Epic Weekend Post Continued Yet Again - One for the collection and One for The Fifty

So after my first trading session netted me 10 pieces I went home tired, stressed, and just plain wired. When I was in Spain in the 10th grade I learned that the meat from the dead bulls after a bullfight is given away to the poor because adrenaline and other neurotransmitters, along with hormones, render the meat tough. I felt like that bull on the ride home.

So when I went back the next day I spent a good hour or so going through all the art: portfolios and piles and stacks and framed pieces on the walls all over the place. So when the trading commenced I had only three pieces with me. One was a goal all along but I could not locate it the day before, a great Gene Colan page inked by Dan Adkins.

Gene Colan / Dan Adkins Strange Tales 170 p 15

The second piece was the Bill Sienkiewicz / Steve Mitchell splash page from Moon Knight 18 I already posted. But the third piece was a valuable one that I saw the day before and had offered a Starman painted cover for it straight up. (This is the piece I teased in my earlier post as the very excellent special surpise.) That offer was rejected as the dealer stated he was fond of the very excellent special surprise and had rejected offers about 80-90% of his asking price in the past. So I took two pieces of art that I have previously posted for the Starman cover featuring blue Starman Mikaal Tomas instead. The next day I targeted the very excellent special surprise again and just went for it - for the three pieces I offered a half full portfolio of smaller stuff for $1250 value (20-30 pieces with only 3 or so valued at more than $100, many of which had been offered but not traded the day before plus many new small things that I would not have initially thought he would accept but had learned otherwise on day one) and then told him he could go through the 11x17 and we would take it from there.

He sighed, I had kept the very excellent special surprise behind the other two until I started talking.

He put it aside and suggested we do the two other first.

Fine. I took the smaller Itoya and showed him the pieces one by one. When I was done he casually picked it up and tossed it in his pile. Here we go! He picked up my 11x17 and suggested a value needed to make the deal. It was very reasonable, as he had been all along, and I told him to take what he wanted at that level.

Now here we go, time for the very excellent special surprise.

Have you gotten that yet? The very excellent special surprise?

Very

Excellent

Special

Surprise

Charles Very Excellent Special Surprise to be exact.

Elric of Melnibone and Stormbringer by Charles Vess

The dealer appeared to have a hard time letting this go, but it never seemed to be in doubt. He went through the 11x17 Itoya and lamented the fact that nothing new and nice was in there. He debated the value of the Starman pages and we danced back and forth. I had learned a few steps in the dance session the day before and it was obvious that I was using the silence better on this day. He went through the Itoya once or twice more and started taking pieces out one by one. Slowly but surely he took out some beauties: a Darryl Banks Michael Golden homage that tore my heart out as it left the portfolio, Andy MacDonald commissions that I could never replace despite the fact that he rightly stated much of this art could be recreated any day now and the Vess was a timeless piece from another era (which is why I went after it and will have it in the main room and not the basement of my home), two JK Woodward pieces with Dr. Strange and The Mindless Ones that I was so proud to conceive and see carried to execution and was even prouder still of JK for that beautiful execution and improving the idea with a second panel on my commission. So many wonderful pieces that were partof my life and my collection. I am choked up again as I write because this is the collection that I enjoyed accumulating over these many years, a collection I often looked at and genuinely thought "I would take this collection over anyone else's" and now I had treated it coldly and dispassionately as bait for more art and absolutely decimated it.

But my mind, and a large part of my heart as well I must admit, was saying otherwise. "Fuck them. Leave them behind. Slash the value of the ones he doesn't like and move them all - you paid for the honor and fun of having them created and owning them these many years and now it is time to take it to another level." When I started seriously sinking money and time into this hobby I was a different person in vastly different life circumstances. Perhaps it is the standard mid-life crisis as I approach the big five oh but I want nice things now. And my tastes and preferences have changed as well.

So I pitched him some more Starman pages, talking head pages mostly. He refused, absolutely refused, to discuss pages with the characters on the phone. But he took a few more and held 8-10 pieces in his hands and said it just did not feel like the value was in his hands. he was probably right, so I threw in some more things. He was still hesitant and at this point I was comfortable with where we were going, so I told him to hit a higher value than previously discussed. We danced a few times throughout the 15-30 minutes it probably took. There was a bystander, a friend of his in the room, who was laughing at the end and saying it was quite the trading session - a heavyweight fight. But eventually I stuffed enough art in his hands and eventually he put his hand out again but empty this time.

We shook hands and the deal was sealed.

The bystander congratulated us both on our acquisitions and said it looked like we both got some good new art. (In fact he was a bit of a help for me that this man was there as he knew some of the artists and characters involved better than the dealer did and the dealer trusted him. he liked a bunch of my stuff a lot as well.) He said it was a good deal in that we bargained hard but were cordial and calm throughout. He was right. I think the fact that we were able to meet a second day shows that neither party felt taken advantage of in the first trade session.

