With the increased, some would say exponentially, prices of original comic art comes far more interest from all comic auction houses. ComicConnect wrapped up part 1 of their Summer 2012 Event Auction that included a small but impressive collection of original comic art. For some reason they lumped in portfolios and other strange items that didn’t find anywhere else. All prices listed are in U.S. dollars and as usual we’ll look at our pick of the five most interesting pieces sold.
Galactus And The Silver Surfer Marvelmania poster by Jack Kirby, 1970, sold for $75,000. At 20″ x 26″ this is a large, clean piece of Kirby art that is astounding, the artist at the height of his Marvel career. Source.
Advantage Buyer: stunning large format artwork by the The King. Wow.
Amazing Spider-Man issue 106 cover by John Romita and Frank Giacoia, 1972, sold for $38,500. Not a particularly historic issue but a very nice Romita Spider-Man cover. Source.
Advantage Buyer: Spider-Man is always popular and many associate his classic run with Romita.
Wildcat pencil sketch by Alex Ross, undated, sold for $250. Ross is a big deal and his art is always popular. While Wildcat isn’t the first character most fans would request this is a solid piece. Source.
Advantage Buyer: really nice sketch by a very popular artist.
Action Comics issue 129 interior page by Win Mortimer and Al Plastino, 1949, sold for $3,111. A mostly unknown creative team with a nondescript villain, this page has Superman and Lois Lane going for it but that’s about it. Golden age pages seem to be languishing in the original art market. Source.
Advantage Seller: it’s a shame but golden age doesn’t get the love right now. You’d think a Wonga appearance would push the price.
Doctor Strange issue 21 interior page by Gene Colan and Dan Adkins, 1977, sold for $360. Smaller panels but this page shows off Gene Colan’s later style beautifully. Source.
Advantage Buyer: classic Gene Colan page of a character just waiting to take off via a movie appearance.
I’m curious Scott…, what is your criteria for determining who has the advantage.
Walters comic auctions are easier determine since there is a history and reference that help define market value depending on how “key” it is. Although art also has references, original art is a “one of a kind” and I would think it’s value is more closely linked to the artist vs “key” factor.
With fine art, it comes down the to the importance of the artist (as define by their contribution) and the significance or success of the piece.
With comic art, a big part of it seems to be the popularity of the artist which is largely determined by style over content. ie; guys like Scott Campbell and Adam Hughes are popular because they draw hot babes… Popularity still has value of course, but there are other considerations like:
• Contribution: Does the art or artist breaking new ground?
• Quality of the art: Is it the artist best work?
• Subject matter: Does the Buscema page have Conan in it?
• Cool factor: McFarlane puts Spidey in cool poses…
• Tend: Are they the flavour of the month?
• Technique: Is it artistic as defined by academic parameters.
• Etc.
At the end of the day, I realize it’s a bit like reading tea leaves and it’s tough due to it’s commercial nature but do you have some loose framework?
Nice pic of Sue Storm here:
http://comicbookartwork.tumblr.com/image/29498240338
It’s pretty open but mostly I use auctions from the last six months to gauge value, Heritage and eBay being the largest and easiest to search results. Your criteria capture it pretty well.
If the buyer paid the going rate or higher then I’d say the seller got the better deal, and if the buyer paid less than the going rate they got the deal.
This year has seen an exponential growth in resale values and that’s what interested me in putting together a recap like Walt does for books. I’m getting into the swing of it and adding explanations as to my rating and will continue to work on providing more detail.
The Doctor Strange page is inked by Rudy Nebres, not Dan Adkins.
The auction listing for this page (see Source) and Comics.org show Dan Adkins as the inker.