Heritage June Auction 7 7

[jjonahjameson11]

On 5/18/2022 at 11:20 AM, delekkerste said:

Having just watched that video, my reaction is just the opposite - I mean, man, that DKR #1 cover has WALL POWER!!  It's not overly complicated, but, then again, it doesn't need to be.  Great composition by Miller, beautiful color by Varley...I used to think that, if given the choice, I'd rather own the DKR #2 cover than the DKR #1. But now?  Nah.  #1 all day for me. I've been talking about this cover with some of my sports card collecting friends/acquaintances, and they "get it" when it comes to the #1 - it's the one everyone remembers, even if you were only casually interested in or exposed to comics. 

Interesting comments. I like Miller art, and  while I agree this cover is iconic and it’s the one everyone remembers, I think part of the reason is because the covers to 2-4 are quite unimpressive (read: fugly) in comparison.

Show your friends the cover to Killing Joke as a comparison and see which one your sports card buddies prefer

[jjonahjameson11]

On 5/18/2022 at 10:38 AM, batman_fan said:

I am likely the only person in the free world that looks at the DKR cover and says “hard pass”. To me there is nothing remarkable or even memorable about the cover.  Historically a pretty important issue but from an artistic standpoint is it pretty basic.

 

+1

[delekkerste]

On 5/18/2022 at 11:38 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

Show your friends the cover to Killing Joke as a comparison and see which one your sports card buddies prefer

I did and they all said "Where's Batman?"  

 

 

I'd take the DKR #1 cover all day, every day over Killing Joke #1 as well, personally.*  

 

 

* if I was going to keep the art. If I was going to sell, I'd survey various high-end collectors to get their take on which would fetch more (I genuinely don't know)

Edited May 18, 2022 by delekkerste

[grapeape]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:43 AM, delekkerste said:

I did and they all said "Where's Batman?"  

 

 

I'd take the DKR #1 cover all day, every day over Killing Joke #1 as well, personally.  

Save it Gene, you’re preaching to a guy who in the space of a week described Kirby’s TOS 59 splash and Miller’s DKR # (2-4)Covers as

“ FUGLY.”

He won’t be deterred 

 

 

 

[Rick2you2]

On 5/18/2022 at 10:38 AM, batman_fan said:

I am likely the only person in the free world that looks at the DKR cover and says “hard pass”. To me there is nothing remarkable or even memorable about the cover.  Historically a pretty important issue but from an artistic standpoint is it pretty basic.  Hearing peoples predictions on it helps me to understand how this piece sold for $44.8 million

Add me to the list of “likes”, but with a proviso: I can find better places to park my play money.

The cover has a very good sense of balance: right and wrong divided by a color scheme which actually does call a ruthless anti-hero to mind, and with an an update from black and white. A clarity of purpose, even if the purpose has gotten long in the tooth, very sparing, no wasted lines.

But $1,000,000? Or more? This is where the hobby loses it for me.

[comix4fun]

On 5/18/2022 at 10:20 AM, delekkerste said:

Having just watched that video, my reaction is just the opposite - I mean, man, that DKR #1 cover has WALL POWER!! 

Don't forget to paypal Felix $1 for usage fees. 

[batman_fan]

Looking back at the four cover to DKR I have to say, I would be hard pressed to put them in order from best to worst, they all suck IMHO

#1 For a lot of people they wouldn’t even know that was Batman if they weren’t told before hand

#2 Batman’s knees are bigger than his head or is it suppose to be viewed through a really weird lenses? And was Miller being paid by the line?

#3 Okay I can make out the poorly drawn figure is Robin

#4 Slightly better than stick figure Batman and Superman, wow, so edgy

I think there are a lot of interior pages I like WAY better.

 

[buttock]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:38 AM, batman_fan said:

I am likely the only person in the free world that looks at the DKR cover and says “hard pass”. To me there is nothing remarkable or even memorable about the cover.  Historically a pretty important issue but from an artistic standpoint is it pretty basic.  Hearing peoples predictions on it helps me to understand how this piece sold for $44.8 million

 

99.9% of the time I'd be right there with you.  I typically appreciate the quality of the craftsmanship at least as much, and often more than the content.  But this one is a pretty masterful example of "less is more" art, which takes a good bit of talent to do right.  I'd be hard pressed to find a better example of plain old comic art that I think is better than this.    

[batman_fan]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:18 PM, buttock said:

99.9% of the time I'd be right there with you.  I typically appreciate the quality of the craftsmanship at least as much, and often more than the content.  But this one is a pretty masterful example of "less is more" art, which takes a good bit of talent to do right.  I'd be hard pressed to find a better example of plain old comic art that I think is better than this.    

