Killing Joke Prelim 3

UPDATE: SOLD THIS PIECE IN AUGUST OF 2008!

The most recent KJ prelim I picked up featuring a nice shot of the Joker! (Interesting note: the pencil image has a slight red cast to it. That's because I took a picture of it with my digital camera behind my house while the San Diego forestfires of 2007 were raging. Lots of ash in the sky and everything tinged in red. Eerie... (Brian Bolland pencils. Click for larger image.)

Thumbnails - Click for Larger Image

This is a thumbnail gallery of my original comic art collection, organized by artist. Clicking a thumbnail image will take you to the original blog entry for the piece. Once there, you can read my comments about the piece and you can click on the image there for a larger scan. Comments are welcome, so if you see something you like, let me know.


Adams, Arthur

Adams, Neal






Buckler, Rich






Byrne, John (Alpha Flight)

Byrne, John (Fantastic Four)

Gibbons, Dave

Mazzucchelli, David







Miller, Frank

Sienkiewicz, Bill





Comic Strip Art



Godwin, Frank





Murphy, John Cullen

Raymond, Alex

Spranger, Frank





Starr, Leonard

Alpha Flight 28, Page 02

This page features some of the members of Omega Flight; Courtney (disguised as Guardian), Wild Child, Diamond Lil, and Flashback. On their way to cause trouble, no doubt... (Pencils and foreground inks John Byrne, background inks Keith Williams. Click for larger image.)

Killing Joke Prelim 2

UPDATE: SOLD THIS PIECE IN 2011!!

I'd heard from a fellow collector that Brian Bolland did multiple prelims per page. I got to ask Bolland directly at San Diego Comicon 2006 about his working process, and he confirmed that he only did one version per page (as shown above), and used a projector to transfer the image to the final art board. (Click for larger image.)

Frazetta - The Trials of Judas Wiley

Frazetta is a God. There, I said it. I'd love to own bunches of Frazetta's, but the stuff isn't cheap. This is a cool pencil prelim for the 1972 painting. (Click for larger image.)

Update 01/17/08: Thought I'd add the picture of the finished painting which is remarkably similar to the prelim:

UPDATE - SOLD THIS PIECE IN MAY 2009!!

On Stage 01-28-65

I really like the inks on this beautiful On Stage daily by Leonard Starr. Dollar for dollar, you get the most bang for your buck with strip art. This period of the photo-realistic strips is my favorite, and was loaded with amazingly talented illustrators. To see more of what I'm talking about, and to get a glimpse of my former collection, check out my CFA-APA article from issue 65. (Pencils and inks Leonard Starr. Click for larger image.)

Big Ben Bolt 09-05-61

My already small strip art collection was whittled down to only two pieces in the last year or so. I sold my best pieces, but kept this one and an On Stage daily because they just aren't worth selling, and I enjoy looking at them. This is a nice BBB strip by the great John-Cullen Murphy. When you see strips like this one, you begin to realize where a guy like Neal Adams picked up his tricks. (Pencils and inks John Cullen-Murphy. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 07

I wish I had bought all the Alpha Flight covers I was offered! I passed on a few good ones. At least I have the Alpha Flight 15 cover, and this one. I really enjoyed the Aurora character, and always liked this cover. (Pencils and inks John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 26 End Splash

The big reveal! You didn't think Byrne was going to fake a death, did you!? (Pencils and inks John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 05, Page 13

Another cool page from issue 5. Love the big panel with the close-up of Puck! Byrne is using marker here, and the paper is more glossy than I've ever seen. It makes his inks a lot slicker - looks great! (Pencils and inks John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 05, Page 09

I had a bunch of these pages from issue 5 featuring Puck. Sold most of them but kept a couple. I really like the art from this issue. Byrne is using marker here, and the paper is more glossy than I've ever seen. It makes his inks a lot slicker - looks great! (Pencils and inks John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 12, Page 13

SOLD!! Fall 2014


John Byrne was a master of characterization. There was always something interesting going on with each character which enabled the reader to empathize with them (whether they were likeable or not). Here's and interesting interaction between Puck and Northstar from issue 12. (Pencils and inks John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 12, Page 24

UPDATE: SOLD THIS PIECE IN 2012!!

Another cool page from Alpha Flight 12 featuring Guardian going toe to toe with Flashback (or several Flashback's) of Omega Flight. I'm looking for page 25 which would give me a nice 5 page sequence. (Pencils and inks John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Alpha Flight 12, Pages 26, 27, and 28

SOLD!! 2013

Alpha Flight was one of my favorite comics back in the 80's and another reason why I'm such a huge John Byrne fan. The series climaxed with this issue (#12), and it was quite a shocker. These pages feature Snowbird, Diamond Lil, Shaman, and Smart Alec (don't look in the bag...!!) I'm always on the lookout for more good AF pages! (Pencils and inks John Byrne. Click for larger image.)

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Depending on the day of the week, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen might be my favorite comic book series of all time. It made Time Magazine's top 100 novels from 1923 to the present (2005): http://tinyurl.com/2d9zz5 That's NOVELS, not comic books. Not too shabby, eh? Some comic fans have decried the book for being "deconstructionist", and complain that it's geared strictly to an adult audience, but I'm of the mind that it's okay to have "mature" comic books. Reading them doesn't take away my enjoyment of the "fun" superhero books. By the way, Watchmen is fun too, and the artwork is amazing. I'm still discovering new things each time I re-read the series. This is a great page showing Dan's infatuation with Lauri. It also features the Owl Car - cool!! (Pencils, inks, and lettering by Dave Gibbons. Click for larger image.)

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - Watchmen

This was the first Watchmen page I bought. While it's probably the least expensive of the three I currently own, it is probably the best drawn page. It depicts two scenes at once; Lauri has realized that her relationship with Dr. Manhattan is over and decides to leave. Meanwhile, Janey Slater, Dr. Manhattans aged and former lover, tells a reporter about thier failed relationship and her realization that he's given her cancer. Alan Moore employs a literary trick here (common in his works, and especially Watchmen), by using the same dialoge to tell two different stories. It also features the lesbian cabdriver and Dr. Manhattan's ass. Great page. (Pencils, inks, and lettering by Dave Gibbons. Click for larger image.)

Funny story. I met Dave Gibbons at the San Diego Comicon in 2005 and had him sign this page for me. He turned it sideways and signed in the margin. When he lifted his hand, the second caption in panel two had lifted off the page completely and sat hanging from his wrist. He glanced up at me, caption still hanging, and gave me a worried look. Then we both started laughing. I said, if anyone was going to ruin my page, I hoped it would be him. He also asked me what the current market value of the page was. When I told him he replied "I don't think I got that much for doing the whole book!". Nice guy.

Daredevil Born Again II

This was the second Daredevil page from Frank Miller's "Born Again" series that I purchased. The scene depicted on this page, featuring Nuke, Captain America, and Daredevil, is what is depicted on the cover of this issue. (Pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli. Click for larger image.)