THE RETURN OF DUCKTALES

SAMPLING CHRISTIE'S NEXT AUCTION



As part of their auction of Franco-Belgian comic artwork on March 14th in Paris, the Christie's location at Rockefeller Center, New York City is hosting a small sampling of the artwork this week. I visited it on Saturday during their gallery opening.

WHERE KIRBY ISN'T KING



The auction also shows the different valuation of American art versus European art. There is a Jack Kirby page in the auction. It's a solid panel page from "The Fantastic Four," with Thing, Reed Richards, and Silver Surfer featured prominently. It's expected to go for around $8,000.

The Peyo Smurfs page that's up for auction is listed at over $25,000.

That's still nothing.

Juanjo Guarnido's "Blacksad" painting is at $50,000. (I love Guarnido's stuff, but there's no way I'd pay twice as much for it over an original "Smurfs" page drawn by Peyo's studio.)

Now, let's take a quantum leap forward: An Albert Uderzo page of "Asterix" art which has been contributed to raise money for the families of those killed in the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks (for which Christie's is forgoing its fees) sits at $300,000.

But, wait! There's a Tintin catalog. Yes, it's a separate catalog for 11 pieces of art, packed into a 50 page catalog. There's a pencils-only rough of a Tintin page in it that'll run you close to $90,000, assuming you don't get caught up in a bidding war with another interested party next Saturday.

There's a second penciled page that's far tighter that starts at over $300,000.

SCENE FROM AN AUCTION HOUSE



We stood in front of a page of Peyo's original "Smurfs" art from 1970. I couldn't take my eyes off it, with its lively small creatures prancing across the page, speaking in French and gesturing in a very animated style.

"How often do you get to stand so close to actual Smurfs art?" I asked my six year old daughter, the thrill in my voice.

She looked at me like I said something completely stupid.

"Every day, Dad. You always draw Smurfs."

I hugged her and we moved along.

I came back to the Smurfs page later just to stare at it, though. I tried to find Peyo's pencil lines. Couldn't do it. Saw a couple of White Out dots, but that was about it.

Between that and the Uderzo "Asterix" page, I melted that afternoon.

PODCAST-A-PALOOZA

Some podcasts I listened to in the last week:

  • Mitch Breitweiser appeared on the "Sidebar" podcast back in May 2014, but I just got to listening to it last week. It's an interesting walk through his career, creative process, and future in comics.
  • Also on "Sidebar," a couple of weeks back, artist (and NJ native!) Wilfredo Torres talks about his history in comics in a fun hour long romp.
  • This one comes with a warning for adult language. This is one you won't listen to at the office or in front of the kids. It's one that's sure to tick off a great many people. (I'd say it needs Trigger Warnings written all over it, but that would miss half the point of the show...) But I like strong opinions firmly held, so this rant against Millenials on "Man vs. Art" is a performance art piece worth listening to. Again, it's sure to offend a number of people, but I think it's an interesting perspective. I don't agree with all of it, but there's enough here to recommend it. The last half hour veers off into the kinds of people who post on Facebook, which is also very funny and terribly true.
  • Not directly comics-related: The Rotoscopers podcast takes a look back at the movie that won the first Animated Best Picture Oscar: "Shrek." Makes me want to go back and watch it again. The podcast did its job.

One quick programming note: The "All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder" Epic Re-Read will continue next week.

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