Koa

Nice, what website is franks new art listed?

Totally agree! Here is a perfect example of the black and white ... I would like to think at least.. http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1231414&GSub=167429 I think this is one of the most successful pieces by Frank done in this extreme style. Incredible.

I really hope we get to see more comic art by Frank Miller. Is he still offering artwork direct?

True. I've had quite a few commissions with top artists and they have always come through. The only artist ever to stiff me for a commission was Pat Broderick a few years ago. I wrote it off as a loss considering how bad I thought his artwork had gotten over the years. That sucks! That's what stops me from commissioning certain artists, whose work I'm nostalgic for but were never big players. Fans tend to be reverential and forgiving of their favorite artists and artists who are prone to taking advantage of that, really push it to the limits. I don't know how this could be anything but a passive aggressive way to bully the few fans willing to pay for their work they have left. Leaving people hanging like this, for years after taking their money is wrong. No responses. IMO He should pay back at least a portion of the money even if he delivers the art now. He won't of course but if he's really looking to mend fences....

These commission horror stories seem to always involve artists who have to sing for their supper. I really can't understand how an artist who isn't really that popular can justify leaving a fan who has paid for their work in these type of situations. Your fanbase is small enough as it is, you really want to alienate the few hundred people who might support your work...

I got a few emails from him via comic art fans a few times. I stopped keeping a wantlist after He tried to sell me pages that were listed at the artists choice during one of their 50% sales, at full price.

I kind of expect it'll clear 15-20k somehow even though none of his art has ever come close at auction. You know, i've been ragging on greg about his pricing but looking at some modern (last 4 or 5 years) era art, I see reps have (at least) doubled prices on many less popular artists new work over the last 6 months or year. I don't want to name names but Artists who have work sitting at 2500 a cover have newer no more desirable work listed at 4-5k now. If the work isn't selling at 2500 what makes people think 5k will be the trick? art that didn't sell at 5k are now listing 10k. If this trend continues this hobby has officially jumped the shark, imo. The piece stalled at $8k. I don't think it Will clear $15K. Could become the auction bargain. The 15k comment was a follow up toward the sudden price jump in Spawn covers that have been sitting idle at 4-8k for years to match the 20-50k prices Greg has listed. 8k seems on the high end of reasonable for this.

Will it even reach 6-8? Judging by how many years the other covers sat at these prices (until yesterday), it's unlikely. It'll be interesting to see nevertheless. It's pass $8k. How far will it go for considering is one of the better looking Capullo Spawn out there ? Plus... Not too many come out to the open market. I don't think it's one of the better covers, but they're all pretty good. I'd be comfortable in this price range for a capullo/miki spawn cover I really wanted. I wonder what a nice capullo/mcfarlane cover will go for.

I kind of expect it'll clear 15-20k somehow even though none of his art has ever come close at auction. You know, i've been ragging on greg about his pricing but looking at some modern (last 4 or 5 years) era art, I see reps have (at least) doubled prices on many less popular artists new work over the last 6 months or year. I don't want to name names but Artists who have work sitting at 2500 a cover have newer no more desirable work listed at 4-5k now. If the work isn't selling at 2500 what makes people think 5k will be the trick? art that didn't sell at 5k are now listing 10k. If this trend continues this hobby has officially jumped the shark, imo.

Great piece. I've been wondering why Some of Greg's batman art, like this was never published.

Pricing psychology. I'm not a money guy so maybe someone else can chime in if there is a specific name of the pricing strategy. Expensive = good. Apparently a couple years ago Kanye West was selling plain white t-shirts for $120 and they sold out quickly. yeah, but 120 is still affordable for lots of people. Greg is listing filler pages at 1-3k. Popular artists have covers listed for less than some of his filler pages. I just hope his pricing strategy doesn't catch on among modern artists.

Good point. I think Watterson also transcends the medium he works in a way Jim Davis does not. Frank Miller and Todd Mcfarlane also do that in their own way. Capullo doesn't. Greg has done his definitive work to date on Spawn and even though i think he surpassed todd 10 times over while on the book his work ends up bolstering Todd Mcfarlane's legacy more than his own. I guess at the end of the day the marketplace will be the judge. If 40-50k Capullo art from 2015 starts appearing in collections at these prices than he's the biggest commercial artist in comic book history.

One of Greg's most endearing qualities is the sheer amount of terrific artwork he produces working monthly so it's really artificial scarcity. The Spawn covers were so consistently good there are only a handful that I wouldn't consider a Capullo grail piece to own but the Batman covers are a different story. I keep thinking in comparison to David Finch, Marc Silvestri, Whilce Portacio, Dale Keown because Greg's fan base is basically the same people, and that's mostly the Spawn stuff. I think Jim lee or Campbell level pricing would be a stretch but who knows. The stuff inked by Mcfarlane cross into Todd's fan base but if you're spending the kind of money he's asking for top level examples, you can get McSpidey covers and splashes. The HA auction, Romitaman had this one listed for awhile a few years ago. I see a Greg bought back the cover of Spawn 41 at some point which sold at HA for 2700, i think. With Danny Miki quadrupling his asking prices for Spawn covers that have been sitting unsold for at least 5 years now at 6-8k. I wouldn't be surprised if this one didn't somehow manage to stay in line with the new valuations and I will take any auction price near the 30k level with a grain of salt.

That's really passive aggressive. If fans are pests perhaps you should go work without fanfare. I wonder how many of these same artists complain about not making a decent living in comics. I'd love to know who these artists are so i can not buy their comics. Actually this goes somewhat to how a working artist markets their work and themselves (usually the same in the minds of most fans) during convention season. Typically the best or signature original(s) from the recent past is the prime display piece at shows from April to November. Go to an artist's table -everybody wants to see originals, even if their wallet is only big enough for prints. If it's a big painting (think 18x24, 20x30, even larger) it's a pull from across the hall, draws people to the table. If this is your thing (as an artist, the way you're used to doing con season), you do not want to sell that painting at your second show out of 30 in a season. So you mark it (mentally or with a sticky) NFS. And people ask and ask and ask. (After all -it is clearly your signature piece!) Sometimes it's the same guy all weekend. So then you -in exasperation- quote him a number that sends him packing, say $35k for a 3500 piece. And that's that. A conversation ender. Everybody in this story knows the $35k is not going to happen. But do that a number of times, over a number of con seasons, and it's becomes habit. To the point you don't even think about it anymore, until a young buck (me) comes along and says, "Hey, nice as it is -nobody is going to pay $35k for that. Your market is more like $5k, tops." To which said artist replies, "Yes. Exactly!" You don't see what's wrong with that mentality though? These artists at a convention marketing their work to fans and potential fans. They are actually in a marketplace setting getting annoyed by being asked if something is for sale. may be a conversation ender but it's a good way to lose the respect of the people who support your work and I'm sure that tact, unless this artist is some childhood hero, sends people packing, away from supporting their work in any fashion and moving onto a different artist. I'm not saying they need to sell, plenty of artists I love don't sell but they also don't insult their fans. Either way, this is not the situation with Greg, he's offering select pieces. If you ask about something not for sale, he'll tell you it's not for sale.

And those were fully inked by Todd Mcfarlane. Interior pages went for less than 150 each at HA also inked by Todd and Romitaman listed those interiors for around 300. I think they went low at auction