alxjhnsn Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 One of my favorite threads on these boards consists of reading why people posted what they did. Here are mine. I look forward to yours. BEST OF NOMINEES (CAF LOWRY) Unpublished Commission Li’l Legion Yale Stewart In this, one of my all-time favorite commissions, we see the LSH as 8 year olds in a park. All of the SA LSH members (not counting traitors) appear except one that I forgot first joined in Adventure Comics (Chemical King). You really need to click the link, read the description, and look at the Additional Images where I provide the reference that I sent to Yale. You’ll also see a commission that he did for someone else that inspired mine. It was a gift from Kathy for our 35th wedding anniversary. Unpublished Commission Mouse Guard - Kenzie David Petersen Kathy and I are fans of David’s art and we’ve tried for several years to get a painted piece. We finally got lucky in 2018 at Heroescon. David prepared two pieces one for auction and one to sell for the same amount after the auction. We got the latter which is fine since it’s the one we liked better! Read more about our long search and see the pieces that we missed on in the link. Unpublished Commission The Shadow and Margo Lane Michael Kaluta I first saw Michael’s work in the Shadow. I was hooked. Later, I read Starstruck and the art blew me away. When he and Elaine Lee decided to do a new Starstruck story on Kickstarter and offer perks, I was in! It took five years, but exceed my expectations. Click the link to read all about it. Unpublished Commission Sugar and Spike #100 Chris Giarusso One of my sub-themes consists of creating covers to the non-existent S&S 100. The first series ran to 98 when his eye problems made it to hard to draw. While the book resumed overseas, it stopped there for decades until DC released number 99, as DC Silver Age Classics Sugar and Spike 99. In order to amend that failure and to honor Sheldon Mayer, I’ve had a few variant covers created for the book should it ever need one. ☺ Unpublished Commission Ruse’s Simon and Emma Butch Guice I first really noticed Butch’s art on Ruse though I’d enjoyed it in other books. His look for the Ruse analog of London was spectacular and Emma and Simon were fully formed. Wonderful stuff. At the time CrossGen sold the OA for the artists, but I was too poor to buy any. When Dynamite decided to reprint Butch and Bill Mantlo’s Swords of the Swashbucklers to raise money for Bill’s care, I had to participate. When I saw that a commission by Butch was available, I snagged one. It took a while, but it’s perfect. He recreated Simon and Emma as they appear on the first issue – my favorite cover. HONORABLE MENTIONS Unpublished Commission Scrooge McDuck & Donald Duck Don Rosa I first met Don in the page of the RBCC and then lost track of him for decades. When I next discovered him he had completed his career drawing Disney’s ducks and was generally considered Carl Bark’s best successor. I got a copy of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck and was blown away by the story and the art. I’ve wanted a commission ever since. This one came up in B&W on eBay and Kathy got it for me. Don offered to color it at Heroescon 2018 and I, of course, said yes. Published Interior Panel Page Anthro #1 Pg 13 Howie Post Anthro was a favorite book of mine even it it lasted only a few issues. I thought the story was terrific and I loved the art. Howie Post was still alive and drawing when I started collecting comic art, but I didn’t realize it so I don’t have a commission from him. When this page from the first issue came up (after the book sold intact), I grabbed it. It’s a pretty darned good example of the book. The Voord, Brian Peck, ▫️ and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caltex98 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) OK, here are my Best of 2018 nominees (CAF Lowry gallery): Published Splash Pages, Pinups: Oscar Hjelmgren - A.M.O.K. title page - Herman Hedning 8/2014, p51 Very detailed title page from an A.M.O.K. episode which pays hommage to the science fiction-movies from the 1950's. Published Interior Panel Pages: Joëlle Jones - Batman #39 - p15 A page with Selina Kyle in her civil duds which let Ms. Jones show off many of her talents: Expressive faces, body language and myriads of details from the restaurant interior. All brought to life by her meticulous inking. I'm impressed! (And she did draw herself on the far left in the first panel due to "running out of ideas".) Published Strip Art: Al Capp - Li'l Abner - 1955-12-30 Ever since I started collecting OA "for real" I have wanted a Li'l Abner strip. And