| |
Welcome.
Pop over to our EBAY STORE
for recent acquisitions.
All of our items are listed in multiple venues. Due to the unique nature of our ephemera, purchases are not final until confirmation has been received.
|
|
|
ALL STAR COMICS 8 1941 FIRST WONDER WOMAN JERRY BAILS
|
|
GRATEFUL DEAD 67 TRIP OR FREAK RICK GRIFFIN KELLY MOUSE
|
|
Our Price: $10,000.00
|
|
|
|
Our Price: $12,000.00
|
|
|
|
|
ALL STAR COMICS #8
5.0 VGF 1941
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
FIRST WONDER WOMAN
JERRY BAILS' PERSONAL COLLECTION COPY
JERRY BAILS COLLECTION COPY
CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY
ALL STAR COMICS #8
5.0 VGF 1941
OFF-WHITE PAPER MID-GRADE
STRONG DEMAND
CLASSIC EVERETT HIBBARD JSA COVER
DC NATIONAL PUBLICATIONS
SHELDON MAYER EDITOR
INTRODUCTION & ORIGIN
OF WONDER WOMAN
KEY FIRST APPEARANCE EVER
HAWKMAN
BATMAN CAMEO
THE FLASH CAMEO
SUPERMAN CAMEO
THE ATOM
STARMAN JOINS
SANDMAN
THE SPECTRE
DOCTOR FATE
DOCTOR MIDNITE JOINS
JOHNNY THUNDER
GREEN LANTERN AND HOURMAN GO ON HIATUS
"TWO NEW MEMBERS WINS THEIR SPURS!"
GARDNER F. FOX WROTE THIS CLASSIC STORY
ARTWORK BY THESE FINE CREATORS
MARTIN NAYDEL
JON CHESTER KOZLAK
STAN ASCHMEIER
PAUL REINMAN
FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE DR. JERRY BAILS
THE MAN WHO STARTED ORGANIZED COMICS FANDOM
BACK IN EARLY 1961 WHEN HE AND ROY THOMAS
ISSUED ALTER EGO, THE COMIC READER, COMICOLLECTOR
AND MORE LONG RUNNING INSTITUTIONS IN FANDOM.
COMES WITH A CERT. OF AUTHENTICITY SIGNED BY HIS WIFE, JEAN BAILS.
PRIME PERIOD PIECE
GREAT EYE APPEAL
SHARP CORNERS,
COVER AND Center Folds Firmly Attached to Book
SHARP LIGHT REFLECTIVITY COVER GLOSS
OFF-WHITE PAPER
SOMEONE PLACED A SMALL DAB OF GLUE AND A SMALL AMOUNT OF COLOR TOUCH
RIGHT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LOWER STAPLE OTHERWISE WOULD GRADE OUT TO THE BEST COPY IN THE WORLD, SO THE CONSENSUS WENT FROM THOSE WHO HAVE LOOKED AT THIS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.
A True KEY Gem.
|
TRIP OR FREAK
RICK GRIFFIN, ALTON KELLY AND STANLEY MOUSE
8.0 VERY FINE Original Poster Printed in 1967
WHITE PAPER HIGH-GRADE
PRIME PERIOD PIECE
FANTASTIC EYE APPEAL
SHARP CORNERS!
Zero Restoration
NO PINHOLES; NO TAPE
SUPPLE OFF-WHITE PAPER
VERY CLEAN SERIGRAPH POSTER OVERALL AS SEEN IN THE SCAN,
POSTER IS PICTURED IN ART OF ROCK (AOR) ON PAGE 185
A SCARCE Artifact of American History
Original Seriagraph Of An Original Poster From A By-Gone Era
MEASURES A HUGE 39 X 23 INCHES
ARTISTS ARE RICK GRIFFIN, ALTON KELLY AND STANLEY MOUSE
BEST COMICS AND ROCK ART GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, PUBLISHER
ONLY ONE PERSON IN THE WORLD MAY OWN RICK GRIFFIN'S LAST PIECE OF ART
RICK DREW ORIGINAL ART ON TWO OF THESE SERIGRAPHS I PUBLISHED, JUST A DAY OR SO BEFORE HIS TRAGIC UNTIMELY DEATH MID-AUGUST 1991. CONTAINS AUTHENTIC SIGNATURES AND ART BY RICK GRIFFIN, ALTON KELLY AND STANLEY MOUSE
GRATEFUL DEAD
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY
QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICEWINTERLAND
The very rare original 1969 first version of this famous Halloween concert poster sells regularly in the five to seven thousand dollar range. The urban legend has it the local acid dealers of the day were cutting up the 100s of little Lon Chaney heads into orange sunshine blotter tabs. Whatever reason there is that comes to be called "truth," one thing is for certain, this has always been one of the toughest posters out there to acquire ever since I began collecting and dealing them, first in my Telegraph Ave comic book store beginning August 1972, then also in my Haight Ashbury store first opened November 1976. This is a one of a kind opportunity for the Rick Griffin and/or Grateful Dead collector who thinks they have "everything" because...... ONLY ONE PERSON IN THE WORLD CAN OWN RICK'S LAST WORK OF ART, READ ON......