Or it meant that one or both parties felt that they could (continue to?) outmaneuver the other.

I hope to think the first hypothesis is correct. I think it is. I know that I felt we both got a good deal at the end of the weekend. It was like Monopoly, when you trade you both have to feel that the other person did not take advantage of you. You can makes trades in an adversarial situation like Monopoly and both parties can benefit. It was like that.I hope we can continue to trade and benefit each other. In fact I can't wait to get my act together and do it again!

ps  There are still two pieces left tobe revealed from the Epic Art Weekend! Three if you count the one I bought on time payments, but purchased last weekend all the same.

The Fifty
1  Barry Windsor-Smith Storyteller Young Gods page 4 (framed)
2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover  (framed)
3  Barry Windsor-Smith Weapon X page  (framed)
4  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 22  (framed)
5  Tony Harris Starman 3 cover  (framed)
6  Barry Windsor-Smith Daredevil 236 page (framed)
7  Tony Harris Starman 53 cover  (framed)

8  David Mazzucchelli Daredevil 233 page 19

9  JHW3 Milestone Forever pinup (framed)
10  Charles Vess - Elric of Melnibone and Stormbringer (framed)

11  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones (framed)
12  Paul Smith Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom  (framed)
13  Dave Sim Mars Attacks variant cover
14 Jack Kirby / D. Bruce Berry Captain America 196 page 14 (framed)
15  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash  (framed)
16  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash (framed)
17  Tony Harris 1994 Starman pinup  (framed)
18  Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation (framed)

19  Ted McKeever Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom in Hell
20  Dean Ormston Dr. Strange & Eternity

21  Bryan Talbot Dr. Strange commission
22  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11  (framed)

23  Dan Adkins Dr. Strange 170 page 10 (framed)
24  Ulises Farinas - Dr. Strange in his Sanctum Sanctorum

25  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch
26  Mike Allred - Doctor Strange, Clea, The Ancient One, Wong, and Rintrah...A Day Off
27  Anna Merli Clea
28  Mitchell Bretweiser Dr. Strange watercolor
29  Jae Lee Dr. Strange
30  Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman  (framed)
31  Walt Simonson Alan Moore as Rorschach (framed)

By the way, I used to win at Monopoly all the time. ;-)

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.

Epic Art Weekend, or "How to Turn 48 in Style, Bitches!"

I had an awesome weekend.

Weekend, the end of the week.

That is as important as the weekend itself, because last week was my 2nd Annual Birthday Sale that ended last night at midnight. I sold four awesome pages and a few smaller things.

But I got rid of about 70 items in the sale.

Huh Wha?

Trades my kind sir, trades.

I contacted a local dealer during the early stages of my sale and expressed a desire to trade with him. He was surprisingly willing but frustratingly vague for the most part. As the week went on I added some items to the sale and dropped prices once or twice while simultaneously engaged in ongoing discussion with the dealer setting trade parameters. At one point he expressed concern that I was trying to sell everything before we met for the trade on my birthday. He said he bought art as well as traded for it. I explained that I was indeed trying to sell the art before we met and that he was welcome to buy the art at stated prices at any time.

He elected to wait for the trade.

In the meantime I sold a few more pieces, including one he professed interest in during our talks. That was good, as it showed I had viable items for sale/trade. I also fortified what I had for sale publicly with some awesome items for trade. And when the weekend came I was ready.

Or so I thought.

We met Saturday as planned and after about two hours I was dizzied, battered and bruised. Not from the dealer, who was just doing business in the exact style I had hoped for and anticipated. But it was a business to him, and I was engaged in the wholesale destruction of an art collection that I had built over the course of 25 years.

It was vicious.

I was vicous.

I was ruthless and I was mercenary. A piece got bent and I had to let it go. It was merchandise, not my collection. It was no longer my collection.

I am choked up typing that. Seriously.

Starman pages were flying out of the portfolio left and right. I had accumulated over 100 at one time and here he was taking some, leaving some, and generally wreaking havok on my collection and my psyche. All dealers hate your stuff as they look at it, trade for it, or even pay cash for it but having some pages dismissed casually regardless of content was rough for me. He never read the book, and no dealer has ever had an inventory of more than 3 Harris Starman pages at one time since Scott Eder 20 years ago. mostly because I was buying them. (I mean, I survived. Trust me in that I survived, but we will get to that.) I mean, you may know already and you may not. You may think it is ego on my part, but if you wanted to buy Harris Starman art you had to deal with me at one point or another. You HAD to go through me.

Unless I feel asleep before a late night auction.

That happened, more than once.

