Johnson, Alex :: My Art Collection - Sheldon Mayer Tributes - Art by Sheldon Mayer

Sugar and Spike Sunday Strip by Sheldon Mayer (Unrestored)

Artists: Sheldon Mayer (All) , Matt Nelson (Restorer)

3 Comments - 9,733 Views - 1 Like

Sugar and Spike Sunday Strip by Sheldon Mayer Comic Art

Additional Images:

Original and Final Upper Tier

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Artwork Details

Title:	Sugar and Spike Sunday Strip by Sheldon Mayer
Artist:	Sheldon Mayer (All)
Artist:	Matt Nelson (Restorer)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	9,733
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	3
Added to Site:	6/27/2007
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Notes:

This piece was restored by Matt Nelson of Classics Incoprorated. He cleaned the piece, pressed it, and reattached the paste-ons.

You can see the unrestored scan in the Additional Images section.

You can see what the original top tier in the Additional Images section below. It's different and the replacement is better.

A one page Sugar and Spike story has been one of my two "holy grail" pieces and I was thrilled to win this in a Heritage Auction. I think it is wonderful.

Heritage wrote the following about the piece:

Sheldon Mayer - Sugar & Spike 1-Page Story With A Paper Doll Panel Original Art (DC, undated). Sheldon Mayer serves up a hilarious gag plus a paper doll panel on this page from an unidentified issue. The image area of this page measures approximately 14" x 21". The paper has aged, the top panel tier is a paste-on, and so are ten stats made for the "Pint Size Pin-Ups" panel; otherwise, the art is in Good condition.

I have had a few folks tell me a little about the piece:

From josemas on the DC Message Boards, I found out that the piece probably predates issues #75 (Feb-Mar 1968) because the parent�s faces are not shown.

From karl40 on the DC Message Boards, I found out that the piece probably pre-dates issue 63 (Feb-Mar 1966) because of the size of the page (14�x21�).

From Urban on the Marvel Masterworks boards with confirmation from karl40, I found out that the pin-ups were identical to those in issue 21(Feb-Mar 1959)

From Allan Ross on the Marvel Masterworks board, �I found that the story comes from Sugar & Spike #4 (Oct-Nov 1956), but there it's a six-page story called "One Sunday Afternoon". This page is a shortened version of that story, but is definitely redrawn (no cutting and pasting of panels).

The consensus of opinion is that it is either unpublished inventory or a page intended for the foreign market. However, Bob on the Yahoo! Sheldon Mayer group mailing list suggests that it might have been prepared as a sample for the proposed S&S newspaper strip. This would have been a Sunday full page with the paper dolls or a typical 9 panel Sunday strip without them.

No one knows, but it is fun to speculate.

Thanks for taking a look. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

PS - Bob Heer posted the other strips:

1960-ish strips including my Sunday and the proposal letter
1980-ish strips

PPS - Since I decided to have the piece restored, the restorer pulled the paste-on off and scanned the original drawing for me.

In this post, you can see the original drawing (top) and the paste-up replacement (bottom). The dialog is a little different as well:

Origiinal Panel 1 -
Sugar: !
Spike: Are you SURE it wasn't like this before we jumped on it?

Original Panel 2 -
Sugar: Positive Doll Boy! I distinctly remember that we couldn't see grass thru it before!
Spike: Hmm. This could lead to unpleasantness.

Original Panel 3 -
Sugar: Not if we move this pillow.
Spike: Yeah, It'll do more good here than where it is now!

The original is good, but the revised version is better. I especially love Sugar's face in the third panel of the replacement.

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About the Owner

	Alex Johnson Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	January 2006
Last Login:	April 2024
Ebay Id:	alxjhnsn
Website:	http://web.mac.com/alxjhnsn
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Alex's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About AlexJohnson

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User Comments

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Timothy Finney
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/9/2008

It's a funny and nostalgic piece and it's always great to see a collector get that elusive grail. Also, thanks for the history lesson and the info on the restoration. It was all very informative.

Hart Rieckhof
Member Since 2004

Posted on 10/11/2012

VERY Cool!!! Plus as an added bonus it puts a smile to my face. :)

Rabid Ferret
Member Since 2005

Posted on 12/28/2017

Wow, a very neat piece with a great writeup! Love all the extra background you provide!

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