I have been a Dave Stevens fan from when he came on the scene with Rocketeer. You mentioned he was prolific, but I think you will find the opposite was true. He was notoriously slow in his output and he didn’t produce very many comics. Also, he sadly died very young cutting short all the great work he could have created. Oh, and Dave Stevens seemed to be a major contributor to the re-introduction of Bettie Page in pop culture. The Rocketeer’s girlfriend, Betty, was based (at least in part) on Bettie Page.
The snowball effect happens when something is presented as a rare object and is shown as a commodity or investment… people who collect what they love are not the sellers and buyers who drive up the prices… it’s the scammers with deep pockets… this has been happening in the vintage guitar realm too!
I picked up that planet comics book about 5 years ago for 2 bucks with the 3d specs in fantastic shape . I bought it because I loved that cover not spec . Who knew ..😊
Coincidentally, I asked the exact same question about Dave Stevens in my upload today. Except I didn’t try to explain it, I just asked it lol. Thanks for the deep dive!
Dave has been a well-known secret for decades. His "top 3" are always rare in any collection that comes in. Don't forget the Adam Hughes Tribute variant on Dirty Pair Run from the Future #1- almost impossible to find!
I’m glad I got most of his work years ago before this happened. I can’t believe some of the prices it goes for now. Dave Stevens is my favorite artist to collect so I’m selfishly bummed about it but I’m happy he is getting the recognition that he deserved when he was living.
These books are hitting a sweet spot for a lot of folks: the fantastic art, the -ahem- subject matter, the low print runs, the artist tragically cut down in his prime and his relatively low output. Speaking for myself, last year I set out to collect all of the original Rocketeer issues because I loved the movie as a kid, and I'm sure that's a pathway into Steven's work for many other folks as well.
Ha ha haaaa! Great video! Thanks! I laughed imagining how many times Dave heard that comment, “Hey! Eyes up here fly boy!” 😂 fortunately I’ve been collecting the highest grade books imaginable over the years since purchasing them right off the shelf as I’m an cover artist collector of beautiful art. You made my day! By the way, I’m on both of your kick-starter books as I like 30s and 40s time era gum shoe detective genre which led me to the “Rocketeer” in the first place. You made my day with this video!
Great video Mickey! I do feel that Dave is established in many genres which does expand his appeal (especially the 8008 stuff 😂). But the documentary helped us connect the late artist to the art. I think we, as collectors, want our collection to mean something. And knowing Dave Stevens on a personal level creates value with his works.
I love Dave Stevens and have a nice collection that I've been putting together for years. Met the man at a show long time ago, where he autographed my Rocketeer comic. I'm ahead of the curve. I also have an amazing Matt Baker collection, maybe the best.
Awesome video and really amazing that we are celebrating Dave's work 15+ yrs after his passing. His legacy. As a collector i'm struggling with the amount of energy we put into CGC and their grades. All of sudden it feels like, "I have an awesome raw copy too, oh wait I don't know if its CGC worthy (let alone a high grade or anywhere near it). I guess what I have is not that awesome anymore." 😔
I started collecting these about a year ago, and I am glad that I picked them up when I did. Yikes these are getting expensive! I've been wanting to get these graded so I guess now's the time.
Didn't really mean to pursue Dave Stevens' stuff specifically, but I did just buy a Starslayer 2, and a friend of mine has offered to trade to me one of his Jonny Quest #5's, both within the last four days. LOL
Started collecting Dave Stevens from 1991 on. I have amassed about 8 copies of each across the board. Just to give you an idea of scarcity. That Planet Comics #1 in all these years of buying at auctions and buying at shows, I have only gotten three 9.8s. Very hard to find and you would think that the paper the book is made on is a thicker paper. The Alien Worlds set is probably the easiest to come but. My favorite is Alien Worlds #4 fantastic sci fi cover. The 1st story in that book is a short story only a few pages but done real well. Check it out if you get a chance.
