Anyone ever get back "the one that got away?"

[sterlingcomics]

get in line......

 

Hey, I'll just have him put it on eBay with a BIN that we negotiate, and...

 

err....on second thought...

[greggy]

Yea I'd take yours also.....and the 3rd 9.4 owner won't sell his either

Offer $1,500 and I'm sure one of us will sell!

[PUNYHUMAN]

I guess I believe in Karma. When I was about 12 years old, in 1969, my comics were overflowing from a closet inside of a box. My mother said," You have to get rid of some of them or get rid of all of them." I gave away all my comics I bought from the newestands to a lady who's son was mentally retarded. He loved comics and superheroes. I felt good about that; knowing I had given them to someone who could really appreciate them. He loved comics and superheroes. Flash fowards... Today I own all those same books that I gave away for nothing. The reward was better than any money could possibly be. If I could do it all over again I would. I made someone happy in there life and I got rewarded back for it. Just a little story I wanted to share with you guys. We didn't think about money and investments back than. We just enjoyed the hobby.

[Rip]

Maybe 1K for Banner's......... $700 for yours

[greggy]

Maybe 1K for Banner's......... $700 for yours

[Fan4Fan]

I tried to, but my wife said she'd divorce me if I continued chasing after that...

 

oh...

 

wait...

 

Were you talking about comics?

 

I haven't knowingly gotten back any of the collection I sold off back in the late 70's, tho' I'd like to think that maybe one of my current books is one of the ones I purchased off the rack way back when.

 

Thanks,

Fan4Fan

[tb]

That Thrilling 70 is beautiful - congratulations!

 

On the subject of happy reunions, I've included a scan of one of my

very favorite pieces of original art - not because of the art itself but

because of the story behind it.

 

In 1960, a teenager named John Spicer wrote a fake letter to Disney

explaining that he was a high school teacher who was teaching a

class on comic books. He asked if he could get in contact with the

artist who drew the Donald Duck stories in Dell's Disney comics.

The editors took the request for genuine and - for the first time ever -

allowed a fan to visit Carl Barks. On the visit, John brought along his

brother Bill and another friend. Barks felt humble and honored to learn

that a fan would care enough about his work to visit him and he gave

each of them a drawing. The scan shows two of these drawings:

Barks cut up an unused halfpage and gave the two tiers to John and

Bill.

 

During the next 40 years, the two brothers kept their art seperated

(note the slight variations in saturation). In 2001, I bought the third

drawing from John, who brought it to me in person (he is an exceptionally

nice guy, btw). He brought along the top drawing, which I convinced him

to sell soon after. 6 months later, John got back to me and told me that

his brother was interested in selling the bottom half.

 

So, finally, after more than 40 years the halfpage was reunited.

 

Scan

 

The art itself is of historical interest in several respects and it has been

published in just about any standard reference about Carl Barks (but that's

another story that I'll save for the Disney forums).

 

[Dano]

I aplogize ahead of time for bumming you out...

but I happen to know a middle school teacher

(who isn't fake) who is currently using comics

as a literacy tool. The first part of your story

seems to excuse the fact that John lied to gain

access to an artist in order to get some artwork.

How is that historically important?

 

Dan.

 

[Timely]

looks like John too better care of his, as the paper quality difference is staggering!

 

Timely

[Mephisto]

Amazing Spider-Man #14. It was my favorite comic when I was a kid. I bought it as a back issue in 1983 for $12 in VG. I had been drooling over it for six months as it sat on the wall of my local comics store near where I grew up. I finally went in one day with enough money (which I earned mowing lawns) and bought it. I sold it, along with the bulk of my collection, when I moved to SF for law school in 1994.

 

I just bought it back last year as a CGC VF+ 8.5. I know I will sound like a total dork saying this, but I nearly wept with joy on the day it arrived.

 

Anyone remember that episode of Different Strokes from around '81 when Arnold stole the ASM 14?

[tb]

Dano,

 

That's a very valid question. What John did was undoubtedly unethical

but let me try to put it into context.

 

In the 1950s, the Dell Four Colors and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories

reached some of the highest circulation figures in the history of comics.

As far as I recall, WDC&S had a monthly print run of 2-3 million copies

and Carl Barks was without a doubt the most important reason for this

success. However, Disney and the editors at Western kept the popularity

of the stories hidden from Barks and never allowed any fan letters to get

through to him. As a result, Barks ended up living most of his life with

very little money and no clue that his work was treasured by millions

of kids in the US and around the world. John described to me how he

was very surprised to see Carl and Gare Barks' tiny and very modest

house in Hemet, California.

 

Given this, I think the inscriptions ("to my _fan_") are both very sad and

touching: since John's letter was the first to reach Barks after so many

years, he apparently assumed that John's interest and dedication was

a rare exception. I can't imagine what it must have been like to realize -

after working more than 20 years for your employer - that they had kept

your popularity hidden in order to underpay you.

