“You can buy this now, or regret it for the rest of your lives,” ~ the Winter Soldier. 

Well I might have been able to distinguish Bisley from O’Neill if I had seen a full page of comic art but to do it from two head sketches small enough to fit on a button/badge requires an expert’s eye, and you have the evidence to back it up, so hats off to you. I am glad you won the auction as you are obviously a squaxx dek Thargo. As for the Mark Cox query – at least you pointed me in the right direction by describing him as “Titan editor” because there are a lot of “Mark Cox”es out there on the internet, so for that florix grabundae.

Thank you for posting this as it is always nice to put a face to the name, and finishes, of one of my favourite artists known primarily for their inking, and I rank Bruce D right up there with Giordano, Austin, Adkins, Janson. I totally understand why he more or less quit comics in the 1990s; Superman would feel burnt out after inking an extended run of comics drawn by George Pérez, which was surely one of the toughest jobs in the industry.

Yeah, was wondering who the artist on this was and now that you mention it it does look like Cam Kennedy circa Outcasts. You certainly know your 2000AD, earthlet. 

Class, absolute class. Congrats on a smart pickup. 

Wowza! Meta-indeed. And to think I never realised that that was Xaime in the mirror. Duh. Thank you for sharing this memorable piece of alternative comics history.

Those last two sentences made me laugh out loud. "It's funny 'cause it's true."

That is excellent detective work to identify, from the verso, the true artist behind these headshots because they were attributed to someone else. I was one of the underbidders, way down the list, for this lot but mainly for the Ezquerra. Can you tell me anything about Mark Cox because he seems to have had (or has) a very eclectic taste in comic art? Is he the "American-based British print designer and art director" that comes up when you Google his name and do you know why he has sold so much of his OA?

By the look of it he is the second most high-profile fan of The Elementals. Bill is number one, of course. 

What a pair of pages! Aside from Terry Austin, no one inked Byrne better than Rubinstein; he was on a par with Byrne himself or even better. The Stern/Byrne run is possibly my favourite iteration of Cap, and it is always a treat to see pages from it on CAF. "Look and learn with Stern and Byrne," as someone in the lettercolumn of the time wrote. Yes, indeed. Thank you for posting this fantastic two-page sequence. 

Wow! And just look at the condition ~ perfect. 

Sorry, Shaun, I just realised that I should stress that my comment was not a dig at you – one of the truisms of the internet is that if whatever you write can be misinterpreted so that someone can feel offended then sometimes they will be, and they will then feel they have the right to verbally abuse you (this has happened to me only twice, which I suppose is not too bad for three decades+ being online). I would love to have as luxuriant a head of hair as you do, you silver fox, you.

That is the only picture I have ever seen where Art has hair.

Hair on the head of men is over-rated. It is high-maintenance. 

Thank you for posting this terrific photo of one of my literary heroes. In an interview he himself admitted that he “did not always hit the long ball,” but when he did, man, what a story it was, and he worked with almost all the great artists of his era too. I have always wondered what his level of input was editing/co-editing the three most important – some might say greatest – Batman stories of all time: DKR, Year One and Killing Joke. The safest pair of hands in the industry.

Yep, John was a giant of the comics industry. In spite of the stern demeanour he seemed to put on whilst posing for photos, he was a really friendly guy. I “liked” your fantastic Silver Surfer page some time ago but I should add that your description is like poetry. Thank for your kind words.

I don't recall seeing Gilbert Shelton at the convention but it is highly likely he was there to contribute to the jam page, so, yes, the Fat Freddy's Cat was an original drawing. As explained below, this is one of twelve plates that made up a UKCAC ’86 portfolio that was organised with con guest attendees and also sold over that weekend to benefit famine relief in Africa. In my opinion this is one of the three best plates. The other two being the Frank Miller solo effort of a cartoony The Dark Knight, and the John Bolton/Brian Bolland jam page which I have just uploaded as an additional picture on my Brian Bolland/Red Hood page. I think all the pages were auctioned off for charity in the last event of the con. I did not bid on or win any of these portfolio plates, or even remember how much each one sold for.

This is actually a plate from the UKCAC 1986 portfolio which was made up of twelve A4-size pieces of paper. I think sheets of paper were passed around and (apart from the Frank Miller contribution) two or more artists jammed on a page over the weekend and the results were published in time for the portfolio, housed in a plain brown A4-size envelope, to be sold on the Sunday in aid of famine relief in Africa. So, yes, Gilbert, Barry and Dave did the drawings, I would guess, around about the same time that weekend of the con.

Always welcome to see the "workings out", the careful planning that went  into each page. Every page of the 10-issue run is seared into my brain but it is always convenient to see the published page directly below as well. Thank you. 

I read the news today that David Byrd has passed away. His colour work was astonishing but to have even something like this is a rare treasure (and that's coming from someone who preferred the Beatles).Congrats. 

