Kudos to Gene!

[delekkerste]

But, seriously, guys, thanks for the kind words and here's to answer some of your questions:

 

I bought the complete 22-page interior art, which had been in Larry Hama's personal collection. The cover was sold a long time ago by the artist (Zeck) and is in someone else's collection...it would be nice to have, though I don't feel that it is integral to the story...I think there are other things I would rather have for the amount of money it would take to pry that cover loose from the owner's collection (not sure who has it, but I think Zeck knows).

 

As for my motivations, I just thought it was cool beyond words, particularly for those of us, as AK said, who grew up with Joe in the '80s. I'm sure there are some GA/SA/BA art collecting snobs who will turn their noses up at a Modern, non-superhero book illustrated by Larry Hama and Steve Leialoha, but for this GI Joe fan and '80s kid, I can think of very few things in the comic world that compare to this.

 

As for the price/investment aspect to it, I paid more than I was looking to pay, though the seller also made concessions from his initial indication. I think it was a good transaction - I think both sides felt they got a fair shake, which is the essence of a good deal. I indicated to Larry that I would do everything in my power to keep the book together and, if I were to sell it in the future, I would try and find a buyer who would pledge to keep it whole as well. I think this helped bring down the asking price, as I think both parties agreed that the artwork could potentially fetch substantially more than what I paid for it if it were broken up.

 

However, I think both sides felt that it would be a shame to break up this book in particular. It really is something special as a complete whole. I think the price paid does allow for potential price appreciation, though that is really the last thing on my mind (note: though I am not bullish on a lot of original art at current price levels, obviously some pieces at the right price will offer better potential than others). I just want to enjoy the artwork for now and maybe eventually find another good home for the book.

 

I believe that CBG (and Wizard) may also be doing a story on the sale, with photos of the artwork. As I don't want to "scoop" them, I won't post any pictures at the moment, though I will provide some in a couple of weeks if a story hasn't come out by then.

 

And yes, Bruce, it's still a good read after all these years (at least the first 50 issues, anyway)!

 

Gene

[BronzeBruce13]

Well, I don't know about soltrick or Dungeon, but my head exploded, as did my nuts.

 

.. because he bought the art... or because that playful little "hottie" you took digital shots of (with the handwritten sign) was over again?

[rob_react]

And, the book has importance as it was the first "silent book".

 

To that, Frank Miller is saying "You forgot about this guy"

 

 

[COI]

 

But seriously, women, although each unique in their own way( ) are replaceable.......

[rob_react]

Beyond that, very cool pickup Gene. Much cooler than all that T&A stuff you're selling off. Not that there's anything wrong with T&A, of course, it's just that this book is significant and that other stuff is just fluff in comparison. Sexy fluff to be sure, but fluff nonetheless. This is a piece with substance.

[COI]

BTW, the first 30-40 issues or so are now in TPB.

 

 

[Foolkiller]

Actually, aside from owning a piece of Frank Miller art from the Dark Knight Returns and from Year One, I can't think of a complete story post 1980 that I'd want more than the G.I. Joe silent issue. I remember reading and rereading this story a 100 times and recently buying the trade paperback with this story just so I could look at it again (which I did when I got home today).

 

This is an incredibly exciting purchase, especially for all of us in your age group, that someone we all know actually now owns the original art to this landmark book.

[COI]

This is an incredibly exciting purchase, especially for all of us in your age group, that someone we all know actually now owns the original art to this landmark book.

 

Very true. It is cool that this art went to someone who grew up with it like us, and who will take care of it and treasure it, as opposed to some BSD art collector who's buying to re-sell one page at a time, keep it around to use in a future trade, or as an "investment". Like Gene said, a lot of serious collectors would probably snub this book, and not grasp its significance.

[Comicdave]

You know it's interesting to see how much the original art market has changed in the last few years aka. since ebay started up. I remember back in the early 80s, I used to buy original art. If it was a piece I liked and was affordable, i would pick it up. I can remember buying at the 1982 San Diego Comic-con the cover to Adventure Comics #376 by Neal Adams for, get this, $60. The dealer actually had 2 different Adventure Adams covers for $60 each, but I didn't want to spend all my money in the first hour of the con, so I only bought the one. I remember the same dealer also had a full page splash from an early Swamp Thing by Berni Wrightson for $200.

 

That same con I bought the splash page to Wolverine mini-series #2 from the inker Joe Rubenstein for $100. It's the page where Wolverine is jumping out a window holding Yukio with hundreds of arrows being shot at him. A few years later, I decided I wanted some money for the upcoming comic-con and put an add in the Comics Buyer's Guide selling some of my original art. It was a good sized add and included the Adams cover for $150 and the Miller Wolverine splash for $200, as well as a few lesser pages. Guess how many responses I got to the add? One. The only person who responded to my add was Albert Moy. I didn't know at the time that he was an art dealer. Instead of just sending me the money for the pages he wanted, he asked if I wanted to trade. Considering I was selling the pages so i could have spending money for the con, I'm still not sure why I decide to trade. I ended up trading the Adams and Miller pages for several lesser pages and some con sketches. The thing that makes it even worse, was I was trading my pages at basically wholesale prices for Moy's full retail prices.