I just bought Three Dimensional Alien Worlds #1 yesterday not realizing that the short story that DS inked features himself and Marilyn Monroe! Great fun.
i heard you mention WonderCon, are you a California guy? i'm actually more of a Rocketeer fan than a Dave Stevens fan, Stevens does draw the best Rocketeer though. i've been buying Rocketeer comics for about 8yrs, glad i got them before the uptick.
Part of the appeal of Stevens covers they're very collectible in terms of being able complete the "set". It also has been very, very possible to stumble across the books in back issue and dollar bins even into 2021. They're also hard to part with! Should I sell the Cheval Noir 7 i got for a buck or one of my Planet Comics? Probably, but man i love having them in my collection.
8:22 I would expect a lot of prices from those times to be low because the recession. Also it kind of bothers me a little how much of these market spikes are influenced by movies/speculation. I bought Dave Stevens, Wally Wood etc because I like their art. Not because Im waiting for some biopic to come out so I can sell it. It would be cool to see more videos about comics people actually like and not just whats most valuable at the moment. But to each their own
I think this is WAY beyond FOMO. I believe there is a investor/speculator trend of picking something and hyping the ever loving hell out of it. They do this with cards, comics, video games, toys, coins. They are like locusts. They pump it up, dump it and noone ever sees them again. On the Stevens side, I do hope Starslayer 2 blows up in value. In the past 6 years I unwittingly acquired over 20 copies of the book =)
Comic book youtubers keep talking about dave stevens covers and his art. Then they talk about him to all there followers and its basically the power of suggestion. All in my opinion personally.
I’m not promoting him. I’m just covering why all of a sudden the covers are so hot and trying to add context/info. I say many times in the video that you need to be careful because these high sales (like what we got last week) will pull raw copies out of the woodwork and inflate the census.
Hahaha.... about 2 years ago I tried to sell my collection of Dave Stevens covers including Planet Comics and Space Vixens for like $10 a piece and no one was biting...
of course I have books in the series talked about that are not the big books. lol I have a complete run of alien worlds in very high grade and a few rocketeers in 9.8 but the world today demands Boobies and butts lol
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I have been a Dave Stevens fan from when he came on the scene with Rocketeer. You mentioned he was prolific, but I think you will find the opposite was true. He was notoriously slow in his output and he didn’t produce very many comics. Also, he sadly died very young cutting short all the great work he could have created. Oh, and Dave Stevens seemed to be a major contributor to the re-introduction of Bettie Page in pop culture. The Rocketeer’s girlfriend, Betty, was based (at least in part) on Bettie Page.
The snowball effect happens when something is presented as a rare object and is shown as a commodity or investment… people who collect what they love are not the sellers and buyers who drive up the prices… it’s the scammers with deep pockets… this has been happening in the vintage guitar realm too!
I give a little credit to Bronze and Modern Gods here on TH-cam as well. They’ve spotlighted Dave more than a few times.
Totally! I actually learned a lot from John - talked to him about it at Wondercon
I Met and had dave stevens sign a number of my books also bought some of his lithos etc ... long time dave stevens fan
I picked up that planet comics book about 5 years ago for 2 bucks with the 3d specs in fantastic shape . I bought it because I loved that cover not spec . Who knew ..😊
Great artist! He actually did a Jonny quest cover , no high beams, but a gorgeous cover non the less!
He actually did 2 Quest covers (by my count). 🙂 #3 and #5.
Coincidentally, I asked the exact same question about Dave Stevens in my upload today. Except I didn’t try to explain it, I just asked it lol. Thanks for the deep dive!
Your video was great! I wasn't quite sure what caused the rise until I got the download from others.
I did a tribute video to Dave back in July 2022 on my TH-cam channel so it’s nice to see people finally catch up to what I already knew😊
RIP Ed Piskor
Dave has been a well-known secret for decades. His "top 3" are always rare in any collection that comes in. Don't forget the Adam Hughes Tribute variant on Dirty Pair Run from the Future #1- almost impossible to find!
