Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Alan Moore, Donny Cates, Garry Leach, miracleman, new york comic con, NYCC
Donny Cates Bought Miracleman #1 Cover At New York Comic Con
Donny Cates Watch! New York Comic-Con was the first returning major comic convention this past weekend, even if many foreigners still aren't allowed to travel to the US. Which meant for one piece of original comic book artwork, Donny Cates has less competition than he might otherwise had to deal with. He tweeted his latest acquisition, saying "I might have just f-cked around and bought the original art to MIRACLEMAN #1."
Bryan Hitch replied "Ah Garry Leach. Wonderful piece." Donny Cates confirmed "Isn't it? I almost had a heart attack when I saw it for sale." Bryan Hitch added, "Had a big effect on me at 14 years old.". Just the colour production breakdowns for this cover have sold for almost five thousand dollars, how much the original may have sold for beggars the mind.
Miracleman #1 was a color reprint of the first Marvelman stories by Alan Moore and Garry Leach from 1982, published by Quality and Eclipse in 1985, at a time when Alan Moore was becoming a major name in the USA, but a year before Watchmen debuted.
A revival of the 1950s Captain Marvel ripoff for the UK, Marvelman, the eighties version of the comic was one of the first superhero deconstructionist comic books published. Alan Moore and Garry Leach, took the simplistic children's character and gave him a wider background, adult issues and political concerns, and took the idea of the superhero to logical conclusions that sees the entire world changed by his presence. Incredibly influential, from everything from Man Of Steel to Squadron Supreme, from KIngdom Come to The Authority, it also got caught up in seriously complex legal issues. When Eclipse stopped publishing Miracleman, Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham were working on the stories. Marvel Comics, who reprinted the published comics more recently have stated that the series will return and will conclude from Gaiman and Buckingham, but that is years late at this point. And now Donny Cates owns the original…