Spent $80 on a signed first printing of a 90s indie comic and it taught me a lesson

Picked up a copy of Bone #1 signed by Jeff Smith at a shop in Portland for $80 thinking it was a steal. Got home and realized the sig was printed on the cover, not hand-drawn. Has anyone else fallen for a fake autograph at a comic shop?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sarah2d ago

Oh man, that's a bummer but I actually read about this exact thing in a comic collecting blog a few months back! They mentioned how those printed sigs were a real sticking point for collectors who didn't do their homework. So it's definitely not just you, shops in Portland seem to sell these without always being clear about what you're getting.

king.ruby2d ago

Actually those Bone #1 signed editions from the 90s were originally sold with a printed signature as part of a limited run from the publisher. It's not a fake autograph, it's just a different type of collectible. Jeff Smith did a real signing for the first few thousand copies but then did printed sigs for later printings because of demand. The printed ones are still worth maybe $30-40 if the condition is good. You overpaid a bit but you didn't get swindled by the shop, just misread what you were buying.