Q&A with Simon M.

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

Of all the comics I read as a kid, The Peter David/Dale Keown/Mark Farmer run on the Hulk was the most memorable. It was just perfection, with the great mix of action, humour, a great supporting cast, and of course the final ingredient, Dale Keown and Mark Farmer's art. This page, an almost splash, is a perfect example of all that is great about the run. As a bonus, I have the page before and after it, completeing a nice 3 page sequence.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I'm originally from London, but living in the Cleveland suburbs of Ohio since 2003. Married with 2 kids. By day I work in Product delivering ebooks and audiobooks to library users around the world through our Libby app. By evening (and during the day when no one is looking), I help Mike Allred sell his original art, and set up commissions through www.gotsuperpowers.com.

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

I've been collecting since about 2001. I don't recall exactly what got me to look, but it I had been to Comic Showcase in central London a few times and went through there art. Then I found art on eBay. My first pick up was a great John Bolton Classic X-Men page featuring Wolverine, followed by a dreamy Allred Madman Adventures page. And then I bought more Allred. And more...and more. After that, I was purchasing from Tom at Fanfare, Mitch at Graphic Collectibles, and Albert Moy. And lots of eBay auctions back when good art was to be had there. After a few years, I worked out better what I really wanted, rather than just buying anything, and refocused my habits from there. As a result, not only do I have a lot of Allred art, but Keown, Nowlan, Stelfreeze, and Mignola. I just wish I had more from the early 2000s collecting.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

I picked up some used heavy duty storage draws and then the larger pieces (which I don't have many) go in Itoya folders. Other than that, I have very few pieces that are framed and hang around the house.

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

1 - Mike Allred Batman Black & White pin-up from issue 1 of the first mini series. I've found where it is, amazingly, but it won't ever be coming to me as it was given as a gift. 2 - Frank Miller/David Mazzucchelli's Daredevil Born Again 3 - Barry Windsor-Smith's Weapon X 4 - An early Mignola Hellboy page, with Hellboy in action. 5 - Kevin Nowlan commission of REDACTED and REDACTED from the REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED. Hoping this will happen in the near future, as his schedule allows.