Jon Berk has passed. 12 12

[skypinkblu]

I was very sorry to hear of Mr. Berk's passing. I just read about it elsewhere. 

I read many of his posts, and probably shared a PM or two,  but only spoke to him once on the phone. He collected bound volumes and I had picked up some at an auction, somewhere, so he wanted to speak about them. He was exceptionally nice.

I probably spent more when his auction went up, than I ever had on an auction before. I had a few more books that were not my prime focus, so I "liberated" them...but these are part of my key collection...sorry I don't have better pictures, I had no idea I'd need them.

The Thrilling was the one I wasn't giving up on...it's not only a Larson, and I wanted one that was owned by him, but it's also a significant first appearance of a female character, 1st masked female crime fighter. The Woman  in Red (which was not even listed on the label.) I'm sure Jon knew that...I wish I could have spoken to him about it. 

Sad that someone so nice and with so much knowledge to share is gone too soon...Rest in Peace, Sir.

 

[adamstrange]

In all the time I knew Jon, I never purchased a book from him, even though he had sold hundreds of comics.  When the auction was announced, I was anxious to fix that.

I doubt very many people realize that what was offered by ComicConnect was a scaled down version of his collection, reduced considerably from its peak.  In addition to Church runs of Hit and National, there were SA keys, misc GA, and quite a few 50s books.  Jon was not a wheeler dealer cyclying books in and out, but he got bit hard by the original art bug.

The first big bite of that apple occurred with the arrival at San Diego Con of the original art to the cover of Planet 1.  Alex Acevedo, a dealer in modern art but also previously a dealer in comics and comic art, gave the cover prime location in his booth.  Jon was smitten, and a deal was reached to exchange the Church copies of Pep 1 - 5 plus cash for the art.  The next day Alex had second thoughts and offered Jon $10k just to call the deal off, but the art mattered far more to Jon than the money.

Even with a nice trade value for the Peps, Jon still needed to raise the rest of the funds in time to meet the terms of their deal.  His solution was to sell the Church copies of National 1 - 5.  I was one of the people he called, but those are not my favorite issues even of that run and, at 4x Guide, it was over $40k so not pocket change.  Those did sell (and later the rest of the run) to Joe Smejkal, who eventually submitted them to Heritage.

Duly paid, Acevedo shipped the art to Jon's office while Jon was away.  He called his secretary to open the package and verify the contents, which resulted in an awkward conversation as she tried to describe to him the image of the aliens menacing the space men and women.  It was always his favorite piece of art, but, even though he could have afforded to keep it, he understood it was important to include it as one of the anchor lots of the auction.
 
As Jon continued to pursue other pieces of art or as funds were needed for family priorities, chunks of the collection were peeled off and shipped to a buyer.  His collection was extensive and de-accessioning was done thoughtfully, which is why the auction was still spectacularly stuffed with rarities and pedigrees, the favorite of which to him were the Fox comics.

My hopes for the auction were modest: one comic book and one piece of original art. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were likely to be contested by others, who were sure to be rudely unconcerned with my interests.   

Which comic book?  It wasn't cheap, but I have the ability to recreate this picture any time I want to with a book freed from captivity, which I think would have pleased Jon.  I intend to be as careful a custodian and as generous a sharer as he was.

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:42 AM, adamstrange said:

In all the time I knew Jon, I never purchased a book from him, even though he had sold hundreds of comics.  When the auction was announced, I was anxious to fix that.

I doubt very many people realize that what was offered by ComicConnect was a scaled down version of his collection, reduced considerably from its peak.  In addition to Church runs of Hit and National, there were SA keys, misc GA, and quite a few 50s books.  Jon was not a wheeler dealer cyclying books in and out, but he got bit hard by the original art bug.

The first big bite of that apple occurred with the arrival at San Diego Con of the original art to the cover of Planet 1.  Alex Acevedo, a dealer in modern art but also previously a dealer in comics and comic art, gave the cover prime location in his booth.  Jon was smitten, and a deal was reached to exchange the Church copies of Pep 1 - 5 plus cash for the art.  The next day Alex had second thoughts and offered Jon $10k just to call the deal off, but the art mattered far more to Jon than the money.

