1987 CAPTAIN AMERICA v.s. THE MOB 'ORIGINAL ARTWORK' FOR THE MARVEL PUBLISHED POSTER
Artists: MIKE ZECK (Penciller) , MIKE ZECK (Inker) , PHIL Zimelman (Painter)
226 Views - 44 Comments - 19 Likes
Artwork Details
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DescriptionThis is 30 X 20 Pencil/Ink by Mike Zeck and Air Brushed by Phil Zimelman.I bought this from Mike Zeck when he brought it to a convention in New York (1987) just before Marvel borrowed it to make the poster. When he got it back he called me and I met him in the city at Marvel to pick it up. At the time I was newly married and did not have the guts to tell my wife at the time how much it was so I made up a price. I hope the married men out there can understand!! About a year ago I wanted to have my collection appraised so I reached out to some auction houses and high end collector's. It seemed that there was a rumor that Mike Never touched the board (pen/ink) and that Phil Zimelman Only air brushed the poster art. I reached out to Chuck Costas (The Zeck Collector) for clarity and he sent me a very detailed e-mail assuring me that Mike would do an 11 X 17 pencil drawing of a poster piece idea and later inked it for sale. He used similar to Norman Rockwell, a projector for the board to work on. Then he would pencil and ink it for Zimelman to air brush. When you paint a piece like that you do it a little differently for the color to be added so I was told that I also actually have the 'Published version drawing'. I also know Mike well and he also sent me an e-mail stating he did the pen/inks as well. He ended the e-mail with "You heard it from the horses mouth". I spoke with Felix Lu and he suggested that I do this so that the actual facts come out instead of the rumor that has been spread. A closing note is that George Perez actually came to my house at some point (he did not live that far from me at the time) to see it in person as it Never hit the market. He looked at it for about 5 minutes straight and just shook his head and never said a word and then left our house. He seemed really impressed. I hope this clears up the misconception that has been out there. I put the 2 e-mails on the back of the frame as provenance. Thanks for reading this. Jeff Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Ted Latner 
Member Since 2005
Posted on 12/31/2025
Amazing piece of art! Glad I got to see it in person recently!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
Ted Latner wrote:
Amazing piece of art! Glad I got to see it in person recently!
Thanks Ted.
Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005
Posted on 12/31/2025
This is great as the Zeck does a great throwback to the style of Kirby and Sternako for Cap to dominate in a widescreen format! Those Zimelman airbrushes represented the slick high tech look of the 80's to update a Cap classic.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
1 - Posted on 12/31/2025
Marcus Wai wrote:
This is great as the Zeck does a great throwback to the style of Kirby and Sternako for Cap to dominate in a widescreen format! Those Zimelman airbrushes represented the slick high tech look of the 80's to update a Cap classic.
Thanks so much for the kind words Marcus.
Rich Cirillo
Member Since 2004
Posted on 12/31/2025
First, I'm glad you were able to finally post this online! Second, I'm glad you were able to verify the facts behind the piece. I've had my own experiences with so-called experts trying to spread false rumors about pieces I have owned without anything facts, just their opinions, which were incorrect. Thank you for showing me this grand piece in person!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
Rich Cirillo wrote:
First, I'm glad you were able to finally post this online! Second, I'm glad you were able to verify the facts behind the piece. I've had my own experiences with so-called experts trying to spread false rumors about pieces I have owned without anything facts, just their opinions, which were incorrect. Thank you for showing me this grand piece in person!
Hi Rich,
Appreciate your feedback as always !!
robert frey
Member Since 2004
1 - Posted on 12/31/2025
joe kidd wrote:
Hi Rich,
Appreciate your feedback as always !!
getting jeff to post this piece was quite the ordeal, lol
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
robert frey wrote:
getting jeff to post this piece was quite the ordeal, lol
Rob is right, he had great patience with me ...
