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The Official September Heritage Auction Thread
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366 posts in this topic

9 minutes ago, tth2 said:

WSF 29 went for much more.

Yep, Bronty mentioned that one earlier, which I was unaware of.  It obviously got the Frazetta bump (and was apparently a Jim Halperin purchase, should anyone be inclined to level accusations of shenanigans on that price).  

Setting that outlier aside, it looks as if most EC covers by the regulars have been fairly range-bound between $70-90K for the last decade.  Against that backdrop, the Chamber of Chills result is really impressive.   

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2 hours ago, ShallowDan said:

Yep, Bronty mentioned that one earlier, which I was unaware of.  It obviously got the Frazetta bump (and was apparently a Jim Halperin purchase, should anyone be inclined to level accusations of shenanigans on that price).  

Setting that outlier aside, it looks as if most EC covers by the regulars have been fairly range-bound between $70-90K for the last decade.  Against that backdrop, the Chamber of Chills result is really impressive.   

A lot of EC covers are 30-40 even yeah.   Really not that much in the grand scheme of things considering what they are but I’m still not going to spend the money, you know?   
 

I find when it comes down to it, I appreciate a ton of things from a ton of eras but to get me to spend significant money it’s typically going to be from my own era and wheelhouse . 

Edited by Bronty
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13 hours ago, delekkerste said:

If anything, that incredible cover at $83K should have convinced people that this zzz splash shouldn't even be worth the $30K it fetched at Profiles.  :fear: 

Totally in disagreement on the 58 splash.  I think it is a great piece, moody and different, with great inks.  Sure if one only likes battle scenes with lots of characters this is obviously not it.  But artistically I find it very accomplished.  When I saw it going for 30k at Profiles I regretted not participating,  90k might be an outlier, but I thought 30 was a steal.

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6 hours ago, Carlo M said:

Totally in disagreement on the 58 splash.  I think it is a great piece, moody and different, with great inks.  Sure if one only likes battle scenes with lots of characters this is obviously not it.  But artistically I find it very accomplished.  When I saw it going for 30k at Profiles I regretted not participating,  90k might be an outlier, but I thought 30 was a steal.

Yeah I think the Avengers 58 splash is aesthetically gorgeous. The drawing, the inking and the title integrated into the artwork is just so cool and gives it a bit of that Eisner Spirit title page vibe. Love it. The only problem is that it doesn't feel like a one and done type Avengers piece, and more of a one and done Black Panther piece. If Black Panther is your art collecting goal, this is the splash for you. If Avengers is your thing, well, not so much.

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13 hours ago, ShallowDan said:
13 hours ago, tth2 said:

I can imagine the conversation as the new owner proudly shows it to his friends.

Owner: (proudly) Just spent $1.2 million on this!

Friend: You picked up the cover of "A Princess of Mars" for only $1.2 million?!  Wow!!!  You got the deal of a lifetime!

Owner: Uh, it's not the cover.  It's a copy that Frazetta made shortly after painting the version that was used for the cover.

Friend:  Oh. :blush:  Uh, congratulations. 

[Awkward silence]

Too true!  This is one of those situations where I can't help but think of what else you could buy for $1.2M. 

And given that Heritage's listing description alludes to the fact that the original is still in existence (at least presumably), I'm genuinely curious where this result would have it valued (and what would happen to the value of this piece if/when the original surfaces).

I don't think the value of this piece is impacted at all by the existence or emergence of the original and I don't think the value of the original is impacted at all by this sale.  

The original is a top tier Frazetta.  I don't know if it would sell for as much as "Egyptian Queen", but it would be up there, and it would be up there whether this piece had sold for $1.2m or $600k.

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16 minutes ago, glendgold said:

Day two of the Heritage Auction starts in a few hours. Good luck to all bidders and to the consigners, I hope your lots all go bananas. 

I previously mentioned this piece that's coming up, but I'm going to bring it up again because of the underlying charity it benefits. Here's a little backstory I haven't discussed much: Back in 1999, Patrick McDonnell, creator of MUTTS, was doing a signing at the Cartoon Art Museum. I was a huge fan of the strip, which was in its most inspired moments an amalgamation of Krazy Kat, Peanuts and Calvin & Hobbs. It wasn't just about cute animals, but it had a deeper side that dared to suggest that we don't own the earth - we share it.  The Sunday title panels drew on fine art and comics for reference, the gags were classic, and there's obviously this compassionate intelligence behind the drawing.  Clearly I needed to own one, right?  I couldn't find one on the market.  So I went to Patrick's signing, and he turned out to be a delightful guy - but he wouldn't sell me anything.  He doesn't sell his strips.  I didn't give up.  I spent about five years trying to convince him to sell me something.  Nope.  (And I can be pretty freakin' charming when necessary.) 