since this strip is from 1955 there is a possibility that Frank Frazetta was involved in its creation. But one can never be sure! Unpublished Commissions: Bill Galvan - Surfin' with Sabrina - front and back cover What if Sabrina Spellman used her magic to join Josie & the Pussycats during the height of the american surf music craze in the early 1960's and then put a spell on the legendary Bob Keane so he would give them a recording deal on his Del-Fi label (home of The Surfaris, The Lively Ones and The Centurions)? I passed the question along (with some very brief suggestions & guidelines) to Bill Galvan who responded "I think that sounds like a great commission idea!" Sabrina's bikini is designed to be totally in fashion 1964 (even though her aunts Zelda and Hilda settled for something more modest) and her appearance is in part modeled on Annette Funicello surfing in the Beach Party movies. On the back cover Josie, Valerie and Melody are carrying a surf board, Beach Boys style. Unpublished Sketch Covers/Convention Sketches: Natalia Batista - Are, the highway robber At the 2018 Gothenburg Book Fair Natalia Batista made this beautiful commission of one of the characters from her graphic novel series Sword Princess Amaltea - Are the highway robber. She is a member of the notorious gang led by Loki which makes the roads in the world of Amaltea very unsafe. Even though Natalia drew her in a somewhat relaxed pose it is pretty obvoius that she is the enforcer of the outfit. Don't mess with her (unless she wants you to)! Runners up. Published Splash Pages: Dan Parent - Archie Meets Batman '66 #3 - p11 A great splash page from Archie Meets Batman '66 issue three where the villains of Gotham City has taken over Pop's Choklit Shoppe and made it their temporary headquarters. (It was digitally inked by J Bone so this is the only physical copy. Modern times are here!) Published Interior Panel Pages: Mike Parobeck - El Diablo #14 - p14 A page layout which shows Parobeck's genius: Easy to read and the drama is underscored by the expressive body language and the leaning angles. Note how the first and last panels interacts, framing the scene in time. Unpublished Commissions: Fernando Ruiz - Julie Newmar as Catwoman Fernando's take on the first and foremost Catwoman - Julie Newmar! Unfortunately the strokes applied with a "glitter pen" doesn't show in the scan. Like Alex said, this topic is one of the highlights of the year. Let's see what everyone else has got to show! Edited January 4, 2019 by Caltex98 . archiecomicscollector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxjhnsn Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 There's some great stuff there - really like the Jones Catwoman page. Thanks for adding to this thread. It's fun to read why people like what they post. (Oh, I like the Archie-verse pieces, too.) Caltex98 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCarter27 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) My wife and I are very excited to share our five picks this year... Spoiler Terry Moore - Strangers in Paradise calendar pinup 1998 Septemberhttps://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9760 Marshall Rogers and Giordano - Detective Comics 478 page 2https://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9759 Geof Isherwood - Suicide Squad 43 posterhttps://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9758 Curt Swan and John Byrne - Who's Who 22 pages 28-29https://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9757 Alan Lee - Gormenghast trilogy cover prelimhttps://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9756 And our Honorable Mentions- Timothy Truman - Conan RPG cover 2015 Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte - Krypton Chronicles 1 Page 5 Alan Davis and Mark Farmer - Batman commission 2010 Looking forward to voting! Edited January 6, 2019 by BCarter27 Brian Peck, Kohei and Andahaion 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Peck Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) Best of 2018 Nominations: Published Interior Panel Page: Silver Surfer #14 page 3 John Buscema (Penciller) and Dan Adkins (Inker) Best of 2018 Nominee (Lowery): There are certain pages that you read as a kid that get burned into your brain. This is one of them. I vividly remember reading this issue and the top panel with the Surfer blasting a meteor. About 16 years ago I saw this in the collection of a fellow collectors. Fast forward to 2018 and I was able to buy it. Another piece of my childhood. Published Cover: Comics Journal #150 cover by Mark Schultz Best of 2018 Nominee (Lowery): I was a huge fan of Xenozoic Tales by