Sam H :: Gil Kane

GSXM#1 mech cover

Artists: Gil Kane (Penciller) , Dave Cockrum (Inker)

14 Comments - 649 Views - 13 Likes

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Artwork Details

Title:	GSXM#1 mech cover
Artist:	Gil Kane (Penciller)
Artist:	Dave Cockrum (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Cover
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	649
Likes on CAF:	13 14
Comments:	14
Added to Site:	8/15/2023
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Iʼll never own the original, so I guess this is next best thing.

I bought this at SDCC in 1985 - I would have been 14 or 15 - and I think this may have been my second ever OA purchase. The dealerʼs table was an small endcap on the west side of the dealerʼs room and had probably a dozen three or four inch stacks of art. No Kirby, Byrne or Miller on the table, just a lot of interior pages with what seemed like a very high ratio of characters out of costume talking, and pages that would be the set up for pages youʼd actually want to own. Only one other cover there I can recall: A Tales of the Green Lantern issue with Guy Gardener holding the lantern, standing in the shadows. A great, stark image that I really loved. But it was fifty bucks, and that was a definite dent in my con budget. At the bottom of a stack of particularly C and D quality material interior pages, was this piece, also $50. The dealer was careful to explain that it was an amalgam of stats with corrections, and title dress, no art. But even though GSXM1 was only ten years old at that point, it was already an iconic cover, so I decided to pull the trigger and grab it. Being *that* kid at the time, though, I had to haggle the guy down from $50 to $45. I remember that he really didnʼt want to budge on the five bucks, but I was relentless. I got it, and as I was walking off with it under my arm, I was clobbered with buyerʼs remorse. I felt like I just bought a glorified photocopy and passed on actual art: that TOGL cover. So I went back to the dealer to try and get my money back, but he refused, his revenge on the annoying dork with braces. In retrospect, Iʼm glad it didnʼt occur to me to ask him to just swap it for the TOGL cover; I honestly donʼt know why I didnʼt, because thatʼs the one I really wanted.

This was my third SDCC, but the it was first for my two friends from my hometown had also made the trip with their parents. My one buddy, he was about 14 at the time, would buy Byrneʼs Alpha Flight #7 cover at that show (I vividly remember going over to his house and seeing it propped up on a chair later that summer) and he bought Cockrumʼs X-Men 161 cover either that year or the next: they were both, I think, $50 and $75 respectively. I remember, even at the time, thinking that was a particularly cheap price for the Byrne cover, but we were Byrne fanatics in those days, and his Alpha Flight run was all the rage. It boggles my mind now, but a fair portion of the pieces of art that routinely hit five figures today first passed though the hands of children.

Anyhow, I desperately tried to sell it to both of my friends. I wasnʼt even interested in flipping it, I just wanted $50. One had already burned though his money and the other completely apathetic. I even offered to sell him half ownership so we could be joint owners. But again, no. So I sulked, and now, I had to spend the rest of the con wandering around with it in my hands since there was no bag check (that I remember). About an hour later, Iʼm near the main entrance, about three rows deep from the door, and Iʼm looking at some books. The dealer was a young guy, probably early 20ʼs, and takes note of the cover. Without asking me about the piece, he casually drops into our conversation heʼd trade this DD#1 he had on his wall, straight across. It was a sharp copy with bright whites on the cover, easily NM. I can see that he thinks Iʼm holding the actual pencils, so I explained that, yes, it is technically the cover of GSXM1 but no, itʼs not the actual art. But surprisingly, he doesnʼt seem to care. He just says something like, �That would just be a cool piece to hang on my wall.� It was pretty much at that point I pretty much settled on keeping it. I did take it back to the 86 and 87 SDCCs thinking maybe I could trade for something, but I never did.

The piece itself was assembled upside down on the reverse side of the standard art board Marvel used during this period. The art has a number of minor corrections: the page rip right next to Nightcrawler and the edge of Stormʼs cape is original art, and thereʼs some blue pencil tracing over the original X-Men stat, especially on Jeanʼs left arm (which actually looks like a stat on top of another stat). There are a few very minor areas where the art was extended to connect the new X-Men stat to the OG X-Men stat, as well as some additional touch ups here and there (the tips of Beastʼs fingers, for example). There doesnʼt seem to be anything under the new X-Men stat: itʼs glued to the board securely, but only in one or two places, so the stat can be carefully lifted up and looked under. The spine name indication had been ripped out at some point before I bought it.

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About the Owner

	Sam H
Joined:	February 2007
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Sam's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Mark V
Member Since 2021

1 - Posted on 8/15/2023

This is the very definition of a conversation piece. Great story!

VZA Victor
Member Since 2004

Posted on 8/15/2023

lol $5 was a lot of money at that time! Do you know how many packs of Garbage Pail Kids you could buy with that? Well, of course you do...

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

Posted on 8/15/2023

Good for you buying OA then (even mechanicals). I was just getting commissions.

West Stephan
Member Since 2007

Posted on 8/15/2023

Still a piece of comic history and wa wonderful story!

Steve . M
Member Since 2017

Posted on 8/15/2023

Fantastic memory. Loved the telling of the tale, thanks for sharing

Comic Art Channel
Member Since 2018

Posted on 8/15/2023

Very cool and vivid memories. Glad to hear you kept it all this time.

Tom Coker
Member Since 2005

Posted on 8/15/2023

“That would just be a cool piece to hang on my wall.” I'm with that guy!

Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

Posted on 8/16/2023

A great piece of history with a history of its own under your keep!

Dino Mauricio
Member Since 2009

Posted on 8/16/2023

Amazing piece of comic history!

Ian Saint
Member Since 2021

Posted on 8/16/2023

Love the story behind it. Really cool piece and happy the dealer didn't take it back. You lucked out. Congrats!

Justin Topages
Member Since 2015

1 - Posted on 8/16/2023

Great story! I'm guessing you could recoup your $50 now lol. Let me know ;-P

Kin Wong
Member Since 2007

Posted on 8/18/2023

Congrata on a great piece of history, even if it's not the original art to the cover. I'll buy it, but only for $45. :)

Robert C
Member Since 2020

Posted on 11/22/2023

I like the art, but I like the story even more!

Nils E
Member Since 2014

Posted on 1/2/2024

Is this the published cover, it was pasted together?

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