babsrocks31

Oh yes, don't get me wrong. A lot of older art is fantastic and was highly influential, but a lot of it is rigid and simplistic, too.

I have a different question, before I answer the OP's: How many older collectors are collecting newer artists? There are plenty of newer artists struggling to make decent money in the business, and I doubt any of them will ever be able to sell their work anywhere to close to the highs of the legends, even those from fifteen years ago. Many of these artists do great work, but are not with Marvel or DC. Comics grew so much in the nineties, there are so many other companies and independent creators now. Does anyone care about pages or commissions from people who likely have the chops to work with the big two, but are stuck with Dynamite or IDW, or even Image right now? It is likely that these artists will never, ever be able to sell a page for even 1k, and you could probably get a page from most of them right now for a crisp 100. Keeping the hobby alive actually depends less on if yet another person hops in line to pay 500usd for a head sketch by Adam Hughes or to bid 3k for a page by Kelly Jones. It depends a lot more on if anyone supports working artists actually working in comics today on a consistent, regular basis. The greats of the past can't draw forever, but somebody like Alvaro Martinez or Amancay Nahuelapan, or Daniel Sampere might draw for another 40 years if the interest is there. Answering for myself, I am a newer collector. I grew up with comics in the nineties, but I also have exposure to 80's comics and of course, some from the 2000s through to today. I don't have much interest in art from the 70's and older, and I couldn't afford it if I did. I mostly collect from newer artists, but I am a fan of some pieces from the eighties and nineties, and some silver or golden aged comics. I just can't afford to spend a grand or more on one piece of art. I have student debt, cost of living is insane, etc. A one bedroom condo in my city is at least 400k... I just started saving to make a decent down payment. I can afford to buy a couple pieces of art for 2 or 3 hundred a year, but not to bid on something worth 10k or nearly a quarter of my yearly salary. Collecting comics and comic Art is a hobby for me, and I love it dearly, but I couldn't care about older art even if I wanted to... It's priced beyond what most of myself and my peers could afford (I am 30 and in Canada, btw). And to be clear, I think 'older' art is often inspiring, amazing, and timeless... But to keep the hobby healthy I believe we need to spend just a bit more energy (and money) looking forward not backward.

Thank you for the insight. This is a subject that certainly might deserve it's own thread.

I picked up a few more Batgirl pages from Paul Pelletier's site. Great deals at 100 a pop. I used to hate the page of Babs falling into a dumpster but after rereading that issue I thought it was a quirky creative choice. I don't know if it worked per say, but I had to own it. The other page is a classic brawler page. I've always wanted to own one featuring Babs kicking butt. With the action on this page I am surprised it was such a great price, maybe just cause Cormorant was a fairly forgettable villain.

With all of this discussion on Paul, I picked up a few more Batgirl pages from his site. Great deals at 100 a pop. I used to hate the page of her falling into a dumpster but after rereading that issue I thought it was a quirky creative choice. I don't know if it worked per say, but I had to own it. The other page is a classic brawler page. I've always wanted to own one featuring Babs kicking butt. Also had a brief opportunity to ask Paul a few questions about the pages, which was appreciated, although I doubt that would be a regular thing.

All nice pieces, particularly the middle piece? Do you know what issue it is from? The guy is great with shading, especially with Wolvie in the top right panel of the first page you posted. Admittedly, Wolvie's right leg looks a little off there, though.

Classic haymaker!

I just started a thread on Paul, very underrated Artist. Here are two pieces from his Batgirl run that I posted there.

Somehow I missed this website so thank you very much for mentioning it. It was long overdue, but seems well run and has friendly vibes. Needing to contact them to arrange shipping to Canada wasn't expected, but the response I got was well enough! And nice Aquaman piece!

I have bought art from Spain twice (both by up and coming comic artist Daniel Maine). Neither time did I need to do anything like this, but granted my total each time was a couple hundred in USD, perhaps even less. (I'm Canadian so this was Spain to Canada). I understand hefty international transactions requiring a bit more paperwork and details... but I would never ever send a copy or photo of any of my official ID. A phone number, sure, or secondary address if needed, but that's about it. I'd contact the seller and explain this, and be patient with them. Its likely they are trying to cover their own butt about something and you might be able to work it out with patience and good communication. Don't send the ID though. That's my two cents...

Welcome to Underrated Artist Snapshots #2, featuring Paul Pelletier Previously featured was Mike Perkins. Paul is pretty big for the 'underrated' tag so I admit this thread is a bit biased, but I love Paul's work so much that I think he ought to be up there with the big guns. He has a style that is very emotive and I'd say it looks effortless if I didn't know better. Modern classic is another term I'd use to describe his art. Recently, Paul had a phenomenal run on Batgirl. He's worked on much bigger titles, too. I don't know if he has much of a social media presence, but in interviews etc he does seem like a pleasant fellow. I've never dealt with Paul directly, but I do have some pages from two of his Batgirl issues in a prime spot on my wall. He has a knack for expressing simple movements to sell the drama of what's happening. It's physical storytelling at its finest. For example, In my pieces, little things stand out to me like the way Commissioner Gordon is adjusting his glasses after a physical confrontation, or the expression on Babs' face and the way her fingers are curled as she takes off in pursuit of her Father's assaulter... With these beautiful touches, I can see that BBabsis even more determined than she usually is. I am sure some posters here have some phenomenal Paul Pelletier pieces in their collections. Here's mine:

The shading he does on character's bodies to add texture to their clothes or skin is really unique and comes across as very realistic, if just a touch surreal. It's evident in my Domino commission, as well as the floating character in that swamp thing piece above.

