I've spent 14 years hunting these pieces, and I believe I've finally captured the soul of Marvel Comics.

Collection

These are some astonishingly tough pieces, many of which are one of five or ten drawn by the artist. All of those artists are famous, and have a long list of credentials in the comic industry spanning the 1960's to present. Something like this can never be replicated... it's easily my most prized possession. Hope you enjoy this, guys.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: prenz,

Absolutely jaw-dropping

I'd be proud of that collection too. Astonishing!

absolutely epic. Great collection. I know you have been working on that set for years. There was a guy named pat oliff or something like that, someone had his card years and years ago in michigan and sold it for like 100 bucks (sports card guy). he was a colorist i think. That was the only one ive ever seen from that set.

Thanks guys !!

Zhamlau, did you miss my Pat Olliffe piece on the third row? It's one of the nice Mysterios But you're right that it's an intensely rare artist. He only drew 5 pieces for FUSM'97, of which I've only ever seen 2: my Mysterio and an Electro.

I say it every time, but that's an extremely marvelous collection!!

It is truly both "spectacular" and "amazing",
What an accomplishment!

I was an avid collector of Skybox Marvel cards when these came originally came out and I bought 3 or 4 boxes but never found a sketch, not unusual since they were one per 12 boxes.
If I'd have known the full artist roster at that time, though, I probably would've picked up a few more boxes, they weren't very expensive.

Regarding this incredible artist lineup, as collectively awesome as they are, I'll bet almost none of them took more than a minute or two to draw each card, having long before mastered their subjects. This is a fine example of how highly qualified artists can whip up something nice extremely quickly.

I heard the sketch blanks for these series were just left in piles around the Marvel offices in advance of the set release and the various artistsm when dropping by, would fire off a few cards, which is probably why so many of them only did a handful each. I wonder if they were even paid for doing them, as much of a novelty as sketch cards were in those days.

Again, congrats!

That was a nice read, chesspieceface, thank you! I think it's awesome that the Marvel artists weren't paid anything more than a buck or two to make these cards. It sets the pieces apart from their original comic book pages or commissions, which are drawn as a means to make a living and profit.

There is something very innocent, novel, and amazing about FUSM'97 Sketchagraphs. After this set, I see sketch cards as cash-ins. "Spend as little as we can on *cough* emerging artists, make sure every box has one, and charge more for packs."

Part of the reason I've named my collection the Soul of Marvel is because these artists, who could've easily stuck with their paid work, poured their hearts and time into a handful of cards with no other motive than to fascinate their fans. It was not to put food on the table, nor was it a 'job'. The whole principle of the FUSM'97 series is utterly different than any of the sets that would follow.

Nice sketch cards.

PD
Finally I see sketch cards from real-know Comics illustrators and not just sketch cards artist.

quote:

Originally posted by prenz:
The whole principle of the FUSM'97 series is utterly different than any of the sets that would follow.

Actually, the 1998 Marvel Silver Age set is nearly as good as the 97 Spidey set (would be as good if only 5-10 more artists had worked on it), and for me personally, the 2001 Simpsons Mania sketch set from Inkworks is the greatest sketch set ever in terms of the accomplishments (before and since) of the artists who drew sketch cards for the set. It boasts cards from the animation directors of numerous classic episodes (and the Simpsons Movie), plus a well loved Simpsons Bongo comic book artist and others who worked both the series itself and on the key merchandising art, with not one "mercenary" artist in the bunch.
That's what hurts modern sets, too many artists involved who either aren't good enough to be doing sketch cards (I'd say about half of them in most sets) or even the use of skilled artists who had nothing to do with the original subject(s) that inspired the card set the sketches are a part of.

It is fair to include Silver Age in the same general spirit as FUSM, that is true. As far as Simpsons sketch cards, that's cool to know that the Mania series featured relevant artists. I'm lucky to have an Art de Bart by Matt Groening, from the much earlier SkyBox series:

Another beauty, the Art D'Bart, congrats.

Also, in addition to sketches, the Silver Age and Simpsons Mania sets each boast an autograph card lineup that is hard to top in terms of the importance of the signers to the subject of the sets.
Silver Age autos include Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., Tom Palmer, John and Sal Buscema, Marie Severin, Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, George Tuska, Joe Sinnott and Dick Ayers. These signers between them worked in some capacity on virtually every Marvel Comics Silver Age comic during the years of 1961 to 1973, the subject of the Silver Age set. In Silver Age, the autographs were one per box like the sketches, an incredible one-two punch really. I remember getting the Stan Lee autograph card and a John Romita Spider-Man sketch in the same box, and it was a $25 closeout box!