Mark, loved every issue even if the time between publishing each would get longer and longer. Then in the early 90s he was interviewed by Comic Journal and he did an amazing cover for the issue. Love the whimsical feel to the art and Mark including so many classic comics. Flash forward about 14 years and I bought the prelim from a fellow collector but missed out on the published piece a little while later. Got a second change recently and thrilled to now own the prelim and published art. One of my two favorite covers by Mark (I also own the other) Unpublished/Published Other: Batman #23 cover recreation by Sprang Best of 2018 Nominee (Lowery): I have always loved his unique style, for me he is THE Batman artist. This is one of Sprang's earliest recreations (1983). Unfortunately his original art is very rare not much of his published art is known to exist. Published: Splash Pages, Pinups: Jael - Sunday Newspaper Supplement in New York World by Dan Smith Best of 2018 Nominee (Lowery): All my other nominations or honorary mentions have strong nostalgia tied to it in some way. This artwork does not. In fact I have only have known of this artist for about 4 years. The art is what drew me to buying it. I was first exposed to Dan Smith at Big WOW!. I was moderating an inking panel and asked each artists who their influences are. Mark Schultz was one of the artist, besides Wally Wood and Alex Raymond he mentioned Dan Smith. I had never heard of him but did some research online and downloaded a number of his pieces to use on the panel. I was blown away by his art, he is an amazing illustrator. He worked in the late 1890s into the 1930s and he artwork is extremely rare. I have only seen a handful of his original art mostly on CAF. “Jael” is one of the best Dan Smith originals I have come across and thrilled to be able to add it to my collection in 2018. In the late 1890s, he worked for Hearst organization and covered the Spanish-American War. From Hearst he joined the New York Herald for a short period then moved on to The World, where “for twenty years, he drew nearly all of the covers for the Sunday magazine of New York World. Its BIG 22x28 and was probably drawn around 1920. My oldest piece of original art Published Strip Art: by Jack Kirby and Wally Wood Best of 2018 Nominee (Lowery): When I was growing up I loved the NASA Space Program. When the astronauts trained for missions in space one of the ways was to ride in the "Vomit Comet". Which was able to duplicate weightless environment or zero-g. NASA used a number of aircraft as the "Vomit Comet" until 2014 when canceled the Reduced Gravity Research Program. NASA currently uses Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) and flies Boeing 727-200. As a kid I always dreamed of going into space and training on the "Vomit Comet", fast forward and for my 50th birthday (2018) and I was able to fly ZERO-G. I got to experience weightlessness in zero-g. It was one of the most amazing experiences. I had read Sky Masters in reprints and there was a week sequence 3/23/59-3/26/59 were Sky Masters and Mayday train in "Vomit Comet”. Thrilled to finally own a strip from the sequence. Runners Up: Published Panel Page: Ghita of Alizarr pages 22 & 23 by Frank Throne After he quit Red Sonja he decided to do create his own warrior woman, Ghita. These two pages are from the first Ghita story. Ghita has taken the dead warrior Khan-Dagon sword and with the gem, means to take their power for her own. She does it in her unique way. So over the top but the art is amazing. I love Frank's composition on the 2nd page, three great images. Thrilled to own the two page sequence. Published/Unpublished Commissions: Erotic Ann iPod Commission by Michael Kaluta Back in 2014 Mike Kaluta and Elaine Lee started a Kickstarter for a new GN Starstruck: Old Proldiers Never Die. I signed up for it which included a drawing by Mike. I knew exactly what I wanted, Mike to draw Erotica Ann with my iPod theme. It turned out fantastic!!!! Love what he did with the theme, one of my favorite iPod pieces. Thrilled to add Mike to the stable of iPods. Published Splash Page, Pinup: The Shadow Strikes #8 page 25 by Eduardo Barreto A fantastic splash from the series. Love the lighting, and Eduardo's great composition. I am a BIG fan of his work on the series. Unpublished/Published Other: Kitty, Lockheed and Widget by Alan Davis and Paul Neary Alan was at Phenix Comic Con last month and I asked Off-White to see if he brought any pre-drawn pieces featuring Kitty and Lockheed. Mike informed me Alan had one piece and it was inked by Paul Neary who worked with Alan on his first run on Excalibur. I am thrilled to have this been wanting an Kitty/Lockheed by Alan and Paul inks is the cherry on top. Unpublished Convention Sketch: Nightcrawler Drawing 1976 by Dave Cockrum and Bob Layton I love Dave’s Nightcrawler one of his best character and costume design. Drawn a year after Kurt's debut in Giant Size X-Men #1 and at the peak of Dave’s career. Bob did an excellent job inking it. Edited January 5, 2019 by Brian Peck Twanj, chromium, Ted_L and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxjhnsn Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 @BCarter27, your taste is my taste love those. Let me know when you want to get rid of the SiP, 'Tec, and Superman pieces. Sheesh!