HA May Auction, lots of great art ! 3 3

[PhilipB2k17]

11 minutes ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

“Classic” how?

Just compare them. I love both of them, but the Spider Woman cover has more of a classic comic book feel to it. It depends on what you are looking for.

[BeholdersEye]

1 hour ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

You can have the Infantino Spiderwoman or the Sienk Moon Knight cover, both currently at $17K

I would go for the Sienkiewicz Moon Knight mainly because original art is primarily artist driven (the majority of reputable auction houses list artwork by artist name and offers them alphabetically sequentially as opposed to by book title), and he's a way bigger name then Leiloha.  Both characters are marginal tier 2 heroes, with a bit more upside to Moon Knight, as there's always the forever speculation the character is long overdue to crossover to bigger and better things, despite not really having a great rogue's gallery of villians nor any remarkable story arcs to date, you can tell by the popularity and price of Werewolf by Knight #32, as opposed and compared to Spider Woman's Marvel Spotlight #32 and her similar lackluster history of mediocrity.

The composition of the Moon Knight cover is powerful and elegant.

The Spider-Woman cover is nice, but not remarkably unique from any other cover in that era.

[stinkininkin]

36 minutes ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

Just compare them. I love both of them, but the Spider Woman cover has more of a classic comic book feel to it. It depends on what you are looking for.

The Moon Knight.  All day, every day.  YMMV

[comix4fun]

48 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

The Moon Knight.  All day, every day.  YMMV

+1... That's striking!

[cstojano]

Count me in the camp of Moon Knight cover votes here as well. Isn't even close IMO.

[Bronty]

4 hours ago, PhilipB2k17 said:

The bid on Frazetta's Death Dealer 6 painting has hit $600,000. Any guesses on where it ends up? I say $1.2 mil.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/paintings/frank-frazetta-death-dealer-6-painting-original-art-1990-/a/7187-91016.s?ic5=Home-FeaturedItems-071515

Jeez

[Bronty]

That NM 98 page is already 45k; gasp choke

[otherworldsj331]

I like the Spider-Woman cover better, but that's based more on nostalgia then art. I purchased both comics off the stands, still the SW cover has more of a typical Marvel attitude of that day to it. The MK cover is one of the first to break out of that routine 60's, 70's Marvel style. No question art wise the Moon Knight cover is superior.

[Panelfan1]

1 hour ago, Bronty said:

That NM 98 page is already 45k; gasp choke

not sure what the gasp choke is for?for sure Liefeld art is not for everyone -but Deadpool is a modern phenom and this is his first appearance - and it is already almost 30 years old.  no one needs to be surprised.  

[Bronty]

34 minutes ago, Panelfan1 said:

not sure what the gasp choke is for?for sure Liefeld art is not for everyone -but Deadpool is a modern phenom and this is his first appearance - and it is already almost 30 years old.  no one needs to be surprised.  

Lighten up hoss  just surprised that it’s already almost at the 50k that one boardie had predicted that it would get to, with lots of time left.   In other words the most aggressive estimate in the early discussions is already basically met .  Which leaves me wondering how much further it could go.  Gasp.   Choke.  

[BeholdersEye]

27 minutes ago, Panelfan1 said:

not sure what the gasp choke is for?for sure Liefeld art is not for everyone -but Deadpool is a modern phenom and this is his first appearance - and it is already almost 30 years old.  no one needs to be surprised.  

I think you're right in that the "1st Appearance" aspect trumps all other aspects, and the fact it's Rob Liefeld, who is loved by many and panned by a few, should enable it to continue a long lasting investment quality appeal.  Liefeld is a remarkable creator and historically for his contributions, a Hall of Fame caliber legend.  Whereas with characters like Gambit, illustrated by Mike Collins who lacks the fan base and body of work, yet any page from Uncanny X-Men #266 is treasured because it's a 1st appearance.

I didn't grow up reading Deadpool, so despite it being nearly 30 years old, I'm wacky in thinking Deadpool is a "new" character where my tried and true are Spider-Man, Daredevil, Thor, Iron Man, etc from the Stan Lee created Marvel Silver Age.  But, everytime I go to stores like Kohls, Hot Topic, Spencer Gifts, etc I do see "Deadpool" licensed merchandise selling to the non-comic hobby masses, so apparently "Deadpool" is recognizable by non-comic readers/collectors and popular.

I think, as I'm one of those collectors (and have seen prices jump up, outpricing me from many pieces) who are fascinated by 1st Appearance original art pieces (not so much concerned with 1st panel appearance or covers, but just any interior from the issue featuring the character is fine) from a historical perspective more so than yet another aesthetic pin up or cover by top artists, which are more pretty pictures with no storytelling substance.

I think we'll be seeing a steady rise in value of 1st Appearance original art, and wonder how sought after the Deadpool "New Mutants #98" page is.  I see Heritage has another page from this issue, but it doesn't feature Deadpool, so wonder if a page from that issue without Deadpool can command good crazy money just because it's simply 1 of 22 pages from that historic issue.

[comix4fun]

1 hour ago, BeholdersEye said:

I think you're right in that the "1st Appearance" aspect trumps all other aspects, and the fact it's Rob Liefeld, who is loved by many and panned by a few, should enable it to continue a long lasting investment quality appeal.  Liefeld is a remarkable creator and historically for his contributions, a Hall of Fame caliber legend.  Whereas with characters like Gambit, illustrated by Mike Collins who lacks the fan base and body of work, yet any page from Uncanny X-Men #266 is treasured because it's a 1st appearance.

I didn't grow up reading Deadpool, so despite it being nearly 30 years old, I'm wacky in thinking Deadpool is a "new" character where my tried and true are Spider-Man, Daredevil, Thor, Iron Man, etc from the Stan Lee created Marvel Silver Age.  But, everytime I go to stores like Kohls, Hot Topic, Spencer Gifts, etc I do see "Deadpool" licensed merchandise selling to the non-comic hobby masses, so apparently "Deadpool" is recognizable by non-comic readers/collectors and popular.

I think, as I'm one of those collectors (and have seen prices jump up, outpricing me from many pieces) who are fascinated by 1st Appearance original art pieces (not so much concerned with 1st panel appearance or covers, but just any interior from the issue featuring the character is fine) from a historical perspective more so than yet another aesthetic pin up or cover by top artists, which are more pretty pictures with no storytelling substance.

I think we'll be seeing a steady rise in value of 1st Appearance original art, and wonder how sought after the Deadpool "New Mutants #98" page is.  I see Heritage has another page from this issue, but it doesn't feature Deadpool, so wonder if a page from that issue without Deadpool can command good crazy money just because it's simply 1 of 22 pages from that historic issue.

Interesting take. 

The bold part may underestimate those "few" but I don't think anyone doubts the draw of 1st appearance books and the pages from them. It's a multi-decade established part of the hobby by this point. 

 

[J.Sid]

I've long said: it's more important to have your own distinctive style than to be technically proficient. 

How many amazingly skilled artists from the strip art era all look the same? I can't tell one from the next. 

Liefeld though, with his gigantic balloon guns and squinty-eyed characters? I can spot his style a million miles away.

 

Originality > Talent

 

[comix4fun]

Just now, J.Sid said:

I've long said: it's more important to have your own distinctive style than to be technically proficient. 

How many amazingly skilled artists from the strip art era all look the same? I can't tell one from the next. 

Liefeld though, with his gigantic balloon guns and squinty-eyed characters? I can spot his style a million miles away.

 

Originality > Talent

 

 

I've always enjoyed watching an artist's evolution over the years and decades....how they change, and push themselves, and get better or transform into something more than what they were when they began. 

Travis Charest completely changed his work into something amazing.

Neal Adams evolved into something amazing from where he started. 

There are dozens and dozens more I've followed as they've improved themselves over time. 

For most of them being "original" never got in the way of getting better at what they do. And, really, comics is more about story telling than technical proficiency. If a person knows his craft and can tell a story using his style he doesn't need to be photorealistic or even realistic in the slightest. 

I've always been able to see through "style" when an artist could NOT tell a story and hid it with bombast or extreme style choices. Or when they had glaring weaknesses that never got addressed...even decades later. The artists I admire most were their own harshest critics who, incrementally, moved the needle on their own performance through painstaking practice and experimentation.

Too many people get hung up on proficiency, for sure, but too few people really look to the level of sequential art storytelling prowess as well, and get blinded by how pretty or how extreme the pictures look outside the storytelling process.  

[PhilipB2k17]

13 hours ago, cstojano said:

Count me in the camp of Moon Knight cover votes here as well. Isn't even close IMO.

I’d love either one. And I totally get why people would want the MK Page, based on artistic merit alone. 

But it depends on what you’re looking for in comic book art. 

[PhilipB2k17]

I didn’t pay much attention to the NM 98 Page, as I was looking at the NM Cable Pages. 

[J.Sid]

14 hours ago, comix4fun said:

 

Travis Charest completely changed his work into something amazing.

Neal Adams evolved into something amazing from where he started. 

 

Good points. Two great examples of guys who were both talented and original.

If Charest had never evolved his style, he wouldn't have had nearly the impact that he did.

Edited May 5, 2018 by J.Sid

[comix4fun]

28 minutes ago, J.Sid said:

Good points. Two great examples of guys who were both talented and original.

If Charest had never evolved his style, he wouldn't have had nearly the impact that he did.

Oh for sure his is the most striking evolution I can remember. I remember when I first saw his new style, 10-12 years ago I think it was at SDCC that year, someone told me who it was and I argued with them for about 20 minutes that there was no way it was the same guy from image in the early-mid-90's. 

[jjonahjameson11]

Just a few days to go before live Platinum auction on Thursday, and some lots are finally starting to make significant moves:

• Steve Ditko Eon Fanzine #3 Mr. A Splash Page Illustration = $11.3K
• Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta Thor #126 Splash Page 9 = $50K
• John Romita Sr. Amazing Spider-Man #61 Cover Original Art = $108K
• Marie Severin, Frank Giacoia, and John Romita Sr. Captain America #132 Cover = $43K
• Frank Brunner and Neal Adams Studios Marvel Premiere #10 Splash Page 1 = $10K
• Sam Kieth Marvel Comics Presents #85 Cover = $29K
• Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein Wolverine (Limited Series) #2 Splash Page 1 = $14K
• Neal Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 Cover Production Stat = $2.4K

[comix4fun]

11 minutes ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

Just a few days to go before live Platinum auction on Thursday, and some lots are finally starting to make significant moves:

 

• Marie Severin, Frank Giacoia, and John Romita Sr. Captain America #132 Cover = $43K

When this one jumped to $43k last week I looked at it no less than 4 times to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong or missed something in the description that would explain it.