Rich Cirillo
Member Since 2004
Posted on 12/31/2025
robert frey wrote:
getting jeff to post this piece was quite the ordeal, lol
Now we need to all join in to create an avatar for his account. I nominate a picture of a King's crown!
Aaron Sultan
Member Since 2004
Posted on 1/12/2026
robert frey wrote:
getting jeff to post this piece was quite the ordeal, lol
I bet it was! Try getting him to attach an image to an email. :-) Love ya Jeff.
STEVE BLOOM
Member Since 2023
1 - Posted on 12/31/2025
Amazing painting. I've seen it in person and no reproduction comes close to showing you how great it is.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
STEVE BLOOM wrote:
Amazing painting. I've seen it in person and no reproduction comes close to showing you how great it is.
Thanks Steve.
James Bella
Member Since 2014
1 - Posted on 12/31/2025
I'd pay a King's Ransom for this piece, especially since I've seen it in person.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
James Bella wrote:
I'd pay a King's Ransom for this piece, especially since I've seen it in person.
Thanks James.
R Lee
Member Since 2012
1 - Posted on 12/31/2025
The first Captain America poster from the collaboration by Mike Zeck and Phil Zimelman that defined the Marvel visual style in the 1980's. Good to know that Zimelman applied airbrush painting over Zeck's pencil as part of the process.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
R Lee wrote:
The first Captain America poster from the collaboration by Mike Zeck and Phil Zimelman that defined the Marvel visual style in the 1980's. Good to know that Zimelman applied airbrush painting over Zeck's pencil as part of the process.
Well said Rob.
Romain Verlier
Member Since 2009
Posted on 12/31/2025
Awesome magnificent piece from Zeck and Zimmelman !!
I guess you could tell your wife how much it is worth now !! Wow !!
Lou Valenti
Member Since 2008
Posted on 12/31/2025
Epic and historical piece!! So great to see it posted. Almost 40 years old – crazy!!!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
2 - Posted on 12/31/2025
Lou Valenti wrote:
Epic and historical piece!! So great to see it posted. Almost 40 years old – crazy!!!
Thanks so much Lou.
Nathan Hanley
Member Since 2010
Posted on 12/31/2025
Thanks for sharing this amazing and historic piece!!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
Nathan Hanley wrote:
Thanks for sharing this amazing and historic piece!!
Thanks Nathan.
Rick Verbanas
Member Since 2018
Posted on 12/31/2025
I was wondering where this was and now I know! As a huge Cap fan (and Zeck), this is a phenomenal piece. Thanks for sharing here and your story.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 1/1/2026
Rick Verbanas wrote:
I was wondering where this was and now I know! As a huge Cap fan (and Zeck), this is a phenomenal piece. Thanks for sharing here and your story.
Happy to share. Thanks.
Phill R
Member Since 2010
Posted on 12/31/2025
What a piece!!!! And incredible update on the provenance!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
Phill R wrote:
What a piece!!!! And incredible update on the provenance!
Thanks Phill, respect your comments.
Jeramy Roberts
Member Since 2018
Posted on 12/31/2025
So awesome! The Cap A piece is so gorgeous! I actually got an email from Mike Zeck confirming that my X-men published piece, he did with Phil Zimmelman, was actually penciled by him before Zimmelman air brushed it! I still have that email too!
Congrats on having this Captain America piece in your collection!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
1 - Posted on 12/31/2025
Jeramy Roberts wrote:
So awesome! The Cap A piece is so gorgeous! I actually got an email from Mike Zeck confirming that my X-men published piece, he did with Phil Zimmelman, was actually penciled by him before Zimmelman air brushed it! I still have that email too!
Congrats on having this Captain America piece in your collection!
Thanks Jeremy. Keep the e-mail and let collectors know that this rumor about Mike not touching the poster artwork is Not True !!
Dan P
Member Since 2009
Posted on 12/31/2025
I had this poster on my wall back in '88. Even back then, I knew prime Zeck/Zimmleman art when I saw it!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
Dan P wrote:
I had this poster on my wall back in '88. Even back then, I knew prime Zeck/Zimmleman art when I saw it!
