Action 1 sells for $1 MILLION dollars... but who cares ?

[fc]

i guess i am interested but when i was 15 i could not relate to someone trading their

car for a comic and I still cannot relate now. Being firmly in the middle class I just seem

to wish I was a player but satisfy myself with other aspects of the hobby. I often think

about how I can get on board with something I enjoy early in the game before it possibly

explodes in value but nothing has worked out for me like that ;-)

 

thanks for sharing.

[Bronty]

publicly I don't think so? Think the 200k mark is the public record for pure comic book oa (as opposed to frazetta paintings etc which are book covers mostly). Privately I don't know but publicly I don't think there's been anything above about 200k

I believe there have been sales of European comic art above 500k (we had a thread last year about a variety of high dollar sales).

 

yeah but weren't they not really comic art? ie art for french heavy metal and whatnot? I guess something like that is debatable but I don't generally consider magazine stuff to be comic art

[CollectingFool]

yeah but weren't they not really comic art? ie art for french heavy metal and whatnot? I guess something like that is debatable but I don't generally consider magazine stuff to be comic art

 

I seem to remember the high price being a very early TinTin cover.

 

[tonytiger]

Really?? Wow!! Tin Tin!! Cool.

 

What a Tin Tin?

[fc]

Really?? Wow!! Tin Tin!! Cool.

 

What a Tin Tin?

 

i am not sure if you are joking but here is a pick of tintin and his dog snowy (milou in

francais).

 

[Bronty]

yeah but weren't they not really comic art? ie art for french heavy metal and whatnot? I guess something like that is debatable but I don't generally consider magazine stuff to be comic art

 

I seem to remember the high price being a very early TinTin cover.

 

right that was over a mil but the original question excluded herge and illustration art

[CollectingFool]

Why wouldn't you count Tintin? It was a comic strip first and then a compilation of strips/comic book. Didn't Action #1 reuse an early newspaper strip?

 

 

[Bronty]

well, if one believes in the comic-books-started-in-1933 timeline, its too early for one thing.

[wurstisart]

Not everyone get's the european comic market. No offense, but there is a ton of great work ! I grew up in Europe....Tintin, Asterix & Obelix, Lucky Luke with work by Herge, Uderzo...just to mention a few.

 

They clearly are comic art, maybe not Superhero comic art like we are used to here in the US, but again...they are comic art. No doubt !

 

Go and get some of the books. They are AWESOME !

Not only do the covers go for crazy money, even indidvidual pages.

But they are so difficult to find....

[tylerdurden-migration]

It will be interesting to see if American superheros can eventually sell higher then European Tin Tin

[Guardian Comics]

Impressed? Yes. Excited about it? I don't know.

 

I feel like the only collector in the world who is actually kind of embarassed by the sale. It seems like a lot of money for something that in real life is so trivial. It's the same age old question for collectors, once you get it, and the novelty wears off and it sits somewhere not being looked at everyday, then what really is the point, just to own it???

 

I felt embarrassed a couple of months when I bought a couple of books and realized the money I spent for a couple of comics is what I pay some of my staffs annual salary. They bust there azz 40-44 hours per week for 50 weeks, and I spend that kind of money on a whim for books, and all they are doing is sitting in glass display cabinets being looked at once a week.

 

If anything this sale has been a wake up call to me personally, as I'm beginning to wonder "what's the point". I love the art form and am very passionate about it but does owning a piece of that make someone really happy, and if it does for how long?

 

Jim

[CHABSENTIA]

Impressed? Yes. Excited about it? I don't know.

 

I feel like the only collector in the world who is actually kind of embarassed by the sale. It seems like a lot of money for something that in real life is so trivial. It's the same age old question for collectors, once you get it, and the novelty wears off and it sits somewhere not being looked at everyday, then what really is the point, just to own it???

 

I felt embarrassed a couple of months when I bought a couple of books and realized the money I spent for a couple of comics is what I pay some of my staffs annual salary. They bust there azz 40-44 hours per week for 50 weeks, and I spend that kind of money on a whim for books, and all they are doing is sitting in glass display cabinets being looked at once a week.

 

If anything this sale has been a wake up call to me personally, as I'm beginning to wonder "what's the point". I love the art form and am very passionate about it but does owning a piece of that make someone really happy, and if it does for how long?

 

Jim

 

Is there a difference between paying 1 million dollars for a comic book and paying 100 million for an athlete? Different people might consider both pretty trivial.

[CollectingFool]

An athlete? Like paying a baseball player's contract? paying $100M to an athlete is paying an employee based on the amount of revenue you think he is helping generate. It's a completely different thing than paying $1M for a comic book because a few people encased it in plastic and decided on a number to assign to it.

 

[pinupcartoonguy]

An athlete? Like paying a baseball player's contract? paying $100M to an athlete is paying an employee based on the amount of revenue you think he is helping generate. It's a completely different thing than paying $1M for a comic book because a few people encased it in plastic and decided on a number to assign to it.

