Gallery Comments by Reuben Ruppert

Owner:

Thanks brother, it was a fun time for comic art lovers . 

Owner:

Couldn't agree more Marcus, those guys had a rough time learning the business end of things. Which is something they each admit to in the later years 

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Alex Gonzalez

Wow Amazing commission. I’m not really a fan of commissions in general, but this one is undeniably exceptional! Congrats, it’s a beautiful piece my friend. 🙌🏼

Owner:

Exactly, I saw this and was honestly shocked at how dark the material and the imagery played out. The story is unusually dark but interesting for a 90's Spidey book. And the pencils and inks remind me so much of Gene Colan's work on TOD. It was reasonably priced, I'm glad I was able to secure it. Thanks again my friend 🙏🏼

Owner:

Thanks brotha, I really enjoyed the layout of the page. I'm trying to capture the various concepts of Spidey throughtout the 90's , that's my goal. Didn't want to leave Bob McLeod out of that. He's technically an 80's Spidey artist, but his work still has meaning to me. 

Owner:

Thanks Marcus! Ya I thought the exact same thing. I actually bought the other Batwing piece first, and when this came up I thought it would be a great piece to tie into the other. Different artists but same work conceptually. And also a cheap way to gain McLeod Spidey work. You nailed it! 

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Thank you brotha! I appreciate that. As you know, title page splashes by Romita Jr don't come up very often. I was quite fortunate 

Owner:

Thanks,

I'm choosing to only see the first six words in your comment. Haha... 🤔

All the best! 

Owner:

Rabid Ferret

Wow... This piece is just so incredible to me. It's from the first comic I ever purchased. And this page in particular stands out to me. It's prob the page that captivated me as a fan all those years ago. 😢👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Owner:

Thanks brother. Haha, I have to agree. He has a way of taking mediocre images and makes them look interesting.

Owner:

You've done your research. That's exactly why I pulled the trigger on this one. I wanted a splash Bagley Spidey to replace one I traded a year ago. But they're tough. And this one happened to be a title splash in costume, it was a no brainer for me.

Owner:

Absolutely! I loved this page when I read it, and I did everything I could to get it when it came up for auction. Of my pieces, this is by far the one that gets asked about the most. The detail work is insane to me.

Owner:

I didn't know that. That's interesting

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I agree, his GR really seems to pop. He does flaming skills very well. Lol

Owner:

Thanks brother. Your collection is epic! 

Owner:

Excellent observation Marcus! I appreciate your astute comments, your absolutely right! John Romita Jr and Scott Hanna always make quite the team. It's early in John's definitive run, soon after he first changed his style. 

Owner:

Thanks Marcus! You ain't kidding. There's never more than 2-3 pieces from ASM at any given time. 

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Thanks, it's my socond page... Traded the other one, regrettably ; but this one's here to stay! Love your stuff

Owner:

Well put my friend. 👍🏽

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🤯 epic!!!

Owner:

Thank you so much. Haha, honestly I went back and forth on this piece so many times myself! I used to have a nice Bagley ASM splash page up to last year, but traded it with several other pieces; to upgrade my AF15. I've been regretting it ever since. Then this page was finally purchased. No regrets here at all. Lol, I love the 90's comic art heroes. 

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Thanks friend, I'm elated to have a nice Bagley page in the gallery. Wasn't sure I'd get one again. Lol 

Owner:

Hahaha, that's a good point. I guess Larry Hama was having some fun in this scene, a bit of tongue and cheek to break the tension. I absolutely loved Hama's dialog in this issue BTW. 

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Absolutely stunning...

Owner:

Wow... Very grail 

Owner:

Man I just bought a Liefeld with Sibal inks over it, and it's amazing. I love this piece, I think you have a real gem on your hands and a wonderful example of great ink work over solid pencils by Liefeld. Truly one of his best works if you ask me. Great find! 

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Thanks Paul, I completely agree. Don't really know why he's not more active these days. I feel he's a  bit underrated  

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Albert Moy

An incredible piece, what would a page like this go for? I love it! Let me know if your ever interested in selling...thanks for sharing.

Owner:

Ok I'll just say it... I'm soooo jealous! Congrats on finding this one, cause if I found it first it'd be mine! Haha... thanks for sharing.

Owner:

Great piece Jon, congrats again! That's one more McSpidey we can scratch off the auction block! Not too many left...

Owner:

Great piece Jon, congrats again! That's one more McSpidey we can scratch off the auction block! Not too many left...

Owner:

Amazing...do you do commission work?

Owner:

Hahaha, I know exactly what you mean Mark! I thought I was going to capture this page for under 4. Then the page shot up at the last minute...literally. But I have no regrets. This is about as close as I'm ever gonna get to owning a McFarlane Venom page. Good times.

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Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy with it. Honestly I never thought I'd ever own any pages that even mentioned Venom. So this really is a dream addition.

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Thanks Jason, you know just how amazing this issue is as a whole! This page isn't nearly as iconic as page 3, ehem, but it's still a cool pic I think. Haha

Owner:

Thanks man... he really is an awesome artist. His over the top style is perfect for the Hulk. It's like Bart Sears and Dale Keown had a love child! Haha

Owner:

Thanks Jason, to be honest I never thought I'd have an opportunity to meet "the Man" , let alone pose with him and his artwork. I can say this, Todd is a legitimately nice guy. I'm sure your turn is just around the corner, good luck and great art!

Owner:

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. Ya, I was thankful Justin parted with this one too, believe me! Now I can say I own a McFarlane from his Amazing and Spidey solo series. Not to mention the Hulk. I'm humbled by the opportunities.

Owner:

Couldn't agree with you more. And between McFarlane, Lee, Williams, and Keown... 91' - 92' experienced some of the greatest detail work and visionary expressionism in comic history.

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Thanks again Mike. Thanks Patrick. This is one of my favorite Venom pieces, I love it.

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Thanks again Jason, I agree totally with your statement. Although I don't really remember the story arc in this 2-parter. Guess I'm gonna have to revisit these issues.

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Thanks Eric, I actually purchased this commission from the original owner. I was lucky to find it.

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Thanks Jovi, I can't agree more. At this time in his career, McFarlane was making use of a lot of negative space to save time and apply a more stylized effect.

Owner:

Thanks Matt, I got this piece for a pretty good price almost a year ago, to be honest, it's one of my first pieces of original art. I was instantly hooked!

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I agree "T", it's a shame McGuinness left to do other projects.

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Thanks Michael, I'm lucky to own it.

Owner:

Good eyes "J"!!! For those of you unfamiliar with J. Sid's reference... Todd used to place a "Felix the Cat" image in select pages of many issues in his Marvel Comics career. This was done to attract the interest of a neighbor with an affinity for Felix the Cat, and thus agreed to purchase issue's of Todd's books if Todd agreed to place Felix in each book. Where's Felix? Check out the left hand side of the first panel.