Galactus x 2 – Jonathan Wayshak

The late British fine art gallerist Angela Flowers once said that if you like an artist then you should buy two examples of their work – one to keep and one to sell. I wish I had known and heeded this advice when I first started buying original comic art; perhaps I would have been able to retire by now. From the off I have been more of a one-example-per-artist-is-enough type of collector. I wish I could say it was because of a noble “leave something for someone else” mentality but it is more likely to have been because of limited resources, as well as a certain mindset my mum instilled into me at a young age with the words, “There are a lot of beautiful things in the world, but you cannot get all of them,” which I found out years later was a homespun version of a line from a book from the 1950s by Anne Lindbergh which I think even my mother would agree is more eloquently expressed which goes, “One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few,” which in turn can be distilled into three words: less is more. I certainly would not judge any OA collector for getting several or many works by the same artist because I have seen that movie too. When I was younger and did not think about my mortality every day, had more disposable income, and came across some comic artists who seemed to be shifting their lifetime’s work at reasonable prices I was like the kid in a toyshop.

Angela Flowers’ advice, however, is not the reason I have two drawings of the same subject by the same artist. When the left-profile drawing of Galactus came up on eBay quite a few years back in aid of the Hero Initiative I thought that it was as good a depiction of him as any I had seen. Although small-ish at 17cm by 25cm it is densely-worked with impasto white paint illustrating the intense power radiating from the main figure. In time and after seeing the other Galactuses (“Galacti”?) in the gallery of CAF’s most high-profile Galactus devotee, Mikail, I realise that perhaps there are drawings of Galactus that are better than mine but in spite of people saying that “comparison is the thief of joy” I am still very pleased with my Jonathan Wayshak drawing and did not feel I needed to add another work of the same character or another work by the same artist. That is until the front-facing drawing of Galactus crops up several years later, again on eBay and again to benefit the Hero Initiative. Because it is being sold for a very good cause I feel I can make an exception, if I needed one, to break my one-of-a-kind rule. What I like about this drawing is that although it is sparer than the other it has a human’s-eye view of the planet-devouring entity and it perfectly captures the sneering, supercilious air of the villain looking down on us puny mortals. But these two drawings are it for me; if a right-hand-side profile of Galactus shows up on eBay for the Hero Initiative in the future then you need not worry that you will be bidding against me.

Although both drawings ended up with me making donations to the Hero Initiative I would not say that I was acting generously; the arrangements were strictly, to use a word much in vogue now, “transactional” – and in fact I was getting something worth much more than that for which I paid. The true act of charity is on the part of Jonathan Wayshak who has freely given two of the most valuable commodities that there are: expertise and time. If I ever run into Jonathan Wayshak at a convention I will make sure that the very least I can do is to buy him a drink. Thank you, sir!