2013 May 16 - 17 Vintage Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction

[stinkininkin]

I mentioned yesterday that I thought the GL 84 page 6 was a GREAT page (and yes, page 7 was terrific as well). I think they would have been stellar examples of the run to own if Adams or Giordano had inked them too, but the Wrightson inks adds some additional sizzle that made these pages even more irresistible. They were so good, that I bid well over the 15k that I thought page 6 deserved and still got left in the dust. This was new territory for Adams GL interiors price wise, but the new owner got the best of the best. Having said that, (and I am not talking down this page--I put my money where my mouth is), I never thought this particular story was very memorable EXCEPT for the Wrightson inks, and also any truly singular example from this run really needs to have Green Lantern AND Green Arrow in it, since it was the chemistry of the two and the issues they faced that made this the great and ground breaking run that it was. There are other pages from the run I would personally take over these GL 84 pages, but there is no denying that these are A+ pages and the buyer can check that box off now. Well done.

 

One bit of history on this story. About 10 years ago, I was just little bit late, and I mean by a few weeks, to have been able to buy this complete story for about 20k. It had resided with a collector in Japan who'd owned it for many years, perhaps being the only owner up to that time. When I tracked it down and contacted him, he had JUST sold the story to collector in Europe. I was heart broken. I tried in vain for several years to try and acquire the story from the European collector, but it was an impossible uphill battle. By the time the story had made it back to the States, it was pretty much out of my range. I've been chasing art from this issue for so long that yesterdays loss was just kind of the same old same old for me. But there is always another desirable piece of art around the corner....

 

Scott

[DJRome]

 

So I wound up bargain hunting last night. I got the Sale Dark Victory page ($650) and the McF Infinity Inc cover (4k).

 

My steal of the night was the Zeck page from the Punisher #4 mini series (4.75k). I know I've seen that page recently offered for more than double the auction price! I think the auctioneer was keen to wrap things up, and the hammer came down quickly on that lot.

[malvin]

So I wound up bargain hunting last night. I got the Sale Dark Victory page ($650) and the McF Infinity Inc cover (4k).

 

My steal of the night was the Zeck page from the Punisher #4 mini series (4.75k). I know I've seen that page recently offered for more than double the auction price! I think the auctioneer was keen to wrap things up, and the hammer came down quickly on that lot.

 

Congrats on that Zeck! It was a great guy!

 

Malvin

[NightGallery1]

Gene - I appreciate the kind words. You have some great original art in your collection and I've bid against you on a number of occasions in the past, so I can't say that you have bad taste. Guess we just have to disagree on this one.

 

I do have a couple of primo 'Dennis the Menace' and 'Hagar the Horrible' dailies that I think you'd get a kick out of seeing, so I'll post a few pics next week so you can check them out.

 

That episode of The X-Files (Home) was one of the most disturbing 45 minutes of television that I had ever seen, and you're right about the music. It somehow made the shocking brutality stand out even more. The prop bat actually toured the country with the X-Files Expo in '98, and it's been displayed on a number of times since then as well. Super prop, but sometimes you get a good offer for something and you should be weeding out your collection anyway. In this case my wife wasn't all that big on '...that bloody bat that hangs on the wall in the living room' anyway, so the decision was made even easier for me. She's pretty good about most of the things that I display around the house anyway, so it really was time for the bat to go.

 

Scott - That had to have been gut-wrenching being so close and then losing out, but by the looks of the art in your gallery, you don't seem to lose out very often, because most everything in it seems to be world class. I remember when the art for Wrightson's original Swamp Thing story went up for auction years ago, I just didn't have the cash at the time to have been in contention for it and I'll probably never get another chance. But as you say, there's always something that comes along eventually, particularly if your interests are varied and somewhat eclectic.

[Bronty]

So I wound up bargain hunting last night. I got the Sale Dark Victory page ($650) and the McF Infinity Inc cover (4k).

 

My steal of the night was the Zeck page from the Punisher #4 mini series (4.75k). I know I've seen that page recently offered for more than double the auction price! I think the auctioneer was keen to wrap things up, and the hammer came down quickly on that lot.

 

Congrats on that Zeck! It was a great guy!

