When did commissions shift from old cover recreations to new ideas.

[buyatari]

When I notice Golden Age commissions they most often are of cover recreations. Fast forward to the modern age and the commions are more often fantasy images that didn't exist before the commission. In many cases these Golden Age cover recreations sold at auction seem very affordable compared with the originals. There seems to be a bigger gap in price with Golden Age commission work and published art than you see in the modern era. Is there just very little demand for these Golden Age recreations or did these artists just sell a ton of them?

 

In cases of artists who did less Golden Age commission work say Bob Kane perhaps. Would you rather have a recreation of a historic cover or a fantasy cover that would not have existed otherwise?

[Terry Doyle]

Very doubtful that any 'Bob Kane' recreations would actually be by Kane (as he relied heavily on other artists to ghost for him).

 

Problem I have with a lot of these recreations (by the original artists), is they were executed in their twilight years when the toll of old age had impacted on their capabilities (not all, as some were still capable of high-calibre work) and the work can often look a little shaky.

 

Although not the Golden Age, I have been commissioning (professional inker) Bruce McCorkindale to recreate a series of early Silver Age Marvel covers for me (Bruce has a chameleon-like ability to adapt to the 'styles' of many of the original artists). In most cases I doubt if the original covers still exist, so it's an affordable way to collect good representations as to how the original art would likely have appeared. They're relatively affordable to commission, so it's not as if I have big sums of money tied-up to this area of collecting.

 

Sometimes I have Bruce use the splash-page-as-cover-image (in those instances where I consider the story splash to be better than the cover image), so it's leaning towards the idea of a 'Fantasy' cover.

[buyatari]

Very doubtful that any 'Bob Kane' recreations would actually be by Kane (as he relied heavily on other artists to ghost for him).

 

Problem I have with a lot of these recreations (by the original artists), is they were executed in their twilight years when the toll of old age had impacted on their capabilities (not all, as some were still capable of high-calibre work) and the work can often look a little shaky.

 

Your reason that many Gollden Age cover recreations are so cheap because many of them were executed when the artists were in their golden ages is a valid one. It is curious that so many Golden Age commsions are exact cover recreations and so many modern commissions are pinups etc. I seriously wonder if anyone ever commissioned Bruce Timm to recreate a Batman Adventures cover?

 

 

[Brian Peck]

With Golden Age artists alot of the art doesn't exist so many like to do recreations. For newer artists like Timm the art does exist. I have only two commissioned one recreation, the other recreations I own I have purchased from others. One is a page from Silver Surfer #1 by John Buscema, at the time he did it I only knew of two interior pages from the issue and the price if it appeared on the market would have been out of my price range. The other one is a cover to X-Men #153 which I had the inker recreate. There is another collector who is after the cover so I figured on just getting a recreations as I am satisfied with the interior DPS I own.

The rest of my commissions are original ideas. I like having something special from artists I like which I had input on. Even though the artist(s) draw the commission and decide on most of the composition, having them execute my ideas adds to my enjoyment of the artwork.

 

[Eric Seffinga]

Tangentially speaking, as a collector, I much prefer seeing reimagined art over straight up recreations.

 

Not the least of which is because it muddies the waters if the re-creator doesn't do the work in their own definable style or differentiate the work somehow. So if it's the original artist doing it, by marking it somewhere on the original to tip off people in the future what it is. Whether that is by dating it with the current year (assuming it is a recreation of an older piece) or by changing something in the layout or approach so it's at least identifiable as not the original work.

 

And there lies the sticky wicket. Some collectors don't mind that something gets changed or otherwise called out in the piece to indicate it's not the original cover of their childhood, but there are folks out there that want line for line recreations so they can pretend it's the real thing. And yet these line for line repros are the pieces that most need the designations on them to make them easy to spot.

 

If you commission Fred Hembeck to do ASM #36, it's going to look like Hembeck drew it. All good. If you commission some unknown artist to do it line for line, and he doesn't sign it somewhere himself, its a problem. maybe not for the commissioner, but when it passes form that original commissioner's possession (and it inevitably will some day), the original story behind it's creation may be lost to the ages.

 

Now an expert in ASM art would probably be able to spot the recreation from a mile away, and people familiar with ASM 36 might be able to tell in good high res scans, but toss in all the ways people sell art now, and the ground just gets muddier.

 

Now if people know where the original cover to ASM 36 is, then it might help people spot the fake. If someone puts the cover to AF15 on eBay, you know it's not legit. But for oddball books. Books where the originals are not known 100% for sure to exist? Gets sketchy without something clearly permanently included in the recreation.

 

From a different tact, and I realize I may be alone in this, I don't consider line for line recreations to be original art. There's nothing original about it. The inks may be fresh, but at it's core, it's nothing more than a man-made photocopy.

 

A tribute piece or a reinterpretation is a different animal. It take something existing and builds on it, twists it, or otherwise brings a unique approach or viewpoint to the party. There is originality invested into it. But the line for line stuff... it's just never held interest for me. I can see where it might for some folks, in the way that a fake Rolex or handbag might, but it's an odd mindset to me. I would much prefer a cheap original to a fake version of a very expensive one.

 

-e.

[JadeGiant]

I agree with ^this^ perspective, save that recreations are not art. They may not require the same creative horsepower, but there is definite art in a recreation IMO.

 

I don’t own any recreations as I would much prefer a reinterpretation as well but I have seen some really nice recreations that have tempted me to get a Hulk #1 done as the original is not know to exist (and would be cost prohibitive if it did). I’d still likely opt for a recreation of this cover but am occasionally tempted to get a nice recreation when I see a nice one done.

 

[buyatari]

I agree with ^this^ perspective, save that recreations are not art. They may not require the same creative horsepower, but there is definite art in a recreation IMO.

 

I don’t own any recreations as I would much prefer a reinterpretation as well but I have seen some really nice recreations that have tempted me to get a Hulk #1 done as the original is not know to exist (and would be cost prohibitive if it did). I’d still likely opt for a recreation of this cover but am occasionally tempted to get a nice recreation when I see a nice one done.

 

Being a Hulk fan tell me if you would rather have a recreation of Hulk 181 by Trimpe or a reinterpretation of the same cover.

 

I honestly wonder how the pair would fair in a Heritage auction setting back to back.

[Unca Ben]

fare.

(sorry, couldn't help myself)

[Bronty]

I agree with ^this^ perspective, save that recreations are not art. They may not require the same creative horsepower, but there is definite art in a recreation IMO.

 

I don’t own any recreations as I would much prefer a reinterpretation as well but I have seen some really nice recreations that have tempted me to get a Hulk #1 done as the original is not know to exist (and would be cost prohibitive if it did). I’d still likely opt for a recreation of this cover but am occasionally tempted to get a nice recreation when I see a nice one done.

 

Being a Hulk fan tell me if you would rather have a recreation of Hulk 181 by Trimpe or a reinterpretation of the same cover.

 

I honestly wonder how the pair would fair in a Heritage auction setting back to back.

 

IMO it wouldn't much matter. As long as he's alive they are both limited by his commission price. (why pay 10k when you can just call him up and have him do it for 2k?).

 

I'd give the edge to the recreation though.

[JadeGiant]

I agree with ^this^ perspective, save that recreations are not art. They may not require the same creative horsepower, but there is definite art in a recreation IMO.

 

I don’t own any recreations as I would much prefer a reinterpretation as well but I have seen some really nice recreations that have tempted me to get a Hulk #1 done as the original is not know to exist (and would be cost prohibitive if it did). I’d still likely opt for a recreation of this cover but am occasionally tempted to get a nice recreation when I see a nice one done.

 

Being a Hulk fan tell me if you would rather have a recreation of Hulk 181 by Trimpe or a reinterpretation of the same cover.

 

I honestly wonder how the pair would fair in a Heritage auction setting back to back.

 

Good question. I spoke with Herb several times before his passing and spoke to him about a 181 recreation as well as several commission ideas. He said he would do a recreation but also sounded “tired” of doing it so many times. I opted not to get the recreation but did buy several pre-done pieces at shows and commissioned Herb to add to my Larkin homage gallery.

 

More to your question – Hulk 181 doesn’t hold the sway for me that it does for many. I am a casual Wolverine fan and there are other covers I would choose before this one. I would definitely pick a re-imagining over a recreation personally.

 

[Michael (OML)]

** A tribute piece or a reinterpretation is a different animal. It take something existing and builds on it, twists it, or otherwise brings a unique approach or viewpoint to the party. There is originality invested into it. But the line for line stuff... it's just never held interest for me. I can see where it might for some folks, in the way that a fake Rolex or handbag might, but it's an odd mindset to me. I would much prefer a cheap original to a fake version of a very expensive one. **

 

Well, I personally didn't love line by line recreations so I decided to do the One Minute Later theme -- it is supposed to be a homage to the original covers but be a bit different. I just never loved the line by line recreations -- so nobody jumps on me -- such recreations are wonderful but just didn't hit my emotional chord so I went a slightly different route. I've enjoyed the One Minute Later commissions and sometimes I've been able to get the original artists to do the One Minute Later which was fun in and of itself.

 

M

 

[alxjhnsn]

I've never done a recreation. I have three pieces related to an original cover:

 

My first comic was JLA 29 (first series), I even have a page from it which I find amazing.

 

The cover to JLA 29 is what hooked me on comics - all those cool costumes and something mysterious going on (I was 8):

 

A few years ago, I discovered Todd Reis and his 3D shadow boxes, Kathy commissioned Todd to do one for me (click to see more including a video):

.

 

Still later, she hired Scott Shaw! to recreate the cover with his Amazing Zoo Crew and the Justa Lotta Animals (click to read more):

 

My third and final piece comes from Herb Trimpe, I asked him to do a variation on the cover of my favorite Incredible Hulk cover, issue #140, which Herb drew. The story was by Harlan Ellison (plot) and Roy Thomas (-script). I think Herb did a great job even it if is sort of a OML image. (Sorry, Michael.)

 

[alxjhnsn]

So, my answer is I doubt that I'd do a line for line recreation of a cover, but I'd definitely use one as the basis for an homage.

[Terry Doyle]

 

My third and final piece comes from Herb Trimpe, I asked him to do a variation on the cover of my favorite Incredible Hulk cover, issue #140, which Herb drew. The story was buy Harlan Ellison (plot) and Roy Thomas (-script). I think Herb did a great job even it if is sort of a OML image. (Sorry, Michael.)

 

 

Yep, definitely recommend you buy Harlan Ellison!