@Brian Peck, you aren't any kinder to me. The Sprang and Schultz pieces really stand out even in that crowd. This year is going to be very hard; that's a good thing. BCarter27 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Peck Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 13 minutes ago, alxjhnsn said: @BCarter27, your taste is my taste love those. Let me know when you want to get rid of the SiP, 'Tec, and Superman pieces. Sheesh!@Brian Peck, you aren't any kinder to me. The Sprang and Schultz pieces really stand out even in that crowd. This year is going to be very hard; that's a good thing. All my nominees will be in the deep shadow of the Detective #62 if its nominated by a certain collector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxjhnsn Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 Re: 'Tec 62 Saw that. Yeah, it's pretty nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman_fan Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 (edited) As I was doing my Lowry, I observed a mild trend with all my nominees. Now I am not certain of the correlation factor, but I figure with some more modeling in Simulink, I should be able to identify the commonality of my 2018 purchases. Edited January 5, 2019 by batman_fan Ted_L, chromium, alxjhnsn and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxjhnsn Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 There does seem to be a trend. I'm sure we can work it out eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefanomjr Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 (edited) Third time's the charm.... I've yet to get into the "nostalgia" side of things, so what I've purchased thus far has been based on my taste in art and what i consider artistically/ esthetically appealing.... Batman riding into town to save the day! I love the depth the artist is able to create. The splash page is immersive and Gotham City has a New York City, circa 1980s, vibe that resonates with me. Batman: White Knight #7 page 14 https://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9747 When the artist first teased images from this page I knew I had to have it. I love the effective use of speed lines, the efficiency of the sequential storytelling and the transition from panel to panel Batman: White Knight #4 page 15 https://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9733 Love this page and this moment. Was fortunate enough to purchase page prior and then made it my mission to obtain the subsequent page, the page you see before you. There was a great review of Batman White Knight issue 4 and I've included an excerpt here: "There’s so much going on here, and the visuals are such a perfect expression of the situation. Batman has just saved Gordon from falling (after Bane chucked the Bat Signal at him!), and here they stand on the street below. The Bat Signal—the symbol of their partnership—lies shattered at their feet. In every other panel, Batman is distant from, and high above Gordon. He’s got the high ground—the moral high ground, I’ll wager—but he’s alone up there. Even one of his earliest allies is descending to the real world. Losing Jim Gordon to a knife or a bomb would be a tragedy, but one that gives Batman new purpose. Losing Jim Gordon this way—Napier is hurting Batman perhaps more than the Joker ever could. It’s a sad moment, and Murphy and Hollingsworth illustrate it with beautiful complexity." Batman: White Knight #4 page 16 https://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9741 Im getting older, my parents, aunts and uncles are all getting up there in age. Bruce waking up to find Alfred has selflessly switched places with him. Bruce's expression, the emotion and anguish. The loss of a loved one, a parent. This really hit me in the feels. Batman: White Knight #3 page 12 https://www.comicartfans.com/LowryPiece.asp?Piece=9786 Edited January 5, 2019 by Stefanomjr Catwoman_Fan and alxjhnsn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
