Art Day: Putting it back together 0

[Lee B.]

Good evening!  I don't normally post art days, but I'm very happy to have acquired my 16th page to Captain America #121.  This is by far the closest I have come to putting a book back together.  Luckily for me, most of these pages were consigned last year to Mitch Itkowitz, who as always was easy and straightforward to work with.  I didn't get all of the pages from Mitch, however, and have had to buy, sell, and trade to get a few of these pages (thanks David and Jeff!).  You can see my latest acquisition here: 

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1474618

and all 16 pages here:

http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=183592

I imagine Joe Sinnott may have some or all of the remaining four pages, but I'm keeping my eyes open.  Best regards, Lee

[glendgold]

Check yer dms.

[Brian Peck]

Good Luck..... putting a book back together is tough.

[Flambit]

congrats - I'd love to own a complete book one day!

[The Voord]

I bought two complete books of early EC artworks (covers and all interior pages) from the time when when the company was Educational Comics (1940s).  Here, I just wanted the covers - but got everything at  reasonable prices.  Really, I'm not that fussed about owning the interiors, funnily enough.

On the other hand, I am trying to put-together two 1965 serials of British comic-book stories that mean a lot to me:

http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=109670

http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=109671

For the most part, I've enjoyed tracking-down missing pages from these two serials that I'm emotionally attached to.  Thrill of the hunt, I guess.  Declaring your intent in wanting to put books back together can either work for you or against you.  I had one collector who became aware of my quest release six missing pages to me at fair prices and, on the other hand, made contact with the owner of a missing page who has extortionate expectations on what he wants from me (which self-respect prevents me from pursuing).

Anyway, good luck with the quest, Lee!

Edited May 25, 2018 by The Voord

[Rick2you2]

Wow, tough job. 

Why that book?

[Lee B.]

3 hours ago, The Voord said:

I bought two complete books of early EC artworks (covers and all interior pages) from the time when when the company was Educational Comics (1940s).  Here, I just wanted the covers - but got everything at  reasonable prices.  Really, I'm not that fussed about owning the interiors, funnily enough.

On the other hand, I am trying to put-together two 1965 serials of British comic-book stories that mean a lot to me:

http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=109670

http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=109671

For the most part, I've enjoyed tracking-down missing pages from these two serials that I'm emotionally attached to.  Thrill of the hunt, I guess.  Declaring your intent in wanting to put books back together can either work for you or against you.  I had one collector who became aware of my quest release six missing pages to me at fair prices and, on the other hand, made contact with the owner of a missing page who has extortionate expectations on what he wants from me (which self-respect prevents me from pursuing).

Anyway, good luck with the quest, Lee!

Thanks for the kind words Terry (and everyone else)!  I think you pretty much covered the perils and rewards of trying to reunite books.  I'm sure it was pretty amazing to have a complete EC book with a cover.  Those books must have been very tempting to disperse, selling off a complete story here and there, and then others breaking up those stories.  Good luck with your British stories!  Best, Lee

[Lee B.]

1 hour ago, Rick2you2 said:

Wow, tough job. 

Why that book?

I have been a Gene Colan fan for several years, and Cap #121 is a great-looking example of his work on that book.  Joe Sinnott's inks are really strong on that issue. 

But I went for that book mostly because it was suddenly available, and I wanted to keep the pages together.  My preference is quite costly, especially when I miss out on a page and it ends up with another dealer. 

Another collector had been trying to put Cap #121 back together but ended up consigning his 15 (?) pages to Mitch Itkowitz.  When I saw those pages appearing on Mitch's site, I had a Pavlovian reaction to try to get them all.  The same collector had a large number of Cap #120 pages--another nice-looking Colan/Sinnott book--and also consigned those pages to Mitch.  I liked the mad scientist subject matter better in Cap #121, and couldn't afford both, so I went for #121.  Many of the Cap #120 pages have ended up with Albert Moy, although a couple of good character pages remain on Mitch's site:

https://graphiccollectibles.com/index.php/artist-search/?search=1&selectedSearchField[]=37&akID[37][atSelectOptionID][]=616

Cheers, Lee

[Brian Peck]

I have been looking for the interiors for Daredevil #47, one of my favorite comic book. I own the cover but have never seen an interior page. Gene never remembered having any pages so it might be complete.

[Lee B.]

3 hours ago, Brian Peck said:

I have been looking for the interiors for Daredevil #47, one of my favorite comic book. I own the cover but have never seen an interior page. Gene never remembered having any pages so it might be complete.

I wonder whether that story might be in a drawer somewhere at Stan Lee's house.  He has written about it very fondly in the past.  It is a great comic.

[The Voord]

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 1:44 PM, Lee B. said:

Thanks for the kind words Terry (and everyone else)!  I think you pretty much covered the perils and rewards of trying to reunite books.  I'm sure it was pretty amazing to have a complete EC book with a cover.  Those books must have been very tempting to disperse, selling off a complete story here and there, and then others breaking up those stories.  Good luck with your British stories!  Best, Lee

Thanks, Lee.  As luck would have it, a collector in New Zealand has a page of art from one of the British (1965) storylines I'm trying to put back together and has now offered it to me at near enough cost price.  I would never had been offered the artwork if I hadn't actively promoted what it is I'm trying to track-down.  Thankfully, the good guys in this hobby outweigh those who would try to exploit you.