Rick Griffin was a good friend of mine since 1973 when he first wandered into my Berkeley California comic book store Comics & Comix on Telegraph Ave at Dwight Way back in the day. We traded C&C's old comic books & pulps for his original art, with me first ending up with his original cover to the Print Mint edition of Tales From The Tube. By 1991 I had became Rick's last art agent and semi-partmer when we opened a
Rick Griffin Art Gallery in The Cannery at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. He created several business logos, store signage, shirt designs, etc insisting that gallery also carry comic strip book items from around the world as he remained true to all the art fields he enjoyed working in. He could never forget his Zap Comics involvement and in this piece he also pays homage to his Von Dutch roots. He was coming down from his mid-age crisis, tuning back into his kids, wanting to create new art as he began the next level of his extra-ordinary career. We worked on creating a gallery where he could showcase his new work. He was at peace with himself. He was supremely confidant with his artistic abilities.
This is the very last drawing Rick made before he died. He told me that day from now on all he was going to paint and draw were nude women as envisioned by the thought balloon as seen in his self-portrait of himself as artist in the scans. Just two days later, after a tremendous amount of hard work and money laid out for many months, Rick Griffin had his most unfortunate motorcycle accident.
I miss my friend. We went to First Showing First Day of the 1989 Batman premiere at the Coronet Theatre over on Geary in San Fran. He was such a fan of the best of culture world-wide -:) He parked the Harley that was later in the fatal accident blocking the front door to my Haight Ashbury store, sauntered in, kicked out all the customer browsers, and told me he had two tickets to the first showing.
How do you say no to Rick Griffin?
I miss the new art which would have been created in past 17 years. Never thought I would be selling this most special of momentos of a day now long ago in that galaxy now far far away inside Fisherman's Wharf. It was a fun day when me, my former partner and three of the ghods of the psychedelic poster art form, which transformed the way much of the world viewed art and is still having its impact felt in new generations of artists continuing to be inspired by that which came before, got down to the business at hand.
After much mirth and jest of us all feelling good that day, just two drawings later, Rick announced he had a hot date at the beach
up north of Golden Gate Bridge along the Marin coast with a new girl friend, going surfing again, he said, before he was to head back to some where on Long Island to finish up an animation project which initially looked most promising as this veteran of lost causes kept looking towards the future.
I have absorbed a lot of Griffin lore over the past 40+ years, including having been first & foremost Rick's friend, then honored as his exclusive art agent in a gallery devoted to his work in The Cannery down in San Francisco's world-famous Fisherman's Wharf opening back in May 1991, the year of his untimely demise. The aftermath of the 6.5 years of his probate wars from leaving no will was such it has been almost 15 years before I could consider dealing in my friend's work again as the memories remain very strong. I am soon completing work on a bio-book about the last two years of my friend Rick Griffin's life as well as the aftermath of his death. There is a lot of urban myth out there about what happened.
I also lament learning recently of the passing of Alton Kelly, a true artist & businessman, and my friend in the day. And Stanley Mouse can tell you I saved his life when i asked Bay Area Channel 7 news reporters ro go visit the Grateful Dead HQ asking why they were going to let Stanley Mouse die when a couple bucks would pull him thru, showing up at their doorstep at 11 AM on a Monday morn many moons ago
now when Jerry was still alive, just hours before Stan was to succumb from a destroyed liver brought on by the many hours spent silk-screening producing such magnificent Dead Head Art for us all to enjoy.
