The good old days (from 1990 catalog)

Artist: Jim Lee (Penciller)

11 Comments - 692 Views - 2 Likes

The good old days (from 1990 catalog) Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	The good old days (from 1990 catalog)
Artist:	Jim Lee (Penciller)
Media Type:	Photograph
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	692
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	11
Added to Site:	11/20/2020
Comic Art Archive:

Description

First, let me apologize in advance for the pain I am about to inflict on all of you. Especially if you are the current or former owner of any of these pieces. I figured since I have a near complete set of Mitch’s old mail order catalogs, it might be “fun” (if not masochistic) to take a stroll down memory lane. But take heart. For even though most (if not all) of these posts will be almost unbearable and cringe worthy to many of you, just remember that 20-30 years from now, these will be the “good old days” to some new collector just starting out.

I’ve gotten many wonderful compliments from the fine people of CAF about my collection/gallery. All giving me credit for being smart enough to buy all the pieces I bought way back when. Well, now I’m about to show you all what an absolute idiot I was. Keep in mind that many of the pieces that currently reside in my collection came from these very same catalogs. So the next time you want to call me a genius for all the pieces I did buy back then, just take a look at some of the rubbish I DIDN’T buy! In other words, this is the collection I COULD‘VE had. (Somebody shoot me now! LOL)

What is very interesting to note here is that during this 9-year span of catalogs (1984-1993), there is nothing here that is priced over (or anywhere near) $1000. Actually (with the exception of the Killing Joke page), nothing even breaks the $500 range. Absolutely incredible for pieces that could all easily be five figures (or more) today!

By the way, I’ve got dozens and dozens of these. So I’ll be posting them in chunks from time to time (to prolong the torture).

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About the Owner

	E DLS ( 3 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	March 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A E's Classifieds E's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About EDLS

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Comments on this Artwork

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Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006

Posted on 11/21/2020

This costs too much ! Theres some dubious foreshortening. Not his best cover.

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 11/21/2020

Peter Sullivan wrote:

This costs too much ! Theres some dubious foreshortening. Not his best cover.

Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, while the current owner sells it on Heritage for 5-figures. LOL! And don't even get me started on the kinds of offers I've been getting on MY Punisher War Journal cover.

Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006

Posted on 11/21/2020

E DLS wrote:

I am actually telling the truth! He did much better covers. I would have traded this or sold it years ago.

Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006

Posted on 11/21/2020

Peter Sullivan wrote:

I am actually telling the truth! He did much better covers. I would have traded this or sold it years ago.

I also left up my comment on what I think of your cover by Lee which is miles above this.

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 11/21/2020

Peter Sullivan wrote:

I am actually telling the truth! He did much better covers. I would have traded this or sold it years ago.

No, no! I totally agree that he did much better covers. Probably no one except the most diehard Punisher fan would take this over any of his X-Men covers. All I'm saying is that this is a cover with Punisher AND Spider-man by Jim Lee for $500 bucks. I don't think anyone is going to turn that down today because they don't like the foreshortening. It's like saying I didn't buy a particular cover because somebody's toe was pointing the wrong way. LOL

Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006

Posted on 11/22/2020

E DLS wrote:

I did not buy a cover from a story I loved (when I had the money ) because one of the characters hands was drawn in a freaky manner. The rest of the cover was superb. Overly fussy. Your cover is pretty damn good though.

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 11/22/2020

Peter Sullivan wrote:

When you're spending your hard earned cash, you can be as fussy as you want my friend. The point I was making is this. A Jim Lee X-men cover just sold on Heritage for 300k, and a Ghost Rider cover sold for 60k. I mean come on, it's Ghost Rider!!!!! So no matter what issues you may or may not have with this cover, all I'm saying is that if you bought this in 1990 for $500 bucks, the math would probably be working in your favor right now.

Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006

Posted on 11/23/2020

E DLS wrote:

If I had the cash in 1990, I would have been buying Dark Knight returns pages or Marvelman Garry Leach pages with some Ditko and Byrne. Sadly I did not know where to buy original artwork. Ireland in relation to comics, was a backwater. I believe there was only one big comic book shop in Dublin ( and even that was small. Lol.) at the time. 300k for a Jim Lee X-Men cover. Crazy expensive. I would buy a house instead.

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 11/23/2020

Peter Sullivan wrote:

The rule of thumb back then should be the same as it is today. Buy what you love. If you do that, then you won't be as concerned with how much (or how little) your pieces appreciate in value over time. Choosing art in hindsight is easy. Anyone can do that. Dark Knight pages, Killing Joke pages, Watchmen pages, Daredevil pages, Byrne X-Men or FF pages, Perez Titans covers, on and on. But playing the investment game is always a gamble, and it's only rewarding if you get it right. But if you buy for passion and enjoyment, there is no wrong or right. All you have to know is that you love it. The value of that will last a lifetime.

Thomas V
Member Since 2008

Posted on 5/5/2023

Jim Lee was asking big money for a new artist back in the day.

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 5/6/2023

Thomas V wrote:

Jim Lee was asking big money for a new artist back in the day.

Hmm, I would check with Mitch (who most likely would not remember anyway), but I'd bet this was not a Jim Lee asking price. My guess is that he bought this outright from Jim (at a much lower cost) and chose to resell it at $500 based on the popularity of the characters, not on Jim's name value at the time. Keep in mind that Ghost Rider, Punisher, and Wolverine, were the three hottest characters in comics during the 90's. Punisher, in fact, was so hot that this was already his second ongoing title (with even more to come later). Plus it had Spidey on it. Plus the fact that Jim had, by this time, already done his first fill-in issue on Uncanny X-Men #248 (but still before all the guys left to form Image). Given all that, and compared to some of the other pieces from this same catalog, I don't think this price is at all surprising.

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