Issuu

Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

by Steven Alan

Payne

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:23 PM

Page 2

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

GRAILPAGES ORIGINAL COMIC BOOK ART AND THE COLLECTORS by Steven Alan Payne Book Design by Michael Kronenberg Cover Design by John Morrow Proofreading by Eric Nolen-Weathington

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Dr. Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 www.twomorrows.com • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • April 2009 • Printed in Canada Softcover ISBN: 978-1-60549-015-1

Trademarks & Copyrights Batman, Black Canary, Black Condor, Flash, Green Arrow, Guardian, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Justice League of America and all related characters, Justice Society of America and all related characters, Legion of Super-Heroes and all related characters, Lois Lane, Man-Bat, Newsboy Legion, Preacher, Superman, Swamp Thing, Teen Titans and all related characters, Weird War TM & ©2009 DC Comics. Annihilus, Avengers and all related characters, Beast, Black Knight, Black Widow, Captain America, Captain Mar-Vell, Chameleon, Cyclone, Daredevil, Deathlok, Defenders and all related characters, Doctor Octopus, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Elektra, Falcon, Fantastic Four and all related characters, Green Goblin, Hawkeye, Hercules, Hulk, Iceman, Inhumans and all related characters, Iron Fist, Iron Man, Kangaroo, Ka-Zar, Kingpin, Loki, Mad Thinker, Magneto, Mandarin, Man-Thing, Monstrollo, Mr. Fear, Power Man, Quicksilver, Red Guardian, Red Skull, Scarlet Witch, Schemer, Sentinels, Sentry, Silver Surfer, Sinister Six, Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Super Skrull, Thor, Tomb of Dracula, Ulik, Vulture, Wolverine, X-Men and all related characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. Haunt of Fear, Vault of Horror, Weird Fantasy TM & ©2009 William M. Gaines Agent Love and Rockets and all related characters TM & ©2009 Hernandez Brothers Cerebus TM & ©2009 Dave Sim Doc Savage TM & ©2009 Conde Nast Conan TM & ©2009 Conan Properties Intl. LLC Vampirella TM & ©2009 Harris Comics Editorial package ©2009 Steven Alan Payne and TwoMorrows Publishing

Dedication This book is dedicated to all the professionals who caused my imagination to bloom, who gave me an appreciation of the written word and the drawn image, and who set my moral compass pointed in a direction I still have not strayed from. And it is dedicated to Tai and Taylor, two amazing little girls.

Special Thanks To all the collectors and dealers who so generously gave of their time, and shared their art collections for this book. And to all the other collectors out there — may you someday find your own Grailpages.

pg. # 2

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:23 PM

Page 3

CONTENTS FOREWORD & INTRODUCTION by Steven Alan Payne......................................................................................................................................4 CHAPTER 1 Overview: What is Comic Book Art?........................................................................................9 CHAPTER 2 Collecting By Artist.............................................................................................................................................21 CHAPTER 3 Collecting By Covers, Splash Pages, Panel Pages and Sketch Pages .................................................................................................53 CHAPTER 4 Long Term and Discerning Collectors...............................................................................71 CHAPTER 5 Mega-Collectors......................................................................................................................................................79 CHAPTER 6 Theme Collections .............................................................................................................................................93 CHAPTER 7 Blue Chip Collectors....................................................................................................................................101 CHAPTER 8 Skyrocketing Prices........................................................................................................................................113 CHAPTER 9 Overseas Collectors......................................................................................................................................121 CHAPTER 10 Collectors of the Modern Age .......................................................................................................127 CHAPTER 11 Industry Professionals Who Collect.....................................................................................137 AFTERWORD Grailpages......................................................................................................................................................................141

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:23 PM

Page 8

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:23 PM

Page 9

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW: WHAT IS COMIC BOOK ART? “Being a collector is a very strange thing, probably some mental illness…” – Michel Maillot

