A-level panel page valuations by artist/run - thoughts/additions/changes? 5 5

[Garf]

Off topic, but I mentioned before that Jill Thompson Sandman should be in the 3-5K tier. A B+ page sold for $3500 in the last clink auction and I sold a borderline A page in that range back in 2008 or so.

 

I'm guessing Hempel would be similar for a true A page, but don't have any first hand knowledge. Hell, you could almost make a listing for "Sandman (Other artist)" in that tier as I think an A page from anybody who worked on the main title is going over 3K at this point.

 

Funnily enough I was holding off doing a derail into other artists possibly missing from the list but seeing as you have opened that book ... what about JHW3 DPSes? To me the layout porn alone in Promethea and Batwoman stands out as pushing at the boundaries of comic art. Promethea also has the addition of Alan Moore and associated speech bubbles into the mix which for a lot of people is a big plus. I haven't really seen that many secondary market sales but they do go for a pretty penny at source (sometimes for more than the covers). Are the A examples in the lower brackets on the secondary market?

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=597658&GSub=92901

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=812320&GSub=80942

 

 

I bought the DPSes from Promethea 24 and 25 IIRC from Mick Gray directly, $400 and $500 at the time of publication. 24 was pedestrian and 25 was stellar. I sold, rebought, and resold the dps for 25 since then (and it is a nice one) and it is $800-$1500 tops. Maybe a little more on a good day but cracking $2.5K would surprise me greatly.

 

Hrrm... I am at a disadvantage here as I have only been watching that particular market for the past few months, interesting to hear what you have to say about it. Recently I have only seen what is available from dealers which seems to be in the range of $800 - $1800 for C / B examples, but I don't know how long they have sat there waiting for the right person.

[robert frey]

I take it you mean that the prices you mention for BWS Machine Man are for the books he (just) inked, correct, from issues 1 thru 3?

[Bird]

yes, although I thought Trimpe did loose layouts and not full pencils so I consider itmore than just BWS inks. I wish we could see pencil scans of these like we have been able to do with Miller / Janson and Miller / Rubinstein!

Edited December 15, 2014 by Bird

[delekkerste]

All depends on what you value, but if you're judging them by how good a shot of Batman is on the page, I think you can see a clear downward trend since that first one of this flurry showed its face 3 years ago.

 

Agreed. It's hard to remember now, but DKR pages were actually once hard to find, and multiple examples didn't show up in every quarterly auction cycle! As such, B+ pages would routinely fetch $40K (plus or minus $5K) when they appeared. But, you know what they say, there's no cure for high prices like high prices, and these auction results really brought out a supply response. As such, a lot of A/A- pages now fetch what B+/B pages fetched a few years ago. To the outsider, the prices might not look like they've changed much, but those dollars now buy a better caliber of DKR page.

 

It's actually a little crazy if you think about it - prime OA has gone up a lot in the past several years, but DKR prices haven't really participated at all, except at the A+ end of the spectrum.

 

I know some people thought the $33K sale of that DKR #2 page yesterday was high, but I think that one would have traded $40-$50K+ a few years ago. I also think the other page that sold for $14K was dirt cheap - that one's gotta be at least half off of where it would have been a few years ago.

[delekkerste]

$20-30k

 

McFarlane Spidey

 

The ASM 322 splash just sold at CLink for $16,888. This is why I have a problem with McSpidey being $20-$30K - this is a good-looking, p. 1 splash from the main Spidey title featuring a pretty darn good, large, front-facing, full-body Spidey action shot with one of the more memorable supporting cast (Silver Sable) from the run, with lots of good detail to boot. This is a solid A splash as far as I'm concerned, and it finished closer to $15K than $20K.

 

While I'm sure there are McSpidey interiors that would fetch $20-$30K, I think they might more properly be classified as A+ pages.

 

I gotta disagree with you, Gene. I thought the inks looked faded, especially on Spidey, and I avoided bidding on this one because of that. I'm sure there are others who felt the same.

