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Artists Editions discussion
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77 posts in this topic

Thought I'd pose a few questions for fellow collectors of the Artists Editions/Gallery Editions/etc.books: 

how many different volumes do you own and what is your favorite? how do you store them?  

what would you most like to see that hasn't been released yet? 

do you only buy books collecting material that you've read in the past? or do you buy books based on artists you like but perhaps titles you never read before?

and has anyone removed a page from a book to frame and hang up? 

I have about ten books. I started with the Rocketeer and the first couple of IDW releases but had to become more selective as numerous additional volumes have come out. The Daredevil Born Again is one of my favorites, I really liked the inclusion of the pencil art and other bonus material. I keep mine in the original cardboard boxes they come in, in a big stack on the floor next to my desk.  I would love to see a John Romita Jr. Daredevil volume (or Punisher War Zone).  I purchased the Will Eisner Spirit book without having read the original material, also the Wrightson Muck Monster portfolio, and I think I'm going to pick up Toth's Bravo for Adventure having never read it but being a fan of his work. I haven't removed any pages to frame but was thinking about it with the Marvel Covers book. 

 

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I have the Trimpe Hulk book. Love it! It is stored on the top of my bookshelf facing outward so the cover can be seen. I have the original cardboard box somewhere but don't use it because I want to see the cover and having it on the shelf makes it more accessible and easy to pull down and flip through. 

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3 hours ago, MIL0S said:

Thought I'd pose a few questions for fellow collectors of the Artists Editions/Gallery Editions/etc.books: 

how many different volumes do you own and what is your favorite? how do you store them?  

what would you most like to see that hasn't been released yet? 

do you only buy books collecting material that you've read in the past? or do you buy books based on artists you like but perhaps titles you never read before?

and has anyone removed a page from a book to frame and hang up? 

I have about ten books. I started with the Rocketeer and the first couple of IDW releases but had to become more selective as numerous additional volumes have come out. The Daredevil Born Again is one of my favorites, I really liked the inclusion of the pencil art and other bonus material. I keep mine in the original cardboard boxes they come in, in a big stack on the floor next to my desk.  I would love to see a John Romita Jr. Daredevil volume (or Punisher War Zone).  I purchased the Will Eisner Spirit book without having read the original material, also the Wrightson Muck Monster portfolio, and I think I'm going to pick up Toth's Bravo for Adventure having never read it but being a fan of his work. I haven't removed any pages to frame but was thinking about it with the Marvel Covers book. 

 

I currently own 12 AE books (10 of which are large art books).

Favourites are the EC volumes and the Kirby Fantastic Four large art book (least favourite is the Marvel Covers book, as there are quite a few covers in that one that are of little or no interest to me).

I store the books on top of filing cabinets (see attached photo).

Love to see a Ditko ASM and/or Dr Strange edition, but the idea has proven problematic for Scott Dunbier (spoke to him briefly about this whilst on a visit to the Kirby exhibit in LA a few years back).

I generally buy books in which I'm familiar with the work represented (otherwise I'm loathe to shell-out the prices involved purely on spec).

I don't see any need to cut-out pages from any of the books.  Single page prints (if feasible) might be a better option here (if collectors fancy the idea of getting pages framed).

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SDC14152.jpg

Edited by The Voord
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2 hours ago, The Voord said:

I currently own 12 AE books (10 of which are large art books).

Favourites are the EC volumes and the Kirby Fantastic Four large art book (least favourite is the Marvel Covers book, as there are quite a few covers in that one that are of little or no interest to me).

I store the books on top of filing cabinets (see attached photo).

Love to see a Ditko ASM and/or Dr Strange edition, but the idea has proven problematic for Scott Dunbier (spoke to him briefly about this whilst on a visit to the Kirby exhibit in LA a few years back).

I generally buy books in which I'm familiar with the work represented (otherwise I'm loathe to shell-out the prices involved purely on spec).

I don't see any need to cut-out pages from any of the books.  Single page prints (if feasible) might be a better option here (if collectors fancy the idea of getting pages framed).

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SDC14152.jpg

I would never dump on a collector for how they store their collectibles, and I'm not doing so here.  BUT, I would never store my over 25 Artist's Edition type books in the original boxes because I know I would never get them out to look at them.  Ever.  But that's my own failing, not yours.  Carry on.

