Issue #7

Welcome to the 7th installment of the Comic Art Tips Newsletter, many big auctions closed recently, so we have a lot of prices to consider. First is Urania Aste with its Nov. 1 auction. Items sold were 131, more or less 35% of the 370 auctioned (not considering lots sold privately after the auction), for a total raised of 222.575 euros, almost a third of which (81.800) came from the Dino Battaglia “auction inside the auction”. 30 of 31 Battaglia pieces were sold, many of which went for two or three times the starting price, many collectors jumped at the rare opportunity to take home a piece of high-quality art. I can’t tell you the same about the other artists’ lots, only 48 of 131 items sold went for more than the starting price. The higher priced lot (25.000 euros estimated) went unsold, the highest price realized was for this Andrea Pazienza page (12.500 euros).

The Heritage Signature Auction is finally underway, some pieces already sold others will be today, the Frank Miller Dark Knight page went for $ 48.000, while 2 Daredevil pages made almost $ 20.000. Also, the Barry Smith Weapon X went for $20.000, pages from great runs of the 80’s are already going between 15 to 25k, if you can find a page from a famous run of the time still going for $1.500-5.000 you should buy it before it’s too late. Speaking of these prices somebody made a good deal buying the Wally Wood Daredevil for $18.000, if a Miller Daredevil goes for the same price, a page from DD #5 drawn by its co-creator will be worth a lot more in the future. As usual Todd McFarlane Spiderman art is going up. A historic piece got the price it deserved, the Spirit cover by Eisner/Fine went for $52.000, same for the Crumb complete sketchbook ($143.000).

This week on eBay.

Will Eisner, Spirit Original Art

Just a little Ebay update this week, (this newsletter is already running too long and there’s not that much on sale anyway). This Will Eisner sketch looks legit to me, and also very nice, and a page from a Mith of my early 90’s collecting, a Wildcats Trilogy page by Jae Lee.

Heritage Sunday Auction

Stephen Pastis, Pearls Before Swine Original Art

Another weak Sunday auction, everybody will spend their Heritage allowance tonight, so as usual take a look at the listings, you may catch something you like at a good price. I noticed 3 Sunday Mary Perkins On Stage strips by Leonard Starr and a rare full cast sketch of Pearls before Swine by Stephan Pastis.

Comic link Focused Auction

John Romita JR, Spiderman Original Art

It’s already time to look into the next Comic Link Original Comic Art auction, from what I’ve seen for now (the first 1/3 of the offered lots) this auction is much better than the last one, starting from the B of Berke Breathed and a ready to hang BLOOM COUNTY Sunday strip. then an Art Adams X-Babies splash from 1989 and a really beautiful Neal Adams Avengers page. Neal Adams’ Marvel Comics art is rarer to come by than his Batman pages and not only because he worked more for DC, I think collectors hang onto them fearing they’ll never find another quality Adams’ Marvel page again. 

You dream of a Adlard Walking Dead page with Rick and Michonne fighting zombies? Help yourself. Knowing how much Chris Bachalo covers are going for these days, you may look with interest at this Avengers splash that looks better than a cover… or to a famous Batman Wizard cover by Simon Bisley. Many classic Buscema/Chan Conan Pages (1, 2, 3) but first you should buy this Silver Surfer. Preacher #60 was late in the run but this is an outstanding scene by Steve Dillon. Several early (1985) TMNT originals by Kevin Eastman… speaking of green, the Incredible Hulk then and now by Dale Keown and a cool Pitt Page. The usual McFarlane Spiderman page, a hulk with a nice layout and several rarer (but lately less rare) Spawn pages by Capullo/McF. Sometimes you find a page that tells an entire story, this Romita JR Spiderman has it all: the radioactive spider bite on the background of a fistfight, and we can end this first part with Popeye By Segar eating spinach.

This is the end of the longest Comic Art Tips Newsletter so far, we’ll return next week with the last Heritage Auction results and the second half of Comic Link November auction!