 

How much of a discount do you think that (may have) resulted in? Still looks well bought to me, and, given the McSpidey auction results over the past year, this is far from the only data point that suggests that McSpidey interiors are not where they were as recently as 2012.

 

The hits just keep on coming for the McSpidey market...only $6.5K for a sweet McSpidey ASM page featuring both Cap and Spidey, $23.9K for the McSpidey ASM #307 cover (no Spidey, but that price is still nothing short of catastrophic) and even that Marvel Tales cover resold at a loss. More than one person has drawn parallels to what happened with the DKR market.

 

It'll be really interesting to see how the ASM #317 cover does at CLink next week.

[vodou]

There were a number of items yesterday I thought the bidding either petered out early on, or seemed to struggle rather low only to be revitalized (barely) and get enough additional action to hit 'range'. That Cockrum cover, 33k DKR, Chameleon ASM, three examples of this.

 

One could argue this is an A-level discussion and those aren't A-level works, okay...but is some softness starting to set in? Do a larger proportion of top-dollar folks now have their examples and aren't chasing? Or maybe just a so-so sale that nobody got very excited about and the bid action reflected that?

 

Let's remember there's been some public chatter about 2015 being a year where certain collectors are backing off, myself included. In general I don't move the needle on what most of you collect, but I do for my specialties (but am not this year). Those other collectors, some of them do move nostalgia/superhero needle.

[jjeanius]

Pretty sure I saw that ASM Cap page at ECCC last year with a price tag of $4k...? Discussed it with several collectors at the time, and consensus was that the price was fair.

 

What was the previous sale on the Marvel Tales cover? I know Albert had it for a very long time, but I thought it finally changed hands @ $25k...?

 

 

[J.Sid]

$20-30k

 

McFarlane Spidey

 

The ASM 322 splash just sold at CLink for $16,888. This is why I have a problem with McSpidey being $20-$30K - this is a good-looking, p. 1 splash from the main Spidey title featuring a pretty darn good, large, front-facing, full-body Spidey action shot with one of the more memorable supporting cast (Silver Sable) from the run, with lots of good detail to boot. This is a solid A splash as far as I'm concerned, and it finished closer to $15K than $20K.

 

While I'm sure there are McSpidey interiors that would fetch $20-$30K, I think they might more properly be classified as A+ pages.

 

I gotta disagree with you, Gene. I thought the inks looked faded, especially on Spidey, and I avoided bidding on this one because of that. I'm sure there are others who felt the same.

 

How much of a discount do you think that (may have) resulted in? Still looks well bought to me, and, given the McSpidey auction results over the past year, this is far from the only data point that suggests that McSpidey interiors are not where they were as recently as 2012.

 

The hits just keep on coming for the McSpidey market...only $6.5K for a sweet McSpidey ASM page featuring both Cap and Spidey, $23.9K for the McSpidey ASM #307 cover (no Spidey, but that price is still nothing short of catastrophic) and even that Marvel Tales cover resold at a loss. More than one person has drawn parallels to what happened with the DKR market.

 

It'll be really interesting to see how the ASM #317 cover does at CLink next week.

 

All three were bad but understandable results for McFarlane collectors (unless you won one of them).

 

I loved the McFarlane Cap/Spidey page, and would have pushed the panel page higher, but I decided to save my money for later to take a shot at the Mutant Leader page (yes, I got smacked down)

 

Still, I think one of the good things the McSpidey "market" has going for it is that Todd sold all that stuff decades ago, it's scattered to the four corners of the earth among hundreds of collectors, and people still love it. Before the Shamus flood, great pages had been pretty scarce for a while, and I predict it will be like that again soon enough.

 

 

 

[J.Sid]

 

What was the previous sale on the Marvel Tales cover? I know Albert had it for a very long time, but I thought it finally changed hands @ $25k...?