You always had a good eye for artwork.
Mark Saskin
Member Since 2014
Posted on 12/31/2025
Finally, the true story of this magnificent artwork has been told and verified!! What Provenance!! From the mouth of Zeck himself!!! It's an amazing piece and I am proud to be one of the privileged few to have seen it person!
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 12/31/2025
Mark Saskin wrote:
Finally, the true story of this magnificent artwork has been told and verified!! What Provenance!! From the mouth of Zeck himself!!! It's an amazing piece and I am proud to be one of the privileged few to have seen it person!
Thanks Mark for the comments.
David Donovan
Member Since 2010
Posted on 1/1/2026
This is an amazing piece, even more impressive in person!
Thanks for letting us know the rest of the story Joe Kidd!
Charles Costas
Member Since 2004
2 - Posted on 1/2/2026
To go on the record once more... the process that Mike followed to create these Zeck/Zimelman creations was that he would pencil a smaller "finished" prelim and then he would use an Artograph to enlarge the prelim and re-draw it on the larger board on which Zimelman would paint. He did this for all five Punisher Limited Series posters, the first two Punisher posters, this Cap vs. the Mob poster and the 50th Cap anniverary poster, the Iron Man poster, and the Punisher: Return to Big Nothing Hardback cover. The painted versions of the Punisher Graffiti poster and Cap Annual #8 poster were painted over bluelines since those pieces had been previously published. He continued to use a similar process for the Byron Preiss novel covers and Marvel trading cards he did, but those were done smaller. Some of the "finished" prelims were later inked by Mike and sold or gifted like this piece, the finished prelim for the 1st Punisher poster, the Punisher #1 & 3 covers, and the Big Nothing cover but some of the finished prelims still remain in their original pencil format like the Punisher #2, #4, and #5. All the Punisher Limited Series finished cover prelims can be seen in the Mike Zeck Artists Edition.
I'll note that the painted plates from the 1st Punisher portfolio and the color interiors for Kraven's Last Hunt and Punisher: Return to Big Nothing were all painted over blueline art.
And, you can see and hear a little more about Zeck/Zimelman paintings by watching the show and tell from Felix Liu's January 21, 2019 podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jys5z2pl0Es
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 1/2/2026
Charles Costas wrote:
To go on the record once more... the process that Mike followed to create these Zeck/Zimelman creations was that he would pencil a smaller "finished" prelim and then he would use an Artograph to enlarge the prelim and re-draw it on the larger board on which Zimelman would paint. He did this for all five Punisher Limited Series posters, the first two Punisher posters, this Cap vs. the Mob poster and the 50th Cap anniverary poster, the Iron Man poster, and the Punisher: Return to Big Nothing Hardback cover. The painted versions of the Punisher Graffiti poster and Cap Annual #8 poster were painted over bluelines since those pieces had been previously published. He continued to use a similar process for the Byron Preiss novel covers and Marvel trading cards he did, but those were done smaller. Some of the "finished" prelims were later inked by Mike and sold or gifted like this piece, the finished prelim for the 1st Punisher poster, the Punisher #1 & 3 covers, and the Big Nothing cover but some of the finished prelims still remain in their original pencil format like the Punisher #2, #4, and #5. All the Punisher Limited Series finished cover prelims can be seen in the Mike Zeck Artists Edition.
I'll note that the painted plates from the 1st Punisher portfolio and the color interiors for Kraven's Last Hunt and Punisher: Return to Big Nothing were all painted over blueline art.
And, you can see and hear a little more about Zeck/Zimelman paintings by watching the show and tell from Felix Liu's January 21, 2019 podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jys5z2pl0Es
Thank you Charles for Once Again clearing this up !!
Zaddick L
Member Since 2006
Posted on 1/3/2026
Nice to see you finally post this killer example, and even better to get all the process details public on the painted Z&Z works.