Collectors Hari Naidu and Bill Woo

r. Srihari (Hari) Naidu is an interventional cardiologist who specializes in angioplasty and stenting at New York-Presbyterian Hospital (Cornell). He’s won numerous awards including the Bristol Myers-Squibb forum of excel-

lence. He’s also a Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society Award winner at Brown University, his alma mater. “I can go to almost any city in this country and find someone who would welcome me with open arms. I have had people pick me up at my hotel and treat me to dinner, show me around and take care of me in a foreign city.” In Chicago he was treated to the same deferential. A local lawyer picked him up and ferried him to a Northside bar where for Dr. Naidu the drinks were on the house. None of this bonhomie he enjoys, however, has anything to do with Dr. Naidu’s profession. Hari Naidu has a deep passion for collecting original comic book art, a passion he shares with collectors across the world. For those outside the hobby, put simply and in block letters, original comic art is the original art crafted by a confluence of writing and artistic talents, which is then reproduced in a reduced format for the production of comic books. It is a series of sequential images, much like the frames of a movie, that tell a tale through snapshot images of a story. They are the bastard child of the pulp magazines and comic strips, outcasts of literary and artistic circles alike. And even though a patina of respect first for their longevity and now for their cross-over film appeal has released comic books from their ignominy, the art itself, ironically, is largely overlooked outside of the subculture of comic art collectors. Comic art collecting is a tenacious hobby tangential to comic book collecting, which has escalated voraciously in

Silver Surfer #14 (Mar. 1970), pg. 1, pencils: John Buscema, inks: Dan Adkins.

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

pg. # 9

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:24 PM

Page 20

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:24 PM

Page 21

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

CHAPTER 2 COLLECTING BY ARTIST “I think the most important thing is to have a very personal ‘voice’…” - Jaume Vaquer

THE RELUCTANT SUPERSTAR

Gene also admired another characteristic of John’s. “He could draw anything. And he would draw anything. He didn’t

arvel comics, the preferred diet of most art

care what they wanted him to do.” But for John Buscema, who

collectors, gave the malingering superhero

hated drawing futuristic machines and space ships, and the

industry a life-giving transfusion in the early

countless superheroes whom he described as men wearing

’60s, as well as introduced a new sensibility

their underwear outside their pants, Conan was an oasis, a di-

to the writer/artist relationship. As such these

version from professional apathy.

pages hold a preeminent place in the field of collecting. The

Hal Foster had Prince Valiant, Burne Hogarth had Tarzan,

industry was the Wild West then, with each direction Marvel

and the fine illustrator Alex Raymond had Flash Gordon. But

Comics took uncharted territory.

John Buscema, the logical successor to those talents, lacked

In the ’70s Marvel went through another alembic as artists like

one thing, a character that he would forever be tied with, some-

Gene Colan and John Buscema, with their more realistic style,

thing he could leave his stamp on. In his work on the Fantastic

replaced in Marvel’s aristocracy Kirby’s and Ditko’s more comic-

Four he was forever in Kirby’s shadow – that was and always

booky approach. And what Stan Lee began with superhero angst,

will be Kirby’s book. His Spider-Man would be compared to

writers like Steve Englehart, Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas

Romita’s. He shone under Tom Palmer’s inking on the

turned into full blown dementia. Every issue was a Mardi Gras.

Avengers, but was one of many artists who passed through

Every month, the artists and writers at Marvel Comics would

the book as frequently as members of that illustrious team.

receive stacks of the company’s monthly output. When Gene

Consciously or unconsciously he was searching for his

Colan received his books he would run to them and quickly pull

Tarzan, his Flash Gordon. Despite his talent, without that

out issues drawn by John Buscema. “First to see how gor-

seminal linking, he would be remembered as a remarkable

geous they were and then to torment myself. I always admired

illustrator, but nothing more.

John Buscema the most.”