 

 

It has bounced around a bit of late, and is actually still up in Albert's trade gallery as I type this.

 

Definitely a cool cover, but with all the black space I can see how there is a bit of ennui about it after seeing it pop up over and over the last couple years.

[jjonahjameson1]

$20-30k

 

McFarlane Spidey

 

The ASM 322 splash just sold at CLink for $16,888. This is why I have a problem with McSpidey being $20-$30K - this is a good-looking, p. 1 splash from the main Spidey title featuring a pretty darn good, large, front-facing, full-body Spidey action shot with one of the more memorable supporting cast (Silver Sable) from the run, with lots of good detail to boot. This is a solid A splash as far as I'm concerned, and it finished closer to $15K than $20K.

 

While I'm sure there are McSpidey interiors that would fetch $20-$30K, I think they might more properly be classified as A+ pages.

 

I gotta disagree with you, Gene. I thought the inks looked faded, especially on Spidey, and I avoided bidding on this one because of that. I'm sure there are others who felt the same.

 

How much of a discount do you think that (may have) resulted in? Still looks well bought to me, and, given the McSpidey auction results over the past year, this is far from the only data point that suggests that McSpidey interiors are not where they were as recently as 2012.

 

The hits just keep on coming for the McSpidey market...only $6.5K for a sweet McSpidey ASM page featuring both Cap and Spidey, $23.9K for the McSpidey ASM #307 cover (no Spidey, but that price is still nothing short of catastrophic) and even that Marvel Tales cover resold at a loss. More than one person has drawn parallels to what happened with the DKR market.

 

It'll be really interesting to see how the ASM #317 cover does at CLink next week.

 

Y'know sumthin'? If I were interested in going for this cover, I would say the exact same thing, just to have potential bidders second - guess/revise their bids downwards so that I could then swoop in and get the cover cheaper.

[delekkerste]

Y'know sumthin'? If I were interested in going for this cover, I would say the exact same thing, just to have potential bidders second - guess/revise their bids downwards so that I could then swoop in and get the cover cheaper.

 

I don't know what anyone else might do, but I would never try to talk down somebody's piece publicly in order to try and buy it cheaper, because I'm not a scumbag and would never do that.

 

For the record, I have no interest in this cover and, in fact, have no interest in acquiring another McSpidey piece, period - the #299 cover has more than scratched that small itch for me. I'm just here saying what is blatantly obvious to 99% of people in this hobby - the McSpidey market is simply not what it was in the antediluvian, pre-Shamus flood times. Whether it gets back to where it was remains to be seen, but the prolonged decline in the DKR market over the past 4 years does not set a hopeful precedent.

[Dick O.]

Time for an update?

 

 

$40k and higher

 

Kirby - Fantastic Four 2up

Ditko - Spider-man

Bolland - Killing Joke

Miller - Dark Knight Returns

Wrightson - Frankenstein Plates

 

$30-40k

 

Romita Sr - Spider-man 2up

Frazetta - Creepy (Werewolf Story)

Ditko - Dr.Strange 2up

 

$20-30k

 

McFarlane - Spider-man (ASM)

Byrne - X-men

Gibbons - Watchmen

Wood - Daredevil

Kirby - Tales of Suspense/Avengers

Steranko - X-men/Other

Miller - 300 (note: each "page" is a DPS)

 

$10-20k

 

Wrightson - Swamp Thing

Miller - DD/Ronin/Wolverine/Sin City

Romita - Spider-man small-art

Neal Adams - Batman/X-men

Kane/Sprang - Batman 2up

Cockrum - X-men 1st run

John Buscema - Silver Surfer

BWS - Conan

Frazetta - Thun’da/Others

Kirby/Stone - Journey into Mystery/X-men 2up

Bolland - Judge Dredd

Totleben - Miracleman

McKean - Arkham Asylum

Lloyd - V for Vendetta

Kieth - Sandman

Dringenberg - Sandman

Kirby FF - small-art

Everett - GA work

Leach - Miracleman

 

