Post your grail! 1 1

[alxjhnsn]

I'm not sure what a "grail" is, but I know what I want that I probably won't get.

 

There are two items:

 

1) A group shot of the Legion of Super-Heroes by Curt Swan. You can see examples here:

 

http://www.comics.org/issue/246678/cover/4/?style=default

http://www.comics.org/issue/246679/cover/4/?style=default

 

The latter one is in David Mandel's collection. He beat me when it came up for auction as part of the Brad Meltzer led fundraiser for the restoration of Jerry Siegel's boyhood home.

 

 

2) The cover or splash (or really any inside art) for Justice League of America #29 (1st Series). That's my first comic. I know where two pages are and that's a start. Now to find the money.

 

http://www.comics.org/issue/18536/cover/4/?style=default

 

 

I can't complain though, I have some wonderful art from some of my favorite creators - Superman/Swan, Bat Lash/Cardy, TT/Cardy, DD and BW/Colan, S&S/Mayer, Santa and Rudolph/Mayer, and many others. Plus, I have the CAF Favorites Gallery to link in my favorites owned by others. What a great site. http://cafurl.com?i=12727

 

 

 

 

[gambron]

Definitely a fun thread Felix, and congrats on the Nexus piece man.

 

This thread definitely hits very close to home for me. I fell in love with comics probably in 1983 or so at about the age of 8. My grandmother used to take me along to do the weekly food shopping and in the very same "mall" was a small comic shop called "Heroes World" that many LI collectors will remember i'm sure. Thus every week for the hour or so that she would shop, she would let me go hang at Heroes World (Anyone calling CPS yet?). So for that much awaited hour every week I would joyously thumb through the thousands of back issues they had there (That my 8-year old bankroll could never afford of course), just taking in all the great covers, art work and larger than life characters that the Bronze Age had to offer (the Silver-Age stuff was up on the walls of course). In fact to this day every time I read an old comic, I close my eyes, breathe in deep and that smell instantly takes me back the that magical time (I know you all sniff old comics too, cmon, admit it!). Anyway, the title I was always most drawn to was Master of Kung Fu. At the time the Kung Fu craze of the early 80's was at its height. Saturday afternoon Kung Fu movies with the bad dubs, Kung Fu mags at 7-11, Chineese Stars and Nun-Chuks at home, it was an 8 year old's dream come true, haha.

Now fast-forward another 8 or 9 nine years into the future, being a 17 year old comic geek running to the monthly Holiday Inn comic shows (ebay was in its infancy of course), where among other things I was always looking the fill the gaps in my beloved MOKF run (many from Mankuta's infamous "dollar boxes"). By this time I was actually reading the comics of course, and was completely captivated by the incredible Gulacy-Moench run on the title from issues 29-50. Now the Zeck-Day run later and of course the Day run by himself were also great, it was those Gulacy issues, with all the inter-continental James Bond-esque drama, the bits of Eastern philosophy and of course the incredible artwork that sucked me in hook, line and sinker.

Now fast forward another 4 or 5 years to the headstrong 22 year old punk, who moved out of mom and dad's cozy home, to rent a room while bartending to make ends meet. Things were rough in those days and as such my ASM run from 2-300, my Vinatage Star Wars Collection and many other things went to put food in my mouth, a roof over my head etc, etc. However the one thing that always stayed with me, from room to apartment was my long box of MOKF comics. Through those years (22-27) I probably read the entire run (17-125) three or four times, never getting bored and always discovering new little nuances in the artwork, stories etc.

FInally another 5 years into the future, having managed to find my way into a respectable, adult lifestyle (haha) I caught the OA bug. And of course a prime, definitive Gulacy MOKF example was very high on my want-list. When I discovered the whereabouts of the following page, through a friend of a friend, I was prepared to run through a brick wall to coax it away from the previous owner. It was one of those pages that, no matter how much time went by, was always stamped into my memory. Needless to say, the piece is now in my collection and I proudly own a most cherished albeit small part of my childhood. I still have that long box handy too!

 

Sorry for the long winded nature of this guys, but when I saw the thread it really struck a chord. Not a "grail" in the objective sense, but subjectively, it's as good as it gets!

 

Have a great weekend Gents!

 

Ken Rodgers

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=19201

 

Edited January 9, 2010 by gambron

[alxjhnsn]

Ken,

 

I remember that page and I have looked in my copy for decades. What a great example of a really good run.

[vodou]

Perez is not for me, but that pair is a thing of beauty...please tell me you have it framed?!

