Q&A with Brian Peck

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

Its always hard to pick a favorite piece which I own. There are so many to choose from and it can change from time to time, but right now the single favorite piece is Daredevil #47 cover. I read Daredevil #47 "Brother, Take My Hand!" for the first time in Son of Origins when I was about 7 years old. I really loved that story when I was a kid, DD wasn't fighting any super villain but it really stuck with me thru the years. It is one of my favorite stories, been looking for the interiors but none have ever surfaced so I am thrilled to own the cover.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I live in Sunnyvale, California, originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan and have been living out here for 37 years. I am a graphic designer but for the last 16 years have been working as an engineer on OS X at Apple. Yes that makes be a double geek (a badge I wear proudly), mac and comic art. It is amazing how many artists use macs and after I tell them I work for Apple they always remember me when next we meet. Working at Apple has influenced some of my collecting as I like to get computer and iPod related artwork. In addition one of my themes for convention drawings and commissions is having the subject using an iPod. Most artists really get a kick out of drawing ipods since most own at least one.

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

I have been collecting for about 30 years but my collection remained small until I started on ebay in '98 and joining the comicart-l mailing list shortly after Bruce Lowry passed away. My father of all people got me started collecting comic art when he bought me a page from Hulk Annual #7 featuring Iceman and Angel with the Hulk. Unfortunately, I no longer own the page, one of the few pages I regret letting go of. Everyone knows me as the Jean Grey collector since she was a character I liked when I was reading comics growing up. A number of years back I started to slowly decrease the number of comics I collect to now I rarely pick up new comics. Though my comic art collecting has increased and I have started to broaden my collection including a number of strip and golden age art. In past years I have put on a panel at Wonder Con and San Diego Con for "Collecting Comic Art" which has featured many collectors and a few artists. It was well received and it did get a few more people interested in the hobby (which was my intention), but the panel has been hiatus for the past year or so. I hope to bring it back to San Diego soon.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

I have about 60 pieces framed and hanging in at home with a few in my cube at Apple. I frame most of my artwork have the frame shop cut mattes, glass (UV) and frames to size but I then frame the art. It saves money and I rarely trust anyone with my collection. For the rest of the artwork I store them in portfolios have over 30 currently. Most are in a bookshelf but many of the larger portfolios and some large unframed pieces reside in my metal blueprint drawer. A must for anyone who has oversize art.

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

• X-Men #57 Jean Grey 5 page backup story by Werner Roth and Sam Grainger • Silver Surfer #1 any page! by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott • X-Men 138 unpublished splash by John Byrne and Terry Austin • Daredevil #47 fight sequence by Gene Colan and George Kein • New Teen Titans #17 cover (Baxter Edition) by Eduardo Barreto