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How to get a blank comic sketched?
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18 posts in this topic

Hello fellow comic collectors and good day!

I have a few questions regarding blank cover comics. My first question is how can I get a sketch done? I am aware that I need to go to a convention, but I am worried that I will get a green label instead of a yellow label (when I submit the book to be graded). Another quick question is do I need to have the artist of that specific book draw the sketch? Or can I, for example, have someone like Stanley 'Artgerm' Lau draw the sketch on a marvel book. Thanks again for the responses and have a wonderful day!

Happy collecting :) 

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It has to be done in the presence of a CGC representative. Go to the CGC website and read about it. There are no rules as to the artist that can sign but it it very much frowned upon to get a DC artist to sign a Marvel book. Why would you do that ?

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15 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

It has to be done in the presence of a CGC representative. Go to the CGC website and read about it. There are no rules as to the artist that can sign but it it very much frowned upon to get a DC artist to sign a Marvel book. Why would you do that ?

Does it have to be the artist for that specific series to do the sketch? I have a Captain Marvel blank cover that I would like to be sketched, so do I have to have the same artist or can I have any Marvel artist draw the sketch?

Also where on the CGC website should I look? I can't find it. The closest I can find is CGC signature series related. Thanks again for the help! 

Edited by Spawn1709
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13 minutes ago, Spawn1709 said:
15 hours ago, Bomber-Bob said:

It has to be done in the presence of a CGC representative. Go to the CGC website and read about it. There are no rules as to the artist that can sign but it it very much frowned upon to get a DC artist to sign a Marvel book. Why would you do that ?

Does it have to be the artist for that specific series to do the sketch? I have a Captain Marvel blank cover that I would like to be sketched, so do I have to have the same artist or can I have any Marvel artist draw the sketch?

Also where on the CGC website should I look? I can't find it. The closest I can find is CGC signature series related. Thanks again for the help! 

the CGC signature series forum should have some info.  Other than that, you can just email CGC directly, they're fairly responsive. 

I did it before a few years ago, here's how my process went (note some things might have changed, but I don't think a lot), though I would call CGC or go to the CGC booth at the show BEFORE doing anything else.

1.  Get my own blank sketch cover comic.  Put it in a bag with my name and phone number on the board inside the bag.

2.  Go find the artist.

3.  Negotiate a price with the artist, and what you want drawn.  And get an estimate of pickup-time.

4.  Around pickup-time, check with the artist to see if they're done.  DO NOT TAKE POSSESSION OF THE COMIC AT THIS TIME.

5.  Go to the CGC booth (or find the facilitator at the con if you're using one), and grab a CGC SS WITNESS. 

6.  Bring the witness with you to the booth.  Pickup the book.

7.  Walk the book back to the CGC booth with the CGC SS WITNESS (or just hand it to the facilitator).

8.  Fill out paperwork and pay! Boom!

 

You can get any artist to draw any character they're willing to draw, regardless of company, though it generally makes more sense to have them draw on the appropriate blank (no good reason to get an Ant-Man drawn on a Supergirl blank).  Its your money.  I don't think the artist cares that much.  And as for resale, the artist and quality of the art and subject of the art matter way more than the company employing the artist.

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29 minutes ago, revat said:

the CGC signature series forum should have some info.  Other than that, you can just email CGC directly, they're fairly responsive. 

I did it before a few years ago, here's how my process went (note some things might have changed, but I don't think a lot), though I would call CGC or go to the CGC booth at the show BEFORE doing anything else.

1.  Get my own blank sketch cover comic.  Put it in a bag with my name and phone number on the board inside the bag.

2.  Go find the artist.

3.  Negotiate a price with the artist, and what you want drawn.  And get an estimate of pickup-time.

4.  Around pickup-time, check with the artist to see if they're done.  DO NOT TAKE POSSESSION OF THE COMIC AT THIS TIME.

5.  Go to the CGC booth (or find the facilitator at the con if you're using one), and grab a CGC SS WITNESS. 

6.  Bring the witness with you to the booth.  Pickup the book.

7.  Walk the book back to the CGC booth with the CGC SS WITNESS (or just hand it to the facilitator).

8.  Fill out paperwork and pay! Boom!

 

You can get any artist to draw any character they're willing to draw, regardless of company, though it generally makes more sense to have them draw on the appropriate blank (no good reason to get an Ant-Man drawn on a Supergirl blank).  Its your money.  I don't think the artist cares that much.  And as for resale, the artist and quality of the art and subject of the art matter way more than the company employing the artist.

