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Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors by Steven Alan Payne Grailpages Final:Grail Pages 3/28/09 5:23 PM Page 2 SPARTA GRAILPAGES COPY AREA GRAILPAGES COPY AREA 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: [email protected] 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 X-Men #115 (Nov. 1978), pgs. 2-3, pencils: John Byrne, inks: Terry Austin. Characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. 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 4 SPARTA GRAILPAGES COPY AREA COPY AREA FOREWORD by Steven Alan Payne “You buy, you sell, (and then) you buy the same thing again. The quest is often more important than the object itself.” - Michel Maillot f there’s one thing comic art collectors love to do, it’s dis- ing at this as a leg up to garnering more public awareness and sup- cuss. Discuss their collections, discuss the state of the port for the hobby which has come to mean so much in their lives. hobby, the stature of the hobby, the future of the hobby. And I felt that openness not just from collectors, but from Steve Welch presides over a roundtable discussion of sev- those who labored in the industry. They poured forth stories of Ieral collectors in the Chicago area who meet for dinner, their years sweating through ponderous work assignments in the similar to dinners held by West Coast and East Coast original art ’60s and ’70s with their intent solely on supporting their families collectors alike. There are virtual meetings on Yahoo, and dis- by securing the next gig, without awareness that they were, in cussion boards on eBay and community websites. the process, creating a new art form. As soon as I announced the compilation of this book I was in- From these varied and numerous sources I got a picture of vited to several group meetings, some held at conventions, and an industry that began in the 1940s. There were studios of artists some ad hoc arrangements by individuals welcoming me into their — young men fresh out of art school, and cartoonists with years homes or offices where a veritable museum of comic artwork is under their belts — like the image of newsmen of old, replacing proudly hung on their walls. Collectors were inordinately open, look- teletype machines and typewriters with drafting tables and quills. The volume of work that was turned out in the ’40s was tremen- dous, with the various studios sending the large publishing houses dozens of books a month in return for salaries of $10 and $15 a week to their staff artists. By the ’60s and ’70s comics had begun paying by the page rate, with an average around $50 per page. These artists, many survivors of the studios of the ’40s, supplemented their income by doing two or three books a month. They were hustlers. To most of them it wasn’t about making art, it was about the next gig. Jobs weren’t secure. Healthcare was non-existent. It’s the energetic accounting of the birth pains of an industry. In and of itself, comic book art has no remaining worth. It is a work-for-hire enterprise which, once the artist is paid and the art reproduced, becomes of negative value. The characters por- trayed in the art are still the property of the publisher, an issue re- cently with the advent of the slew of comic book-inspired films, but the physical art is not, and can be bought and sold and used for private exhibition. The returning of the art to the artist was facilitated after much ar- bitration, which artist/inker/editor Dick Giordano explained to me like Fantastic Four #109 this: “I believe DC first started returning art at the time that ACBA (Apr. 1971), cover, (Academy of Comic Book Arts) was formed in the early ’70s. There pencils: John was some concern that it would turn into a union and DC felt that re- Buscema, inks: Joe Sinnott. turning the art might forestall more problematical demands later. Mar- vel soon followed with a similar form of art return that did not Characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. acknowledge that the artists owned the work. In 1976 a new pg. # 4 Book GRAILPAGES: Original Comic Book Art and the Collectors Grailpages Final:Grail Pages 3/28/09 5:23 PM Page 5 SPARTA GRAILPAGES COPY AREA COPY AREA copyright law recognized the artist as owning his work in perpetuity.” is, and hopefully answers why it is collected. In it I talk about the With their art now once again theirs, most artists decided to sell, creators and their lives, about the art and its influence on collec- first at conventions and then through art dealers, and as the hobby tors, about the soaring prices that threaten to alienate some col- became more sophisticated, those that still had art sold through lectors, and through it all make a collage that reflects this hobby agents and auction houses. In the beginning art sold for $20 - $50 to the participants as well as makes it accessible to those who a page, but with the recognition of the art form and the growing ap- are unfamiliar with it. praisal of its worth, that has changed dramatically. Al Williamson I also want it