay item is a lame copy... Despite my efforts last week, the prey got caught...) If someone can explain to me why the Ebay service didn't take an action this time, I would be glad to hear it... Each time the crook catch a prey, he is encouraged to shop again in Peru...

In these comics, which story are you looking for ? A page of the Bill Draut story in HoS #96 was sold in 2016 at Heritage : https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/bill-draut-house-of-secrets-96-page-8-original-art-dc-1972-/a/121651-13045.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515 ... and Paul Handler has the splash : https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=966399 A page from the BWS story from ToS #5 was sold in 2007 at Heritage too : https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/barry-smith-and-dan-adkins-tower-of-shadows-5-page-3-original-art-marvel-1970-/a/825-43397.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115 ...and they had the cover to sell too : https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/covers/marie-severin-and-bill-everett-tower-of-shadows-5-cover-original-art-marvel-1970-/a/7209-93211.s I cannot remember if I saw a page of the Wood story at an expo dedicated to his whole career at the beginning of this year... but if it's the Wood story that interest you, I can PM you the mail of a french Wood collector who can probably tell you if the pages from this story (and from the one in House of secrets #96) were seen in the past 40 years. The Alex Toth story in HoS #96 was a reprint for HoS #48. A page was sold at Heritage in 2018 : https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/alex-toth-house-of-secrets-48-story-page-8-original-art-dc-1961-/a/121822-11160.s ... and Stephen Donnelly can sell you this one ! https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1135790 To conclude, no traces from the Syd Shores story from ToS #5 IMHO.

Well, if they were at least signed with their real name, completed with the "After Jack Kirby" mention and a (fixed) price of 10 $, we could talk about "charming innocence" IMHO... This is not. By the way, the false Ditkos have been terminated... At least we can thanks Ebay for that.

Oh, no... Just discovered the one I thought was honest was not, after all... He's selling another fake, after I showed him the 2 previous one were fake sending him the original versions... https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Steve-DITKO-dessin-Encre-de-Spiderman-DC-Comics-univers-Marvel/193581715562?hash=item2d125e906a:g:cjUAAOSwYORfEyxZ It's a real desease... Theses fakes spread almost as fast as COVID-19...

Perfectly right. What's horrible too is the fact these "auction houses" are the providers for Ebay sellers, some honests, some dishonests, who "relay" these fake in others countries. I'm "hunting" these ones in my country. Recently, I found an honest one, who understood quickly he had bought fakes and retired all his ads with apologies (and regrets losing several hundreds dollars buying them). This other one seems to fall into the "dishonest" category : https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Dessin-Original-Jack-Kirby-Marvel-DC-Comics/164287338011?hash=item264049d61b:g:juEAAOSwa31fC0UV Several people like me tried to tell him he was selling fakes, but he continues... In one of his ads, he even told everybody his drawings were genuine... I'm going to tell him (again) that the original is this one : https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bf/05/85/bf05852debdccf271392f0af8185a600.jpg ... but I'm not sure he will listen. He previously tried to sell this "Ditko"...