Roy Thomas, writer and eventual editor for Marvel, spoke of

Stunning praise from a man of Gene’s talent. He detailed for

his first time seeing John’s work on the Avengers #41. “I was

me what he liked about John’s work in simple, respectful words.

knocked out by how well he could draw. And after seeing the

“Very natural, very real. I’ve seen him work and he’s very confi-

splash – just the splash – of his first Avengers I decided to try

dent in whatever he did. He didn’t struggle over a thing. And he was fast if he needed to be. He could do lots of work in one day. If you wanted him to he could do three pages. And they were wonderful pieces of work. I loved John’s work. I admired it so much in fact I thought he was far better than I was! So I used him as something

and keep him as the regular artist.” And that association lead to something better, to what would fulfill John’s ambition and tower most notably in his career. In the late 1960s Lancer Books began publishing the short

to scrutinize carefully and try to remember how his work looked. But

stories of a highly creative and largely forgotten writer from OPPOSITE: Conan the Peaster, Texas named Robert Ervin Howard, featuring his titanic Barbarian #91 (Oct.

you know, you inevitably come back to your style, whatever it is. It’s

character, Conan of Cimmeria. Enhanced by covers from the

an impossible thing to dodge. You try to look like someone else but

miraculous ’50s comic illustrator turned painter Frank Frazetta,

you wind up looking like yourself, which is as it should be.”

the books caught the eye of Thomas, the second major writing

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

pg. # 21

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:25 PM

Page 52

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:25 PM

Page 53

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

CHAPTER 3 COLLECTING BY COVERS, SPLASH PAGES, PANEL PAGES AND SKETCH PAGES “Authenticity has always been a huge issue for me in portraying comic art stories…” – Gene Colan

COVERS

pen on photos that appeared in the Sunday newspaper. He had a wooden mannequin in the studio. He also drew from a Captain

he aspects of comic book art need to be understood in

Action figure.”

order to follow the mental perambulations of collectors.

Hogarth, Heath and Kubert were the contemporaries Gil

In the collecting of comic art, this declaration reigns

spoke most admiringly of according to Landgraf, as well as Lou

supreme: all pages are not created equal.

Fine and Reed Crandall. And when it came to his own work, Gil

The best covers (like this Dan Adkins cover from Will Gabri-

expressed an appreciation of inkers like Tom Sutton who inked

el’s collection) are both a summation of the story, and a highlight

him on the “Adam Warlock” series that began in Marvel

of what is to come. As a result a great deal of time and care was put into their production, from the art directors’ layouts, to the chosen artists’ designs and finished work. The cover’s purpose is to arrest the attention of the casual buyer. Books were sold by their cover, which were the visual equivalent of a carnival barker. Some artists were predominately cover artists, because their larger than life styles lent itself to the requirements. One of the most talented artists to hold down the job of fashioning covers was Gil Kane. In the ’70s for Marvel, he and then-art director John Romita produced a staggering number of covers. Gil Kane was extremely good at this freeze frame pin-up style of art (as seen in this cover from Bill Woo’s collection). It made him picture perfect for covers, where his figures loomed larger than life, often out of proportion with their background, whatever was needed to excite a passerby to grab the book off the stands. In comic books the maxim not to judge a book by its cover was the quote of the naïve. Daredevil #93 (Nov. 1972), cover, pencils: Gil Kane, inks: Tom Palmer.

For many years during the ’70s, Kenneth Landgraf, artist on the Wolverine Vs. Hercules story in the Hulk Treasury and DC’s Hawkman, worked with Gil Kane. Landgraf met Kane at the Village Comic Art Store on McDougal Street in New York. Kane would

OPPOSITE: Strange Tales #164 (Jan. 1968), cover, art: Dan Adkins.

