"Too Late For Love," Personal Love #25, page 1
Artist: Frank Frazetta (All)
29 Comments - 755 Views - 16 Likes
Additional Images:
in color, as printed
recolored, from Last Gasp "Untamed Love" reprint
Artwork Details
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DescriptionSome art you don't trust to be shipped, you pick it up in person.In April 2016 I was heading home to Massachusetts, treasure in hand, when my flight departing Florida was canceled without notification. The next available flight got me to Washington DC too late for the connecting flight home. Being a "when life gives you lemons" guy, I called local collecting buddy Lee Benaka in DC. Lee graciously agreed to meet at the airport lounge to grab a bite and talk art. Except for a few scattered travelers sitting at tables, the airport lounge was mostly unoccupied, so I took the second-to-last seat at the end of the bar, far away from anybody else. I left the last seat open for Lee, and ordered a drink to pass the time. Before long a middle-aged stranger, on the short side but well-dressed with thinning hair and a gray goatee, crossed the nearly empty lounge and took a seat right next to me at the bar. In time, the stranger turned to me and gave me a half nod. I raised my glass of orange juice to him. He returned the toast with a snifter of malodorous liquid that looked and smelled like something left over from when they made the atom bomb, and replied "It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday." It was Tuesday, and there was barely anyone else there but us. Thankfully, Lee Benaka arrived and sat in the empty chair to my left. We ordered some food and, during our conversations about art and music, I was vaguely aware that the stranger to my right was downing additional glasses of that volatile compound you see bubbling in beakers in old horror films. After eating, and to my great delight, Lee produced an Itoya portfolio and we pored over a sampling of his amazing and well-curated collection. When you're immersed in the aesthetic joy of first-class comic art, it's easy to lose track of what's going on around you. I was vaguely aware that a small group of people were forming around the stranger, first one or two people, then others, as indistinct murmuring passed from table to table in the airport lounge. I was enthralled by his tasty George Pérez Avengers and FF art when I realized that Lee was shooting a concerned look over my shoulder. I didn't want to stare, and turned my head just long enough to observe that the stranger appeared to be jotting down notes on cocktail napkins and handing them out to the bar patrons, who bought him drinks and regarded him with fawning reverence. Lee whispered "Who's your friend?" and I replied "I don't know, he just sat down next to me at the bar when I got here." We were about 3/4ths through his Itoya portfolio when Lee Benaka said "My daughter is visiting from college, I should head out." I replied "Before you go, let me show you what I sold all that art this year to afford!" I produced a sturdy folio and placed a piece of masonite on the bar between us. Wanting to maintain a modicum of discretion, I removed the art and carefully placed it on the masonite, moving it a bit closer to the light. We both stared in rapturous exhilaration at the graceful forms and supernaturally deft inking on the page. Lee said "Well, I can understand now why you'd sacrifice the Byrne/Austin and all those other pages, this art is truly..." What happened next will be familiar if you've ever experienced a head-on collision with a tractor trailer during an active volcano eruption. With a balletic grace unexpected for one so intoxicated, the stranger spun on his bar stool into our space and slurred "OK, sure, why not? You next, FINE!" His left arm and shoulder were now between me and the art and, with a sweeping flourish of his right hand, he scrawled his name across the page with a sharpie. The stranger stood up, shouted "Good evening, New York City!" and lurched through the small crowd toward the door, disappearing into the DC evening. Following a beheading, there is believed to be a short period of awareness for the victim, because although the oxygen supply to the head is cut, there is enough reaching the brain to allow consciousness. Lee Benaka and I stood in voiceless shock as the small crowd dispersed. I was numb. The last person looked at me approvingly and said "You are SO lucky you got that signed! What a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet him, right?" then sat down to watch a hockey game at the bar. My restoration/conservation guy at that time, future convicted Capital Police assailant Robert Wayne Dennis told me that to remove the autograph, he'd need to paint over it, thus destroying a part of the exquisitely delicate brushwork. He said that an artist who can re-ink the damaged areas with sufficient finesse might come along again someday, but they are not alive now. Dennis said that my choices are to live with the art as-is, or sell it to a fan of Frank Frazetta's stunningly gorgeous 1953 romance art who also enjoys the musical stylings of Grammy-winning pop balladeer Billy Joel. Next time I'll just have the art shipped. Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Shelton Bryant
Member Since 2005
Posted on 4/2/2024
Seems Like That Guy Bears a Strong Resemblance to the Cool Man Himself!!!............Congrats!!
Peter Sullivan 
Member Since 2006
Posted on 4/2/2024
Hmmmmm...April 1st upload, eh? Methinks a true art fan would not remove the art from the folder in a bar area with a drunk lurking in the vicinity.
Lee Benaka
Member Since 2004
Posted on 4/2/2024
Peter Sullivan wrote:
Hmmmmm...April 1st upload, eh? Methinks a true art fan would not remove the art from the folder in a bar area with a drunk lurking in the vicinity.
These things happen. In fact, a well-respected true art fan spilled coffee on a piece of Sunday strip art at my house this past Saturday. It's true!
Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006
2 - Posted on 4/2/2024
Lee Benaka wrote:
These things happen. In fact, a well-respected true art fan spilled coffee on a piece of Sunday strip art at my house this past Saturday. It's true!
Well it is usual for Frazetta art to be covered in stains. Sloppy worker, Frank. The printers and editors seemed to like spitting and dribbling stuff on art too. Some needed spitoons or dribble guards. By the way, if Billy Joel did (that story is funny but clearly untrue) that to artwork in front of me he would be in hospital. He could write a new song about the emergency room man. Hard to play a piano with broken fingers, Billy, you drunk.
artless artmore
Member Since 2013
Posted on 4/2/2024
That is the nuttiest OA collector story I've ever heard. Given today's date, I'm hoping you're pulling my leg, but true or not, this is an absolutely gorgeous page by the greatest penciler or inker to work in comics or illustration. The linework, the way he spots his blacks here, the faces, the poses --- spectacular
Mark Yanko
Member Since 2009
Posted on 4/2/2024
You ARE pulling our collective leg here...aren't you? =/
Mark Howland
Member Since 2004
Posted on 4/2/2024
The Art: nothing short of silky. The Story: whether accurate or fantastical, fabulous. My only Question is: Why did it take you eight years to post it and tell it????
My NAME IS LEGION
Member Since 2004
Posted on 4/2/2024
Mark Howland wrote:
The Art: nothing short of silky. The Story: whether accurate or fantastical, fabulous. My only Question is: Why did it take you eight years to post it and tell it????
Billy Joel just came out with his first new pop album in 30 years, so this is perfect timing.
My NAME IS LEGION
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 4/2/2024
A couple hours in a tanning salon and that signature might fade like a Gil Kane original before the inda ink does. That's your best bet.
Steve Day Vich
Member Since 2007
1 - Posted on 4/2/2024
Wow! You got Billy Joel's autograph? Can you get someone to remove alll that black and white rubbish from behind it?
Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005
2 - Posted on 4/2/2024
It's airport lounge on a Saturday
The Frazetta crowd shuffles in
There's an art fan sitting next to me
Makin' love to his orangey drink
He says, "Man, can you display such sweet goatee
The Love’s for Lee’s sure Personal
But it's art and it's sweet, and the story’s complete
When I store in portfolio"
La, la, la, de, de, da
La, la, de, de, da, da, da
Sign it and gone, I’m the piano man
Sign it and gone to flight
We're all in the mood Capital Police
‘Cause election stealing’s a lie
John Voytek
Member Since 2008
Posted on 4/2/2024
Fantastic page! Just more evidence that Frazetta could have ruled any genre that he chose.
E DLS
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 4/2/2024
True or not, the single best description/story I have EVER read on CAF. If indeed this is not a gag, then I'm sorry for being a Billy Joel fan. If it makes any difference, I wasn't crazy about the last few albums.
Comics Superworld
Member Since 2007
Posted on 4/2/2024
That is a hilarious story!
Honestly, the signature doesn't hurt the art at all. It's just the psychological shock of someone scrawling on such a piece that kills ya.
robert frey
Member Since 2004
Posted on 4/2/2024
you may have been too late for love but you were right on time for a beautiful autograph- the calligraphy here is indeed at kirbyesque levels that rivals what was drawn on the printed page. the art appraisers at HA must be salivating and awaiting this treasure with bated breath..... and our pal lee had the fortune to see this as it happened.
Scott Spilky
Member Since 2013
Posted on 4/6/2024
This page is published in my big Taschen Frazetta book. Such a fantastic piece here showcasing Frazetta's mastery in drawing beautiful women. Joel was a jerk. You handled it with class.
Bill J
Member Since 2009
Posted on 4/22/2024
Such a funny story. So sorry that happened to you. Still, the art is gorgeous and it's signed Frank Frazetta. Maybe you could claim that it was signed by Frank's assistant whose name--by coincidence-- happened to also be Billy Joel.
Lars Teglbjaerg
Member Since 2005
Posted on 5/5/2024
Gasp! Choke! A true story from the Vault of Horror. How anybody can leave a Frazetta page unprotected in a bar is beyond me. I guess that you and Lee have learned your lesson and will keep your OA under plastic protection in the future.
Alex B
Member Since 2008
Posted on 7/10/2024
The story is priceless and the art remains absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing both and huge congrats for this breathtaking masterpiece !
Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006
Posted on 8/23/2025
Tom Coker wrote:
OMG! You truly cannot make this shit up
He did .
Al Simpleton
Member Since 2013
Posted on 12/21/2024
What a story! It looks like some pages carry their own legend! And, speaking of the page, is it still possible that such girls get so thrilled to become personal secretaries? Ah, never mind...
Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006
Posted on 8/23/2025
Al Simpleton wrote:
What a story! It looks like some pages carry their own legend! And, speaking of the page, is it still possible that such girls get so thrilled to become personal secretaries? Ah, never mind...
Get a pen and paper(or brush and paper and you can brush on and against her figure all you want) and practice diligently for years and then you too can have a paper, stalker/ assistant/girlfriend.
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