Jim Lee Commissions fuel debate over the artists asking price 3 3

[1classics]

On 7/5/2024 at 12:18 PM, alxjhnsn said:

I'm happy for Jim. Everyone should charge what the market can bear for their efforts.

If I think it's more than I can afford, that's fine by me. Go Jim!

Yeah I'm with Alex and others with let Jim and other artists charge what they want. After all, whether 1 or 10+ people pay these prices it's not only what the market bears, but how much he values not only his art, but his time. It's actually a pretty smart move if all this chatter on different media platforms is showcasing Jim's art and the prices, it may actually create more hype and make people think they're getting a deal for the right piece if it's under this threshold. Either way, do what you do Jim and others and don't mind people talking sh*t, it's more than likely the same people that left the art market years ago or that are constantly complaining about today's pricing and the new blood paying outrageous price. 

[Kevin76]

I'd love a Jim Lee piece of art, however. In Jim Lee's defense about his prices, he spent 40 years building his brand and his art skills, to be able to charge 20, 35, 40K+ for his art and people do pay it, If he made his art much more affordable, he'd never be able to finish them all, so it really comes down to "Charge more, do less work and make the same amount"  

Me personally, No way in  am I paying that kind of money, without Scott Williams Inks for anything other than X-Men/Wolverine.  

So someone could pay Jimbo for pencils only and throw Scott all kinds of crazy money for him to ink it for you.     

[Kevin76]

Just imagine if Mcfarlane opened up commissions for a limited time 

[KirbyCollector]

On 7/6/2024 at 1:45 AM, Kevin76 said:

Just imagine if Mcfarlane opened up commissions for a limited time 

McFarlane Toys makes quite a bit of money for him... he doesn't need to draw for fans

Edited July 6 by KirbyCollector

[jjonahjameson11]

On 7/6/2024 at 1:45 AM, Kevin76 said:

Just imagine if Mcfarlane opened up commissions for a limited time 

This may sound crazy, but I have zero interest in a Jim Lee commission.  However, I would pay double Jim Lee’s current asking price for a McFarlane commission 

Edited July 6 by jjonahjameson11

[tth2]

On 7/6/2024 at 7:49 PM, KirbyCollector said:

On 7/6/2024 at 1:45 PM, Kevin76 said:

Just imagine if Mcfarlane opened up commissions for a limited time 

McFarlane Toys makes quite a bit of money for him... he doesn't need to draw for fans

Hasn't Lee made a ton of money from selling some of his OA in recent years?  I doubt he needs to draw commissions for the money either. 

My guess is he set this particular price point high enough so that he won't really get many commission requests anymore, and for those few that he does receive, he's now being compensated at a rate high enough that it's worth his time.

[John E.]

On 7/6/2024 at 8:56 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

This may sound crazy, but I have zero interest in a Jim Lee commission.  However, I would pay double Jim Lee’s current asking price for a McFarlane commission 

I’m sure someone somewhere said, “This might sound crazy, but I would pay Jim Lee $35,000 for a commission.” And Jim heard 🗣️👂🏽 
 

🙂 but also 🤫

[Kevin76]

On 7/6/2024 at 9:56 AM, jjonahjameson11 said:

This may sound crazy, but I have zero interest in a Jim Lee commission.  However, I would pay double Jim Lee’s current asking price for a McFarlane commission 

Same here 

[Kevin76]

On 7/6/2024 at 7:49 AM, KirbyCollector said:

McFarlane Toys makes quite a bit of money for him... he doesn't need to draw for fans

He doesn't need to do CGC signings or con appearances either but he still does  

[Silver Surfer]

On 7/5/2024 at 10:45 PM, Kevin76 said:

Just imagine if Mcfarlane opened up commissions for a limited time 

His story of how he became an full time artist is great but his art doesn’t really do much for me. I do like some of his Spawn work but his version of Spidey is one of my least favourite. 

[PhilipB2k17]

On 7/4/2024 at 5:20 PM, Nexus said:

Yeah, the Tradd Moore list caused similar angst in the sketch/commission collecting groups back when it opened in 2020. He just wasn't (and still isn't) as big a name as Jim Lee, so wider world didn't notice. However, I'd say objectively that his rate then ($10K for an 18X24 Wall Power commission) was probably more shocking to collectors than $35K is now for Jim Lee. Might still be. But there's also no shortage of people who would now be happy to pay that rate, if spots were still available.

