Death Dealin’ & Greatest Comic Book Cover Ever?

The title of the thread can of course trip millions of different replies, none of which can be proven true or false by any means humanity has come up with, though I’m sure the fact won’t sway some from trying.  It (the title) is — minus the question mark — a  statement that I have seen most attached to a cover that was involved in a real interesting sale that went down last month. A piece by the legendary Frank Frazetta, it sold to Jim Halperin (the co-founder of Heritage) for $380,000.

It’s really not just ‘a’ piece. In terms of comic book output, for many it is the Frazetta item. Several things came to mind when I saw the press release of the sale and some of the reaction to it at various spots on the web.

Trickle Down Econcomics…

My first reaction to the sale was that it was a bargain. This scared me a bit when the  realization that my initial thought is based on and only exists in a post-7 figure Action Comics#1 and Detective Comics#27 world. I will openly admit that I’m not so sure  just how real that world is, yet those numbers still directly impacted and enabled what is a rather expensive thought. The possible trickle down ramifications is something collectors and commentators — random or informed — of all eras need to be wary of; as even when we aren’t the ones making purchases, what we say and share in a digital and (unfiltered) information consuming world can prove to be more damaging in our recklessness. The truth in all of this is that the price realized for the Weird Science-Fantasy cover is almost twice as much as the (known) next highest ever price realized for a single American comic book cover (previously a honor held by the great Wally Wood, for another EC cover). Sure, there is  the easy enough task of finding justification,  pointing to the $1 million collected for Frazetta’s Berserker, a painting not truly even considered among the most iconic in the Frazetta catalog. There is also the what I would call fact that his Death Dealer, The Egyptian Queen, and Conans would surpass that figure substantially, but those are paintings, a medium that at the highest levels (where Frazetta resides in comics and genre circles) regularly achieves much higher prices than line work, not to mention (hate to kick comic fans in the nuts) it’s the medium that garnered Frazetta his legendary status. I know that huge numbers get thrown around regularly, and in my view, too easily so, but the fact is that $380k is an incredibly large, but more importantly (for me) a completely believable and real figure.

It, however, also takes me to this place where I’m not so sure I’m comfortable. Frazetta’s stature is unassailable, and if you look at this comic work, you exposure yourself to what can only be described as amazing imagery and energy but when I — a lifelong comic collector — consider the work of Frazetta, comics are not what come to mind. When pondering Frazetta, he is much more, perhaps enough to say exclusively so, a figure I correlate with my enthusiasm with novel/book collecting. So I thought. As I write this, that was the ‘truth’ of it, but even that status is quite groundless after just the most preliminary motions of self-scrutiny. The subject of the lack of iconic book covers will be a future article here at G-Mash (I’ve been working on it, just not pleased with it), and though Death Dealer technically doesn’t refute that sentiment, it’s still somehow a painting/image that was and remains — even to me — the very definition of iconic to any fan of Fantasy or Science Fiction. The painting itself almost screams: I’ll wait here until while you respect me, bitch. More interesting to me is my belief that I’m not alone, and that most people who feel the same or are even aware of the image tangentially, don’t even know why it holds that place. The truth is that I’ve read no stories containing Death Dealer, recall no film or TV series with him in it, and I certainly don’t listen to Molly Hatchet. Death Dealer graces no  cover of any book I have any attachment to, yet it’s unequivocally the single banner I’d attribute to represent fantastic fiction in general if asked. Back to the cover in question, let’s throw out some facts:

• This is the only EC cover done only by Frazetta
• There are only 42 comic book covers of any kind by Frazetta (not all of which have known original art that still exist)

It’s not at all difficult for me to believe that what could be viewed as the quintessential gem to several niche segments, be it to general  comic book or SF fans, EC diehards, Frazetta enthusiasts, or even existing as the ultimate oddball Buck Rogers item, could reach such heights. While the ultimate price may in the future prove to be a bargain, I find myself satisfied that a near 100% increase in ceiling has been established, and would rather feel and extend/shared excitement for the occasion, and not spread disappointment that our hobby hasn’t yet supported  a half-million dollar page. Frankly (no pun intended), I thought it was incredulous that a Miller Daredevil cover recently achieved six figures.