As for Simpsons Mania, the autographs were one in every other box (sketches were 1 per 4 boxes), and the signers including all Simpsons family members except Marge (her voice, Julie Kavner, apparently does not like to sign because she also passed on the earlier Simpsons 10th Anniversary set). Other autograph cards included the voices of pretty much every important supporting character thanks to cards from Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, and Tress MacNeille, plus a few more. The three I noted literally have done hundreds of voices on the show, in addition to piling up credits elsewhere.

But truly, the Spider-Man 97 Ultra sketch set, I don't think will ever be topped in terms of the dazzling array of connected contributors who provided the sketches. Is the print run known for Ultra Spider-Man '97?
I'm pretty sure there were only hobby boxes made. It predates the final Fleer/Skybox releases, Silver Age and Creators Collection by about a year, so print runs were still a little higher than the 12,000 that was made on those two, also hobby exclusives. Supposing they made 18,000 boxes of FUSM 97, that's still only 1,500 twelve box cases, and since the sketches were just one per case, that means there are only 1,500 Spidey sketches in total. That's a small percentage of the 12,000 Silver Age sketches issued and even rarer than the also hard to find Simpsons Mania sketch cards (around 2,000 total of those).

Sorry prenz - is it wrong that I'm not loving these? It's more of an aesthetic thing I guess. I know sketches, should be sketches but they leave me a little cold, but that's just my personal opinion. The Art de Bart card on the other hand.... Yeah equally plain, but The Simpson's fan in me would love to own it. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

THAT said... I think the concept really is an awesome one and it is admirable to devote so much collecting energy to such a 'pure' artsist roster that contributed directly the the subject matter.

Congratulations on your collection, I'm always pleased to see you so passionate about these sketches. Sure, there are some hard cards in there, but I have always believed that with a bit of patience, perservation and focus a collector can achieve great rusults in their chosen subject matter. Are you officially done now? One from every artist, or whatever? If so, what will you collect next?!?

There are many words that can be used to describe the inked-to-life Scorpion by Morgan, or the fully painted Doc by Bill Sienkiewicz. But I know that plain is not one of them, X, that is for sure. Of course, these names mean more to someone who knows they are comic book legends, who never took part in any other sketch card series. I thank you for taking a look through my collection, either way

I consider my journey at its end, but there is still famed Captain America artist Steve Epting, known to have drawn only 10 pieces (not unusual for FUSM'97; the McWeeney above is limited to 5). None have been found by the online community, but who knows what is out there in the vast hobby unknown. To come across one would be a true Holy Grail find for me...

Those three are dazzling, beautifully done. The Sienkiewicz in particular is a real winner. He also did one card for Marvel Masterpieces 2007, an Iron Man.

Someone who doesn't know or even care for his work might see the MM07 Iron Man or Prenz' Doc Ock from above and not think that much of them. But those, like me, who really enjoy Sienkiewicz' style can take just one look either card and instantly be reminded of countless other breathtaking pieces he's created over the years. I watched him draw a Neal Adams style Wolverine in ink at Comic Con in the mid 90's, that was a thrill. His work on actual paper (and a few sketch cards) is very desirable already since he largely works on computer these days and has for some time, meaning no hard copy of the original art.

I believe in the beginning the black and white sketchagrams were very underappreciated for a while. I know that I picked up two of the 1998 sketches, a Czop Electro and a Buscema Silver Surfer, without knowing who they were. I can't recall what I paid, but it couldn't have been more than $30 for the pair. You have to recognize the artists to understand the history of the pieces or else the sketchagrams may not seem very impressive by today's standards.

I'm enjoying seeing all these sketches, the collection is impressive, but more importantly, it's simply enjoyed by the collector, what the hobby should be all all about, no matter if it's rare or common, as long as it is appreciated by whoever collects it.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I believe in the beginning the black and white sketchagrams were very underappreciated for a while. I know that I picked up two of the 1998 sketches, a Czop Electro and a Buscema Silver Surfer, without knowing who they were. I can't recall what I paid, but it couldn't have been more than $30 for the pair. You have to recognize the artists to understand the history of the pieces or else the sketchagrams may not seem very impressive by today's standards.

It was also when the market was in a tail spin, some of the stuff could be bought at rock bottom prices back in 1998-2000 and now you could almost add an extra 0 to the price.

Two things keep the FUSM set sketches very popular even though they're a lot less intricate that the current stuff, you only got 1 sketch per case and it's one of the few sets where the majority of artists were established/well known.

ENTER THE PUNISHER!!

Just in the mail a few days ago, came my 42nd FUSM'97 Sketchagraph and 30th character. It has resulted in a perfect, 'meant-to-be' symmetry in the collection... a goal I've had since the beginning. Very, very happy right now

Soul of Marvel (updated)

Check the bottom row!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: prenz,