Where are the classic silver age covers

[r100comics]

Here's the full list from Irene Vartanoff's audit, staggering collection of pages....

[Kevin.J]

[delekkerste]

One of the best questions raised here is where is all of the phenomenal art that was in the back of the CBG and sold by Sotheby's and Christies? We know for a fact all of that art is out there. Fact is that despite all of the publicity we see and this echo chamber aka the boards, a lot of this art is stored away or literally in the closet of a collector who bought something 20 years ago and doesnt really know its value.

 

A lot of the early covers may have been destroyed, but between the known inventory of the Marvel art vault, those earlier sales you referenced and all the art which we know still exists but is only talked about off the record in hushed tones, there is certainly a LOT of great art out there that is not accounted for on CAF or in the Heritage and other archives.

 

I don't think that it is not resurfacing because of its perceived great investment value (as Ferran suggested); I think it is more a case of:

 

1. The owners bought the art a long time ago and are oblivious to current market conditions

 

or

 

2. The owners know what it's worth but would rather have the art than anything else (and you and I can both name both minnows and whales who fit into this category).

 

#2 is not so hard to believe...at current prevailing prices, any one of us here could point to a number of otherwise middle-income collectors and dealers out there who could be set for life and live high on the hog if they simply liquidated their collections. Clearly, though, they value ownership of the art, the thrill and profit of doing deals and/or their status in the hobby more than the money they could get from giving it all up.

[Terry Doyle]

I would settle for someone to post a couple of great covers, just so I could drool over them.

 

Hardly in the big league (though, to my mind the Subby cover, as an image, is up there with the best of 'em), here are my three remaining large art 1960s Marvel covers:

 

 

 

[spider9698]

Gene

I think you are right with respect to #2. I know many "gray-haired" collectors that were buying back in the Stone Age of collecting (1980's Cochran sales to the 1990's Christies and Sothebys sales). They know what they have, they know what it is worth and they are VERY content to keep it quiet and to themselves. I think the CAF and CGC boards are a small pool in an otherwise big ocean of collectors.

 

[glenbru]

from memory, only these few pre 1965 covers have surfaced...

 

ASM 11 and 28

Avengers 16

FF 40

X Men 10 unpublished

Thor Ann 1

JIM 122 and 123

 

That leaves a lot unaccounted for.

[dem1138]

and ASM 15 and 30.

[glenbru]

ASM 15 has not been confirmed. You're right about 30 .

 

Also TTA 67, forgot that one.

[artdealer]

Fantastic Four #67 also exists, though I haven't owned it for 33 years.

It's from 1967 and is twice-up.

 

MI

[dem1138]

I did not see ASM 15 but never heard the contrary of it being available and sold.

Also FF 55

[spider9698]

I do think that a lot of these covers are out and buried in collections or closets. The majority of twice up Romita ASM are accounted for and the 49 just surfaced last year after hanging on an elderly lady's wall for over three decades. More will surface.

[Terry Doyle]

from memory, only these few pre 1965 covers have surfaced...

 

ASM 11 and 28

Avengers 16

FF 40

X Men 10 unpublished

Thor Ann 1

JIM 122 and 123

 

That leaves a lot unaccounted for.

 

Daredevil # 5, from 1964 and #s 8, 9 and 10 from 1965.

[glenbru]

ff 55 and 67 are later than 1965.

 

I was just talking about 1965 or earlier. Those DD covers count though.

[Kevin.J]

I would settle for someone to post a couple of great covers, just so I could drool over them.

 

Hardly in the big league (though, to my mind the Subby cover, as an image, is up there with the best of 'em), here are my three remaining large art 1960s Marvel covers:

 

 

 

These are all great covers and I thank you for showing them.

Anyone else got anymore tucked away.

[Ferran Delgado]

I have a humble blog where I like to post some key pieces and rarities that I find in CAF, art dealers sites or whatever. I think that proper credit and a link to the source is also necessary, so I include it when possible.

 

A very well known collector asked me many months ago to remove his name from a couple key Kirby covers because he got sick about people trying to buy them, so he chose to remove them from his CAF Gallery.

 

With the lack of fresh stuff reaching the open market, I wonder if this has caused that collectors with the need of his regular shot are becoming more agressive in their inquires to other collectors.

 

I wonder if this fact not only prevents collectors to display for first time their pieces in CAF but it push other people to remove them from CAF, which would be a sad loss.

 

In other hand, the site Whatifkirby.com shows many interesting pieces by Kirby, and many of them are uncredited. This is a way for many collectors to show part of their collection without the hassle to get people making annoying inquires.

 

Since many art dealers contribute with their Kirby pieces at Cons, this site also allows to enjoy forever those pieces that sometimes get buried in collectors vaults.

 

If someone doesn't know that site, it's a must for any Kirby fan! It has a zoom tool that allows to enjoy till the smallest detail thanks to the hires high quality scans. Highly recommended!!! (thumbs u

[Ferran Delgado]

About circa mid 60s covers by Kirby, you can find in Whatifkirby.com:

 

-Journey into Mystery Ann 1 (July, 1965).

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/journey-mystery-annual-issue-1-cover

 

-Fantasy Masterpieces #4 (August, 1966).

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/fantasy-masterpieces-issue-4-cover

 

-FF #40 (July, 1965)

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/fantastic-four-issue-40-cover

 

-FF #55 (October, 1966)

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/fantastic-four-issue-55-cover

 

-Not Brand Echh #1 (August, 1967)

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/not-brand-echh-issue-1-cover

 

-X-Men #25 (October, 1966)

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/x-men-issue-25-cover

 

-FF Ann #4 (November, 1966):

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/fantastic-four-annual-issue-4-cover

 

Thor #144 unpublished (June, 1967):

http://whatifkirby.com/gallery/comic-art-listings/mighty-thor-issue-141-cover-unpublished

 

You can check out that some of them don't indicate the source of the piece.

 

-FF #20 unpublished also exist as shown in Evanier's book:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=538502&GSub=49803

[Terry Doyle]

ff 55 and 67 are later than 1965.

 

I was just talking about 1965 or earlier. Those DD covers count though.

 

Strange Tales # 138, November 1965 also exists.

 

Interstingly, I always considered that a Severin cover. It's a Kirby inked by Severin.

[batman_fan]

Daredevil 33 is my favorite silver age marvel cover. Recently someone posted an old ad where it was being sold which gave me hope that someday I could own it. Well the owner of it PM'd me to let me know he had it but he didn't want to sell it. I suspect he has other pieces as well which are not posted anywhere. I suspect this is more the norm than people may think.

[Terry Doyle]

I would settle for someone to post a couple of great covers, just so I could drool over them.

 

Hardly in the big league (though, to my mind the Subby cover, as an image, is up there with the best of 'em), here are my three remaining large art 1960s Marvel covers:

 

 

These are all great covers and I thank you for showing them.

Anyone else got anymore tucked away.

 

Judging by your avatar, you have an interest in 1950s Marvel, when the company was known as Atlas. So . . .

 

 

No, that's not muzzle flash, in the centre image (the GI firing off his Thompson sub-machine-gun), it's camera flash.

 

As with a lot of the surviving 1960s silver age covers, Atlas covers were trimmed to the image edges.

[Kevin.J]

I collect all comics from Golden age right through to this weeks stuff.

I really do love the Atlas stuff though and I thank you for showing me these, you made my day.

Keep em coming guys.