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Heritage May 16 - 18 Comic Art Signature Auction - Chicago
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764 posts in this topic

On 5/17/2019 at 11:01 AM, Nexus said:

Anyone who is wary of it, and won't take it into consideration when bidding on the next painting of this level, will just lose out to someone who isn't. Or who doesn't care.

I prefer to take the glass half-full approach and hope that discussions like these have an educational value for future buyers (regarding the different types of guarantors and their level of financial interest in a piece.) This is a relatively new topic for the comic art hobby that the fine art world has been dealing with for awhile now.

On 5/17/2019 at 11:01 AM, Nexus said:

However this happened, it's now a legit comp. Or as legit as these things go.

We can argue over the definition of "legit", but even if it is an accepted practice, guarantees are at the very least a significant distortion. I consider them second-cousins to shilling or a "ghost/soft reserve".

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14 hours ago, dem1138 said:

Back in 2010 I found this auction for strip #9 where Buck Rogers was given his first rocket gun and was mesmerized by it.  Despite the estimate, the strip didn't sell and I emailed the auction house afterwards and it was available for offer and I believe the initial reserve was around 5K.  I ultimately decided against it but have thought about/regretted it ever since.  I do wonder where it wound up...

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/auctions/upcoming-auctions/susanins-auction-to-launch-buck-rogers-into-21st-century-aug-28/

Lot 2044


44/7000-159
CALKINS, BUCK ROGERS DAILY COMIC STRIP ORIGINAL ART (JOHN F. DILLE CO., 1929).
Comprised of strip #9 from the "Meeting the Mongols" series. The top left corner of the first panel is numbered 10, but the strip is actually #9. The first two panels depict Buck Rogers being administered an electro-hyptonic test, being given his first rocket gun, and being welcomed into the Alleghany organization. The third panel is the original concept, which details the audio death machine, and the revelation that Buck had not seen Wilma in many days. The last panel depicts Buck being told that Wilma is missing. The last panel is signed in the LM "LT. Calkins, Air Corps"
Image area: 6.5" x 25.1"
$18,000/$22,000


Condition: No Specific Condition Recorded - Sold As Is


Unsold

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Patrick Kearney <patrick@susanins.com>
To: "dem1138@yahoo.com" <dem1138@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010, 10:09:52 AM PDT
Subject: Buck Rogers unsold lot
 
Good afternoon, 
 
Thank you for contacting Susanin's Auctions regarding the unsold Buck Rogers lot. I would suggest that you make an offer on the lot with me, and I will present it to the consignor of the collection to see if they would be interested in selling the piece.
 
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. 
 
Many thanks, 
 
Patrick Kearney
900 S. Clinton Street
Chicago, IL 60607
P: 312-832-9800
F: 312-832-9311
www.twitter.com/SUSANINSauction

 

Hi David!  Haven't seen you around these parts much lately.

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14 minutes ago, BCarter27 said:

I prefer to take the glass half-full approach and hope that discussions like these have an educational value for future buyers (regarding the different types of guarantors and their level of financial interest in a piece.) This is a relatively new topic for the comic art hobby that the fine art world has been dealing with for awhile now.

We can argue over the definition of "legit", but even if it is an accepted practice, guarantees are at the very least a significant distortion. I consider them second-cousins to shilling or a "ghost/soft reserve".

I agree. My point is that it doesn't matter. It's not a half-full or half-empty view. It's simply reality.

These discussions have occurred here for years, and even more offline. There are varying degrees of manufactured comps. At least in this case, an actual transaction will take place (hence "as legit as these things go"). Ultimately, while many of us are aware and have our eyes open, the market at large doesn't care. If it did, the Cabal wouldn't be a thing.

Whether you or I believe this $5.4M sale is "real" (or any other reported sale), it's now the benchmark for Frazetta paintings. It will be the floor for any other A-level painting, and all other paintings will be priced against it. The further point being that anyone who wants a Frazetta painting going forward needs to make peace with that, if they want a chance of beating out those who don't know and/or don't care.

 

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Mark Nelson Aliens Poster - $9300

 

The one piece I was going after in the auction, but it went for much more than I expected. Loved the Aliens series and have been looking for a nice example and this poster was one of the nicest. Loved the Dou-shade!! Oh well, keep looking for another Aliens piece by Nelson.

 

 

 

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16 hours ago, Brian Peck said:

Have you heard the story about Caulkins quitting the Buck Rogers strip? 

Supposedly the someone at National Newspaper Service syndicate told Caulkins he was a terrible artist no where as good as Alex Raymond, Hal Foster or Burne Hogarth. So quit the strip, went home and burned all the strips he had done for Buck Rogers. Never could confirm that story but does explain why most of his art isn't out there. The syndicate had some of his early stuff but considering how many years he drew it, wonder where the rest of the artwork is.

I have not heard the story, I personally think it’s more of a style thing than incompetence as a draftsman.....he isn’t the type of artist as the guys you mentioned, more of a stylist, and if someone is interested in getting close to “realism” Calkins isn’t for them....he’s quirky but his lines are confident enough that I trust what he does. He also creates some real weirdness that complements the strip in many cases. 

