CGC and Michael Bair Embrace the Crisis

Artist extraordinaire Michael Bair, who is inking DC's smash hit limited series, Identity Crisis, will be on hand and signing at the CGC Booth from 2:00pm – 3:00pm on Saturday, November 20th during this year's National Comic Book, Sci-Fi & Art Expo held in New York City. In addition to doing this signing, with all autographs being eligible to be handed in at the CGC booth for CGC Signature Series certification, Michael will be certifying 10 of his personal creator copies of the rare Identity Crisis #4 with the "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" poster insert for the prestigious CGC Signature Series.

According to Bair, "The entire print run of Identity Crisis #4 had Sky Captain movie posters inserted in the middle of the book. When management saw the preview copy, they discovered the poster interrupts the double page spread in the center that made it impossible to read the story in continuity. Originally, the copies were to be destroyed and reprinted but having the posters removed would probably be more cost effective and they knew of a process of doing it without damaging the books."

However, preview copies were already sent out to the creators directly from the printer. Bair did not learn of the error variants until a couple of days before the Baltimore Comic-Con. At the Baltimore Comic-Con, Bair submitted his copies to CGC, the hobby's only expert, impartial certification and grading service. These books were graded on site on September 11th and 12th 2004, which pre-dates the issue's release date of September 15th. Of the five books submitted, there are two Universal 9.4s, two Signature Series 9.4s and one Signature Series 9.2. All the books bear the "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow poster insert" on the CGC label. Bair will be submitting ten more copies for onsite grading at the National.

"I met Michael in a hotel lobby at San Diego years ago, we hit it off right away, and spent about an hour talking about comics," said Steve Borock, CGC's President and Primary Grader. "Not only am I a big fan of his art, but I am very happy to have a friend and professional like Michael involved with the CGC Signature Series. Every day, more and more comic book fans are finding out how great CGC's Signature Series is, and having someone like Michael involved will help get the word out to fans who, believe it or not, don't know about it yet."

"I have been familiar and supportive of CGC since their inception and have come to know the staff through previous CGC Forum Dinners," said Bair. "When I found out that these books had the rare insert, I thought it would be best to have them CGC'd for the historical reason of having this insert documented and for preservation."

Previous to inking Identity Crisis, Michael has left his mark on many of the DC characters from stints on such fan favorite titles as Hawkman, JSA, JLA Year One, and The Kents (DC Elseworlds). Bair has also done incredible work for Harris Comics (Vampirella), Marvel Comics (Hellstorm) and others.