Wheres a newbie start?

[shadroch]

Although I have several outstanding pieces of OA,I'm just beginning to look at this side of the hobby.

Where can one go to educate themselves on this?

Is there a online or published price guide?

Is there a huge difference in prices of pieces that are penciled by the same person but inked by two different ones?

Is early work more or less desireable than after an artists gets hot?

How about work of a famous artists that is only the inking part of the equation?

In the recent past,I picked up a fantastic Merlin piece inked by Marie Severin,a great Conan by Truman and a Hitch Silver Surfer page for much less than I see other works going for.

So,how do I ejumicate myself on these things?

[aardvark88]

Big difference in OA value dependent on inkers. e.g. Kirby/Sinnott Silver Age FF vs Kirby/Vince Colletta S.A. Thor.

[westform]

Big difference in OA value dependent on inkers. e.g. Kirby/Sinnott Silver Age FF vs Kirby/Vince Colletta S.A. Thor.

 

Your example has a big difference beyond inker..... FF vs. Thor. The FF are much more popular as a title than Thor.

[Mighty Hal]

Collecting original comic artwork is so different from collecting comic books that it just ain't funny. The only published guide that I've found which was dedicated to comic art is Jerry Weist's THE COMIC ART PRICE GUIDE (it came out in 2000) -- and that guide didn't trust its subject enough to dedicate itself to comic art exclusively. It also priced pulps, underground comics and monster magazines.

 

THE COMIC ART PRICE GUIDE also missed out on many of the major comic artists. For instance, you wouldn't have found any of the artists that you've mentioned that you've collected. I'm not sure when Bryan Hitch started working but Marie Severin and Tim Truman had certainly made a mark in the comics world before the guide came out.

 

If only a publisher would let ME do a price guide. Not that it would matter much, anyway. One piece of comic art is valued completely unlike the next. During eBay auctions...last week, I think...a Ron Frenz SPIDER-GIRL cover went for over $1300. That same week, a Ron Frenz BIG EPSILON cover didn't sell at all, even with a starting price of $99. (Obviously, character popularity was a huge factor there. But if a Frenz cover goes for over a grand, wouldn't you think that any solidly drawn...and published...Frenz cover oughta hit a lousy C-note?)

 

If you join in at Heritage Auctions, they'll let you research past sales figures on the website. The sales numbers quoted are only those from Heritage Auctions and a Heritage number is different than a dealer's price or an eBay auction -- but you'll have a place to start.

[shadroch]

Thanks,again.