 

Even as recently as 1996, you could still get decent pages and covers for relatively cheap. especially compared to todays prices. One of the covers i most regret selling, besides the Adams cover and Miller splash, was the cover to Batman #353 by J.L. Garcia Lopez. It showed Batman tied to a rock shaped like the Joker's head. I bought it from the artist for $50. When i sold it, I maybe got $250 for it.

 

When i think of all the really great covers and splashes that I could have bought for $200 or less and then seeing some of the mediocre covers going for $600+. If you want a really nice cover, you can expect to pay upwards of $2000 or more for it.

 

I guess it's just like the high grade silver age keys. It's nice to have them if you can afford them, but if you can't then all you can do is dream.

[500Club]

it was cool beyond words

 

What more needs to be said?

 

Great purchase, Gene! Congrats!

[Bronty]

Oh comicdave, that is a truly painful account. Sorry dude.

 

You bring up a good point re ebay though. The biggest problem with original art was always liquidity. Art was hard to find and hard to sell. But now that you have a nationwide market internet market for it... bingo! Problem solved. I bet that without eBay art prices would be nowhere near what they are now.

[delekkerste]

Andrew PM'd me asking how the deal came to be...I started writing and thought that it was sufficiently interesting to post in the Forum:

 

It's pretty funny, actually...I won 3 Daredevil #196 pencilled prelim pages by Larry Hama (he wrote the issue and provided very detailed breakdowns for Klaus Janson) for, get this, $4.95/each on eBay. The seller (Ben Smith) e-mails me and says that he's in New York, please send $14.85 plus shipping for the pages. I said, "Hey, you're only 4 blocks from my office, why don't I just come by to pick them up?" He says, sure, and so we arrange for a time to meet.

 

I get to the place...it's a fairly low-rent building, nothing special, but there's all these great posters and original artwork on the walls. I said, "Wow, this is some place...what's the name of your business again?" Ben says it's Metropolis Collectibles. I say, "Metropolis? As in Metropolis Comics? As in Vincent Zurzolo?" "Yeah, that's us. Hi, I'm Vincent," says Vincent. Somehow this is not computing in my head, because for some reason I thought Metropolis was in Brooklyn.

 

Anyway, I go to pick up and pay for the DD #196 prelims when Ben mentions that Larry has consigned some other artwork to him...a complete book of prelims for another Daredevil issue, some DD #196 original art by Janson. And then he says he's got something I've got to see. He pulls out a comic art portfolio...some Moon Knight pages, some Transformers, and, oh, hey, BTW, I've got the complete original artwork to G.I. Joe #21 here.

 

Now I'm turning the pages and am in utter disbelief that all 22 pages are here and nobody knows about it. Ben mentions that it might be sold at some point in the future, but that it's not currently being marketed. Curious, I ask him how much he thinks it would go for. He says $X, but that the book could fetch $Y (a huge premium to $X) if it were broken up (but that he hopes it won't come to that).

 

Now, to me, $Y is just huge money and even the $X figure is more than I've ever paid for any artwork or comic by a wide margin. So, I said something like hmmm, wow, gee, let me know when you decide to sell it, not actually expecting to be competitive. But, I couldn't get the artwork out of my mind. Silent Interlude, complete in its entirety? After a day or two of reflection, $X didn't seem unreasonable at all, and even the previously ridiculous $Y figure was looking doable!

 

After much contemplation and rationalization, I made "a preliminary non-binding indication of interest", indicating a range of prices I might be willing to pay, subject to another look at the artwork. The top end of my range was attractive enough to merit another trip to Metropolis, after which I negotiated with Ben based on his instructions from Larry following my indication of interest. Thankfully, they were looking to get a deal done and finding the artwork a good home - a win-win situation for all - as opposed to letting greed and egos get in the way of completing the transaction (as occurs too often in my line of business ). So, we were able to come to an agreement at a price where I think both sides felt like they got a fair deal.

 

And that is how it came to be. It's funny - I was hoping to get outbid on those 3 DD #196 prelims (I had only bid the minimum $4.95 for each and had decided that I could do just fine without them)...but if I had, I wouldn't have heard about the Joe 21 artwork until it probably would have been too late!

 

Gene

[BronzeBruce13]

funny where the smallest things can lead you.

[shiverbones]

remarkable story Gene, congrats!