I’m glad I got most of his work years ago before this happened. I can’t believe some of the prices it goes for now. Dave Stevens is my favorite artist to collect so I’m selfishly bummed about it but I’m happy he is getting the recognition that he deserved when he was living.
Cheesecake never goes out of style.
Good research
These books are hitting a sweet spot for a lot of folks: the fantastic art, the -ahem- subject matter, the low print runs, the artist tragically cut down in his prime and his relatively low output. Speaking for myself, last year I set out to collect all of the original Rocketeer issues because I loved the movie as a kid, and I'm sure that's a pathway into Steven's work for many other folks as well.
Ha ha haaaa! Great video! Thanks! I laughed imagining how many times Dave heard that comment, “Hey! Eyes up here fly boy!” 😂 fortunately I’ve been collecting the highest grade books imaginable over the years since purchasing them right off the shelf as I’m an cover artist collector of beautiful art. You made my day! By the way, I’m on both of your kick-starter books as I like 30s and 40s time era gum shoe detective genre which led me to the “Rocketeer” in the first place. You made my day with this video!
Seduction of the Innocent is really hard to find with the 3D spectacles intact.
Great video Mickey! I do feel that Dave is established in many genres which does expand his appeal (especially the 8008 stuff 😂). But the documentary helped us connect the late artist to the art. I think we, as collectors, want our collection to mean something. And knowing Dave Stevens on a personal level creates value with his works.
I love Dave Stevens and have a nice collection that I've been putting together for years. Met the man at a show long time ago, where he autographed my Rocketeer comic. I'm ahead of the curve. I also have an amazing Matt Baker collection, maybe the best.
Crossfire #12 is also an Awesome Dave Stevens cover.
Awesome video and really amazing that we are celebrating Dave's work 15+ yrs after his passing. His legacy. As a collector i'm struggling with the amount of energy we put into CGC and their grades. All of sudden it feels like, "I have an awesome raw copy too, oh wait I don't know if its CGC worthy (let alone a high grade or anywhere near it). I guess what I have is not that awesome anymore." 😔
Airboy 5 is another fantastic Stevens cover
Since I 1st discovered his art in the early 80s, I was a fan....
I started collecting these about a year ago, and I am glad that I picked them up when I did. Yikes these are getting expensive! I've been wanting to get these graded so I guess now's the time.
Big Dave Stevens fan, sadly I’m in need of a lot of these, hopefully people will forget about Dave again soon so it’s easier to afford them!
Digging the bloopers... maybe you can sprinkle in a few more in the future.
Didn't really mean to pursue Dave Stevens' stuff specifically, but I did just buy a Starslayer 2, and a friend of mine has offered to trade to me one of his Jonny Quest #5's, both within the last four days. LOL
Gotta love bloopers
Started collecting Dave Stevens from 1991 on. I have amassed about 8 copies of each across the board. Just to give you an idea of scarcity. That Planet Comics #1 in all these years of buying at auctions and buying at shows, I have only gotten three 9.8s. Very hard to find and you would think that the paper the book is made on is a thicker paper. The Alien Worlds set is probably the easiest to come but. My favorite is Alien Worlds #4 fantastic sci fi cover. The 1st story in that book is a short story only a few pages but done real well. Check it out if you get a chance.
I just bought Three Dimensional Alien Worlds #1 yesterday not realizing that the short story that DS inked features himself and Marilyn Monroe! Great fun.
@@russhorii6290 Has a really cool cover!
i heard you mention WonderCon, are you a California guy? i'm actually more of a Rocketeer fan than a Dave Stevens fan, Stevens does draw the best Rocketeer though. i've been buying Rocketeer comics for about 8yrs, glad i got them before the uptick.
Great video!
Love the outtakes.
