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

[stinkininkin]

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

 

Don't remind me. I was there, and I saw all of Scott Free's pages. All the splashes were still there, just kind of scattered on a table, top price of $1000 if I remember right. Seemed incredibly expensive to me at the time, but I was also as cash poor as I had ever been that year. Loved the art, but it was not meant to be. Why I didn't track some pages down a few years later when my income jumped, I'll never know.

 

Scott Williams

[furthur]

there were certainly a number of pages around for about two years after the initial bunch got sold. I remember about two years later a guy came to Dragon con and had a lot of pages from books 1 and 4 that he had marked up about 50% from the original cost(so panel pages were around 650-800 dollars) . He had bought out a lot of them from the same guy and had at least 10 -15 pages from those books. I traded him a Howard Chaykin piece I had for my Swamp Thing #69 cover. No idea who it was, I don't think I ever saw him again at another show.

[J.Sid]

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

 

Batman driving a horse instead of his Batmobile is where that series totally jumped the shark. Your splash is junk, Benno. Give me a call and I will help you dispose of it.

 

Jeff

[tth2]

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.

Too late, I have already led a large number of Asians in spitting on Frank Miller. Next stop, Africa!

[Solar]

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.

 

Quote of the week.

[artdealer]

Well, maybe the story wasn't good, but the art was great in DKR2.

 

MI

[comix4fun]

Well, maybe the story wasn't good, but the art was great in DKR2.

 

MI

 

 

 

Were you at all thrown or put off by how different the style was in DKSA from DKR?

 

To this day I have a hard time reading the sequel because the images from the original are burned into my brain and the sequel was almost unrecognizable in comparison.

[Catwoman_Fan]

Well, maybe the story wasn't good, but the art was great in DKR2.

 

MI

 

It's probably time that Lynn/Frank recolored and released DKR2. I found it impossible get past the coloring in the story, it was an assault on my eyes. Reading it in B&W would be preferable to me.

[J.Sid]

 

It's probably time that Lynn/Frank recolored and released DKR2. I found it impossible get past the coloring in the story, it was an assault on my eyes. Reading it in B&W would be preferable to me.

I totally agree. That's a lot of pages to recolor though, and given the public's current opinion of the books, I don't think that would be a profitable move for them.

 

Plus, there's a chance it could turn out (gulp)... worse.

(see: Brian Bolland's recolored Killing Joke Hardcover from last year in which he obliterated his own linework throughout)

[*paull*]

Well, maybe the story wasn't good, but the art was great in DKR2.

 

MI

 

It's probably time that Lynn/Frank recolored and released DKR2. I found it impossible get past the coloring in the story, it was an assault on my eyes. Reading it in B&W would be preferable to me.

 

The coloring of that book was a travesty. I also hated the story and thought Miller mailed it in on the artwork, but the coloring was horrendous.

[jjonahjameson1]

I would much rather have a stunning page from the Killing Joke and I just don't understand all the hype around this splash.

 

To each their own...

[Nexus]

Dave Mandel just posted the Batman/Robin portion to the 'MAZING MAN #12 cover:

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=733953&GSub=6082

 

This was released within a year or so of DKR. Compare Batman/Robin as inked by Miller vs. the splash that's inked by Janson. Quite a difference.

[BleekerBob]

I might come out of the woodworks for this piece and keep everyone honest.

[heartened]

I might come out of the woodworks for this piece and keep everyone honest.

 

I never count you and Gene (delekkerste) out, buddy. I always hear what your lips are saying (that you're out of the hobby, sky is falling, not worth investing/collecting in comic art, etc.), but both your hearts speak (and spend!) otherwise

 

Hope all is well.

 

Hari

 

[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.

Too late, I have already led a large number of Asians in spitting on Frank Miller.

Then at least something positive resulted from it. (thumbs u

[heartened]

Well, maybe the story wasn't good, but the art was great in DKR2.

 

MI

 

I didn't like the story, and hated the coloring. But I actually felt the art/linework was daring but nice overall. Would certainly be interested in seeing the pen/ink versions without the coloring. Unfortunately, without a good story I rarely ever buy the art. That's the difference between comic art and fine art.

 

Hari

 

[artdealer]

I thought the art style was a leap and quite daring for Frank. He could have just coasted along on the art, but instead did something that no one expected. And he has to be admired for that.

 

Problem with collectors is that they never want change. They expect the artists style to always be the same, never improve or try something different.

 

I've seen the DKR2 originals. They are quite impressive!

 

MI

[comix4fun]

I thought the art style was a leap and quite daring for Frank. He could have just coasted along on the art, but instead did something that no one expected. And he has to be admired for that.

 

Problem with collectors is that they never want change. They expect the artists style to always be the same, never improve or try something different.

 

I've seen the DKR2 originals. They are quite impressive!

 

MI

 

 

I wouldn't say collectors/fans don't want artists to improve. They may not want them to change much if they think the artist has hit a sweet spot, but if the artist has truly improved upon his craft they will come around to the newer style when they have some time to drink it in.

 

However, not every "try something different" works out well. I am a huge fan of Frank's 300 and Sin City style of artwork. He really added something new to the arsenal, each time, as he went on.

 

I think fan's were a bit shocked and knocked off kilter by a direct sequel to Dark Knight by the same artist looking so different. I, personally, loved the original color scheme used on DKR and perhaps if DKSA was done in a similar palette the rest of the changed to the art style would have been easier to digest.

 

If either the art style OR the colors were changed so dramatically I think it would have been more warmly received. Changing both so much was tough to get past with such a familar set of characters. With Sin City and 300 he was able to be more free to go for it as they were character sets and stories not tied to "The Greatest Comic Story Ever" sort of hype and expectation. People gave it a chance and really let it take off.

 

As it was it the DKSA was a huge shock to the system that prevented the story from seeping into the collecting/reading conscience.

[artdealer]

That was basically the idea behind DKSA. To try something a bit different.

 

It wasn't the idea to duplicate/replicate the art done before. That was what they were expecting.

For Frank to try something new, I thought that was a step in the right direction.

 

I think artists get a bit stagnant if they don't try something different every so often.

 

I like Sin City and 300 too, but DKSA, while the story isn't as strong, the art does it's job of telling the story, and the color work was quite good too!

 

MI

[bocaratondefense]

Some above are predicting $200K for this DKR splash. This would put the DKR second only behind the X-men 1 splash that Comic Connect said sold for $250K?