Baker Romance 43 43

[MB1952]

looks like first bidder back out, second bidder was offer book for less. 

[comicnoir]

18 minutes ago, kat123 said:

looks like first bidder back out, second bidder was offer book for less. 

But you can't contact underbidders on ebay. Bakerfan had to relist it as a BIN. It doesn't say who bought it.

[Sqeggs]

On 4/15/2019 at 11:11 AM, Ricksneatstuff said:

Well, let's bring this thread off of page 3 in style 

Much thanks to a legendary boardie for allowing me to add this highest graded copy to my top 3 favorite books in my collection. NFS

 

Yowza!  Given the date of this post, I guess I know what you did with your tax refund! 

[Sqeggs]

On 4/17/2019 at 12:30 AM, OtherEric said:

A couple more in today.  I'll take what I can get with Baker; it won't be very long before "not much left to find in my price range" becomes "nothing left to find".

Fightin' Marines 2 is one of the toughest issues in the run.  It's too bad this one has the panels on the left, because the main panel on the right is so good.

[Sqeggs]

On 4/19/2019 at 5:07 PM, OtherEric said:

So, a bit later than would normally go here, but got this one today:

It's from the 70's, but it reprints the entirety of the Baker run on Lassie; all 94 pages.  I think this actually qualifies as the first Baker collected edition; although it has stories by other creators as well.

Nice!  I'll try to track one of these down.  I've never collected (or read) Baker's Lassie books. 

[Sqeggs]

17 hours ago, sagii said:

17 hours ago, Mayor006 said:

And here's apparently the only graded copy. Any insight into this book would be appreciated!

Many legitimate sources consider it a Baker cover (pencils only, one of 5? for Atlas) under HEAVY Vince Colletta inks which almost mask all traces of Baker except to the very sharp eye. 

I have one too but when I submit to CGC I will request a  Baker cover notation on the label citing 'Art of Glamour', and GCD among others.  

Nice copy. Congrats !

I agree that it looks like Baker, although the woman looks very much like Colletta.  I also wonder whether Colletta did the layouts because the composition seems more like what he did than what Baker did.  I've made this point a bunch of times before, but I do wonder what was going on with Baker during this period because there is such a falloff from the great work he was doing near the end at St John to the mediocre stuff he turned out for Quality and Atlas. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Sqeggs

[Sqeggs]

10 hours ago, szav said:

Shady seeming for sure...definitely an underrated Baker (formerly) and deserving of much of the recent love it's gotten imo.  Love the timeless surreal quality of the cover.  One of those books that at a casual glance most people wouldn't be able to tell you what decade it was drawn. But still surprised to see it get $2,800 at 7.0 ... it seems to be the most common of the 4 Nightmare/Amazing Ghost Stories mini-run.  

Does seem odd, particularly with the many bids by the guy with 15 fb.  Is bakerfan a boardie?  

[Sqeggs]

I think we've discussed this one before.  Although not listed in The Art of Glamour checklist, it's pretty clearly Baker.  

Now that I own a copy, it's most definitely Baker! 

[sagii]

8 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

I agree that it looks like Baker, although the woman looks very much like Colletta.  I also wonder whether Colletta did the layouts because the composition seems more like what he did than what Baker did.  I've made this point a bunch of times before, but I do wonder what was going with Baker during this period because there is such a falloff from the great work he was doing near the end at St John to the mediocre stuff he turned out for Quality and Atlas. 

Welcome to the Boards  

[Sqeggs]

2 minutes ago, sagii said:

Welcome to the Boards  

You guys seem like such a fun group, that I had to join in!  

[Sqeggs]

Now I'm a bit dubious about this one.  Also not in The Art of Glamour.  It's a definite, kinda sorta, maybe. 

Pretty cheap, though, so I couldn't resist picking it up.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Sqeggs
Typo

[Sqeggs]

10 hours ago, comicnoir said:

10 hours ago, kat123 said:

looks like first bidder back out, second bidder was offer book for less. 

But you can't contact underbidders on ebay. Bakerfan had to relist it as a BIN. It doesn't say who bought it.

There wasn't much time between the end of the auction and the relist as a BIN, right?  Makes you wonder how the seller could have known so quickly that the winner wouldn't be paying. Unless the winner was concerned by the multiple bids from Mr. fb15. Just rank speculation on my part, of course. 

[sagii]

33 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

I think we've discussed this one before.  Although not listed in The Art of Glamour checklist, it's pretty clearly Baker.  

Now that I own a copy, it's most definitely Baker! 

clearly Baker  And welcome to the club on that one. It has another attractive angle as I've pointed out before, that it's up in the air who is leaving with who? 