But here I was actively trying to give them to the dealer for far less than I would sell them to you. But then again you didn' t have stuff like this for me in return.

Wonder Woman REAR - pencil layout Dave Bullock / inks Darwyn Cooke

And it wasn't just Jack Knight I turned my back on. Steven Strange forgive me! But the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto was there to guide me and show me the way. The dealer was even heard to tell a friend/spectator in his shop that he was getting out ahead of the movie.

Yeah, me too.

I gave him more Dr.Strange than you can imagine. I condensed and then eliminated three Itoyas to do it. Twenty years plus of paid con sketches -masterpieces and quickies both - and commission after commission. He got at least two of my Darryl Banks commissions. After I went out to the car and got the double secret stash - a painted Starman cover and more Doc beauties (the good ones!) - he managed to procure my Valkyrie commission by Kevin Nowlan. Yeah, the big-ass Bruunhilde. I wouldn't be surprised if he keeps that one for a while or even if I see it onhis wall framed in the future.

And that was just the first day.

HEY NOW! JHW3 / Mick Gray Flash Annual 1996 splash with Grateful Dead motif!

When I got home I realized I had left early and made a bad decision or two when I was there. I did not regret anything and was not at all unsatisfied by the trades we had made; I got 10 pieces, one of which he could not locate and was to be mailed later. But I was overwhelmed losing so much art in such a quick manner that I had to end it after 2.5-3 hours and head on home.

I was so pumped but still had a ton of art left to trade. I know I can always trade or sell it at a later date but felt that I had missed out on capitalizing better on the opportunity.

But then I got an email saying the dealer had located the Mignola piece (oops!) and that he had enjoyed the day as well. I decided I would see if he wanted to do it again Sunday.

With the exact same stuff that he had seen earlier Saturday.

He did.

We made arrangements to meet again and I set out to work. A man with a plan. Now that I knew how he worked I prepared thoroughly and even reviewed his website again. Man oh man,how did I miss all that excellent stuff! Plus, I had seen things. Scary things. Wonderful things. Many many different things. All available for my treasures.

JHW3 / Mick Gray Gambit & Bishop 6 cover

When I got there today I asked if I could spend some time looking through his inventory again. I was looking for a BWS unused cover rough from Valiant days gone by and a Pacheco unused Avengers Forever cover with a lone figure of Kang the Conqueror. After really busting my butt I finally asked and eventually learned they were both long gone. But I found something that I was looking for on Saturday and that was a bonus for sure. I really wanted that goofy 1973 Marvel page (unscanned as yet so don't bother looking in this post for it! Look at this instead!)

Tom Raney / Randy Elliott Stormwatch 48 cover

So after locating just three items we got down to it. I showed him my 9x12 portfolio and hit him with my plan: I had the leftover-from-Saturday stuff in the book and had labeled it by name and trade value and wanted him to take it all then and there. It was almost all $25 and $50 sketches with one $125, one $200 and the occasional $75 piece in there as well. Free sketches from big names, good sketches from no-names, and great pieces by mid-level guys as well. I mean the Dustin Weaver was to-die-for. I had the lot, about half the portfolio, valued at a number between $1000-$1500. Then I told him I also had the larger stuff from the prior day: the demeaned and debased Starman pages, some oddities of high quality, and Doctor Strange galore. It was all labeled and valued.

Whilce Portacio Stormatch Team Achilles issue 6 cover

So then he asked what I wanted and I showed him. He groaned. Three pieces, none of which are in this post. Three pieces and one of which I had tried to get the day before. You know,the day on which he had taken the better of my material available to him. This one was beautiful and I thought pretty special. I had not targeted it on the website even though I had seen it but when I saw it in person I loved it so. So slowly but surely he went through the same process of grudgingly accepting my wares.  But I must emphasize that I do not think it was a sales tactic but a genuine uncertainty as to his ability to move the art in a timely fashion. I eventually came though with enough to make it happen, and at the end of the day I got $3150 for just over $4000 of my collection. And not $4000 worth like when you go through your collection and say "this is worth X" and "this is worth y" but slashing a high quantity of that shit to its' core and tossing it at quality. Small level unpublished quality for published quality is what I was after.

Andy Kubert / Dan Green X-Men 52 page 1 Gambit splash

Because you see this is not the end game. This was the opening bloodbath in a war on my collection. My original art collection will be forged in fire and blood until it shines unlike ever before and will emerge magnificent and wonderful. Unfortunately there are casualties and this will end with the population decimated, but far far stronger from the experience.

Mark Silvestri / Dan Green Wolverine 41 page 2

In other words, everything you see in this post is open for offers. Cold hard cash. Trade. Cash/trade. I will be actively shopping some of this to dealers and/or an auction house at the next comic art con in late March so if you don't want to see if get marked up yet again by those dealer guys, buy it from me instead. But you'd better do it soon, because if you think I don't mean business in this The Fifty deal, you can just ask Jack Knight and Steven Strange (if you can find them at their new home in AC). They'll tell you, but it will cost you.