Thank you, Rick, for your message because that clears up for certain what I have as it too is 8.5 inches by 11 inches. I have the original hand-colouring of a print of the original art for the back cover of Journey 5. As it has been five years since I got it I have missed my opportunity to take this up with eBay or the seller even if I had his eBay id (and I don’t) and it could be said it was the original art for the back cover anyway. Another big clue I should have seen was that it was relatively cheap at €170. If it too good to be true then it is. I won’t be chasing down the original line art version. As for your version of the cover for Journey 1 – I think if you were to ask any CAF member which they would prefer between a page of Frank Miller’s OA for Dark Knight Returns or a page of Lynn Varley’s colour art (“not a colour guide”) for the same page then the answer would be unanimously the former, but I can see why you would like to reunite the two (assuming the colour version exists) so all I can add is, as the saying goes, “I hope you find what you’re looking for”.

Hi, guys, I wonder if this helps – back in 2020 I bought the full colour back cover of Journey 5 off eBay from someone in Germany (I have not posted it on CAF yet). I am pretty sure it is the original used for the back cover as the colour application matches and there is bleed-through on the reverse of the page. A couple of years later someone else on eBay posted the black and white line art for the back cover of Journey 5, and it is still on the site as of this writing. It looks identical but the signature on that drawing does not match the signature on the printed back cover. I do not think that is a forgery, but it is possible that mine is a photocopy of the original which has had colour added to it (can’t distinguish if the black on mine is toner or India ink). So it may be that both versions were unsigned until the end, and my colour version was used to print the back cover from but it is not the original line art. So there are two “originals”. It might be the same with the back cover(s) of issue 1 of Journey, as well as other covers on that title. I think Tim Bradstreet had a similar method because Mark, TB’s rep, would sometimes have two versions of Hellblazer covers on his Splashpageart.com site at the same time; one of the black and white line art and one of the colour version. The way to get a definitive answer would be to ask Bill Messner-Loebs himself who I think can be contacted via his website – bloebs.com – and also Clifford Meth who is organising Bill’s GoFundMe campaign has a link to Bill’s facebook page in the write-up to Bill’s second campaign (a second campaign was started because a bug in the first one was preventing people from donating). On a separate note: I did think that there was one thing missing from your superlative Journey gallery, Rick, and that was a page which features both MacAlistaire and Craft. You have completed the puzzle with a missing piece. Thank for sharing that; it is always nice to see a page featuring the mismatched pair.

Two of the coolest signatures in comicdom. Two of the coolest dudes in comicdom, too. What Dan Clowes might call "Ink Studs".  I am really enjoying these vintage photos you are posting but this double-signed, personalised one is extra-special. 

Cracking page, or you might even say Krackling page. 

Wow, too cool. Did you know that before Moore fell out with DC over the rights to Watchmen, he and Gibbons were planning a prequel to that title called ... Minutemen?

Now that you mention it, the page does seem to be a sort of dry run for that classic Wolverine mini-series with Chris Claremont. Well spotted.

Wow, thank you for your long, thought-provoking but about all very very wise comments. There is certainly a lot to digest in what you write. And there was I getting the page because it just looked nice but it must have been working on me on a subconscious level. From what you say you are as recognised in your local community as you are on CAF and this together with your training would mean only a fool would dare tangle with you. You have some very good, sensible advice which I will need to take on board. As far as the Byrne page for which you have had zero enquiries – I don’t think anyone who read comics in the late 1970s onwards would not desire that page but they would have to have trousers with pockets as deep as the Mariana Trench before they could get anywhere close to what you value it at. You have given me a lot of food for thought. Thank you.

I like the cut of your jib, sir; we are singing from the same hymn sheet and I do hope to upload everything of merit in my collection onto CAF in due course; the only obstacles hampering this are my laziness and decrepitude. It may be some indication of the calibre of my collection that I have only ever had two purchase enquiries: the first Miller page and the Marshall Law sketch so those will be the first to go to postpone those pesky bailiffs if that should ever occur.

I think there is a name for those types of people. Sadly, and worryingly, there are quite a few of them about at the moment, although perhaps slightly less now than there were at the end of last year.

That’s practically a haiku. Thank you.

High praise indeed from one of CAF’s highest-profile Miller/Janson fans. Thank you.

Thank you for your appreciation. I really enjoyed your IC3 interview and by far the most interesting section was the third segment.

Thank you for your comment. Of course all the best people have the surname “Miller” don’t-you-know?

