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Post by rberman on Jan 23, 2020 14:31:59 GMT -5
As I've dipped my toe into the world of collecting original comic book art, I've seen that the art is worth money, and money brings crime. Published pages are prized above commissioned private pin-ups because the latter are easier to forge. I found an interesting blog with lots of stories of criminality circulating around old comic book pages. Here's one about Joe Simon getting ripped off by a relative who apparently somehow had access to DC's warehouse. ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2012/05/joe-simon-fbi-and-strange-case-of.html |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 23, 2020 14:44:37 GMT -5
Terrible. I read somewhere that a lot of the 60's Marvel artwork was stolen as well.
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Post by MDG on Jan 23, 2020 14:44:54 GMT -5
There are stories of lots of art going out the back door at Marvel and DC. Once I took a page to Murphy Anderson to autograph and he said. "You know this is stolen, right?" He asked me who I got it from and when I told him, he said, "He's a good guy..." and signed it, since by this time, a lot of the art had changed hands a few times.
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Post by rberman on Jan 23, 2020 14:59:54 GMT -5
Here's an interesting case involving Jack Kirby, in which I now have a personal interest. In the early 90s, Marvel deigned to allow and publicize Jack Kirby recreating several iconic covers, which were inked by Dick Ayers and sold at auction to pay for Kirby's bills and set aside for Roz's future needs. People have noticed how steady the line on the art was compared to Kirby's known late 80s work, and wondered whether Kirby really drew the pieces. There are photos with Kirby sitting beside the finished pieces as if they were his work, and Certificates of Authenticity signed by Roz stating they were his work. This prompted articles at the blog mentioned above as well as at Bleeding Cool. The Bleeding Cool article has suffered some sort of editing failure since 2011 and now contains some fragmentary paragraphs smooshed together, but the gist is clear enough. Greg Theakston said that Roz identified the ghost artist to him, but Theakston would not reveal his identity. This is of particular interest to me since I bought a piece represented to me as a Kirby pin-up, and it's signed as such.  I commented in the original art thread that I was surprised how good this piece looked for the era in which it was produced. Now I'm thinking there's a reason for that. Mike Royer admited being involved with recreations that were specifically labeled as such but staunchly denied involvement in the Kirby cover recreations mentioned above. His comments are reproduced in this post: kirbymuseum.org/blogs/dynamics/2011/10/23/re-shame-on-you-danny-boy/ |
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Post by rberman on Jan 23, 2020 15:01:56 GMT -5
There are stories of lots of art going out the back door at Marvel and DC. Once I took a page to Murphy Anderson to autograph and he said. "You know this is stolen, right?" He asked me who I got it from and when I told him, he said, "He's a good guy..." and signed it, since by this time, a lot of the art had changed hands a few times. It's frustrating for the creators to get ripped off, and for the malfeasance to be so far back up the chain of ownership that punishing the current owners who bought it in good faith seems pointless. There's a sense in which it's better for the art to be stolen and preserved than stored in a warehouse that suffered severe water damage, destroying the contents. Doesn't make it right to have been stolen, though. |
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Post by MDG on Jan 23, 2020 15:27:08 GMT -5
There are stories of lots of art going out the back door at Marvel and DC. Once I took a page to Murphy Anderson to autograph and he said. "You know this is stolen, right?" He asked me who I got it from and when I told him, he said, "He's a good guy..." and signed it, since by this time, a lot of the art had changed hands a few times. It's frustrating for the creators to get ripped off, and for the malfeasance to be so far back up the chain of ownership that punishing the current owners who bought it in good faith seems pointless. There's a sense in which it's better for the art to be stolen and preserved than stored in a warehouse that suffered severe water damage, destroying the contents. Doesn't make it right to have been stolen, though. Even when it wasn't "theft," some artists did get exploited. When the companies started returning art, some long-term artists who weren't "fan favorites" didn't know what to do with pages and pages that they started receiving and were happy to sell it in bulk at <$10/page. Granted (almost) no one could've foreseen the rise in prices, but... I've mentioned Curt Swan showing up at a store appearance with a 10-ream paper box filled with pages, most $8. Up to $40 for Perez-inked pages from Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
On the other hand, I've put some 90s pages out on the table at shows at $5-$10 without a nibble. No hero, no sale.
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Post by rberman on Jan 23, 2020 15:41:41 GMT -5
It's frustrating for the creators to get ripped off, and for the malfeasance to be so far back up the chain of ownership that punishing the current owners who bought it in good faith seems pointless. There's a sense in which it's better for the art to be stolen and preserved than stored in a warehouse that suffered severe water damage, destroying the contents. Doesn't make it right to have been stolen, though. Even when it wasn't "theft," some artists did get exploited. When the companies started returning art, some long-term artists who weren't "fan favorites" didn't know what to do with pages and pages that they started receiving and were happy to sell it in bulk at <$10/page. Granted (almost) no one could've foreseen the rise in prices, but... I've mentioned Curt Swan showing up at a store appearance with a 10-ream paper box filled with pages, most $8. Up to $40 for Perez-inked pages from Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
On the other hand, I've put some 90s pages out on the table at shows at $5-$10 without a nibble. No hero, no sale.
As I'll be showing soon in my Original Art thread, I recently bought an early New Mutants page that has "$20" written in pencil in the top corner on the back. $20. I paid, well, a little more. |
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