MyNameIsLegion

Go back and look at Dave McKean's original 75 issue run of The Sandman covers. Around 1991 you start to see more obvious evidence that Dave was using photoshop to produce the covers. In hindsight, as someone who knew how to use Photoshop since 1992 in commercial printing his concepts are great, but his execution is fair to be kind. In 1994, Photoshop 3.0 was released, and that introduced layers. This was transformational for photo manipulation as previously it required using alpha channels in crude ways that "looked" unrealistic without a helluva lot of work. Lo and behold, the last third of the Sandman run Dave got better at it, but he also got lazy. What started in 1989 as shadow box assemblages with actual painted components drifted to layered textures of paint overlaid digitally, He was starting to phone it in, or "photoshop it in" to be more precise. Distress some type using funky fonts converted to bitmap in Photoshop, reuse some paint layers, jack with the layer effects and opacity, and a few random B&W blurring images and you have a Sandman cover. Dave's a great painter when he wants to be, but that probably wasn't commercially viable for him, or it simply took too much time. Technology allowed him to make a cover of an Eisner award winning comics for 75 issues, and by the end, he could probably crank one out in a single afternoon. He took full advantage of technology as it became available. These digital tools for the artist made it cheaper, easier and faster while he probably got paid the same or more. Lots of other "artists" followed in Dave's wake and starting producing book and comic covers. You see them in SPECTRUM's annual every year. It got pretty bad in the last 15 years. Many are barely more than an enhanced digital photo. I started to suspect John Bolton was employing some digital slight of hand for the last decade. His finished paintings looked like a digital photo reference. We've employed digital artists to produce illustrations for packaging for years that used to be painted or drawn, but now are do in Photoshop or similar. They are absolutely taking an image and creating the effect of paint and then using paint effects with a WACOM pen to make it look less like the stock image. There are plug-ins that do it for you so you don't need the artist to do it. We are probably to a point that Alex Ross could feed AI samples of his art, and photo references of his models and produce a pretty passable digital painting, maybe a comic layout in a fraction of the time it would take to paint traditionally. If Alex does it, is that "cheating?" as long as we don't know, and get some cool new book from Ross no one will complain. But if someone else does it in the style of Alex Ross, they are ready to scream bloody murder. Other artists can ape Ross's style, (and then have) to produce work, but they still require the skill and training to do it. AI let's everyone skip a lot of the steps in "earning" the rights and privilege of calling themselves an artist and the results are mixed, but it's amazing how forgiving we are when it's our own clumsy effort, or we just saved hundreds or thousands of dollars. It's good enough. That's one argument against AI. It's a rush to mediocrity not just theft of intellectual property. I think the former is the greater concern than the later TBH. Eventually someone will be more than willing to provide the IP to plug into AI in the form of a styleguide or look. That's what they will be paid for, not the execution of the art itself, that's pure time and labor, no one wants to pay for it, and a great many artists don't really want to do it anyway. Where we all bristle, is the encroaching uncanny valley of the resultant AI output. It's not quite right, but it's good enough. Mediocrity. Mediocrity has been the real enemy since the industrial revolution. It's all around you, You, me, all of us have largely become inured to it. We will come to accept AI for art just as we have accepted autotune for music.

Just posted what is for me, a longstanding comic art goal. A classic Colan/Palmer Dr. Strange page, and a splash to boot. Dr. Strange splash by the mighty, magical, mystical art team of Gene Colan & Tom Palmer

$?

when you don't post to CAF for 9 months, things start to stack up....

I've said it before, and I"ll say it again, I don't ship to the IFS, (Italy, France, Spain) because it's iffy if it gets there. I'm willing to add Belgium to the list, and call it the BIFS, but "biffy" isn't as pithy as "iffy"

Yup, and the CZUR system sucked at that too- I had an overhead light that either caused glare or the fixture cast a shadow. The device had a light, but that just blew out the image. You just want a little studio box, semi opaque that’s white with an opening for the camera https://www.walmart.com/ip/PULUZ-Soft-Box-Set-Portable-Folding-Photo-Lighting-Modifier-Photography-Tent-Box-with-12-Colors-Backdrops/813785332

I think if you are going to rely on the phone as a camera (and nowadays most smart phones are quite good) you can forego any manual rigging and download a scanning app that will crop, rotate and fix the inevitable distortion inherent in trying to hold a camera to shoot a flat 2D object. This is the only “feature” the CZUR did do well and that’s all post imaging so any software can do it.

there are major dealers that have been laundering xerox prints as stats, transparency overlays, trade dressed prelim art with some serious word salad descriptions meant to confuse and obfuscate the true origin and artist for YEARS via Comiclink in particular, but also HA that otherwise would be radioactive when it sits on their site or CAF or they have to go ask their brother for a price. There's a reason they have their own thread. It's comical if not criminal, but any newb in the hobby could easily be taken in by it and be none the wiser. This entire thread wouldn't exist if Comiclink put any effort in verifying the authenticity of their consignments. I will give HA some credit for at least standing behind what the say and making corrections when informed, and even refunding auctions where there is some disagreement about the accuracy of a listing.