come with art every other week, and when he did, Kenneth would photocopy everything Gil brought in to sell for his own study. Stories abound about Gil the perfectionist, which Landgraf verified. “He constantly tried to improve his work. He studied anatomy

books by George Bridgman. He would also sketch with a ball point

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

pg. # 53

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:26 PM

Page 70

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:26 PM

Page 71

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

CHAPTER 4 LONG TERM AND DISCERNING COLLECTORS “An entirely different matter is that the majority of big collectors will have retired or even died within the next 10-20 years. What happens then?” – Lars Teglbjaerg “I just want my piece to be a choice example of what it is.” – Vince Oliva

Collector Vince Oliva

35 isn’t what it once was. $35 now might get you an appetizer at Chicago’s Lawry’s Prime Rib (no drink). It will get you a glass trifle bowl at Crate and Barrel and about enough gas for a week’s commute from the suburbs to a city job. But back

in the mid-’70s and early ’80s, $35 could get you

the splash to Spider-Man #88 by John Romita Sr. At least that’s what Vince Oliva, a Floridian with a half-century of life under his belt paid for it. “[The splash] was purchased directly from John Romita many moons ago,” remarked Vince with an open candor and more than a little gratitude. “I was purchasing whole Spider-Man books from him [at] $25 per page, $35 for the splashes.” It’s the kind of statement that, after which, you struggle to

over his parent’s company when they retired 30 years ago. Vince Oliva

retain your balance. But we’re talking about a long time ago.

He’s an avid softball player and plays in his local county league OPPOSITE: The Amaz-

Some people bought a page here and there as a novelty in the

as well as the statewide Florida Half Century League.

some it immediately became a passion. These long-time col-

ing Spider-Man #88 (Sept. 1970), pg. 1, He got into comic collecting seriously by the age of 13. He pencils: John Romita, began buying back issues from Howard Rogofsky and Robert inks: Jim Mooney.

lectors very often were able to snag treasures for nominal sums

Bell who listed in the classified sections of comic books. “As I

that are now hard to get, if not just prohibitively expensive. And

didn’t have a bank account at the time, I’d give my saved up al-

if you collect long enough and at a steady rate, 20 or more

lowance money to my mom and get her to make out checks to

years can give you quite an impressive show.

purchase the comics that I had to have.” With a business savvy

’70s when the art first became available to the public. But for

Vince has worked the hobby up, down, left and right. He’s hit it

belying his age, he then sold the books through Alan Light’s

from every angle, and been everything in the hobby. He’s been in

original The Buyer’s Guide, precursor of The Comic Buyer’s

the collecting field for a long, long time. He has cross-traded, and

Guide. “I’d get checks, $10 here, $20 there in the mail and

has numerous collections running simultaneously. With science

give them to my mom to deposit. My parents were flabber-

having found the “fat” gene, the “collecting” gene probably isn’t far

gasted that I was doing this.”

off, and a sample from Vince’s blood would go far in science’s un-

Around that time Jim Steranko came out with his History of

derstanding of the obsession. But of all his myriad collections, fore-

Comics. “I marveled at the postage stamp sized photos of

most in Vince’s esteem is his collection of comic book art.

WWII era books that I never knew existed. In it, Steranko

A native Chicagoan, Vince Oliva has lived since 1976 in

stated that the storytelling team of Simon and Kirby produced

Florida where he grew up in the construction business, taking

the most incredible 37 Captain America stories before quitting

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

pg. # 71

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:27 PM

Page 78

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:27 PM

Page 79

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

CHAPTER 5 MEGA-COLLECTORS “I often wonder how the guys that have thousands of pages get to enjoy the entirety of their collection.” – Glen Brunswick

Collector Nick Katradis

barrassment of riches? You don’t go from zero to 1,200 pages overnight.

ave you seen my collection?” inquired

“I try to structure my collection, which is now over 1,200

Nick Katradis, when I idly remarked on

pages, as a representative sample from every significant artist

just one aspect of the prodigious

from the 1960s all the way up to 2006.” And generally when a

sweep his collection encompasses. “I

page is purchased by Nick, owner of his own mortgage bro-

have a vast collection of prime Bronze

kerage company in New York, it is off the market for good.

