ComicLink’s July Featured Auction was a low end affair, in preparation for their gigantic August Featured Auction apparently. I found five items that called out to me and was taken aback by their relatively low finishing prices. While these pieces may not fall under anyone’s must haves they feature accomplished artists with relatively big names in the industry. It seems bargains can still be found in the original art market.
Johnny Thunder commission by Paul Smith, 2001, sold for $60. Source. Bit of a mystery to this one, like why Smith credits Gil Kane 1951 in the piece. Hopefully an homage to the original, as it’s a great pose.
Advantage Buyer. Paul Smith are goes for a lot of money and this is a steal. Of course it is Johnny Thunder, a character with a relatively modest following.
Star Hawks daily, February 7th 1980, sold for $73. Source. Kane’s relatively short newspaper strip work was the excellent Star Hawks, done late in his career in that instantly recognizable style.
Advantage Buyer. Star Hawks strips normally sell for double this amount. It’s Gil Kane people!
Catwoman issue 25 page 12 by Paul Gulacy and Jimmy Palmiotti, 2004, sold for $91. Source. Probably Gulacy’s last big name character run for a major comic book company. Very solid work with great inking by Palmiotti.
Advantage Buyer. For no name can’t remember titles and characters this is the price for Gulacy art, but this is a solid Catwoman page with decent action. Should have been at least double that price.
Sandman commission by Creig Flessel, 2006, sold for $180. Source. Full of life, detailed environment and excellent use of colour. Flessel’s golden age style comes through with solid execution.
Advantage Seller. Tough call here, since it’s a great watercolour piece done by a wonderful golden age artist. Unfortunately it’s a name few recognize, and it’s a character without much interest.
Charlie “Bird” Parker by Dan Brereton, 1989, sold for $82. Source. No notes but has to be an illustration to accompany an album or book.
Advantage Buyer. Wow, strong image here from an underrated artist. The pieces small size of 5.5×7 inches hurt it’s chances of getting a better price. An auction outside the comic community would get a better return.
I like that Flessel piece, that was a good buy in my opinion.
Great articles. I just discovered this stuff and I look start to look forward to it. I had my eye on that Brereton Parker piece and thought that it did go for a very reasonable price.