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Felix Comic Art Chat 3/30/2018
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Felix Lu
10:42
I do believe, though, that with exposure, anything good will find an audience.
Pete Marino
10:42
@Joao Antunes I agree with Felix, having friends is really good and enhances the fun of the hobby, but just looking at art for hours on end just helps you "see" it better.  I know vs 10 years ago, what I look for in art is much different, and i'm a much harsher critic.  but that won't ever stop me from buying a page that I still enjoy.  I look at collecting OA a lot like going to Vegas to gamble.  I never walk into the room (or a deal) with any more money than i'm willing to lose.
Felix Lu
10:44
I'm a little different. I got into OA somewhat later, but after 30 years of reading comics. All comics. So my tastes were already defined when I started in this hobby.
10:46
What I had to learn was the market. But at least I didn't have to spend any time on figuring out what I liked. I could just focus on studying market dynamics.
Joao Antunes
10:46
@Felix regarding advices from friends, I just like to discover for me the artworks I buy and never ask for opinions to anyone else but I agree it's great to have (good) opinions from more knowledge friends, I understood that years later from beginning this fantastic hobby when I realised I missed a lot of great opportunities just because I wasn't aware of the works and artists that were available at the time
Felix Lu
10:48
Or, in my case, being aware of the works and artists...but not knowing about relative opportunities. Meaning, some artists/works would be easier to acquire than others, so I should have prioritized differently.
Joao Antunes
10:48
@ Felix, yes, when I heard you liked Muñoz, Jordi Bernet, Alberto Breccia (I believe Tardi also) and others it seemed to me that you were open to foreign artists, you are promoting new talents (and some more established), I hope that appears a "Felix" in our side of the ocean to promote the young talents of this part of the world, but it's not an easy task, you're doing a fantastic job for them and for the hobby
Felix Lu
10:50
Hell, arguably, the best comics aren't American comics! But the focus here is on monthly superhero soap operas. Marvel/DC still make up 90% of the market.  It may not last forever, but I don't see it changing anytime soon.
But thanks!
Ben Huang
10:51
Hey Felix! Thought I'd check out the chat for the first time as there's a lull at work. Thanks for putting these and your podcasts on!
Felix Lu
10:51
Hey Ben! Good to see you here!
Ben Huang
10:53
@Felix - Thanks.  Along the lines of lines of comic art outside of the US, any plans to do a podcast devoted entirely to European or Asian artists?  It seems like attitudes towards comics and graphic story telling are completely different whether you're talking about things stateside or abroad.
Felix Lu
10:54
Possibly! But the reality is that interest would be low in the subject. Still, have been thinking about it.
10:55
The issue with discussing manga art is that (almost) none of it is available to collectors! So almost pointless to discuss on a podcast about collecting art!
10:57
European art is available, though. The topic I'll be exploring is their art market, and any similarities/differences with ours.
A big one, to tie into what Joao brought up...there's interest over their in our art. Not so much interest over here in theirs.
Ben Huang
10:58
I think it would be interesting.  I suspect there are a lot of collectors on this side of the pond (like myself) who would like to start collecting foreign art, but don't even know where to start.
Felix Lu
10:58
Well, the most obvious starting point: What foreign comics have you enjoyed?
Ben Huang
11:01
Golly, where to start.  I've just started looking at things by people like Breccia and Mezieres, and have been enjoying it.
Felix Lu
11:01
Both show up all the time at auction...you just have to monitor them the same way you would HA or Clink.
11:02
The one thing you have to understand going in...you won't get the same white-glove service over there that you would here with HA. My own experiences have been poor. There's one auction house I will never use again, for example.
Joao Antunes
11:03
It's funny that the obvious answers are normally Moebius because so many artists like Geof Darrow and others loved his art
Felix Lu
11:03
Moebius is a god. He will always be the default answer.
Ben Huang
11:03
Hugo Pratt, of course.  More recently, Cyril Pedrosa and Alex Alice have been putting out gorgeous work too.
Felix Lu
11:04
Pratt's going to be expensive (anything CORTO MALTESE, prohibitively so). Don't know the other two guys, but if they're new, you should have a shot!
Joao Antunes
11:05
HA just opened his 'branch' in Europe, they might help building a bridge between both sides of the ocean
Felix Lu
11:05
Yes...this will make European art more accessible to US collectors, for sure.
Ben Huang
11:05
Oh golly, I can't believe I forgot Moebius!
11:09
@ Joao, thanks for the heads up.  I'll have to start keeping a closer eye on the Heritage auctions.
Joao Antunes
11:09
If I recall correctly Cyril Pedrosa was a favourite of one of Felix artists (Scottie Young), at least from his book Three Shadows
Felix Lu
11:11
I don't know about Pedrosa specifically, but Skottie's influences are certainly varied. His style is deceptively simple, but is actually quite evolved. Collectors with extremely discriminating eyes, like John Butler and Eric Seffinga, appreciate and collect his work, for example.
Ben Huang
11:11
@ Felix, one last question before I have to get back to work in light of the recent art drop on the site.  I imagine that pricing is a collaborative effort between you and the artist, but have there been times when you've disagreed strongly on how to price pages?  How do you ultimately arrive at a compromise?
Felix Lu
11:12
Yes, it's almost always collaborative. Certainly at first. At some point, artist and rep are in sync, so less collaboration is required.
11:15
I can only recall one strong disagreement. In that case, the artist had a minimum amount he wanted for each page. I explained that he can ask whatever he wants...but he should still be cognizant of market realities, if he wanted anything to sell. He insisted. So we rolled out with his pricing. Almost nothing sold. It was a reality check for him.
11:16
The next time, he worked with me on the pricing, and we had much better success (MUCH better success). So he came to trust my judgment and it's all worked out well for everyone since.
Ben Huang
11:16
@ Joao, Pedrosa is great.  His recent books, Equinoxes and Portugal, are available through NBM in English.  Highly recommended.
Any instances in recent memory in which you felt like you missed the ball completely?  Either pricing way too high or way to low?
Felix Lu
11:17
If anything, I suppose the argument could be made that prices are too low, since almost everything sells out. At the very least, no one can say prices are too high when everything's selling!
11:18
But I think people need to understand that there is a distinction between "pricing too low"...and "affordable".
11:19
What we are selling is great new art at affordable prices (relative for this hobby, anyway). So that's why it's selling so fast. Not necessarily because it's "priced too low".
Connecting…
David B
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4:17
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Does anyone here collect double page spreads, and if so, how do you store/ display them. I’ve stayed away from buying any mostly due to logistics of properly displaying in a portfolio.
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Rick Yankosky
 - 
5:21
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@Felix: Gotcha.
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Pete Marino
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5:30
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@Felix Lu sorry for the patchwork post and typos.  Trying to edit in the chat window and multi-task obviously didn't work out well for me =)
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