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Is that really what it proves, tho? Recently, a Frank Miller page from DKR sold for close to half a million dollars. Should we infer from this that Frank is seven and a half times greater than I? That his contribution to the field is that much greater than mine?

Similarly, the price tag on my page is in the same stratospheric regions as prices I see for Jack Kirby originals. Is my place on the comicbook Olympus equal to Jack's?

Sadly, what this really shows is that the same kind of madness which infected comics is now infecting comicbook art. And, as it did in comics, this madness is likely to seal out the people without the big bucks to spend. A hobby is becoming a business, which is the fastest way I know to self destruct.

(And wait for it! A year, or two years, or five years from now, when the buyer tries to sell this piece and cannot get anything like the price s/he paid, because the market has shifted to Paul Smith's work, or someone else later than me --- well, then we can expect to be told "Byrne's stuff doesn't sell anymore.")

I don't imagine the owners of these works standing in front of them, as I sometimes do with pieces on my studio walls and, at least metaphorically, dancing a little jog and chirping This Is So Cool!!!

I imagine the pieces in a safe deposit box, locked away like jewels or gold bullion, changing owners without said owners ever looking at anything but the money made.

The walls of my Studio are covered with what has been called a "breathtaking" collection of original art. No civilian has ever asked me the "worth" of a piece. Most of the time, in fact, they don't even grasp that these are pieces of ORIGINAL ART. In their minds, the only thing comics exist for is to be valuable investments, and then only as comic books.

But with these kinds of insane numbers for art, how long before that changes? All it took to create the "investment" mentality in comicbook collecting was a single article in The Wall Street Journal circa 1978, that reported old comics showed a greater return on the "ibvestment" than GOLD. This because an copy of MARVEL COMICS 1 had sold for $20,000. Quite the return on that 10¢ cover price.

Except, of course, the seller hadn't paid 10¢. But the damage was done. And now comics that once sold for a nickel in back issue boxes in second hand bookstores are priced far, far, far beyond the reach of average collectors.

And, as I have mentioned before, the level of insanity when it crosses into original art collection is the same. Even the language is the same. I once saw a book listing prices for original art that described some pieces as RARE.

The Mona Lisa and a page of Rob Liefeld's YOUNGBLOOD are equally RARE. For each piece, their is only one.

Not that it necessarily applies to this page or any of the other high-priced comics pages, but I've read of cases where in fine art circles overbidding has been used as a way to move money from illegitimate to legitimate economic circles.

What you would do if you owed somebody 100 thousand would be to have them put up a decent but low-priced piece of artwork, maybe with a one thosand to 10 thousand dollar price tag, and then buy it at auction for 100 thousand or more.

So you've bought a 1 thousand dollar painting for 101 thousand, and your seller has an influx of 100 thousand cash that needs no further explanation. And if you sell it on at auction, there's a chance you might recoup some of that 100 thousand, at least get more than 1 thousand for it.

As I've looked through some listings on ebay, I notice that often there is very little correlation between real art criteria (Historical significance of work or author, skill with which it's done, size, scarcity) and price. The ones that fetch the highest prices are usually the most well known or "hot" current artists.

I mean, in what possible art context would a recent 8x12 one-figure color marker commission of a superheroine by Bruce Timm actually be worth roughly as much as a vintage Milton Caniff 22x28 "Terry and the Pirates" Sunday page?

People are free to spend money however they like, but if I were going to spend 65K on original art I'd start with guys like Caniff, Crane, Raymond, Kubert, Foster, McManus, Herriman, Segar. And chances are I could get artwork from all of those and still have money left over.

It's like if you could buy a dozen Rembrandts for the price of a Warhol or Lichtenstein. (No insult intended to Byrne/Austin, of course. )

I mean, in what possible art context would a recent 8x12 one-figure color marker commission of a superheroine by Bruce Timm actually be worth roughly as much as a vintage Milton Caniff 22x28 "Terry and the Pirates" Sunday page?

A lot of people who grew up on Batman: The Animated Series are now at the point in life where they have discretionary income. They're too young to have fond memories of a strip from the 30's and 40's, a commission is easy to save and plan for (compared to a coveted page suddenly showing up at auction) and, I'd imagine, all the good Caniff pages are spoken for.