npasto

Subject to change, but at the moment... Kirby, Moebius, Kojima, Miller I like expressionism more than strict realism and all of these guys have very distinct and powerful styles. Miller's Ronin almost feels like his take on Moebius-meets-Kojima, but he started to find his own voice around that time and if you look at his Dark Knight/Sin City/300 stuff it's something very different. You can see the transition happening in Ronin, as there are pages where he uses lots of thin lines and cross-hatching and different pages where he uses thick black strokes like in Sin City/300. I'm not too well-versed on the older generations since I grew up in the 90s, but I want to explore the work of Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, John Buscema, and John Romita Sr. more.

Enjoyed the last episode. The topic of what kind of art will retain its value when its nostalgia generation dies out was interesting. I tend to agree with Felix that it will be more based on the artist/creator than the character or title. As a relatively young reader/collector, I couldn't tell you much about the books Crumb, Moebius, and Eisner worked on, but I can recognize their art at a glance. Personally, I'd rather have a nice piece by an influential creator like Jack Kirby of obscure characters than a really great Batman or Spider-Man by a relatively obscure artist. You could also say that it's a rarer commodity, as great pieces of major Marvel/DC characters are continuously being produced whereas any given creator is only going to produce so many works. In other words, the # of Kirby pages is limited, whereas the # of Batman/Spider-Man/X-Men pages is always growing. It keeps those characters relevant, but it also saturates the market with art featuring them. Also enjoyed the brief discussion of digital art and how it's influencing the original art market. I have to say that the idea of a digital commission is repugnant to me, but on the other hand what do you do if one of your favorite creators doesn't actually create physical pages? Southern Bastards is one of my favorite current series, but as far as I know Jason Latour doesn't actually create any complete physical pages. From what I gather he'll do con/signing sketches sometimes, but that's about your only chance to get original Southern Bastards art. Another good example is Greg Smallwood's Moon Knight art. I like that stuff, but I think the majority of it is digitally composed or at least a hybrid of physical/digital components, so there don't seem to be many pages out there. I think these situations actually give the creators a lot of leverage, as their original art is so scarce that they could hypothetically charge a premium (though they would lose out on sheer volume).

Haven't had a chance to listen to this episode yet, but the discussion here is interesting. I'm not an experienced OA collector and I don't claim to be knowledgeable about the market, but even from my limited experience it seems clear that taste is highly subjective. I started reading comics around 1992 when Image was the hot new thing. A lot of that stuff hasn't aged well, but it's what got me into comics. As I got a little older, I started reading the Dark Horse Legend titles like Madman, Sin City, and Hellboy. I took a long break from 1997-2010, but never really changed allegiances. I'm an indie guy. For me, Marvel/DC stuff never held much appeal. I can appreciate the historical significance and I think some of the art is striking, but it doesn't hold a special place in my heart. If anything, I'm turned off by how repetitive all the superhero stuff is. It's largely been the same characters for 50-60 years. How many Captain America, Thor, and Batman stories does the world really need? Well, apparently the answer is infinite, because titles from the big two still absolutely dominate the monthly sales charts, but I digress... When I go to the comic store, I go straight to the indie section. I think that's where most of the exciting work is being done today. A page from Southern Bastards, Descender, or Kill or Be Killed would appeal to me more than a Spider-Man page from a classic artist. I'm not saying that I think it's worth more, only that it's more appealing to me. I've bought a few pages from Felix (all from the series Extremity) because I liked the book and the artist. I wouldn't really call it speculating. I didn't buy those pages because I plan to sell them for a fat profit. I just liked the book and the prices were doable. Most of what I'm looking to buy as a collector is new stuff because that's what I'm reading every week. Is it going to rise in value? Anything is possible. Look at Hellboy art. If you get lucky and get in on the ground floor with a creator or character who goes on to big things, it can pay dividends. If HBO buys the rights to Descender and turns it into a TV series then all of a sudden the art from the "limited series with characters nobody has ever heard of" could be worth a lot, and could perhaps even be made more valuable by the fact that it's limited (how many Spider-Man pages exist vs. Watchmen pages, for example?). That's not why I buy though. I buy it because I like the material, and if it goes up in value then that's just an added bonus. As long as you're buying within your means, I think this approach is fine. If you're treating it like a stock market then that's also fine if that's your MO. Different strokes for different folks. The industry is dominated by the Marvel/DC superhero stuff and that might always be the case, but there's other interesting work out there and you never know where the next great series, creator, or character might come from.

