Hold onto your hats for the May Heritage auction....

[Artemaria]

Hi Chris,

 

Many people consider this their favorite splash of the run. Personally, it's not my favorite, but I know that there are many out there who'll go to the mat for it.

 

But, hit over 200K? That I doubt.

 

Hari

 

Completely agree with Hari on this one.

 

While it is a great piece, would be quite surprised to see it at 2 large. Quite surprised.

 

Nevertheless, good luck to whomever is bidding on this piece or others in the HA auction.

[comix4fun]

Whats funny for me is some of my prime collecting and reading days were when Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns came out on the stands. I bought the Watchmen becuase it was so hyped but I have to say the story did nothing for me an I found the artwork to really bad, especally when compared to Romita, Buscema, or Adams. I liked the DKR story but was not a huge fan of Miller (actually I stopped buying Daredevil when he took over the title because I didn't like the artwork). It really does come down to personal taste. For some people Watchmen and DKR are the peak in comic quality, for others not so much.

Nothing in this world that is subjective is ever 100%. You`re the exception rather than the rule. Obviously there are many more people who got into DD because of Miller than got out.

Yes but there are many more people who never got into DD after Miller took over than got into DD after he did.

 

 

I've read this sentence 7 times and I still don't think I know exactly what you mean.

[Speedy-D]

Whats funny for me is some of my prime collecting and reading days were when Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns came out on the stands. I bought the Watchmen becuase it was so hyped but I have to say the story did nothing for me an I found the artwork to really bad, especally when compared to Romita, Buscema, or Adams. I liked the DKR story but was not a huge fan of Miller (actually I stopped buying Daredevil when he took over the title because I didn't like the artwork). It really does come down to personal taste. For some people Watchmen and DKR are the peak in comic quality, for others not so much.

Nothing in this world that is subjective is ever 100%. You`re the exception rather than the rule. Obviously there are many more people who got into DD because of Miller than got out.

Yes but there are many more people who never got into DD after Miller took over than got into DD after he did.

 

 

I've read this sentence 7 times and I still don't think I know exactly what you mean.

If he means there are more people in this world who are not into DD than are into him, I guess that's hard to argue against.

[tth2]

Whats funny for me is some of my prime collecting and reading days were when Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns came out on the stands. I bought the Watchmen becuase it was so hyped but I have to say the story did nothing for me an I found the artwork to really bad, especally when compared to Romita, Buscema, or Adams. I liked the DKR story but was not a huge fan of Miller (actually I stopped buying Daredevil when he took over the title because I didn't like the artwork). It really does come down to personal taste. For some people Watchmen and DKR are the peak in comic quality, for others not so much.

Nothing in this world that is subjective is ever 100%. You`re the exception rather than the rule. Obviously there are many more people who got into DD because of Miller than got out.

Yes but there are many more people who never got into DD after Miller took over than got into DD after he did.

 

 

I've read this sentence 7 times and I still don't think I know exactly what you mean.

If he means there are more people in this world who are not into DD than are into him, I guess that's hard to argue against.

Considering there's over 2 billion people in China and India alone who've never even heard of DD, that would have to be correct.

 

Miller was obviously a failure for not being able to attract more DD readers in places like Andhra Pradesh and Heilongjiang. On behalf of my Asian brothers, I spit on him!

[groovyedwin]

Interesting thread and discussion going on.

 

The sentence is clear in my mind. Another way to put it is that Miller attracted less people than those he did not. I would like to throw 1 billion from Africa and another 1 billiion from SE asia on the ple. Figure over 80% of the world does not care or follow American comics.

 

On the subject of tiers, I figure in 20 years possibly only Watchmen will still of any significance, but the original art won't be except for the Sally Jupiter poster by James Jean. But this is just my opinion. Think about it, if the fans collecting were born in 1970 they will be 60yo in another 20 years and dealing with the current debt in the US or trying to retire, take vacations, live life before it is over. Similar thing happend with strip art, animation art, and is beginning to already happen with comic art.