Great info - and I don’t believe it has changed much - I was next to a guy who was retrieving a sketch the same time I was getting a signature , the CGC rep witnesses both and we went back to the booth 

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1 hour ago, revat said:

the CGC signature series forum should have some info.  Other than that, you can just email CGC directly, they're fairly responsive. 

I did it before a few years ago, here's how my process went (note some things might have changed, but I don't think a lot), though I would call CGC or go to the CGC booth at the show BEFORE doing anything else.

1.  Get my own blank sketch cover comic.  Put it in a bag with my name and phone number on the board inside the bag.

2.  Go find the artist.

3.  Negotiate a price with the artist, and what you want drawn.  And get an estimate of pickup-time.

4.  Around pickup-time, check with the artist to see if they're done.  DO NOT TAKE POSSESSION OF THE COMIC AT THIS TIME.

5.  Go to the CGC booth (or find the facilitator at the con if you're using one), and grab a CGC SS WITNESS. 

6.  Bring the witness with you to the booth.  Pickup the book.

7.  Walk the book back to the CGC booth with the CGC SS WITNESS (or just hand it to the facilitator).

8.  Fill out paperwork and pay! Boom!

 

You can get any artist to draw any character they're willing to draw, regardless of company, though it generally makes more sense to have them draw on the appropriate blank (no good reason to get an Ant-Man drawn on a Supergirl blank).  Its your money.  I don't think the artist cares that much.  And as for resale, the artist and quality of the art and subject of the art matter way more than the company employing the artist.

Thanks a lot! Very helpful! Does CGC usually have a booth at Comic-Con?

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11 minutes ago, Spawn1709 said:

Thanks a lot! Very helpful! Does CGC usually have a booth at Comic-Con?

depends on size and location of the con.  If you go to the CGC website there is calendar and lists of where they are going.  In the event that CGC is NOT at that convention, there is a chance (though certainly not guaranteed) that a there may be a CGC SS facilitator going to that con who MIGHT be able to help you, generally for an ADDITIONAL fee.  In the event of that occurrence, you should definitely contact that person ahead of time to confirm the appropriate procedures and fees.  You should poke around the Signature sub-forum and learn what you can.

 

It should also be noted that SOME artists have limited slots available for original art to be done at a show (or per day at a show), so you may have to get in line early or join a lottery or contact them ahead of time, and/or pay an exorbitant fee.  To the extent that its possible, you should consider researching those things ahead of time.  You mentioned Artgerm earlier.  I would expect his slots (if he has them) to fill out, as he is pretty popular now.  So if you're serious, you should consider taking the necessary steps to find out how to make things happen for you. 

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2 hours ago, revat said:

depends on size and location of the con.  If you go to the CGC website there is calendar and lists of where they are going.  In the event that CGC is NOT at that convention, there is a chance (though certainly not guaranteed) that a there may be a CGC SS facilitator going to that con who MIGHT be able to help you, generally for an ADDITIONAL fee.  In the event of that occurrence, you should definitely contact that person ahead of time to confirm the appropriate procedures and fees.  You should poke around the Signature sub-forum and learn what you can.

 

It should also be noted that SOME artists have limited slots available for original art to be done at a show (or per day at a show), so you may have to get in line early or join a lottery or contact them ahead of time, and/or pay an exorbitant fee.  To the extent that its possible, you should consider researching those things ahead of time.  You mentioned Artgerm earlier.  I would expect his slots (if he has them) to fill out, as he is pretty popular now.  So if you're serious, you should consider taking the necessary steps to find out how to make things happen for you. 

It's a pretty big one. At least I think it is. One of the biggest cities in North America, so I think that CGC will be there. Anyways, it's not for another couple of months so I have some time. Thanks again for helping me out!! 

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1 minute ago, Spawn1709 said:

One more question. Could I send a book to CGC and have them take care of the sketch? Kind of like how you do it with CGC Signature Series, but instead of a signature, it could be a sketch? Is that a possibility? Thanks. 

I don't think you can do any of those things.  You CAN send a book to a CGC SS FACILITATOR (they are generally not CGC employees), and they'll get a sig for you.  Many times those same FACILITATORS can pick up pick up sketched books for CGC SS as well, for a fee of course.  But sometimes you have to arrange things ahead of time with the artist and CGC SS Facilitator as to the logistics of such a transaction. 

