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Sunday Internet Comics Auction
Auction Ends:
October 14, 2018
Live Session at 6:00 PM CT
Highlights of this week's auction include:
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Detective Comics #49 (DC, 1941) CGC FN 6.0
Off-white to white pages
Clayface appearance. Batman and Robin cover and art by Bob Kane and
Jerry Robinson. Overstreet 2018 FN 6.0 value = $1,062. CGC census
10/18: 4 in 6.0, 19 higher.
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Marvel Mystery Comics #73 (Timely, 1946)
Condition: VG-
Vince Alascia cover. Charles Nicholas and Al Gabriele art.
Overstreet 2018 VG 4.0 value = $322. From the Kevin Michael
McFadden Collection.
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Famous Funnies #212 (Eastern Color, 1954) CGC
VG+ 4.5 Off-white to white pages
Frank Frazetta flying saucer, bondage cover. Overstreet 2018 VG 4.0
value = $374. CGC census 10/18: 5 in 4.5, 41 higher.
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Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) CGC Apparent
FN 6.0 Moderate (P) Off-white pages
The origin and first appearance of Spider-Man, and the first
appearances of Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko
cover and art. Currently ranks #1 on Overstreet's list of Top
50 Silver Age Comics. CGC notes, "Restoration includes: color
touch, pieces added, tear seals, cleaned reinforced." Overstreet
2018 GD 2.0 value = $8,000; VG 4.0 value = $16,000; FN 6.0 value =
$32,000.
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Bill Ward Cracked #81 Complete 2-page
Story "Cracked Takes a Look at Night Clubs" Original Art (Major
Magazines, 1969)
Ward brings almost an Underground Comix sensibility to this
large-scale MAD-style spread, razzing the various types of
personality that one finds in a nightclub. Ink and watercolors
(grayscale) on Bristol board. Image area, 25" x 14.5". The art is
missing many of its word balloon stats (leaving stained residual
glue), and there is heavy edge wear and some tearing. In Good
condition.
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Marvel Giant-Size X Men 1 (Marvel, 1975) CGC
NM+ 9.6 White pages
First appearance of the new X-Men. First appearances of Storm,
Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Thunderbird. Second full appearance of
Wolverine. Gil Kane cover. Overstreet 2018 NM- 9.2 value = $1,700.
CGC census 10/18: 315 in 9.6, 148 higher.
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Frank Thorne Marvel Feature V2#2
Story Page 9 Original Art (Marvel, 1976)
A down in the dumps Red Sonja is deep in thought as she rethinks
the vow she took as a young woman. Created in ink over graphite on
Bristol board with an image area of 10" x 15". The page is slightly
toned, with glue residue in the bottom margin from a missing
paste-up, and a whiteout text correction in Panel 2; otherwise in
Excellent condition.
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The Avengers #196 (Marvel, 1980) CGC NM/MT
9.8 White pages
The Taskmaster, in his first full appearance and origin issue.
George Perez cover. Overstreet 2018 NM- 9.2 value = $95. CGC census
10/18: 142 in 9.8, none higher.
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The Batman Adventures #12 (DC, 1993) CGC
NM+ 9.6 White pages
This first appearance of Harley Quinn in comics (albeit outside of
DC continuity) is one of the most desirable comics to come out of
the 1990s, and it regularly sells for well above Guide values.
Currently the #4 book on Overstreet's list of Top 20 Modern Age
Comics. Mike Parobeck cover and art. Overstreet 2018 NM- 9.2
value = $475. CGC census 10/18: 993 in 9.6, 656 higher.
View |
Our MyHeritage: MyBids feature makes tracking your
favorite items easier than ever. Just a reminder...our Sunday
Internet Comics, Animation, and Art Auctions end with a Live
Session at 6:00 PM CT.
Browse the entire auction here.
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Predecessors of The
Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (First in a Series) |
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By David Stone,
Heritage Auctions
The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (OPG) has been the
"Bible" of comic book fandom since its inception in 1970. It has
had a profound effect on all aspects of the hobby, making
publication and pricing information on comic books and related
items available to collectors throughout the world. It greatly
encouraged the growth of independent comic shops in the 1970s and
helped establish the direct market distribution system.
Surprisingly, for such an important hobby influence, the OPG has
not been studied extensively by most collectors. This article is
the first in a series that seeks to explore the rich and complex
history of the OPG.
Bob Overstreet always said the inspiration for the Overstreet
Comic Book Price Guide was the Guide Book of United States
Coins, issued every year by Whitman Publishing. Overstreet
avidly collected coins from circulation, arrow heads, and other
items in his younger days, along with comic books (see Bob's
Bizarre Tales in OPG number 30 for an account of his early
comic collecting activities and The Semi-Secret Origins of the
Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide in OPG number 37 for his
other hobby pursuits). However, there were some publications from
early comic book fandom that must have had an influence on his
thinking.