I have the CZUR and the quality suuuuuuuuucks. I got it for just documents and newspaper clippings and it's barely passable for that.

the only 2 people sticking up for the poor guy (and I do empathize with him...to a point, that point being when he started throwing the troll card around at any and all comments not to his liking like some 9 year old) are the one's trying to downplay it as "no big deal" because it's not a 6 figure piece of art? When the "Great Generation of Collectors" got started $1500 was a lot of money, it was a nice cover or a Ditko Spidey page or 2, an entire SA interior book...etc. Are ya'll grooming this newb to make more ill-advised purchases? He's already over-bought into that fugly Madrox "birth page" since that's all the rage to hype up amongst the new breed of collectors that seems to be your niche. Y'all are playing in a shallow, treacherous, and very deceptive end of the collecting pool. Better he learn now, before he mortgages his house on something dumb and Ed Piskors himself. Now explain to me who is kissing up to who here? My collecting goal in life is to never own anything, anything with Booster Gold on it.

jesus christ, that went on forever, they sold everything but the Kitch..... oh wait...

that sold June 2022, when art prices were peak Covid- and it was a better page. Still overpriced. The current owners will die owing them.

oh, oh yes, I can just hear that dialogue in my head; Katy: "Dad, your probably gonna die anyway, so after your done puking in this tray from the chemo, and after your bedbath and I change the dressing on your post-op wounds and after I cook something for us to eat can we we go through your sketchbooks and cut out some of the pages of your last remaining treasured memories (because we sold everything else of any real value to pay for your last illness and my brain surgery) and you help me price them so I can put them up on eBay and package them up and take them to the post office in my spare time?" Bob: "sure honey, hand me a tissue please, and an exacto blade. I"ll get right on that." Stay classy Comics General! You never disappoint!

Oh yes indeed, Katy B must pay for the sins of the father. How very Old Testament of you! Happy Easter 🐣

I see, you're about as black and white as your Cat avatar. I take it we won't be seeing you making a donation to his daughter's GoFundMe to pay for his final expenses since he was on Medicaid. But just in case, here's the link on the offhand chance you'd like to do something in the spirit of Easter. https://www.gofundme.com/f/bob-beerbohm

Updates (1) Update from Katy Beerbohm: Todayby Katy Beerbohm-Young, Beneficiary Hi everyone. Thanks so much for helping me right now, and those of you who have been giving me ongoing support the last several months. You are all wonderful friends, and I love you all. We're raised enough that my dad's cremation expenses are covered, and I have our bills covered for the month of April. I'll be returning to work on April 10th, and will get my first paycheck at the end of the month. I've had a few people ask about if there will be a memorial service. My dad didn't want a local service, or anything resembling a funeral. He said that he would love it if we could arrange a gathering at one of the conventions this summer, and tell stories. If you’d like to help plan that, please reach out to me on Facebook. Any additional money that I raise above the original request will be directed to the materials and persons needed to organize my dad's collection, catalog it, and figure out what is going to be at the University of Nebraska Library, and what I'll be keeping or selling. Also, I will need to hire someone to help compile his notes and writing and help me publish his book in some form. Again, thank you so much for your generosity. It means a hell of a lot. Katy Beerbohm

This is the link to the GoFundMe that was set up for Bob's daughter Katy to pay for Bob's final expenses and to help her, as she uprooted herself across the country to take care of her dad in his final months, quitting her job, and only starting a new one the day he passed. Paul Levitz, Doc V, Neil Gaiman, Steve Englehart, and many others have stepped up to the plate to help out. They are very close to their stated goal, and it would be nice if the CGC boards could put them over the top. https://gofund.me/fc2d47ce

PRC is in Houston as well.

Tom is pretty gassy.

See that blurry spot in the lower left? This has been across hundreds of consignments of original art on HA for months, and previews of art that is coming up in the near future. It appears to be concentrated on large consignments from a few consignors or estates where the intern they hired scanned hundreds of pages at once with no QC or oversight. If these were comic lots there would be howls of indignation on the boards. (dig the new emoji I gave Mike to add to the arsenal on the boards, can you spot the other 3 new ones?)

Here you go Glen! https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-comics-have-told-marvel-that-they-own-machine-man/

well, I think you have to take into account that nothing in Avengers 1-8 drawn by Kirby is a first appearance. All the principle characters' first appearances occurred elsewhere and were...ahem..assembled. FF was all new, X-Men- all new.

Down here we'd have that as the Trash Can Taco: Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, Refried Beans, Fried Potatoes, and Carne Guisada on a flour tortilla.

I just don't see Arnold getting in anything approaching King Conan shape. Those days are done. He's not going to do 6-8 months of training for a payday he doesn't really need, and his ego would never allow him to put himself out there as anything less than impressive (for his age). too big a gamble to his film legacy as Conan.