Crom! How high will it go?

[lb jefferies]

Just to derail the thread: Kirby Surfer goodness

 

 

[delekkerste]

His Surfer was better than Kirby's, giving him that smooth, noble, and graceful qualities of a God that have come to define the character over time.

 

I like Buscema's Surfer better than Kirby's as well, though Kirby being the Surfer's creator makes his version the more important of the two (much as Ditko's Spidey/Parker is more important than Romita's version, even though many people prefer the latter).

 

I still see Buscema a distant 4th in the Kirby, Ditko & Romita pageant. A lot of his work looks cheap by comparison, though I suspect most of it will likely remain so. Perhaps his peak Avengers and Surfer work will close the gap a bit, though I see this SSOC auction result as an aberration.

[Brian Peck]

His Surfer was better than Kirby's, giving him that smooth, noble, and graceful qualities of a God that have come to define the character over time.

 

I like Buscema's Surfer better than Kirby's as well, though Kirby being the Surfer's creator makes his version the more important of the two (much as Ditko's Spidey/Parker is more important than Romita's version, even though many people prefer the latter).

 

I still see Buscema a distant 4th in the Kirby, Ditko & Romita pageant. A lot of his work looks cheap by comparison, though I suspect most of it will likely remain so. Perhaps his peak Avengers and Surfer work will close the gap a bit, though I see this SSOC auction result as an aberration.

 

NOOOO! I want to keep Buscema cheap so I can get more great examples.

[Artboy99]

Of the 4 artists mentioned I prefer John Buscema.

The page in the original link is fantastic and is a quintessential Conan scene. I can definitely see the appeal, the price is definitely high though.

 

 

[heartened]

Buscema is clearly in that category. I was just telling a friend that the other day. Surfer, ASM, FF then Subby and Conan prices are going to see escalations. It makes sense. The guy was amazing. His Surfer was better than Kirby's, giving him that smooth, noble, and graceful qualities of a God that have come to define the character over time.

 

A Hari sighting!

 

+1 by the way. Except for the Surfer part. Apples and oranges comparing the two versions. I love those early Kirby FF appearances, and as HUGE a fan of those Buscema SS issues, Stan started writing him as a bit of a wimp. But your mileage may vary.

 

On the Buscema/Alcala page, I used to always think that Alcala was way too heavy handed and obliterated the Buscema. Super elegant and almost Wrightson looking inks, but just buries the Buscema aesthetic. But I've learned to appreciate it over the years. Buscema/Chan Conan on the other hand is like nails on a chalkboard IMHO.

 

Scott

 

Ha! I admit I've been more reclusive as late, mainly due to work and other priorities. But rest assured I have been steadily buying all along. Picked up a few things in the latest Heritage that I will post soon I hope, as well as another piece of art that pulls on the nostalgia strings quite a bit.

 

Love the Kirby Surfer too, but overall I give the nod to Buscema. I am still looking to acquire a nice Kirby Surfer page from the FF run, preferably large art, but got my Buscema example over a decade ago thankfully!

 

[Theagenes]

Speaking here as a Robert E. Howard aficionado, this is a strong price, but not entirely inexplicable. As someone noted, nice Buscema/Alcala pages have been selling in the 2000-3500 range for a couple of years now and increasing steadily. The recent DH reprints of SSOC have reminded a lot of people how amazing some of this work is. I suppose Alcala over Buscema is something of an acquired taste, but I can tell you that there are a large number of REH fans and collectors (who may not be typical comic OA collectors) that have acquired it and think that their work together is some of the best Conan comic art out ever.

 

Add to that this is an iconic scene from an actual REH story (The Devil in Iron), not a pastiche; is quintessential Conan material (Conan vs. Giant Snake); has a half splash; and is easily the best Buscema/Alacala page that's been available on the open market in the last couple of years and then this price makes a lot more sense -- still high, but not completely crazy.

[bocaratondefense]

If you read some of the old John Buscema interviews, he was not fond of a lot of his inkers, besides himself, Sal and Tom Palmer. This surprisingly included the inking of Alfredo Alcala, Tony DeZuniga, George Klein, and Joe Sinnott.

