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Original Art We've Never Seen And Never Will
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33 posts in this topic

It makes sense that we may only view the top of the iceberg when it comes to Original Comic Art. 

I'm considering about the rare, historical, A-grade pieces out there that are deliberately hidden by their owners, or pieces which still exist somewhere unseen. 

Some pieces we will only ever have one glimpse at - Fresh to auction and then they dissapear forever. Prime example number one, is the famous page from Batman #1 sold at Guernsey's auction house in 1986. Hasn't been seen since. 

Even pieces we assume are long gone - We have little evidence to suggest they really have been destroyed. You could fit the entire original art to Action Comics #1 in a draw. The world's a big place - with a lot of draws. 

And the scariest thing about this, is we will never know if this stuff is out there somewhere. 


Does that scare anybody else?

What are your views?

Edited by Collectr
Added: What are your views?
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The analogy I think of is with silent film.  The nitrate film that they used back in the day was highly combustible, for this and other reasons most silent films are lost.  "Dawson City: Frozen Time" is a very good documentary about a stash of films that was discovered in the Yukon (used as land fill for a swimming pool!).  Many silent films only survive from this find, recognizable by their water damage.  The other films that were part of the same movie theater inventory were deliberately burned or thrown in the river, people didn't want to store them any more.

The analogy with OA is stories broken up and pages scattered.  Buried in people's collections, who may not even know what they have.  No doubt some of it stuck on shelves in garages or in attics, discarded when the owner passes away.

Imagine if all we had left of classic EC art was the tired old original comics.  Much survived because Gaines kept it together, but that will be scattered as well as the people who got it cheap in the eighties liquidate their holdings.  I'd like to think the best stories will be preserved intact, but when I hear that the recent buyer of Master Race only heard of it a year ago, I am not optimistic.

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3 minutes ago, Taylor G said:

The analogy with OA is stories broken up and pages scattered.  Buried in people's collections, who may not even know what they have.  No doubt some of it stuck on shelves in garages or in attics, discarded when the owner passes away.

Imagine if all we had left of classic EC art was the tired old original comics.  Much survived because Gaines kept it together, but that will be scattered as well as the people who got it cheap in the eighties liquidate their holdings.  I'd like to think the best stories will be preserved intact, but when I hear that the recent buyer of Master Race only heard of it a year ago, I am not optimistic.

That's a fun analogy to play with, that aside I think disbursement may be better than concentration. Concentrated, whether in Walt Simonson's closet or the Louvre, means that one earthquake or other natural disaster can wipe out a major chunk of cultural artifacts. These days it's really popular for artists (and some collectors) to donate the stuff we love to the Billy Ireland. All good, as long as the good fortune of Columbus, OH isn't violated. As we all know it takes just one...and then it's a matter of what their budget for precautions is and how closely those are actually adhered to by staff.

Me, I'd rather see most major works/hoards broken up at least four ways (so a 22 page story exists in no less than 5 collections) and not all living in the same state or even country. At least that way, it's likely that time and other things maybe destroy one or two stashes but not all four, or whatever number you chose that's greater than 1 or even 2. Maybe the best thing in the world for Frank Miller fans is that because his work is so valuable his major 1980s works (DD, Wolverine LS, DKR, Ronin) are thus mightily scattered too.

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4 hours ago, Taylor G said:

The analogy I think of is with silent film.  The nitrate film that they used back in the day was highly combustible, for this and other reasons most silent films are lost.  "Dawson City: Frozen Time" is a very good documentary about a stash of films that was discovered in the Yukon (used as land fill for a swimming pool!).  Many silent films only survive from this find, recognizable by their water damage.  The other films that were part of the same movie theater inventory were deliberately burned or thrown in the river, people didn't want to store them any more.

The analogy with OA is stories broken up and pages scattered.  Buried in people's collections, who may not even know what they have.  No doubt some of it stuck on shelves in garages or in attics, discarded when the owner passes away.

Imagine if all we had left of classic EC art was the tired old original comics.  Much survived because Gaines kept it together, but that will be scattered as well as the people who got it cheap in the eighties liquidate their holdings.  I'd like to think the best stories will be preserved intact, but when I hear that the recent buyer of Master Race only heard of it a year ago, I am not optimistic.

Golden Age art was cut up (DC and others) thrown away or used as wall insulation (one story I have heard). It was considered production art

 

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58 minutes ago, MYNAMEISLEGION said:

all the art that was lost in the flooded basement of Robert Beerbohm's shop in the 80's : stack of art measured in feet- completely ruined and tossed away.

A lot of art has been lost to flood and fire, the worst of them like Beerbohm (I'm forgetting so many names, swiss-cheese memory) that EC collecting musician and Bill Pearon. And of course the massive loss to (again forgetting name) that CT publisher's stash of decades of art. Concentration/hoards = not good.

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6 hours ago, MYNAMEISLEGION said:

all the art that was lost in the flooded basement of Robert Beerbohm's shop in the 80's : stack of art measured in feet- completely ruined and tossed away.

It wasn't his shop, it was his warehouse in Guerneville, CA; same disaster took out Eclipse Comics.

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