작품 상세

SPACE ACE (VIDEO GAME, 1983) - Space Ace Hand Drawn Storyboards Endings - A remarkable selection of ten original hand-drawn storyboard panels from Space Ace, each one a different ending to the same sequence, every possible fate the player could meet, collected together in a single lot. All ten panels are from SEQ 029, sheets SK71 through SK77 plus SK18, and they map the multiple possible outcomes that awaited the player depending on whether they hit their cue or missed it. SK71 alone appears three times, the same composition, the same spinning bike, the same moment, but with a different character each time: Dexter arms-out and panicking under machine gun fire, Ace in full hero form triumphant, and a third variant marked simply "OR A REUSE." Three versions of the same beat, each a different branch of the story. The endings are hilarious. Ace blown skyward, arms out, expression somewhere between fury and disbelief. The bike dropping suddenly to the floor leaving Ace stuck helplessly to the ceiling. A monster chewing the bicycle with tremendous comic satisfaction. Kim and Ace buried in lug nuts. A chaotic pile-up that manages to be both violent and funny simultaneously. Anyone who fed enough quarters into a Space Ace cabinet will have a personal relationship with most of these, the specific humiliation of each failed cue burned into memory. And then the two endings that stay with you. SK77 is Ace and Kim as angels, haloes glowing, floating serenely on a heavenly bike through clouds, the gentlest possible way the Bluth team could tell you that, well, you're dead. It is, on its own, a beautiful and quietly funny drawing. And SK18, three alien creatures riding in smug formation, a gag ending that would have landed in the arcade like a punchline at a funeral. This is what made Space Ace genuinely unlike anything else on an arcade floor in 1984. The Bluth team were building a branching story where every possible outcome, from triumph to chaos to lug nuts to a peaceful death on a heavenly bike, had to be planned, drawn, and animated before anyone put a quarter in the machine. Estimate: $600 - 1,200 Bidding for this lot will end on Friday, March 27th. The auction will begin at 2:00 PM (PDT) / 5:00 PM (EDT) / 9:00 PM (GMT) and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Wednesday, March 25th or Thursday, March 26th.