Issue #20
Welcome to the 20th issue of Original Comic Art Tips, this week starts with a little apology, some readers noticed that the John Byrne original on eBay I thought sold for the big sum of $ 4.500 is still for sale… Sorry, I probably confused it with another page I had opened.
Let’s see what happened last week. The three Hellboy DVD original illustrations on eBay went for $2.850, $2.950 and $3.450, a very good sum for Mignola pieces that don’t feature the title character… The Buscema Cap page ended at $760 and we’re done with the Bay.
On Heritage’s Sunday Auction we have some more interesting results, like the Neal Adams Batman/Joker Tower Records original art at $3.800, the Batman by Gulacy at almost $900 and the Transmetropolitan page sold for $800+. The Jill Thompson Sandman Original went for $3.500 and the Busy Incredible Hulk by Dale Keown for $2.800.
This week on eBay
Steve Epting – Captain America Original Art
We start with a great artist, JL Garcia Lopez with a page from the Hulk/Batman crossover. Then a big Marvel update: everybody is selling their Black Panther originals trying to capitalize on the movie, this Panther/Thing action page by Paul Pelletier, and this X-Men original by Salvador Larroca. A nice couple of Steve Ditko/P. Craig Russell ROM pages here and here. Another couple, this time of Conan Originals by John Buscema here and here and a very nice Captain America piece by Steve Epting, the same seller has a Uncanny X-men DPS by Andy Kubert. We close the Marvel section with this Wolverine commission by Chris Bachalo. Don’t forget that there are also two Godzilla covers by Arthur Adams (one, two).
Heritage Sunday Auction
Joe Kubert – Original Daily Strip
Many nice pieces to see in this week’s Sunday Auction but I’ll try to limit entries due to the big Featured Auction update below… Let’s keep the tradition of the weekly Batman/Joker page by Neal Adams, maybe the best pages are gone, that probably means a lower final price if you want to try. Another DC Original with this Gary Frank Superman page and a Scalped page by R. M. Guéra for Vertigo, rarely seen on HA. A Keith Pollard Thor page and this time not a page but a sketch of the Hulk by Dale Keown. Another nice Character Design Illustration by Adam Hughes and after a few weeks we have some Original Comic Strips to showcase: A Rip Kirby daily by Alex Raymond for a good start, then a Tales of the Green Berets by Joe Kubert and two funny Yogi Bear Sundays (one and two).
Heritage Signature Auction
Frank Miller – Daredevil Original Art
As promised I spent an evening looking at the first half lots from Heritage‘s big auction, next week we’ll see the second half, just in time to bid on something. I have to say that I’d like to buy at least 80% of what I’ve seen, really great original art pieces! This time I want to start with strips, with one of the rarest pieces of all: a Calvin & Hobbes daily original by Bill Watterson that will go very high! Then an incredible set of Peanuts originals by Charles Schulz, all the most famous themes are represented: the Psychiatry Booth, baseball, the Flying Ace, the Dear Pen Pal (my favorite), a Snoopy on the doghouse from 1959 and a great display piece from 1968. Don’t forget this Christmas theme Sunday with all of the kids. Another great piece is this Dick Tracy daily with Flattop by Chester Gould and an incredible one is this fight between Popeye and Bluto by Segar. A Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse daily and we can stop with strips. A great Barks Ducks painting is still Disney, and a Marge Simpson/Swamp Thing Cover by Bernie Wrightson is a good bridge to superhero Original Art! Still from Wrightson is this Hulk/Thing full-color page, full-color are also a group of covers by Alex Ross the best one is this Justice #10 original. Don’t forget this Catwoman/Black Cat painting by Adam Hughes and this Vampirella cover by Dave Stevens. Not comics but the biggest piece of the auction is this Frazetta painting “still” at $70.000 and growing. Classics in brush and ink are this Namor in Tales to Astonish #91 by his creator Bill Everett and this Don Heck/Wally Wood full team early page from Avengers #20! Barry Windsor Smith sent another group of Original art pages taken from his entire career, like this Weapon X page and this Conan the Barbarian #7 interior. After many Hulk Pages by Keown in the weekly auctions this time we get the splash. Frank Miller is well represented by this Daredevil #170 page and a Lone Wolf and Cub cover. DC Comics: a Watchmen #3 Page with Rorschach and Nite Owl by Dave Gibbons, a Harley Quinn/Power Girl cover by Frank Cho and this Chris Marrinan and George Perez Wonder Woman cover with a very detailed background. I’ll buy this. Three more pieces to close this first part: a Tales From The Crypt original by Al Williamson, a classic monster by Basil Wolverton and an Acme Novelty Library page by Chris Ware.
See you next week for the second part!