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, Sqeggs said:

I agree that it looks like Baker, although the woman looks very much like Colletta.  I also wonder whether Colletta did the layouts because the composition seems more like what he did than what Baker did.  I've made this point a bunch of times before, but I do wonder what was going on with Baker during this period because there is such a falloff from the great work he was doing near the end at St John to the mediocre stuff he turned out for Quality and Atlas. 

Most of Baker’s Quality and Atlas work just doesn’t do it for me. The St. John stuff was stellar but if not for that, I actually prefer his earlier work to the later stuff.

Heck, his Lassie stuff is pretty good too!

Edited April 24, 2019 by Robot Man

[Dr. Love]

 

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

 I've made this point a bunch of times before, but I do wonder what was going on with Baker during this period because there is such a falloff from the great work he was doing near the end at St John to the mediocre stuff he turned out for Quality and Atlas. 

Don't forget - his world ended in August 1955.  It was so much more than just losing the job of Art Director for a prestigious publisher.  He lost his friend, maybe his best friend, Archer St. John.  And who knows the damage caused and what survivor guilt may have come into play because Archer apparently took his own life. 

And then to end up working for Vinnie at some reduced page rate, Vinnie who in some strange way had many of the qualities and life style Baker wanted - handsome, hard living, flashy dresser, charismatic, knew everybody and everybody knew him, hung out with models and movie stars and gangsters, making serious money.  It must have tore him up inside something awful.

He had a bad heart, but sometimes I wonder if he died from a broken heart. Ah, Matt.

 

Edited April 24, 2019 by Dr. Love

[Sqeggs]

1 hour ago, sagii said:

1 hour ago, Sqeggs said:

I think we've discussed this one before.  Although not listed in The Art of Glamour checklist, it's pretty clearly Baker.  

Now that I own a copy, it's most definitely Baker! 

clearly Baker  And welcome to the club on that one. It has another attractive angle as I've pointed out before, that it's up in the air who is leaving with who? 

But ... but ... Nan's clearly leaving with the guy in the bow tie.  Baker always liked a bow tie.  Of course, he also liked ....

[Sqeggs]

32 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Most of Baker’s Quality and Atlas work just doesn’t do it for me. The St. John stuff was stellar but if not for that, I actually prefer his earlier work to the later stuff.

Heck, his Lassie stuff is pretty good too!

I'm going to have track down his issues of Lassie. 

[Sqeggs]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Love said:

Don't forget - his world ended in August 1955.  It was so much more than just losing the job of Art Director for a prestigious publisher.  He lost his friend, maybe his best friend, Archer.  And who knows the damage caused and what survivor guilt may have come into play because Archer apparently took his own life. 

And then to end up working for Vinnie at some reduced page rate, Vinnie who in some strange way had many of the qualities and life style Baker wanted - handsome, hard living, flashy dresser, charismatic, knew everybody and everybody knew him, hung out with models and movie stars and gangsters, making serious money.  It must have tore him up inside something awful.

He had a bad heart, but sometimes I wonder if he died from a broken heart. Ah, Matt.

Good points that may well account for what happened.  

[Ricksneatstuff]

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Yowza!  Given the date of this post, I guess I know what you did with your tax refund! 

 Ha ha! I wish I got tax refunds 

[comicnoir]

2 hours ago, Dr. Love said:

 

Don't forget - his world ended in August 1955.  It was so much more than just losing the job of Art Director for a prestigious publisher.  He lost his friend, maybe his best friend, Archer St. John.  And who knows the damage caused and what survivor guilt may have come into play because Archer apparently took his own life. 

And then to end up working for Vinnie at some reduced page rate, Vinnie who in some strange way had many of the qualities and life style Baker wanted - handsome, hard living, flashy dresser, charismatic, knew everybody and everybody knew him, hung out with models and movie stars and gangsters, making serious money.  It must have tore him up inside something awful.

He had a bad heart, but sometimes I wonder if he died from a broken heart. Ah, Matt.

 

Lovely essay Andy. Baker's life was filled with highs and lows. He had a prosperous life while at St. John's with his yellow Cadillac and nicely tailored suits, and an exotic lifestyle in Mexico. The Archer St. John story is filled with sadness and apparent shame as he was discovered with a mistress. Nowadays no one would bat an eyelash. You're right, it was more than his heart, he went into a depression when St. John's went down. And he went to work for Vinnie who many have speculated was mob connected. 

His is a great American story set with all the elements that make that story. Money, beauty and race. I'm surprised Spike Lee hasn't thought about doing something. I worked with his cousin Malcolm many years ago on a movie called Undercover Brother and showed him Baker's work. His response? "A brother did this?" I think it is time to bring his story to the mainstream.