  Is this how it feels when the person you worship breaks your heart?

[buttock]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:22 PM, batman_fan said:

  Is this how it feels when the person you worship breaks your heart?

My heart is blackened and shriveled from my ex, so I can't answer that. 

[batman_fan]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:24 PM, buttock said:

My heart is blackened and shriveled from my ex, so I can't answer that. 

If you go look at some of the books you have you will be like the Grinch when his heart grew three sizes

[tth2]

On 5/18/2022 at 10:38 PM, batman_fan said:

I am likely the only person in the free world that looks at the DKR cover and says “hard pass”. To me there is nothing remarkable or even memorable about the cover.  

I think you've been smoking too many peanuts.

[wurstisart]

Regarding the DKR cover - simply out of curiosity, why are all the other cover like issue 2,3…pencils and inks only and this one is in color? What is the story behind this.

[batman_fan]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:51 PM, tth2 said:

I think you've been smoking too many peanuts.

Fact check: True

[lighthouse]

On 5/18/2022 at 7:38 AM, batman_fan said:

I am likely the only person in the free world that looks at the DKR cover and says “hard pass”. To me there is nothing remarkable or even memorable about the cover.  Historically a pretty important issue but from an artistic standpoint is it pretty basic.

You’re not alone.

If resale were not a factor, it’s on the long list of “pieces I wouldn’t pay $10,000 for even if I had the spare cash”, whereas there are literally thousands of pieces that are on the other side of that line.

It would be an “I own this because other people want it”, not a “let me show you this cool thing I own” for me.

[comix4fun]

On 5/18/2022 at 1:11 PM, batman_fan said:

Looking back at the four cover to DKR I have to say, I would be hard pressed to put them in order from best to worst, they all suck IMHO

#1 For a lot of people they wouldn’t even know that was Batman if they weren’t told before hand

 

 

Came up with something better for you....

[batman_fan]

On 5/18/2022 at 1:52 PM, comix4fun said:

Came up with something better for you....

That is pretty darn funny 

takes the cover from a “0” to a “10”

[comix4fun]

On 5/18/2022 at 2:54 PM, batman_fan said:

That is pretty darn funny 

takes the cover from a “0” to a “10”

Proper targeted marketing wins again! 

[Bronty]

On 5/18/2022 at 2:53 PM, wurstisart said:

Regarding the DKR cover - simply out of curiosity, why are all the other cover like issue 2,3…pencils and inks only and this one is in color? What is the story behind this.

In comic circles fully painted illustrations were the exceptions but everywhere else in commercial illustration it was the norm... so what might look weird to you was really pretty normal.   If you wanted to do more sophisticated color work that didn't rely on the use of black lines, that's how you did it at the time - you airbrushed it.   Pretty much anything in the 1970s to 1990s would be airbrushed like that.     (From album covers to cereal boxes, anything you can think of).

In particular, this cover is all about a simple dark silhouette on a realistic background.    There's a contrast there between all the work they've put into evoking the setting (the range of blues and the beautiful detail on all the branches of lightning) versus evoking the figure via simple silhouette.    As a result, I think it was a super successful illustration because it has the effect of really taking you into the scene in your mind's eye.     With traditional comic book style coloring, you'd never be able to achieve that degree of realism on the background and the effect would be lost.

The cover of #4 I haven't seen, and the background isn't as effective IMO, but it could well be the same or a similar process there. Inked silhouettes with india ink and what is probably a fully painted background, probably airbrushed.       #2 there's a lot of black line work, so that is a different process where you kind of start with the black line drawing and then you can almost imagine taking watercolors to it to color it.    That's not really a full painting, but more of a colored drawing.

To illustrate with examples, the image in my avatar is airbrush.   The image in batman_fan's avatar is a traditional brush painting.   The image in Rick2you2's is a colored drawing.    They are all different processes that lead to different results.

Edited May 18, 2022 by Bronty

[wurstisart]

Interesting. Thanks for your explanation.

I guess the part that still does not make sense to me is that the other covers were also colored after the fact,

Just like every piece of comic art.

The other DKR cover however were not colored over the original inks. In the end it is the same thing, I get it.

So to me it is still unclear why this was done over the pencils / inked piece.

Knowing that this wanted look is usually done afterwards anyways - why deciding doing this one over the inked piece.

I am not questioning the authenticity of this legendary piece.