 

So, I am not defending John's lie in order to get the art. The historical

significance of these drawings is that they may be the clearest proof in

existence for how Barks was used and deceived by his employers through

most of his career. In that context, I feel very little sympathy for the editors

that were fooled by John's letter.

 

Later, in the 1970s, Disney made up for their betrayal by allowing Barks

to sell oil paintings of popular Disney characters (something that to my

knowledge is unique in the entire history of the company). However, at

that point Barks was in his 70s.

 

Since I brought up ethical issues, I want to emphasize that I obviously

paid John and Bill very well (5 figures & above market value).

 

[Timely]

Anyone remember that episode of Different Strokes from around '81 when Arnold stole the ASM 14?

 

I do, but I thought is was an Amazing Sipder-man #1? I thought the guy said it was MINT and wanted $1000 for it, so it was not a petty theft.

 

Timely

[comicartfan]

First, to share my story : Blazing bought this outstanding DC collection about 2 1/2 years ago and I bought a couple of books out of the collection, one of them being a Superman 199 9.2 - This was early in the game for CGC and I was going through one of my "spring cleaning" of my collection, trying to refocus my collecting habits and felt that this was no biggie. - So, on ebay it went. Fast foward to the present day and I have been searching to replace that book...to no avail. Not even sure why i sold it in the first place.

 

Second, I do remember that episode of Diffent Strokes...

 

Third, Dr.Banner, that DC 100 pager is awesome ! - and i am sure your copy is better than Greggy's

[comicartfan]

Anyone remember that episode of Different Strokes from around '81 when Arnold stole the ASM 14?

 

I do, but I thought is was an Amazing Sipder-man #1? I thought the guy said it was MINT and wanted $1000 for it, so it was not a petty theft.

 

Timely

 

i think your right Timely...i thought it was a # 1 too...and the woman that owned the store took him to court...

[greggy]

First, to share my story : Blazing bought this outstanding DC collection about 2 1/2 years ago and I bought a couple of books out of the collection, one of them being a Superman 199 9.2 - This was early in the game for CGC and I was going through one of my "spring cleaning" of my collection, trying to refocus my collecting habits and felt that this was no biggie. - So, on ebay it went. Fast foward to the present day and I have been searching to replace that book...to no avail. Not even sure why i sold it in the first place.

 

Second, I do remember that episode of Diffent Strokes...

 

Third, Dr.Banner, that DC 100 pager is awesome ! - and i am sure your copy is better than Greggy's

Tell me about it! I sold my Superman 199 CGC 9.2 on eBay!

[Dano]

hkp,

Thank you for the detailed description...

please accept my aplogy. I had no idea

that Barks suffered under those conditions.

 

I've always thought that Disney took great

pains to underpay their artists, but this

solidifies it. Man, why aren't these stories

more widely told?

 

Dan.

[tb]

Thanks for the follow-up. I very much agree that the story of

Barks has much wider appeal and human interest and am hoping to

one day help tell it with my collection. There are precious few early

originals still in existence; a total of around two dozen pages prior to

1955 are known to have survived. I think it is a shame that these are

hidden away in private collections and rarely seen - hopefully I can

help change that.

 

It is very cool that your friend is using comics in school - I remember

how excited I was when my own teacher did the same.

[Mephisto]

Anyone remember that episode of Different Strokes from around '81 when Arnold stole the ASM 14?

 

I do, but I thought is was an Amazing Sipder-man #1? I thought the guy said it was MINT and wanted $1000 for it, so it was not a petty theft.

 

Timely

 

i think your right Timely...i thought it was a # 1 too...and the woman that owned the store took him to court...

 

Ok anyone got the Strokes on DVD. I think she claimed it was an ASM 1 but the book used was issue 14 and boy did they mishandle the book. I know it was in a bag but I don't think it had a back board. For some reason I thought they said it was more like $100, just enough to make them [!@#%^&^] there pants since they thought it was a virtually worthless comic.

[comicartfan]

There is also an university professor (i believe it's at Univ. of Michigan) who uses super heroes and comics to teach physics....like could Spider-man's web really be strong enough to stop a car ?.....apparently, there a waiting list to get into it.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Ok anyone got the Strokes on DVD. I think she claimed it was an ASM 1 but the book used was issue 14 and boy did they mishandle the book.

 

Yep, I remember throwing my peanut butter sandwich at the TV because it was all wrong!!! (Hey, I was an impulsive kid).

 

They claimed the book was a Spidey # 1 (which it wasn't, it was a # 14)

They also claimed it was his first appearance (which it isn't, obviously)

 

I think I'm going to hire myself out to hollywood as a Comic book technical consultant.