Ive seen quite a few out there over the years, but not a ton....so maybe he did destroy many of them....that would be too bad IMHO

id also just throw out that Ditko could be quite odd at times, and that made for a heck of a lot of charm and humanity to his Spider-Man.

Edited by suspense39
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17 minutes ago, vodou said:

Wow, that's kray kray. I'd rather have 6 - 10 batman cult pages at those prices 

Malvin 

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4 hours ago, Brian Peck said:

Mark Nelson Aliens Poster - $9300

 

The one piece I was going after in the auction, but it went for much more than I expected. Loved the Aliens series and have been looking for a nice example and this poster was one of the nicest. Loved the Dou-shade!! Oh well, keep looking for another Aliens piece by Nelson.

 

 

 

Had my eye on it too. A real memorable piece.  The duo shade adds a lot to the art.  Great pose too.  

One of the 'problems' for me was the large size. I know some folks like oversized art.. but when it comes to comic related art 11x17 or 12x18 is my preferred size.  I got Larger pieces - but for the most part try and avoid that.

The price was more than I expected too - but I think it was super nostalgic. The only alien pieces I liked as much from the period are the Dennis Beauvais covers from the color series that followed the original Nelson mini.

51ODC91cooL._SX330_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

bfd95225473e9cb14b82180e5fb4f4b3.jpg

Screen+shot+2012-05-10+at+22.09.32.jpg

Screen+shot+2012-05-10+at+22.11.11.jpg

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6 hours ago, O. said:

 

5 hours ago, batman_fan said:

OMG, I may need to go into therapy after seeing that one :sick:

$10k is high for sure, but it's still a fraction of what it would be if this page was drawn by McFarlane

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2 hours ago, Panelfan1 said:

Had my eye on it too. A real memorable piece.  The duo shade adds a lot to the art.  Great pose too.  

One of the 'problems' for me was the large size. I know some folks like oversized art.. but when it comes to comic related art 11x17 or 12x18 is my preferred size.  I got Larger pieces - but for the most part try and avoid that.

The price was more than I expected too - but I think it was super nostalgic. The only alien pieces I liked as much from the period are the Dennis Beauvais covers from the color series that followed the original Nelson mini.

51ODC91cooL._SX330_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

bfd95225473e9cb14b82180e5fb4f4b3.jpg

Screen+shot+2012-05-10+at+22.09.32.jpg

Screen+shot+2012-05-10+at+22.11.11.jpg

 

That 2nd Aliens series was amazing. Pre-computer coloring. Den's airbrushed colors blew my mind.

 

 

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On 5/17/2019 at 10:28 AM, The Cimmerians Purse said:

I wonder how much of a hit the racist porn scandal was on the final price of EQ? I bet that sale took a hit on it. Potentially drove away some buyers.

Easier to argue that it was a product of the times, with out that strong evidence of how he thought personally.

 

On 5/17/2019 at 10:59 AM, vodou said:

Oh gosh...there's so much more to this story than what's "out there" regarding those couple of pieces from Doc Dave's collection...

And I say, ZERO HIT to price. You either care or you don't. I don't and I think $4.5m doesn't either. What's obvious is there are zero other $4.5m hands in this game. Pre-reserve-reveal-action stalled around 2.5m, right? I think that's about as deep as the pockets we all know and love go. If that. Surely plenty of thrill bids in this.

On the Felix podcast, I heard a discussion about some of Frazetta's more controversial (racist pornography?) art he made in private.  It was so vague that I had no idea what they were referring to.  Is this what you are talking about?  Do you have any links or info about this?

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On 5/17/2019 at 11:01 AM, Nexus said:

On the Lucas Museum possibly acquiring this...I'll believe it when I see it. But if they did, then I really have to question why they passed on "Master Race" for 1/10 the cost (or at least bid more, if they were in it at all).

Perhaps storytelling is not Lucas' thing (which if true would be a shame for what it means for the museum).

 

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7 hours ago, Peter L said:

 

On the Felix podcast, I heard a discussion about some of Frazetta's more controversial (racist pornography?) art he made in private.  It was so vague that I had no idea what they were referring to.  Is this what you are talking about?  Do you have any links or info about this?

This references what's out there publicly: https://fritzfrazetta.blogspot.com/2015/11/comments-on-frazetta-erotic-images.html

The non-public is not mine to share without permission. That's means somebody will be tempted to reply, then it doesn't exist. Okay ;) , but seriously, there is much more to this if you're patient, hang around those closest to the source and keep your ears (and mind) open...ideally non-judgmentally. That last part, doesn't mean you'd agree "all good" but you'd keep that to yourself.

7 hours ago, Peter L said:

One of the top trending stories on twitter was about how this last week was one of the biggest weeks for art sales at all of the major auction houses (and which didn't even mention Heritage).  I think Gene referred to a NYT article, but look at the magnitude of this last week in art:

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-may-art-auctions/

It's May. Happens every year. Followed immediately by most gallerists closing up shop and taking the summer off. Unless you're in a coastal town selling coastal art to vacationers with open wallets ;)

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