The doctors & hospital powers-that-be wanted "someone" to guarantee the $250,000 cost of the liver as well as the operating costs of the personnel and facility before they would proceed. Mouse had just hours to go before he would be Knockin' On Heaven's Door (as Dylan is playing as i type these very words) and i said to myself that just cannot stand. Mouse deserved royalties unpaid from many decades of reprinting his iconic Dead images and therefore I am grateful to Stan for bringing his fellow liver-transplant hospital roommate and his main nurse over to my gallery in The Cannery, where we proceeded upstairs to Charlie Brown's restaurant on the top floor,
and Stan told them, "This is the man who saved my life!"
Some years ago my ex-partner got a-hold of me saying the Dead management wanted to buy my remaining half of the 1000 Trip Or Freak serigraphs plus 250 black border versions. They were also acquiring all of his including his Trip Or Freak with the second to last drawing by Rick Griffin, which is printed on all their copies. As far as i know they still own it.
What i offer you now is the chance to say, "I own Rick's last piece of art he ever did before he died."
|
|
|
|
WESTERN HERO 109 8.0 VF 1951 FAWCETT HIGH GRADE
|
|
ZAP COMIX #0 9.0 VFNM MAR 1968 DONAHUE FIRST ROBERT CRUMB
|
|
Our Price: $76.00
|
|
|
|
Our Price: $3,985.00
|
|
|
|
|
WESTERN HERO 109
8.0 VERY FINE 1951
FAWCETT MOVIE
WHITE PAPER
HIGH GRADE
WESTERN HERO 109
8.0 VERY FINE 1951 OFF-WHITE PAPER HIGH-GRADE
CLASSIC WESTERN MOVIE STAR TITLE
FAWCETT PUBLICATIONS
TEX RITTER
TOM MIX
MONTE HALE
GABBY HAYES
PRIME PERIOD PIECE
CLASSIC MONTE HALE COVER
FANTASTIC EYE APPEAL
Sharp Corners,
can send a larger scans, just ask!
Cover & Center Fold Firmly Attached to Book
CHECK OUT HOW TIGHT THE STAPLES
ARE TO THIS BOOK FROM THE SCAN.
GREAT COVER GLOSS LIGHT REFLECTIVITY
OFF-WHITE PAPER
A True Gem.
|
ZAP COMIX #0
9.0 VFNM MAR 1968
DONAHUE FIRST PRINTING
NUMBERED PAGES
ROBERT CRUMB
HIGH GRADE
ZAP COMIX #0
The Legendary "Donahue" First Edition
with numbered pages as seen in the scans
9.0 VFNM FEB 1968
OFF-WHITE PAPER HIGH-GRADE
CLASSIC 'PLUGGED IN' COVER
APEX NOVELTIES
PRINTED BY DON DONAHUE
ONE OF THE LEGENDS OF THE SILVER AGE OF COMICS
SCARCE IN HIGH GRADE
CHECK OUT OUR EBAY STORE BLB COMICS
FOR MANY MORE ESOTERIC COMIC BOOKS
FROM MANY GENRES AND TIME SPANS.
PRIME PERIOD PIECE
FANTASTIC EYE APPEAL
VERY SHARP CORNERS
Can send a larger scans, just ask!
Zero Restoration
COVER AND CENTERFOLDS Firmly Attached to Book
SHARP LIGHT REFLECTIVITY COVER GLOSS
OFF-WHITE PAPER
CHECK OUT HOW TIGHT THE SPINE
IS TO THE STAPLES FROM THE SCANS!
A True High Grade Gem.
In early 1968, Robert Crumb and Don Donahue got together with Charles Plymell, who had a hand-fed printing press upon which they printed upwards of a few thousand copies of what later has proved to be one of those key seminal comic book in American history such as Action Comics #1, or Amazing Fantasy #15. The covers and guts of the books were hand-collated & hand-bound in Crumb's San Francicso Mission District apartment. A percentage of the print run was destroyed in a loft fire soon thereafter.
According to my own personal interviews with Don Donahue, Robert Crumb, Moe Moskowitz, as well as others who were "there" in the beginning of the myths, in-depth information which will be in my forthcoming comic book business history book, asking about aspects of the "origin" of Zap Comics's origins being printed in Feb 1968, Crumb and Donahue spent maybe two hours trying to hawk these "Plymell" Zaps from a baby carriage at the corner of Haight & Ashbury to the wandering masses plying the street. They sold just a few for 25 cents each, realizing they were not going to get rich quick this way.
