The Epic Weekend Post Continued! Moon Knight Art by Billy da'Sienk!

So besides a Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman, which is a real favorite of mine, I got some other fancy things this weekend. (No one does Wonder Woman as well as Darwyn Cooke and Darwyn Cooke doesn't do any superhero as well as he draws Wonder Woman. It is like Vinnie used to say about Peach Snapple - there is no Snapple other than peach and there is no peach other than Snapple.) I am having trouble counting the pieces up at any one time and getting to the right number. In other words, I cannot even remember and name everything I got this weekend.

So today I will stick with the Polish stuff.

I have been buying Bill Sienkiewicz art for about 15 years but it is generally convention sketches. I remember quite clearly the moment I realized it was Bill sitting there drawing. I was walking through WW Philly and saw a young woman make a beeline for some guy as he sat down at his table. She had some books with her that were drawn by Bill and I remember getting quite excited thinking that this might be Bill Sienkiewicz sitting over there. I stayed off to the side and watched as he got his act together and then started to draw for the woman. Almost immediately after pen hit paper I knew.

HOT DAMN BILL SIENKIEWICZ!

I jumped in line behind her. She was quite a cutie but I don't recall anything more about her other than the fact that she was only charged $10 for the drawing she got (a head sketch). My heart was leaping up my throat and through my mouth as I got out my $10. As she left Bill explained that she and I had some distinct and important differences and that my request for Jimi Hendrix would require either $80 or $100.

Oh.

I stammered something and asked for the $80 version. He started right in on it and about 30 seconds later I got my wits about me and cancelled the $80 sketch for the $100 sketch instead. I was stupefied but not stupid! For $20 extra bucks I was going to get something extra and that was not a difficult $20 to spend.

Bill went to work. I think he started with the eyes, and if he didn't start there he was there soon enough. He worked at it and worked at it and then as he moved on to the hair he said something I remember quite clearly "you're paying too much money for this" and he ripped the page from the pad!

I remember instantly thinking "I am going to get two Jimi's out of this!"

But Bill being Bill he did the unexpected and turned the page over. He started Jimi again, This time using the eyes from the first version and revising the rest. He would hold it up to the light and look through the paper frequently to make sure he got the eyes right. And the hair was much improved. I may have sold a few Sienkiewicz pieces over the years (The Thing and Demon Bear head sketches come to mind) but I still have this one. Here, check it out:

Jimi Hendrix - Bill Sienkiewicz convention drawing

So while I have been buying Sienkiewicz art over the years, maybe 10 pieces in all, I have not been buying published pieces. Well, I do have a page from Starman 81 by Bill. And I owned but sold a page of Big John Buscema art inked by Bill (Galactus Destroyer or something like that) a few years ago. So when the opportunity to get some Bill Sienkiewicz Moon Knight art arose recently I felt both fortunate and lucky.

Bill Sienkiewicz Moon Knight Special Edition - Crawley & Gena portfolio piece

At first it was purely mercenary. I saw the two pinups and thought they would be excellent currency for my collecting and trading plans. But I realized they were my number one priority pretty quickly. Now after all was said and done two days later I had managed to utilized a large amount of art and get something else that will be on the wall by the end of the year; it isn't a Sienkiewicz. But we will get to that. And it is not the Mignola. (Oops, there I go again.) It is a very excellent special surprise!

But anyway, acquiring the art in this post and the other posts to come did not happen in one day. I have two purchases from this weekend coming in the mail in the future and was involved in negotiations both Saturday and Sunday. So when I went back Sunday I made a beeline for the very excellent special surprise and the page from Moon Knight 18 at top of this post. The pinups are one thing, but the splash page is another beast entirely.

Oh, I keep saying two pinups, don't I?

Bill Sienkiewicz Moon Knight Special Edition Frenchie portfolio piece

Look at Frenchie's shadow. Who does something like that other than Bill Sienkiewicz? No one does it as well, that is for sure!

okay, enough for now. That makes seven pieces from the previous post and these three. Quite a weekend! And I still have more! I'M ONLY TWO-THIRDS DONE! well, one piece is layaway for comic art con but it is ordered!

So stay tuned, because the best is definitely to come.