 

Malvin

 

wonderful pick up for sure. See much less cool pieces going for much more money

[drdroom]

 

My condolences to all who didn't get that Everett page. Somebody got a great deal IMHO on an Avengers 17 page w/ Mole Man, classic Heck team, uncredited loose Kirby plot/ layouts...

 

Wait. Why do we think there are Kirby layouts here?

 

Glen, I think my source might be a discussion thread on one of the Kirby sites but it will take me a while to track down-- I'll see what I can do. The gist of the argument as I remember it has it that Kirby plotting on several early SA books continued for several issues after he stopped being credited with layouts, & on books like Avengers 17 he was doing some combination of story outlines and partial, very rough layouts. On this page panel one, with the cutaway of MM's underground machinery, looks like Kirby staging to me, and panel 2 looks like there could be a loose Kirby sketch underlying that MM portrait. That of course is just me guessing. I'll see if can find something better.

 

best

Aaron

[drdroom]

 

The hammer price was my max bid. I thought it was an average price for a decent Heck Avengers page in today's wacky market.

 

Wow! I was THAT CLOSE to hitting the Cut! I still think you did good.

[drdroom]

 

My condolences to all who didn't get that Everett page. Somebody got a great deal IMHO on an Avengers 17 page w/ Mole Man, classic Heck team, uncredited loose Kirby plot/ layouts...

 

Wait. Why do we think there are Kirby layouts here?

 

Glen, I think my source might be a discussion thread on one of the Kirby sites but it will take me a while to track down-- I'll see what I can do. The gist of the argument as I remember it has it that Kirby plotting on several early SA books continued for several issues after he stopped being credited with layouts, & on books like Avengers 17 he was doing some combination of story outlines and partial, very rough layouts. On this page panel one, with the cutaway of MM's underground machinery, looks like Kirby staging to me, and panel 2 looks like there could be a loose Kirby sketch underlying that MM portrait. That of course is just me guessing. I'll see if can find something better.

 

OK. Here's Mike Gartland's article that put this idea in my head:

http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/effect/2012/08/24/the-best-laid-out-plans/#comments

 

It doesn't really support my assertion. He cites the Kirby layouts/ plotting of Avengers 14-16, and then he says this:

 

"And these represent only credited layouts; it’s very possible that Jack had story input on one or two issues after he left, until the writer following him either picked up his thread or established his own. With only two exceptions—Avengers #16 and Suspense #77—Jack leaves all of his last layed-out stories open for the writer and artist following to conclude. Even the two exceptions are hardly that, since Avengers #16 leaves the plot thread of the search for The Hulk which is in the following issue (and which also vaguely ties in with the Hulk story in Astonish #69 using Kirby paste-ups), and the Suspense (Cap) storyline is continued by Kirby himself with issue #78. If the aforementioned stories give the appearance of my giving credit to Kirby as writer, it is only in the non-conventional sense, as it is my opinion that the plots and stories at this point were coming from Jack. "

 

When I reread #17 months ago, after reading this, it was full of obvious Kirby stuff. But, re-reading this carefully, I learn that the Hulk panels from other pages of #17 (3,9,14) which are unquestionably by Jack, are in fact paste-ups from TTA 69. With those out of consideration, I can't see any sign of Jack layouts under Heck in #17. Whether Jack "had input" in the inaugural story of the new line-up, I guess there is no way of knowing.

 

I still dig that page, probably the best (Heck) page in the book, along with the splash.

 

best

Aaron

[omegaman]

What was the deal with this piece?

 

Sub-Mariner Cover

 

Seems like a lot?

[comiconxion]

Yes, both the Punisher #4 page and the Marvel Tales cover with the Punisher went for great prices in my opinion... to the winners of those pieces... I'm happy to try and work out a deal offline to buy or trade them for more than they sold for.

 

Although, I like both of those pieces a lot, this is a case where my own love for the pieces has been affected in the way that the previous owners offered them over the years.

 

Anyway, for those with any vintage Zeck Punisher art, please feel free to reach out. I'm happy to offer pay good prices for nice pieces!

 

 

So I wound up bargain hunting last night. I got the Sale Dark Victory page ($650) and the McF Infinity Inc cover (4k).