Finally I had to admit it - we were just friends at this point.  And then collaborators.  I wrote a daily strip for him, and then he illustrated a special edition of my novel Sunnyside.  We visited the Met together, an exhibit of Ehon books, 19th century Japanese Manga, and each of us came away with insprirations for our own work.  A couple of months ago I dreamed a series of Mutts strips that involved the pandemic. 

He was inspired enough to draw two of them.  And we decided to sell one of them to benefit the Stray Cat Alliance of LA.  There are, crazily, over three MILLION cats on the streets of LA that are unfixed,  and the city has an injunction against spaying or neutering them.  So it's up to private organizations to get cats fixed, and to try to adopt out the kittens young enough to be socialized.  I've fostered a litter of kittens for them, and my girlfriend ended up keeping the runt (whose name when he was little was Peanut, but who is now so much a judgy Russian Blue that his name is Mikhail Furyshnikov). 

Anyway, this is the strip that's up for sale in a couple of house:  https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/comic-strip-art/patrick-mcdonnellmuttsspecialty-illustration-original-art-2020-/a/7234-94056.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116

 

Thanks for sharing the story behind this strip, Glen!  Mutts is probably tied with Pearls Before Swine as my favorite modern-day strip. 

But the part of your post about the city having an injunction against spaying/neutering strays has me scratching my head.  Was that a budget-driven decision, or some sort of LA-being-LA type thing? 

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20 minutes ago, ShallowDan said:

Thanks for sharing the story behind this strip, Glen!  Mutts is probably tied with Pearls Before Swine as my favorite modern-day strip. 

But the part of your post about the city having an injunction against spaying/neutering strays has me scratching my head.  Was that a budget-driven decision, or some sort of LA-being-LA type thing? 

 

This is OT now, but for those who care -- This is going to sound insane --  but the urban birdwatching groups put it into effect.  Here's their press release about it: https://abcbirds.org/article/conservation-groups-win-injunction-to-halt-feral-cat-program-in-los-angeles/

Their reasoning was that if the city stopped fixing cats, the cats would die and the birds would be safe. This didn't take into account a) people keep dumping their cats in the street, tens of thousands of them a year, b) people keep feeding community cats (what you and I would call feral cats), so they keep making kittens and c) the quiet part of their plan is that they were hiring trapping companies that exterminated the cats.  What ended up happening instead of what was intended is that the cat population, when about 750,000, went over 3 million. No one wanted that. The injunction was reconsidered and was supposed to be lifted in spring, but things got screwy due to, well, the obvious. If there's any money for it, the city is supposed to start it back up again,

Edited by glendgold
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I have no skin in the game here, but this is the page that fascinates me the most in the current auction.  https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/wally-wood-frontline-combat-3-story-page-6-original-art-ec-publ-1951-/a/7234-94090.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116

Incredibly powerful, the composition and, uh, execution are of course a-plus, and...hard to say if I'd want it on my wall or not. But really glad it exists: https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/panel-pages/wally-wood-frontline-combat-3-story-page-6-original-art-ec-publ-1951-/a/7234-94090.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116

The type of thing that should be in a museum one day.

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1 hour ago, O. said:

Biggest jaw-dropper today was the $36k Larsen SM #18 page; the way his Spidey OA prices skyrocketed the past couple years is mind-boggling :whatthe:

 

I love Erik but I thought that was too much. But I hope the new owner enjoys it. I bet the consignor is happy.

 

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The Wally Wood Astonishing Tales Dr. Doom page at $7500......a very sweet page:

There was a Conan page and even though mighty Sal Buscema jumped in to cover Barry Smiths pedestrian art even Sal couldn’t get the bids past 3K

H8 H8 H8 x 2 minutes

 

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1 hour ago, Will_K said:

Any opinions on the Lady Blackhawk by Brian Bolland ?? 

12K (14.4K w/ premium)

I would say I was surprised, but not shocked, by this one.  It's a nice and sexy pin-up piece and it's Bolland.  I didn't expect it to break $10K, but can definitely understand why others were willing to bid higher.

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2 hours ago, grapeape said:

The Wally Wood Astonishing Tales Dr. Doom page at $7500......a very sweet page:

There was a Conan page and even though mighty Sal Buscema jumped in to cover Barry Smiths pedestrian art even Sal couldn’t get the bids past 3K

H8 H8 H8 x 2 minutes

 

:removes ARTSOC hat:

nothing was going on with that page. I almost bid but it just was not doing it for me. 3600 was on name recognition of BWS conan alone. 
 

:places ARTSOC mantle of authority on skull:

”As it should. For never can a word of praise be directed at the brother of John and may never such a bid be placed as to question ‘the averages” place in the heavens. Such is the way we keep order as the gate keepers of what’s good and right in comic art! SO LET IT BE SPOKEN...”

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