Wait until you see some of the other stuff I got. Oh boyo did I get some sweet sweet art!

Three published Billy da'Sienk Moon Knight, a Mignola as leaked above, a Vess that will blow your socks off, Colan / Adkins and more! ;-)

The Fifty - And the Dean Ormston commission makes 20!

Dean Ormston Dr. Strange & Eternity commission

Dr. Strange & Eternity, by Dean Ormston, is now in The Fifty.

This wonderful commission was a bit odd in the acquisition. I have since learned that until recently this was one of two full commissions that Dean Ormston took on over a number of years. He did not do many and why he chose to do mine is not known to me, but it does add a bit of understanding to what eventually happened.

It started simply enough and as it always did, with me somehow acquiring an artists' contact information and then asking for a commission. I usually got this info from the odd interview or promotional piece and I tried to be specific and clear in my requests. In this case I now remember it was because Dean Ormston was offering something on ebay. I contacted him through ebay and he was quick to accept the commission. I know we settled on Dr. Strange and Eternity but the parameters were generally pretty loose and everything was up to Dean's discretion in the end.

Well then something happened. I have since had it happen once or twice again, but this was the first time an artist contacted me, told me they were working on the commission as previously agreed upon but that it would now cost more than previously agreed if I wanted to own the finished piece. Well bust my britches! This was odd. Now I remember the figure of $300, but I do not recall if it was the initial price (which would have been within my means but a bit pricey for me back then) or the finished negotiation (more likely, but who knows in the end). But I recall Dean emailing me. (Is it possible we talked on the phone at that point? It is unclear and the recesses of my mind are dimly lit tonight.) The commission had grown and he told me that he could do another to the original specs or keep going on this one for a new amount. If I stayed with the one he was working on he said it would be a mock cover with lettering a logo.  I went with that, it sounded like he had a plan.

I think I made the right decision.

This thing is gorgeous. It is slightly larger than 11x17 and emphasizes the larger than life aspects inherent in Eternity. Dean manages the tough trick of showing only part of Eternity but still conveying the immensity of the character/concept. The figure of Dr. Strange is awesome as well - serene and focused in his spell-casting in the face of Eternity. It is a great commission and I cannot wait to have it on the wall. I foresee a Dr. Strange commission hallway with the PMS, the Bisley, this, and one or two others not yet revealed but most certainly in The Fifty. but today is not about them but about Dean Ormston, Dr. Strange & Eternity.

The Fifty
1  BWS Storyteller Young Gods page 4
2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover
3  BWS Weapon X page
4  JHW3 Milestone Forever pinup

5  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones
6  Paul Smith Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom
7  Dave Sim Mars Attacks variant cover
8  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash
9  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash
10  Tony Harris 1994 Starman pinup
11 Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation

12  Ted McKeever Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom in Hell
13  Dean Ormston Dr. Strange & Eternity

14  Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman

15  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11

16 JH Williams 3rd / Mick Gray Promethea 24 double page spread

17  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch
18  Anna Merli Clea
19  Mitchell Bretweiser Dr. Strange watercolor
20  Jae Lee Dr. Strange

Time for another one from The Fifty - Dave Sim Mars Attacks variant cover featuring Cerebus

Dave Sim Mars Attacks variant cover

I really love this piece.

But Dave Sim has gone nuts. No, I am not talking about his mental state, which seems to me to be just fine. I am referring to his penchant for the brush and jar of ink of late. Dave Sim wants to draw like Alex Raymond and is doing his best to learn how to do so. It seems a truly maddening pursuit, even for one as talented and accomplished as Dave Sim. He was documenting the process in one half, the more accepted half, of his groovy comic Glamourpuss. Glamourpuss only ran about 33 issues (that is off the top of my head, but I think I have about 33 issues) and was a beautiful book. I never completely warmed to some of the model shots myself; I always disliked the faces (even though Dave encouraged this with his model's facial expressions) while I loved the fashion. The fact that the model/fashion part of the book suffered was only in relation to the strength of the history of photo-realism comic style half of Glamourpuss, which was fascinating to this reader at least. I ate it up.

But then Glamourpuss ended.  Dave has since entered into a deal which requires re-working some of the Glamourpuss stuff into The Strange Death of Alex Raymond. Or at least it started out that way, even if he may have had to re-draw it all anyway. In any event it has apparently gotten complicated and proven to be a lot of work for Dave, and is far from ready for print. Which means it is far from ready from producing significant revenue for said Mr. Sim. Which brings us to the cover pictured above, auctioned at Heritage, and purchased by yours truly. See Dave needed capital, and IDW and Ted Adams proved smart enough to get some work out of him at that point in time. No surprise there as IDW is just killing it publishing wise in my opinion. The first, and perhaps best, of this arrangement was this Cerebus Attacks cover, a variant for Mars Attacks which had something like 20 variants for some sort of celebration/promotion.

