VAMPI AND CRUMB ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

Last month, it was reported here at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD of a piece of original art for sale from the Robert Crumb monster card series he created for Topps in the 1960s. The artwork was included in the February Heritage Comics & Comic Art Auction in New York. The piece, "I Love Your Beautiful Eyes," sold for $1912! That price includes the commission. Inflation is not dead in the comic/monster art world! Two similar drawings sold last year for $776 and $1135. The number of bidders for the Crumb drawing also increased, with fifteen individuals bidding for the monster card original.

Also auctioned were two Vampirella paintings by Enrique Torres-Prat, better known to readers of Warren's VAMPIRELLA as "Enric", which commanded prices of $1314 and $1434. Both were listed in "good" condition in the catalogue and both are beautiful.

And you thought there was a recession going on!

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HOW DO I LOVE THEE? LET ME COUNT THE EYES . . .

Heritage Auctions has sent out the catalog for its February 22-24 Signature Comic Book Auction to be held in New York. While they are offering an amazing amount of rare vintage comic books, monster magazines and memorabilia are very under-represented this time. One item of interest to MMW readers is the original art for a Topps Monster Greeting Card. Design and artwork are by legendary underground comic artist Robert Crumb. Two of these cards were featured last year in MMW’s Monster Card Monday. The obverse reads “I love your beautiful eyes” and the reverse reads “All four of them.” A lovely sentiment for Valentine’s Day!

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MONSTER CARD MONDAY

Today features a card for that special someone on Valentine's Day!

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MONSTER CARD MONDAY (SPECIAL EDITION)

Some months ago, I was rummaging through the garage and found a small box of trading cards purchased in the dim, dark past. The box contained an eclectic assortment of cards, SPOOK STORIES, ADDAMS' FAMILY, and two of the strangest cards I had ever seen. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember seeing them before, let alone buying them. As with all monster-related questions, I called upon the editor of this blog to enlighten me as to what the heck they were. John explained that they were from a series of cards designed by the legendary underground comix genius Robert Crumb for Topps in 1965! John later featured the cards in MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD'S MONSTER CARD MONDAY feature.

The original artwork for two of the cards from this series was offered at auction by Heritage in a recent Signature Comics auction. Both pieces measure 3.5” x 5” and are signed by Mr. Crumb. While the catalog entries list the punch line which would have appeared on the card’s reverse side, no photos of that side are shown. That leads me to believe that only the lettered artwork side was in the auction. Fewer than ten people placed bids. The first drawing, “You deserve a big hand,” sold for $776 (base price plus buyer’s commission). “You have a peach of a complexion,” the second piece, sold for $1135! To me that is an astonishing amount of money to pay for such a small work, but given the importance of R. Crumb and the scarcity of original art, perhaps I am off base. After seeing the results form this auction, I have a little higher regard for my two samples of these weird cards now!

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