Q&A with Randy & Laura Martin

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

The piece of art that means the most to both of us it the cover art to Astonishing X-Men #6. Coloring Joss Whedon's and John Cassady's run on This book was a highlight of Laura's career. When Laura receceived the scan of this art to color, she showed it to me, and we both fell in love with it. We asked John about buying it, and he gave it to us as a gift! This is definitely a centerpiece of our collection. If it was just my choice, I'd pick my Edward Scissorhands Drawing by Tim Burton, but I think Laura may have married me for my Mike Mignola Dracula page.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

Laura and I met at San Diego Comic Con in 1999, on my Birthday, and I wouldn't let her get away. We've been married since 2001. We currently live in Atlanta with our two cats, Frank and Trixie. Laura's been a professional colorist for 22 years, and is currently the colorist on Black Panther, Wonder Woman, Ragnarok, and Plastic. I was a graphic designer for 20 years, but have worked for Apple Computers for the last 6 1/2 years, where I perform relationship counseling between people and their technology.

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

I worked at a comic shop in high school and picked up a couple of commissions from artists at that time, but I've been seriously collecting art for 28 years. When I was helping a friend put on comic book conventions in Southern California, I had a chance to meet a lot of artists, and that sparked my passion to start collecting original art and commissions. I've been collecting Edward Scissorhands sketches since 1991. Laura started collecting comic art in 1996, when she was working at Wildstorm. Scott Dunbier was running Wildstorm Fine Art at the time and both of us were his customers. Scott actually briefly introduced us once in passing, but we actually met and talked for the first time a few years later at SDCC.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

Currently we're in the middle of remodeling, but usually we have lots of art framed on the walls in our den and in each of our offices. There are a few other pieces scattered around the house. The rest is stored in portfolios and in flat files.

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

My grails would have to be- 1) The cover to Uncanny X-Men #173, by Paul Smith, in David Mandel's collection. 2) Rich Cirillo's Avenger's Annual #10 page, by Michael Golden. 3) The Jack Kirby S.H.I.E.L.D. Heliecarrier splash page, from Strange Tales #135. 4) The four page splash from Strange Tales #167, by Jim Steranko. 5) An Edward Scissorhands commission by Steve Ditko. Laura's would be 1) Stormwatch New Horizons cover by Travis Charest that's in Joseph Melchior's collection. 2) Travis Charest's Ladytron pinup from the Wildstorm Swimsuit issue. 3) Ultimates Vol. 2 #5 cover art by Brian Hitch 4) A Toothless commission by Chris Sanders 5) A commission of "The Abominable Charles Christopher" by Karl Kerschl