When I found out that Whilce Portacio was doing commissions, it was bittersweet. I thought "Wow, that would be awesome!", but then immediately thought there was no way that I would be able to afford it, but I thought I would check it out anyway. When I saw how much it was, I knew I had to get on his list.

While Whilce never worked as a regular artist on any Spider-Man or Batman (Nightwing) books while I was growing up, he was on Uncanny X-Men when I started collecting X-Men on a regular basis. Sure, I had seen his work on X-Factor, he was just finishing that up as I was getting into the X-Books and what made me buy that book was that awesome cover with the Shadow King on the cover. That was a great time for the X-Books, the latter part of 1991. You had Larry Stroman on X-Factor, Whilce Portacio drawing the "Gold" Team on Uncanny and some guy named Jim Lee drawing the "Blue" team on a small book he was launching, just called X-Men. Those 3 were the guys that really brought me into the X-Universe, so it's great that I was able to get a piece from Whilce, because his versions of Archangel and Iceman are some of my favorites.

Since I don't have a lot of Spider-Man Vs. Nightwing commissions in my gallery, he decided to go that route, and I love the layout that he used, probably one the most dynamic in my collection. He wasn't happy with the first one he did, so it took him a little longer to get it the way he wanted and I feel he made a great choice.

I also love this piece because at this time, there are only 2 other Spidey pieces by Whilce on CAF and the only Nightwing piece by him yet, he said this is the first time he's drawn him, so that is pretty awesome.

Also, I can't say enough about how great his wife Jo is. I dealt with her the entire time, from initial contact to layouts to the finished product. The piece was delayed, but she always kept me updated and informed when they had to make trips to San Diego or other cons. Also there was the announcement that he was going to be the new penciller on Spawn, and then he had complications health wise, but who wouldn't if they had to work that close with Todd McFarlane? ;)

Overall it was a great experience, and this won't be the last piece (hopefully) that I get from Whilce.

Contact Jo Ann, his wife at Whilce Portacio's Official Site

Finished: August 29, 2008

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