Baker Romance 43 43

[Sqeggs]

Was watching an eBay auction for a Baker comic... Teen-Age Romances #44 ( LINK ) .... A bidding war put the hammer price at nearly double what it would have been otherwise.

 

Always fun to see last-second snipes. Here's the snipe action on this one:

 

I don't think that book would've gone for much less.

 

Definitely a tough book to find.

[comicnoir]

Is this the future of Baker OA?

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7093&lotNo=92225

[MBFan]

That is certainly a new high, but the other Matt Baker Tiger Girl page (http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7093&lotNo=92226) went for over $3000 less than the one with partial hand coloring. That seems a little strange, since the coloring looks like something done after Baker and Fiction House were finished with the piece. The leafy green look of the bushes in the last panel does not match the coloring of the actual printed comic.

 

Since the partial colored page was apparently tampered with by someone other than the original artist, I'm surprised it's the one that went for the biggest bucks. Regardless, the scarcity of Baker OA means we'll probably continue to see these kinds of prices from here on out.

 

Has even ONE piece of Matt Baker St. John work ever turned up?

[Sqeggs]

That is certainly a new high, but the other Matt Baker Tiger Girl page (http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7093&lotNo=92226) went for over $3000 less than the one with partial hand coloring. That seems a little strange, since the coloring looks like something done after Baker and Fiction House were finished with the piece. The leafy green look of the bushes in the last panel does not match the coloring of the actual printed comic.

 

Since the partial colored page was apparently tampered with by someone other than the original artist, I'm surprised it's the one that went for the biggest bucks. Regardless, the scarcity of Baker OA means we'll probably continue to see these kinds of prices from here on out.

 

Has even ONE piece of Matt Baker St. John work ever turned up?

 

No St John covers that I know of, but I'm pretty sure there have been some interior pages.

[29dukedog]

That is certainly a new high, but the other Matt Baker Tiger Girl page (http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7093&lotNo=92226) went for over $3000 less than the one with partial hand coloring. That seems a little strange, since the coloring looks like something done after Baker and Fiction House were finished with the piece. The leafy green look of the bushes in the last panel does not match the coloring of the actual printed comic.

 

Since the partial colored page was apparently tampered with by someone other than the original artist, I'm surprised it's the one that went for the biggest bucks. Regardless, the scarcity of Baker OA means we'll probably continue to see these kinds of prices from here on out.

 

Has even ONE piece of Matt Baker St. John work ever turned up?

 

Yes, a couple of pages from Teen-Age Romances 17 (I think it was) sold through Heritage for less than $500. each, several years ago. Other than those, I'm not aware of any other St.John Baker OA sales.

[comixcroz]

Is this the future of Baker OA?

 

http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=7093&lotNo=92225

that middle panel is outrageously awesome!

[Sqeggs]

Found this one. Misc St John story

[Sqeggs]

And this one. Page from TAR 21

[MBFan]

After realizing that I just needed to search the Heritage site better than I had before, I found another. http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=826&lotNo=43024 Notice the note to the "code examiner".

 

Have any St. John/Baker pages or covers sold via other auction sites, etc.?

[29dukedog]

After realizing that I just needed to search the Heritage site better than I had before, I found another. http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=826&lotNo=43024 Notice the note to the "code examiner".

 

Have any St. John/Baker pages or covers sold via other auction sites, etc.?

 

Not that I can recall. And I don't think I've EVER seen a Baker St. John cover for sale (or even in a private collection, for that matter).

[MBFan]

It's sad that so much great Matt Baker work has gone missing, especially the St. John stuff. I'm very curious as to how the 3 lone St. John pages that went through Heritage survived...and why there's not more to go with them.

[29dukedog]

It's sad that so much great Matt Baker work has gone missing, especially the St. John stuff. I'm very curious as to how the 3 lone St. John pages that went through Heritage survived...and why there's not more to go with them.

 

For many years, I've heard rumors through other collectors that a Canadian collector whose eBay ID is ferd44, has been hoarding an extensive collection of Baker OA for decades. Whether or not that includes Baker's St. John material, I cannot say. But perhaps a motivated individual might elect to contact him and ask him about it. His name is Ferd Bernjak and he's a fairly well known collector in certain circles.

