Q&A with Marvelman Excelsior

Which piece in your gallery is your favorite and why?

My favourite pieces change constantly, often according to how often I'm viewing it! I have a beautiful Marshall Rogers Coyote page currently on display in my art studio, a big page from his prime, stunning noiresque design, full of shadow and light and clever zipatone and crafttints - so many techniques make it an incredibly rich piece and so very easy on the eye!

Please tell us a little about yourself.

I've been reading comics since about the age of 5, always oved the combination of fantastical storylines, characters and breathtaking artwork. Ditko and Kirby were my earliest design heroes, along with my Dad who was an engineering draughtsman and who could create magic from his drawing board. I graduated on to amazing illustrators such a Buscema, Adams, Wrightson and Barry Smith and never looked back. Got to meet some of the finest British comic artists like Alan Davis, Garry Leach and David Lloyd back in the heady days of Warrior - they blew my mind.

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

I've been picking up bits and pieces of comic art for maybe 12 years - it's just a sense of awe at the best artists which the medium has to offer, and their breathtaking range of styles. As an artist who adores working in pencil, pen and brush and ink myself, I get a sense of magic from holding the original artwork, being swept away by the design, the super-dynamic anatomy, the facial expression and emotion which the best of artists can convey, right down to the subtlety of the pencil marks or brushstrokes. Discovering a new artwork, or rediscovering an old and much-loved one, has an endless fascination for me.

How do you display/store your collection at home?

Most is in one or two portfolios and I have some key pieces framed and up on the walls - going up the stairs is always a pleasure, I get to see my Davis Avengers pages, my Kane Supermans, my bold & wonderful John Romita Senior Tarzan piece, a stunning Frank Thorne Red Sonja and a Paul Gulacy Terminator! Marshall Rogers, John Romita Jr, Paul Pelletier and Laurence Campbell are currently keeping me company and inspiring me in my studio!

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

I mean, most of my favourite artists have sadly passed on - I'd have loved to have commissioned a piece by Gil Kane, John Buscema or Bernie Wrightson! Almost anything by them is pure gold. I was lucky enough to have commissioned John Watkiss to do a brilliant World War Hulk piece and I'm so happy to still have that, along with a beautiful batch of his concept sketches for it as well as some stunners from his movie and TV work - an amazing talent and again, much missed. At the moment, I'm keen to see if I can track down some nice Laurence Campbell pages from Wolverine versus the Marvel Universe - still one of the best miniseries of modern times, and Laurence absolutely nailed the visual storytelling - dystopian, atmospheric and beautiful.