Page from the most recent Batgirl run by the incredibly underrated Paul Pelletier.

I dig the text. I love it when commissions have little creative touches like this. Some artists won't do them, but when an artist is willing to add something like that you know they 'get it', and by 'it' I think I mean they kind of understand the hobby.

Good point. If I was more ballsy I'd do an overrated spotlight series.

I just posted this in a thread I started on Mike Perkins, who I consider to be an underrated Artist. He did this Domino pinup for me and just nailed it. I was so concerned that it would be 'cheesecaked to the nines' even though I asked for him to base it on his depiction of her in his Deathlock run, which was semi realistic. Turns out I had no reason for concern, since Mike delivered the perfect balance of fun, foxy, and real.

Evil Ernie Destroyer pg 22 by the hugely underrated Kyle Hotz, back near the start of his career. I just wish this page featured more Chastity (teenager me had a huge soft spot for that character).

As someone who can rarely afford art from any of the truly big artists in comics, I thought it might be fun to post about an artist I think is underrated once a week or so. Each time I'm going to spotlight a different artist I personally have dealt with, that I consider to be underrated. Of course, we all have our favorites! To start this off, I've gone with UK based artist Mike Perkins. Mike Perkins has worked on a solid handful of big titles, mostly for Marvel. He is probably best know for working on Ed Brubaker's Captain America run. Personally, I think some of his best work was on Deathlock. I got in touch with Mike a few years back and inquired about getting a commission from him. He was quite to the point but in a very personable and friendly manner. I never felt out of the loop when conversing with him. He let me know he was travelling at the time but encouraged me to contact him again later that summer, and said he'd be happy to fit me in when he could, but didn't want to make any promises until he could give me an actual timeline. I really appreciated him not stringing me along. Sure enough I got back in touch with him and he completed a Domino commission for me quite promptly. His prices were reasonable, too. The commission Mike did for me is a huge favorite of mine. I asked him to do a pinup of Domino from his Deathlock run, without making it a total cheesecake piece. He took the setting and her attire from a poolside scene in that run and just knocked it out of the park, proving that good art can be sexy and fun without resorting to disproportionate body types and outlandish poses. I also bought a few pages from Mike's Deathlock run via Ruben from ComicBookArtGallery.comR Ruben had to get the pages from Mike in order to send them to me, and both fellows were great to deal with. One of the pages, featuring a close-up of Domino's face as she's having an intense clandestine conversation, is one of my favorite Interior pages I own. So, Mike Perkins everybody.

Indeed. Your name is very fitting for this book.

Seller has this advertised as a 5.5. I know eBay sellers (and most sellers in general), always aim high, but to me this isn't even a guaranteed 4.5 I'm thinking around 3.5 but my ability to differentiate low grade books is real suspect. There is another copy on eBay that is very similar, a tad rougher in the spine and is tanned pretty much everywhere, so less pop to it, but the cheaper one has no coffee stains, and is $130USD cheaper. What sayeth the boardeth? Is this even in the ballpark of 5.5? PS: I know eBay photos are crummy

I just had this internal debate when purchasing Detective Comics 359 for my collection. I only had the money for a mid grade book. I had a handful of 4.5 - 6 CGC copies being offered and I actually chose a 5.0 that I felt was a genuinely nicer overall book than the 5.5's, and significantly cheaper than the 6.0. I bought the book not the grade and since it was for my private collection I really couldn't be happier.

You could be right as I am a bit of a noob when it comes to grading. I held a 6.0 in my hands too, and it looked very similar to this one. The date stamp was the only real difference maker I could notice, but of course I am far from a professional grader. The 5.5's I was being offered were much rougher looking (couple more creases and more noticeable spine and corner wear), though they were nice enough. I did feel a bit strange opting for the lower grade, but I put a lot of thought into it before choosing.

What few posts I have made on this board (thanks for putting up with me) were asking for help via spare grades or availability of mid grade copies of Detective Comics 359. For the most part, people were very helpful. I am happy to say I finally found a nice looking mid grade copy within my price range. It's 5.0, but I have it in my hands and it looks great for a book from 1967. As far as I can tell, it would be a few notches higher if not for the pharmacy store stamp in the middle. I actually like this stamp, I find it adds character and isn't too distracting... The stamp helps me imagine some kid buying this for the cover price in Kentucky back in the 60's, and I find it amusing that pharmacies and newsstands did stamp comics on occassion. I actually had the possibility of paying the same price for several 5.5's, but I truly felt this one was the prettier book by a fairly wide margin. Thanks for everyone's help. I am on a budget, and more of an original art guy, but next up on my list for comics are Green Arrow/Green Lantern 85 (speedy drug issue) and Hawkman 4 (1st app. Of Zatanna). Babs is my favorite comic character from the big two, so I am so pleased to finally have her debut. Thanks again for everyone's help!!!

Oh yeah. Huge longshot but stranger things have happened... Just imagine if it hadn't sold. Anyways I'll let it die now.

So, uh, adding you sold this by now... Ten years later but I didn't see any responses in this thread.