Overstreet saved all the price lists put out by early comic book
dealers, like Jerry Bails and Howard Rogofsky, and he saved all the
back issues of the Rocket's Blast and Comic Collector, and
other early fanzines he acquired over the years. These early
publications provided much of the raw data he would incorporate
into the first edition of the OPG.
Although he has not mentioned it in interviews, and may not have
been aware of it at the time, there was another comic book price
guide that predated OPG #1 by five years. The Argosy Comic Book
Price Guide was written by Michael Cohen and Tom Horsky and
published by the Argosy Bookshop in Los Angeles in 1965 (see image
#1). It was 36 pages long and provided prices for 5,000 Golden Age
and early Silver Age comic books in Mint condition. It is possible
that Overstreet was not aware of this publication when he published
OPG #1, as it had a very small distribution and experts agree fewer
than 50 copies are extant. However, the Argosy Price Guide
was advertised in the Rockets Blast and Comic Collector,
which Overstreet studied extensively in preparation for OPG #1 (see
ad in Rocket's Blast and Comic Collector #42 below). Whether this
guide played any part in Overstreet's development of the OPG or
not, he certainly became aware of it at some point, because a Near
Mint copy of the Argosy Price Guide from the Robert M.
Overstreet Collection sold at an auction on July 25, 2013 for
$2,150.50.
One influence Overstreet repeatedly acknowledged was fandom legend
Jerry Bails. In fact, Overstreet tried to get Bails to write and
publish a comic book price guide, but Bails was too busy to take on
the project. As early as 1963, Bails had begun indexing Golden Age
comics in publications like An Authoritative Index of DC
Comics (see image #2).
#1 |
#2 |
His research culminated in the Collector's Guide: The First
Heroic Age, published in 1969, an index of all costume and
super hero comic books published between 1934 and 1947 (see image
#3).
Before this index, collectors had no clear idea of exactly which
comic books had been published in the Golden Age. No pricing
information was included in the index, but many details about major
story lines, first appearances, and artists were summarized. Bails
sometimes untangled the bewildering numbering systems of some comic
book series, which often stopped and started again in
non-consecutive order. Of course, this early effort was far from
comprehensive, and important non-super hero publications, like
Famous Funnies, were omitted entirely. It was a good place
to start, however, and Bails generously shared his research with
Overstreet and strongly encouraged him to publish the OPG, which he
finally decided to do himself. In some early advertisements for OPG
number 1, Bails is listed as an Associate Editor (see image
#4).
(To be continued in a future newsletter.)
#3 |
#4 |
Detail of image #4. |
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Swed
Menorahs Among Prized Judaica in Heritage Auctions' Silver & Vertu
Auction
Three extraordinary silver Menorahs by one of the world's elite
silversmiths are being offered in Heritage Auctions' Silver & Vertu Auction Oct.
15 in Dallas.
"Following tremendous attention on Yossi Swed's works in our April
auction, we are pleased to have the opportunity to present more of
his masterworks in silver," Heritage Auctions Silver & Decorative
Art Director Karen Rigdon said. "Based in Israel, Swed's workshop
creates highly detailed objects that delight young and old
alike."
A Yossi Swed Partial Gilt
Silver Ship-Form Menorah with Display Case, 20th century
(estimate: $25,000-35,000) includes elaborate mechanical workings.
A turning ship's wheel glides a cannon from the starboard side, and
eight of the nine cannon handles on deck lock and unlock each
cannon separately, allowing a different configuration for each
night of Hanukkah. The anchor is formed as a dreidel, presented in
glazed brass fitted vitrine.
A Yossi Swed Partial Gilt
Silver Menorah, 20th century (estimate: $20,000-15,000) is an
altar form with eight lamps that tilt by turning the right oiler,
which is seated on a candleholder. Side wings in the base house a
dreidel and wick storage, a back door hides lamp tools and a center
tray can be removed for cleaning. The front features a Hebrew
inscription that reads, "These candles are sanctified, and we do
not have permission to make ordinary use of them."
A Yossi Swed Partial Gilt
Silver and Glass Menorah, 20th century (estimate:
$8,000-10,000) is a gorgeous silver and glass Menorah with a
latched case that holds eight oil lamps, an oil ewer and a tankard.
The case crown has two secret ends with nine bobeches (cups) to
convert lamps to candleholders and a dreidel, with a pair of
matching chimneys that serve as the bases for the handle.
The Swed workshop houses Master of design, metalwork and
engineering under one roof, thereby creating each work piece by
piece. The design and process allow for easy cleaning, polishing
and rhodium plating, a process that is used, especially on jewelry
and most often on white gold, to provide a surface that will resist
scratches and tarnish and give a white, reflective appearance.
More information about Fine Art Auctions
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Cover of the Week: We'll Always Have
All True Romance #18 |
The country of France has over 200,000 square miles, but oddly, the
only part of it American comic characters of the last 70 years have
ever visited is a 100-yard radius of the Eiffel tower.
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