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New podcast/video from Felix Comic Art (UPDATED 1/3/17!)
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1,647 posts in this topic

Just now, RabidFerret said:

You are an art dealer. You are in the business of selling artwork. Your whole purpose is "financial".

But please, show me examples then of where you're equating the art you're selling to wonderful but worthless books from the past? To your point, there must be plenty of examples of you doing this, right?

I'm not an art dealer. I'm a rep. *My* whole purpose isn't financial. If it was, I wouldn't be doing this. More assumptions...

How valuable is DOCTOR STRANGE #55?

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1 minute ago, Nexus said:

I'm not an art dealer. I'm a rep. *My* whole purpose isn't financial. If it was, I wouldn't be doing this. More assumptions...

How valuable is DOCTOR STRANGE #55?

You sell artwork as a business. Your goal is to sell artwork for your clients. Stop defensively splitting hairs on insignificant things.

As for DS55, I don't follow Golden, but given the lone example on Heritage selling for $10k in 2008, I'd imagine it would be worth quite a bit more today.

So I'm still curious what 30 year old art you've been comparing your artists to on artistic merits only?

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16 minutes ago, Nexus said:

I'm not an art dealer. I'm a rep. *My* whole purpose isn't financial. If it was, I wouldn't be doing this. More assumptions...

How valuable is DOCTOR STRANGE #55?

$45 in 9.8. 

I don’t know, Felix. I remember that time you called Ramon Villalobos “the Mexican Jim Lee” and then there was a run on your RV inventory. 

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I didn’t read Thanos Wins but I imagine quite a few art collectors did, possibly more than the 22 pages that were available. If you want a page in today’s hobby, you have to be lightning fast. Maybe collectors want a page not because they believe it’ll increase in value, but because they know someone later will increase the price. 

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1 minute ago, RabidFerret said:

You sell artwork as a business. Your goal is to sell artwork for your clients. Stop defensively splitting hairs on insignificant things.

As for DS55, I don't follow Golden, but given the lone example on Heritage selling for $10k in 2008, I'd imagine it would be worth quite a bit more today.

So I'm still curious what 30 year old art you've been comparing your artists to on artistic merits only?

Splitting hairs, huh? Then you'll like this next one...

Please show me the BOOK that sold for $10K. Because that's what you said, "books".

What's funny about the Golden comparison is that Tradd has also been compared to Todd McFarlane and Art Adams. Both of whom are much bigger fan favorites, and whose art is worth much more, than Michael Golden. Hell, with Tradd's issue being VENOM, it would have been that much easier to mention McFarlane. EXCEPT...I actually like and respect Michael Golden's art, and am mostly ambivalent about McFarlane (I do like Art Adams, but Golden is my favorite of the three!). I also believe Golden is the more apt comparison on technical skill. So...Michael Golden.

I'm also guessing most of the people reading my newsletter have little idea who Michael Golden is, while it's more likely they know McFarlane. I mean, I'm sure Kyle knows who McFarlane is; I'm a lot less sure he knows Golden. So if I'm doing anything other than expressing what I like, I'm doing a pretty crappy job of it.

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27 minutes ago, Jay Olie Espy said:

$45 in 9.8.

lol There you go. Soooo valuable...

27 minutes ago, Jay Olie Espy said:

I don’t know, Felix. I remember that time you called Ramon Villalobos “the Mexican Jim Lee” and then there was a run on your RV inventory. 

lol He IS the Mexican Jim Lee!

I'm pretty sure I said that on Twitter (it's an inside joke with Ramon). I'm not sure I ever put that in a newsletter (although if I did, I'm sure Rabid Ferret and The Shoveler will find it...keep digging, boys). To me, Ramon can be a role model for young Latino comics fans, the way Jim Lee was for young Asian comics fans back in the day. I was one of those kids.

Like I told Rabid Ferret earlier about all the obnoxious DKR references on the podcast...I enjoy amusing myself. Have I been shamelessly hyping my artists lately? Sure. I gotta write up these newsletters every week. I need something to break up the monotony. The "next Frank Miller" bit was meant for a specific reader. Based on previous experience, I'm confident it got to him.

Now...if all it takes is to mention BORN AGAIN or whatever to sell out, then everyone would be doing it. And if all it took was mentioning YEAR ONE for collectors to line up to buy...that's not a very high opinion of collectors. If anyone wants to try, they're welcome to go through all my newsletters, they're all archived on the site. Feel free to pull out all the objectionable quotes. Let's see how many there are out of the 100s of newsletters I've sent out.

