In looking at this piece, it might be easily said that it was one of the smartest moves I ever made. But when one considers the circumstances and timing of it, it was probably also one of the dumbest. LOL!

When I came home from San Diego last summer, I was completely spent, in more ways than one! I had a few spare dollars in my pocket and probably not much more in my bank account. But not only did I splurge and use my very next paycheck on a birthday gift for myself, I entered into a time payment deal for what turned out to be the SECOND MOST EXPENSIVE piece of artwork (after the Jim Lee) that I’ve ever bought in all my years of collecting! All this amidst a time of economical uncertainly and questionable job security! Man, talk about a bonehead (not to mention ballsy) move! LOL!

Well obviously I finished paying the darn thing off, but I’ll tell ya, I was sweating the whole time! I have to of course thank my long time friend (and fellow CAF member, AND all around great guy) Jim Warden for trusting me to do this. Especially under the circumstances. I know he did it partly out of friendship, but it was still taking a risk nonetheless. THANKS BUDDY! You are one class act.

Anyway, the funny thing about this piece (at least in terms of its intimidating price tag) was that at the same time I was worrying about how much it was going to cost me, I saw one of JIM LEE’s Trinity triple covers selling for 35k!!!!! Yes, that’s right, THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!! When I saw THAT price tag, all of a sudden I felt a lot better about what I was paying! I guess it’s true what they say, it’s all about the perspective. LOL!

So here it is, my most recent (almost record setting) purchase! I think they are three of Pacheco’s strongest renderings of these iconic DC legends. And while Wonder Woman is probably my least favorite depiction, at least her “panel” of the cover depicts a direct interaction with the antagonist (i.e., villain), so that more than makes up for it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the series, the covers are being done in sets of three connecting images by three rotating artists (Carlos, Andy Kubert, and Jim Lee). I didn’t particularly care for any of the Kubert covers, and the Lee art is just WAY out of my price range (even if the economy wasn’t in the toilet)! The first set of Pacheco covers (issues 1, 2, 3) was a fairly standard portrait shot of the three, which I found a bit dull and not particularly well drawn (except for the Wonder Woman in issue #3 which rocks). For his third set of covers (issues 19, 20, 21), Carlos drew the characters as statues. But while they made for interesting images, I can’t imagine spending this kind of money for statues of Batman, Superman, and WW. In his fourth set (issues 28, 29, 30), the big three weren’t even in them at all. So all things considered, I think I probably got the best set for the money (if not the best set period). To anyone lucky enough to be able to afford any of the Jim Lee covers, congratulations! They are awesome!

About this scan. Obviously, when you put the three covers together, it makes for a pretty big image (about 17x34). And as many of you know, I only have a standard letter size scanner. So what you’re looking at here is a result of my photocopying each cover at 50%, then connecting the three and copying that piece at 60% (to fit my scanner), and then scanning that at 200%. Whew! And after all that, the scan STILL doesn’t do the piece justice! LOL!

Anyway, my thanks yet again to Jim Warden for this spectacular piece. I’ve known Jim for, I guess, around 15 years now. When we met, his wife was still pregnant with his first child, and now he has two! We’ve also both lost a parent to cancer, strangely enough both around Easter (of different years). His beloved mother was diagnosed terminal 2 days after Easter (1992) and my dad passed away also 2 days after Easter (2008). Over the course of our friendship, I’ve been lucky enough to acquire some truly stellar pieces of art from Jim. He really has played a big part in helping to make my collection what it is today. And don’t think I’m not aware of that fact every single time I get a complement about my collection/gallery. So THANKS JIM! Not just for THIS piece, but also for every single piece you’ve trusted me with over the last 15 years! Couldn’t have done it without ya pal.

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