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rgtichy Posts: 124
5/1/2020
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So, I saw this week on ha.com that a Kelley Jones' Batman cover is auctioning off, and was at ~$19,000 this morning. As chance would have it, I catalogued that comic book in the past two days, noting to myself that the Kelley Jones Batman issues really aren't worth "anything", which kind of surprised/disappointed me. With the ready availability of trade paperbacks, which really remove "Half" the reasons to be a collector of comic books, have the collectors just moved to the only exclusive content left: the original art?
Am I overstating that, or is that a generally accepted state of comic book collecting?
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Ronbatman Administrator Posts: 2368
5/2/2020
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First of all, can you post more on the forums? I've enjoyed reading something other than "add this book" post.
To me, these two things aren't mutually exclusive. I own some original art for characters I really enjoy, obviously Batman is number one for me. Because of the price, original art can be restrictive. I've found pieces that I really like for $100 with that same money I could buy roughly 25 comics. Which do you choose? As you mentioned, a $19,000 original art cover weighed against $19,000 in comic spending. If you really love the artist maybe the original art is worth it. If you love first appearances maybe the comic book purchases are your first choice.
Another important element that is often overlooked is that comics are the hotbed of new show and movie ideas. If you would have told me 10 years ago that Witcher, The Boys, Umbrella Academy would have shows on television, I would have laughed at you. Comic readers know before the general public what's going on with shows and movies because we've already read the book. For that reason alone, I think comic books are here to stay.
R
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Guest
5/2/2020
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I totally agree that the original art market is "rarified air" to which few of us belong!
I have no original art, but I have some nice fan art (Swamp Thing stuff, by Bissette & Totleben) from 1985-1987. Also, I have a Moon Knight by Sienkiewicz, a Superman by Jerry Ordway, and a Sandman (Golden Age Sandman) by Guy Davis.
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rgtichy Posts: 124
5/2/2020
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Ron, did you see the recent email from CGC about the Doug Moench collection being sold through somebody named "Henn"? Doug Moench might be the most prolific Batman writer, ever? It seems to me he was writing Batman & Detective "Forever" and created Bane, the Black Mask, and maybe Killer Croc, too?
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Defiant1 Posts: 720
5/3/2020
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Original art is one-of-a-kind, so it's simple supply and demand. A Kelly Jones comic may have half-a-million copies published. Retailers or collectors were willing to pay 50% of cover price or more for the comic when it came out. An original page of art from the book is averaging out at less than 4 cents if all the purchasers of the comic contributed proportionally to buy it. If you factor that there are Kelly Jones fans that didn't buy the comic, it's even more justification for the price.
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rgtichy Posts: 124
5/3/2020
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That's an interesting perspective on valuing the original art, defiant1.
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Defiant1 Posts: 720
5/3/2020
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rgtichy wrote:
That's an interesting perspective on valuing the original art, defiant1.
I still prefer comics, but art fans only have one option if they want to own the original art page... that is to outbid everyone else who wants it.
Sometimes art seems overpriced, but you have to outbid what it's worth to the seller who owns it. Otherwise they'll just keep it.
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rgtichy Posts: 124
5/3/2020
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There are not many situations where I really wanted to own the original art. (Actually "None" since I don't!) but IF I were thinking about original art, covers seem like the bulk of what I'd care to have. I really cannot see much long term interest in a generic "page 12" of any comic, even one by a solid artist.
About a year ago, I saw a "World of Tomorrow" full page for one of the treasury edition Superman's... that looked pretty awesome. It might have been by Garcia-Lopez and Giordano, or maybe Perez-Giordano, I think. That actually did not get too expensive.
edited by rgtichy on 5/3/2020
edited by rgtichy on 5/3/2020
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BasementComics Posts: 783
5/3/2020
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I have some original art (comic pages) but I tried to keep them to Batman/Batman related although I did get a good deal a decade ago on some (original) Star Trek.
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Defiant1 Posts: 720
5/3/2020
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I try to collect at least one page of art if I like an artist and it's affordable. I'm cheap.
I know Bob Burden, so I bought this..
Here's the Paul Gulacy page..
Here's an EC comics page...
A Ditko page...
A DEFIANT color art cover painted by JayJay Jackson.
A Budd Root Cavewoman:Rain page from issue #1
A Dave Cockrum page from Broadway Comics
Dave Berg "Lighter side of.." from Mad Magazine.
I have some diverse stuff. These are just image links I could grab quickly.
Defiant1
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Ronbatman Administrator Posts: 2368
5/3/2020
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To answer your question to me, yes I did see that Doug's collection is coming to auction. Doug was a prolific writer, no doubt.
One of the good things about this hobby is that you can customize your experience. You can collect raw books or graded or signed books or graded signed books, or original art or a specific style or artist or writer or title or character or... It is interesting how collections are formed and to see what the emphasis is. Over the years, I've bought several collections or pieces of collections and there are always interesting finds in each one. The most common is collecting a title or character. In the future, I think this will change to a specific artist because people are spending a lot of money on variants or to just key issues. It's all good
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GuardianIV Posts: 4
5/21/2020
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I am an artist and an art teacher, and frankly I do not believe you can compare fairly the collecting of comic books to the collecting of one of a kind artwork. They simply are two different animals. I enjoy the thought of collecting original comic art, but not the price tags. As an art teacher, the art I am drawn to is not normally the sequential variety with a bunch of people on it and square/rectangular panels. If I bought original art it would have to be splash pages and covers. Sequential art is great in the comic itself, but it was never meant to be in a frame on a wall. There are some obvious exceptions for this, some artist are so gifted in creating page layouts that their sequential work is as much if not more artistic than their splash pages. Neal Adams comes to mind. At either rate, I love art and I love comics. The two are heavily related, no doubt. However, they are not the same. I would never be able to afford the art I love the most even if it were available for sale. Which makes collecting the original comic were I get every wonderful page all that more attractive.
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+1
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