Insight Studios and creators Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley have issued a new warning to comics dealers, collectors, and platforms that artwork stolen from them is being actively marketed online. The stolen pieces include the complete original story artwork for Jonny Quest #17 and three original pages from Jonny Quest #16, all pen and ink on two-ply board, about 11″ x 7″, with paste-over corrections. The comics, created by Hempel and Wheatley through Insight, were published by Comico: The Comic Company in 1987.
The artwork is part of a large trove of material that was stolen from the Insight Studios warehouse many years ago. The theft went undetected until 2022 (see “Wheatley, Hempel Seek Return of Stolen Art Trove”), and the Maryland State Police concluded that the items were stolen by an individual who died in 2015. His estate had sold thousands of pages of the art, but once they learned it was stolen, the purchasers of the estate assisted in recovering the items. In addition, the artwork is listed in the FBI’s National Stolen Art File. Nonetheless, Hempel and Wheatley say, the pages are being offered for sale online by a seller who has been notified that the work is stolen.
The Jonny Quest #17 complete artwork was sold via Heritage Auctions in 2017 and again in 2021, before the discovery of the theft.
Hempel and Wheatley stated that because the works are confirmed stolen property the original creators are still the legal owners, even if a buyer makes a purchase in good faith. Furthermore, they pointed out, anyone who knowingly buys or sells stolen artwork is subject to criminal civil consequences.
“We are asking the original art collecting community and retailers to please help us,” Hempel said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Many have already stepped forward, and that support has meant a great deal. But there is still a long way to go.”
“If there is any good that has come out of this, it is the people who have helped us,” Wheatley added. “The collectors who have returned artwork have become some of our strongest allies. We are hopeful that others will do the same.”
Source: ICv2
