REMARKED in the aftermarket and OA Restoration

[AKA Rick]

What are the general thoughts and opinions of when original artwork is slightly altered after publication?

 

Specifically:

 

When an art dealer puts their name, inked with a rubber stamp on the backside.

 

When an art dealer pencils the price on the upper corner.

 

 

I'd think as art dealers, and people within a hobby where restoration and condition is key that it's similar to the old comic book where the kids used to write their names inside, or the newsstand would write the price on the cover, something less desirable and frowned upon.

 

I'd think the owner, whether a dealer or an artist or any seller would put the art in a comic bag, then put a price tag on that, which they could change out (higher or lower) at their option rather than have to write and erase on the page itself.

 

As for the stamp in the backside, I would worry about the longterm effects of that ink bleeding through to the frontside, and oddly enough, the stamp is usally randomly stamped on the middle of the page in almost a US Postal Service assembly line fashion without much thought to it, whereas, I'd probably recommend if a necessity to do this, put it on the very bottom lower corner outside of the art area on the back so if it did ever bleed through, it would not impact the original art.

 

I don't mind production notes written on the front, or prelim sketches by the artist drawn on the back both part of the creative and production process. Just as the copyright stamp, still an ink stamp, but part of the process, so I don't mind that. I don't mind the bronze age cropping and slicing of corners and edges either.

 

I just don't like aftermarket remarks. Just my personal opinion, just wondering if others felt the same or as strongly, stronger or not so much.

 

In that same breath, I guess if a person wanted to maintain a place in history and prove they once owned something, I guess they could put a ballpoint pen to the back of each art piece and write their name knowing after their mortality ends, their name can live on as the piece is bought, sold and traded through the years, decades and centuries. Heck, a person could even draw their name on the art itself of key pieces since they're one of a kind, to maintain their legacy. Whether that's the deal breaker or not, I'm not sure. Oddly enough, I don't like when an artist signs the artwork in the afermarket on the page inside of the art (I don't mind in the borders). I am more hesitant to buy artwork with a personalized signature dedicated to some random person I don't know, even in the borders, but especially if within the artwork. I have to really love the piece to make me ignore those, to me, blemishes and eyesores.

 

Also, has anyone every touched up their own artwork, whether adding white-out to areas where it was originally chipped, or filling in blacks with ink where maybe some sort of surface damage had occurred to cover it up or aesthetically correct it? I'd imagine detecting restoration on original art might be difficult.

 

 

[mister_not_so_nice]

Personally, I HATE seeing $35 written in pencil on the back of my PREACHER pages

[CollectingFool]

It means absolutely nothing to the value or appeal of the piece. Most of all the art I've seen that has been on the market for more than 10 years has something like that on the back. If that's the kind of thing that bothers you then most comic art I've seen will drive you nuts!

 

 

[malvin]

I'm with Ruben, I was a very picky comic collector, but when it comes to OA, other than outright damage, those things didn't bug me at all. You will indeed go crazy if those things bug you.

 

Malvin

[alxjhnsn]

Re: $35 written in pencil on the back ...

Yep. Seeing how little others paid makes me sad; I should have started spending my daughter's inheritance much earlier.

[LastRaven]

I did recently buy a page in which the artist had sketched some scribbles on the back, totally unrelated to the art.

 

Pencil you could probably(?) erase too. I recently had to erase something from a piece I got because I think someone thought it was a scrap for a Christmas list Not that it bothered me too much, but you know... that annoyed me enough.

[CollectingFool]

I recently wrote on the back of a cover in India ink. I was asked by a friend to help him sell a cover. Main Marvel Character 70's cover that was (he thought) done by a key silver age artist. I fronted him the money he needed because he just wanted his money back for it and it seemed like a very easy sell. I went back to the dealer he bought it from and offered it to him at the original price. We made a tentative agreement that was then quashed because it turned out the artist attributed to the cover didn't do the pencils. He only did layouts and someone else did finishes while yet another did inks. So the guy who sold it as artist "X" wouldn't buy it back because it turns out it's not artist "X" after all. My friend wound up taking a loss on the cover selling it for just over 1/2 of what he paid for it. I made sure to write on the back the details of the piece to make sure no one else got screwed with it.

 

I suppose this is a case where writing on the back of the cover reduces the value but not for the reasons you started the thread for.

 

 

[Pete Marino]

I recently wrote on the back of a cover in India ink. I was asked by a friend to help him sell a cover. Main Marvel Character 70's cover that was (he thought) done by a key silver age artist. I fronted him the money he needed because he just wanted his money back for it and it seemed like a very easy sell. I went back to the dealer he bought it from and offered it to him at the original price. We made a tentative agreement that was then quashed because it turned out the artist attributed to the cover didn't do the pencils. He only did layouts and someone else did finishes while yet another did inks. So the guy who sold it as artist "X" wouldn't buy it back because it turns out it's not artist "X" after all. My friend wound up taking a loss on the cover selling it for just over 1/2 of what he paid for it. I made sure to write on the back the details of the piece to make sure no one else got screwed with it.

 

I suppose this is a case where writing on the back of the cover reduces the value but not for the reasons you started the thread for.

 

 

Is this common / happen often?? A dealer sells a piece under a false pretense, and then won't take it back for full price???

 

That policy seems crazy, I know I'd never deal with someone like that ever again.

[pinupcartoonguy]

Personally, if the attribution was incorrect, I would have asked for a straight out refund.

[Carl Elvis]

In regards to writing the price in the corner, I suppose its ok if its written in pencil (that can be easily erased), but the truth is its much cleaner to just add a sticker to the plastic mylar.

 

We are custodians of art, dealers also, and we should never do anything that changes the piece. Eric Powell once personalized a Goon page to my wife and I on a whim, I panicked for a second but luckily it was in pencil and can be erased if the page ever changes hands. The most I ever do is get the artist and inker (and the writer if possible) to sign the page, I think that can only increase it's value.

[Ares]

The most I ever do is get the artist and inker (and the writer if possible) to sign the page, I think that can only increase it's value.

 

Same here.

And when the artists signs it I ask them to sign it on edge or if its on page somewhere where where it can add to the art

[malvin]

The most I ever do is get the artist and inker (and the writer if possible) to sign the page, I think that can only increase it's value.

 

Same here.

And when the artists signs it I ask them to sign it on edge or if its on page somewhere where where it can add to the art

 

I like to get my art pages signed by the artist too, but its more for a chance to interact with them. I don't think it increases the value of a page by a material amount, especially for published comic pages. After all, people already know the artist physically touched the original to work on it. Now, if it was an unsigned sketch or uncredited comic work,I can see that being a factor.

 

Of course, if enough people believe that it increases value, then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy!

 

Malvin

[mtlevy]

Love the fact that most folk in art world are not obsessed with condition and restoration is not a curse.

 

Remember, every piece of original art is the "highest graded" example

(yeah, I know the counter-arguments but you get the point)

 

Mark

 

P.S. Agree nice to have creators sign in margin but if I want a classic page and it is signed in a panel, I don't think twice unless it is really obnoxious