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A NEAL ADAMS -- PANEL PAGE ART gallery story!
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8 posts in this topic

12 minutes ago, glenbru said:

I expected Steve to jump at this deal--it was clearly in his favor. Steve appeared tempted, but he wanted to know what the catch was. He wanted to know what kind of trade, with someone else, I had in mind for his Cardy.

Hilarious. The DBs price things (whether it's cash or trade) such that nobody would pay the price. This fact is not unknown to them. Then when somebody actually steps up they wonder what they did wrong lol

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1 hour ago, glenbru said:

The Neal Adams grail that never was!

At some point I decided I had to own a Neal Adams cover. I'm a picky guy so it needed to be a great one--the Adams I would keep and not be tempted to sell. The Brave and the Bold 86 cover would have been perfect. It has all I could want in an NA cover and its inked by Adams as well--a plus for those that love Adams. Unfortunately I was offered this cover, many years ago, for the sum of 17k. At the same time I was offered the JLA 91 cover for 11K.

I couldn't afford to buy both so I opted for the JLA 91--it was cheaper and it had all those other additional heroes on it. What could be better? I kept the scan of the B&B 86 cover and kept comparing the two--a mistake--once you make a decision between two covers delete the other scan. Don't let it continue to haunt you! I finally decided that I didn't like the inks on the JLA and sold it for about 15k. My plan was to get the other cover even if I had to add in additional cash. But it was too late, the collector that had the B&B 86 had sold it to a dealer. Now the price was way higher than I wanted to pay. The cover finally went to a seasoned Adams collector who has made it a permanent fixture in his collection.

Not one to give up the Adams hunt, I found this beauty, Brave and Bold 88 cover at All Star Auctions table an San Diego--also many years ago. I tried to work a deal but at the time this was a trade only piece for them. The only trade they wanted from me was one of my Romita Spider-Man covers. Well, that wasn't going to work--I had to wait for my next Adams opportunity...

BATMAN 224--I really thought this was going to be a keeper for me. This was a tough cover to get. I found a collector at Wondercon that was willing to move this cover to me. The only problem was he wanted a Cardy Action cover in return that was owned by Steve Donnelly. Uh-oh, I had never been able to do a deal with him. We'd talked about deals for many hours, but we never got close enough to actually get one done. The Cardy cover was worth about 5k. I offered Steve 7500 and he turned me down. The Cardy was a trade only. I finally offered my MR. MIRACLE 18 cover, a cover worth 10k back then, by Jack Kirby straight up for the Cardy. I expected Steve to jump at this deal--it was clearly in his favor. Steve appeared tempted, but he wanted to know what the catch was. He wanted to know what kind of trade, with someone else, I had in mind for his Cardy. I asked him why it mattered when this trade was so clearly in his favor. Steve hemmed and hawed, but finally agreed to the trade. I took the Cardy to the collector with the Batman 224, and after adding in an additional 5k on my part we had a deal! I finally had my ADAMS!!!

After owning the cover for a bit, some of the ink lines started to bug me. I still had that stinking scan of the B&B 86 to compare ink lines. The 224 was not inked by Adams and did not feel as slick. Remember what I said about deleting scans? Soon after that I decided that the 224 was not the perfect Adams cover for me after all. I sold it for about 22k.

This would have been a fantastic cover to own, Batman 255 cover, pencilled and inked by Adams--it sold many years back for 55k when these covers were thought to be worth 15k. Never had a chance at this one--just showing off the scan!

My next shot at the Adams grail was this very nice World's Finest 175 cover. This had an added nostalgia factor for me. I grew up in New York when Palisades Amusement Park would put adds in the back of comics. They used this image at one point and it stuck in my brain--maybe this would be the keeper cover. I managed to get this one in a trade with Bechara for about 15k. But a few months later, Steve Fishler offered me 18k for it and I folded. It's a beautiful cover with inks by Adams--but the Superman and Batman statue figures felt too small for me for it to be a keeper--I told you, I'm one picky fella.

Now this $%&# Cover would be a keeper. World's Finest 208--I know where it is, and I'm sure it's going to stay there, forever!

Which brings me to JLA 86--I LOVE THIS COVER! If any one knows where it is, you know where to find me. I'm a picky buyer that's just looking for his Neal Adams grail. Help a brother out. Finder's fee happily paid! Even if you can't help, you got to agree that's a friggin' nice cover!

I've posted the B&B 86 cover here.  Come see the rest of the images on my FB Panel Page Art gallery page and please LIKE the page while you're there:

https://www.facebook.com/panelpageart/

Thanks,  Glen

Adams_BraveBold86cvr.jpg

This is why art collecting is so fascinating.  I was offered this B&B86 cover years ago as well.  Now, I classify myself as a pretty hard core Adams fan and collector, but this cover was an easy pass for me.  The inks are sweet, but the Batman figure, while telling an interesting story, is less than iconic.  But even more important to me, the Batman figure itself just seems...awkward.  Not the first time Adams, in his constant attempt to draw challenging and dynamic poses ends up with something that's just a bit funky and "off".  I've been told that as an artist, I tend to prioritize drawing fundamentals over story and nostalgia.  Guilty as charged I suppose.  Even with the flaws, this is a cool cover, just not one I'd be willing to pay the going freight, and certainly not my one and done Adams example.

By the way, even though condition factors don't tend bother me much with OA, the yellow pasted on crowd scene in the lower right is a minor distraction for me.   Not a deal breaker if I loved the rest of the piece enough, but certainly not an unimportant consideration.

