Issue #136
Welcome to #136 of Original Comic Art Tips! Many new subscribers, this week, thanks for joining, let me know how you arrived here!
Original Comic Art Auction Results:
eBay: Jim Lee Auctions, Atrocitus (#26) went for $4,350, Swamp Thing for $10,3k, Poison Ivy for $10,6k, Death for $19,1k, Composite Superman for $11,1k and Spectre for $5,2k. All of the comments, price charts and comparations are in the new blog post…
Jim’s friends: Tony Daniel‘s Gotham Sirens went for $3,1k, Lobo by Doug Mahnke for $2,5k, Bizarro by Bill Sienkiewicz for $5,1k, Ronin by Frank Miller for $5,6k and Spider Jerusalem by Darick Robertson for $2k.
I wonder if it’s better to give artists a secondary character or to maximize money, since they’re raised for charity, and assign a fan favorite name? I’m thinking of Atrocitus, Bizarro and Ronin…
Mike Mignola did both, this time, after having fun, but raising less money, with monsters and cereal mascottes, he gave fans a painted Hellboy and teamed him with Ultraman, making 10k. Then he had Hellboy fighting another Japanese monster, sold for $3,2k, and made Batman a robot, selling him for $2,1k.
Aussies4comics is another fundraising group for comics stores, they auctioned a David Yardin X-Men cover sold for $3,5k, and an Humberto Ramos Mary Jane cover, sold for $1,1k. They should use a single ebay account though.
Not Charity auctions: a Teen Titans DPS by Jurgens/Perez went for $1,1k, a JLA prelim by Alex Ross went for $2,2k. After trying to sell this Buscema illustration for insane prices months ago it was sold for $4k.
Not comic art but a David Bowie painting by illustrator Koufay was sold for an impressive Best Offer of $20k.
Heritage Signature Auction: Frank Frazetta is, as usual, the auction winner, but with a piece that was sold for much less than we’re used to, $300k.
Another high price for original art from Bernie Wrightson’s Frankenstein, the Endpapers were sold for $240k, not surprising considering that the cover was sold a few months ago for 1,2 million dollars.
A splash with the quality of a cover is the highest price paid for Spider-Man interior original art drawn by John Romita. It’s an early issue and a great image, the price went over many classic covers, $180k.
Surprise records: the X-Men #55 cover by Barry Smith went for $132k, early art, very far in quality from his Conan covers sold for $60-90k. A (beautiful) Avengers cover by Jim Starlin went for $75k, much more than his most celebrated Cosmic pieces.
A surprise price but in a negative way, an iconic cover by Gil Kane from an iconic (#150) issue of Spidey sold for $69k. Consider that #98 was sold in 2015 for $179k.
Another jump ahead for Frank Miller art prices, Dark Knight interior original art until this auction changed hands for $30/40k, this one went for $66k. Will collectors try to capitalize on this by consigning art for the next auctions?
Did you notice another big growth for George Perez original art? The cover to Infinity Gauntlet #2 went for $45k, the same cover was sold exactly 3 years ago for $28k.
Not surprising records: the title splash for Daredevil #5 was sold for $96k, a record for Wally Wood interior art, but one of his most celebrated (and historic) pieces. Te cover to Spectacular Spidey #132 by Mike Zeck went for $51k, not surprising for one of the most famous Spidey stories ever.
Frank Thorne makes his record but with the most famous cover he’s ever drawn, Red Sonja #1, sold for $42k. Kelley Jones’ Batman art rarely comes on the market and many collectors are in search of a piece. A Batman cover went for $33k.
Heritage Weekly Auction: the Jack Kirby collage went for $5k, the Jack Davis cover and the Ron Frenz Black Knight cover for $3,6k, the Batman pinup by Keith Giffen for $3,1k, a Swamp Thing head sketch by Bernie Wrightson went for $2,4k, until a couple years ago they were sold for $600. The Christmas day Garfield daily went for $1,6k.
