Issue #8

Welcome to Original Comic Art Tips issue 8, an almost all Heritage edition: we start with auction results, then we explore a good Sunday auction and we also have a charity National Cartoonists Society auction to look at.

The never-ending Heritage Signature Auction finally ended, so we have the second part of the results. The nice Jam Disney Art from 1958 went for $ 4.400, it may seem high but I think Comic Art like this will appreciate in the next years going up and up in value. Another artist with big growth margins is Rob Liefeld, the Youngblood DPS went for $ 3.300, his prices started to grow in the last ¾ years when his many enemies understood that, like it or not, Rob has historic value. Prices going up for Hellboy Original Art is no news, as you may remember there were many pieces for different stories offered in this auction, unsurprisingly the highest price was reached with the action page who surpassed $ 10.000, while more atmospheric and better designed pages went for lower prices. Look also at this Dracula page by Mignola where nothing happens… it reached a record. If you’re sad because you can’t afford Mignola Originals anymore you can be happy because you still can buy a 1938 Terry and the Pirates daily by Caniff with Terry, Pat, and Connie for only $ 1.100. I’m very happy for Frank Willard‘s ghost because his art reached a new record worth of the millions of readers he had in the thirties, an exceptional batch of early hand-colored Moon Mullins Sunday strips went for sale and this one reached $ 5.000.

The winner of last Sunday’s Heritage weekly auction was the rare Pearls before Swine sketch that went for more than $ 1.400. Leonard Starr’s Mary Perkins is as usual under appreciated by strip collector with 3 Sundays sold for only $ 400…

Heritage Sunday Auction/NCS Thanks & Giving auction

Doonesbury Original Daily Strip by Garry Trudeau

After the fancy, big, record auction we return with the usual business, the Sunday Auction will be the main attraction for some weeks to come, and there’s a lot of great art going for sale. 

Let’s start with the B of B.C. with a funny daily from 1979 courtesy of Johnny Hart, a very nice Gasoline Alley by Frank King from 1933 with a twelve years old Skeezix, a peak period Beetle Bailey original daily strip from 1964 by Mort Walker and to end the daily strip section take a look at this war period Blondie daily from 1942: looks like it was a present for a friend of Chic Young, who wrote a long and funny dedication and hand colored it, sadly it was exposed to light and very little color is still visible.

The superheroes part of the auction has a very beautiful Batman page by Dave Taylor and another Dale Keown Hulk action page.

Members of the NCS donated their thanksgiving day original strips to be auctioned for charity, in this kind of auctions you can usually find some rare pieces like specialty drawings, strips published on a particular day or original art by difficult to find artists. if you’re a fan of comic strips this is an auction to watch and it’s ending next week, I will highlight only the rarest pieces but I’d buy almost everything. A Patrick Mc Donnell Mutts thanksgiving daily, a very funny Bizarro panel by Dan Piraro, a nice Wizard of Id Sunday by Parker and Hart and a very, very particular Doonesbury daily by Garry Trudeau from 1989… these are the difficult to find pieces different from any regular daily and collectors already noticed with many bids after less than 24 hours from the auction opening.

Comic link Focused Auction

Michael Turner – The Darkness Original Art

I finally went through all of the listings for the Comiclink comic art auction ending next week. Not very much to add to last week tips, 3 pieces from Top Cow: an impressive Silvestri/Williams DPS from Cyberforce #5 and two Michael Turner covers, a detailed The Darkness #11 and Witchblade #15.

See you next week for another Comic Art Tips Newsletter!