Spider-man vs The Terrible Ten (or Sinister Six, plus 4)

Okay, I am pumped! I’m jacked, I’m jazzed. I’m ecstatic, euphoric, enraptured, and elated. I’m on cloud nine, seventh heaven, over the moon and on top of the world. So what, you may ask, has inspired this hyper enthusiasm? Honestly, a couple of blurry phone pics. And all this before I even have the art in hand. Hasn’t even shipped yet (just got done paying for it). But by the time you read this, I will hopefully have a good enough image to do this incredible piece justice.

Now let me backtrack for a bit (if I can just calm down). Some of you know I’m not a big commission guy. Just seems as if everyone else has better luck with them. Of all the ones I’ve paid for, maybe a handful have met my expectations. There are about 50 pieces in my gallery that are categorized as commissions. But 80-90% of those are commissions I managed to pry away from their respective owners. That’s still my favorite way to get them, LOL. At least that way I see exactly what I’m getting, instead of paying for something sight unseen and ending up disappointed Still, I decided to roll the dice with Jamie. And let me tell you, this piece single handedly makes up for EVERY SINGLE CRAPPY COMMISSION I’VE EVER GOTTEN IN MY LIFE!!!!!

Now some folks may be tempted to engage in unkind chatter about how unpublished art by unpublished artists have little to no collectible or artistic value. In which case I also may be tempted to politely suggest that they kindly take those ideas and very GENTLY insert them in a place devoid of sunlight. LOL! Ditto for all the rejection letters from every submissions editor who deemed Jamie not good enough to work in comics. But enough talk of insertions. Let’s talk about this AMAZING piece!

Even though I was never the biggest McFarlane fan, I always thought it was uncanny how closely Jamie was able to mimic his style. Whether it was a spot-on McFarlane recreation or an originally designed image by Jamie, I was always impressed by the quality of his clean, strong, linework. Since selling my only McFarlane cover, the original thought was to maybe get Jamie to recreate my former piece. But after buying a piece from him on eBay and chatting with him about a possible commission, I started to think in a different direction. Everybody knows I’m old school. Peter Parker was, is, and always will be, the only Spider-man for me. And pretty much all my favorite Spidey villains probably come from the first 50 issues of ASM. As such, I’ve always been a sucker for the original Sinister Six. One of my absolute favorite super villain groups since I first saw them in ASM Annual #1. So when Jamie and I started to discuss his rates and possible ideas for a commission, the S6 was at the top of my list.

My only problem was deciding on who those six would be. Now I could’ve gone tried and true by just sticking to the original roster as they appeared in that first annual. But I kept having to leave out villains that I really loved. So my first option was to try switching up that roster a bit to my favorite six. But I still didn’t like having to cut certain characters out. So I asked Jamie, how about a Sinister Seven? Sure, no problem he said. But I STILL couldn’t whittle it down. How about an Evil Eight, I asked. Sounds great, Jamie replied. Nefarious Nine? Yeah, yeah, fine. So I thought about it for a second and said, what the hell, why not go for broke? I was a bit nervous, but finally sent him a list of ten villains and asked how he felt about doing a piece with 11 characters on it. Luckily he replied that it sounded like fun.

Anyway, it certainly looks like he had fun. In fact, he told me this was the most detailed piece he’s ever done. As for my reaction, well, you pretty much read it at the start. It’s just incredible how he was able to feature all 11 characters without really obscuring any single figure. Mysterio and Scorpion are probably the least visible, but you can certainly tell they’re there. My hands down favorite is Electro. Which is somewhat ironic, considering he was actually on the cut list if Jamie had limited me to fewer characters. Anyway, I LOVE the way he looks here. Kraven and Rhino are probably a very close second and third. And with my hand fetish, how could I not love those two giant hands on Sandman? The piece gets top marks for layout, composition, design, detail, linework, figurework, energy, intensity, and fun! I just don’t think it’s humanly possible for me to love this piece any more than I do.

Nothing left to do but thank the lovely and talented Jamie Biggs for the wonderful experience and this wonderful piece. You’re the best JB!

Oh, and thanks to Jonathan for the scan stitching assist on this 20 x 30 monstrosity.

Thanks for taking a peek.