Comiclink: top price was paid for the JLA cover by Jerry Ordway, sold for $4,4k, the X-Factor DPS by Joe Quesada went for $2,3k, the Superman DPS AD by Dan Jurgens went for $1,6k, the Hulk splash by Joe Bennett for $1,450, the Spidey/Venom pinup by Mark Bagley for $1,8k, the Avengers splash by Mike Deodato for $1k and the Harley Quinn original art by Jason Fabok for $1,2k.
Happy collectors took home: a Superman/Batman pinup by Neal Adams for $600, that’s the price he would charge for a bust… a splashy Spidey page by Alex Saviuk for $550, an Avengers page by Leinil Yu for $300 and many more.
This week on eBay
Brendan McCarthy – Judge Dredd Original Cover Art
Jim Lee Charity auctions: an impressive Scarecrow and Lobo. Friends: A Batman bust by David Choe is ending today and already at $18k, Wolverine by Scott Williams, Spawn by Tyler Kirkham, Backlash by Brett Booth, Supersons by Jorge Jimenez and Wolverine Vs Sabretooth by Ken Lashley.
Mike Mignola has drawn cartoon characters this week, a great Kermit painting, the Count, Adventure Time and Marceline.
Marvel: a Rocket Raccoon page by Mike Mignola, a Daredevil commission by John Byrne, a Conan daily strip by John Buscema, a Wolverine commission by Jason Fabok and two Spider-Man pages by Ramos.
DC: a Batman Generations splash by John Byrne, Batman by Jim Aparo, Batman by Tyler Kirkham and a great, but sadly faded, Batman page by Gil Kane.
A rare 1987 Judge Dredd Prog cover by Brendan McCarthy, Tom Strong by Chris Sprouse, and a Ring page by Gil Kane.
Heritage Weekly Auction
Gil Kane – Batgirl original Comic Art
DC: great Batgirl page by Gil Kane, a Hunger Dogs page by Jack Kirby, a Legion page by Jim Shooter, an Uncle Sam origin splash by Murphy Anderson, many Curt Swan Superman pages as usual, a good moment to buy one.
A Batman pinup by Kevin Nowlan and a Batgirl cover prelim by James Jean.
Marvel: Sgt Fury page by Dick Ayers, a Luke Cage half splash by George Tuska, nice MOKF page by John Buscema, a Namor cover by Rich Buckler.
Not the best Infinity Crusade page by Ron Lim, but there’s Thanos. A Spider-Girl splash by Olliffe/Williamson, Spidey by Alex Saviuk.
Eerie pinup by Dan Adkins, the title splash to Babe #1 by John Byrne, a Ditko/Wood Jungle Jim page, a nice fantasy cover by Mike Kaluta and a portrait of Alan Moore by Risso.
Strips: a very nice 1935 Terry daily by Caniff, a 1986 Garfield daily, a Christmas eve Dennis panel by Ketcham, a 1942 Gasoline Alley daily, an Andy Capp daily and an exceptional Bringing Up Father daily.
Comiconnect
Carmine Infantino – Batman Original Cover Art
Many pieces of original comic art in the next Comiconnect auction, I’ll highlight the best ones.
A rare unpublished Spider-Man pencil page by John Romita, a nice Namor page by John Buscema, a Deadpool cover by Mark Brooks.
A classic Batman cover by Carmine Infantino, a Kobra splash and a nice Mister Miracle page by Jack Kirby, a House of Secrets title splash by Romeo Tanghal.
A great early Love & Rockets illustration by the Hernandez Bros and a Vampirella/Dejah Thoris cover by Joe Jusko.
Drouot Estimations
A few top pieces: Blueberry by Giraud, Bilal, Palacios, Vance, Loisel.
New Blog Post: Jim Lee Original Art Auctions #21-30
As the title says there’s a new blog post analyzing auctions #21-30 of 60 by Jim Lee. Interesting prices and a couple charts to see.
