Price Is Right John Romita Sr Art by Patrick BainDon't tell me you never watched the show!  It's time to play The Price is Right, featuring John Romita Sr. Spider-Man art.  You know the rules, best guess but don't go over.  Closest guess below the final sales price wins a fabulous prize.  Or just kudos and bragging rights until the next Price is Right challenge.

The Price is Right John Romita

Price Is Right John Romita Amazing Spider-Man 39

When you're talking about a Spider-Man legend, isn't the price ALWAYS right?  John Romita, Sr held the mantle for Spider-Man's look a looooooooong time.  Basically, from the time he took over for Steve Ditko in Amazing Spider-Man #39 until Todd McFarlane's entrance in ASM #298.  Romita's direction as both a pencil artist and an art editor took Peter from squirrely kid to dynamic young man as the character matured.  Sure, Peter still had more than his fair share of problems!

The Art of the Game

Amazing Spider-Man 88 Page 1 original art by John Romita Sr and Jim MooneyAnd now I have a problem for you... guess the final price of Amazing Spider-Man #88 Page 1 original art.  Remember, your Price is Right John Romita art guess MUST come in BELOW the final auction with premium price.  "The Arms of Doctor Octopus" splash hails from 1970 with inks by Jim Mooney.

Both artists had legendary contributions to comics.  Romita gets more pub, but Mooney contributed to DC's Golden Age by working on Supergirl, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Batman.  By the way, on the CAT grading scale, this page gets an "S7" for superior grade A splash.  You've got Spidey action against one of his most memorable antagonists.

John Romita Comparables

Amazing Spider-Man 41 by John Romita Sr

The title splash page for "The Horns of the Rhino", ASM #41 by JR, Sr. and Dick Ayers could have been a nice comparison for our Price is Right game.  It sold in 2020 for $180,000.  Like the ASM 88 page, a heralded villain, Rhino, faces off against Spider-Man.  It is also CAT S7 on the Comic Art Taxonomy scale.

What are the drawbacks to an 'Apples to Art' comparison?  First, the Rhino page is much older, 1966.  Bigger, it's a first appearance of Rhino splash--that's a lot of bragging rights to own such a piece.  Further, since the sale was a couple years ago, we need to consider inflation.  But we also need to consider the market in October 2022 compared to 2020.  That price change for inflation is actually the easiest of these drawbacks to address.

John Romita Price Is Right Bottom Dollar

Price Is Right John Romita art

So, you can probably assume my guess will be under $180,000.  But what about my bottom dollar projection?  Just this last April, an action-packed Romita-Mooney page sold for $45,600.  That page featured a LOT of Spidey, and two minor villains: Silvermane and Marko.

At $45,600 for Amazing Spider-Man 75, I would go no lower than that for this Price is Right John Romita guessing game.  While the page from issue 75 is older, there's no doubt collectors are salivating for the ASM 88 splash.

Big Romita Price Reveal

Amazing Spider-Man 88I didn't find any compelling art comparisons.  For remarkable pages of art, there's never a recession.  However, I don't think the ASM 88 page has the gravitas of a page that features a first appearance.  However, it's still Spider-Man, it's still Doc Ock, and it's still John Romita, Sr.  So, my educated guess is $90,000 including buyer's premium.  That affords a double for a title splash compared to a panel page.  It hopefully doesn't overshoot the weakness in the market.

I think the recession and inflation may be canceling each other out here.  And if the final price is anywhere near $45 grand, I recommend buying the art and picking up a raw copy of ASM #88 to frame with it.

Want more from Cat Eyes on Original Art?

You may want to tune in on the Price Is Right while reading my article on Mark Bagley, another reputed Spider-Man artist.  And don't forget about my X-Men art preview.

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.