Look at that thing closely. The degrees of depth conveyed from the front of the figure though the destroyed portion to the back of the figure and beyond is masterful. Its' Homeric is what it is. Homeric.

Dave Sim, welcome to my permanent collection. Welcome to The Fifty. This makes 19 pieces revealed. We're getting there, and that is a bit scary. Comiclink has about 40 pieces of mine coming off in the next few auctions. I was deleting them from my CAF today and was wondering what the fuck I am thinking. I was so happy getting some of these pieces over the last 20 years. But in the immortal words of Robin Harris...if you gotta go, you gotta go. This is getting real, real quick.

Also, I think I am re-arranging the list a bit. Somethings seemed out of place, perhaps ranked more out of perceived importance rather than pure unadulterated love. This may change again, but today the list looks like this.

The Fifty
1  BWS Storyteller Young Gods page 4
2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover
3  BWS Weapon X page
4  JHW3 Milestone Forever pinup

5  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones
6  Paul Smith Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom
7  Dave Sim Mars Attacks variant cover
8  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash
9  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash
10  Tony Harris 1994 Starman pinup
11 Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation

12  Ted McKeever Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom in Hell  

13  Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman

14  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11

15 JH Williams 3rd / Mick Gray Promethea 24 double page spread

16  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch
17  Anna Merli Clea
18  Mitchell Bretweiser Dr. Strange watercolor
19  Jae Lee Dr. Strange

Thoughts on Permanency of Pieces in The Fifty

It is funny, as I mentioned recently the idea of The Fifty had been on the back burner for a while as I focused more on the culling necessary to get there. But looking at the pieces in The Fifty it is a bit embarrassing to admit that I have, even recently, considered selling some of these very pieces. HAH! Permanent Collection indeed!

When I first wrote about The Fifty I did mention that the designation was not absolute and could change. But I am surprised at how fickle my tastes are that pieces I would place in The Fifty just a short time ago were considered for sale not long after. This is not to say that all of them are for sale. At least 10 of that 18 are indeed absolute as far as I am concerned right now. But many of the others, not so much. That is why, along with the $100 price tag per piece, that all of the 18 pieces now in The Fifty are not yet framed. The six currently framed, and the two others on order, are not going anywhere anytime soon. Not if I have control of the situation at least. But the commissions seem to have less sway on me at present, even if the PMS may also get a quick switch with another framed piece soon as well if I can pull it off. I mean, that commission is not going anywhere.

At least not now. ;-)

By the way, I don't say it often or enough, but I am blessed to be able to afford this type of thing and to have a wife and family that indulges me my indulgence.

New to The Fifty - PMS Commission!

Paul M Smith 2008 commission Dr. Strange / Dr. Doom

This is one of my favorite commissions that I have ever received. I will eventually frame it and hang it on the wall, and it is certainly deserving for The Fifty. I love Paul Smith's version of this guy -

and was tempted to use him against Dr. Strange in the commission. Or maybe this guy -

But as it turns out, I am quite glad I went with Doom! I mean that commission is all kinds of awesome. The tendrils on the sphere containing Strange are probably my favorite touch, and I have since asked for similar tendrils in other Dr. Strange commissions.

BTW, I will be getting three pieces back from the framer in the next ten days or so. This is a significant development as it had been many months since I have framed any of my art. But with my recent consignment of art to an auction house I decided I could spend some of the proceeds on framing. I brought three pieces in,one of which was the Starman pinup I recently posted about. One was a painting by Tim Truman that served as a concert poster for a Ratdog (Bob Weir) / Planet Drum (Mickey Hart) / Hot Tuna (Jorma and Jack) New Millenium New Year's Eve show. The other is obviously in The Fifty but has not been revealed as such yet. And funny enough the day I ordered those three frames I got a great frame shop coupon. That one lasts until mid-April and I think I may order a few more at that time. They are going to look soooooo good in my house, I can't wait.


The Fifty
1  BWS Storyteller Young Gods page 4
2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover
3  BWS Weapon X page
4  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash

5  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones
6  Paul Smith Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom
7  Ted McKeever Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom in Hell
8  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash
9  Tony Harris 1994 Starman pinup
10  Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation

11  JHW3 Milestone Forever pinup

12  Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman

13  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11

14 JH Williams 3rd / Mick Gray Promethea 24 double page spread

15  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch
16  Anna Merli Clea
17  Mitchell Bretweiser Dr. Strange watercolor
18  Jae Lee Dr. Strange

The Fifty - Barry Windsor-Smith Weapon X

This could be the most valuable page in my collection. But it is special to me not for its' monetary value but for the sheer beauty and artistry of the page. Ladies and gentlemen, page 7 from Chapter 2 of Barry Windsor Smith's epic Wolverine origin story, Weapon X!

