Frank Miller Dark Knight Returns - 2 consecutive pages for sale

[jjonahjameson1]

Interesting pages for sale in a private auction: http://www.theartistschoice.com/darkknight.html

 

[heartened]

Very nice pages, especialy the first one. Interesting price, too, but I suppose pages are rare these days so perhaps they are hoping collectors may be thirsty. I suspect the terms and conditions will scare off some folks as well, as they seem quite stern.

 

[Spider-Variant]

Ok, not my area, but will these two fetch even the minimum?

[jjonahjameson1]

Ok, not my area, but will these two fetch even the minimum?

 

Hi, Spider. I've asked and received confirmation the min bid of $55K has been met.

[heartened]

There have been so few sales over the past 5 years. About two years ago, the best pages that came up were hitting 20-30K+. I suppose, therefore, it's reasonable to say that the key pages are, like Killing Joke, in the 35K+ range, with splashes in the "the sky's the limit" range, if they were to ever come up. I think having two pages together increases the price more than the sum of two pages, as you get more of the storytelling. While I'm a little surprised that 55K has been met, I am certainly far from shocked.

 

[Spider-Variant]

Ok, not my area, but will these two fetch even the minimum?

 

Hi, Spider. I've asked and received confirmation the min bid of $55K has been met.

 

Interesting...

[invisibleghosts]

Very nice.

[stinkininkin]

There have been so few sales over the past 5 years. About two years ago, the best pages that came up were hitting 20-30K+. I suppose, therefore, it's reasonable to say that the key pages are, like Killing Joke, in the 35K+ range, with splashes in the "the sky's the limit" range, if they were to ever come up. I think having two pages together increases the price more than the sum of two pages, as you get more of the storytelling. While I'm a little surprised that 55K has been met, I am certainly far from shocked.

 

I am shocked Hari. Maybe I shouldn't be, but 55k for what I think are mediocre pages (and I am a huge Miller fan)? I think the fact that these are part of larger sequence that certain parties are trying to put together illuminates things a bit, but jeez louise....

 

Scott Williams

[Nexus]

I agree. More power to the buyer and seller at $55K, but seems high to me. Two nice pages (with Batman) have sold privately for $20K each in the last year. Even if that's considered conservative now, I still don't see these at $55K. The first page is clearly the better of the two. Let's be generous and call that a $30K page. Is the second page then $25K? It's barely a Batman page.

 

I also disagree that having these two pages together should increase the overall price. This is not a DPS. These are not two pages important to the overall story. They just happen to be two consecutive pages. They could be any two pages with hints of Batman. I love DKR, the first page is a fine example...but there's nothing really spectacular that stands out to me here.

 

The price could be a result of certain parties trying to put together sequences. But I suspect this sale was prompted by the $100K DD #188 sale. And perhaps the willingness to push values by both sellers and buyers has been influenced by that.

[dem1138]

I think the only relevant point is the one that Scott Williams made to justify the current bid.

[heartened]

There have been so few sales over the past 5 years. About two years ago, the best pages that came up were hitting 20-30K+. I suppose, therefore, it's reasonable to say that the key pages are, like Killing Joke, in the 35K+ range, with splashes in the "the sky's the limit" range, if they were to ever come up. I think having two pages together increases the price more than the sum of two pages, as you get more of the storytelling. While I'm a little surprised that 55K has been met, I am certainly far from shocked.

 

I am shocked Hari. Maybe I shouldn't be, but 55k for what I think are mediocre pages (and I am a huge Miller fan)? I think the fact that these are part of larger sequence that certain parties are trying to put together illuminates things a bit, but jeez louise....

 

Scott Williams

 

Hi Scott,

 

I was surprised too, but then when I began to think about it I figure'd the first page is clearly one of the best to come to market in half a decade, and then you add in a second sequential page. I'm not willing to bid to that minimum (or higher) for those pages, but I could see how someone would.

 

Best,

[thethedew]

Out of curiosity, how far have the values for DKR pages come? How did FM initially make them available, through the traditional method: conventions, or did he have an agent?

 

Some stories might be fun.

 

Andrew

[Nexus]

I think the only relevant point is the one that Scott Williams made to justify the current bid.

 

That's assuming that one of the "certain parties" Scott alluded to made that bid. The only justification needed is that SOMEONE wants those pages. It may end up being a certain party. My point was only why *I* wouldn't spend $55K for them. That may not mean anything to anyone else.

 

On the plus side, hopefully this will tease out other DKR art into the marketplace. The more the merrier!

[Nexus]

Out of curiosity, how far have the values for DKR pages come? How did FM initially make them available, through the traditional method: conventions, or did he have an agent?

 

Some stories might be fun.

 

Andrew

 

From what I've pieced together, the books were split up between Frank and his inker, Klaus Janson. Frank got #1 and #4, Klaus got #2 and #3. Klaus sold his pages through Albert Moy, starting with Chicago Con in 1987.

