Prelim Cover prices/feelings 1 1

[JadeGiant]

I won't argue with a 5-20% as a very general rule but not all prelims are created equally and I have seen examples that fall outside this range, both high and low. Suffice it to say that they are much more inexpensive than finished art and each piece will stand on its own merits. I don't actively seek them out and don't see a lot that appeal to me (what I like vs what it would cost to own) but I do have a small number of them. 

[JadeGiant]

On 3/20/2018 at 12:10 AM, RB3 said:

I bought this Batman Andy Kubert Son of Demon prelim cover.  It was pricey now knowing what I know!!

This is very nice - congrats!

[JadeGiant]

3 hours ago, williamhlawson said:

and oh yeah...how it arrived....

This feels like so much more than a prelim - great score, congrats!

[ESeffinga]

On 3/19/2018 at 4:33 PM, Nexus said:

James Jean considers the prelim to be his purest artistic expression. It represents his inspiration for the final art. The final finished art is in some sense just his blue collar labor in executing the original vision.

For what it’s worth, there are a great many artists that feel this way. When one is young, and learning, the goal is to be able to draw what you see effectively. From some people, this encompasses their entire career, and they never grow beyond this.

But for some artists, they have put in so much time, and have such a mastery of their technique and visual acuity, that the  drawing, painting, etc are simply the means to an end. Nuts and bolts.

The real work for them becomes the thought that goes into the work, the developing of the kernel of an idea, and plotting out the direction the final piece, or show will take.
 

Of course most of them still leave a certain element of chance in the execution of the final pieces, or continue to hone and refine them as they go. But the real chore, is in that initial period. Once they crack that, they pull on the overalls and execute.

 

They can often see the prelims in the way that comic art collectors see the pencils. The more desirable of their efforts, and where the real magic is. 
 

Of course, they are still beholden to the market. And the market wants bragging rights on the final, by and large. So the market dictates what it does, and some artists just keep their prelims, and early studies. Or sell them as a means of not ending up buried under a lifetime’s worth of work.

There is a world of difference between a thumbnail, a rough pencil study. A tight drawing, etc. and the price reflects this generally. I have always treated it as a case by case basis, in my own internal sliding scale.

Or someone slaps trade dress on it, and it’s an “unused cover”. Heh.

[Unstoppablejayd]

On 3/19/2018 at 9:56 AM, Panelfan1 said:

What I never understood is how a finished prelim could sell for less than a similar looking sketch or commission piece by the same artist

This is the part I never understand.... I do not have many pre-Lims- but I am definitely not against them. I think it is a great way to get a piece of art for a much more reasonable price then not only the published stuff (obviously) but even better then con sketches (those prices have skyrocketed) - Alan Davis is a great example as I have been looking at some of his prelims - they are tight and nicer then his sketches at a fraction of the price. 
 

here is one I do own. A Joe Madureira (and we know what his art sells for) prelim of the X-men Excalibur crossover. It is 11x17 light pencils full size on one side and then four smaller layouts on the back one being very tight. And I think I paid under 60 bucks in a heritage auction 😜 

 

 

[Rick2you2]

8 minutes ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

This is the part I never understand.... I do not have many pre-Lims- but I am definitely not against them. I think it is a great way to get a piece of art for a much more reasonable price then not only the published stuff (obviously) but even better then con sketches (those prices have skyrocketed) - Alan Davis is a great example as I have been looking at some of his prelims - they are tight and nicer then his sketches at a fraction of the price. 
 

here is one I do own. A Joe Madureira (and we know what his art sells for) prelim of the X-men Excalibur crossover. It is 11x17 light pencils full size on one side and then four smaller layouts on the back one being very tight. And I think I paid under 60 bucks in a heritage auction 😜 

 

 

I don’t care for prelim’s unless I own the finished art as well. There was a prelim by Davis of the Phantom Stranger from Another Nail which I didn’t bother bidding on even though I would like a finished page. To me, it’s like foreplay without the follow through. Why get excited for no good reason?
With that said, some of the prelim’s posted here are almost like final pieces, and I can see their attraction. Sometimes, you can’t get what you want, but can get what you need.

[cloud cloddie]

I’m generally not into prelims. But when I had the opportunity to buy the full prelims for a book last year (100+ pages) I took it. Probably paid more than I’d ever get back for them, but having a complete record of the process of how a book came together vs having a few of the published pages... I’m good with my choice. 

 

[Unstoppablejayd]

37 minutes ago, cloud cloddie said:

I’m generally not into prelims. But when I had the opportunity to buy the full prelims for a book last year (100+ pages) I took it. Probably paid more than I’d ever get back for them, but having a complete record of the process of how a book came together vs having a few of the published pages... I’m good with my choice. 

 

Jealous... if you ever break that up keep me in mind ! 