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10 minutes ago, stinkininkin said:

I would never dump on a collector for how they store their collectibles, and I'm not doing so here.  BUT, I would never store my over 25 Artist's Edition type books in the original boxes because I know I would never get them out to look at them.  Ever.  But that's my own failing, not yours.  Carry on.

The original boxes, for me, help to protect the books (I would rather the boxes get accidentally dinged than the contents).  As you can see, my selection is easily accessible - and I regularly pull-out editions to look at.  Works fine for me but I can see where you're coming from.

Edited by The Voord
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6 hours ago, stinkininkin said:

I would never dump on a collector for how they store their collectibles, and I'm not doing so here.  BUT, I would never store my over 25 Artist's Edition type books in the original boxes because I know I would never get them out to look at them.  Ever.  But that's my own failing, not yours.  Carry on.

Scott, as a professional artist I'm curious which books are your favorites?

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I would never keep books in a box that's just craz....uh (looks over at AEs in boxes) ...yeah. uh. nevermind!

:grin:

I actually keep mine in their boxes because they DON"T fit on my current art book bookshelves, and I'd rather keep them dust-free. And since looking at a book this ginormous is a bit of an exercise for me anyway, I don't mind the extra 3 seconds it takes to slip it out of it's box. I have had a few other art books this size that are not AE type books, and they always seem to be dustier than I think they should be, just from sitting around untouched for many months (years?) at a time. I keep mine upright, next to my bookshelf in a little corner nook on the floor. Conincidentally, my favorite semi-local comic shop does the same with them after they come down from the "new" books display, because they're just too big to just set up anywhere else in their shop.

So I love having them, but their sheer size has caused me to curtail buying the ones that aren't a complete must have for me. I hate visual clutter when I can avoid it. But I have plans to make a built in bookcase in the closet of my "library" room, and one of those plans is for the bottom shelf to be extra tall, so I can set these books upright in there. Once that happens, who knows how many I'll end up with. Probably until the width of that shelf is all taken up. Heh.

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13 hours ago, The Voord said:

I'm waiting for the day CGC starts slabbing the AE books (all the sizes).  Naturally, not having the IDW books in their original brown boxes will impact on the grade . . .

:jokealert:  I think . . .

actually if this happens, a good scam might be to cgc the boxes only. with cgc -you cant look inside anyway. (never understood the idea of having a grade for the inside part of the comic that you will never ever see.)

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On 4/3/2018 at 5:38 PM, MIL0S said:

Scott, as a professional artist I'm curious which books are your favorites?

Thanks for asking, but I think my judgements as an artist are no more or less a qualifier than that of a pure fan (which I also happen to be).  The heart loves what the heart loves.  That said, I think the Miller/Mazz DD edition is my favorite because it's very possibly my all time favorite comic story, the art is to die for, and it's all there complete.  The Simonson Thor is great too.  I just got the Miller Sin City edition last month, and absolutely love it, more than I thought I would.  That first Sin City story might have the best art of Miller's career, and I don't say that lightly or to in anyway diminish the brilliance of so much of his other work.  It inspires me to draw, which is the biggest compliment I can give when seeing really great art (and story).  The same thing happens when I look at the Wrightson AE too.

There are at least another 10 editions at that I will own and enjoy forever, but the above are my faves.

Edited by stinkininkin
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I have a few Artist Editions. I tend to store them in their boxes however I think that cardboard might not be the best for long term storage. I want to display them opened on my favorite panels. I need to look into those stands.

 

I would like them to release that G.I. Joe Artist Edition that they had in previews but cancelled. Usually they surprise me with the titles that they pick. I read a post somewhere that someone wanted a Jim Lee X-Men Artist Edition. I would take that too.

 

I think my first Artist Edition was The Rocketeer. I read the story before but the idea of the Artist Edition seemed really good. And I thought I shouldn't miss out. I did get the Jose Gonzalez Vampirella and Wrightson Artist Editions. I never read all of those stories before. I'm thinking about that Bravo for Adventure but I read somewhere that the story isn't that good. Also that it isn't Alex Toth's best work. So I'll get the normal version eventually.

 

I would never remove a page from my Artist Editons unless I had a second copy. But I think displaying them open is probably easier and cheaper anyways.

