Joelle Jones – Fables: Legends in Exile Commission
VERY pleased with this one. In my previous post I mentioned I had a few goodies coming in soon, and here is some original art from the amazing Joelle Jones! What’s notable about this piece is that it’s the first commission I have received (I have commissioned others prior to this one, but they are still in progress). Like in that last post regarding Action Comics#29, this is new ground I never thought I’d get into, as previously I had a policy of strictly buying published art. The subject of this commission, however, had something to do with my change of heart. I have mentioned that finding a perfect Fables page has been problematic and I got tired of seeing the same pages over and over up for grabs. I decided to query artists to do what are essentially film one-sheets for the series arcs, and I thought (and was proven right) that Joelle was perfect for this leg of the project, considering the nature of Legends in Exile being a throwback mystery, and the skills Joelle has shown in works we’ve covered at BSC, like You Have Killed Me.
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First Lady of Comics’ First Cover
It’s been awhile but I have a few items coming in the next month or so that I know about, so the activity should be picking up at VI soon! This time I took it back to 1940 to add to my permanent collection! When I made this purchase I tweeted that I made my first purchase of a restored comic. This is generally not something to celebrate or be proud of, as the comic industry is one of hobbies that views (in terms of affecting pricing) restoration negatively. Beyond that. I’ve always had a firm no resto policy; a sort of artificial way of eliminating potential purchases. This purchase was kind of a perfect storm. I knew I’d never find another copy that presented as well for anywhere near the price, it fell into one of my collecting focuses, and I love adding affordable Golden Age gems when I can.
Rose Red for that Ass
You have to love Fables. For a series to be around that three digit figure in issues and having no arcs that anyone of adequate taste can describe as subpar is not a feat that many runs in comic history can claim (no matter what Spider-Girl fans will tell you!). Getting a new trade of Fables is among my favorite reading situations over the last few years, and I’m always on the lookout to nab original art from the series. I’ve remarked in the past I’ve found some difficulty in this, because while perfect for the story at hand, when confronted with examples of the original art itself (and I say this as compliment though it doesn’t seem like it) they don’t always grab me as individual items that I find myself eventually pulling the trigger on. In some fashion, it makes me think that perhaps the optimal comic book reading experience doesn’t lend itself to optimal OA purchasing options outside of one’s personal nostalgia zone (Fables is a read that I found as an adult). I find myself much more readily buying panel pages from books of my childhood., and more often than prefer splashy pages of my more current vices .With that in mind, I do get an extra satisfaction when I am able to grab a Fables piece.
Pedigree Warlock & the God of Thunder
Okay, not quite Warlock yet, but “Him” didn’t look as sweet in the title field. Last night this month’s Comiclink Focused Auction came to an end, and it as one of those rare instances that the book I most coveted also turned out to be the cheapest out of the batch. In more ways than one as well, as not only was the Thor#165 the cheapest issue targeted, it was also the least expensive of the surrounding issues of Thor’s in the auction. There were several other examples from the Rocky Mountain Pedigree last night, and I have to admit being a bit giddy at the thought of being able to add to the stack of one of my favorite issues to horde with a pedigree and for less than an extravagant price (kind of), BUT still a beauty.
Templesmith Choker? Cool Variant. McCool.
It’s been a minute since my last post, and my only excuse is that a lot of behind-the-scenes BSC business has been going down on top of the day-to-day operation. We have a lot of moves going on, and hopefully we are a site closer to Cobra Island development status. On the collection tip, things have been slow, as while I’ve queried a bunch of artists for various commissions, they are either too busy or not answering email (yet are twittering…a lot). I’ve also struck out on some pages artists’ no longer had. Should be picking up here regardless though because my portfolios came in and I figure I’ll snap a pic and tackle them soon. Because they are just being put away in portfolio, it’s a lot of my recent stuff that’s probably been posted in various communities I frequent. Might still be semi-interesting though, because while going through them being reminded of them, I was thinking about the why behind the purchases. A lot of it is rather inexpensive and oddball, but I found that I was still rather aware at why I pulled the trigger on the items at the time. Also nice mini-surprises like seeing on one of my Dave Lapham (from Harbinger-lovely pre-Unity) pages, a sketch included that I hadn’t noticed before–stuff like that. It’s not blow your mind shit, but more exposing odd thought processes that make us pull the trigger on auctions. For this post though, I have an example of one of the aspects I touched on in Variety, Trade, or Death (or No Hooks, Chum).
The Current Original Comic Book Art Want List – Unofficial
Just a list of 10 pieces of art that I currently look far. None of them are (yet) serious big ticket items so they are all obtainable, and especially so if you consider most of my wants aren’t page specific. While certainly there are uber-high dollar items that I know would interest me, I purposely left the list to items that I actively look for on a semi-daily basis. In fact, I will admit that I’ve left some examples of specific pages off (because I’m paranoid!). I’m not including artists who are currently working on commissions for me.
First Superman – from Kansas (City) to Metropolis
When a high grade copy of the first appearance of Zatara pops up, it’s big news in the entire comic book world.
Over at the CGC board, a poster let the community know that ComicConnect would be putting up for sale a copy of Action Comics #1. Not only that, it’s graded by CGC, is a Pedigree – The Kansas City copy – and is a damn 8.0 with off-white pages–a stunner. There’s a quality discussion over there about the potential figure we may be looking at. I’m not seeing anybody estimate below a half-million, and most seem to suggest between that and the hobby’s first 7-figure book, though personally I think that high-end may be optimistic. While this is probably the best copy of Action #1 we are going to see hit the market, I’m just not sold that 7-figures is attainable in this hobby from a copy that isn’t the best known in existence (though this is a damn fine subject to test that thought).