 

Edwin

[Solar]

Figure over 80% of the world does not care or follow American comics.

 

Considering there are 6.9B people in the world and 100,000 is a huge print run for a comic these days, I think that percentage is a bit low.

 

On the subject of tiers, I figure in 20 years possibly only Watchmen will still of any significance, but the original art won't be except for the Sally Jupiter poster by James Jean. But this is just my opinion. Think about it, if the fans collecting were born in 1970 they will be 60yo in another 20 years and dealing with the current debt in the US or trying to retire, take vacations, live life before it is over. Similar thing happend with strip art, animation art, and is beginning to already happen with comic art.

Edwin

 

I really hope you're right. I'll be 52 in 20 years and if Watchmen/DKR art is seen as insignificant, I will be happy to wallpaper my house with it.

[QuickS-migration]

 

 

People in 3rd and 2nd world countries priorities are NOT comics.

 

 

[adamstrange]

I did not expect my offhand remark to spark such a set of comments. It was meant only in jest and posed an accurate but essentially useless statistic.

[dem1138]

Heritage will be uploading the images early this week.

 

Images have been uploaded. I don't know about you guys but after examing the scan it only reconfirms to me how awesome this piece is. Each splash from those books is special in their own right and this one was always one of my favorites. The line work is just fantastic.

 

Such a shame that Miller dropped off and DKR2 was such an incredible disappointment.

[Bronty]

Heritage will be uploading the images early this week.

 

 

Such a shame that Miller dropped off and DKR2 was such an incredible disappointment.

 

I haven't kept up with his work the last ten years but I thought his 90s work was as good or better than his 80s work. Sin City might be my favorite thing he's ever done although obviously nowhere as popular/mainstream as DKR.

[Brian Peck]

Few sequels live up to the originals.

[dem1138]

Few sequels live up to the originals.

 

I found it ironic that SW Ep. 1 and DKR2 both came out around the same time and forever tainted the franchises for me. It was like the adult version of finding out that Santa Claus doesn't exist - only much worse.

[Bronty]

episode 1 was the worst movie of all time. I could not agree more

[jbud73]

 

 

 

 

Frankly,

I've never heard of any seasoned art collector, investing serious money into the hobby, who collects by character alone.

 

That's something newer collectors tend to do. That's something I did early in my collecting life, but experience has taught that the artwork is only as good as the penciler's hand and the inker's brush.

 

 

I still collect mostly by character 7 years later. Villains, Indian Jones, and Star Wars pieces are mostly what I buy. Although I mostly buy painted pieces, so the artists are limited. I have seen some artists who aren't popular and their art is really cheap that is 10 times better than some of the more pricier artists. I still regret selling my Firefly splash as he is a villain I don't see often, but a $100 page was not something I felt I had the wall space for. The art itself was pretty damn nice for being so cheap. It had wonderful inking.

 

I think only 25% of what I won is pen and ink, so I am limited with artists for paintings. However, I simply found I didn't enjoy pen and ink on the walls as much as paintings. The first collection I had that I sold in college was all pen and ink with many panel pages. When I got out of college I found I enjoyed paintings much more and almost completely stayed away from panel pages. Kraven's Last Hunt is my favorite super hero story of all time. I purchased a page from Kraven's Last Hunt but being pen and ink plus a panel page, I didn't keep it for long and traded it for a Jusko painting.

 

I guess you are right though. I won't just buy a painting because it is simply of a villain I need an example of or has Indiana Jones. It has to be a good representation of the character and not look like some kind of manga wide eyed . In fact if they aren't wearing their normal costume I will often be uninterested. I am often offered Indiana Jones art from the Marvel series, but I I personally find 90% of those covers to be pretty weak, and the one's I only kind of like are a lot more than what I want to spend on something I only kind of like.

 

 

Well that's the thing really. You love those characters but not enough to buy junk. You want a quality piece, by a talented artist, and you mostly try to find those pieces that incorporate those characters as well.

 

It's like guys that love Conan, and collect Conan artwork, they aren't running to buy just anything, but waive a BWS or Buscema in front of them and they probably jump.

 

Not every guy nailed the character of Daredevil, but show a Miller, or Mazz to a DD collector and they blood pressure rises.

 

 

Pinning this one to my OA subconscious now, thanks Chris - very well put.

 

You can draw some parallels between OA and comic collecting, but you cannot imprint all aspects of one, whether market or collectible strength, to the other. In fact I would suggest that the parallels are far fewer than most people would consider at first.

[furthur]

I just went back and took another look at DKR. There are 10 splashes in the 4 books. I think this is one of the top 3 from the book. My other faves are the other splash with Batman and Robin falling down towards the viewer in book 3 and the Batman on the horse coming straight at you in book 4. I like em all, but for obvious reasons, I have my favorite. The Batman and Helicopter shot in Book 1 comes in 4th in my opinion, but of course its all just my opinion!!

 

The poses in this splash are certainly iconic and of the two action splashes concentrating on Batman and Robin, this is probably the better one-but I think only by a little. The one with the horse is the most dramatic of my top 3 and frankly I think it might be the best looking one in black and white because of the balance of blacks and white space. Again, I fully admit to my prejudices.

 

I certainly will be following this one to see how it ends up!

 

As for whether Action #1 in low grade is a better investment-thank God I don't care one whit for slabbed comic books. I love reading comics, but I love owning art and they are totally different kinds of enjoyment!!

 

Benno

[Bronty]

I haven't read the book in years, but your horsey splash is the one that stuck in my memory the most. Amazing piece Benno.

 

I'm sure you will be a very interested observer of this auction, as well.

[dem1138]

I just went back and took another look at DKR. There are 10 splashes in the 4 books. I think this is one of the top 3 from the book. My other faves are the other splash with Batman and Robin falling down towards the viewer in book 3 and the Batman on the horse coming straight at you in book 4. I like em all, but for obvious reasons, I have my favorite. The Batman and Helicopter shot in Book 1 comes in 4th in my opinion, but of course its all just my opinion!!

 

The poses in this splash are certainly iconic and of the two action splashes concentrating on Batman and Robin, this is probably the better one-but I think only by a little. The one with the horse is the most dramatic of my top 3 and frankly I think it might be the best looking one in black and white because of the balance of blacks and white space. Again, I fully admit to my prejudices.

 

I certainly will be following this one to see how it ends up!

 

As for whether Action #1 in low grade is a better investment-thank God I don't care one whit for slabbed comic books. I love reading comics, but I love owning art and they are totally different kinds of enjoyment!!

 

Benno

 

Benno has the distinct honor of buying his splash directly from Albert(?) way back in 1987. He remembers all of those pages for sale at the booth, just there for purchase. And he was smart enough to buy one of those splashes and hold on to it through the years!

 

 

[furthur]

Actually, I didn't buy from Albert. He got books 2 and 3 from Klaus Janson and I bought my piece from a guy who called himself Scott Free and was selling them at SD back in 87 on behalf of Frank Miller who had kept books 1 and 4. Albert sold a lot of his in Chicago that same summer. As I have told several times, I got my splash (and a page I later traded) from this guy and he had a stack of the art on a table. I have an old photo I took that is a little grainy of Scott Free standing behind the booth holding one of the other splashes in his hands up over his head. Interestingly to me, he had the other Batman/horse splash there from book 4 and apparently thought it was the better one since it was 30% more than what I paid for mine (admittedly both at what now seem like ridiculously cheap prices, but back then I can tell you it was a serious chunk of change in my world) Benno

[Bronty]

oh there is more than one horsey splash? I thought yours looked a little different than what I remembered. Well they are both great!

[comix4fun]

oh there is more than one horsey splash? I thought yours looked a little different than what I remembered. Well they are both great!

 

 

 

One is straight at the reader and the other is in profile. Both are amazing. I agree