glendgold

I am curious where you got this from - did the seller have assurances about the provenance?

The webbing on Spidey's face looks awkward, but I have no idea if this is Romita or not. What's weirder -- have you put "La Monde Galleries" into google with that address? Just one result, and it's the NY registration for that firm. No evidence that they otherwise ever existed.

Excellent work, Agent Thirst Trap. The Master is pleased.

Why do you say that?

Yeah. I'm not a DC, Batman, Bronze Age or Neal Adams guy and even I recognize when something walks into the room I should stand up for. This is magnificent.

This is pretty good, too. From Masterworks, and I've never seen it for sale before.

Oh boy.

And the poor seller who knows nothing about how any of this happened, he's just a conduit for art he knows nothing about, seems to have a years-long track record denying he's doing anything wrong: http://www.eyeoncomics.com/?p=3599

Interesting -- hey, it seems like eBay reacted to the reports, which is very cool. One strike against him? Wonder if we can get any further strikes? What do people think of the Bruce Timm sketch he's selling now? https://www.ebay.com/itm/BRUCE-TIMM-ORIGINAL-ART-SKETCH-SIGNED-HARLEY-QUINN-AND-JOKER-No-Reserve-Auc/223619826157

Oh, yeah - even though it (as they used to say about Princess Fergie) "has a past," it's so dynamic and cool I'd be proud to own this too.

Also up is the only golden age Catwoman page I can recall seeing (to be fair, I haven't paid close attention). And it's a good one. https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/bob-kane-and-charles-paris-detective-comics-122-story-page-4-batman-and-robin-original-art/p/7212-67008.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

What's weirder is that HA is very specific about it: 'A powerful cover image, it was created in ink over graphite on the 11.5" x 17" Bristol board with an image area of 10" x 15". Cap measures 12" tall.' So it's not like they slept through describing it. Huh.

Interesting. I was going to say I didn't remember it being twice up, but looked in the Masters of American Comics catalogue, and sure enough, the paper it's on is described as 21 X 14.

It's an easier job to come up with the worst Kirby Cap images, as he seems to have hit more home runs with Cap images than any other characters. It was personal for him, and it shows. That said, to me what makes the 1970s Cap covers less compelling is not how Kirby's art had evolved by then but how he drew Cap's face. In the '60s, Cap had a personality and in the '70s he was a corporate logo. Kirby had divorced himself a little when it came to the simple drawing of eyes, nose and mouth. It's subtle but it's really striking. YMMV. Of the surviving silver age covers, it's like grading John Coltrane albums. A B+ for Coltrane is anyone else's lifetime achievement. And a lot of opinion factors in -- like I'm not a fan of the 101 but other people are. The only Kirby Cap covers that aren't great are the ones that got murdered in production -- 105 and 126. I happen to dig the 104 but a lot of folks complain about the lack of background, which I understand. Beyond that, every cover is pretty golden. Someone more patient can get into the existing splashes, but off the top of my head, same story.

Trick question. The Peanuts with Peppermint Patty, clearly.

Holy cow. Cap 103 cover, that insane FF 59 Black Bolt demi-splash, and, most importantly, the litmus test for the future of the hobby, a Sal Buscema cover. https://comics.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?Ne=1058&N=52+792+4294943616+1067+&limitTo=all&ic5=CatalogHome-ActionArea-Search-071515

Sorry, if you're on the boards, and you collect comic book artwork, there's no way you had a good childhood. It's just science, is all.

Yes, there was a decline at a certain point, and repetition. But: Charles Schulz's genius was in simplicity -- he changed the way comic strips looked, and did so with something that looked like it should be easy. Anyone who tried to copy him realized how hard it was to look so simple. As far as storytelling, that was genius, too, again in its simplicity -- he allowed children to voice their problems in adult voices. If you don't relate to that, it's excellent news, as it means your childhood was trauma-free. G

Welp, I just called eGerber back to order the 1824R and they are out of stock. Till October. And you can't order them or be put on a waitlist. You just have to call back. In October.

Are the 1620R too small for twice-up? That's what I ordered.

Cool, because that would be my first anything to be included in any best thing anywhere. eGerber, just to keep it hilarious all the way around, has a $100 minimum order. I tried Bags Unlimited years ago, but had some quality control issues with them -- have they upped their game in the last, I dunno, 5 years?

Has anyone else ordered from eGerber? Their prices are very good and the quality of the mylar is excellent but holy cow they make it a true headache to get anything from them. You can't order off the website and you can't order via email. You have to phone it in between 10-4 M-F EST only, they don't take Paypal, Venmo or AmEx and it takes them 2-4 weeks to get your stuff into the mail. I asked if embracing the 19th century like that was a conscious decision and the woman told me "Yes." I'll be happy to get the sleeves before the seasons change, but I think they haven't updated their methods since the reign of Howard Rogofsky.

Oh wait -- it's back again.

Annnnd it's gone. That's an unusual outcome -- thank you to everyone who reported it, if that's in fact what got it delisted. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom! G

Wouldn't that be awesome if a) he did so and b) I'd been hiding that the last 20 years? No, but I was in touch with his dealer at Gotham Book Mart. They'd learned never to say no to anything, no matter how insane, and told me where to address my inquiry. I sent him a letter about my interest in his work and a couple of reprints of old Ditko ASMs. Didn't hear back. My impression is that there was some room in his house that was full of unanswered mail, mine included. Sort of associated - one of Gorey's neighbors had a punk rock band called The Freeze. He asked Gorey to do the cover of their album. He did so. I ended up buying it from him. So some people did manage to get Gorey commissions. G