 

That said, I refuse to pay the obscene amount being asked for tickets to sporting events these days. I still watch and enjoy sports, but to a much lesser extent then a I used to, after all, my happiness really shouldn't hinge on whether or not my teams wins or loses.

[tylerdurden-migration]

Impressed? Yes. Excited about it? I don't know.

 

I feel like the only collector in the world who is actually kind of embarassed by the sale. It seems like a lot of money for something that in real life is so trivial. It's the same age old question for collectors, once you get it, and the novelty wears off and it sits somewhere not being looked at everyday, then what really is the point, just to own it???

 

I felt embarrassed a couple of months when I bought a couple of books and realized the money I spent for a couple of comics is what I pay some of my staffs annual salary. They bust there azz 40-44 hours per week for 50 weeks, and I spend that kind of money on a whim for books, and all they are doing is sitting in glass display cabinets being looked at once a week.

 

If anything this sale has been a wake up call to me personally, as I'm beginning to wonder "what's the point". I love the art form and am very passionate about it but does owning a piece of that make someone really happy, and if it does for how long?

 

Jim

 

I am impressed not excited. The capitalistic "animal spirits" of being excited by Action 1 is irrelevant to me because at the pricetag of $1,000,000 I am out of the game. I simply cannot participate at that level. But impressed - - - hell yeah !

 

As to you being embarrased about your purchases of some comic books, I don't understand that comment. Embarrased, because of capitalism? Embarrased because because you bought asn asset that may appreciate in value ? Again, not trying to criticize, I just simply don't understand. It's like being embarrased because you bought 100 shares of MSFT. Is making money wrong ?

[pinupcartoonguy]

I think he's embarrassed that something as trivial as a comic book goes for a million when so many people are trying to make ends meet. An allocation of resources question, really.

[Guardian Comics]

I think he's embarrassed that something as trivial as a comic book goes for a million when so many people are trying to make ends meet. An allocation of resources question, really.

 

Exactly my point :thumbsup:

 

I can't be embarrassed about being a capitalist as I'm a business man and employ 20 people. People who bust their humps for me everyday, so I can turn a profit, which in turn I use to give them a job. What do they do with the money they earn from me, put food on the table and pay the rent. What do I do with the money they earn me, I buy a Timely for my collection. Yes, I've earned it but all I'm saying is a hobby shouldn't have million dollar pieces as by this point can it really be called a hobby anymore? It's an epiphany I'm having because of this book and just felt I'd share. Not looking for people to agree with me nor looking for a debate. Just sharing a personal conflict I'm having with my psyche right now :thumbsup:

 

Jim

[Timely]

I think he's embarrassed that something as trivial as a comic book goes for a million when so many people are trying to make ends meet. An allocation of resources question, really.

 

Exactly my point :thumbsup:

 

I can't be embarrassed about being a capitalist as I'm a business man and employ 20 people. People who bust their humps for me everyday, so I can turn a profit, which in turn I use to give them a job. What do they do with the money they earn from me, put food on the table and pay the rent. What do I do with the money they earn me, I buy a Timely for my collection. Yes, I've earned it but all I'm saying is a hobby shouldn't have million dollar pieces as by this point can it really be called a hobby anymore? It's an epiphany I'm having because of this book and just felt I'd share. Not looking for people to agree with me nor looking for a debate. Just sharing a personal conflict I'm having with my psyche right now :thumbsup:

 

Jim

 

Don't hate yourself for making money and spending it. No reason to be guilty about it. On another front, most americans drive cars that cost more than most of the houses that people in the world are forced to live in. People throw away food that others in the world would scramble to consume. There are worse things to be embarrassed about.

 

West

[tylerdurden-migration]

I think he's embarrassed that something as trivial as a comic book goes for a million when so many people are trying to make ends meet. An allocation of resources question, really.

 

Exactly my point :thumbsup:

 

I can't be embarrassed about being a capitalist as I'm a business man and employ 20 people. People who bust their humps for me everyday, so I can turn a profit, which in turn I use to give them a job. What do they do with the money they earn from me, put food on the table and pay the rent. What do I do with the money they earn me, I buy a Timely for my collection. Yes, I've earned it but all I'm saying is a hobby shouldn't have million dollar pieces as by this point can it really be called a hobby anymore? It's an epiphany I'm having because of this book and just felt I'd share. Not looking for people to agree with me nor looking for a debate. Just sharing a personal conflict I'm having with my psyche right now :thumbsup:

 

Jim

 

I understand you have personal angst. Hope it works out for u. Not looking for a debate either.

[comicartcom]

Why wouldn't you count Tintin? It was a comic strip first and then a compilation of strips/comic book. Didn't Action #1 reuse an early newspaper strip?

 

 

yes and no Ruben

 

it was created to be a comic strip originally and comic books had at the time a different formula. However, it was never printed as a comic strip until about a year later than Action #1 for which it was totally redrawn. The original comic strips created in 1933 were almost totally destroyed by Shuster after being unable to find a publisher at the time.

 

Moreover, the few panels that are known to exist are believed to have been drawn after 1933 (probably in 1937) and are not the same art as what was published in Action #1 which is easy to tell when you look at them side by side