Edited by Nexus
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3 minutes ago, Nexus said:

lol There you go. Soooo valuable...

lol He IS the Mexican Jim Lee!

I'm pretty sure I said that on Twitter (it's an inside joke with Ramon). I'm not sure I ever put that in a newsletter (although if I did, I'm sure Rabid Ferret and The Shoveler will find it...keep digging, boys). To me, Ramon can be a role model for young Latino comics fans, the way Jim Lee was for young Asian comics fans back in the day. I was one of those kids.

Like I told Rabid Ferret earlier about all the obnoxious DKR references on the podcast...I enjoy amusing myself. Have I been shamelessly hyping my artists lately? Sure. I gotta write up these newsletters every week. I need something to break up the monotony. Now...if all it takes is to mention BORN AGAIN or whatever to sell out, then everyone would be doing it. And if all it took was mentioning YEAR ONE for collectors to line up to buy...that's not a very high opinion of collectors. If anyone wants to try, they're welcome to go through all my newsletters, they're all archived on the site. Feel free to pull out all the objectionable quotes. Let's see how many there are out of the 100s of newsletters I've sent out.

The first page I bought from you was one by Ramon from Original Sins back when you got started. I so love it. The page is from a mini-series no one read, from an “event” no one cares about today, but I didn’t buy it for that—I bought because it’s Ramon Villalobos. I did crack up when you called him the “Mexican Jim Lee,” but to me he’s the kid from Stockton that made good.

I came across your site looking for Villalobos OA. It was through your site that artists like Garry Brown and Chris Mooneyham entered my radar. I bought a Mooneyham Predator page without ever having read the book it was from because it made such an impression on me. When I posted it on CAF I compared Chris to the megafamous Chris Warner (Go ahead and use that in your newsletter; the first one’s free). (As I begin to trade up, I always consider selling it, but I can’t bring myself to it.) Having followed your site since its nascent stage, I—and many others—watched your roster grow. All of them, in the beginning at least, were relatively unknowns. Soon enough, your clients’ art got better and better, catching the eye of more than just fanboys. Your clients (or bosses) went from working on small titles by Dark Horse and Valiant and Boom! maybe?, to steady work with the Big Two. It was and is an exciting time, to see it all happen, to see it unfold quickly there on the shelves of the LCS, to feel like you were part of all that, and buying a page from these guys was a way to be to feel connected to it, to give them a little support and encouragement, to feel like you got there before the bandwagon did, to show your buddies the original art and say, “You see this guy right here? He’s the next Frank Miller.”

 

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I regret to say I haven’t purchased anything from Felix yet. I’m waiting for that ideal Paul Pope cover or page. This from the guy that’s been trying to get out of comic art for the last year. I’ll just limit myself to three covers for 2018 and hopefully one of those comes from Felix.

Edit- Actually I did try to purchase a piece when the offerings of James Jean went live and literally must have been one second too late.

Edited by Reader
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6 hours ago, Nexus said:

I've not mentioned anything "financial". I'm comparing a supremely talented young artist with a supremely talented older artist. I'm comparing a new story with a well-remembered one.

Yep, when I read these comparisons of younger talent to older talent, I don't infer anything about the potential for comparable financial gain.  For those who say otherwise, isn't that pretty much implicitly assuming that talent cannot be compared across generations without a discussion of $$$?  I don't agree with that at all.  

As for the question of why make comparisons to well-known (re: expensive) works from the past as opposed to "wonderful but worthless books from the past"...well, how many examples of the latter are there where the collector base/marketplace has somehow overlooked supremely talented artists/works for 30-40 years?  Somehow I don't think saying that Tradd Moore's Venom #150 could be "this generation's Strikeforce: Morituri #20" quite does his work justice.  I think many/most would agree that Tradd is an exceptional talent, so, of course any comparison has to be with a high-profile, very well-regarded artist & book (whose value it is only normal the market will have realized).

In any case, anyone who's listened to Felix's podcasts will have heard the very consistent message he has delivered vis-a-vis speculating and investing in original comic book art loud and clear.   

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3 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

Yep, when I read these comparisons of younger talent to older talent, I don't infer anything about the potential for comparable financial gain.  For those who say otherwise, isn't that pretty much implicitly assuming that talent cannot be compared across generations without a discussion of $$$?  I don't agree with that at all.  

