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WELCOME TO A MONUMENTAL INDEPENDENT COMIC HISTORY ACQUISITION EVENT! This is an un-rivaled, museum-grade piece of independent comic book history: The 1982 Dave Sim West Coast Tour Original Production Art & Rory Root Photo Provenance Archive Portfolio!Sourced directly from the personal estate files of the original recipient, this unified historical collection documents legendary cartoonist Dave Sim's historic 1982 promotional tour stop in Berkeley, California. Rather than a standard commercial item, this collection carries elite provenance tracking back to one of the most important comic retailers in American history.THE MASTERPIECE PORTFOLIO CONTENT INCLUDES:
1. THE ORIGINAL HAND-DRAWN ILLUSTRATION: A one-of-a-kind original process art piece hand-penciled in light red layout pencil and hand-inked by Dave Sim at a drafting counter in 1982. It depicts Cerebus the Aardvark riding a dragon and features Sim's prominent, wet live-ink hand inscription: "To Rory - A Different Dragon - Dave Sim '82 in Berkeley."
2. THE HISTORIC PROVENANCE PHOTOGRAPH: An original vintage 1982 black-and-white silver-halide photo print documenting the legendary original recipient himself—a young Rory Root, founder of the world-famous "Comic Relief" store in Berkeley! The photo captures Rory standing proudly behind the longboxes on the retail floor during this exact 1982 signing window.
3. THE SIGNED TOUR COMPANION PRINT: The matching official whiter-stock 1982 promotional lithograph print, also hand-inscribed and signed by Dave Sim to Rory, featuring a second vintage industry co-signature. COLLECTOR'S DESIGN NOTE & ARTISTIC PROCESS:
This piece showcases a magnificent, intimate look into Dave Sim's 1982 artistic process. Advanced comic curators will note that this features highly unique, non-formulaic imagery—Dave Sim rarely drew Cerebus riding a distinct dragon like this, making it a highly unusual and prized composition. Because it is partially hand-inked over a highly detailed red-pencil layout sketch, you can clearly track the master cartoonist's raw structural pencil strokes and organic corrections directly on the board. This incomplete inking is a feature, not a flaw, exposing the true fingerprint of Sim's drafting table workflow. CONDITION REPORT:
The items are in excellent vintage state, preserved inside a protective estate folder. The original art sheet features beautiful, natural vintage paper foxing (spotting). This organic aging acts as an un-tampered stamp of authenticity, confirming the 1982 paper stock timeline.HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR CURATORS:
Rory Root was not a random fan; he was a revolutionary comics ambassador and recipient of the 1993 Will Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award. Independent creators like Dave Sim aggressively supported Rory's retail operations because he was a pioneer in treating graphic novels and self-published underground comix as serious literature. This portfolio captures the exact foundational spark of the 1980s indie comic boom.An absolute crowning centerpiece discovery for advanced comic art collectors, museum curators, or independent publishing historians. Ships completely flat, heavily padded, and fully insured via signature-required delivery.