[cloud cloddie]

48 minutes ago, Unstoppablejayd said:

Jealous... if you ever break that up keep me in mind ! 

Don’t see that happening. I was mainly interested in them because they were complete. I think Bill was happy I wanted to keep them all together, and he’s randomly found more prelims from the book and gotten up with me for that reason. It’s so rare to find any book complete, published or prelim, that I’d think it’d be a shame to break em up. 

[RBerman]

2 minutes ago, cloud cloddie said:

Don’t see that happening. I was mainly interested in them because they were complete. I think Bill was happy I wanted to keep them all together, and he’s randomly found more prelims from the book and gotten up with me for that reason. It’s so rare to find any book complete, published or prelim, that I’d think it’d be a shame to break em up. 

You are a prince among men. May your tribe increase.

[cloud cloddie]

2 minutes ago, RBerman said:

You are a prince among men. May your tribe increase.

Don’t laud me too much. 

I’d never say never to breaking up a book. But getting something complete directly from an artist... there’s definitely a worth not quantifiable by dollar amount. And from one of my favorite artists on my favorite title... 

[Rick2you2]

19 minutes ago, cloud cloddie said:

Don’t see that happening. I was mainly interested in them because they were complete. I think Bill was happy I wanted to keep them all together, and he’s randomly found more prelims from the book and gotten up with me for that reason. It’s so rare to find any book complete, published or prelim, that I’d think it’d be a shame to break em up. 

What you bought would be an exception to my views. Those are very good, on their own.

[christosgage]

From what I've seen it can vary widely based on artist, character, level of detail, etc. Brian Bolland's prelims are quite detailed, for example (see below), and they command more comparatively than, let's say, the looser "4 options on 1 page of typing paper" prelims sent to an editor to pick from, where the figures are so loose the artist often writes the name of the character above them because it's not necessarily apparent from the art.

[furthur]

Here is one of my James Jean preliminaries. I have several and they are all pretty cool

[Michael Browning]

My fully penciled Dave Cockrum Star Wars Wekly #60 cover preliminary. The published cover was penciled and inked by Frank Springer, for some unknown reason. I've even asked some of the former Marvel UK guys who worked on this series why that would happen and no one knows why Dave would do a fully-penciled cover that wasn't used.

[MIL0S]

I love John Buscema's work but his prelims tend to be on the looser end of the spectrum compared to some other artists.  I was surprised this cover prelim just sold on Comiclink for nearly $2k, thoughts?

[Sideshow Bob]

Thought I'd add some data to the discussion...

Brian Bolland prelim for page 1 of Batman: The Killing Joke. The inked page sold for $120k in 2018 at Heritage. Its on small-sized tracing paper (5 3/4" x 8 1/4"), and the level of finish on the pencils is a bit better than rough. I bought it for $3,400 in 2021. Taking the large numbers out of it (it is KJ...), it still establishes a ratio for this particular piece, in this case about 3% for prelim/published inks. Some of the prelims on more important pages from this book with Joker won't be had for 3%...or 10% for that matter.

The pros...it's Bolland who doesn't do pen/ink anymore, it's page 1 from a marquee book, it matches closely with the final.

The cons...it's small, it's rough, it's pencils only on tracing paper.

Maybe its worth a little bit more today, maybe not.  I love it, and it's framed in my office. The raindrop ripples... 

Bob

Edited July 12, 2023 by Sideshow Bob

[alxjhnsn]

I haven't added pre-lim pricing to my Pricing Comic Art thread.

Does 3% really seem like a good metric? I bought the prelims for some of my commissions after the death of the artist for about 20%. Click image to embiggen.

I wonder if the % varies with artist, type (cover, panel page), material? Thoughts?

Cardy Bat Lash
  
Giordano JLA

Edited July 12, 2023 by alxjhnsn

[John E.]

On 7/12/2023 at 7:03 AM, MIL0S said:

I love John Buscema's work but his prelims tend to be on the looser end of the spectrum compared to some other artists.  I was surprised this cover prelim just sold on Comiclink for nearly $2k, thoughts?

As someone who is not a John Buscema devotee or a Conan comic book fan, I’d say that is a very recognizable image so the price makes sense to me. If I could only have one Buscema piece that would be it. It’s also the only Conan #1 piece in the world without Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature scrawled in the live area which makes it all that much more valuable. 

[Bronty]

On 7/12/2023 at 10:09 AM, alxjhnsn said:

I haven't added pre-lim pricing to my Pricing Comic Art thread.

Does 3% really seem like a good metric? I bought the prelims for some of my commissions after the death of the artist for about 20%. Click image to embiggen.

I wonder if the % varies with artist, type (cover, panel page), material? Thoughts?

Cardy Bat Lash
  
Giordano JLA

It varies a ton.   Every prelim is different.   I’d say 2-20% with around 5% being the median?