Weird Paper

That's exactly what I mean. He didn't know until he knew.

I'm gonna play devil's advocate on this. I have some prints up, framed, in place of originals, and it doesn't bother me at all. I have the peace of mind to know they're not fading. I took 1200 dpi full-sized scans and printed them on similar-finish paper on a high-quality, eight-color Epson -- tears, tape, toning, warts and all. If you walked into the room, and didn't know some of them were prints, it would probably never occur to you. I can look at the originals any time I want, but I don't have to worry about any fading. It's a win-win. If there was some aspect to their presentation that screamed "copy," like a reduced size or pixellization, it wouldn't work. The thickness and some surface aspects of the paper are different, but it's not evident in a frame. Hell, I even got lazy on a few and printed the matte around it, complete with a bevel and faint shadow to make it look real.

Anything from Leadpink is worthless . It's fine if you just want something to put on your wall until it fades, and, since it's probably generated on an inkjet, it will fade.

The point to remember is that on its way from point A to point B, your valuable commodity is handled by numerous individuals who don't give a rodent's posterior about it. It's thrown, bent, stacked upon and driven over. I once sent a couple of nice mid-to-high grade Barks Duck 4-colors to a boardie in Norway or Finland (I know -- it sounds like a cliche). To package it, I hollowed out a piece of 1/2 inch gator board to make a two inch frame all the way around it and put 6mm pvc on top and bottom so that any stress it took would distribute onto the gator board. I taped it up water tight, and put it in a slightly larger box with bubble wrap around it. I could have survived any abuse short of being shot. The happy recipient told me it was the best packaged comic he'd ever received. The materials I used were scraps you can get from a sign shop, so they didn't cost me anything.

Man, talk about first-world problems. You know what I hate? Restaurants that are too clean, roller coasters that are too safe, politicians that are too honest. Stuff like that.

So the owner gambles on the fact that maybe somebody out there would pay silly money for this page. Isn't the downside of this sort of gamble that you possibly devalue the page in the eyes of collectors who might be willing to pay a reasonable premium for it? Add to that, if it sits indefinitely on CL, it will suffer the taint of overexposure. Maybe this is just a way to gauge a value without having to commit to selling it?

Yeah, my gut tends to the low end frequently. My guess on the ASM Annual page was based on it actually being Heck/Esposito and not having any action. Still a great character page.

If I was a guessing man, I'd guess the Hulk at about 2k and the Spidey Annual page at 3500-4000.

There's not so much a nostalgic component, though I was buying the issues of Adventure and Phantom Stranger off the stands when she made her first appearance. What it really stemmed from was wanting a really nice Redondo example. There's not an enormous body of his work in the U.S. -- a few Orchid stories, Rima, Swamp Thing, the Bible book and some other miscellany. Most of it was being gobbled up by one bsd collector. I'd missed out on the few Black Orchid pages that had surfaced, but finally scored some Rima pages a few years back. Then when I saw this splash, it just punched all the buttons... the rendering, the composition, the stunning image of BO swooping into the sky, the interesting perspective of the background city... to say nothing of Nestor Redondo's inspired brushwork. Just look at the signature! That's the signature of a man who'd just contentedly latticed his fingers over his belly and leaned the chair back with a satisfied smile and the realization that he'd swung the sledge hammer and rung the bell. Collectors are driven by obsessions and this one became mine.

So, after seven years of obsessing over this page, I've finally landed it! If this was an ordinary acquisition, I'd just post it in the "This Week..." But this is no ordinary acquisition. This has been my number one want since I knew of its existence and whereabouts. And today, it's finally here! One of the most spectacular splash pages of the Bronze Age (imho)... Nestor Redondo. Black Orchid. Splash. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1449654

What a killer find for $1500.

To be fair, $175 is a bargain for a Buscema page with Tarzan. $699 is probably a bit steep, though. I'd peg that at about $300-$400.

He has done some exceptional work, but that page was probably closer to the worst of his output rather than the best. That said, you can get a very good Morrow for well under a thousand. Part is that he was underappreciated. Part was that he never really worked on any "hot" properties. There are lots of painted book covers out there, but even they don't go for crazy money.

Yeah, Bernie was great. Very approachable. I had a conversation with him once comparing the studio guys to the Beatles. Bottom line was, nobody wanted to be Ringo. He is missed. On the art side, I would think you could find something decent for 10k. Maybe not a top tier Swamp Thing page, and certainly not a Frankenstein, but there is a lot out there that falls within that range. I'd watch auctions.