Even with a nice trade value for the Peps, Jon still needed to raise the rest of the funds in time to meet the terms of their deal.  His solution was to sell the Church copies of National 1 - 5.  I was one of the people he called, but those are not my favorite issues even of that run and, at 4x Guide, it was over $40k so not pocket change.  Those did sell (and later the rest of the run) to Joe Smejkal, who eventually submitted them to Heritage.

Duly paid, Acevedo shipped the art to Jon's office while Jon was away.  He called his secretary to open the package and verify the contents, which resulted in an awkward conversation as she tried to describe to him the image of the aliens menacing the space men and women.  It was always his favorite piece of art, but, even though he could have afforded to keep it, he understood it was important to include it as one of the anchor lots of the auction.
 
As Jon continued to pursue other pieces of art or as funds were needed for family priorities, chunks of the collection were peeled off and shipped to a buyer.  His collection was extensive and de-accessioning was done thoughtfully, which is why the auction was still spectacularly stuffed with rarities and pedigrees, the favorite of which to him were the Fox comics.

My hopes for the auction were modest: one comic book and one piece of original art. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were likely to be contested by others, who were sure to be rudely unconcerned with my interests.   

Which comic book?  It wasn't cheap, but I have the ability to recreate this picture any time I want to with a book freed from captivity, which I think would have pleased Jon.  I intend to be as careful a custodian and as generous a sharer as he was.

Fascinating, Adam.

[dugman54]

So sad to hear of Jon's passing. He was my go to expert re: insurance law, but the conversation inevitably turned to collecting.  He was very gracious with his knowledge and advice. Always fun to meet him at his office with the original art on the wall. RIP Jon

[namisgr]

Not being a GA or original art collector, I only knew of Jon Berk from reading a few of his fanzine articles, the many stories published about him, his singular collection, and his stewardship of the early history of the medium, and the tidbits of information here on the Boards.

More up my alley, Mr. Berk also had an extensive BA collection, one that I believe was acquired off the rack, and some of which was also slabbed and auctioned off.  I was happy to win this comic from his collection, free it from its tomb to allow it to be read, handled, and smelled like it was when he bought it, and stored with the CGC label to preserve its provenance for those who'll own it after me.  My apologies for posting this in the GA forum, but it seems the right place for it.

Edited August 17, 2023 by namisgr
.

[lou_fine]

No apologies necessary at all and absolutely love these squarebound BA beauties plus it's a Jon Berk copy to boot.    

[lou_fine]

On 8/16/2023 at 10:42 PM, adamstrange said:

My hopes for the auction were modest: one comic book and one piece of original art. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were likely to be contested by others, who were sure to be rudely unconcerned with my interests.   

Which comic book?  It wasn't cheap, but I have the ability to recreate this picture any time I want to with a book freed from captivity, which I think would have pleased Jon.  I intend to be as careful a custodian and as generous a sharer as he was.

Definitely sold for a pretty penny, but then so did all of the early Fox books including all of the Church copies from the Mystery Men run.  

Clearly a collector with impeccable taste as evident by this stunning close up Blue Beetle cover with the dripping blood red and blue cover colors plus the highest graded copy by a long shot.  If it's just down to only one comic book, you really didn't go wrong with your fantastic selection here, and we owe it all to Jon.    

Edited August 17, 2023 by lou_fine

[ArkhamCastle]

I met Jon in the 1970's in Hartford CT.  He attended a local show put on by Hal Kinney.  I occasionally sold a few books to Jon at that show.

A perfect gentleman, he will be missed!

[aardvark88]

On 8/16/2023 at 5:37 PM, misterrmystery said:

 He enjoyed talking comics and his knowledge was second to none. Jon never had to have the best existing grade. He was happy to acquire a copy. We were both Centaur and Fox collectors so had some interesting conversations. He will be missed.

RIP John Berk.

 

Excellent interview with Jon Berk on the early history of platinum/GA comics, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, New Comics to More Fun Comics, Centaur, comic book legends:

 

[adamstrange]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:09 AM, namisgr said:

Not being a GA or original art collector, I only knew of Jon Berk from reading a few of his fanzine articles, the many stories published about him, his singular collection, and his stewardship of the early history of the medium, and the tidbits of information here on the Boards.

