People's thought on Spiderman 145 cover on Heritage?

[batman_fan]

I was excited when I initially saw it, but then read about the replacement portions and vellum and was not quite so excited. Has anyone seen this cover? I would love to hear more about it.

 

[spider9698]

I have not seen the cover in person but had the piece offered to me prior to Heritage. It is a great piece, classic cover and from a great story arc. Funds were tight at the time so I passed. It should do well.

S

 

[Timely]

How come when the art is on vellum collectors balk at it? Tests show that vellum will long outlast paper. 1000 years from now the art on vellum will still look new while paper art will be deteriorating at a substantial rate. Is it just a crazy comic thing that collectors have a hangup about vellum?

 

West

[Spider-Variant]

I love the piece, but understand why some would shy away from how it was created.

 

Here is part of the description from heritage:

 

"The art was drawn on vellum and it has been mounted to a support paper. The logo and type elements are replacements; otherwise, the piece is in Very Good condition. Romita Sr. signed the page at the lower right."

[westform]

Yes, I've seen it in person. Great piece. Would love to own it, but I've already got my Romita Spiderman cover example... and they are too dear for me to own more than one. I have two other Romita vellum covers and consider them jewels.

[TheMask-migration]

How come when the art is on vellum collectors balk at it? Tests show that vellum will long outlast paper.

Uhm, I assume that in this case, when they speak of vellum, they mean paper vellum and not the real vellum made of calf skin?

 

The terms parchment and vellum are also used in the paper making industry.

The terms refer to the finish of the paper and should not be relied upon as an indicator of its long term stability.

http://www.archives.gov/preservation/formats/paper-vellum.html

 

[spider9698]

Certain collectors do have a stigma regarding vellum. I have owned several and am in love with the current one in my collection so have no qualms about owning them. Certainly, there are some out there that have tarnished (yellowed) badly. That is not the case with the 145.

S

 

[westform]

Hi Stephen; the way it has been explained to me is that there are actually different shades of vellum that account for the different 'tarnished' looks. Inherent in the paper. Now, there are some examples that have mucho glue staining that has yellowed due to many of the vellum examples being put down on another board, but that can be removed by a 'restorer'.

[spider9698]

Dan

I've only seen one "horrible" ASM cover on vellum and you are spot on: discoloration was mainly due to glue stains. That being said, I would have LOVED to own that cover. It now resides in a black hole.

S

[Mephisto]

I don't even know the difference between the art board types. If I like it, I buy it. I could really use a good Scorpion piece for my rogues gallery, but this would be too much debt to bother trying to make a real run for. Give me a JRSR Spidey Super Stories covers, they are a lot more affordable. Someone asked me if my Spidey Super Stories cover is on vellum and I have no clue. I'm thinking yes, but can anyone tell me for sure?

[NelsonAI]

From the picture the 145 cover looks outstanding, vellum or not. I wish I could see the cover in person. Good luck to the seller.

 

People have to understand that this is commercial art. Early on before art was considered a commodity, artists used glue, white out, etc. and didn't consider acid free paper. While it's still one of a kind, condition does impact the final selling price of any art.

 

While every piece is different, the problems with vellum will be evident as soon as you see the item. I once owned a Romita Super Story house ad where the vellum was glued onto the bristol paper. The only problem was the "rippling" effect when he didn't smooth out and flatten the vellum completely when being pasted onto the bristol.

 

The second issue of the piece I had was the "yellowing" of the vellum. Once the paper turned color, any paste ups or white out used during the artistic process would be highlighted against the yellow vellum.

 

Cheers!

N

 

 

[Mephisto]

 

 

While every piece is different, the problems with vellum will be evident as soon as you see the item. I once owned a Romita Super Story house ad where the vellum was glued onto the bristol paper. The only problem was the "rippling" effect when he didn't smooth out and flatten the vellum completely when being pasted onto the bristol.

 

The second issue of the piece I had was the "yellowing" of the vellum. Once the paper turned color, any paste ups or white out used during the artistic process would be highlighted against the yellow vellum.

 

Cheers!

N

 

If you are talking about the Green Goblin piece you had that was more than a house ad. That was used for the back cover of Spidey Super Stories 23.

[NelsonAI]

That's correct - it's the same piece I was referring to.

[batman_fan]

How come when the art is on vellum collectors balk at it? Tests show that vellum will long outlast paper. 1000 years from now the art on vellum will still look new while paper art will be deteriorating at a substantial rate. Is it just a crazy comic thing that collectors have a hangup about vellum?

 

West

 

My "hangup" with vellum is it is hard to judge the artwork condition from a scan, especially some of heritages. This is why I was interested inhearing more about the page, especially given the potential price for the page.

[jimjum12]

Vellum has a yellowish tint anyway....but if you're collecting an artist who uses quills,vellum is about as true a substrate out there for capturing the subtleness of an artists best intention.That Romita cover is spectacular....an A-list Rogue's Gallery villain in a perfectly composed dynamic composition....a grail for sure.GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

 

P.S. And a world famous NYC water tower to boot

[Unca Ben]

Isn't that penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Romita?

[NelsonAI]

Yes.

[glenbru]

The ASM cover is an A cover in every way - meaning the perfect art team on the character you want with an A villain and in perfect condition. The vellum is not really a factor on this particular cover. I know, because I used to own the cover and I miss it. I sent it to Gordon Christman to have it restored when the vellum was not quite adhered properly. Gordon cleaned it and placed it back on the board and replaced the stats that had yellowed. The cover is completely original, with the exception of the logo and stats, and displays beautifully. It does not look anything like a typical vellum cover. It's one of the finest examples of a Kane/Romita ASM cover in existence IMHO.

 

I think there are two reasons that vellum gets a bad rap. The first is the condition as has been discussed here. The second, is that usually there are two artists that are involved in creating a cover. With a board cover, generally one artist lays down the pencils and another artist draws the inks over them. With a vellum cover what tends to happen is the inker places the transparent vellum over the pencils and then inks the piece. So the published vellum piece may not have the original pencils underneath by the penciller. This doesn't matter when you've got the artist you want doing the inks, like here in the case with Romita Sr. But if the penciller were say Kirby and the inker Giacoia you might value the piece much less knowing that Kirby never touched the piece you are buying.

 

It's this kind of uncertainty coupled with qustionable condition that makes buying vellum less desirable for some collectors.

 

But there are some great vellum covers and this is one of them. I foolishely sold Dan Forman one of the other great vellum Romita covers in my younger days that I want back.

 

Glen Brunswick

[Eric Seffinga]

Well said!

 

-e.

[dem1138]

Just to clarify then - this cover only has inks by Romita and does not have the Kane pencils underneath?