Since the inception of the AE Index on Comic Book Daily, I have been staunchly against reviewing or listing the Artist’s Edition Portfolio line from IDW. To me, they were expensive for what you were getting, and I would still prefer the material to appear in book format.
In our last Q&A with Scott Dunbier, this was asked and answered.
Q: Is the portfolio line dead? And if so will we see an AE of the collected portfolios?
A: Looks like it. The sales aren’t so bad but the cost to do a hardcover portfolio is prohibitive. Too bad, I think they are cool.
It seems I keep running across these portfolios at shows and comic shops on discount. At this point, I’m at four and have paid between $5 (Neal Adams’ Thrillkiller) and $30 (EC Covers). It was the $5 price point that started me off; sure, they weren’t what I was looking for, but for that price, why not? Then I saw Walter Simonson’s The Lawnmower Man for $10, Michael Golden G.I. Joe Yearbook for $15, and so on. The EC Covers had corner dings but I couldn’t pass it up for $30. And now since I have four why not get the rest. Oh no, collector mentality kicking in.
The only one climbing in price on eBay is Bernie Wrightson’s Muck Monster so that may be my holdout, but the rest I’ll gather when I see them. My plan is to take as long as needed and buy them when I can. Most are still available from Diamond if I see a sale or get desperate to complete the set.
It seemed like a good time to start reviewing them, as I’m looking to get some content as we wait for the backlog from IDW to see print. Look for the first one this week.