A story about Tradd and commissions: I've known Tradd personally since 2012 and have repped him since 2016. He's only taken two lists during this time. The first one in 2018, and then again in 2020. At the onset of the pandemic. The reason he agreed to open up for commissions again is because of the uncertainty of publishing/work as things all around us were shutting down. We figured he'd have the time. Otherwise, probably wouldn't have done it. 

We took a long list (for him). 20 spots, all snapped up immediately. (Which is usually ignored in the "his commissions cost too much!" discussions.) Despite the rancor, there were still those who wanted to get on the list. Badly. One collector/dealer (no, it wasn't Albert) offered me a $10K "facilitation fee" on top of the $10K rate to get him on the list. That is, $10K to me to get him on the list, $10K to Tradd for the commission. I told him I wouldn't do that, but that I would tell Tradd that someone was willing to pay $20K for his $10K tier. So I let Tradd know. He politely declined. In his mind, he had agreed to do 20 commissions, not 21. It's not about the money, he simply marches to the beat of his own drum and does what he wants.

Flash forward a year. Things are opening up and Felix Comic Art returns to NYCC. Tradd won't do the show, even though he lives in town, but he will join us for dinner. When he shows up, he has a Wall Power commission as a surprise gift for our mutual friend who has been battling cancer. He wouldn't take $20K from the dealer, but he would gift the same type of art to a friend. That beat he marches to? His heart.

Lots of other stories like this about Tradd. It's absolutely been my honor to know him.

Maybe Jim should do another charity auction/sale for pieces? Yes. I know he did one a couple of years ago with sketches. That’s why I said “another.” 

Edited July 7 by PhilipB2k17

[PhilipB2k17]

On 7/6/2024 at 10:48 AM, tth2 said:

Hasn't Lee made a ton of money from selling some of his OA in recent years?  I doubt he needs to draw commissions for the money either. 

My guess is he set this particular price point high enough so that he won't really get many commission requests anymore, and for those few that he does receive, he's now being compensated at a rate high enough that it's worth his time.

Not to mention that he’s President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics, a subsidiary of an international multimedia conglomerate. 

[Kevin76]

On 7/7/2024 at 12:19 AM, Silver Surfer said:

His story of how he became an full time artist is great but his art doesn’t really do much for me. I do like some of his Spawn work but his version of Spidey is one of my least favourite. 

His spidey is the best, no one will ever top it.  

[1classics]

On 7/7/2024 at 6:21 AM, Kevin76 said:

His spidey is the best, no one will ever top it.  

Have you seen McFarlane sketches in recent years? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he can't really draw anymore. It's almost unrecognizable and as said above, I don't think he cares much more since he doesn't need to due to Mcfarlane Toys. I'm pretty sure someone else eventually was going to say this, but that's what also makes Mcfarlane's earlier work, specifically Spider-Man more special. If you see more if his recent work from my understanding it's all digital and not hand drawn. 

[fsumavila]

Todd still draws in traditional style; he's not exclusively digital. And I wouldn't judge his ability to draw based on some quickie sketches he does at Cons. He does those only rarely, and very quickly.

i saw him do drawings digitally and traditional pen & ink just a couple years ago, and they looked great. 

[1classics]

On 7/7/2024 at 9:25 AM, fsumavila said:

Todd still draws in traditional style; he's not exclusively digital. And I wouldn't judge his ability to draw based on some quickie sketches he does at Cons. He does those only rarely, and very quickly.

i saw him do drawings digitally and traditional pen & ink just a couple years ago, and they looked great. 

Yeah I was a little reluctant to type the above and my intent is never to talk badly about any artist and their style, though I think I'm trying to be polite in saying it's distinctively different than his style mentioned above about a McSpidey commission. My overall message is 1- He doesn't need to do commissions due to Mcfarlane Toys. 2- My understanding in recent years most if n ot all is more digitally drawn and he's become accustomed to this. Thus, why do commissions and draw freehand if you don't feel the need or have to?

I'd love to see an example or two of his recent sketch work or commissions, hand drawn Spidey in recent years and I'll of course stand corrected. Everything I've seen recently has been a far different style let's say and almost unrecognizable from the original style we all learned to love from his earlier work. 

No offense to Jim or Todd here, but there should be little to no comparison to these two artists. Jim has remained a top level artist over the years continuing to demand higher prices not only for his earlier work, but his more recent work through the years. While Todd's body is most coveted from the late 80's into the early to mid 90's? Jim has remained on top and is why he can command these prices.

[MR SigS]

On 7/1/2024 at 10:48 AM, Silver Surfer said:

I don’t have a problem with it but I would probably want a published piece from another established artist for $35K.

Me too. You can't say, "From the mind of Jim Lee" with this. Only, "from the hand..." It seems the asking price relies on the popularity of Zeck's art.

[Kevin76]

On 7/7/2024 at 4:33 PM, 1classics said:

Yeah I was a little reluctant to type the above and my intent is never to talk badly about any artist and their style, though I think I'm trying to be polite in saying it's distinctively different than his style mentioned above about a McSpidey commission. My overall message is 1- He doesn't need to do commissions due to Mcfarlane Toys. 2- My understanding in recent years most if n ot all is more digitally drawn and he's become accustomed to this. Thus, why do commissions and draw freehand if you don't feel the need or have to?

I'd love to see an example or two of his recent sketch work or commissions, hand drawn Spidey in recent years and I'll of course stand corrected. Everything I've seen recently has been a far different style let's say and almost unrecognizable from the original style we all learned to love from his earlier work. 

No offense to Jim or Todd here, but there should be little to no comparison to these two artists. Jim has remained a top level artist over the years continuing to demand higher prices not only for his earlier work, but his more recent work through the years. While Todd's body is most coveted from the late 80's into the early to mid 90's? Jim has remained on top and is why he can command these prices.

Todd draws on a digital tablet now, it's pen to screen, instead of pen to paper. His style hasn't changed all that much, Same can be said for Neal Adams, when he was doing commissions he wasn't as good as he was in the 70's but art styles evolve over time, for better or worse. Todd's prime years are 89-93, Todd recently did do an Overstreet price guide cover of spawn/spider-man that I thought looked amazing.  Jim Lee still looks great cause he never stopped drawing, he still has the same early 90's quality when of course scott williams is inking him.  Jim Lee inks...not so much  

[1classics]

On 7/7/2024 at 2:41 PM, Kevin76 said:

Todd draws on a digital tablet now, it's pen to screen, instead of pen to paper. His style hasn't changed all that much, Same can be said for Neal Adams, when he was doing commissions he wasn't as good as he was in the 70's but art styles evolve over time, for better or worse. Todd's prime years are 89-93, Todd recently did do an Overstreet price guide cover of spawn/spider-man that I thought looked amazing.  Jim Lee still looks great cause he never stopped drawing, he still has the same early 90's quality when of course scott williams is inking him.  Jim Lee inks...not so much  

Correct me if I'm wrong, by no means am I an artist, but pen to paper from pen to screen is a completely different drawing experience. Everything I've seen from Mcfarlane's Spidey recent sketches, even if they were quick in comparison to Lee are night and day as far as quality. Again, I'm only basing off what I've seen for sale or people posting sketches that are CGC slabbed in recent years, but it looks rudimentary in comparison to his older work. I may stand corrected if we see some pencil or pen to paper work that stands out that looks good...

[PhilipB2k17]

On 7/7/2024 at 4:33 PM, 1classics said:

Yeah I was a little reluctant to type the above and my intent is never to talk badly about any artist and their style, though I think I'm trying to be polite in saying it's distinctively different than his style mentioned above about a McSpidey commission. My overall message is 1- He doesn't need to do commissions due to Mcfarlane Toys. 2- My understanding in recent years most if n ot all is more digitally drawn and he's become accustomed to this. Thus, why do commissions and draw freehand if you don't feel the need or have to?

I'd love to see an example or two of his recent sketch work or commissions, hand drawn Spidey in recent years and I'll of course stand corrected. Everything I've seen recently has been a far different style let's say and almost unrecognizable from the original style we all learned to love from his earlier work. 

No offense to Jim or Todd here, but there should be little to no comparison to these two artists. Jim has remained a top level artist over the years continuing to demand higher prices not only for his earlier work, but his more recent work through the years. While Todd's body is most coveted from the late 80's into the early to mid 90's? Jim has remained on top and is why he can command these prices.

I don't think it matters. Have you seen some of Frank Miller's doodles lately?