Monthly Archive: August 2009

At various times, we’ve seen pricing for admission to the Comix4Sight Ostrander benefit auction set at $40, $15, and free. So which is it?

The price to enter the room where the auction is happening is $40 with an hour of open bar and food. Zero money goes to Wizard, the admission price covers the cost of the room the hotel charges plus a $5 donation to the Ostrander fund. “The hotel wouldn’t let us do it any other way,” program coordinator Adriane Nash said. “We tried to find a sponsor to underwrite the costs of the room, but couldn’t, and we didn’t want to spend additional money when the point was to raise money.” Apparently, the $15 note on the web site and free price listed in the program book were placeholder items that never got changed until it was too late.

Does that mean if you don’t buy admission to the room, you can’t bid?

Not at all. We will have runners right outside the door taking bids back and forth during the auction, and we’re checking with the hotel to see if they will let people in right after the open bar closes.

In addition, we’re looking into ways to take bids from people who are listening to live streams of the auction at getthepointradio.com.

Items going up for auction will be available for inspection at Booth #1435 on the floor at the Chicago Comic-Con, as well as galleries at Comix4Sight.com, as well as what we’re posting here on ComicMix.

And remember, the auction is Saturday, August 8th, starting at 7:30 Central Daylight Time.

Alan Moore’s artist’s proof of the Randy Bowen sculpted Marvelman/Miracleman statue has been donated to the Comix4Sight.com auction to benefit comics’ legend John Ostrander. The benefit auction will be held Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 PM at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, as part of this year’s annual Chicago Comic-Con.

John Ostrander is a 30-year veteran of the comics field and a playwright facing the possibility of blindness from glaucoma. He is in the midst of a series of difficult operations to protect his remaining eyesight and, like a growing number of Americans, needs to supplement his insurance in order to cover the surgeries.

“With Marvel Comics having announced in San Diego that Marvel has acquired ownership of all rights to the Marvelman/Miracleman character, bringing him back to the public after more than 20 years, and knowing Neil Gaiman’s support for the Comix4Sight efforts for John, we thought that nothing would be more in demand than a high end Marvelman/Miracleman item.” program coordinator Adriane Nash stated.  “By good fortune, Ken F. Levin, attorney for Neil Gaiman’s Marvels & Miracles company, is a long-time close friend of John’s.  Neil Gaiman has also been most supportive of our efforts.  When Ken heard about the auction, Ken spoke to Neil and Alan Moore, and Alan– also a John Ostrander friend– gave the statue to us for John’s benefit with Alan’s blessing.”

The statue is an extremely rare Randy Bowen “Artist’s Proof,” which almost never make their way to the marketplace. As an added bonus, the statue itself has been signed by co-designer Neil Gaiman. Finally, to further identify the statue’s uniqueness, the lucky buyer will also receive a certificate of authenticity from Marvels & Miracles, identifying it as Alan Moore’s own.  “We greatly appreciate the support and assistance from Neil, Alan and Ken, particularly right when the Marvel Comics agreement has been announced,” Nash stated. Ken F. Levin has agreed to be on hand to personally auction the piece.

The auction will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, next to the Chicago Comic Con being held at the Rosemont Convention Center. The event is being co-sponsored by Wizard Entertainment, publishers of Wizard Magazine, and is being covered live at getthepointradio.com.