More up my alley, Mr. Berk also had an extensive BA collection, one that I believe was acquired off the rack, and some of which was also slabbed and auctioned off.  I was happy to win this comic from his collection, free it from its tomb to allow it to be read, handled, and smelled like it was when he bought it, and stored with the CGC label to preserve its provenance for those who'll own it after me.  My apologies for posting this in the GA forum, but it seems the right place for it.

Jon was a Marvel zombie due to his great love for Spiderman, so I'm sure that is his newsstand copy.  He picked up the contemporary Marvel issues for decades at his local comic book store.

While his participation on the Boards was in GA, he enjoyed good comics of all sorts and shared interest with me in independents like Cerebus and Zot.

Edited August 17, 2023 by adamstrange

[adamstrange]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:46 AM, lou_fine said:

Definitely sold for a pretty penny, but then so did all of the early Fox books including all of the Church copies from the Mystery Men run.  

Clearly a collector with impeccable taste as evident by this stunning close up Blue Beetle cover with the dripping blood red and blue cover colors plus the highest graded copy by a long shot.  If it's just down to only one comic book, you really didn't go wrong with your fantastic selection here, and we owe it all to Jon.    

There is an exceptional copy in the Allentown collection, but I'm very happy with mine.

[Spyder!]

On 8/16/2023 at 10:42 PM, adamstrange said:

In all the time I knew Jon, I never purchased a book from him, even though he had sold hundreds of comics.  When the auction was announced, I was anxious to fix that.

I doubt very many people realize that what was offered by ComicConnect was a scaled down version of his collection, reduced considerably from its peak.  In addition to Church runs of Hit and National, there were SA keys, misc GA, and quite a few 50s books.  Jon was not a wheeler dealer cyclying books in and out, but he got bit hard by the original art bug.

The first big bite of that apple occurred with the arrival at San Diego Con of the original art to the cover of Planet 1.  Alex Acevedo, a dealer in modern art but also previously a dealer in comics and comic art, gave the cover prime location in his booth.  Jon was smitten, and a deal was reached to exchange the Church copies of Pep 1 - 5 plus cash for the art.  The next day Alex had second thoughts and offered Jon $10k just to call the deal off, but the art mattered far more to Jon than the money.

Even with a nice trade value for the Peps, Jon still needed to raise the rest of the funds in time to meet the terms of their deal.  His solution was to sell the Church copies of National 1 - 5.  I was one of the people he called, but those are not my favorite issues even of that run and, at 4x Guide, it was over $40k so not pocket change.  Those did sell (and later the rest of the run) to Joe Smejkal, who eventually submitted them to Heritage.

Duly paid, Acevedo shipped the art to Jon's office while Jon was away.  He called his secretary to open the package and verify the contents, which resulted in an awkward conversation as she tried to describe to him the image of the aliens menacing the space men and women.  It was always his favorite piece of art, but, even though he could have afforded to keep it, he understood it was important to include it as one of the anchor lots of the auction.
 
As Jon continued to pursue other pieces of art or as funds were needed for family priorities, chunks of the collection were peeled off and shipped to a buyer.  His collection was extensive and de-accessioning was done thoughtfully, which is why the auction was still spectacularly stuffed with rarities and pedigrees, the favorite of which to him were the Fox comics.

My hopes for the auction were modest: one comic book and one piece of original art. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were likely to be contested by others, who were sure to be rudely unconcerned with my interests.   

Which comic book?  It wasn't cheap, but I have the ability to recreate this picture any time I want to with a book freed from captivity, which I think would have pleased Jon.  I intend to be as careful a custodian and as generous a sharer as he was.

Thank you for sharing this story.  As a lover of Planet Comics myself, I can appreciate how much he wanted and loved the Planet 1 original art.  Truly a holy grail.

[MrBedrock]

On 8/17/2023 at 12:42 AM, adamstrange said:

In all the time I knew Jon, I never purchased a book from him, even though he had sold hundreds of comics.  When the auction was announced, I was anxious to fix that.

I doubt very many people realize that what was offered by ComicConnect was a scaled down version of his collection, reduced considerably from its peak.  In addition to Church runs of Hit and National, there were SA keys, misc GA, and quite a few 50s books.  Jon was not a wheeler dealer cyclying books in and out, but he got bit hard by the original art bug.