[Sqeggs]

The Art of Glamour book reproduces a number of pages of Baker OA, but as far as I can see, his St John work is represented by just a single page from TAR 17.

 

Some of the art reproduced is held by the Baker family. I suppose it might be possible to approach them as to whether they know whether more of his St John OA has survived.

[MB1952]

That's my questions? If 3 St. John pgs survive where's the rest??? That collector from Canada Ferd was drain, he longer owns all that Baker OA. Is possible Baker family owns St John OA, but I was told by another Baker OA collector they are kept in secret by Alter Ego.

 

Baker family owns some beautiful Baker artwork, if it makes to the market u looking at some big $$$.

[Sqeggs]

Just in case anyone should be interested in it, the All-Picture Comedy Carnival 1 on Metro does not, in fact, contain any Baker art. The listing indicates that it does, but they checked for me and none of the remaindered books in this copy have Baker art.

 

Unfortunately, they didn't change the listing even though my inquiry was a few weeks ago.

[143ksk]

My newest Baker additions

 

 

 

[MBFan]

Just in case anyone should be interested in it, the All-Picture Comedy Carnival 1 on Metro does not, in fact, contain any Baker art. The listing indicates that it does, but they checked for me and none of the remaindered books in this copy have Baker art.

 

Unfortunately, they didn't change the listing even though my inquiry was a few weeks ago.

 

Thanks for the head-up on that. All of my dealings with Metropolis have been great, but it's reckless to claim an unslabbed remainders book contains Matt Baker work without checking...and to not modify the listing after checking and seeing that there is no Baker art is downright false advertising.

 

I expect Metropolis to be an authority on comics, but I wonder how knowledgeable they are when I see their listings for 2 different copies of Batman #23 say the cover art is by "Batman co-creator Sprang". Sprang didn't receive his first Batman assignment until 2 years after Batman first appeared. Bill Finger has a legitimate claim to "co-creator" credit, but not Sprang, whom I still admire greatly.

 

(In previewing my post, I notice the forum subs "spoon" for the nickname for "Richard", but you know who I mean.)

[Sqeggs]

My newest Baker additions

 

 

 

 

Nice ones. My copy of PR 13 is a bit of a wreck.

[Sqeggs]

Just in case anyone should be interested in it, the All-Picture Comedy Carnival 1 on Metro does not, in fact, contain any Baker art. The listing indicates that it does, but they checked for me and none of the remaindered books in this copy have Baker art.

 

Unfortunately, they didn't change the listing even though my inquiry was a few weeks ago.

 

Thanks for the head-up on that. All of my dealings with Metropolis have been great, but it's reckless to claim an unslabbed remainders book contains Matt Baker work without checking...and to not modify the listing after checking and seeing that there is no Baker art is downright false advertising.

 

I expect Metropolis to be an authority on comics, but I wonder how knowledgeable they are when I see their listings for 2 different copies of Batman #23 say the cover art is by "Batman co-creator Sprang". Sprang didn't receive his first Batman assignment until 2 years after Batman first appeared. Bill Finger has a legitimate claim to "co-creator" credit, but not Sprang, whom I still admire greatly.

 

(In previewing my post, I notice the forum subs "spoon" for the nickname for "Richard", but you know who I mean.)

 

I like Metropolis, too. I would guess that failing to change the description was an oversight. I have a feeling the book isn't going to sell for $300 except to a Baker collector ... who will then likely return it.

 

Actually, the following scenario occurs to me: Someone buys the book and sends to CGC asking for the Baker notation on the basis of the entry in Overstreet (who does not note that the remaindered books may or may not contain Baker art). Would CGC go to the trouble of checking the contents? I have a feeling they wouldn't.

[JvR11]

The Art of Glamour book reproduces a number of pages of Baker OA, but as far as I can see, his St John work is represented by just a single page from TAR 17.

 

Some of the art reproduced is held by the Baker family. I suppose it might be possible to approach them as to whether they know whether more of his St John OA has survived.

 

The family has some wondrous original art work mainly from the men's magazine illustrations, which are amazing in themselves. From what I understand, they've shown basically most of the artwork they have. I'm betting a lot of the artwork was destroyed in some kind of flood or housing accident in St. John's son's house. I read this many years ago so I could be mistaken. But, I'm thinking he might be a good source of information.