Bob Storms of highgradecomics.com has reported a theft from his storage facility. A total of 2,200 books were stolen from Public Storage in Commack, New York. The comics have an estimated total value of over $77,700.
The theft happened sometime after Storms accessed the storage facility on February 1, 2023, and when he discovered the break-in on February 7. He found that the door was locked, and the thieves had broken the bar protecting the sliding bar and they bent the guiderail that guides the door to open and close.
The building where his storage unit is located has both a front and rear entrance. There is a camera outside the first door entrance and a second camera when people enter the facility at both the front and rare entrances. Two keypad entries are also required to get in the building. There are no cameras inside the facility.
The stolen comics include multiple issues of 1st Issue Special, 2001, A Space Odyssey, Action Comics, Adventure Comics, All-American Men of War, All-Star Western, Amazing Adventures, Amazing Spider-Man, Aquaman, Astonishing Tales, Avengers, Batman, Batman Family, Black Panther, Blackhawk, Brave and the Bold, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Daredevil, DC Special, Detective Comics, Doctor Strange, Doom Patrol, Fantastic Four, The Flash (Silver Age), From Beyond the Unknown, G.I. Combat, Ghost Rider, Ghosts, Green Lantern (Silver Age), Harley Quinn, House of Mystery, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Jonah Hex, Journey Into Mystery, Justice League of America, Mystery in Space, Star Trek, Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish, Thor, and Wonder Woman.
The police are investigating the crime and anyone with knowledge of the theft should contact Detective Anthony Iadevaio at (631) 854-8243.
Steve Borock Joins ComicLink as Senior Consignment Director
We have some exciting news here at ComicLink! I am thrilled to announce the addition of Steve Borock to the ComicLink team in the role of Senior Consignment Director. Working out of Sarasota, Florida, Steve will be handling consignments of comic books, original artwork, and other certified collectibles such as video games, VHS, action figures, trading cards and more!
Steve is a lifelong hobbyist and comic book reader, first setting up to sell comic books at the old Phil Sueling convention as a young teen in the 1970s. He’s been “playing with comic books” ever since, living a good part of his life on the convention floor and with other hobbyists. A fixture in the comic book hobby, Steve has for many years been a Senior Advisor to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, The Overstreet Guide To Grading Comics, and on the board of the Hero Initiative.
Steve and I have been great friends since the 1990s. We met just a few years after I started ComicLink, becoming fast friends and business associates. We even talked briefly about working together prior to Steve being hired as the original primary grader and restoration detection expert at CGC (incidentally, it was Steve that also showed me how to detect certain types of comic book restoration).
“I believed in Josh from the beginning,” says Steve Borock, “he had a great idea with ComicLink but moreover, he was honest. I recognized that the level of his personal and professional ethics stood out in this hobby at a time when it sorely needed them.”
Steve’s reputation as an expert and beloved friend to many in the professional comic book community was instrumental in the adoption of the grading standards used by so many hobbyists to this day. Steve’s voice was a major component in comic book certification gaining acceptance. He sold me on the concept initially and I have supported comic book certification from the start, featuring CGC certified comic books prominently on the ComicLink website since CGC’s launch in 2000. Still, I fondly remember—as do many of ComicLink’s long-term buyers—the old precertification days when it was ComicLink that verified the grade of every single book before shipping it off to a buyer. But I digress…
After being with CGC through a formative stage of its development, Steve spent well over a decade as a respected expert and professional in the comic book hobby, holding top positions within multiple firms, handling many millions of dollars worth of high value comic books and original artwork, and also spearheading the launch and growth of the CBCS, CGC's rival which was acquired by Beckett.
“I am ready and extremely excited to start my next journey in our great hobby as Senior Consignment Director at ComicLink,” says Steve Borock. “Josh and I have been fantastic friends and have done business together for 25 years now and though we always talked about working together someday, the stars never aligned until now! I am so looking forward to working with Josh, Douglas and the rest of the ComicLink team. I’ve admired the growth of ComicLink over nearly three decades. ComicLink has the longevity within the comic book hobby and suite of services that offer a value for comic book and original art sellers that I believe is second to none, and I am now proud to be a part of that.”
“When Josh told me that he was considering bringing Borock on board, I was all for it,” says Douglas Gillock, ComicLink’s Vice President and Senior Consignment Director. “I'm happy that Steve will be an integral part of our team, and I look forward to seeing what we can all accomplish together!”
Between the amazing consignment material that has been coming in for upcoming auctions and the welcome addition of Steve to my ComicLink team, 2023 is already shaping up to be a fantastic year at ComicLink. I'm so looking forward to what else is to come!
Steve Borock can now be reached at sborock@comiclink.com and via his new ComicLink extension, at 617-517-0062 ext 107
My Best,
Josh Nathanson
ComicLink Founder & Managing Director
For Auction at ComicLink Sleeper Season 2 #7 Sean Phillips Cover
For Auction at ComicLink AUTHORITY #23 PAGE 4 Dustin Nguyen
For Auction at ComicLink PLANETARY #3 PAGE 20 JOHN CASSADAY
For Auction at ComicLink WILDCATS #3 PAGE 10 SPLASH TRAVIS CHAREST
For Auction at ComicLink AUTHORITY #8 PAGE 8 BRYAN HITCH and PAUL NEARY
For Auction at ComicLink WILDC.A.T.S / ALIENS #1 PAGE 21 CHRIS SPROUSE and KEVIN NOWLAN
The Dark Knight Returns #1 Cover Sold for $2,400,000
Frank Miller and Lynn Varley Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1
I am disappointed with this result. The auction itself was also anti-climactic, having only a single bid during the live auction. I know that this is a big number, at the end of the day. That said, the fact that the cover to the most important comic book of my lifetime, by the most important comic book artist of my lifetime* couldn't beat a non-key panel page by Mike Zeck is silly. Obviously, whoever bought the Secret Wars #8 page, the 475th appearance of the black costume, wasn't exactly discerning, but it doesn't take a genius to recognize the importance of Dark Knight Returns #1. Maybe the Secret Wars #8 page was the final deposit of silly Bitcoin money? Inflation and a looming recession can't have helped either, but this is still hard for me to digest. Based on the prices we've seen recently, I thought that this page was going to see $5,000,000 or more.
At the end of the day it couldn't beat a Mike Zeck panel page.
Have I mentioned that original art is weird?
Outside influences are weird, too.
* While it's true I was alive while Jack Kirby was alive, Frank Miller has had more impact while I was alive than Kirby did, although Jack Kirby is the clearly greatest comic book creator (artist/writer/whatever) of all time. JACK KING KIRBY ALL DAY.
The Dark Knight Returns #1 Cover Original Art- Silly Money or Crazy Stupid Money?
Or is the bear market/crypto crash going to put an end to stratospheric prices? this one is already at just over $1,000,000, but that's a long way to go to the Secret Wars #8 page that sold for preposterous money, so who knows?
I does make me want to re-read DKR!
Frank Miller and Lynn Varley Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1