Unpublished complete story OA value?? 0

[Blastaar]

I recently picked up unpublished art from Paul kupperberg that was done by his brother Alan for Green Lantern corps quarterly. I believe this was intended for issue 9 that never saw the light of day in the early 1990s. It is complete with art and text just missing some polish and ink. So it reads as a complete story of a character that very little know about.  My question is...is it more valuable or less to a collector?

I know it ranges based on demand and the artist, I'm not saying this is the lost Doctor Strange issues from Ditko, just want to get the boards take. I know one of our very own here picked up three issues of non-published micronauts.

[JadeGiant]

22 minutes ago, Blastaar said:

My question is...is it more valuable or less to a collector?

more valuable or less than what?

[Blastaar]

2 minutes ago, JadeGiant said:

more valuable or less than what?

Meaning does something unpublished that is complete and adds to the mythos of the DC/Marvel universe carry a higher value to collectors or less because it was never published. So knowing your collection habits would you pay more or less for let's say a hulk annual that was cancelled? 

[JadeGiant]

If you are asking if an unpublished book was more/less valuable than a published book, of course less IMO. I think this is pretty much a universal truth. Maybe an exception would be where a stellar example of something that was lost, etc. surfaced but I am struggling to think of a scenario where unpublished would even be close in value to published. I picked up a page from an unpublished Hulk annual and it went for a lot less than it would have if published. It got me curious about the back-story so I dug up a bunch of other pages and learned more about the issue known as “The Abel Brigade” … all pages sold for significantly less than they would have if published. Here is a link if you are curious:

https://thejadegiant.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/the-lost-hulk-annual-and-the-abel-brigade/

 

Hope this helps

[marktom]

Almost universally it will have less value than a published work. Built into a proportion of the pricing is the nostalgic factor, which is not there on unpublished stories.

[Pete Marino]

9 minutes ago, Blastaar said:

Meaning does something unpublished that is complete and adds to the mythos of the DC/Marvel universe carry a higher value to collectors or less because it was never published. So knowing your collection habits would you pay more or less for let's say a hulk annual that was cancelled? 

Almost universally, unpublished will be less valuable than published.

[Blastaar]

Ok that makes sense. But I could see in a rare occasion that if someone had an issue that was pulled that sheds light on a popular hero could be more valuable because you alone hold the knowledge and art. An insight few would have. Say Romita and Lee created a spin-off series for Green Goblin and decide not to publish it. I would think owning a Green Goblin #1 that was unpublished would be more valuable than owning the complete art of the story if it was published? Or maybe not...hell I don't know. That's why I'm asking you guys. 

 

Also will add that the reported final issues Ditko had of Dr Strange unpublished would fetch more than some of his published work....right?

Edited October 23, 2018 by Blastaar

[JadeGiant]

5 minutes ago, Blastaar said:

Also will add that the reported final issues Ditko had of Dr Strange unpublished would fetch more than some of his published work....right?

now that is a good question. I am not a huge Ditko or Strange fan (outside of Defenders) so I can't really answer but I am sure some experts will chime in. 

I can definitely see a collector valuing something high and possibly higher than something published if it truly strikes a chord with them but that would be the exception to the rule and an outlier scenario. So I can definitely see unpublished work being valuable, especially when it is a complete story … I still would not see it as MORE valuable than published. The problem is likely to find that one collector who values the art AND is willing to (over)pay for it. It does happen but is rare from what I have seen. Thinking of myself, the perfect storm would be a Sal Buscema Hulk story that was done but not published. If completely drawn and done at the level of a published work, I would certainly be interested. That said, if the same money could get me a published story vs an unpublished, I think I would opt for published every time.

[jjonahjameson11]

1 hour ago, Blastaar said:

Meaning does something unpublished that is complete and adds to the mythos of the DC/Marvel universe carry a higher value to collectors or less because it was never published. So knowing your collection habits would you pay more or less for let's say a hulk annual that was cancelled? 

Far, far less.

[Blastaar]

Also...how common is it to run across these unpublished opportunities from the big two? Still learning the ropes....just trying to learn the nuances. 

[Blastaar]

2 hours ago, JadeGiant said:

If you are asking if an unpublished book was more/less valuable than a published book, of course less IMO. I think this is pretty much a universal truth. Maybe an exception would be where a stellar example of something that was lost, etc. surfaced but I am struggling to think of a scenario where unpublished would even be close in value to published. I picked up a page from an unpublished Hulk annual and it went for a lot less than it would have if published. It got me curious about the back-story so I dug up a bunch of other pages and learned more about the issue known as “The Abel Brigade” … all pages sold for significantly less than they would have if published. Here is a link if you are curious:

https://thejadegiant.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/the-lost-hulk-annual-and-the-abel-brigade/

 

Hope this helps

This is fantastic btw. I had no idea that you tracked down a Hulk annual when proposing the scenario...ha! 

[JadeGiant]

1 hour ago, Blastaar said:

Also...how common is it to run across these unpublished opportunities from the big two? Still learning the ropes....just trying to learn the nuances. 

I don't think finding unpublished art is uncommon at all, but finding a complete story is not something you see very often. I don't follow these types of pages much so I don't really have good information for rarity - more of my observation. 

If you are looking to sell, you are most likely going to find your suitor in the way of a fan who collects that artist or possibly a big GL art collector. 

 

[Gatsby77]

Here's another scenario.

As a childhood super-fan of Valiant Comics, I'd pay more for the unpublished Jim Starlin issues of Unity 2000 # 4-6 (I'm not sure if all of these exists, or just # 4-5 do) than I would for any of the published issues (# 1-3). Why? Because I want to read them to see how the story ends. And given that they were written by Shooter and drawn by Starlin, there's some cache there.

Likewise, I wondered for years about the supposed "alternate copy" or Batman # 429 had the voting gone the other way. That said, I'm not sure the OA would go for more than the published OA to # 429. (Ironically, Starlin also did this one - albeit as writer rather than artist.)

[miraclemet]

Hard to tell what Im looking at from the picture. 

Im a moderate collector of Green Lantern OA, and try to pick up Green Lantern corps stuff when I can. Unpublished, is as others have said is less valuable than published outside of the completely rare case. As you said if there were some mock ups of Green Goblin killing Spidey rather than the other way around, sure. Or maybe some iconic artist pitching a story that never materialized... Like John Romita Sr. getting wooed by DC and he pitches them a Batman story... 

But that's not this. This is a stand alone story, peripherally tied to the Lantern Mythos. But the GLC universe is a bit of a blank slate. Create a random world, create a random hero, give him/her a ring, adventure ensues...  And there's nothing really interesting (from the picture you posted) that I can see in the story you have. Plus it looks like you have rough pencils for a story, not finished pencils, so it's more like a pitch than anything else. Are those 8.5x11 pages or 11x17? 

 

Sorry that's just my take. Maybe Im missing the interesting part from the picture? 

[Blastaar]

15 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

Hard to tell what Im looking at from the picture. 

Im a moderate collector of Green Lantern OA, and try to pick up Green Lantern corps stuff when I can. Unpublished, is as others have said is less valuable than published outside of the completely rare case. As you said if there were some mock ups of Green Goblin killing Spidey rather than the other way around, sure. Or maybe some iconic artist pitching a story that never materialized... Like John Romita Sr. getting wooed by DC and he pitches them a Batman story... 

But that's not this. This is a stand alone story, peripherally tied to the Lantern Mythos. But the GLC universe is a bit of a blank slate. Create a random world, create a random hero, give him/her a ring, adventure ensues...  And there's nothing really interesting (from the picture you posted) that I can see in the story you have. Plus it looks like you have rough pencils for a story, not finished pencils, so it's more like a pitch than anything else. Are those 8.5x11 pages or 11x17? 

 

Sorry that's just my take. Maybe Im missing the interesting part from the picture? 

Wasn't stating mine was particularly interesting but it is on 11x17 DC stock. There is complete word bubble just really faint. It's actually a fun story that would be right at home in the universe. I can take better pictures and send them to you if you would like to read the story and art. 

Edited October 23, 2018 by Blastaar

[Pete Marino]

I don't know the answer, and it might be personal to each individual.

But from a comics lore perspective, the most famous (to me) is the unpublished page is where Jean lives at the end of the DPS.  Does that page fetch more than the page where she dies?

Edited October 23, 2018 by Pete Marino

[JadeGiant]

Another example from my collecting: I was able to finally meet a favorite artist and we spent a lot of time talking about his art, etc. He shows me a cover he drew from a comic that was never completed and thus never published. I bought it immediately and the cost was less than half of what it would have been if published. I was thrilled to have a cover at what I saw as a steep discount to a published cover … but that was where it was valued at. HE later found the opening page from the story and gifted to me as well – quite a bit cheaper than if published

[JadeGiant]

6 minutes ago, Blastaar said:

Wasn't stating mine was particularly interesting but it is on 11x17 DC stock. There is complete word bubble just really faint. It's actually a fun story that would be right at home in the universe. I can take better pictures and send them to you if you would like to read the story and art. 

I'd be interested to read the story as well. Post here? Or send via message if you prefer. I think nice scans would make for an interesting thread personally. 

[Blastaar]

Ok will scan over later. 

[The Voord]

7 hours ago, Blastaar said:

I recently picked up unpublished art from Paul kupperberg that was done by his brother Alan for Green Lantern corps quarterly. I believe this was intended for issue 9 that never saw the light of day in the early 1990s. It is complete with art and text just missing some polish and ink. So it reads as a complete story of a character that very little know about.  My question is...is it more valuable or less to a collector?

I know it ranges based on demand and the artist, I'm not saying this is the lost Doctor Strange issues from Ditko, just want to get the boards take. I know one of our very own here picked up three issues of non-published micronauts.

Wow, that's fantastic . . . I love Persian rugs!