Would you have the writer sign the original art? 0

[Peter L]

I have a few pages that I am considering having the writer sign.  Is this a good idea or does it add anything to the art?

[BCarter27]

If they sign non-obtrusively in the margins, I don't see a problem.

[Peter L]

But is it an advantage or not really?

[Dirtcheap31]

I do not think signatures on the art really effect the value it’s just personal preference I feel. I like mine signed when I can. Just try to no get it personalized you never know when you may want to trade/sell it.

[Rick2you2]

Why not? I have one piece signed by the writer, plotter, pencilled and inker. Two were at the same show together, one was on the piece, and the actual inker is from whom I bought it. It’s a nice memory.

[Sean I]

I have asked writers to sign pieces before.  I don’t really think about an advantage since I don’t have plans to sell.  As someone noted plans change though so I would not ask them to personalize the signature.  As a buyer I don’t think it would influence me towards a purchase too much.  For me it’s just a fun thing to do as a fan to add another layer of personal meaning to the piece and usually sparks a good conversation with the writer.  Again I’d 2nd the suggestion to keep signatures in areas that wouldn’t detract from the art.  Can’t help but thinking of all the random modern variant covers with Stan Lee in the middle of the art area!

[MagnusX]

I buy a Spiderman page by Staz Johnson a couple of months ago,
we have this conversation that I going to share:

Staz:
Would you like the artwork signed?

Me:
signed yes, at the bottom not in the art, not personalized...

Staz:
Yes, of course. Here's a funny story:
I sold a piece of batman art to a collector many years ago at a UK convention,
it was quite an expensive piece for the time,
he asked me to sign it, so I did, at the bottom out of the way,
he then asked the inker (who was also at the show) to do the same, which he did, at the bottom out of the way..
he then took it to the guy who had been the writer on that particular story & asked him to sign it... which he did, right across the middle of the art! 

Me:

 

[Ecclectica]

On 5/20/2022 at 6:46 AM, Peter L said:

Is this a good idea or does it add anything to the art?

If that means something for you, yes.

I have in my collection a page from a New Mutants story Chris Claremont choosed 10 years ago as one of his personnal favorite single stories for a TPB.

Clearly, if CC come again to a convention near my home, I suppose we will be both happy if he signs it.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Ecclectica

[JadeGiant]

Sure, I haven't done it a lot but I would see no issue. Like others have said, I would look to get it in the margins. Signatures bother some people, others don't care, and for some it might make it more desirable. 

[Bronty]

Signature on published art is pretty well redundant.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Bronty

[Drewsky]

I would not let them use a Sharpie. Bring your own pen or pencil and be very specific as to where you want them to sign or have it in an art bag and board with a taped off window cut into it if you want to be super specific and avoid a possible tragedy.

[Peter L]

On 5/20/2022 at 7:28 AM, Drewsky said:

I would not let them use a Sharpie. Bring your own pen or pencil and be very specific as to where you want them to sign or have it in an art bag and board with a taped off window cut into it if you want to be super specific and avoid a possible tragedy.

What kind of pen would you use?

[igotnogame]

I have most of my Sandman OA signed by Neil as well as the artists who did the work.

Why?  Well, to me, Neil's words are just as important as the art, IMHO.  Honestly, if I had anything that Alan Moore wrote, I'd feel the same way.

Does it add anything to the value?  Probably not, but I'd argue getting Neil to sign something is about the same degree of difficulty to get most of the other artists signatures these days.

And, Neil signed my pages in the margins with a ballpoint pen.  I'd suggest the same for anyone signing OA.

[Brian Peck]

On 5/20/2022 at 4:53 AM, MagnusX said:

I buy a Spiderman page by Staz Johnson a couple of months ago,
we have this conversation that I going to share:

Staz:
Would you like the artwork signed?

Me:
signed yes, at the bottom not in the art, not personalized...

Staz:
Yes, of course. Here's a funny story:
I sold a piece of batman art to a collector many years ago at a UK convention,
it was quite an expensive piece for the time,
he asked me to sign it, so I did, at the bottom out of the way,
he then asked the inker (who was also at the show) to do the same, which he did, at the bottom out of the way..
he then took it to the guy who had been the writer on that particular story & asked him to sign it... which he did, right across the middle of the art! 

Me:

 

I was at the Illustration House in 2015 at an exhibition of Frank Thorn's artwork. He had kept almost all of it and then decided to sell it so they also decided to have an exhibit of some of the art before it was sold. During the show I was there with a few other collectors including Gene Park we were admiring all the great Thorne artwork and deciding which ones we want to buy.

Frank is sitting down at a table and a guy, who we did not know places the original artwork for cover to Marvel Feature #2 in front of Frank. Frank proceeds to pull out a big...... fat.... red.. marker and wrote "Frank" large across the center of the art. Needless to say I along with the other collectors I was talking to almost each had heart attacks and ours jaws dropped. We all had purchased some art from Frank already and went over to Zaddick who was repping Frank in sales and told him what happened (he was shocked) also said we didn't want our art signed. I all of this none of use thought to take a pic of the "signed" art. Kick myself to this day.

 

[Brian Peck]

I had Stan Lee sign two pieces of artwork, a page from X-Men #8 (my first X-Men issue I read) and Daredevil #47 one of my favorite stories. I had them both in Mylar and only had the top are outside of the artwork exposed to sign.

 

 

[comix4fun]

On 5/19/2022 at 11:53 PM, Peter L said:

But is it an advantage or not really?

Most of the time it doesn't have any impact on the piece or its desirability. 

However, if it was written by someone like Harlan Ellison, Alan Moore, Margaret Atwood, Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen King, Jonathan Lethem, etc.,
or the old greats of Sci-Fi who sporadically saw his work published in comics like Isaac Asimov would move the needle for folks. 

[Peter L]

Update: I chose not to have the writer sign, because I couldn't figure a way to make it non obtrusive to the art, and one I would have had to break out of a frame.

I did have the writer sign the Absolute Edition today, and another hardcover where the artist already signed.

[Hockeyflow33]

On 5/20/2022 at 4:24 PM, Peter L said:

What kind of pen would you use?

Just get a fine tip sharpie and have them sign outside the margins. If there are word balloons on the page sign away. I've had a bunch of pages signed by writers, asking them to sign outside the margins. I've found that getting pages signed by the creators opens them up to tell some really neat story because they like seeing the art again. 

[tc5551212]

On 5/20/2022 at 8:25 AM, Ecclectica said:

If that means something for you, yes.

I have in my collection a page from a New Mutants story Chris Claremont choosed 10 years ago as one of his personnal favorite single stories for a TPB.

Clearly, if CC come again to a convention near my home, I suppose we will be both happy if he signs it.

Nice, I am still holding onto a few New Mutants pages from the Graphic Novel.

[JadeGiant]

On 5/21/2022 at 10:51 PM, Hockeyflow33 said:

Just get a fine tip sharpie and have them sign outside the margins. If there are word balloons on the page sign away. I've had a bunch of pages signed by writers, asking them to sign outside the margins. I've found that getting pages signed by the creators opens them up to tell some really neat story because they like seeing the art again. 

This is worth it for me. These are more than just art, they are artifacts from the production of stories that we loved. The writers have just as much history with these pages as the artists and that part of owning the pages means a lot to some, including myself. Just make sure to specify where you want them to sign.