 

Edited by stinkininkin
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24 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

This is why art collecting is so fascinating.  I was offered this B&B86 cover years ago as well.  Now, I classify myself as a pretty hard core Adams fan and collector, but this cover was an easy pass for me.  The inks are sweet, but the Batman figure, while telling an interesting story, is less than iconic.  But even more important to me, the Batman figure itself just seems...awkward.  Not the first time Adams, in his constant attempt to draw challenging and dynamic poses ends up with something that's just a bit funky and "off".  I've been told that as an artist, I tend to prioritize drawing fundamentals over story and nostalgia.  Guilty as charged I suppose.  Even with the flaws, this is a cool cover, just not one I'd be willing to pay the going freight, and certainly not my one and done Adams example.

By the way, even though condition factors don't tend bother me much with OA, the yellow pasted on crowd scene in the lower right is a minor distraction for me.   Not a deal breaker if I loved the rest of the piece enough, but certainly not an unimportant consideration.

 

The last thing I want to do is disagree with a talented artist like you, Scott.  But it's the awkwardness of the Batman figure that actually draws me more toward the cover -- I mean he's falling from a great height and that worried awkward figure enhances the drama for me.  If I just wanted an iconic pose, there are many other Adams drawing that would suffice.  The cover could also be cleaned and the crowd distraction removed...but it does not bother me a bit.

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Actually, that's a great argument for the awkward pose Glen!  LOL.  I'd never really thought of it that way.  To my eye, it seemed more consistent with a the occasional Adams "wonkiness" than a it did as a calculated storytelling choice.  I like your interpretation!  I'm still not crazy about the cover (at these prices), but at least your love for the cover makes more sense!

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On 2/16/2018 at 6:13 PM, glenbru said:

The Neal Adams grail that never was!

At some point I decided I had to own a Neal Adams cover. I'm a picky guy so it needed to be a great one--the Adams I would keep and not be tempted to sell. The Brave and the Bold 86 cover would have been perfect. It has all I could want in an NA cover and its inked by Adams as well--a plus for those that love Adams. Unfortunately I was offered this cover, many years ago, for the sum of 17k. At the same time I was offered the JLA 91 cover for 11K.

I couldn't afford to buy both so I opted for the JLA 91--it was cheaper and it had all those other additional heroes on it. What could be better? I kept the scan of the B&B 86 cover and kept comparing the two--a mistake--once you make a decision between two covers delete the other scan. Don't let it continue to haunt you! I finally decided that I didn't like the inks on the JLA and sold it for about 15k. My plan was to get the other cover even if I had to add in additional cash. But it was too late, the collector that had the B&B 86 had sold it to a dealer. Now the price was way higher than I wanted to pay. The cover finally went to a seasoned Adams collector who has made it a permanent fixture in his collection.

Not one to give up the Adams hunt, I found this beauty, Brave and Bold 88 cover at All Star Auctions table an San Diego--also many years ago. I tried to work a deal but at the time this was a trade only piece for them. The only trade they wanted from me was one of my Romita Spider-Man covers. Well, that wasn't going to work--I had to wait for my next Adams opportunity...

BATMAN 224--I really thought this was going to be a keeper for me. This was a tough cover to get. I found a collector at Wondercon that was willing to move this cover to me. The only problem was he wanted a Cardy Action cover in return that was owned by Steve Donnelly. Uh-oh, I had never been able to do a deal with him. We'd talked about deals for many hours, but we never got close enough to actually get one done. The Cardy cover was worth about 5k. I offered Steve 7500 and he turned me down. The Cardy was a trade only. I finally offered my MR. MIRACLE 18 cover, a cover worth 10k back then, by Jack Kirby straight up for the Cardy. I expected Steve to jump at this deal--it was clearly in his favor. Steve appeared tempted, but he wanted to know what the catch was. He wanted to know what kind of trade, with someone else, I had in mind for his Cardy. I asked him why it mattered when this trade was so clearly in his favor. Steve hemmed and hawed, but finally agreed to the trade. I took the Cardy to the collector with the Batman 224, and after adding in an additional 5k on my part we had a deal! I finally had my ADAMS!!!

After owning the cover for a bit, some of the ink lines started to bug me. I still had that stinking scan of the B&B 86 to compare ink lines. The 224 was not inked by Adams and did not feel as slick. Remember what I said about deleting scans? Soon after that I decided that the 224 was not the perfect Adams cover for me after all. I sold it for about 22k.

This would have been a fantastic cover to own, Batman 255 cover, pencilled and inked by Adams--it sold many years back for 55k when these covers were thought to be worth 15k. Never had a chance at this one--just showing off the scan!

My next shot at the Adams grail was this very nice World's Finest 175 cover. This had an added nostalgia factor for me. I grew up in New York when Palisades Amusement Park would put adds in the back of comics. They used this image at one point and it stuck in my brain--maybe this would be the keeper cover. I managed to get this one in a trade with Bechara for about 15k. But a few months later, Steve Fishler offered me 18k for it and I folded. It's a beautiful cover with inks by Adams--but the Superman and Batman statue figures felt too small for me for it to be a keeper--I told you, I'm one picky fella.

Now this $%&# Cover would be a keeper. World's Finest 208--I know where it is, and I'm sure it's going to stay there, forever!

Which brings me to JLA 86--I LOVE THIS COVER! If any one knows where it is, you know where to find me. I'm a picky buyer that's just looking for his Neal Adams grail. Help a brother out. Finder's fee happily paid! Even if you can't help, you got to agree that's a friggin' nice cover!

I've posted the B&B 86 cover here.  Come see the rest of the images on my FB Panel Page Art gallery page and please LIKE the page while you're there:

https://www.facebook.com/panelpageart/

Thanks,  Glen

Adams_BraveBold86cvr.jpg

Great post, keep them coming !

Really enjoying hearing these stories.

 

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