Warden, Jim :: Buscema, Sal

Avengers # 68 Pg. 18

Artists: Sal Buscema (Penciller) , Sam Grainger (Inker)

20 Comments - 1,591 Views - 5 Likes

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Additional Images:

Avengers # 68 Pg. 18 with original final panel

Previous Item:
Hulk Annual # 8 Pg. 44

Artwork Details

Title:	Avengers # 68 Pg. 18
Artist:	Sal Buscema (Penciller)
Artist:	Sam Grainger (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,591
Likes on CAF:	5 6
Comments:	20
Added to Site:	8/17/2015
Comic Art Archive:

Description

This one has a neat story behind it... over 25 years ago my fiancee (now wife) Lynn and I drove to Charlotte, North Caroline to sit with Mike Zeck and help sell some of his artwork at one of Shelton Drumm's great Heroes Conventions. Mike was the first artist whose artwork I sold and it was always a fun time to hang out with him whenever I could.

Upon our arrival at the venue, Lynn and I found Mike's table and sat down by him. At the table next to us was Sam Grainger and I saw he had a stack of artwork available for sale, so I went over to have a look. Sam had an amazing assortment of pages that Marvel had recently returned to him; included were several vintage Hulk pages he inked over Herb Trimpe, Iron Man pages from # 25 he had inked over Johnny Craig, a Barry Smith page featuring Kazar from Astonishing Tales, and at least one page from Avengers # 68 he inked over Sal Buscema. I asked him for prices of the pages and he said $10 each! At the time, comic art had not taken off in value, but even then, I knew $10 a page was a good deal!

I think I had $100 to spend at the show, and I gave it all to Sam. He was really surprised that folks wanted to buy the pages as he had not associated any value with them; Marvel had only recently begun to return artwork and they sent him a bunch of pages from the 1960's and 70's and they were taking up space at his place!

I am pretty sure he gave me a couple of extra pages for free since I bought so many. I asked him to personalize a handful of the pages I really liked and walked away a happy collector!

Over the years, I sold or traded off many of the pages I had picked up from Sam (I have limited resources for comic art and could not keep everything!); among the pages I let go was this Avengers page. Flash forward to a few weeks ago and an art customer from many moons ago contacted me to see if I was interested in helping them sell some pieces they had bought from me back in the 1980's and 1990's. I was happy to do so and one of the pieces fetched a hefty sum; rather than taking cash as a commission, I asked if I could get back a couple of the pages they had bought from me all those years ago. They agreed to this payment option and everyone involved was very happy with the deal!

As the previous owner was preparing to send me the page, they noticed one of the panels had an overlay and it had popped off. They sent me a picture of the page with the overlay removed and there was a really cool pencil drawing of Thor which had been covered by the redrawn panel. The owner was concerned that I might not want the page with the panel popped off, but that just made me like it that much more as I had no idea the final panel had been pasted on when I previously owned the page!

I am very happy to have this nostalgic gem back in my collection and have included scans of it with, and without, the overlayed panel (which is original art, not a stat).

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About the Owner

	Jim Warden ( 15 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	November 2003
Last Login:	August 2025
Ebay Id:	capshockeyfan
Website:	http://www.whatashock.com/doasales/
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Jim's Classifieds Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Will Gabri-El
Member Since 2004

Posted on 8/17/2015

Jim�great story behind you requiring this page�and fantastic perspective to share with newer collectors how things were back in the day! And of course congrats, you deserve it buddy!

Jim Warden
Member Since 2003

Posted on 8/17/2015

Will Gabri-El wrote:

Jim�great story behind you requiring this page�and fantastic perspective to share with newer collectors how things were back in the day! And of course congrats, you deserve it buddy!

Thanks for the kind words Will! This one really brings back a lot of memories! Another funny thing; on the reverse of the page is my original asking price... $40! I am sure I gave a discount from that when the page sold!!

D. J. Peters
Member Since 2006

Posted on 8/17/2015

Great page and wonderful story! The added drawing of Thor is terrific!

Lee Benaka
Member Since 2004

Posted on 8/18/2015

I love hearing stories like this. I'm glad this page ended up back in your collection after all these years. Thanks for sharing Jim!

Eric Callen
Member Since 2005

Posted on 8/18/2015

Wonderful piece of art and an equally wonderful story to accompany it! Congrats and thanx for sharing with us.

frank x townsondecker
Member Since 2006

Posted on 8/18/2015

Nice!!!

Eelco V
Member Since 2004

Posted on 8/18/2015

Great story Jim! Congrats getting this cool page back.

Mike W
Member Since 2007

Posted on 8/18/2015

Vintage Marvel Magic!!!! Excellent page and wonderful story!!! Thank you for sharing both, my friend!!!!!

Jovi Neri
Member Since 2011

Posted on 8/18/2015

This is such a wonderful story Jim. And even if you are a great dealer (I have transacted with you a few times), it's always great to see that deep down you are still a true Comic Art Fan. Thanks for sharing!

Jerry C.
Member Since 2009

Posted on 8/18/2015

Wonderful Art and great story for all original art collectors. Thanks Jim!

Colorado Kid
Member Since 2007

Posted on 8/18/2015

Sal was at the top of his game when he drew that page. Look at those tight pencils! Congrats, Jim!

bob fish
Member Since 2011

Posted on 8/18/2015

excellent !!

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 8/18/2015

An Ultron page for TEN BUCKS!!!!! Wow! And you must've thought you made a killing when you sold it for 4 times what you paid. Ha! Great page and great story! My favorite kind of post. Congrats on getting it back!

Jim Warden
Member Since 2003

Posted on 8/18/2015

E DLS wrote:

Hey, in all fairness, I am sure I discounted the page... as you well know, I pretty much always sold pages for lower than what I had marked on the back!! :) When I was writing my description for this posting I was thinking of you, as you are about the only other person who would include so much detail!!! :) It was time well spent though as it brought back great memories and it seems folks have enjoyed reading about the "Golden-Age" of comic art collecting!!!

Kirk Dilbeck (3-Wishes and Patron-of-art)
Member Since 2006

Posted on 8/18/2015

Amazing story- karma at work!

John Livesay
Member Since 2009

Posted on 8/18/2015

nice!

J L
Member Since 2005

Posted on 8/18/2015

That's a fantastic story Jim. Thanks for sharing that and this page. It's a beautiful and dramatic page!!!! 8 )

Brian Peck
Member Since 2003

Posted on 8/18/2015

Saltastic! Love the top panel, Sal was firing on all cylinders with this issue. Sam and Sal make a good team. Congrats!

Michael Kenyon
Member Since 2008

Posted on 8/18/2015

M A S S I V E S C O R E Really enjoyed your detailed write up.Great job!!!

Bill Thomson
Member Since 2004

Posted on 4/11/2025

LOVE this page... and seeing Sal's original pencils in the last panel is just fantastic!!!

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