 

My steal of the night was the Zeck page from the Punisher #4 mini series (4.75k). I know I've seen that page recently offered for more than double the auction price! I think the auctioneer was keen to wrap things up, and the hammer came down quickly on that lot.

 

Congrats on that Zeck! It was a great guy!

 

Malvin

 

wonderful pick up for sure. See much less cool pieces going for much more money

[Agent 007]

Still trying to win my 1st OA and a no go. Lost out on Thor pages. I just don't have the $ like some of these bidders to go for these. One day. Even did today's auction and lost with live bids and lost yesterday w/ my internet bids. Is the floor for live bidding full of people or just 1 guy there with billions of dollars?

[batman_fan]

What was the deal with this piece?

 

Sub-Mariner Cover

 

Seems like a lot?

 

I thought the price for the SubMariner covers were pretty strong myself. Is Sal starting to get some love

[drdroom]

What was the deal with this piece?

 

Sub-Mariner Cover

 

Seems like a lot?

 

I thought the price for the SubMariner covers were pretty strong myself. Is Sal starting to get some love

 

To me the values were reversed on those. I like the King-Size Special cover much better.

[Bird]

In my little pond, I thought the Nowlan Stranges Tales 17 cover sold well at $2400 after the BP and the Michael Golden pinup of Doc from 2010 went for $717 which I think is kind of crazy. The Sienkiwicz Elektra pieces were reasonable though, at least in my opinion.

 

I have started looking at the Bill Everett Doc market and thought the page for $7K was a bit cheap, or have other things I have seen for sale been a bit high?

[suspense39]

I was considering an Everett dr strange page at wondercon with a lot more than one image of the doctor in it (not taking away from this one...it's fantastic, just went 2k too high for me) the asking price for the one at the con was 6500.00, this one with BP was close to 8500.00, I wouldn't say it was cheap exactly. But it is hard to figure the market value due to the fact that there just isn't much history for this work. High or low someone got a great page!

[Bird]

Yeah, I missed the BP on that Everett in my post, so you are right in that $8.5 is not that cheap anymore. Thanks for the info!

[jbud73]

Still trying to win my 1st OA and a no go. Lost out on Thor pages. I just don't have the $ like some of these bidders to go for these. One day. Even did today's auction and lost with live bids and lost yesterday w/ my internet bids. Is the floor for live bidding full of people or just 1 guy there with billions of dollars?

 

Getting shut out just happens sometimes, and that is on occasion actually a good thing. Keep giving it a go, well except on the stuff I'm bidding on

[drdroom]

Still trying to win my 1st OA and a no go. Lost out on Thor pages. I just don't have the $ like some of these bidders to go for these. One day. Even did today's auction and lost with live bids and lost yesterday w/ my internet bids. Is the floor for live bidding full of people or just 1 guy there with billions of dollars?

 

Getting shut out just happens sometimes, and that is on occasion actually a good thing. Keep giving it a go, well except on the stuff I'm bidding on

 

I've never been to the Texas auction but I was on the floor when they did one in Los Angeles last year. There were maybe 20 people there of whom 5-10 did a significant amount of bidding. I would estimate 80% of the lots went to internet/ phone/ prior proxy bidders. There is really no reason to travel to the physical auction except its kind of fun, maybe meet some other collectors. I think the auctioneers are grateful to have a living face in the bidding.

[rrichards]

So bummed. Only bid on 1 lot

 

I set my internet bid because I didn't think I'd make the live auction...

 

Get home from picking up the kid from daycare. Check and to my results, and it says I won!

 

Log in about 20 mins later and says I was outbid....

 

sucks...

 

But there will always be another, and it wasn't a huge page for me (or the wallet)

 

 

So how does that happen if you are notified that you won ?

[drewincanada]

With those out of consideration, I can't see any sign of Jack layouts under Heck in #17. Whether Jack "had input" in the inaugural story of the new line-up, I guess there is no way of knowing.

 

I still dig that page, probably the best (Heck) page in the book, along with the splash.

 

best

Aaron

 

Aaron, here are the two references I found that say Kirby did layouts for #17, but I'm inclined to believe that these are instances of someone's online speculation being quoted and reposted as gospel. Wish I knew what the source of this claim was.

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby_bibliography

 

http://www.avengerschronology.com/details_issue_chronology.asp?id=A-1-N-0017