above: Régis Loisel
An exhibit of original European comic art in New York City gives Forbes a reason to look at the collectors market for original comic art.
Philippe Labaune, founder of Art9, has a few ideas explaining why American collectors are getting into original comics art right now.
“The American collector is moving steadily towards the collection of original art,” Labaune told me over email. “The shift in collecting comic-based art can be attributed to four factors.”
Forbes contributor Adam Rowe and Labaune list the reasons why.
I was somewhat amazed with one cause that was bypassed. As with pre-20th Century comic art, post-20th Century comic art is becoming rare. And the Wacom, and its like, is the reason. Soon cartoonists favoring the digital age will completely replace those still hanging on to the old pencil and ink method. Original art sources of comic art are becoming exceptions, not the standard.
above: The Phantom by Tony DePaul and Jeff Wiegel
On the left – digitally drawn(?); on the right – hand drawn
Jeff draws the Sundays with an active image area of 13.3″ x 19.19 wide, or about DOUBLE the size of a standard bronze age comic book original (or a 1990s Sy Barry original). When you purchase a PHANTOM original from Jeff, he also includes his original thumbnail layout, the pencil art and a printout of the full-color Sunday strip. A lot of Weigel’s PHANTOM Sundays are drawn digitally, but when the art is hand drawn on Strathmore, he indicates that it’s for sale by adding an asterisk after his signature.