Q&A with Benedict Judas Hel

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

Well, my gallery is fairly limited at the moment as far as original comic art is concerned but my favorite commission piece is The Baroness by Lorenzo Sperlonga. I believe it is the prefect combination of fine art and comic book art for me. It makes the subject as close to life-like as art can make a fictional character be.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

An Ivy League graduate, I am person of varied collecting tastes. I have collected 80's toys (G1 Transformers, G.I. Joe A Real American Heroes, Star Wars), modern toys (Star Wars, 3 3/4" Marvel Universe, Masterpiece Transformers, Masters of the Universe Classics), vintage metal lunchboxes, vintage cartoon glasses, comic books and an avid movie collector. I also dabble in Star Wars Imperial costumes and comic book uniforms.

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

I am fairly brand new to the field (2 years). I believe my start to collecting original art was prompted by my love of comics books and my foray into Kickstarter where I began getting commissions from artists who offered them as part of their campaigns. I think I just made the connection from commissions to getting original comic art and went to Mike Burkey's website to purchase my first piece.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

Some are professionally framed and hung on my walls while others are stored in Itoya folders.

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

My most wanted commissions would be from artists I could not afford: Todd McFarlane, Art Adams, Alex Ross, John Byrne and Bruce Timm.