$5-10k

 

Totleben - Swamp Thing

Swan - Superman 2up

Kubert - Hawkman/War Art 2up

Sekowsky - JLA 2up (Crisis issues)

Perez/Marcos - Avengers 1st run

Mignola - Hellboy

Buscema - Avengers 1st run

Marshall Rogers - Detective

Neal Adams - Deadman/Green Lantern/Avengers

Mazzucchelli - Daredevil Born Again

Starlin - Captain Marvel and related

Colan - Daredevil

Alex Ross - Marvels/Kingdom Come

Michael Golden - Dr.Strange/Avengers Annual

BWS - Weapon X/Iron Man

Jim Lee - Hush/X-men

Swan/Perez - Superman Man of Tomorrow

Kaluta - Shadow

Byrne - Fantastic Four/Iron Fist

Tony Moore - Walking Dead

Zeck - Punisher/Spidey Kraven Last Hunt

Gibbons - Superman Annual 11

Bachalo - Sandman/Death

Kelley Jones - Sandman

Sienkiewicz - Elektra Assassin

Simonson - Thor (Simonson inks)

Everett - 1970's work

Gulacy - MOKF (pen & ink)

Ditko - Warren work

Wrightson - Warren work

Ware

Miller - ASM Annual

Paul Smith - X-men

 

$3-5k

 

Byrne - Cap/MTU/Avengers 1st run

Infantino - Flash 2up

Gil Kane - Atom/Green Lantern 2up

Perez - New Teen Titans/Crisis/Infinity Gauntlet

Art Adams - Longshot/X-men Annual

Ploog - Werewolf by Night/Ghost Rider

Aparo - Batman 1970’s

Michael Turner - Superman/Batman

Cockrum - X-men 2nd run

Dillon - Preacher

Adlard - Walking Dead

Kirby - Cap 2nd run/DC work

Wood/Ingels/Kurtzman/Davis - EC work

Gulacy - MOKF (other inkers)

JRJR - ASM 1st run

Andru - ASM

Hernandez - Love and Rockets

Colan - TOS/Iron Man 2up

Clowes

BWS - Machine Man

[J.Sid]

Well for starters, Byrne X-Men "A" pages are now $60k

 

[delekkerste]

Well for starters, Byrne X-Men "A" pages are now $60k

 

A-level anything is now $65K.

[vodou]

Well for starters, Byrne X-Men "A" pages are now $60k

 

A-level anything is now $65K.

B++ Wrightson Swamp Thing (no Werewolf) is still $56k. This is your contrarian out-of-favor opportunity!

[comiconxion]

May be time to add A-level Liefeld New Mutants pages with Cable and/or Deadpool in the $3-5k range.

[Dick O.]

Added Liefeld and bumped Byrne!

 

 

$40k and higher

 

Kirby - Fantastic Four 2up

Ditko - Spider-man

Bolland - Killing Joke

Miller - Dark Knight Returns

Wrightson - Frankenstein Plates

 

$30-40k

 

Romita Sr - Spider-man 2up

Frazetta - Creepy (Werewolf Story)

Ditko - Dr.Strange 2up

Byrne - X-men

 

$20-30k

 

McFarlane - Spider-man (ASM)

Gibbons - Watchmen

Wood - Daredevil

Kirby - Tales of Suspense/Avengers

Steranko - X-men/Other

Miller - 300 (note: each "page" is a DPS)

 

$10-20k

 

Wrightson - Swamp Thing

Miller - DD/Ronin/Wolverine/Sin City

Romita - Spider-man small-art

Neal Adams - Batman/X-men

Kane/Sprang - Batman 2up

Cockrum - X-men 1st run

John Buscema - Silver Surfer

BWS - Conan

Frazetta - Thun’da/Others

Kirby/Stone - Journey into Mystery/X-men 2up

Bolland - Judge Dredd

Totleben - Miracleman

McKean - Arkham Asylum

Lloyd - V for Vendetta

Kieth - Sandman

Dringenberg - Sandman

Kirby FF - small-art

Everett - GA work

Leach - Miracleman

 

