GrailPages: Original Comic Book Art And The Collectors by Steven Alan Payne (book review).

TwoMorrows publish books as well as magazines, and some of them are difficult to come across when they sell out. I think I saw ‘GrailPages: Original Comic Book Art And The Collectors’ by Steven Alan Payne around 2009, thinking I could get it later, and then it quickly sold out. A copy popped up recently, and I thought I couldn’t leave it. Among my other collections, I bought some ‘Uncanny X-Men’ pages by Werner Roth, Dave Cockrum and John Byrne back in the late 1970s-early 1980s, mostly because I liked the art and the majority qualify as a grail because of significant plot elements.

I even pulled a stack of cover designs by Cockrum when he was cover editor at Marvel. There weren’t that many original pages from American comics over here in the UK at the time, and they were relatively expensive compared to how many comic books you could buy with the same money.

As Payne points out in his introduction, you might buy an expensive comic being, say, one of 100,000. Original art pages were one of a kind and therefore much rarer. This realisation finally sank in, which is why significant pages are now worth astronomical money. It’s hardly surprising that what was a moderately expensive purchase back in the late 1970s has skyrocketed since people realised that. My pages hold significant value as well. I possess one from X-Men #96, which features their school’s address in print for the first time. Although a dealer didn’t consider it valuable due to the absence of any team members, it does feature a silhouette and the first appearance of Black Jack Cassidy in the final panel. Payne is quite right; we original comic book page collectors like to talk about our pages. Although there are a couple of foreign collectors interviewed in this book, none are from the UK. I can’t speak for any generation of comic book fans, but I suspect that owning at least a couple of original comic book pages was a significant addition to the collection, compared to simply purchasing them here.

Something this book does explain is that, although some significant pages are capable of reaching up to $100,000 at auction, many serious collectors tend to barter with the pages they bought rather than pay such sums unless they are already wealthy. In other words, if you do start collecting original comic book pages, include some that you can sell on. Objectively, I only have one in that category, but it makes sense if you want pages desperately.

Payne interviews many American collectors here, mostly for the 1960s-1970s material rather than anything current. It does raise a question that if a particular artist is too prolific, why doesn’t the cost of his or her comic book pages have a smaller value? I should point out that not all comic book pages are extortionately priced. The media does tend to present that image for expensive auctions. Buy what you like and can afford to develop your collection. If you can buy from the artist direct, you save the cost of a middleman or dealer. Costs go up with significant characters or events. When I bought a page from Uncanny X-Men #128 from Chris Claremont, he was surprised at my selection because he didn’t think it was inked well. I pointed out that the script played a significant role, as it marked the first time Wolverine revealed his ability to speak and read Japanese. Does that make it a grailpage? The reasons for buying vary by collector, but you must like what you buy.

Grailpages are significant pages that stand out from the other pages as being the holy grail of rarities. Often they are splash pages and covers. Does my splash of Werner Roth for Kukulcan’s first appearance count even though it was on the last page of Uncanny X-Men # 25?

As you can tell from my reaction, this book has stirred up many memories. None of the above is boasting; just each page has a particular story. I often perceive myself as a custodian of original comic book art, believing that my selection of pages surpasses their monetary value. Insurance companies won’t include them in UK house insurance, and I imagine they won’t in other countries because they’re so expensive and difficult to replace.

If there is something missing from this book, then it’s the newspaper comic strips. While they may not be as large as a comic book page, the inclusion of a significant number of superhero-themed ones is sure to appeal to collectors. Only one of the collectors mentions having some but not the superhero ones.

If you are considering purchasing this book, make sure to locate a copy; there are numerous pages available that are affordable and won’t break the bank. I was lucky enough to get my pages long before they sold with 3 more zeroes added to the price, and, even then, I thought it was expensive. As I pointed out earlier, I suspect a lot of comic book collectors might have a couple of pages in their collection purely as a little icing to their collections rather than just buying them. If not, your collection shows the other side of collecting and a hint of nostalgia for childhood.

GF Willmetts

March 2025

(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2009. 143 page illustrated softcover. Price: varies. ISBN: 978-1-60549-015-1. Direct from them, you can get it digitally for $ 6.99 (US))

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