“H

Age covers. 1960s Silver Age covers. 1980s covers. 1990s

Married now for 16 years and the father of three, Nick was

covers. 160 pages and eleven covers of Steve Epting’s fantastic Captain America art. I have the complete 14-page story from 1964’s Strange Tales #107, a classic tale of Sub-Mariner vs. Human Torch. And about 125 pages of twice-up art, including spectacular Tales of Suspense splashes and Tales to Astonish splashes. The point I’m trying to make is, when did my collection become Sal Buscema Cap art?” Necessarily rebuked, I took the time and reassessed Nick Katradis’ collection. Originally too focused on the trees to admire the forest abounding, I started my attempts to categorize Nick’s monumental collection by assigning him as an aficionado of Sal Buscema’s Captain America. And while not some imagining on my part, a presumptive portion of his collection is dedicated to Sal’s Cap. Part of an attempt to assemble uninterrupted the contents of every issue spanning the key years of Nick’s appreciation of this character that ushered him into comics. Nick’s collection actually burgeons on yet an-

OPPOSITE: Captain America #4 (Apr. 2005), cover, art: Steve Epting.

other facet of collecting; the mega-collector. What is the line crossed that

LEFT: Nick Katradis RIGHT: The Incredible Hulk #143 (Sept. 1971), cover, art: Herb Trimpe.

bloats a collection into the mega-collection, the pebble that presages the landslide? 50 pages? 100? 200? More important, what is the psychol-

ogy that leads to such an em-

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

pg. # 79

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:29 PM

Page 126

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:29 PM

Page 127

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

CHAPTER 10 COLLECTORS OF THE MODERN AGE “There are reams of more recent pieces out there for as little as $10-$50 that would look nice on the wall.” – Vince Oliva “I fear the market will crash when the boomers die out…” – Bob McLeod

THE ’80s: MANIFEST DESTINY

draftsmen before, but for those new talents, they were like OPPOSITE: Love and Rockets #28 (1988), cover, art: Jaime HerFrom this artistic ennui emerged a powerful underground of nandez. comics. In part homage to the great talents that broadened comic Human Diasphorism, books’ appeal, and equal part rebellion to the serialized super- pg. 62, art: Gilbert Hernandez

actors on a once powerful TV series now in its final season.

here’s the tale of Ouroboros, the world-girdling serpent that consumed its own tail, which has become an analogy for just about every industry prey to repeating past successes. TV seems, in regular cycles to repeat popular genres. Sitcoms will be on the rise one year, and

the next everyone’s a private detective. Fashion is constantly borrowing from decades past, and it’s called retro. Comics are not inoculated against this cultural virus, and the ’80s saw less innovation, and more renovation. And to dress up some of these retreads a whole new line of young Turks were given the artistic helm. And in this new age, artists like Don Heck, first on every editor’s mind as one of the solid talents, couldn’t find work. Herb Trimpe, who defined the look of the Hulk more than his genesis artist Kirby, went into forced retirement. And though John Buscema found a resurgence of popularity when he teamed with erstwhile Avengers inker Tom Palmer on the book they first worked together on, he also considered thoughts of retirement. The Buscemas and Williamsons and Romitas came from a time when illustrations were big. Magazines ran ads that were drawn more often than photographed, like the famous CocaCola paintings of Santa Claus by artist Haddon Sundblom. It was a time when artists found bountiful work and honed their skills at agencies and studios doing paperback book cover paintings, movie posters, print ads, storyboards, you name it. Then the ’60s rolled in and the ads shifted more toward photography. Advertising artists scrambled for every job and agencies became like a scene out of the Day of the Locusts. Artists were ready to pump gas, when some ran to comic books, bringing with them a diverse training background. But after two strong, unforgettable decades the superhero tales, without innovative direction, began consuming their own tail. Most of the newer artists weren’t of the caliber of the

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

pg. # 127

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:29 PM

Page 136

Grailpages Final:Grail Pages

3/28/09

5:29 PM

Page 137

SPARTA

COPY AREA

GRAILPAGES

CHAPTER 11 INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS WHO COLLECT “I’m always doing my work at my best so I’m proud of every work…” – Tony DeZuniga

Collector Tim Townsend

this story still gives Tim goosebumps. “I never get tired of looking at it. I think this story exemplifies the essence of what it is

ven some industry professionals are collectors.

that drives many of us as collectors.”