This is me... I acquired my first piece of original art at HoustonCon 1978 -- a Murphy Anderson Planet Comics page that still resides in my collection. I didn't really add to the collection much until the mid 80s, when I was able to pick up a few pieces by fan favorites like Corben, Wrightson, Adams, Jones, BWS... then I started a business and had a kid and left the hobby for a few years. I returned in the mid 90s and picked up a few more pieces before the turn of the century. About 12 years ago, CAF and a collector friend pulled me back into art collecting and I've been at it, to the neglect of any other of my collections, ever since. My hoard ranges from 1905 to the mid 2010s. I've had a knack for finding art in odd places like flea markets and antique stores. There's no real focus to my collection. If I like it, it's available and I can afford it, I'll go after it. I'm not much for commissions, though I have a few. My nostalgic sweet spot is the 60s and 70s, but I've also bought art from books I've never read and artists I'd never heard of. I've been lucky enough to pick up some historically significant pages along the way -- the first appearance of the Silver Age Hawkman, the first JSA appearance in Justice League, the first pages with Adams' Green Arrow redesign and Cockrum's Ms. Marvel, the death of Sue Dibny and others. http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=3878

It was a much more active year, art-collecting-wise, than I would have expected 52 weeks ago. I always think of 2010 and 2014 as the best years for my collection, but this year gives them a run for their (my) money. Here are my Entries for 2017. Barry Windsor Smith - Conan #14, Page 3 - A beautifully-laid out peak-period BWS Conan page with faceless assailants, horses with beaks and giant birds attacking. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9313 Bernie Wrightson - Swamp Thing #6, Page 24 - Bernie inking Bernie on the series that will always be fondly associated with him. Beautiful expressions, fantastic detail and amazing storytelling on this 11-panel page. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9310 Bernie Wrightson - Swamp Thing #6, Page 25 - It's probably bad form to post two pages from the same artist and the same issue in the same category, but come on… it's Bernie's Swamp Thing! Very different than the previous page, this one has big panels and a robot fight. Bernie was the best! http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9311 Boris Vallejo - Warrior Woman - A wonderful watercolor over pen and ink illustration. This is a detailed preliminary from 1978 for a piece that was never done. I like the looseness of the drawing in combination with some spots of realistic detail and Boris' marvelous soft colors. Rare full name signature. Warning NSFW. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9309 Joe Doolin - Planet Comics #24 - Mars Splash Page - A few years ago, I was lucky enough to visit Jon Berk and see his amazing collection of comics and art. One of my very favorite pieces of art in his collection was this Doolin Planet splash page. The detail is astounding. I decided to take a shot at it in last year's ComicConnect auction of Jon's collection, and was lucky enough to win it. My first piece of comic book original art -- bought at HoustonCon, summer of 1978 -- was a Planet Comics page, so I've always had a fondness for Fiction House art. http://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9312 Runners up: Joe Kubert - Brave and Bold #44, Page 28 - This was a lock until the other Swamp Thing page turned up in November. Any other year… Great Kubert action with Hawkgirl and Hawkman battling animal-looking aliens. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1376350 John Bolton - Kull Page from Bizarre Adventures #26 - Again, almost any other year, this page from Bolton's masterpiece would easily make the list. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1385364 Jack Davis - Aces High Page - Perfect Davis… any other year… http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1411862 Russ Heath - Rocketeer Movie Adaptation Page - Everything you could want in a page from this book, including the cover shot. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1416382 Carl "Bunny" Schultze - 1905 Foxy Grandpa Sunday Strip - Possibly one of the earliest surviving examples of this comic strip. Found at an antique fair. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1385291 Jim Mooney - Thundercats #5 Page - A perfect example of Mooney's distinctive style. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1385355 Darwyn Cooke - Jonah Hex #50 Page - Wonderful western mayhem! http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1398482 Leslie Cabarga - If I Had a Million Splash Page - Won all four pages from this story at HA. Huge and beautiful in person. So fun to look at! Out of all the great art I've been lucky enough to get all year, this may be the one I enjoy the most. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1438098

I have to wonder if it exists. If my memory recalls correctly, there was some debate as to whether it was actually Baker. An unbelievable iconic cover nonetheless.

Phantom Lady 17? You mean the comic, not the OA, right????

Just added a groovy Bernie Wrightson Swamp Thing page to my CAF! http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1438696

Just added a really fun 4-page underground story to my CAF. http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerynew.asp?GCat=3878

I have some friends who have been antiquarian book dealers in LA for 40+ years. Long ago, they told me this exact thing with regard to their business -- that when the market is down, they see cash influxes (from customers other than the usual suspects) from investors searching for someplace less volatile to park their money.

New Rule: Auctioneers should at least have a rudimentary knowledge of the items they're auctioning. Carl Banks... sheesh!

I'd view it more favorably if it were the actual colors used on the cover. As it is, it's merely a historic curiosity. Not really original art, and I'd be surprised to see it in the collection of somebody who was strictly a collector of art.