Ant-Man Original Artwork Dick Ayers Circa 1966 Silver-Age Marvel Comics EX RARE

Description: Offered for sale is a vintage illustration of the Marvel Comics character "Ant-Man" done by noted comic artist Dick Ayers (circa 1966, NYC), which is an amazing ink work of the character charioteering atop two soldier ants, and was done as a special commission by the artist back in the early years of Marvelmania (bio info below). The artwork measures 11" x 8.5" (frame: 13.25" x 10.5"), archivally framed and matted, and is suitable for display in a permanent collection. The asking price is $1,499.99 + FREE Shipping / Handling / Insured ($39.95 Value; US Domestic only), and is the only example of its kind for sale on eBay. Original super-hero comic pages by Ayers from this time period sell for thousands of dollars, so this is a rare opportunity to own an exceptional example of his work! Feel free to contact me with further questions. Dick AyersDick AyersDick Ayers at the April 2008 New York Comic ConBornRichard Bache Ayers April 28, 1924 Ossining, New York, U.S.DiedMay 4, 2014 (aged 90) White Plains, New York, U.S.Area(s)Penciller, InkerNotable worksSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos 1950s Ghost Rider Jack Kirby inkerAwardsNational Cartoonists Society Award, 1985 Inkpot Awards (2007)[1] Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, 2007 Inkwell Awards Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame (2013)Richard Bache Ayers[2] (/ɛərz/; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four. He is the signature penciler of Marvel's World War II comic Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, drawing it for a 10-year run, and he co-created Magazine Enterprises' 1950s Western-horror character the Ghost Rider, a version of which he would draw for Marvel in the 1960s.Ayers was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2007.Early life[edit]Richard Bache Ayers[3] was born April 28, 1924, in Ossining, New York,[4][5] the son of John Bache Ayers and Gladys Minnerly Ayers.[6] He had a sister who was 10 years older.[7] The siblings were in the 13th generation, he said, of the Ayers family that had settled in Newbury, Massachusetts in 1635.[8] At 18, during World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, and was stationed in Florida, where after failing radar training he was sent for a month's art training at McTomb University and began working as an artist in the Air Corps' Operations division.[7] He published his first comic strip, Radio Ray, in the military newspaper Radio Post in 1942.[5]Career[edit]Ayers broke into comics with unpublished work done for Western Publishing's Dell Comics imprint. "I approached them," Ayers said in a 1996 interview. "I had a story written and drawn. They wanted to wrap a book around it.... I got into it, but Dell decided to scrap the project. ... It was an adventure thing, boy and girl; the boy wanted to be a trumpet player. The girl kept feeding the jukebox and he'd played along to Harry James or whatever sort of thing. ... It didn't make it, but it got me started where I wanted to be in the business."[9]Magazine Enterprises[edit]Following this, in 1947, Ayers studied under Burne Hogarth in the first class of Hogarth's new institution, New York City's Cartoonists and Illustrators School (renamed the School of Visual Arts in 1956). Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman, would visit the class, and Ayers eventually ventured to his nearby studio. "Next thing I knew," Ayers said in the same interview, "I was penciling a bit here and there."[9] In a 2005 interview, Ayers elaborated that, "Joe had me pencil some of his Funnyman stories after seeing my drawings at Hogarth's evening class" and "sent me to [editor] Vin Sullivan of Magazine Enterprises."[10] There, Sullivan "let me try the Jimmy Durante [humor] strip. I submitted my work and got the job."[9]Ayers went on to pencil and ink Western stories in the late 1940s for Magazine Enterprises' A-1 Comics and Trail Colt, and for Prize Comics' Prize Comics Western.[11] With writer Ray Krank, Ayers created the horror-themed Western character Ghost Rider in Tim Holt #11 (1949). The character appeared in stories through the run of Tim Holt, Red Mask, A-1 Comics, Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders, and the 14-issue solo series The Ghost Rider (1950–1954),[12] up through the introduction of the Comics Code. The character's genesis came, Ayers recalled in 2003, when Sullivan "describe[d] what he wanted in the Ghost Rider" and told Ayers to see the 1949 Disney animated feature The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, one segment of which adapted Washington Irving's story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", featuring the Headless Horseman. "[A]nd then he told me to play the Vaughn Monroe record "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky". And then he started talking about what he wanted the guy wearing."[13]After the trademark to the character's name and motif lapsed, Marvel Comics debuted its own near-identical, non-horror version of the character in Ghost Rider #1 (Feb. 1967), by writers Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich and original Ghost Rider artist Ayers.[11]Ayers' hands appear onscreen as those of a cartoonist played by actor Don Briggs in "The Comic Strip Murders", a 1949 episode of the CBS television series Suspense.[14]Atlas Comics[edit]In 1952, while continuing to freelance for Magazine Enterprises, Ayers began a long freelance run at Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel Comics. He drew horror stories in such titles as Adventures into Terror, Astonishing, Journey into Mystery, Journey into Unknown Worlds, Menace, Mystery Tales, Mystic, Strange Tales, and Uncanny Tales.[11] As well, he drew the brief revival of the 1940s Golden Age of Comics superhero the Human Torch, from Marvel's 1940s predecessor Timely Comics, in Young Men # 21-24 (June 1953 - Feb. 1954). An additional, unpublished Human Torch story drawn by Ayers belatedly appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #16 (Sept. 1968).[11]During the 1950s, Ayers also drew freelance for Charlton Comics, including for the horror comic The Thing and the satirical series Eh!.[9]Marvel Comics[edit]The 1960s Marvel Comics version of Ayer's co-creation, the Western Ghost Rider: Ghost Rider #1 (Feb. 1967). Cover art by AyersAyers first teamed with the highly influential and historically important penciler Jack Kirby at Atlas shortly before Atlas transitioned to become Marvel Comics. As Kirby's second regular Marvel inker, following Christopher Rule, Ayers would ink countless covers and stories, including on such landmark comics as most early issues of The Fantastic Four, in addition to a slew of Western and "pre-superhero Marvel" monster stories in Amazing Adventures, Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales to Astonish.[11] Because creator credits were not routinely given at the time, two standard databases disagree over the duo's first published collaboration.[15] Ayers revealed in 1996, however:The first work I did with Jack was the cover of Wyatt Earp #25 (Oct. 1959). [Editor-in-chief] Stan Lee liked it and sent me another job, "The Martian Who Stole My Body," for Journey into Mystery #57 (Dec. 1959). I also began Sky Masters, the [syndicated] newspaper strip. There is a lot of confusion on this; people think Wally Wood inked them all, because they're signed Kirby/Wood. But that was Dave Wood, the writer [who was unrelated to artist Wally Wood]. I began Sky Masters with the 36th Sunday page; Jack's pencils, my inks, in September 1959. I ended the Sundays in January 1960. I also did the dailies for a period of [over] two years, from September of '59 to December of '61. These were complete inks; I was the only one doing it at the time. Of course, Wally Wood also worked on that strip, in the beginning, before me.[16]Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #57 (Aug. 1968). Cover art by penciler Ayers and inker John Severin.Ayers went on to ink scores of Kirby Western and monster stories, including such much-reprinted tales as "I Created the Colossus!" (Tales of Suspense #14, Feb. 1961), "Goom! The Thing from Planet X!" (Tales of Suspense #15, March 1961), and "Fin Fang Foom!" (Strange Tales #89, Oct. 1961). As Marvel introduced its superheroes in the early 1960s, Ayers inked Kirby on the first appearances of Ant-Man (Tales to Astonish #27 & 35, Jan. & Sept. 1962), Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos (issues #1-3, May-Sept. 1963), and the revamped Rawhide Kid (beginning with The Rawhide Kid #17, Aug. 1960); on the second and several subsequent early appearances of Thor (Journey into Mystery #84-89, Sept. 1962 - Feb. 1963); on Fantastic Four #6-20 (Sept. 1962 - Nov. 1963), and the spin-off Human Torch solo series in Strange Tales (starting with its debut in issue #101); and The Incredible Hulk #3-5 (Sept. 1962 - Jan. 1963), among other series.[11]Additionally, Ayers took over from Kirby as Sgt. Fury penciler with issue #8 (July 1964), beginning a 10-year run that — except for #13 (which he inked over Kirby's pencils), and five issues by other pencilers — continued virtually unbroken through #120 (with the series running Ayers reprints every-other-issue through most but not all from #79 on).[11]Ant-ManAnt-ManMitchell Carson and Eric O'Grady on the cover of Irredeemable Ant-Man vol. 1 #5 (April 2007). Art by Phil HesterPublication informationPublisherMarvel ComicsFirst appearanceTales to Astonish #27 (January 1962) (as Dr. Henry Pym); Tales to Astonish #35 (September 1962) (as Ant-Man)Created byStan Lee (co-creator) Larry Lieber (writer) Jack Kirby (co-creator, writer)In-story informationAlter egoHank Pym Scott Lang Eric O'Grady Chris McCarthy Zayn AsgharTeam affiliationsAvengersAbilitiesSuperhuman strength and agilityLeading authority in myrmecology researchSize-shifting from nearly microscopic to ~100 feet gigantic (both at extremes)Maintains strength of normal size in shrunken stateTelepathic communication with ants via cybernetic helmetAnt-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics.Publication history[edit]Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, his first appearance was in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962) as Dr. Henry Pym; however, he first appeared in costume as Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35 (September 1962). The persona was originated by the brilliant scientist Hank Pym's superhero alias after inventing a substance that can change size (Pym Particles), but reformed thieves Scott Lang and Eric O'Grady also took on the Ant-Man mantle after the original changed his superhero identity to various other aliases, such as Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket. Pym's Ant-Man is also a founding member of the super hero team known as the Avengers. The character has appeared in several films based on the Marvel character, such as Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).

Price: 1500 USD

Location: Petaluma, California

End Time: 2024-12-11T21:02:08.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD