Q&A with Christian Palomba

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

I started my most recent run of collecting during the pandemic when I managed to acquire Sam Wolfe Connelly's Above My Floorboards from another CAF member (Thanks, Troy!) Before that I don't think I had posted a single piece here. Buying that piece at a rest stop off of I-95 in Connecticut led to me picking up a few of Sam's covers from Cadence Comic Art and then *bang* I was off like a rocket for the rest of the fall and winter.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

Former bus driver, current Humanities teacher, lifetime collector. I have collected books, historical ephemera, comic statues, and art. I never collect anything for more than a few years at a time, but I always circle back to the things I love.

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

My first, and now long lost, piece of art was a Spider-Man drawing a coworker of my grandmother did for me when I was really little. I tacked it to the wall in my bedroom where it stayed until it rotted off the wall. Whoops. I got back into collecting around 2008 after attending NYCC. I bought a print or two at NYCC and by the time the next Philadelphia Wizard World rolled around I had moved on to original art. My first commissions were of a personal nature. Ian Glaubinger made a poster for me to propose to my wife. That went well, so Josh Howard made us a Save the Date Card. I was hooked.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

I always had quite a few pieces hanging on the wall in my office, but when I left my office job to become a teacher I stored everything away for years. It's just since the pandemic started that I busted it all out and decorated the room in my apartment that I was using for remote teaching. Most of the work I have purchased since then is hanging in that home classroom.

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

I keep missing out on covers for Department of Truth by Martin Simmonds. I would love a Death of the Endless by Marc Hempel. A really solid Chris Bachalo would be an amazing addition to my collection. An original Hellboy by Mignola has always been a dream piece. One day, I will convince Sam Wolfe Connelly to do a commission for me.