$5-10k

 

Totleben - Swamp Thing

Swan - Superman 2up

Kubert - Hawkman/War Art 2up

Sekowsky - JLA 2up (Crisis issues)

Perez/Marcos - Avengers 1st run

Mignola - Hellboy

Buscema - Avengers 1st run

Marshall Rogers - Detective

Neal Adams - Deadman/Green Lantern/Avengers

Mazzucchelli - Daredevil Born Again

Starlin - Captain Marvel and related

Colan - Daredevil

Alex Ross - Marvels/Kingdom Come

Michael Golden - Dr.Strange/Avengers Annual

BWS - Weapon X/Iron Man

Jim Lee - Hush/X-men

Swan/Perez - Superman Man of Tomorrow

Kaluta - Shadow

Byrne - Fantastic Four/Iron Fist

Tony Moore - Walking Dead

Zeck - Punisher/Spidey Kraven Last Hunt

Gibbons - Superman Annual 11

Bachalo - Sandman/Death

Kelley Jones - Sandman

Sienkiewicz - Elektra Assassin

Simonson - Thor (Simonson inks)

Everett - 1970's work

Gulacy - MOKF (pen & ink)

Ditko - Warren work

Wrightson - Warren work

Ware

Miller - ASM Annual

Paul Smith - X-men

 

$3-5k

 

Byrne - Cap/MTU/Avengers 1st run

Infantino - Flash 2up

Gil Kane - Atom/Green Lantern 2up

Perez - New Teen Titans/Crisis/Infinity Gauntlet

Art Adams - Longshot/X-men Annual

Ploog - Werewolf by Night/Ghost Rider

Aparo - Batman 1970’s

Michael Turner - Superman/Batman

Cockrum - X-men 2nd run

Dillon - Preacher

Adlard - Walking Dead

Kirby - Cap 2nd run/DC work

Wood/Ingels/Kurtzman/Davis - EC work

Gulacy - MOKF (other inkers)

JRJR - ASM 1st run

Andru - ASM

Hernandez - Love and Rockets

Colan - TOS/Iron Man 2up

Clowes

BWS - Machine Man

Liefeld - New Mutants

[Dick O.]

Has anyone's prices moved down?

[Solar]

It would really be a mind blowing exercise, but it is interesting to consider how many multiples of value an A+ page is over the A/B pages. (Are there D/F pages? I guess so, but in Sandman? Anyway, I digress...) For example, Jill Thompson Sandman A+ may indeed belong in the $3-$5K tier, but I bought ($400/page) and sold (at around $600/page) a 3 page sequence in the last few years and sold a really nice A page for under $2K (Destiny, Dream and Delirium all on page and I had tried selling it for a while, a memorable moment as well - you would remember it immediately). "Lesser" Sandman artists pages are a third of the A+ pages at least, no?

 

I just now saw this reply to my post from a year ago

 

A-level Thompson Sandman (not just A+) is definitely in this range consistently. Here are a couple semi-recent examples (grades are obviously IMO):

 

B+

http://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/jill-thompson-sandman-v2-47-brief-lives-part-7-page-6-dream-and-delirium-original-art-dc-1993-/a/7104-91274.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

 

B/B-

http://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/jill-thompson-and-vince-locke-sandman-v2-46-page-22-dream-and-delirium-original-art-dc-vertigo-1993-total-4-items-/a/7104-91273.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

 

In Sandman, from what I've seen/experienced, the multiples come in to play for Endless vs. non-Endless pages. Sandman pages without an Endless family member barely even register any interest. It's not an A or B page unless it features Morpheus and/or Death.

[J.Sid]

Who wants to take a stab at updating this for 2016?

 

Should we just remove a zero from the end of all the numbers?