The first big bite of that apple occurred with the arrival at San Diego Con of the original art to the cover of Planet 1.  Alex Acevedo, a dealer in modern art but also previously a dealer in comics and comic art, gave the cover prime location in his booth.  Jon was smitten, and a deal was reached to exchange the Church copies of Pep 1 - 5 plus cash for the art.  The next day Alex had second thoughts and offered Jon $10k just to call the deal off, but the art mattered far more to Jon than the money.

Even with a nice trade value for the Peps, Jon still needed to raise the rest of the funds in time to meet the terms of their deal.  His solution was to sell the Church copies of National 1 - 5.  I was one of the people he called, but those are not my favorite issues even of that run and, at 4x Guide, it was over $40k so not pocket change.  Those did sell (and later the rest of the run) to Joe Smejkal, who eventually submitted them to Heritage.

Duly paid, Acevedo shipped the art to Jon's office while Jon was away.  He called his secretary to open the package and verify the contents, which resulted in an awkward conversation as she tried to describe to him the image of the aliens menacing the space men and women.  It was always his favorite piece of art, but, even though he could have afforded to keep it, he understood it was important to include it as one of the anchor lots of the auction.
 
As Jon continued to pursue other pieces of art or as funds were needed for family priorities, chunks of the collection were peeled off and shipped to a buyer.  His collection was extensive and de-accessioning was done thoughtfully, which is why the auction was still spectacularly stuffed with rarities and pedigrees, the favorite of which to him were the Fox comics.

My hopes for the auction were modest: one comic book and one piece of original art. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted were likely to be contested by others, who were sure to be rudely unconcerned with my interests.   

Which comic book?  It wasn't cheap, but I have the ability to recreate this picture any time I want to with a book freed from captivity, which I think would have pleased Jon.  I intend to be as careful a custodian and as generous a sharer as he was.

 

One little correction - I bought the National run 1-23 from Jon, then foolishly sold them to Joe Smejkal. Selling them was one of the worst comic decisions I ever made.

[adamstrange]

On 8/17/2023 at 1:50 PM, MrBedrock said:

One little correction - I bought the National run 1-23 from Jon, then foolishly sold them to Joe Smejkal. Selling them was one of the worst comic decisions I ever made.

I knew you'd been involved because I still remember visiting you not long after you received them. 

You laid out the entire run in two rows on a very large dining table.

Edited August 17, 2023 by adamstrange

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:50 PM, MrBedrock said:

One little correction - I bought the National run 1-23 from Jon, then foolishly sold them to Joe Smejkal. Selling them was one of the worst comic decisions I ever made.

I remember asking you who in your opinion had the best Golden Age collection, and your answer was Jon Berk.

[MrBedrock]

On 8/17/2023 at 2:12 PM, Flex Mentallo said:

I remember asking you who in your opinion had the best Golden Age collection, and your answer was Jon Berk.

Shows you what I know. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by MrBedrock

[MrBedrock]

On 8/17/2023 at 12:52 PM, adamstrange said:

On 8/17/2023 at 12:50 PM, MrBedrock said:

One little correction - I bought the National run 1-23 from Jon, then foolishly sold them to Joe Smejkal. Selling them was one of the worst comic decisions I ever made.

I knew you'd been involved because I still remember visiting you not long after you received them. 

You laid out the entire run in two rows on a very large dining table.

I've since bought a few back. I wonder if CGC would relabel them "From The Collection of Jon Berk"?

 

[Flex Mentallo]

On 8/17/2023 at 8:42 PM, MrBedrock said:

I've since bought a few back. I wonder if CGC would relabel them "From The Collection of Jon Berk"?

 

Stunning - especially that #5!

[MrBedrock]

I think this was from the collection of Jon as well...

 

[adamstrange]

On 8/17/2023 at 3:13 PM, MrBedrock said:

On 8/17/2023 at 3:12 PM, Flex Mentallo said:

I remember asking you who in your opinion had the best Golden Age collection, and your answer was Jon Berk.

Shows you what I know. 

At its peak, I think that was a good answer to a subjective question.  Other people might have more valuable books (The Dentist, Verzyl), but Jon's was certainly very interesting, containing rare and important comics, as well as many sparkling jewels from the Church pedigree.