Mike does a nice Red Skull.   Love the Kirby-esque teeth.  

I had forgotten Mike had drawn a fourth cover to this book.  Unfortunately, can't help you track this one down.  I believe he sold it on his website many years ago.  Finding copies of the published books (#1 & #2) are hard enough as it is.  

John always wanted a chance to show what he could've done on the Kraven books.  This turned out fantastic.  

I'm glad this piece could find its way into the home of someone who loves it.  Had it in my colllection for many years.  The Zeck/Zimelman paintings are so vibrant to see in person.  I'll bet it looks great on the wall!

I remember meeting Rich Rankin at the Silver Spring MD Jubilee comic convention around that time in 1985.  I bought my first piece of comic art from him (the splash to #2).  He had pages from #3 as well.  Perhaps this page was originally sold at that show as well!

This was a cover that Moncuse created for a Fish Police series that IDW was supposed to publish after reprinting the Hairballs saga a few years ago.  Moncuse had drawn two complete issues and 3 covers when IDW pulled the plug on the project.  I believe this cover was intended to be the cover to the 2nd issue.  

Always great to see these early Elementals pieces surface.  The Elementals was one of the best Independents of its time.

I remember this scene well.  I couldn't get used to Charles Xavier walking around (and neither could he).

Congrats on getting in on this special sale from Mike.  It’s a rare opportunity. You got my favorite of the Punishers. 

Joe, some artists seem to reach a plateau, but your latest work just shows you keep getting better and better.  

Great piece for a great series.  

Chuck Norris wouldn't need a knife to take down that lion.. the lion would smell Chuck Norris and bow down to the real king of the jungle.   

Mike - so glad you were able to get this great piece for yourself when you helped me get one of my dream pieces.  Great to see this true piece of history.

Cool to see one of these Zeck sketchbooks again.  Mike never got to sketching in all 25 of them... maybe one day!  This is a good one!

I knew there was something I really liked about the layout of this page (aside that it's Punisher)... and then I looked again at the Punisher commission that Bradstreet and Gerhard had done for me.   Looks like there's a bit of Gerhard's vision of the Punisher's New York in there!

This is one of the nicest "Black Spidey in Rain" commissions that I've seen Mike do.  Always happy to help fellow collectors find their dream Zeck piece!

Being a huge Punisher and X-Men fan... I really dig this.  Jim Lee isn't known for his colors, but this is awesome!  Right after the Zeck/Zimelman paintings for me!

How does Doom eat in that mask?

Like others - I remember seeing this on Byrne's wall years ago.  The inscription to John was in reference to the fact that Tom Palmer never received a single Neal Adams X-Men page back from Marvel with art returns.  So, it was kind of John to ask if Tom was OK with John owning the piece before getting it signed.  

Ironically, the artwork under the overlay is different than what got published in the final book.  I guess they made that adjustment after they had already returned the artwork to Zeck so they had someone else draw the artwork that was cut off.  

I used to have this poster on my wall when I was younger.  Forgot about it until now.

This piece was originally part of the "Calgary Collection" -  congrats!

Where do you find such wonderful toys?

That Gerhard!

Really great Zeck Cap splash.  If you had to own one... this is it!

That's very cool.  As a young wannabe artist, this book was an inspiration.  I'm assuming that Buscema later added the Surfer drawing to this.

FYI -  There are a few of these - X-Men heroes and villains.  Zeck and Sinnott had done these for some Marvel Licensing/Promo Presentation, but I don't believe they were ever published.  Too bad as they were very nice.  Some (like the Beast) were later colored by Steve Oliff. 

First time I've seen Mike do this one on a sketch cover.   Great idea!

Given that Hama would always draw the cover layouts for the G.I. Joe comics, I'm not sure why he never just finished one himself.  Glad you gave him a chance to show what a finished cover might look like!

You got a good one - gave this one up 15 years ago and miss it.  But, glad it's being enjoyed!  

Yes, Mike had told me that Chaykin had worked on some of the finishes with this piece like the hair detail.