As for the question of why make comparisons to well-known (re: expensive) works from the past as opposed to "wonderful but worthless books from the past"...well, how many examples of the latter are there where the collector base/marketplace has somehow overlooked supremely talented artists/works for 30-40 years?  Somehow I don't think saying that Tradd Moore's Venom #150 could be "this generation's Strikeforce: Morituri #20" quite does his work justice.  I think many/most would agree that Tradd is an exceptional talent, so, of course any comparison has to be with a high-profile, very well-regarded artist & book (whose value it is only normal the market will have realized).

In any case, anyone who's listened to Felix's podcasts will have heard the very consistent message he has delivered vis-a-vis speculating and investing in original comic book art loud and clear.   

There's an element of"wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more" to all this, that's getting beaten to death here, that Felix is not going to concede because he's hasn't been caught red handed (yet!) but the onus is the Shoveler to dig up a concrete example (see what I did there???) So I'm kinda bored with that already, but Gene brings up an interesting angle on Comic Art valuation both monetary and aesthetic that I do find interesting when it comes to specific examples of "classic" comics by top tier artists.  D.S. #55 by Golden is a good example.  As comics go, it's been in the bargain bin forever,  it's not a key, it's not slabbed and pressed and traded like N.M. #98.  But it is widely recognized as a great example of Golden's work.

 Same goes for PCR on Dr. Strange Annual #1.  Or even Golden on Avengers Annual #10, which is only a minor key for the fact that it's the first app of Rogue. THAT book is the greatest thing Golden ever did IMO.  Look at Dreadstar, dollar bin stuff, but pages of art are rare and get scooped up.  So there are examples where the reverence for the art and the artist does not match the specific comics popularity in the market.  I always bristle a little when a page of art is sold and priced on the merits of a Comic Price Guide attribute, like first appearance, death of,  written by, etc.  If you are selling a page of TOD #10, first appearance of Blade, but the page you are selling doesn't have Blade on it- is it really relevant? Does it deserve a bump in price?

Art Adams, another good example, a great artist, but I don't think there's a single classic comic that he's ever done that can't be had for less than 10 bucks - yet his art always commands a premium.  

in the comic collecting market, collecting runs is dead, it's all about "Keys", but comic art collecting, for now anyway, is all about collecting the art.  As comic art prices continue to escalate, will we see a point at which the market tries to establish comic art "keys"?  Will a Ditko Spidey from issue #14 command a 3x premium over a Ditko Spidey #18 if all things being equal (# of panels, in costume, etc) the only difference is one is the Key 1st Green Goblin Issue?  I wonder....

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26 minutes ago, MYNAMEISLEGION said:

There's an element of"wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more" to all this, that's getting beaten to death here, that Felix is not going to concede because he's hasn't been caught red handed (yet!) but the onus is the Shoveler to dig up a concrete example (see what I did there???) So I'm kinda bored with that already, but Gene brings up an interesting angle on Comic Art valuation both monetary and aesthetic that I do find interesting when it comes to specific examples of "classic" comics by top tier artists.  D.S. #55 by Golden is a good example.  As comics go, it's been in the bargain bin forever,  it's not a key, it's not slabbed and pressed and traded like N.M. #98.  But it is widely recognized as a great example of Golden's work.

 Same goes for PCR on Dr. Strange Annual #1.  Or even Golden on Avengers Annual #10, which is only a minor key for the fact that it's the first app of Rogue. THAT book is the greatest thing Golden ever did IMO.  Look at Dreadstar, dollar bin stuff, but pages of art are rare and get scooped up.  So there are examples where the reverence for the art and the artist does not match the specific comics popularity in the market.  I always bristle a little when a page of art is sold and priced on the merits of a Comic Price Guide attribute, like first appearance, death of,  written by, etc.  If you are selling a page of TOD #10, first appearance of Blade, but the page you are selling doesn't have Blade on it- is it really relevant? Does it deserve a bump in price?

Art Adams, another good example, a great artist, but I don't think there's a single classic comic that he's ever done that can't be had for less than 10 bucks - yet his art always commands a premium.  

in the comic collecting market, collecting runs is dead, it's all about "Keys", but comic art collecting, for now anyway, is all about collecting the art.  As comic art prices continue to escalate, will we see a point at which the market tries to establish comic art "keys"?  Will a Ditko Spidey from issue #14 command a 3x premium over a Ditko Spidey #18 if all things being equal (# of panels, in costume, etc) the only difference is one is the Key 1st Green Goblin Issue?  I wonder....