They then walked across the street to Moe Moskowitz's Haight store, being the same Moe world-famous for his Moe's Books in Berkeley, asking Moe if he would be interested in maybe selling this brand new comix book.
Moe then walked the two to the back of the store where Martin McClain, then Moe's distribution man for Moe's Third Eye Distribution, servicing some 200 head shops and college book stores ringing San Francisco Bay distributing Berkeley Barb, East Village Other and Rolling Stone, was getting ready to run the weekly route.
Moe asked Martin what he thought .
Martin said let's try 1000 copies on consignment, placing five copies in each of their outlets. This became their 4th item product.
When Martin came back thru the next week, all copies were sold out every where.
They ordered another thousand, and those sold out, and very soon the Plymell edition was completely sold out.
The second printing ZAP COMICS #1 "Donahue" edition exists because Moe ordered 5000 copies,with Don printing up some extras to see to others who were asking.
Around the same time Donahue and Crumb brought all the pieces for what was supposed to be ZAP COMIX #1 which became what we have here, ZAP COMICS #0
In April 1968 Moe Moskowitz invited Robert Crumb, Don Donahue, S Clay Wilson, then-famous Fillmore/Avalon poster artists Rick Griffin & Victor Moscoso, Peggy Rita and his long-time friend from Greenwich Village days, Don Shenker, the latter two being two of four owners of Print Mint, over to his Berkeley house.
There they struck a deal to take Zap Comix "national" with ZAP COMIX #2. with art by Crumb and invited creators Rick Griffin, Victor Moscoso, S. Clay Wilson, with Moe loaning Print Mint $10,000 and an initial print run of 20,000 copies.
Print Mint also took over making new reprints of ZAP #1 and #0, printing 20,000 of each of those as well.
Print Mint soon thereafter became a magnet for many cartoonists submitting more UG comix. Since 1968 there have been innumerable printings of ZAP COMICS #1, now with over a million copies sold.
If you see the CRUMB! documentary Terry Zwigoff made and released thru Sony in 1995, in the scenes in a comic book store, just for the record, it was my own Haight Ashbury store, BEST COMICS
|
|
|
|
CONTINENTAL: BIG BROTHER 1967 VERY RARE CONCERT POSTER
|
|
MY GREATEST ADVENTURE 52 7.0 FVF
|
|
Our Price: $3,500.00
|
|
|
|
Our Price: $45.00
|
|
|
|
|
|
CONTINENTAL BALLROOM
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY
VERY RARE 1967 CONCERT POSTER
THE BINDWEED PRESS
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY
CONTINENTAL BALLROOM
VERY RARE concert poster
8.0 VERY FINE 28 JAN 1967
HIGH-GRADE
MUSEUM QUALITY FRAMED
THE BINDWEED PRESS, SAN FRANCISCO
CONTINENTAL BALLROOM PRESENTS IN SANTA CLARA, CALIF
THIS VENUE PRODUCED A LOT OF REALLY COOL POSTERS
A SCARCE Artifact of American History
Original Poster placed around the Bay Area, California
BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY
ONLY ONE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN ALL MY YEARS COLLECTING ! !
ARTIST IS LES CANNON
CONTINENTAL BALLROOM WAS THE SOUTH BAY'S ANSWER
TO WHAT FAMILY DOG, BILL GRAHAM AND OTHERS WERE DOING A BIT NORTH.
PRIME PERIOD PIECE
FANTASTIC EYE APPEAL
SHARP CORNERS
Zero Restoration
NO PINHOLES PINHOLES; NO TAPE
The utter rarity of this piece cannot be overstated.
OFF-WHITE VERY SUPPLE PAPER
CHECK OUT HOW CLEAN THIS ARTIFACT IS FROM THE PICS,
POSTER IS NOT PICTURED IN ART OF ROCK (AOR) - THOUGH IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN
|
MY GREATEST ADVENTURE #52
7.0 FVF 1961 DC
NUCLEAR SCIENCE FICTION
OFF-WHITE PAPER
HIGH GRADE
MY GREATEST ADVENTURE 52
7.0 FVF 1961 HIGH GRADE
DC NATIONAL, NEW YORK CITY
MAN BECOMES NUCLEAR POWERED SUN PERSON
FUN STUFF FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY
FANTASTIC EYE APPEAL
SHARP CORNERS
COVER AND CENTERFOLDS TIGHT ON SPINE OF BOOK
OFF-WHITE PAPER
|
|
|
|
|
|