Steve Englehart admits to keeping a few pages from

Tim has pondered the question that haunts all collectors: to

his collaboration with Sal Buscema on Captain

sell or not to sell. When the volume of a collection far exceeds

America and the Falcon in the mid-’70s. Though he

a collector’s ability to display it, sometimes you question

admits his collection of original art has dwindled

whether it’s worth maintaining what is easily worth a consider-

over the years, Roy Thomas still has several Golden Age large

able amount.

art pages including some unpublished JSA and Flash from the

“This is actually a mindset I’ve spent a lot of time contem-

mid-’40s, “as well as a sprinkling of work by (John) Buscema,

plating as of late. I’m not rich and I have a family. When there

(Barry) Smith, and Marie Severin.”

are real life things that need to be taken care of, real life things

Tim Townsend has spent the last 14 years working on the

that can impact and improve our quality of life on a day-to-day

enduringly popular Uncanny X-Men and X-Men books for Mar-

basis, why put these off when they can easily be taken care of

vel Comics. He has also expanded his commitments to include

by letting go of some of this ‘stuff.’”

a regular assignment on The Amazing Spider-Man. He’s found

Tim’s made strides in this direction. “I’ve sold some consider-

fulfillment through the alchemy of making his hobby into his job.

able pieces outright and not reinvested the money in the collec-

He became hooked on the work of John Byrne on his “ROG

tion. I’ve just let them go and used the money for ‘real life.’ To be

2000” back-up stories in the old Charlton E-Man comics. That

honest, it feels good. The nausea only lasts for a day or two!

started it all for him. It’s the reason he’s a professional comic

“I truly feel for the people who have been coming in to the

artist. Byrne’s work shaped and inspired Tim, which is why his

hobby over the last seven years or so. Each year prices soar to

collection has dozens of examples of Byrne, breaking Tim’s

new levels and we all sit back, laugh and talk about how the

self-appointed rule of only one or two great pieces by an artist.

bottom is getting ready to fall out. It never does. One thing I’ve

The very first comic Tim ever had, back when he was four

learned is that this years insane price is next year’s great deal.”

years old was an E-Man comic with the ROG 2000 “Wither-

Luckily for Tim, most of his art was collected when art was still

ing Heights” story in back. That was the very day Tim an-

relatively inexpensive, getting his first piece, a Jim Lee X-Men page

nounced to his mother that he was going to be a comic book

back in 1991 while still in college. He didn’t have an agenda, just

artist. Fast forward to 1994 with Tim just beginning work at

saw an opportunity to own a piece of art by an artist he loved from

Marvel Comics. He made a call to his friend and art dealer Jim

a book he loved. The money he spent was outside the budget of

Warden who was also the exclusive dealer of John Byrne’s art. As fate would have it Jim had just returned from John’s house

a typical working college kid. But soon afterward he got his foot in OPPOSITE: X-Men the door at Image Comics and found himself “making more money #129 (Jan. 1980),

that weekend where he had unearthed the complete ROG

than I’d dreamt of at that point in my life.” With the resources to go

2000 “Withering Heights” story. “I think it took me all of five seconds to stammer out my credit card number and close the deal!” The fact that he owns

cover, pencils: John Byrne, inks: Terry back and explore the options of buying more art, he began grab- Austin.

bing everything that appealed to him until he matured as a collector and focused more on quality over quantity.

Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors

pg. # 137

Grailpages: Original Comic Book Art & The Collectors