Issue #35
Mignola, Immonen, Manara and more, in this week’s Original Comic Art Tips Newsletter!
Results. eBay: If Chris Samnee offered international shipping I’d be happy to pay $430 for this nice Captain America page… or even $300 for this one. The DPS made $1,450. Many collectors can recognize a John Romita original even if it’s not credited, the Incredible Hulk page went for $1,800, higher than 2 similar pages sold recently by Romitaman. The Jim Starlin Superman made $1,200, the Don Newton Batman $900 and the nice Dick Dillin Batman original only $400.
Comiclink: A Spiderman cover by Todd McFarlane for “only” $91,000… and a famous Wolverine splash for “only” $15k. Kirby‘s cover to Thor #253 was sold for $33k and the Avengers Annual #4 cover by Sal Buscema for $44k, Frank Brunner’s Marvel Premiere #13 for $31k. Daredevil #163 by Frank Miller made $59k. This early Thanos splash by Jim Starlin was sold for $47k, but somebody also bought a modern Starlin Thanos page for $550. Have you noticed that Chris Bachalo high-end art always makes less at auction than on dealers’ websites? A Venom cover made $2,000 and a Wolverine half splash $900. The Art Adams page from the first appearance of Gambit only made $5,000 and this Hulk splash by John Romita Jr. only $850. It’s no secret that Walt Simonson never sold his Thor originals so I would expect a page to go for more than $4,000. Oh and a Dave Gibbons Watchmen page made $34k.
Heritage Sunday: Remember the 2 Sal Buscema pages with Silver Surfer and Namor Vs. The Incredible Hulk? Well, one was sold for $10,700 and the other for $10,100… the other Buscema brother John had a Wolverine page, sold for $3,100. Gene Colan‘s Doctor Strange ended at $2,000 and the Daredevil original at $1,700. The Jim Aparo Spectre page made surprisingly (to me) almost $9,000, and the Superman cover by Rich Buckler $2,700.
A Daily Hagar the Horrible original art by Dik Browne was funny but made only $380, maybe because we only saw Hagar’s back. The rare Little Orphan Annie Sunday by Harold Gray went for $1,600 and the Smokey Stover Sunday by Bill Holman for $380.
This week on eBay
Dustin Nguyen – Batman Original Cover Art
This week Mike Mignola is selling three big pieces: a page from Dracula, a Marvel Cover and a stunning Hellboy model sheet already at $4,000. Some Batmans: a Simone Bianchi painted cover, a painted Detective Comics cover by Dustin Nguyen, another cover by Arthur Adams and a John Byrne page. Nice Teen Titans page by Gil Kane and some Marvel pieces: a Jim Starlin Thanos half-splash, a very nice Spiderman/Daredevil page by Mark Bagley an X-Men page by Romita Jr., a Spiderman/Scarlet Spider page by Tom Lyle and a Spiderman battle page by Stuart Immonen. In non-Marvel/DC news, do you remember the early Image comics with foldable pages? Ok, look at this 4-page Wildcats splash by Jim Lee!! I’m a bit sad that this Alex Toth splash is fading but the low starting price reflects the problem. It’s rare to find a nice newspaper strip lately on eBay, a Russ Manning Star Wars daily, a Tumbleweeds Sunday and that’s all.
Heritage Sunday Auction
Dale Keown – Incredible Hulk Original art
The surprise of the week is Alex Toth with five pages: a very rare Torpedo original, an even rarer Toth superhero page from The Brave and the Bold with Flash and the Atom, a House of Mystery I will probably bid on, a detailed page from My Greatest Adventure, and a 2/3 page that will maybe go cheap.
Here’s Jim Aparo with a Deadman/Batman Splash, a great Batgirl splash by Don Heck and a Curt Swan Superman/Wonder Woman/Luthor original. A double page pin-up by Stuart Immonen with a JLA/JSA group shot and an Impulse cover by Humberto Ramos. Some weeks passed by without a Dale Keown Hulk page and he returns with this half splash! A great Gene Colan Daredevil page and a Dave Cockrum early Nightcrawler commission from 1976.
Strips: On Stage Sunday, Little Orphan Annie Sunday, Terry and The Pirates daily.
Heritage European Comic Art Signature Auction
Mil Manara Original Art
They called it “European Comic Art Auction” but I’d call it “HA’s usual auction with some French (and Italian) originals”. Many of the European pieces have a big reserve price and 90% of them have zero bids so I will not bother presenting to you artwork that will go unsold. Many Jack Kirby pieces, like this great Black Panther title splash, a Loki cover by Frank Cho, some Milo Manara originals: a page from El Gaucho, a color cover, and others. A Sin City splash by Frank Miller, An X-Men page by Jim Lee, and 3 Rip Kirby dailies by Alex Raymond. One of the best covers of 2018 is for sale (and has met the reserve) Mondo Reverso by Bertail. Another piece that has met the reserve is this beautiful Freddy Lombard page by Chaland.
See you next week!
