Benedict Judas Hel

I got in my latest addition to my OHOTMU collection with this 1989 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update ‘89 Issue #1 Page 19 Astronomer by Ron Lim and Josef Rubinstein: And the published page:

That’s the main reason I’d love to buy a romance comic page! They are pretty hilarious and would love to give one to a friend as a gift who also finds them hilarious.

Well, here is my very first Heritage auction win which arrived today. Although it’s labeled as being from the 1983 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Book of the Dead #13, my exposure to it (and the main reason I bought it) was from 1987’s The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Book of the Dead Deluxe Edition issue #16 page 47, The Changeling by Bill Reinhold (pencils) and Josef Rubinstein (inks): And here is how the published version appears: And while I know it was ultimately revealed that Changeling died a hero saving the X-Men (under the guise of Professor X), I choose to remember him as a villain. I mean, look at those eyes! Those are crazy man eyes!

I received the next addition to my Fighting Fantasy illustration homage collection with this 11” x 17” commission by Johnny Segura of John Blanche’s satyrs drawing from 1985’s The Crown of Kings: Here’s the original version by John Blanche:

Personally, I won’t be going to California Comic Con.

Yeah, I never vote for my own submissions either. I obviously already believe my collection is great because I forked over my hard-earned money to purchase it. This is just an annual fun little exercise to see if anyone else agrees with me (of which I know that very few people will).

Thanks, Dr. B! The funny thing about this page is that zombie Iron Man is absent from the main top panel group shot but then suddenly appears in the bottom panel. Upon close inspection of the artwork, there is some blue pencil work to the left of Zombie Giant-Man to indicate that Francis Portela intended to include him in that space but never completed it for whatever reason. It’s a bit of a shame for what could have been. But, I did receive another piece of comic art today! This time it is IDW’s 2010 G.I. Joe # 15 Cover A by David Williams: As it appears in print;

Well, I’m in the school of thought of not posting pictures until an item is in my hands. But rest assured, once I do receive it, I will post it in the recent acquisitions thread here. I know. I’m dreading it…

Holy cow! I actually won a Heritage auction?! Finally…my first after about 5 previous tries. I just hope I don’t make it a habit because I don’t think my wallet can take too many of these in a year.

I tend to stay away from modern comic pages but I do make some exceptions for certain covers and…for Marvel zombies! I just got in 2007 Black Panther # 30 Page 11 by Francis Portela: As in appears in print:

That definitely sounds like a very frustrating situation. I wouldn’t mind a chance at that beautiful Scorpion splash though!

Merry Christmas to all! Don’t dance in place too hard!

I have posted about 90% of my art collection on CAF. The pieces I have not posted are either very minor (in my opinion) or adult-oriented (about 2-3 pieces) and do not think they would be appropriate for CAF. However, of those 3, one is a Dan Brereton piece which I feel may be acceptable to post the more I ponder on it. Of the art I do posts, why do I do it? Perhaps there are people who would appreciate some of those pieces in my meager collection as much as I do. Also, my collection may help draw people who may have similar pieces that they may wish to offer to sell to me.

As I stated before, I didn’t make any purchases during CAF Live but placed a few pieces on my Saved List. A couple of sellers reached out to me during the event but the prices were still out of reach. However, one seller reached out to me after the event ended and we were able to come to an agreement. I just made the first timed payment today so I hope to add another page to my collection in the near future…

I appreciate the ComicTracker site and provided my little bit of information to your survey. Thanks for the service you provide!

Continuing in my Fighting Fantasy gamebook illustration homage journey, I received this 11” x 17” commission by Steph Dumais of the Hades Demon that appeared in 1984’s House of Hades (or House of Hell outside of the U.S.): Here is the original illustration by Tim Sell:

I’ve bought a few pieces during past Comic Art Cons and while they are a few pieces that interest me but nothing in particular jumps out at me as an instant buy. The items that interest me are out of my budget range and a couple of sellers have reached out to me about price reductions but I will wait and see if the Sunday drops hold anything that’s right up my alley. There is piece that I would love to have upcoming on Heritage but I have absolutely no luck on that site but that may be because of my own misunderstanding of the workings of their auction rules. I’d like to keep any funds to buy the Heritage piece but I know I probably won’t reasonably win it.

I received this 9” x 12” Vega commission by David Hahn (artist) and Karl Kesel (colorist) today:

I had a bit of a commission drought recently but I just ended it with this 11”x17” Vega and Baroness piece by Steph Dumais (creator of the Zombie Commander from Hell comic book series):

Congratulations, Doc! Glad you were able to get back this piece.

Man, would love that Marvel Team-Up title page with the Living Monolith but the price is juuuuuuust a bit outside of my price range. Great piece, Will!

The price point limit is mostly because of my self-restricted disposable income. It is the maximum amount I feel comfortable spending on this hobby. If a seller is okay with timed payments I could exceed that $2500 limit but anything above $600, I would need a monthly payment plan.

My collecting criteria for comic book art is as follows: 1) Marvel Comics 2) 70’s-early 90’s era 3) Villain-centric 4) Large Panels 5) Up to $2500 in price I may stray a bit from these requirements but for the most part, these are fairly rigid.

Yup, before the mass proliferation of cell phones, personal computers, video games or the internet, these books were a major source of entertainment allowing my imagination to soar and the detailed illustrations from the books were a major reason. For only $1.95 (or $2.25), I could sit back and go an adventure for a couple of hours. And not just once because you could go exploring and take different paths within the same gamebook. It spawned great memories that prompted to collect every book in the original series (except one) and every new one released thus far.

I am not sure what the rules concerning artwork with partial nudity are on this site but I decided to play it safe and censored the latest commission I got in. I love the 80’s Fighting Fantasy gamebooks (particularly the original 21 books) but being in the original art collecting hobby for 2-3 years makes me slowly realize that I will probably never own the original illustrations I want the most as they will most likely be out of my meager means. Therefore, I recently decided to get homages of my favorite ones done starting with the mirror demon by Iain McCaig which appeared in the 1984 book, Deathtrap Dungeon. This is the rendition done by Mike Hoffman: The original illustration: