BuraddoRun

Maybe your original post didn't come out like you wanted, but I think it's a good question. In my opinion, I would consider both the original "unpublished" piece AND the new mostly stat page as published. I "technically" have an unpublished/published page such as this. The artist wanted a panel moved to overlap 2 other panels a bit, but didn't want the original page cut up. So they made a stat copy and cut that, and the full stat was what was published. But the original art...is still the art. So it's published, right? It's just different because of panel placement, or in your case, because of alterations. But the underlying art was still art that was used for publication.

Maybe they found the original, since it's described as having "partial inks"?

I'm not the seller. Mr. Hembeck himself is! Every year, Comic Shop News releases a Christmas Special, and the 2020 issue just came out today. The cover (wraparound!) is a quintessential Hembeck piece, a funny and festive Watchmen scene. As I was reading it just now, I found a little notice "About the cover," which points to ebay, where Fred has put the original work up for auction! It looks like it will be up for the next 6 days. As of this typing, the one and only bid is at $199. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fred-Hembeck-12-x9-color-illo-Comic-Shop-News-Holiday-2020-cover-original-art/164536988097 I figured some here might be interested. Good luck if you decide to bid!

I really hate seeing this type of stuff. And the sucker buyers bid with excitement when they should slow down, carefully read the description, and send the seller specific questions.

TDArt

It reminds me of Erica Henderson's style of art (non Luke-Cage autographed cover attached for reference), but the CFS thing just doesn't convert to her normal EH! auto any way I look at it. It's probably not her. Do you know where the piece was made? Was it at one convention or multiple? Maybe you can look up the artist attendees and narrow it down.

I believe the opposite is happening. Marvel and DC have been trying for years to appeal and bring the "new generation" of "young fans." That's why we get so many reboots, retcons, and new creative teams all the time in comics now. Tons of old comic fans complain constantly about many modern comics because they feel abandoned by the Big Two. But, Marvel & DC, despite their efforts, simply haven't brought the new generation into the comic fold. Ideally, they would try to do both. Retain the older, dedicated readers but also appeal to potential new ones. Many people believe that's impossible. Many of us don't like the previous generation's music, for example. But I believe that a lot of the big characters have staying power. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for example, has been reinvented multiple times, and it's going strong. The Big Two have characters that can stand the test of time as well. I think this is the model DC is headed towards, as well, or are at least teasing and testing it. My nephew is a new comic book fan, and his favorite books to buy are bronze, silver, and golden age. He isn't even interested in the, what are we calling it, "steel" age. He is young, so he can't afford the golden and silver stuff as much, but he's been picking up a lot of bronze back issues for cheap at Half Price Books. And he's reading them. Regarding OA, I think that it will continue to rise in value regardless, the older stuff at least. I think that printed material, or hand-drawn in general will, as long as things keep going forward in the digital realm. But highs and lows will happen. There will be times when prices, on average, rise or fall, depending on factors such as the economy, big sellers releasing stuff, etc. But even if floppies go away, some digital media still has traditional artwork, so new stuff will come. And I think comics are big enough that we will still have indie creators who WANT to do floppies or prefer hand-drawn artwork. I don't think DC stuff would skyrocket in the short-term, but we'll see. Thought-provoking topic!

I've never bid at Heritage but I gather that late bidding extends the auction, or did I read that wrongly? I can also see this working if the end-of-auction time is inconvenient for a bidder. If they have a previous engagement to be at that goes up against their auction, they may not be able to continue fighting in a bidding war. Many of us will bid our "max" bids and let that be it, but if that's the case then you don't have to be there and watch the seconds count down on your auction, right? You can set it and forget it until later that day when you can simply look and see if you won or not. But for those of us that don't place our max bids up front, or for whose "max" can increase "just a little more," these end-of-auction snipe bid wars happen. There's a Japanese auction I sometimes participate in that often has inconvenient end times for me, so I often have to set my max bid and hope I win. But there have been times I've been able to watch the end, and have been caught up in just this type of war, even though the clock extends as last-minute bids come in. One time there were a number of signed scripts (TV show) that were up and I really wanted at least one, though of course I would've been happy with multiples. The bids were low until the end, at which point, I assumed, 1 other bidder tried to take them all. We kept fighting and upping all our bids, until finally I was getting close to my max limit. I basically did what @Sideshow Bob did, and stared up-bidding everything else in order to focus on winning 1 -script. I had up-bid one -script to the point I was winning, and then got outbid again (past my max this time), but it gave me a benchmark to know what the other bidder had likely placed as his max on the other scripts. So I bid all of them up to just below that benchmark except one, which was my target to win. Sure enough, I had bid under on all of them. Finally, I bid above the benchmark, but still below (or maybe at, I can't fully recall) my max on the one remaining -script, hoping that with the amount of $$$ the other bidder was now going to pay for all the others, they'd let me win the one. And thankfully, they did! But just imagine if I could have messaged the other bidder beforehand? We probably could have worked out a deal where they got all but 1, and I got my 1, for MUCH cheaper. But that's not how auctions work, unfortunately. Which is why shill bidding sucks so bad. Auctions are a different beast than direct sales, and they can go for or against buyers and sellers, or in a perfect world, be great for both. But that's part of the game. The seller was likely very happy with how this one turned out.

What was your first opinion, and what is your new opinion? What made you change your mind? It's too bad this inventory story never made it to print. Coincidentally, I just bought the original comic run of this story from Half Price Books this month. They had all 4 issues. Awesome non-Kirby-but-still-great page pickup!

I picked up a piece from Paul Pelletier that's from an unpublished Justice League story. Here's a copy/paste from my CAF gallery note: "I asked him for some background info about why it never saw print. He said it was a 2-issue inventory (or fill-in) Justice League story that was written by Tom DeFalco. He pencilled it over 3 years ago, and Sandra Hope was the inker. Unfortunately, Sandra had a lot of work on her plate inking other projects, so it took her 2 years to do this one. By that time, The New 52 and Rebirth had both passed, so this story was 'lost in limbo.' However, he said the story was recently lettered and colored, so he hopes it will eventually be published somewhere, even if it's a digital-only publication. He said it was a fun story to do, and from the pages of art I've seen, it does indeed look to be so."

Nice one!

That's a fantastic page! I hope to add a cosmic Lim page to my collection one day, but in the meantime, I did just get this Avengers Next Lim page in today. I know a lot of us rag on Anthony's selection, but he does have some gems available, and he gets new stuff in all the time (in which you can find gems as well).

That's why I didn't even bother. It's hard to be patient, but I can wait until 2021 to pick one up.

I started collecting comics as a kid in the mid-to-late 80s. I got in and out of comic collecting a few times over the years, but I never stopped liking the books from my time or the characters. I've picked up my reading of current books since COVID-19 appeared, mostly due to the decline in social activity. Collecting comic book OA is new to me, and honestly, it's weird that I came to it so late, because I've been collecting animation cels for a number of years now. I also have some random commissions here and there (from artists comic-related and not), but my current focus is published comic book OA. It's fun to try and hunt down the old art I love, but also to jump in on the new stuff I enjoy before it jumps up in price. It's a fun hobby. Oh, and comic-wise, I'm a raw collector, because I like to read what I buy. I don't have any HUGE key issues (though I do have some pretty good ones), but I'd go for those raw over slabbed any day, and yes, I would carefully read them once before bagging and boarding them. I do have 9, just 9 CGC books, but they aren't anything super desirable, just cool covers or signed books, all modern. Coincidentally enough, it was during the year I worked at a comic shop that I was able to meet Ray Harryhausen. He came to Dallas for a small film exhibition and our store had various product for sale relating to his films, so we worked out a deal to set up a little booth. The manager asked for a volunteer to attend the event, and I was excited to do so because I, too, loved his movies when I was a kid. I didn't expect too much out of it, and I was perposefully trying to take a back seat at the event, because there were folks attending that had to wait in lines for a while to get in. But for the film and Q&A presentation, the organizers sat me up close. Not only that, but when the line for autographs was made, they lined me up at the front of the line as well! Ray was very proud, but also had a humility to him, as weird as that sounds. He respected his work and was grateful for being able to do what he did. The only thing I didn't agree with was his disdain for Godzilla, because I love that big beast! But I understood. Harryhausen's work was so intricate and detailed, and the time he spent with his artistry just isn't matched by many other special effects. It's the same with OA, right? The old-school artists who did everything by hand and collaborated with the inkers, letterers, etc. to complete a piece...that time and detail given is unmatched by today's standards. I got this overwhelming feeling seeing Ray speak, learning his history, and finally meeting him, that he was one of the artistic masters that the world would soon lose. Sure enough, just a few short years after that event, he passed. I will always be grateful for going to that event and meeting him in person, and I will hold onto my favorite movie of his that he signed for me for as long as I can.