 

Personally, I think Alcala was Buscema's best inker on the black and white SSOC series. My favorite inker on Buscema's superhero work was Tom Palmer although you have to distinguish the art from the 1960s and 1970s from the later art. The Avengers run by Buscema/Palmer from the 1980s was totally different. I imagine John was doing full pencils in his 60s run as opposed to the layouts in his 80s run.

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

The Buscema/Palmer Avengers in the 80's was just fantastic. I think Stern did a lot of the writing so the stories were top notch.

[bocaratondefense]

I don't dislike the 80s Buscema/Palmer Avengers, but it does have a different look than the earlier 60s/70s Buscema/Palmer collaborations.

 

 

[Brian Peck]

I loved George Klein inking John wished they had worked together more.

[lb jefferies]

I still see Buscema a distant 4th in the Kirby, Ditko & Romita pageant. A lot of his work looks cheap by comparison, though I suspect most of it will likely remain so. Perhaps his peak Avengers and Surfer work will close the gap a bit, though I see this SSOC auction result as an aberration.

 

Don't get me wrong I completely believe Romita Sr on average will always cost more $ than J. Buscema (a fact almost exclusively attributable to Romita's ASM run). But IMO for quality of work Buscema is an easy 3rd place winner in the 4-way pageant.

 

 

 

[lb jefferies]

I loved George Klein inking John wished they had worked together more.

+1

[bocaratondefense]

I still see Buscema a distant 4th in the Kirby, Ditko & Romita pageant. A lot of his work looks cheap by comparison, though I suspect most of it will likely remain so. Perhaps his peak Avengers and Surfer work will close the gap a bit, though I see this SSOC auction result as an aberration.

 

Don't get me wrong I completely believe Romita Sr on average will always cost more $ than J. Buscema (a fact almost exclusively attributable to Romita's ASM run). But IMO for quality of work Buscema is an easy 3rd place winner in the 4-way pageant.

 

 

 

 

If panel pages from SSOC are going for $8K+, I am not so sure about that.

 

What we need is another debate about which comic artists are more influential.

 

 

 

 

[Brian Peck]

John's Conan work has always been values less than his superhero work. That is until recently. I have seen a lot more of his Conan increasing in value. Stuff with Belît has been going for a premium but that could be just two crazy Belît fans. His Conan covers which were a bargain compared to his Superhero covers have also gone up in value of late.

[delekkerste]

Stuff with Belît has been going for a premium but that could be just two crazy Belît fans.

 

Yeah, I don't think the buying has been very broad-based. Just look at the Conan #73 Belit cover (which is Kane, not Buscema, but still) which I saw was being re-offered at the SDCC substantially below where it sold at auction a year or two ago. I was actually the underbidder on that cover at auction, but subsequently lost interest in it, which partially explains why the price air-pocketed lower (no wonder why I continue to stress that auction results are just snapshots in time and not necessarily what a piece is still worth or what you can expect to recoup in a resale).

[CollectingFool]

If you read some of the old John Buscema interviews, he was not fond of a lot of his inkers, besides himself, Sal and Tom Palmer.

 

I remember meeting Big John at a show once and saw a fan profess his love of his work and offered to give him a John/Sal page. John said, no thank you, I'll collect pages inked by Sal when he learns how to ink. May have been a joke but he was clear in the fact that he only really liked the stuff he did himself.

 

 

[lb jefferies]

If you read some of the old John Buscema interviews, he was not fond of a lot of his inkers, besides himself, Sal and Tom Palmer.

 

I remember meeting Big John at a show once and saw a fan profess his love of his work and offered to give him a John/Sal page. John said, no thank you, I'll collect pages inked by Sal when he learns how to ink. May have been a joke but he was clear in the fact that he only really liked the stuff he did himself.

 

 

 

Hah! Love it.

[lb jefferies]

Speaking of Buscema Surfer this unpublished cover on Clink is at $24,000 with 6 days left. Pretty impressive.

 

[Hekla]

I've got a few J Buscema pages and clearly, the inker has an significant influence on the look of his work. Has there been another artist who's desirability of work either soars or falls based on the inker as much as JB?

[lb jefferies]

I've got a few J Buscema pages and clearly, the inker has an significant influence on the look of his work. Has there been another artist who's desirability of work either soars or falls based on the inker as much as JB?

 

I think Simonson beats Buscema. Anything not inked by himself falls a long way short. Of course another factor (other than the obvious quality difference) is that only a handful of full Simonson pieces are out there.