Originally conceived as a Buck Rogers cover for Famous Funnies, and drawn in 1954, Eastern Color deemed this cover too violent for the new comics code, and thus it was never published by them. Instead Bill Gaines’ EC Comics used it in 1955, but in a slightly altered form – helmet replaced by blond hair, and one of the attackers given more hair. It also holds the distinction of being the only EC cover that Gaines agreed to buy the rights to without owning the original art.

I appreciate the enthusiasm such a piece elicits, but most of all such a sale reminds me how vast our hobby is. Here I am, a dabbler in comic, original art, and speculative fiction as a whole, but excluding Death Dealer, Frazetta’s art doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot to me on any personal level. For my own purposes I collect Frazetta comics like I do Wally Wood, Al Williamson, Alex Schomburg, Jack Kamen, Johnny Craig, LB Cole, Reed Crandall, Matt Baker, or a Jack Davis — with absolute awe, but from afar even when in my short box. Even as a Conan fan, I’ve always hoarded more issues of Weird Tales (some with lovely Margaret Brundage covers) than I did novels donning Frazetta covers. While the high end (and I’d wager older fans) would scoff at the very notion, if I had to list 100 covers that I had to keep (i.e. not purchase as investments or for uber nerd-stature) over it, I could easily do so, and more blasphemously, I could do so even if limited in era to pluck from, say from 1980 on. I found out a long time ago that I’m not an art for art sake’s collector, I’m more of an era specific self-nostalgia indulgent whose interests spans multiple mediums and media. When these examples happen to be works by widely acknowledged masters,  it’s actually a damn annoyance, raising my bottom line for reasons that have very little to do with my desire to possess them in the first place. Unfortunately, my era of interest was dominated by artists that while frequently victims of negative remarks, still have among the most expensive art among their contemporaries. Chances are I won’t ever have covers from a ’90s Jim Lee X-Men, McFarlane’s Amazing Spider-Man (#309 is a personal favorite), or Sam Kieth’s Maxx (the latter because they are never for sale — still kicking myself for missing out on the Darker Image #1 cover!). While G.I. Joe covers are much more likely (and I’d say probable), none that I ever especially coveted have hit the market at a rate I deemed fair market value at the time (I do have several pages). While some will take every opportunity to slam anyone who feels connected to an X-Force#1,  Sword of Azrael, or Deathmate cover, these are among (to me) the covers that best represent my own Golden Age of comic book collecting loving. Some like unapproved Buck Rogers rushin’ fools (it is badass), others like a cover by another famous Conan artist featuring a host of characters all flanking a front and center robot fighter, all below a banner that I wish more of the comic community found themselves under.

I dig the shit out of both, but only one matters to me.

Looking back, this posted ended up merely being an extended prologue to a future post on iconic SF/F book covers, but as a footnote, I saw that Steve Fishler, the co-owner of Metropolis Comics, states that he was offered the Weird Science-Fantasy#29 cover three days after the death of Frazetta. I would also point to where one can view portions  of both Fishler’s and Halperin’s extremely enviable comic book original art collections.

Do you have a favorite cover?

Note: This post was written before this week’s San Diego Comic Con, where another Frazetta painting, his Conan the Destroyer (pictured below–click to enlarge), has sold for $1.5 million.

Here is the press release:

Iconic Frank Frazetta painting sells for record $1.5 Million in private sale


July 21, 2010, San Diego, CA: A collector of Frank Frazetta art paid $1,500,000 for the original oil painting of the 1971 Frazetta work titled “Conan the Destroyer”, in a transaction brokered by Robert Pistella and Stephen Ferzoco of Frazetta Management Corporation. The painting was previously owned by Frazetta Properties, LLC. 

”The sale represents the highest price paid for a work by the most renowned fantasy and illustration artist of 20th century,” said Pistella and Ferzoco. “Frank’s Conan pieces are among the most admired paintings in his body of work. Both the private collector and the Frazetta Family are very pleased, and we know that Ellie and Frank would be too.”

How pimp is that?