Barry Windsor-Smith Weapon X Chapter 2 page 7

This is such a great page, art AND story. You have the previously vicious but now sedated and subdued Wolverine and the scientists central to his creation expressing their true ignorance of what a unique patient they have with their current Weapon X subject. The linework on the page, especially on the Wolverine panels,is amazing. (The figure in panel two looks straight out of the Trimpe/BWS Machine Man series.) Wolverine in the tank is an iconic and unforgettable image and you can see why on this page. The images are mesmerizing: tubes, wires, and futuristic technology supporting and evolving the primitive and bestial figure of Wolverine.

I love it. It was one of the first pieces I had framed when I first envisioned The Fifty. It hangs proudly about six feet in front of me, 2 o'clock high, and it is beautiful.

The Fifty
1  BWS Storyteller Young Gods page 4
2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover
3  BWS Weapon X page
4  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash

5  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones
6  Ted McKeever Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom in Hell
7  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash
8  Tony Harris 1994 Starman pinup
9  Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation

10  JHW3 Milestone Forever pinup

11  Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman

12  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11

13 JH Williams 3rd / Mick Gray Promethea 24 double page spread

14  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch
15  Anna Merli Clea
16  Mitchell Bretweiser Dr. Strange watercolor
17  Jae Lee Dr. Strange

The Fifty - Tony Harris Starman pin-up

Okay, I know I just posted about this piece,but since you all see it down there in the previous post it is kind of obvious that it will be in The Fifty. So why delay the obvious, and without further eloquence, ladies and gentlemen - Tony Harris places Jack Knight in the Fifty.

That won't be the last time I write that last sentence; you'll see it at least once more and likely 3-4 times more. But this one is special.I like it a lot, despite not being overly familiar with the image. I love the raw edge on it that the best early Starman pieces have, before Jack began to look too much like Tony himself! (That is just a joke really, Tony got better but that is maybe why I like the earlier pieces as well, because they contain embryonic Jack and Tony within.) Sentiment aside, the piece speaks strongly to me. I love the attitude that the figure's stance conveys. The colors are used well; it may be black and white but it is not "just" black and white, or "only".

I also own this.

I love it as well. It is from Starman 81, a gimmick issue bred of Green Lantern and the addition of other colors to the GL ring mythos. Well eventually they brought back dead characters, and in this case a dead series, and gave them black rings to wield. Starman 81 was published in 2010 after the series had been finished with issue 80 in 2001 and they brought back James Robinson to write it and Tony Harris to draw the cover.however, Tony had not yet begun painting up the storm he subsequently conjured with his brushes and did this one in pen and ink. it is technically better by far I think, but the early one is in the Fifty right now and ol' Dickie Swift and dead David Knight are on the outside looking in, in my opinion. So far, at least. There is still a lot of room in The Fifty, even if I can count at least 5 spaces reserved for pieces I currently own drawn by Tony without Starman 81 making the cut!


Wow. The Fifty is up to sixteen pieces now. We're getting there. Four are framed and on the wall as we speak. There are also two others from The Fifty not yet unveiled but framed and on the wall as well.


The Fifty
1  BWS Storyteller Young Gods page 4
2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover
3  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash

4  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones
5  Ted McKeever Dr. Strange vs Dr.Doom in Hell
6  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash
7  Tony Harris 1994 Starman pinup
8  Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation

9  JHW3 Milestone Forever pinup

10  Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman

11  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11

12 JH Williams 3rd / Mick Gray Promethea 24 double page spread

13  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch
14  Anna Merli Clea
15  Mitchell Bretweiser Dr. Strange watercolor
16  Jae Lee Dr. Strange

Third Original Art Acquisition of the Year! A Tony Harris Starman gem!

TONY HARRIS 1994 Starman pin-up / later DC house ad

I was really excited to see this piece in the Comic Link auction a month or two ago. I saw that a "Starman 0 pinup" was previewed but there was no picture. However, I had a definite idea what piece it was that was likely coming up for sale. First off, I have Starman 0 and there are no pinups in it. But I had seen the term used before more than once in association with a specific piece. And that piece was for sale once in a while. I was intrigued that the piece I had in mind was going to come to auction without reserve.

