Q&A with Alex Atz

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

Hard to pick. Born Again is probably next to Batman Year One my favorite comic book run of all time. Both have in common: Miller and Mazzucchelli.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I have been a collector of comic books since reading European comics (Asterix, Inspector Canardo...). I first read US comics with issue 318 of ASM. McFarlane. Venom. I lived in Germany and randomly picked up this issue when I was on vacation. Always loved sequential art. I now live in NYC for over 25 years but my roots are in European as well as in American comics. They are very different, but I love sequential art.

How long have you been collecting comic art and what prompted you to start?

I started collecting original art in 1998. I always considered comics an art form. "Understanding Comics" gave it a lot more legitimacy but I loved comics. When I started original art was very affordable too. The Mignola Hellboy in my collection was less than $500. I bought from Mitch at Graphic Collectibles and others. Living in NYC, one of the dealers even had a physical location upstairs in a building.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

I have a lot of art on the walls along my hallway. Manhattan apartments are not huge but we have a good amount of wall space. I change out the pieces once in a while.

What are your top five most wanted original pages or commissions?

I love to get a Milo Manara page of X-Women. Combines both European and US comics. I also think Bilquis Evely is amazing. I have one of her pages, but love a Supergirl page.