DocGo

Alright, it's been almost two months so I thought I needed something spectacular to bring the thread back to the first page. The first of three from my latest CGC submission: This was originally a CGC 9.4 graded in 2007. Got the grader's notes which said "multiple dents" on front cover. After an exhaustive, angular search, I finally found the dents and determined they could be pressed out. Sent it to Matt Nelson and voila . I thought it had a chance at 9.8 considering there are zero color-breaking spine stresses on front and back covers but it turns out the corners are much too rough. The curved line above the "B" is a small scratch on the slab itself and the white mark above the left-most "eye balls" is a printing error. Next...

2 Modern Fast Tracks and 1 Standard: All of them received by CGC on 10/10 and I got them back today, 11/6 (Standard in one box and the Moderns in another). TAT around 19 business days.

Super fast shipping. Thanks Gary!!

Both of those books had water damage though. Three years ago, they averaged about $700 for Very Good copies.

Anyone here do the eBay BIN on the Thorn: Tales From The Lantern this morning? Looked to be a good price for a decent copy.

Wow, turns out it was WAY under I guess when the census on Universal 9.8s doubles inside of a week of the auction ending, the final price REALLY suffers. Feel bad for the seller Wow - I threw in a $2,000 tracking bid earlier this week, but had no idea it would end this low. And this is the nicest of all the slabbed Bone #1 CGC 9.8s Congrats to the buyer, though! You were not alone. I threw $2500 on it too. It was shocked to see it was sold for merely $2700. Yeah, the buyer made a HUGE break! So a guy who already owns a 9.8 was trying to score half the census? Hoarder...

I think I actually got a REALLY good deal on it by most estimates. That you did. We're definitely in a lull at the moment for high grade early Bone books. $2500 is merely a starting point for the seller, I'm sure. As with just about everything that's modern, prices will revolve around movie development. Last I heard, there is a third -script being written after the first two were rejected (Warner Brothers owns the rights). Supposedly, this latest treatment will split the story into three movies. Jeff has said he saw some 3D footage produced my Animal Logic (Happy Feet, 300) that was "mind-blowing". 2014 at the earliest is the impression I get.

I think the exact same book is on ComicLink.

On his blog, he was quite proud of himself for sticking to his fewer convention appearances in 2012. He's been a convention hound since the beginning of Bone so I suppose he deserves a vacation. Just Toronto in May. Any witnesses attend?

The only original Jeff Smith Bone art that ever comes up are pieces done outside of the actual book (post cards, various TPB covers, CBLDF auction sketches, etc.). I'm pretty sure none of the original art for the regular series has ever come up for sale as all of it was donated to Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library upon completion. Some of the artwork from Rose painted by Charles Vess occasionally surfaces though. There was a limited edition 20th Anniversary Box Set that included a painted original art piece which came out last year but has long since sold out (limited to 50). A few people have posted theirs on CAF.

As proof that I've truly been away from comics for the last two years, I watched The Cartoonist: Jeff Smith, BONE, and the Changing Face of Comics for the first time last night and I did enjoy it. There's nothing particularly new in the presentation but it's always nice to see things that I've read about for the last 20 years come to life on the small screen. I was really hoping to see more of the Bone and Beyond art exhibit that went on display at the Wexner Center in mid 2008 but the documentary only showed a few stills. I thought an event such as this could have gone a long way towards illustrating that comics are finally getting seen as an art form (something they sorta complain about in the movie itself). In the filmmaker's defense, they had probably finished shooting before it opened. Might have been worth the added expense though.

I don't think I've ever heard this mentioned. Have only read about his comic strips in The Lantern in the early 80s. Please show us anything you find.