But I was wrong. When a picture was finally posted sometime around the day of the auction it was the piece above. My piece, now. I had seen the image before but was did not know where it was from. I did not want to draw attention to it publicly so my research was limited to going through my Starman comics. I went through a few of the earliest issues and...nothing. I went through the first Starman Omnibus, which has a lot of extras and prelims (a few of which I own!), and found...nothing like the above piece.

So I just sniped the hell out of it and bought it. It was really as simple as that; I bid a few hundred more than what it cost to buy in the end, and that was good as I waited to really snipe it at the bitter end and there was no time for another attempt.

My thought was that it was probably the rejected first cover for issue 0. Tony Harris did painted covers for all the issues of Starman, at least all the ones he did on his main run.But I have also seen that his earliest attempts were just pen and ink. hence my guess that this was a rejected and early version of Starman 0, with whom it also shares some subject matter.

So after I bought it I was able to ask publicly. Turns out I was wrong again. Actually at first I was contacted by the person who consigned it to ComicLink, and he bought it in 1994 from Tony at Heroes Con and thought it to be a Starman 0 pinup. But I was quickly shown a house ad from a DC comic book published in 1996 in which this art is used as a house ad for the James Robinson / Tony Harris Starman comic. tony also chimed in a said as much.

But that does not really make sense. It has a 1994 date on it, which I think is one of the main factors why  Clink attributed it to Starman 0, which was mid-94. So for now I have to go with the house ad attribution, although I think it is far more than that. It has the angular look for Jack that Tony had very early on and the '94 date is unmistakable. Why would he make art for a DC house ad when the comic started coming out of a 5th week stunt - remember "Zero Hour"? Well, wonders never cease I guess.

ps  I should have my fourth 2014 piece, another Tony Harris original, in hand any day now.Perhaps even today. I also plan on acquiring one piece at the comic art con next Sunday. One is definite, other(s) are possible but unlikely.

Feed The Fifty progress update

89 pieces.

And counting.

That's right. I have 89 pieces loaded and am writing the descriptions now. I should have between 100 and 125 pieces listed in my First Annual Feed The Fifty 11/29 Birthday Sale!!!

The wife made the website and I have everything ready to go. Here is what it says on the site...

The specifics this year are as follows: The site will be live on Thursday, November 28th for preview. No prices will be listed. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the preview will go until I get home from work Friday November 29th around 6 pm. I will accept offers in the meantime, so feel free to email an early offer if you want to be sure to get a piece. Around Friday 6 pm EST I will remove any sold pieces, add prices and clarify questions, and then place the items live for sale. There will be no discounts, promotions, or price changes of any kind before sale close 6 PM EST Sunday. I am not pricing based on what I paid, with a handful of exceptions, but am generally pricing to sell. $100 convention sketches will be less than $100 in most cases. The unsold items will not be consigned to any auction houses or offered for sale again other than possible inclusion in future birthday sales. I may leave a few of the smaller unsold things up for sale here, I do not know. I did not like seeing a few items go for under $25 on Comiclink and that won’t happen again. I may consign other items, but I sell them or they sell them;  I won’t be selling the same items in different venues. If you want to make an offer on these or any items in my collection I welcome the opportunity to talk turkey with you.

I will truly feel blessed if I am able to sell one piece. This is the first year and the first time I am doing this. I joined twitter for it...doctorstarman...and believe you me that is a big deal. I joined google+ as well. All to promote this sale and begin a social media presence. I feel like Ron Swanson on this one. This guy.

Not the Ron Swanson I went to high school with. I'm sorry. Not the Ron Swanson with whom I went to (Catholic) school. I went to school with the most generic named mutherfuckers you could imagine. I have an Irish Polish name, one of a kind on this planet perhaps. Among my bestest buddies in high school were Ron
Swanson, Mark Weber, Maureen Ryan, Kevin Potter. So even in this age of social media I cannot find these common named mutherfuckers. I know where Maureen is and have passed along hello. And the one person not on that list from high school cannot be contacted. Ron Swanson would understand.

Not the Ron Swanson from high school. This guy.

Anyway.

I am going to trumpet the horn, the social media internet horn that is, and see if I can drum up some business. I think that it is a sound plan. Get it, a sound plan? Trumpet...drum...sound plan. Y'all about as sharp as a bowling ball...a bowling ball I say. Anyway,I am going to go to the usual websites, leave a few posts and messages and see if i can promote it the best I can. I already have been using #FeedTheFifty and you can see some images of things I am having in Feed The Fifty. I plan on doing a few a week, or as many as I can remember to do, and use the artists name in there as well. I am learning there too, to which "not that Katie Cook" can attest.

I hope to annoy more non-artists with my sales pitches. Not that Jae Lee almost got one today as well, but that was FOR The Fifty,not Feed The Fifty. No Jae Lee coming in Feed The Fifty.

Amanda Conner though.

Stuart Immomen though.

