Wow! 100k for a slightly better than average Ditko 29 page (below) that couldn't do 30k at auction two years ago. What's behind the price jump? Quite a number of rumors abound. Who benefits? Certainly ComicLink benefits as they can now lay claim to selling the most expensive ASM Ditko panel page to date.
Anyone who owns a Ditko ASM page benefits--if someone were sitting on a pile of Ditko pages turned out to be the buyer, I guess I wouldn't be too surprised. My current theory is that the market has been influenced by an influx of comic book collectors that are discovering the joys of OA. I spoke with a high grade collector of CGC comics that made this transition. One of the things that struck me was his frustration that more CGC book are graded each year. The high grade books that once were unique are threatened by more high grade books being graded each year--but original art is really one of a kind.
I spoke with the seller of the FF 16 page (above) which went for about 46k--a surprisingly high number--just 3k less than the splash to FF Annual 2 (below) went for last month at Heritage--shocking! This page did more than double what I expected it to do. The seller told me that he would have sold the page for less than 20k just two months ago but the art dealer he offered it to passed. Pretty sure he's over the pain for rejection now.
The DD 16 page by Romita, highlighted in a previous post, did 41,500--over 10k more than I thought. The FF 112 page by John Buscema/Joe Sinnott was a standout at 15,750.
The Sub-Mariner 26 cover (below) struck me as an interesting cover to highlight. The Donnelly's had this cover for sale for quite a number of years with no takers--it's a great looking cover, but they were always above market on the price. I think they were asking between 13-14k. The cover sold at auction, just hitting the reserve, at 14,750. The buyer, Joe Shaffer, up until 2010, was a high grade CGC collector. Now his goal is to get covers from all the series he collected. I mentioned the recent history of the piece to him and asked Joe what he thought about the price that he paid. Here's what he said, "Some pieces will speak more to one collector than others. I think this is a far more interesting cover than the other Subbie offerings out there." He said he was fine with the price. He also spoke about a uniqueness in the art you don't get with the CGC books.
I think this is true for a number of comic collectors, recently turned OA collectors, who are now willing to go higher at auction than those who are a bit more seasoned in the hobby--hence the recent market spike. I think it's telling that the pieces that have spiked are the same type of pieces that the CGC collectors crave--special covers, early key pages, as close to key as possible--names like Kirby and Ditko--the creme de la creme of the early Marvel.
OA will one day be appreciated as one of the highest forms of POP ART. I remember when guys like Delicatessen [who supposedly professes a deep knowledge of markets because 'he does this for a living'] lambasted me as a mere pumper for stating OA will appreciate considerably over the next several decades. I lolasaurusrex every time I recall him stating that no one will ever pay $1,000,000 for grown men in tights.
ReplyDeleteThe combination of money printing, a shift in money flow from CGC books to OA, and the innate supply-demands curve of OA are the best reasons for continued upward prices.
Portable Welath is the name of the game!!! Get your wealth outside of the system!!!
I am not sure I share KK's optimism, and I am somebody who has not (and will not) shied away from paying what appeared as a premium to market values for high end OA. But when you get to certain levels, one has to start wonder about sustainability. First, we are getting to "fine art" levels. At what point will even we OA collector start wondering whether we should actually buy a Rothko or a Fontana instead of a Jim Lee or McFarlane? Plus, the demographics may work against us. Today we - the erstwhile avid comic readers - are at the peak of our spending power. How about the next generation? Will they jump up and down for a Silver Surfer Kirby splash? They will not have had the emotional experience of reading it the first time around. Will the new generation have the same love for these pieces opf "pop" art? I wonder...I would like to hear if anybody has datapoints on golden age comic art - is it appealing today to people who were not even born back then?
ReplyDeleteCarlo Michelini
I think a Kirby Surfer page will resonate with the younger generation in the same way I was captivated by the early Timely and DC golden age books even though I was reading comics in the early seventies. By comparison, those older books seemed magical to me like a journey to another time. The characters aren't going anywhere-- they're becoming better known to the general public every day. Jack Kirby will be known to the world as a genius creator of our modern mythology some day IMHO.
