Ebay Auction... Fake or Legit?

[Nick W]

I don't know why, but something about this just seems a little off. It might be a bad scan, but the blacks just don't look right. Or maybe Mike used a sharpie. Anyway, what do ya'll think.

Click here. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250219020755)

N

[Mikolaj]

It does feel a bit fakeish... The colors seem to be a bit too... solidly distributed? What ultimately makes me think of this one as a fake, is the way the tail is inked an how it looks. I don't believe that with Mike's perectionism he would let it be undistingushed from the backgorund [I mean someone who doesn't know HB, looking at this piece, might just thing it's a stream of a mist or something...].

[Ivar_L]

I think it's real. Rhythm of the lines looks familiar (like on those cloud lines bottom left), it's very hard to fake this... Signature looks real too. And, I think it could be risky for a faker to draw details like this negative space tail...
Some time ago I made a collage image of Hellboys through the years (93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07). Shadows and details on this Ebay image look very much like 1999 Hellboy. Or 2001 H from the first sketchbook's cover.
I don't think it's one of the best Hellboy pin-ups, 99-01 is my least favourite Hellboy period stylistically. But if this is a fake, it's a very good fake. And I don't think it is.

[parrish]

Seems real to me, too. The lines, etc. might look a little off because it looks like it was scanned in black and white instead of color or grayscale.

[Kelly Tindall]

Looks okay to me. Normally, a fake screams I AM A FAKE REPORT ME but I really had to examine this one. Plus, the guy knows the lingo.

[Ivar_L]

Maybe it's not the best thread to post, but here's new version of this Hellboy through the years image I mentioned. I found some new images and made some changes, so it's better than the old version I posted here some time ago. ImageShack is very slow, but I finally managed to upload it -

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9085/hellboythroughtheyearsvwe1.th.jpg (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hellboythroughtheyearsvwe1.jpg)

Link:
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9085/hellboythroughtheyearsvwe1.jpg

[hellboyone]

Looks real. Although I don't know why one would post such a crap scan when one expects a top-dollar outcome.

[Ken O]

That looks nothing like ebay. The colors are a few shades off, the letters are staggered incorrectly, and they spelled paypal wrong. Sloppy, sloppy scam site ripping off ebay. The picture may be legit but that website isn't!!

:D

[Andy Robbins]

I don't know why, but something about this just seems a little off. It might be a bad scan, but the blacks just don't look right. Or maybe Mike used a sharpie. Anyway, what do ya'll think.

Click here. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250219020755)

N

If I had to guess, I'd say the guy blackened the blacks (on the digital image) after scanning because he thought that would make the piece look better for sale.

andy

[terence]

It looks like Mignola circa '99 to me.

[THE REAL kirk]

Ivar, that's an interesting composite of Hellboy sketches. I notice how detail gradually declines over the years. The last one is very different from the first. Thanks for putting it together,

[DannyBoy7783]

That Hellboy timeline is really awesome. I wonder if the change in style was ever an intentional decision or just Mignola's natural progression. I wonder if it is supposed to say something about the character. He looks less human as time goes by.

[chiaroscuros]

A couple things are odd...
The blacks are too solid but this could be for a number of reasons... scan from a photocopy, photoshopping to darken the lines, etc...

the paper size is not normal for most of his sketches. mike typically draws on pages that are more squarish in proportions... or more correctly, he likes the golden rectangle for his paper proportions. 5x9 seems very thin...

The figure is tall and thin rather wide and broad. But this might just be artistic liscence and mike playing around. The entire composition is deliberately vertical, so this doesn't seem out of the question.

Mostly the third issue is what made it seem odd to me. And it could be the explanation of the second issue. Mike might have just wanted it to be vertical.

After a fair amount of studying, everything else seems absolutely solid. I would have to hold it to be 100% certain, but I would happily bid on it without worrying that I was being sold a fake.

Bid confidently!
Michael

p.s. It is really hard to fake a Mignola....

[el seth]

Seems too thin and stretched out. Like they scanned it wrong.

Also I'm not really sure what's going on down by the legs... it's like they're in shadow but there's some glowy mist or something.

But I ain't no artist.

[Neil Hill]

Looks real to me. I've seen this one for sale before, and I'd venture it's legit.

[Ken O]

I'd also like to point out that I think that wasn't Neil Hill who just posted, but a bootleg Neil Hill. Check extra close at the seams. I'm pretty sure it is anyway.

[Neil Hill]

I'd also like to point out that I think that wasn't Neil Hill who just posted, but a bootleg Neil Hill. Check extra close at the seams. I'm pretty sure it is anyway.

Accept no substitutes, Tequila, cuz there's only one me. I'm sure somewhere both the Mignola's and Maija are breathing a sigh of relief at that fact. :p

[Glmclain]

*shrugs* seems legit. although if you look at the wikipedia article on hellboy you'll see the picture very closely resembles this one