Part of the appeal of Stevens covers they're very collectible in terms of being able complete the "set". It also has been very, very possible to stumble across the books in back issue and dollar bins even into 2021. They're also hard to part with! Should I sell the Cheval Noir 7 i got for a buck or one of my Planet Comics? Probably, but man i love having them in my collection.
“If you don’t know Hentai your lying you know what Hentai is”. 🤣🤣🤣 great video.
This was too fun! 😂
Mike at Lunch Money Comics has been collecting Dave Stevens for Ages, Stevens is a Fantastic Artist!
8:22 I would expect a lot of prices from those times to be low because the recession. Also it kind of bothers me a little how much of these market spikes are influenced by movies/speculation. I bought Dave Stevens, Wally Wood etc because I like their art. Not because Im waiting for some biopic to come out so I can sell it. It would be cool to see more videos about comics people actually like and not just whats most valuable at the moment. But to each their own
I only recently discovered how good Wally Wood, DS and Frank Thorne were. It’s been fun tracking down their books!
Is there anywhere anywhere to go to see all of the different Dave Stevens covers?
Great artist. Good article thx swag!
I have been hunting his Rocketeer books recently
just watched it last month on Amazon prime, cool story about Dave.
Glad to see you laugh.
I think this is WAY beyond FOMO. I believe there is a investor/speculator trend of picking something and hyping the ever loving hell out of it. They do this with cards, comics, video games, toys, coins. They are like locusts. They pump it up, dump it and noone ever sees them again.
On the Stevens side, I do hope Starslayer 2 blows up in value. In the past 6 years I unwittingly acquired over 20 copies of the book =)
8008's indeed (or maybe 58008's). I love Dave Stevens' work on the cover of True Love #1 - mainly because I love the 80's and 80's music. 😁
In my youth it was always 55378008 that was used. That's why it took me all of a minute to figure what Swag meant by 8008's. 😆
Bruce Timm fans have a lot to thank to Dave Stevens; a big influence on Bruce.
We are all going to 1134
I had no idea I sold my Johnny quest for 100 1-12 nm for 100 issue 5 was only key I could find on the app that was in January crazy.
You missed Bad Planet #6, it's his last published cover published after his death. It's been climbing pretty fast too.
I have been collecting since before the doc. Sold my Planet and Space Vixens
I have to admit that I thought the title of that book referred to anatomy and not Wally Wood 😜
“For the articles” 😂
I need to understand why Scottie Younge is so popular,. Its rediculous lol.
It's like Momoko, some great covers, but a lot of filler with those two.
Comic book youtubers keep talking about dave stevens covers and his art. Then they talk about him to all there followers and its basically the power of suggestion. All in my opinion personally.
It's close. I'm always suspicious when dealers on TH-cam try and promote anything.
I’m not promoting him. I’m just covering why all of a sudden the covers are so hot and trying to add context/info. I say many times in the video that you need to be careful because these high sales (like what we got last week) will pull raw copies out of the woodwork and inflate the census.
One or two ladies 😅😂😂😂 dang TH-cam demographic data...
Hahaha.... about 2 years ago I tried to sell my collection of Dave Stevens covers including Planet Comics and Space Vixens for like $10 a piece and no one was biting...
"Elvira made me the man I am today" 😂 don't forget Rhonda up all night on USA 😂
Is Michael Turner the next????
Ass long time Dave Stevens fan and collector these books a lot are ghosts
The EndN"!!!! Right on time. HaHaHa
Tier 3s goin wild. Theyre definitely cool covers but i wont be buying during the rush
Yoooooo u can keep them books stay away from my ASM 😅😅😅
But maybe we can get a 9.9 from cgc 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Doesn't look that great to me, it's going to drop like a rock once the fomo wears off
of course I have books in the series talked about that are not the big books. lol I have a complete run of alien worlds in very high grade and a few rocketeers in 9.8 but the world today demands Boobies and butts lol
Every time someone says, "Men of culture." I throw up a little in my mouth. I always picture a creepy incel giggling after saying it.
wut
I am not into fads show me some good work and i will pick it up!