IDW Covers Auction: Cerebus Attacks

Mars Attacks: Zombies vs. Robots (2012)
Art by Dave Sim
SOLD: $1,250 (+19.5%BP)
Auctioned: 24 March 2013

DAVE SIM:
(from the Kickstarter Update #145, 7 March 2013)

...RE: The Dave Sim Fund. Donations are still coming in and are much appreciated. Another $400 since Feb 25 (part downloads, part donations but I consider it all Dave Sim Fund money. "Get that STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND thang DONE.") Things are looking up. I haven't gotten the money from the Heritage Auction yet, but I did get a royalty cheque from Alexander Street Press (about $1,000!) and it SOUNDS as if my Italian publisher is back on his feet (at a different company). But, it's 2013 -- I don't count on ANY payment until it actually comes in and the cheque clears. On the donations front -- if you have bought or plan to buy ANY of the IDW variant or incentive covers, as far as I'm concerned, that lets you off the "donation hook" PERMANENTLY. No, seriously. ANY CEREBUS/Dave Sim fan who does that particularly (with the CEREBUS ATTACKS cover which Nate told me cost him, like, TWENTY DOLLARS from his online retailer).  Well, that's performance above and beyond the call of CEREBUS duty (as well as INSANE!).  But insane in a very nice way if it keeps me on IDW's radar screen as someone who can still move some funnybooks in his near-dotage. But I still think you're better off just downloading the cover and sticking it in a plastic bag with the regular issue.  It's. Just. A. Cover.

Now I'm working on trying to generate interest in the Heritage Auctions weekly auctions of the IDW cover originals. Signing and numbering 5 copies of the printed copy. "Heritage 1/5; Heritage 2/5, Heritage 3/5..." -- hoping that that will be an incentive to bid on the cover (starting at $1, as always at Heritage!): whoever is the winning bidder then has 5 copies to sell to recover some of his or her investment (or "investment", as the case may be). The first cover is CEREBUS ATTACKS and it goes "under the hammer" at HA.com between March 17 and March 24. This will be my primary means of making a living in 2013. The cover rate, plus whatever I can auction the original for.

One of the BIG reasons for that (being my primary means of making a living, I mean) is that -- although George and I are making progress on the CEREBUS and HIGH SOCIETY volumes, remastering and tweaking and re-tweaking and re-re-tweaking pretty much every page, every time we get to the point of being done, we both see a bunch of other things that really need doing...

...But (and here's the point I was driving at) CEREBUS and HIGH SOCIETY are the life's blood of Aardvark-Vanaheim and always have been. I've got orders backed up from Diamond back to last August for both titles. And I still have no more idea of WHEN the two books will be ready to go to press... than I had last August when I SURE didn't think we were looking at seven months just to get NEAR to finished. That's a long time to coast on life support. It's actually WORKING OUT. But we are definitely skimming the treetops as we're coming in for a landing. The printing bill for the two books will be roughly $20,000. Jeez. Bill Schanes (I'm informed) Diamond's VP of Purchasing (and the "go-to" guy for goosing up CEREBUS trade paperback sales when needed) (like in this case) is retiring at the end of April.

You don't suppose it's BECAUSE of CEREBUS and HIGH SOCIETY do you?

"That's it. Seven months. I've HAD it.  I'm too OLD to deal with this s--t, Sim. Pope Julius didn't take this much grief from Kirk Douglas."

No, I'm sure it isn't.  (Uhhh)  But it sure would be nice to get them both back into the Diamond Star System BEFORE Bill retires. We'll see how it goes.

And then there's THE STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND.  Hopefully I can also get some work done on that this month.