Some of these, especially the older ones, have some very nice artwork. Has anyone reached out tho Chick Publishing? They're still around despite Jack Chick's passing. In fact, after reading this thread, I ordered some Thanksgiving tracts! https://www.chick.com/

I would pay $500 for this page. No Wolverine, but I still like it and it's from a great book. But...I saw this thread after the auction ended.

This was one of my favorite pages in the book. Very nice piece! Congrats!

Art appreciation is subjective, of course, but I really don't ever see the pioneers losing their "greatness" in the eyes of fans and collectors. Even if the artwork itself becomes less visually appealing, they'll still be part of the defining history behind longstanding characters, and I think that will help maintain their staying power.

This isn't technically on the front of a page, but it arrived taped to the front of a page I got in today. It's just a small sketch and note about the background behind the page, which I find interesting. Marco Galli assisted with the inks, but wasn't credited in the published comic. I wonder how often that happens, when inkers or even artists have assists that aren't credited. It used to be common in animation that in-betweeners weren't credited, I know.

From dealer to dealer, yeah?

Ha! Nice! I picked this book up as well, and as I flipped through it, I considered hunting down some of the artists for pages, too! But ultimately, I didn't. I applaud you on your treasure hunt, and I'm glad you were able to get some of your favorite pages from it! This really was a cool tribute comic.

I've had some slowdown recently from USPS as well, but it still got to me eventually. As long as it's in their possession and not showing delivered yet, you should hopefully be good.

I will admit (don't shake your fingers at me!!! ) that I prefer the works of Lee over some of the older big artists like Kirby and Romita. Truth be told, it IS a generational thing...mostly. I grew up with Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefield (I like him, but I don't consider him "great"), and other late 80s early 90s artists. But there's crossover. John Byrne's art was still strong during that time and he's in the top part of my favorite's list. When I was a kid, I didn't like Kirby or Steranko or Romita's art. Buscema I liked, but he wasn't at the forefront of my appreciation. It wasn't until I got older and paid more attention to details and framing and appreciated history more that I came to like the pioneers of superhero comic art. I have broader tastes now, and find myself picking up older comic issues (can't afford a lot of the older artwork right now) by some of these pre-1980 artists and spending a lot more time actually looking at and appreciating the artwork. It's good stuff. It will be weird when the next generational shift occurs, and these post-2000 artists start to shoot up in popularity and price. But the greats will always be great. It's just that new artists will continue to join the Hall of Fame, is all.

Hopefully they're recovered and returned to her. I wonder about the stolen art "market." Obviously, with the fandom and honest dealers out there with open eyes, stolen artwork can't circulate openly on auction sites or sold to a reputable dealer. It either goes to someone who wants to keep it all to themselves and not display it publicly (or privately among certain guests), or it sells on some underground black market for stolen artwork. I always wondered about that sort of thing in movies and books as well, when something worth huge $$$ or even considered priceless is stolen. The rich folks that can afford just keep it hidden until...what, they die? Or it continues to circulate underground where only the dark underbelly of affluent society appreciates it? Like Catwoman, a high-class thief?