▫️ Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 2 hours ago, Stefanomjr said: OK, I absolutely LOVE this page. The Voord and Stefanomjr 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideshow Bob Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 11 hours ago, Oddball said: OK, I absolutely LOVE this page. The frozen hat in midair in the foreground is a nice touch. Plus, living in NYC, seeing a well-drawn rooftop water tank warms my cold heart. williamhlawson and ▫️ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadpoolJr. Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) Hello 2018 was the year in which I was able to acquire pieces which I never thought possible before... mostly by selling pieces I never thought I would. It was hard for sure but think I did the right thing since I never would have been able to get what I consider a grail any other way. It really allowed me to evolve as a collector and really put quality over quantity.https://www.comicartfans.com/MyLowry.asp?GSub=3117 I'll have my submissions and their descriptions in a spoiler tag so they don't take up a lot of room. Spoiler First on the list is the Cover to Beasts of Burden #2. I consider this one of my luckiest gets since the story in this is one that I and likely anyone who has read the series thinks of as having the biggest impact on them. When I saw it available for sale I just had to get it. #2 on the list is a page from the final issue of ROM Spaceknight with pencils by the late Steve Ditko who passed away in 2018. In this page, you can see the conclusion to ROM's final battle where Dominor commits suicide with ROM's neutralizer after being unable to achieve his goal. #3 is another cover by Jason Pearson who did this great cover of Deadpool volume 2 #15. I really loved his style when he did covers for this series and had wanted one for a while. #4 is another ROM page but this time from the first ever issue. page 2 issue 1 to be precise. In this, we can see ROM right after he landed on Earth and the first ever appearance of Brandy Clark who would become a major character and ROM's love interest in the series. Finally for my last submission is a grail of mine. The first-ever appearance of ROM Spaceknight, the title splash page to issue 1 of the series which was also used as an ad for the series before it was released. Edited January 9, 2019 by DeadpoolJr. williamhlawson and alxjhnsn 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxjhnsn Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Nice Year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mister_not_so_nice Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 MY LOWRY A slower year than most, but still managed to get some pieces I am very happy with. Two you may be familiar with if you've been following the BEST OF 2018 BUDGET EDITION thread. To CAF I posted: HELLBLAZER 132 cover by Fabry. What can I say. If I can purchase a Fabry HB cover in any given year it is certainly going to be one of the best pieces I get that year. LUCIFER 24 page 08. A semi-splash from Dean Ormston of a Mike Carey written story. Lucky to have found it. PREACHER 23 page 12. Harder and harder to find a decent PREACHER page (unless you like the gallery on eBay). X-23 by Marc Guaglione. Why not? PREACHER commission from Christopher Cayco. Great srtist, 2 week turnaround on a commission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alxjhnsn Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 31 minutes ago, mister_not_so_nice said: MY LOWRY PREACHER 23 page 12. Harder and harder to find a decent PREACHER page (unless you like the gallery on eBay). I hear one guy grabs them all! Can you believe that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
▫️ Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 On 1/5/2019 at 5:40 AM, Brian Peck said: All my nominees will be in the deep shadow of the Detective #62 if its nominated by a certain collector. I know it’s historic and looks great but that 300 cover posted there just crushes it for me. No nostalgia associated with the Detective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Peck Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 8 minutes ago, Oddball said: I know it’s historic and looks great but that 300 cover posted there just crushes it for me. No nostalgia associated with the Detective. 300 cover does nothing for me, zero nostalgia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mister_not_so_nice Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 11 minutes ago, alxjhnsn said: I hear one guy grabs them all! Can you believe that? It's what I hear. Some people are just not nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