[KirbyJack]

I just kinda stumbled into OA with a $2 Sal B Hulk page a billion years ago. What that purchase mostly did was create a genuine need for a Fantastic Four page by Kirby. (Great Perez pages, BTW. I remember them well!).

 

[/img]

 

Maybe someday I'll trade 'em all for a better Kirby FF page, but for now I'm happy.

[otherworldsj33]

I like that FF 98 page. Wish I had the cover to that book. What are the other from?

[westform]

Not sure if this is a grail, but it's the piece I wanted when I first got into collecting OA. My goal. It came up via a huge Kirby collector years later who was raising money at San Diego and had a veritable wall full of Kirby treasures.... ahhh, those were the days.... (I'll never forget because Gene Simmons of Kiss strolled by with some bimboesque hottie and was commenting to her to check out all the great Kirby art; the fact, he recognised the work was pretty cool)... anyway, a friend was there first and so he ended up with it, but I managed to work a trade with him shortly after. Funny thing is, acquiring the piece didn't end my collecting desires, if anything I've collected more voraciously afterwards. But, it is one piece I can say with certainty that will not be going anywhere.

 

[adamstrange]

Wonderful MOKF! (thumbs u

[batman_fan]

Not sure if this is a grail, but it's the piece I wanted when I first got into collecting OA. My goal. It came up via a huge Kirby collector years later who was raising money at San Diego and had a veritable wall full of Kirby treasures.... ahhh, those were the days.... (I'll never forget because Gene Simmons of Kiss strolled by with some bimboesque hottie and was commenting to her to check out all the great Kirby art; the fact, he recognised the work was pretty cool)... anyway, a friend was there first and so he ended up with it, but I managed to work a trade with him shortly after. Funny thing is, acquiring the piece didn't end my collecting desires, if anything I've collected more voraciously afterwards. But, it is one piece I can say with certainty that will not be going anywhere.

 

 

I would definitely say that qualifies as a grail!

[KirbyJack]

I like that FF 98 page. Wish I had the cover to that book. What are the other from?

 

The other FF is #78. At the far left is an Eternals page, and I couldn't get the Capt. Victory in the shot.

[detective35]

 

 

"The Creeping Death" Shadow Pulp - Jan 15, 1933

 

Oil on canvas (painting was actually done in 1932)

Edited January 10, 2010 by detective35DF

[SignatureSelect]

Well my grails go into 2 categories. Ones I could never possibly own. and ones I could eventually own if I save up and search hard enough

 

So here are my 2 impossible grails.

 

Death Dealer # 1 (that is the first molly hatchet cover)

 

Adventure Comics # 40 Original Art ( 1st sandman) I doubt this even exist anymore

 

Here are my 2 possible expensive grails

 

The Page From Neil Gaiman's Sandman # 1 that features wesley dodds

 

The Splash Page to Sandman Midnight Theatre by Teddy Kristiansen

[NightGallery1]

 

 

"The Creeping Death" Shadow Pulp - Jan 15, 1933

 

Oil on canvas (painting was actually done in 1932)

 

If I had the opportunity to own the original art to any one pulp cover, this would probably be the one. A magnificent and iconic piece! I looked this one up in the Heritage archives just a few weeks back.

 

My grail would be the Jack Davis' "Tales from the Crypt" #40 cover art. Unfortunately, it's at the frame shop right now and I have no idea how to download an image of it from the Heritage site.

[clemso]

I never thought in a million years that i would have a chance to own this, but I was there at the right time to acquire it. Clem

 

 

 

[batman_fan]

I never thought in a million years that i would have a chance to own this, but I was there at the right time to acquire it. Clem

 

 

 

talk about a sweet splash. I can only imagine how it looks in hand since it is a twice up.

[Bronty]

yeah that is just amazing clem. what a piece.

[KirbyJack]

 

Holy beans! That's stupifying!

[*paull*]

 

 

"The Creeping Death" Shadow Pulp - Jan 15, 1933

 

Oil on canvas (painting was actually done in 1932)

 

My jaw drops every time I see this painting... The condition looks to be phenomenal... Do you know anything about who owned it previously and how it was displayed or stored?

[Satya-migration]

Osamu Tezuka - Robot Maid Olga

 

I would use the G-word here because this represents a major collecting goal for me. Osamu Tezuka's work is revered around the world, and is devilishly tough to find - unless you have bottomless pockets ( I don't, thanks for asking! ) I would have been content to get a panel of some obscure manga that he's worked on. The fact that I own a painted Tezuka commission is still something that I'm unable to wrap my head around.

 

[JLA22fan-migration]