Hake’s July 26-27 auction led by Star Wars comic strip original concept art, high-grade Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype figure, trove of pop culture rarities
Featured: 1 of 5 known 1888-89 cabinet cards for baseball Hall of Famer Mike ‘King’ Kelly, smallest size 1920 Cox/Roosevelt campaign button, key Marvel comics, important comic art 1888-89 N173 Old Judge (Cigarettes) mail-in premium cabinet card depicting baseball Hall of Famer Mike ‘King’ Kelly, Captain of the Boston Beaneaters, rare street-clothes version, size: 4.25in x 6.5in. One of only five known examples and only the third to appear at auction. SGC-graded 2.5 Good+. Estimate $75,000-$100,000YORK, Pa. – If modern art aficionados could be granted one wish, it might be the discovery of a major, previously unknown Picasso. While Picasso lovers may have a very long wait ahead of them, those who revel in the uniquely imaginative art and imagery of the Star Wars saga just might have their wishes granted later this month, when Hake’s auctions six extraordinary artworks from Star Wars’ earliest days. The July 26-27 auction of pop culture memorabilia includes six consecutive lots of original Star Wars art that only a small circle of insiders would even know about. Each lot contains unpublished concept art that legendary comic strip artist Al Williamson (1931-2020) created in the late 1970s for a proposed Star Wars daily newspaper comic strip. Williamson, already regarded as a titan of the industry for his work with EC Comics and for having drawn the 1960s Flash Gordon comic strip, prepared 12 strips to cover the first two weeks of newspaper publication (Sundays were not included). However, the deal never came to fruition. Russ Manning (1929-1981) was tapped to write and draw the Star Wars strip, which he did from 1979 to 1981, when poor health forced him to retire. At that point, Williamson stepped back in to handle the art and storyline duties through the strip’s conclusion in 1984. As for the disposition of the original