Signatures on OA?

[MatterEaterLad]

Hey all--newbie question here.

 

What's the consensus on creator signatures on original art? Increase in value? Decrease? Does is matter? And what about sigs by the writer?

 

I just bought some bronze age panels (my first), from the writer who is now parting with the pieces. Should I have him sign?

 

Thanks!

[SC in SC]

In my opinion, having the signature from the artist, penciler, or inker on a piece of original art can only raise the price (personalizations are a different thing altogether and can have a negative impact on the price). However, having the writer of the comic is going to be a matter of personal taste. If these pages have the actual writing on the pages, a case can be made should you need to sell them as to why the signature of the writer being on them add value to the page, or at the very least doesn't subtract from the value. If there's no writing (as is the case with most new pages these days), I wouldn't bother with the writer myself, and I certainly wouldn't pay more for the writer's signature.

 

Since the writer's not connected directly with the art (meaning he didn't create the art itself) I might try bargaining for a lower price, if there's no writing on the page.

 

 

This is just my opinion.

[aardvark88]

I don't mind having the writer's sig on a page of OA. He created the original -script and may have done spot illos or loose breakdowns for the artist to follow. His writing could have described the costume of a new hero or villian.

[mrpunch0]

But - for the love of god - have people sign the board outside the margins of the artwork and not in the background.

 

And as a matter of personal preference, I ask them to use pencil. I cringe every time I see a great cover signed in metallic gold sharpie ...

[Brian Peck]

I agree. If they personalize it then many people won't even buy a page that has been personalized (unless they share the same name). Me it doesn't matter (just keep it outside the art)

[mamatsch]

I like having pencilers and inkers sign the art for sure (as long as it is in the border and doesn't interfere with the art) and usually don't mind having the writer sign the art either. I've only sought out a write for a sig twice - Jeph Loeb on one of my favorite Superman For All Seasons pages and Joss Whedon on my Astonishing X-Men page.

[oceans11]

If possible I will get the penciller and inker to sign the page of art. No personalizations, just signature. I also try to have this happen outside of the published image area.

 

I have made the exception and picked up a couple of pages that have the artist's signature in the art area. One was a Kurt Schaffenberger page and I'm happy enough to have his signature on a page of art. The other was a Ron Frenz/Sal Buscema page, where Sal signed right in the middle of the page, but hey, he's a legend so I was ok with it.

 

In regards to writers signing the page, it's not something that I seek out, but I think it would only be appropriate if the page had their words on it. So this wouldn't really apply to current pages, but I could see this being kind of cool on some of the "older" art pages. If I had them, I could see getting a Sandman page signed by Gaiman or a Preacher page signed by Ennis.

[MatterEaterLad]

Thanks for the input!

 

It's a cool 70s era piece. I'll have him sign outside the artwork and post it when it arrives.