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6 hours ago, BeholdersEye said:

I think seeing a Neal Adams collected edition of his Green Lantern / Green Arrow work at DC would be great, or his Marvel X-Men series run.

Depends on whether or not sizeable chunks of the artworks for such series can be accessed, I guess.

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My interest in any AE for which a lot of the art (or comparable examples) is in HA's archives is...nil. HA = free. AE =$125+, I've got to store it and the only advantage I can see (lol) is that they are viewable by candlelight when the electricity is out. Heh.

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I thought I was the only one who kept mine in their original boxes!

While I like them, I only really buy the ones where the art hits a particular sweet spot.  Kirby's FF volume, Miller's Daredevil, the Marvel Covers book.  Really want the Born Again and Dark Knight volumes, and definitely getting the Byrne X-Men volume.  I think there's a Byrne FF volume too - I'll pick that one up at some point.  

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Early on, some of these books were tripling in value. I was buying them because I loved them, but I saved all the cardboard boxes "just in case" one of them got worth a bunch of money. Last month I threw out (recycled) all my boxes.

It was a bit of a relief to do so. I now just have them because they are awesome. I have 25 and don't really plan on selling any.

I still buy more because it's a cheaper way of getting my "fix" than dropping $30k on say, a Byrne X-Men page.

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Here are a few quick reviews:

Kirby FF & Thor volumes: amazing to look at, of course, but the real treat is seeing Jack's pencil notes in the margins of pages and comparing them with Stan's finished dialogue. (I grew up thinking Stan created the Marvel U. Then I went a while thinking Kirby did all the work while Stan unjustly took the credit. After these books, my pendulum has swung back towards the middle. Jack gets story credit for sure, but Stan's gift of gab added so much to these stories. These books actually helped me gain a new respect for him.)

Sin City is amazing. You get to see, via blueline pencils and white-out, how Miller created his negative-space masterpiece. 

Best of EC, both volumes, are fantastic. Artwork and reproduction are A+. Bonus: Most of the stories hold up!

Kirby New Gods is great. I don't care about the DC stuff nearly as much as his Marvel work, but it's Kirby firing on all cylinders and you get to see him inked by 2 different artists for comparison.

Born Again is outstanding. The best-written story to be reprinted in Artist Edition format. Mazz's art is beautiful, and there are some great transparency overlay pages that give you a look into the production process.

Wally Wood EC was my favorite for a long while. It's still amazing, but I may now give the edge to the Best of EC volumes for their diversity.

Byrne FF is one i look through over and over. It's got the Galactus issue (243) and one of his prime Doom issues (247) but what I love is comparing them to his later work. After X-Men, Byrne was out to prove to the world that he was the driving force behind it's success, moreso than Claremont or Austin.  He was putting an insane amount of detail into his FF pages when inking them at the beginning, but after a year or two he realized that a lot of his work was getting lost in reproduction, so he loosened up his style a bit. This book shows stories from both eras. 

Edited by J.Sid
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instead of starting a new thread, i thought i would post here (plus, if you're interested in artist editions, you'd probably be interested in the 'art of...' books).

Humble Bundle has a deal of Top Cow digital books (DRM free - .pdf's, etc) that includes the Art of Marc Silvestri, Art of Witchblade, and Art of Rahsan Ekedal (of whom, I have one of his covers that is in the book :) ) all for $15 minimum donation, a portion of which is being contributed to charity. There are many other Top Cow digital books in this bundle, including the Darkness Compendium volume 1 & 2 and several sci-fi titles that I am a fan of and have been buying the monthly books.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/the-darkness-sex-scifi-books?hmb_source=humble_home&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_3_layout_type_twos_tile_index_2

I've posted about Humble Bundle before; I am a huge fan and have made many purchases and contributed to their many causes, such as CBLDF.

Edited by Hekla
clarity
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Not that I will be around long enough for it to matter (and understanding the “original box” argument) but the worst place to store an Aritist Edition is in a cardboard box

To you young folks it is stunning just how quick paper products degrade next to the wrong backing/storage, especially in higher humidity and temps.  

Lots of yellow art out there, and lots of yellowed books.  Just waiting for Mylar Artist Editions Sleeves😀

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