Mike Mayhew though.

JH Williams 3rd though.

Gene Colan inked by Tom Palmer. Or by Walt Simonson. Tony Harris. and so many more.

That's the Feed The Fifty art sale, 11/29/13. It's going to surprise you.

The Fifty - Dr. Strange by Jae Lee

Once in a while the clouds part and a beam of line shines through. I used to beat the bushes pretty thoroughly before conventions and this entry in The Fifty is evidence that it pays off every so often. I somehow got an email address for Jae Lee back in the day and when he was announced as a guest at a 2006 NYC convention I emailed about advance pieces. He responded pretty quickly and told me I was the right guy at the right time. We proceeded to work out the commission pricing, size, and other details but when push came to shove Jae professed a desire to do Batman, even offering a discount! But when I stuck with Doc he showed what a class act he is and gave me the discount anyway.

Two weeks or so later I had this in my hands.

Doctor Stephen Strange by Jae Lee

I have two versions colored digitally by Tom Smith as well. Here, check them out!

Good work there, thanks Tom!

I grew up in the early Image days of comics. The WildCATs trilogy and Hellshock were a ton of fun, even if they were generally visually striking but confusing as hell. Jae Lee was a great talent and I loved his work; he had a style that was perfect for comics and his moodiness and wonderful textures seem a perfect fit for the good doctor. I was surprised how right that was when Jae gave me this; it is exquisite.



The Fifty
1  BWS Storyteller Young Gods page 4
2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover
3  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash

4  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones
5  JHW3 Milestone Forever pinup
6  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash
7  Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation

8  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11

9  Anna Merli Clea

10  JH Williams 3rd / Mick Gray Promethea 24 double page spread

11  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch
12  Jae Lee Dr. Strange

...finally...Gene Colan and The Fifty

The other day I started a blog post about The Fifty now containing Gene Colan, and let me not forget Tom Palmer, and got derailed by a discussion of some of the different Dr. Strange artists. So now I need to show the bad boy!

Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash! Gene Colan and Tom Palmer, artists

Now take a look at that. It is missing a balloon from the printed page, but I like it better without (Doc mutters 2-3 words about Wong  being in danger if I recall correctly) . This story was the deal forme back in the 70s/early 80s. I remember driving to a baseball card and comic show at an Elks Club in Toms River NJ where I bought a ton of Dr. Strange issues for 25 cents each. I got my drivers license in 1984 and moved out of town in 1985, so that pretty much narrows it down, eh? Issue 14 of that title is the issue that crosses over with the one this art is from, Tomb of Dracula 44. Incredibly, Gene Colan and Tom Palmer were doing the art for both titles at that time, although I think at least Tomb was every other month.

Tomb 44 and Doc 14 are a crazy and wild ride. Wong dies by Dracula's bite. Doc dies by Dracula's bite. Dracula is defeated by Doc and that includes a crazy, partial-dream / partial-reality sequence where vampire Dr. Strange bites Dracula and turns him from human to vampire.

I am lucky enough to now own one page from Dr. Strange 14 and three from Tomb 44. I may be able to acquire another one soon enough, although the itch is close to scratched. (But who knows, maybe I will sell up in November!?! hint hint no promise but hint hint) I am saddened by the fact that although I was able to meet Gene Colan, along with wonderful wide Adrienne (now now, c'mon. They were lifemates despite how it ended and no one, no one, knows what transpires between spouses so I prefer to remember the couple I met.), I was not able to have these pages signed as I only bought them after his passing. but that is a very minor consideration. Because this page, really all of them but this one most of all, really fucking rocks my socks. You done read that right. It is a badass page from a great and classic comic. If you are surprised, you really shouldn't be...the Nebres piece already in The Fifty and a few others I own are all in some way an homage to this storyline.

I may end up with all the pages from these 2 issues that I own in the Fifty, I may add some but not others. Que sera sera and all that. But what is sure right now, what is clear and undeniable is that this splash will be on my wall for years and years to come. Will it be there on my last day on Earth (11/29/2066)? I don't know...but for now it is in The Fifty.


The Fifty
1  BWS Storyteller Young Gods page 4

2  Tony Harris / Ray Snyder Dr. Strange WIRED Magazine cover

3  Gene Colan / Tom Palmer Tomb of Dracula 44 page 1 splash
4  Simon Bisley Dr. Strange vs The Mindless Ones
5  Dan Green Dr. Strange: Into Shamballa splash

6  Bill Sienkiewicz Superman 400 pinup recreation

7  Dan Adkins Dr Strange 170 page 11

8  Anna Merli Clea

9  JH Williams 3rd / Mick Gray Promethea 24 double page spread

10  Rudy Nebres - Dr. Strange, Dracula & The Scarlet Witch