Golden’s best Micronauts pages are things that are “close to” grails for me. I don’t have any true grails. But I would love one of those. 

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27 minutes ago, MYNAMEISLEGION said:

 

in the comic collecting market, collecting runs is dead, it's all about "Keys", but comic art collecting, for now anyway, is all about collecting the art.  As comic art prices continue to escalate, will we see a point at which the market tries to establish comic art "keys"?  Will a Ditko Spidey from issue #14 command a 3x premium over a Ditko Spidey #18 if all things being equal (# of panels, in costume, etc) the only difference is one is the Key 1st Green Goblin Issue?  I wonder....

Pages from key issues do command a premium over comparable art from other books. 

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On 1/10/2018 at 11:30 PM, NelsonAI said:

  Do you see anyone clamoring for Gibbons' non-Watchmen art?

   

 

23 hours ago, comix4fun said:

You mean like pages from Superman Annual 11?

 

 

7 hours ago, NelsonAI said:

:gossip: Alan Moore wrote the story.  

1) NO WAY! REALLY?

2) Had you said Moore initially that would make sense....but you sent me back to the TPB searching for the Watchmen crossover in Supes Ann 11. lol 

3) As it is, that's a Khan-ian level stretch. 

8z5nxQH.gif

 

 

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9 hours ago, The Shoveler said:

In that extract posted earlier, I'm not catching that distinction.  I do see a lot of "may be"s, "should be"s, "destined to"s and "will be"s:

 

 Sometimes they'll hear exactly what you say and believe exactly what you say, exactly as you present it to them.

And when you promote somebody as the next Frank Miller and hype their latest project as being analogous to Miller's most lucrative high-water marks, then you build the cliff and announce how fabulous it would be to take a leap.

I'm not seeing anything that immediately translates to dollar values or price appreciation. 

I see LOTS of artistic comparisons to influence, medium elevation or alteration, and being the type of art that would impact fans, future pros, etc. alike. 

When he says Venom #150 can have the same impact as Dr. Strange #55, my mind goes to how distinct and special the artwork in that issue is, how much that art influenced other artists working then and in the future and how much that book is pointed to, artistically, as a landmark in the medium. There's nothing there about dollars and cents and portfolio appreciation. 

If you are talking about EXACTLY as Felix has presented it, that's EXACTLY what he's saying. 

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9 hours ago, The Shoveler said:

Negative.  That's what you inferred.  My statement was clear.  You're simply hearing what you want to hear.

lol Almost everyone in this thread could author this same post. They can't all be right, can they? 

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21 minutes ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

Pages from key issues do command a premium over comparable art from other books. 

but if the things that makes it a "Key" isn't represented on that particular page, like Blade in TOD#10 on a page that doesn't have Blade on it, does it REALLY merit a bump? It,s the same art team as the issue before, and the issue after. Then we are evaluating the art (emphasis on the word "value") for completely non-esthetic purposes.  On the flip side, does the first example of an artist work, or first for a comic or series get a bump if the comic itself doesn't command a premium?  Does the art market follow the little notes in Overstreet or the CGC Census.  A CGC 10.0 copy of Cowpoke Cousin #1 sells for 10,000K, so the interior art, including the page where Cowpoke Cousin meets his arch nemesis, Zane Greyhound suddenly go up 10x?

 

(sorry for throwing philosophical questions out there left and right this morning- I had more than 5 hours of sleep and lots of coffee so I'm a little keyed up)  :blahblah::ohnoez:

Edited by MYNAMEISLEGION
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8 hours ago, The Shoveler said:

A fan who's a dealer that is sending a marketing newsletter hyping the goods as the next Frank Miller product.

 

Anyway, have a great evening.  It was lovely chatting with you.

I'm just going to put this out there because I've found most of your posts to date (prior to this thread) to be erudite and intelligent and well thought out. 

If this is your impression of Felix, his motives, or your interpretations of his words, then you've got it wrong. 

I think the two of you most likely have a tremendous amount in common but your translation of what he said assuming he's talking dollar appreciation instead of artistic appreciation entirely misses the mark. 

If you read these posts, and made this call about what Felix means and who he is then you've got it 100% wrong. I mean that respectfully and in the hopes I might be able to help with a course correction of an obvious misunderstanding. 

Edited by comix4fun
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