Q&A with Killian Cramers

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

A very difficult question for which the answer changes a lot. Sometimes it's the one I've dreamt of the most: my unmasked Spidey by Ron Garney. Sometimes it's the one where my girlfriend fully understood what made this hobby special: OUR Terry Moore Francine & Katchoo. Sometimes it's the one you least expected to get: my David Finch Spider-Man. But most of the times, it's my serendipitous JRJR Spidey commission. Often, though, it's a combination of most of them. That is what I love about the hobby and art - there is no objective right answer and it can change on a whim.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

My name's Killian and I'm a 26 year old Belgian collector who's a historian by degree, but a marketing manager by profession. After moving into a place with my girlfriend, I've finally set up amy own comic book room, together with my father, which is now my small slice of heaven. There's even a dedicated mounted sliding system for my frames with original art.

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

I started with art in 2015 with some small Ebay sketches, but quickly evolved into the full thing on all fronts. Local conventions here in Belgium jumpstarted my interest in meeting the creators behind my favorite comics, which I've been lucky to do and ever since, am lucky enough to call some of them friends. My first at home commission was a Scarlet Spider by Steven Butler in January 2017.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

As mentioned, since a few months (May 2020), I have a fully decorated comic book room - and art would be a pivotal part of it. We both gave it some thought and my dad had a great idea. A sliding system (painted in black to match the frames) where I can slide my frames into. It's easily interchangeable if I want to switch up the presented art. We made this custom for both 9x12 & 11x17 frames. I recently shared some pictures in art groups and got a lot of positive feedback - also a dozen of people asking for instructions on this.

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

That I'm still looking for? There's definitely plenty of Spider-Man original art I'm looking out for - with at the top "Back in Black" art by Ron Garney. That arc is what got me into collecting comic books on a monthly basis - back in 2008 - in Dutch versions for 13 YO me. Up there on my "want" list are Mike Zeck, Sean Chen, published Spider-Man art, and some more.