an original art question

[Mikolaj]

I have a question for all you Mignola ar collectors out there. What does it indicate if a piece of art does look like original but it's not signed. I have a certain page on my mind and it really looks like original mike but it's not signed which made me think... (the page's from mike Ironwolf)

[parrish]

Its been my experience that original art on ebay or elsewhere is genuine 99.9% of the time, signed or not. Some people don't like to have their pages signed because it usually runs over the artwork (or so I am told)

It also seems like an Ironwolf page wouldn't be something that one would try to make a fake of because it wouldn't be worth the effort. So it is probably genuine.

Do you have a link to the site it is on?

[Neil Hill]

Yes, a piece that is signed may be worth more in the eyes of some collectors, but it really isn't any indication of anything other than authenticity.

Personally I like to get artwork signed by Mike if I purchase it directly from him. I mean, why not he's right there in front of you. I will also will sometimes get artwork personalized to me. That often time cements in my mind that I plan to hold onto that particular page for quite some time to come.

[chiaroscuros]

typically when one artist pencils a page and another inks it, the publishing company splits the art 2/3rds and 1/3 and mails it off to the respective artists when they are done with it. and the art can't be signed before it goes to the printer.

so 1/3 of most art (the inker's pile) isn't signed by the penciler unless it makes its way back to the artist at some con.

add in that most artists don't sign their art unless you ask them to... and you have a lot of unsigned art out there. if you think about it, the average penciler might do 200-300 pages a year. if he trys to sign everything before going to a con (trying to sell the art), he would be signing his name for hours. so it doesn't happen...

mignola is the exception in a lot of ways because he pencils and inks his own work exclusively and he signs and dates everything. but he only started doing this in the last 8 years. so anything by him before that has a good chance of being unsigned. of course, it only takes mike 15 minutes to sign everything he is selling in any particular year... :)

value wise, being unsigned doesn't hurts the price any. but if the artist has passed away, i think it might increase the value a little if it is signed (again, because the older art is even less likely to be signed). but i have never seen anyone pass up a page because it is unsigned.

the signature does add a little authentication, but so far this field has very few forgers. mostly "calvin and hobbes" and "peanuts" forgeries. if you see a sketch for either of these on ebay, there is a 90% chance that it is a forgery (maybe even higher). sadly, this will definately change as the prices for original comic art continue to rise....

hope this helps,
michael

p.s. if the art has been personalized "to neil" or "fred, i love you man", some people don't want it as much (unless their name happens to be neil or fred). but other people don't care. i have two pages in my collection personalized to other people and it has never stopped me from enjoying the art.

[Neil Hill]

p.s. if the art has been personalized "to neil" or "fred, i love you man", some people don't want it as much (unless their name happens to be neil or fred). but other people don't care. i have two pages in my collection personalized to other people and it has never stopped me from enjoying the art.

Are you talking about me again Michael! :D

[chiaroscuros]

i love you fred! ahem... i mean stygian... :)

[Mikolaj]

Thanks for all the insight!