Some nice Kirby pieces in this auction. I like the X-Men action page with Iceman in the bottom panel, but $26k is a lot more than I can afford to spend. If you just like Kirby and don't care too much about the title or characters, the Kamandi stuff went for very reasonable prices. I think the panel page with the horses was a good value. Congrats if one of you got that page.

I couldn't get tickets for the show, but I'm coming down Friday-Sunday to visit with family and maybe stroll around the gaslamp on Saturday. Wouldn't be able to make a Thursday dinner.

I was digging through some old stuff in search of a DVD and I randomly found some con sketches from the 90s (1998?). Erik Larsen - Openface Stuart Immonen - Superman Mystery Artist? - Deadpool I know con sketches aren't a big deal. I'm mainly posting these in hopes that someone can help me ID the Deadpool artist. I'm not really a Marvel or Deadpool fan. I did some quick research, but couldn't figure out who did this.

If you go to a a big con like SDCC then you will see a million guys who can draw well technically. However, many of them lack style and creativity. An artist who is really good at drawing superheroes in the classic Marvel or DC style might get work, but will his work stand out? Maybe not so much. I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to comic art, but personally I gravitate towards artists who have a distinct style. Good examples for me are Jack Kirby, Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, and Jason Latour. Their stuff isn't technically perfect, but it often conveys emotion and tone much more effectively than more "accurate" art. And when you see one of their drawings, you know right away who made it. Same deal in the fine art world. Loads of people can draw or paint photorealistically, but when you see a Picasso, Van Gogh, Basquiat, or Rothko (ick), you know exactly whose work you're looking at. I have a sneaking suspicion that "distinctness" (if you want to call it that) has a role in determining whose OA really becomes valuable (among many other factors), but at the same time I think taste is personal and wouldn't necessarily hold it against someone if they hate Kirby or Miller (even though they're wrong ;)).

I've gone the last four years, but I couldn't get a ticket this year. Tried in the returning registration and open registration with no luck.

I just started, but I don't see myself ever going crazy with it. There are only a handful of older artists that really appeal to me, and the newer stuff is relatively cheap. I think the value is with the new books and artists. A lot of that stuff is still very affordable. I see myself continuing to pick up pages here and there in three figure price range from new books/artists that I like, but I'm not going to be in the mix for a lot of the expensive older stuff. It seems like that ship sailed a long time ago.

Todd McFarlane has a unique style and was an important creator in the early 90s, but I don't understand how his Marvel stuff can fetch 5-6 figures.

Ended up getting a Kamandi page at the very ceiling of what I was willing to pay. Probably overspent by a a few hundred, but I can live with that. I think Jack is in a league of his own as a comic artist and I really wanted to get something by him. While it isn't an action page and doesn't feature any of his most famous creations, I think it represents his trademark style quite well and I get a kick out of the sheer goofiness of the story here. On the downside, my OA budget is tapped for the foreseeable future. Ramen and beans diet from now on.

I'm watching some of the current auctions with interest. I checked old sales last night, but many of them are from so long ago that it would seem the prices are no longer relevant.

What can a guy expect to pay for a decent Kirby page? I'm not talking about the top-of-the-line FF/Cap/Thor stuff that goes for six-seven figures, but basically just any decent panel page from one of his Marvel runs or a nice page from his DC stuff.

Thor sketch by Jason Latour, one of my favorite comic artists. I think this was originally sold as part of a benefit for the ACLU, but I found it on eBay.

Geeze, now I feel a bit guilty for even mentioning it.