 

Frank sold his share through his office assistant's boyfriend, a guy named Scott Free. I've heard that Free took more art than Frank had actually wanted to sell. There's a photo floating around of Free at SDCC 1987 with a table full of Frank's art. An eye-popping sight, to say the least.

 

Prices were considered quite high at the time. Splashes were $800-1000. Pages were around $400. This was more than what similar Kirby art was selling for at the time, for example. But the fans bought them up and many pages were resold for even higher amounts shortly afterwards. And it hasn't let up since.

 

I'm going off memory with all this, so if there are any inaccuracies here, someone feel free to correct.

[stinkininkin]

Out of curiosity, how far have the values for DKR pages come? How did FM initially make them available, through the traditional method: conventions, or did he have an agent?

 

Some stories might be fun.

 

Andrew

 

From what I've pieced together, the books were split up between Frank and his inker, Klaus Janson. Frank got #1 and #4, Klaus got #2 and #3. Klaus sold his pages through Albert Moy, starting with Chicago Con in 1987.

 

Frank sold his share through his office assistant's boyfriend, a guy named Scott Free. I've heard that Free took more art than Frank had actually wanted to sell. There's a photo floating around of Free at SDCC 1987 with a table full of Frank's art. An eye-popping sight, to say the least.

 

Prices were considered quite high at the time. Splashes were $800-1000. Pages were around $400. This was more than what similar Kirby art was selling for at the time, for example. But the fans bought them up and many pages were resold for even higher amounts shortly afterwards. And it hasn't let up since.

 

I'm going off memory with all this, so if there are any inaccuracies here, someone feel free to correct.

 

Sounds about right, and there is a photo in my head that is the memory of seeing that table of Dark Knight art from that SDCC first hand. It was an amazing sight with both splashes and interiors just spread out all over a table as if it was just discarded scrap paper. No portfolios or art bins when I saw it. I thought at the time that the prices were super high, but I was also looking through the prism of the starving artist. I was just beginning to get regular work from Marvel then, and I have never been poorer than at that Summer convention. Regrets? I've had a few (Sinatra overdub). I don't think I appreciated the classic nature of the Dark Knight series at the time, and I certainly never envisioned these current prices (no one did). But of all the holes in my collection, not having a great Dark Knight piece is one of the missed opportunities that will probably never be rectified.

 

Scott Williams

[Baron]

On the second page, just Batman saying, "Welcome to Hell" warrants at least $15k in my book. Classic.

[Claudio]

You could have done just as well if you invested 1000 in Microsoft stock or in Miller Dark Knight Returns art. That is really funny to me.

[dem1138]

I think the only relevant point is the one that Scott Williams made to justify the current bid.

 

That's assuming that one of the "certain parties" Scott alluded to made that bid. The only justification needed is that SOMEONE wants those pages. It may end up being a certain party. My point was only why *I* wouldn't spend $55K for them. That may not mean anything to anyone else.

 

On the plus side, hopefully this will tease out other DKR art into the marketplace. The more the merrier!

 

I don't think anyone else except for the 55K bidder would spend that kind of money on these two pages. Let's assume that we all know who is getting those pages and be happy for him.

 

I agree though - lets see some more pages on the market!

 

Also, another interesting tidbit of history, that perhaps another could clarify, is that Miller hated Janson's inks on issue #3 and so he went back and re-drew numerous pages and panels so yes, that's right, some pages have two versions!

 

On a related note, when DKR first came out, I was blown away by the entire thing. The first time the thought of ever wanting to own original art entered my consciousness was when I read these issues as they were coming out. However, being a young adult, I had absolutely no idea how to acquire any of these pages. I never remember seeing any ads for pages in the CBG and, growing up in Philly and only going to local shows, I was never exposed to Albert Moy or any other OA dealers. I have heard first hand accounts from those that were there and bought pages and splashes directly from Albert and I am very envious. To be able to have gone to a show in 1987 and parsed through those pages in order to pick one out would have been a dream come true. I can only imagine the joyous difficulty that I would have had in only being able to try to afford and pick out even one page.

[Nexus]

DKR was the end of the Miller/Janson collaboration. I've heard various theories...Miller didn't like Janson's efforts on what he knew would be an important work...Janson was fed up with Miller getting all the glory...whatever it was, they stopped working together after that. In a sense, lucky for collectors, as Janson was only too happy to sell his share.

 

There are instances of Miller reworking/redrawing panels/pages throughout the entire series, but yes, it happened most in issue #3. I've seen many pages with stat overlays of redrawn panels (I've got one). I've also seen actual redrawn panels (I have one of those as well). I'm glad to have both as it seems prices are only going up and opportunities to buy still few and far between.

 

It must have been cool to have had your pick back when the art was first sold. But I was in high school then...I certainly didn't have $1K to drop on a splash. So no envy from me as far as that goes. I'd be more envious of missing out on things I could afford since I've become a collector.

[jjonahjameson1]

I don't think anyone else except for the 55K bidder would spend that kind of money on these two pages. Let's assume that we all know who is getting those pages and be happy for him.

 

 

So who is this person we are all supposed to know?