Thanks, Doc! Yeah, I was pretty shocked I got it for so low. My bid was twice that! People are silly though if going from 2 to 4 9.8 copies drops the price by a grand or more. I have to think that everyone was either spending budgets on other things, or waiting to get something later in the auction, since this came early in the 3-day auction. Whatever the reason, yeah, sorry, Seller! But know that it will be going to a very good home. It is one of my Top 5 grails. Never thought I'd own a 9.8. Had always planned to get a 9.4-9.6. Now to buy a frame to hang it on my wall! At the start of the auction there were two: his and mschmidt's former copy. mschmidt's was the 2nd 9.8 and it sold way back in early 2010. The census got bumped twice in just the last seven days. Maybe not a grand, but it had to scare at least a few hundred off the price. Either way, I'm glad it went to a fellow boardie That's pretty shocking. Fortuitous for me! Feel like the universe was looking out for me tonight. This issue is so incredibly tough to find without spine tics. From what I understand of pressing, it would be tough to press one of these into a 9.8 since the tics typically break the color. But maybe I'm wrong about that. I hope the Seller sees it more like I got the price up for him another hundred or two. (But it does feel like I just robbed some guy blind.) The black back covers increase the difficulty in finding 9.8s by at least a factor of ten, and not just for the spine ticks but also the way they etch people's fingerprints into the fabric of the paper. The comic book gods have smiled on you. Enjoy it! (thumbs u

Thanks, Doc! Yeah, I was pretty shocked I got it for so low. My bid was twice that! People are silly though if going from 2 to 4 9.8 copies drops the price by a grand or more. I have to think that everyone was either spending budgets on other things, or waiting to get something later in the auction, since this came early in the 3-day auction. Whatever the reason, yeah, sorry, Seller! But know that it will be going to a very good home. It is one of my Top 5 grails. Never thought I'd own a 9.8. Had always planned to get a 9.4-9.6. Now to buy a frame to hang it on my wall! At the start of the auction there were two: his and mschmidt's former copy. mschmidt's was the 2nd 9.8 and it sold way back in early 2010. The census got bumped twice in just the last seven days. Maybe not a grand, but it had to scare at least a few hundred off the price. Either way, I'm glad it went to a fellow boardie

But happy for the buyer! Congrats

Wow, turns out it was WAY under I guess when the census on Universal 9.8s doubles inside of a week of the auction ending, the final price REALLY suffers. Feel bad for the seller

I think you've accurately described what fills this thread I suspended my collecting over the last two years but I'm now back in full force. Please forgive me for forgetting how much fun all of this is and please read my WTB list in my sig I almost forgot about the newest spinoff: Quest For The Spark Books One and Two written by Tom Sniegoski of Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails fame. Has anyone here read it?

First thing you need to know is that there are two different versions of the story: the original in black & white and the newest in full color. HCs of each of the nine collected stories in color can be found at the Boneville Store while the black & whites would have to be found on places like eBay (but they go for around the same prices). One Volume editions (1300+ pages) of both versions in PB form are sold on this site as well but only the colored one in HC. I've never read the colored version but the snippets I have seen look great. I think this newer version has definitely helped explode its popularity with a younger audience as it was originally marketed to the comic book store crowd during its initial run in black and white (1991-2004). I'll take a gander one of these days but most of my rereadings will be pure B&W. The best description that's most often used for the Bone epic is a "humorous Lord of the Rings". It's basically a fish-out-of-water story where the three Bone cousins of a modern 90s world (with all the technology therein) clash with a medieval, fairytale world of humans, dragons, and rat creatures. The storytelling and art are top notch and I doubt you'll be disappointed. Any more questions, let me know...

Hopefully I can think of things to talk about from time to time when no one else is posting. Who doesn't like a good over/under?

The over/under on the 9.8 Bone #1 on Comiclink is $4k. I got the slightly under. How about you?

I've never seen a CB #27 in person or pic. Are you sure they exist?

Thank you my friend. I've missed you guys. Unfortunately, Jeff has severely limited the amount of shows he goes to but I'm still looking forward to what Mr. Schmidt and the rest of you will come up with... FYI, will be posting a few raws and slabs shortly (don't know if this is against board policy to mention this in the thread but just in case).

WHAT?!?! This particular issue has given me so many headaches over the years. I'm glad at least one of us has had success I currently have a raw #55 that's on the 9.8/9.6 fence. When I get back to collecting in the winter, we'll see what happens...

The Wizard Ace Edition is a mail-away reprint of #1 produced by Wizard Magazine (the pages in this thing are great). Jeff kindly added a Smiley head sketch to his signature.

This was the free book given out when Bone switched from Cartoon Books to Image Comics. It was meant to summarize the first twenty issues before Image's version of #21 was printed. Jeff signed this with a Fone head sketch at the Baltimore Diamond Retailers Summit a couple months ago.