Daredevil 217 Splash - 1985

UPDATE: SOLD IN 2010!

If it wasn't for David Mazzucchelli, I may have never discovered Frank Miller. Back in the 1980's, when I started reading comics full-time, I almost always made buying decisions based on the artist of the book. Coming in at issue 216 (I think), I'd completely missed out on Miller's original run on Daredevil. For me, Daredevil was defined by Denny O'Neil scripts and Mazzucchelli art. The stories were dark and moody, and Mazzucchelli's art was the perfect fit. Miller would be back on the book with issue 227 - the first of a seven issue story arc, later collected in a trade edition entitled "Born Again" (now a classic - see the other Mazzucchelli pages from this saga in this blog). But prior to Miller's return, there was some great stuff being done on this title. I recently re-read most of these stories, and they really hold up well. I was happy to pick up this splash, penciled and inked by Mazzucchelli himself (click for larger image).

Dr. Kildare 05-30-1963

Found another great strip that I couldn't resist - a 1963 Dr. Kildare daily by Ken Bald featuring a very lovely woman. I owned a few Bald Judd Saxon dailies once, but sold them off. It's nice to have another Bald back in my collection. This strip is a bit earlier than the ones I used to own, and the quality is a bit nicer. What makes it extra special though is that it once belonged to comic art giant Wally Wood!! Pretty nifty (see inscription).

Whenever I see a strip signed with a dedication to another person (like my On Stage daily by Leonard Starr ), I always assume the artist was particularly pleased with the strip since they were giving it as a gift. I could be wrong but both the dedicated strips in my collection are pretty darned good examples. (Click for larger scan. Pencils and inks Ken Bald.)

UPDATE - SOLD THIS PIECE IN MAY 2009!!