Additionally, sometimes there are CGC SS Sketch Opportunities held in the Signature subforum, where essentially slots are sold by CGC SS facilitators to get sketch covers done. 

Either way, you should REALLY explore the signature subforum, you'll learn a lot and will probably answer many questions you never knew you had.

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8 minutes ago, Spawn1709 said:

One more question. Could I send a book to CGC and have them take care of the sketch? Kind of like how you do it with CGC Signature Series, but instead of a signature, it could be a sketch? Is that a possibility? Thanks. 

I don't think that's how it works for either a sketch or signature. You can't just send the book to CGC and they take care of it ? For all practical purposes, there is no need to differentiate between a sketch and/or signature = they are both handled the same from a CGC standpoint. I agree with the advice given above by @revat. Do a little more homework as you still seem fuzzy on the process.

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5 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I don't think that's how it works for either a sketch or signature. You can't just send the book to CGC and they take care of it ? For all practical purposes, there is no need to differentiate between a sketch and/or signature = they are both handled the same from a CGC standpoint. I agree with the advice given above by @revat. Do a little more homework as you still seem fuzzy on the process.

 

11 minutes ago, revat said:

I don't think you can do any of those things.  You CAN send a book to a CGC SS FACILITATOR (they are generally not CGC employees), and they'll get a sig for you.  Many times those same FACILITATORS can pick up pick up sketched books for CGC SS as well, for a fee of course.  But sometimes you have to arrange things ahead of time with the artist and CGC SS Facilitator as to the logistics of such a transaction. 

Additionally, sometimes there are CGC SS Sketch Opportunities held in the Signature subforum, where essentially slots are sold by CGC SS facilitators to get sketch covers done. 

Either way, you should REALLY explore the signature subforum, you'll learn a lot and will probably answer many questions you never knew you had.

Thanks, both of you! I'll definitely check out the signature series subforum. It turns out that CGC won't be at my Comic-Con (which is actually really surprising considering the size of it and the city) so I have some time to consider all my options. 

Thanks everyone for being so helpful!! 

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I would contact customer service, but if you are getting a commission that may take several days or weeks, I believe you can have the artist send the book directly from them and sign an affidavit (sp?) saying they are the artist and was the one who did the art and signed it and then the book is sent to you. I don't know all the details, so thus call customer service. 

As for the book, it doesn't matter. There were some commissions done on a valiant sketch cover with non-valiant drawings. In fact the artist covered up all the logos and such with the drawing. It would make sense if you can get the title matching the drawing, but it is not necessary. Say for example you want a Terminator drawing and there are no Terminator sketch covers, just grab any and ask to have logos covered up like the example I just gave.

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7 minutes ago, Philflound said:

I would contact customer service, but if you are getting a commission that may take several days or weeks, I believe you can have the artist send the book directly from them and sign an affidavit (sp?) saying they are the artist and was the one who did the art and signed it and then the book is sent to you. I don't know all the details, so thus call customer service. 

As for the book, it doesn't matter. There were some commissions done on a valiant sketch cover with non-valiant drawings. In fact the artist covered up all the logos and such with the drawing. It would make sense if you can get the title matching the drawing, but it is not necessary. Say for example you want a Terminator drawing and there are no Terminator sketch covers, just grab any and ask to have logos covered up like the example I just gave.

I may be wrong but I don't think the CGC SS program accepts a COA or affidavit or whatever from the artist. It has to be done in the presence of a CGC representative, period. 

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9 minutes ago, Bomber-Bob said:

I may be wrong but I don't think the CGC SS program accepts a COA or affidavit or whatever from the artist. It has to be done in the presence of a CGC representative, period. 

If it comes from the artist themselves I think it does work this way. It may have to be set up ahead of time or something, but I think it is true. You can't take old COA like DFs or something from like 20 years ago, but new commissions may be acceptable. Like I said, call customer service and see if this is possible.

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Well, I'm looking at the CGC website and the very first Q&A states that it must be done in the presence of a CGC representative. However, a later Q&A states in 'select instances' they will accept it directly from the artist. So, very contradictory answers. I am very confused. (shrug)

 

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I thought the whole point of the SS service is the guarantee of authenticity because it was witnessed.  An artist could get tired of signing and use a stamp or an electronic signature, just too many ways to fake it. 'If' CGC accepts a COA from an artist, IMO the integrity of the whole program is suspect. You may be right but, for the sake of the program,  I hope not. @CGC Anybody out there know the rules ? 

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