What a wonderful precious memory-filled account. It absolutely nails it in articulating what a difference it can make having an inspirational teacher. I can definitely relate to your history with your art teacher. Mine was called Mr Brown. Because of all my formal education I am sure he was disappointed that I never “made it” in the world of art and design, but he never showed it, and whenever we met he was always “bigging me up” and encouraging me. He lost his wife of over five decades in recent years but he puts a brave face on, which is the British way. I was half expecting your reminiscence to have a sad ending but was greatly relieved that it did not. You do realise that you are going to have to call Mr Miller up and ask him how he is in the next week or so? I am sure he would appreciate it.

Until the Felix podcast with David Choe I had never even heard of Megg and Mogg (I think I mistook them for the much more all ages-duo Meg and Mog); talk about being late to the party. But I am catching up and their escapades have prompted the most snorting laughter from me for many years. You have a choice collection of Hanselmann originals and this is just another peach. I am glad you decided to upload this – it is very nice to look at. Truly thank you for sharing!

Like many BWS fans I was tracking this as soon as it popped up on Heritage two Thursdays ago when there was only an "image coming soon" placeholder on it. However the direction the price was going was way beyond my comfort zone at the moment. There are no bad BWS pieces from 1985-86 onwards when he came back into comics and this is a small gem which acts as a taster for that terrific issue of Marvel Fanfare he did. That was a fine write-up of the drawing's journey and final destination. Thank you for sharing that ~ patience pays off ~ and of course for sharing this lovely little portrait. 

What a coup! This brings back happy memories as it was my first comic convention. Although the King had a presence in the programme he pulled out of attending the con and rumour has it that it was because of the escalating tension between the US and Libya in the mid-1980s which was making it increasingly dangerous for US citizens to travel to Europe especially by air. Being responsible for me and countless other British comics fans missing the opportunity to meet arguably comics’ greatest creator is one of Colonel Gadaffi’s lesser crimes in comparison to some of the other atrocities he committed. Before anyone makes any judgments about Jack Kirby not coming to the UK convention I should add that about the same time screen tough guy Sly Stallone allegedly also cancelled a European visit to promote, I think, Cobra. Given the choice of which of the two celebrities I would have preferred to have met is a no contest. It would not have been President Trump’s “Special Ambassador”. Thank you for sharing.

Worth going to jail for.

Freaking fantastic. As good as if not better than the iconic original. Thank you for sharing. 

Not just any copy of the comic but a copy signed by comics great Steve Englehart who also seems like a heckuva nice guy (check out the latest ish of Comic Book Creator). His entertaining run on JLA was always overshadowed by his much-celebrated work with Marshall Rogers on Detective. Just like Dick Dillin was always working to some extent in the shadow of George Pérez who I think was drawing The Avengers (Marvel's JLA equivalent) at the same time and then took over from Dillin on the then-annual JLA/JSA crossover when Dillin died one issue in. I always thought Dick Dillin was a cut above the standard DC artist at the time and this cover is a fantastic example of his work, featuring the big three and the Red Tornado.

On his side of the table, too. Man, does it get any better? You lucky man. 

Thank you for your advice if I ever come across an artist who wants to ink and colour a piece pencilled by someone else. Your double-signed GL page is fantastic and the cherry on the top is the selfie with Mike – priceless. Glad to hear he can see the funny side of that Warlord story – I am not familiar with that story or the issue – as I assume the hilarity was experienced by you and him as he related it. As Kasra said of Coletta on a CAF YouTube video, I try not to speak ill of the dead. However, I do not have any Vince Coletta in my collection and I do not think I ever will.

Thank you for your comment. I will have to dig out my old copies of Amazing Heroes and check out Bruce D’s solo works. I would guess anyone tasked with inking George Pérez on an extended run of comics deserves to have good lie down afterwards.

Once again you are as right as rain. Neal Adams was a gigantic figure in comics and he was a line in the sand: comics before and after, and everyone after would have been influenced by him; some more than others, some in different ways from others.

Lovely, but is there any subtext for you posting this now, Bill? Do not answer that. 

No Criminal upload would be complete without a comment from CAF’s number 1 Teeg Lawless/Criminal/Brubaker-Phillips devotee. Thank you.

I suppose that expertise comes from being in the industry for, at that point, four decades.

Seems so obvious now that you mention it, but the reference escaped me until you pointed it out. Thank you for the observation.

Well, I did not know Bruce D was also at First. That makes me want to dig out my copies of Starslayer and Jon Sable which were “must buys” back in the day. You have one of the two best Mike Grell galleries on CAF; to use a term a letterhack used in a letter column – it is “Grelltastic”.

Thank you for your kind words.

As ever, Eric, an eloquent tribute to a colossal talent. A fine early effort and rarely-seen film is Scarecrow which me and my schoolfriends enjoyed and talked about when it was broadcast  for the only time, as far as I can remember, on UK television about 45 years ago. "Bullseye!" And Daggson at last year's Lakes Comic Art Festival reminded attendees that Gene had one of the coolest laughs anyone could ever have.