But not telling your wife what you paid? I’d never tell my wife what I paid, I mean, I’d never not tell my wife how much I really paid, I mean…… Oh whatever, totally guilty.
Randy Saitta
Member Since 2006
Posted on 1/7/2026
Very cool piece. Mr. Zeck had a process to do all his poster work with Mr. Zimelman, and he's said so himself. Remember this was before artists were using the Mac to have other inkers/colorists work on there stuff. This was done old school. Now i understand how the so called "experts" would have an opinion but this usually happens when the artist is long gone. But here we have Mr Zeck still very much alive and has written comformation about the creation of this art. I hope this finally clears up this matter.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 1/7/2026
Randy Saitta wrote:
Very cool piece. Mr. Zeck had a process to do all his poster work with Mr. Zimelman, and he's said so himself. Remember this was before artists were using the Mac to have other inkers/colorists work on there stuff. This was done old school. Now i understand how the so called "experts" would have an opinion but this usually happens when the artist is long gone. But here we have Mr Zeck still very much alive and has written comformation about the creation of this art. I hope this finally clears up this matter.
Well said Randy !!
Aaron Sultan
Member Since 2004
Posted on 1/12/2026
I first saw this piece back in 1987 on the wall at Second Foundation bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC. The owner had just put it up. It literally took my breath away. Within minutes of him displaying on the comic shop wall, I was walking out the door with it. Didn't know who Mike Zeck was at the time. I was stunned by what I saw. Years later I was blessed to meet Jeff, and we have been friends for years now. Comparing notes in one of our many conversations, he shared that he owned the original painting to a "Mike Zeck poster that Mike did in the late 80s of Captain America." Speechless, I quickly confirmed that this was the same image I first laid eyes on in that comic shop a long long time ago, then learned all the wonderful details about how Jeff acquired this. A national treasure to behold in comic fandom.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 1/12/2026
Aaron Sultan wrote:
I first saw this piece back in 1987 on the wall at Second Foundation bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC. The owner had just put it up. It literally took my breath away. Within minutes of him displaying on the comic shop wall, I was walking out the door with it. Didn't know who Mike Zeck was at the time. I was stunned by what I saw. Years later I was blessed to meet Jeff, and we have been friends for years now. Comparing notes in one of our many conversations, he shared that he owned the original painting to a "Mike Zeck poster that Mike did in the late 80s of Captain America." Speechless, I quickly confirmed that this was the same image I first laid eyes on in that comic shop a long long time ago, then learned all the wonderful details about how Jeff acquired this. A national treasure to behold in comic fandom.
Thanks for sharing your story.
PATRON OF COMIC ART
Member Since 2020
Posted on 1/13/2026
Absolutely stunning piece of artwork. Glad to finally see you post something on CAF!
As an FYI to those who don’t know “Joe Kidd” — this gentleman has been collecting original comic book art (commissions and published art) for many years. I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing some of this man’s collection and it is incredibly impressive. He was also interviewed by Bill Cox for the CAF Channel on YouTube a few years ago. This man also used to rep artist / inker Joe Giella and was lucky enough to score a piece thanks to this man. He’s one of the good ones in this collecting game and am happy to have him as a friend.
joe kidd
Member Since 2006
Posted on 1/13/2026
PATRON OF COMIC ART wrote:
Absolutely stunning piece of artwork. Glad to finally see you post something on CAF!
As an FYI to those who don’t know “Joe Kidd” — this gentleman has been collecting original comic book art (commissions and published art) for many years. I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing some of this man’s collection and it is incredibly impressive. He was also interviewed by Bill Cox for the CAF Channel on YouTube a few years ago. This man also used to rep artist / inker Joe Giella and was lucky enough to score a piece thanks to this man. He’s one of the good ones in this collecting game and am happy to have him as a friend.
Hi Jason, same here. Happy to know you as well.
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