DeleteI am pretty sure that the youth of today will grow up and have heard of Spiderman.
ReplyDeleteSame probably goes for many other superheros, including The Hulk, Thor, Captain America and many others. Quality OA will continue to appreciate IMHO.
These are my thoughts as well, Stan
DeleteI wonder what the effect of a lot of artists going full digital now will be. OA will not always be available for upcoming generations. For those of us old enough to have read/loved the art we are collecting now, it'll always be appealing and available since it already exists. But what about someone who starts collecting in the next 5 years or so and happens to love a young up and coming artist who works solely on a digital tablet. How will he/she ever acquire OA from said artist as he/she gets older and wants to buy some? If it's not available, that interest will wane leaving only us "old folks" to keep the hobby alive. And how long can that last? I guess what I'm asking is, won't the OA hobby eventually dry up and die as more and more artists go digital?
ReplyDeleteTim
Or will ink on paper from the analog age be more valuable than ever, when the craft of it no longer exists? Currently there are talented artists like Frank Quitely & Jae Lee whose work is published from pencil only. I hesitate to buy their originals, as they seem so far from the published work with its darkened blacks and complex digital coloring. Some of the artistry has migrated into the digital realm already.
DeleteAaron N.
Well, the thing about art from the 60--80's is they aren't making it anymore. :)
DeleteI think as digital art become more prevalent the older art will become a rarer thing to be coveted by the collecting community. Also I do note that a number of contemporary artist still like to do it the old fashioned way and sell of their originals.
Comic art is not and never will be Pop Art. Comic art is popular commercial art. Pop Art was a mid-century movement in fine art that used commercial art as a subject. That movement is long dead & its perceptions have been absorbed into the work of current fine artists. It is interesting that some collectible commercial art is starting to approach fine art market values, but the realms are still very separate. That said, there are many in the fine art world who recognize the brilliance of certain comic artists, and that may help to insulate values against the waning of nostalgia collecting. I note that McKay, Herriman, Foster values have never gone down yet, even though their first generation readers are surely no longer active in collecting. If they do go down, I'll start buying them!
ReplyDeleteAaron N.
I hear what you are saying Aaron but I disagree. Marriage can now be between two men [or women] 'they' say. That said, the distinction of conscious art as opposed to commercial art is a boundary line that will likely lose classification distinction from a academic and metaphysical perspective. Commercial art is and can be a mere squared relationship of pop art that is 'totalized' by the nature of capitalism Which is what pop art was all about. I have been saying this for years now!
ReplyDeleteThe line between high and low has always been fuzzy, and yet it never quite goes away...
Deletebest
Aaron
I don't know that we have to call it POP art.--it could be the new American Myth art. The real test for acceptance, I believe will come if Museums start to feel the need to have permanent comic art collections to display to the public.
ReplyDeleteGlen, I really like the American Myth angle. Yes, one could say indeed that super heroes are the mythos of a young society who did not have any (well, relatively young, compared to us ancient Europeans). In fact, it is very clear that most super heroes stories are just the same mythos told over and over again. And they are a 100% US product. At that point, the "commercial" side loses any negative connotation, as it makes just sense the the US would produce "commercial" mythos. This is an angle that would justify permanent high prices, especially for the work that laid out the foundations of the mythos.
DeleteCarlo Michelini
Thanks,Carlo!
DeleteCollecting the American Myth--kind of sounds like a book title. I like it it!
I like what your saying about America not having their own mythos so we had to manufacture them. Kind of what Kirby tried to do with the NEW GODS.
Great post Carlo!
DeleteMoving back to topic, I ask this: could this upsurge in Ditko Spidey value be, in whole or in part, a reaction to the MacFarlane cover sales?
ReplyDeleteAaron
It could be, Aaron. I certainly think the Ditko page at 100k is a MUCH better deal than the ASM 328 cover for 657k. I can get five more Ditko pages like it and still have some shopping money. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat nobody's mentioned in this whole discussion is that the ASM #29 pg. was owned by the proprietor of Comiclink at the time it was auctioned. I'd say you need add an asterisk* to that transaction. Call me suspiciious but the whole sale reeks of impropriety. Don't you agree?
ReplyDelete