Mighty Hal

Bird, you've done us all a favor by posting about this situation. Your experience with the auction house -- Cornette de Saint Cyr, right? -- will serve as a warning for anyone even thinking of bidding on their items. Before the damage, this was a huge win for you. With that in mind, if they offered to take the art back, would you do it?

Grailstone. Not quite a grail, more valuable than any single cornerstone. Plus, it's never been used on a statue forum or in an email by a thinking adult (with at least a grade school education) so there are no trademark issues. Me, I'm still looking for my grailstone.

As far as the auction itself, there's a solid sampling of modern art (1980s and up) to catch my interest and not kill my bank account. Since the Big Dogs focus on the Silver Age stuff, I have a chance to add to my collection. I'm a big J. G. Jones's fan, and I'm curious as to what the 52 cover will go for. The various 52 covers were originally offered at $1500 or so...some for more, I think, a couple for less...and sold at a leisurely pace. A decade later, will this one find a growing market or will the owner take a hit? The Jones's Catwoman cover is special, too.

The world is crazy for McFarlane's Spider-Man but, in my eyes, he should never have been allowed to write the comic. He didn't have the chops. He improved as Spawn went along. Not masterful, but good enough and much better than when he started. Got to give the man his props. Also, I liked Cy-Gor. I've always been a sucker for gorillas in the comics.

Such a fun idea, and nicely done. Wish I'd been as clever when my kids were little.

I saw the movie, once upon a time and long ago, and remember it as flawed but interesting. Connery was at the height of his powers. This is a knock-out piece of art, though. I like Bardot better here than in the flick!

The numbers you're talking would be a big hit to most of us, but it sounds as if the loss is something you can afford without much struggle. If that's the case, then I can only wish you well. Peace of mind is a glorious thing. And show us the Ross original once you have it, will you?

My wife bought me a lovely piece this year. The conversation went like this: "Hey, babe, have you bought me my birthday present this year?" "No, why?" "There's this guy over in England, and he has this cover...."

Nice layout on the website, Tatiana. Always nice to see someone new on the boards. Speaking of that, since you've been collecting OA for over fifteen years, what took you so long to get here?

When I read your "Rules of Trading", I flashed on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Butch: No, No, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out. Harvey: Rules? In a comic art trade? No rules! -- after which, Butch immediately kicks him in the...well, you know where. I've yet to successfully complete a comic art trade. A CAF'er approached me about a cover I picked up a couple of years ago (and, since I don't have a gallery, he had to do some detective work), and he came in with a solid offer. Probably double what I paid in trade value, even if it isn't what I collect. Fortunately, a case of seller's remorse kicked in almost immediately, so our talks didn't go far. Because he was upfront, offered a fair deal, and was generally a good guy, I promised to let him know first if I did decide to sell or trade the piece.

That first strip, especially. Wow. Well done.

You bet. After following your link, I told my wife I knew exactly how I'd spend 45K if we had it available by auction date. She looked at the painting and decided, no, that would not be how I'd spend our 45K. So Mr. Sundblom has one out of two admirers in this house. It's a seriously special piece.

Exactly what I was wondering.

You've managed to grab two terrific pieces by Frank Cho. Wow.

Link?

That's the jaw-dropping part of this. This is board driven by comic art collectors and comic art fans and, I guarantee you, there are collectors here who love Bronze Age Marvel pages. When the OP offered something of interest to those collectors -- like the Cloak & Dagger pages -- they sold quickly. Rather than accept that his current material doesn't have the same draw, he decided to insult a large portion of his customer base. I was sorry to see it.

PM sent.

I know of at least one artist who only posts his stuff on FB -- and he's in the UK, so if you don't keep UK hours, you're likely to miss whatever piece he's about to offer. The only way I managed to buy a cover from him so to send a blind offer, telling him I'd buy whichever cover he had available the next time he had something, regardless. Good thing I liked the guy's art, and I'm delighted with the cover I purchased...but the hand was trembling when I sent my message.

Nostalgia is a plus for me, but at least 80% of my collection comes from comics I've never read. I'm an image-driven collector.

MM, you have some lovely art here. The problem is, most of your starting bids are within $100 of the "buy it now" price, leaving the impression that you don't trust buyers to bid up the art's price to what you think it's worth. Start those pieces at $9.99, I guarantee you'll find some interest.

Noto is such a fun artist. But is that DPS really pen and ink? It looks like pencil.

My friend, you married the right woman. Congratulations!

There are only three privately-owned Jansson pages in the world -- and you own two of them? That, my friend, is a birthday present!

*bumpity* Auction ends in less than 24 hours. Thanks!

Dennis Calero Original Marvel Comic Cover Art: TROJAN WAR Are the new boards as helpful as the old ones when it comes to posting a notice about eBay auctions for comic art? I'm still trying to decide. I can't even tell if there's a way to preview a post before you submit it. Meanwhile, I have an absolutely gorgeous Dennis Calero original cover available from Trojan War #3, the Marvel mini-series written by Roy Thomas. The auction ends on THURSDAY: http://www.ebay.com/itm/232287086629?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649