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I forgot to directly answer the question! What drives you to collect? Nostalgia and a sense of connection to the creators whose work I enjoy. I suspect that I'd buy scripts from writers if they were sold. Do you love the medium and just can't get enough of comic art originals? I think that graphical story telling is an art and one that I really enjoy. Cameron's Avatar was an astonishing experience in 3D IMAX, but books and comics can be even more amazing when the reader's imagination is counted in the experience. I wouldn't say that I feel any particular urge to buy just anything though. I'm picky according to my own standard - my favorite creators, the characters I associate them with, and - when possible - contact with those creators. Are you a "Prestige" collector and only looking to pick up some top pieces? I collect what I want and I want what I collect. While I want a Kirby Thor at some point, I don't want it because he's the King. I want it because I really, really enjoyed those stories - Ego the living planet, Surtur the fire giant, Asgard, etc.Other Kirby art doesn't have the appeal to me because I don't have as strong an attachment. Are you really just a comic book collector that ran out of stuff to get and this seems the next logical step? I still buy new comics (too many), I've been collecting since about 1964 with only one minor gap so I pretty much have what I want. The OA collecting started because I found sources of artist/creator combinations that I enjoy. Are you interested because of the money aspect and if you're going to invest money, it might as well be something fun you're interested in. I buy what I like and I like what I buy. I have no expectation of selling in my lifetime. I do keep a list of what I've bought and what it cost for my wife and my daughters so that they have some idea as to what is valuable and what is not, but that's as far as I go. Are you a full time collector just dabbling? I'm a full-time software guy for a multi-national company, husband, and father of three 20 year old daughters. Time spent on OA is a very, very small part of the day. Though it hangs in the house and is on the CAF so when I need a fix it's easy to get.

As I say in my CAF Gallery introduction, I collect art that has a personal connection for me - artist and character, e.g., Cardy/Bat Lash, Infantino/SA Flash, Mayer/Sugar & Spike, Swan/Superman, Swan/Legion, Colan/DD, Kirby/Thor (need the lottery for that), and so on. I don't have a particular timeframe. For example, a favorite piece is by Thom Zahler (Love and Capes #11 recreation). BTW, LnC is a must read. Go get the trades and have a nice couple of hours. I promise. My most recent is a page from the first comic I ever read - 46 years old now. Sheesh! How did that happen? Lots of great stuff on my "to get" list, but #1 with a bullet is a Swan / LSH with lots of Legionaires on it. One day.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a page from my first comic, too. Kind of cool, if you ask me. Congratulations.

Wednesday (June 9th) was my birthday and my wife gave me something that I never expected to get. Click here to see it and read the story. If you can't stand to click, I'll show you anyway This is a page from the very first comic that I ever bought. So cool.

Re: Karate Kid vs. Timber Wolf by Gene Gonzales It was fun watching this in the video clips on Gene's site.

Re: What's the best way to scan a full page of original comic art? Best is one of those words. However, if I have a piece of art that is: Is too large for my 11x17 scanner at work and/or Is too thick, e.g., framed, and/or Requires a high resolution scan, e.g., 400+dpi I take it to a place here in Houston called: Houston Photo Imaging www.houstonphotoimaging.com 5250 Gulfton Street Houston, TX 77081-2937 (713) 522-5400 They can handle all of the above for about $50. Not cheap, but... Maybe you can find a similar outfit where you live.

That is so cool. Great get. There's no doubt that Al still has his chops!

It will look great!

Al's taking orders if you want to buy something. Check out www.alplastino.com. Choose the bio page and scroll down for his e-mail address or click the link in the description in my CAF. Tell him Alex sent you.

I just received a new commission from Al Plastino. Al drew the very first story of my all-time favorites, the Legion of Super-Heroes. I also picked up a Dave Cockrum sketch of Wildfire. The links are: LSH by Plastino - http://cafurl.com?i=14209 Wildfire by Cockrum - http://cafurl.com?i=14210 As of this writing the Plastino commission has 64 views and 8 comments. It has really moved its viewers. I think Al, who is 88, really outdid himself. IFeel free to click the links though and read the stories. Comments are welcome of course. For those that don't like to click, here are the images (for some reason my PC made a mess of my scan. The CAF links are better.) The 1st Appearance of the LSH in Adventure 247 by Al Plastino

Re: JLA/JSA team-up I love seeing that old Mike Sekowsky art on the JLA. It's a thrill to know that some of it survived and this is one of my favorites. Good job! PS. My first comic was the first issue of the second team-up JLA #29.

Ken, I remember that page and I have looked in my copy for decades. What a great example of a really good run.

I'm not sure what a "grail" is, but I know what I want that I probably won't get. There are two items: 1) A group shot of the Legion of Super-Heroes by Curt Swan. You can see examples here: http://www.comics.org/issue/246678/cover/4/?style=default http://www.comics.org/issue/246679/cover/4/?style=default The latter one is in David Mandel's collection. He beat me when it came up for auction as part of the Brad Meltzer led fundraiser for the restoration of Jerry Siegel's boyhood home. 2) The cover or splash (or really any inside art) for Justice League of America #29 (1st Series). That's my first comic. I know where two pages are and that's a start. Now to find the money. http://www.comics.org/issue/18536/cover/4/?style=default I can't complain though, I have some wonderful art from some of my favorite creators - Superman/Swan, Bat Lash/Cardy, TT/Cardy, DD and BW/Colan, S&S/Mayer, Santa and Rudolph/Mayer, and many others. Plus, I have the CAF Favorites Gallery to link in my favorites owned by others. What a great site. http://cafurl.com?i=12727

Ryan Ottley does a great job and Invincible is a fun book.

I tend to enjoy a simpler line - Jeff Smith (Bone, RASL), Mike Kunkel (Herobear and Kid), Thom Zahler (Love and Capes) all are high in my ranks.

Yeah, I have to agree. It is very cool. Now to get it framed and find a place to hang it. What I really needed for Christmas was more walls!

Merry Christmas. Kathy surprised me with a wonderful painting of The Batman by Sheldon Moldoff. I was a big fan of his Batman so this was a very pleasant surprise indeed. Please check it out here. However, I have a question. Does anyone know for whom the dedications were written? See the supplemental signatures from Mr. and Mrs. M. Thanks. I wonder if it comes from the same collection as my Santa and Rudolph Treasury back cover since both came from the Time Capsule in RI. Also, I gave my middle daughter, Elizabeth, what I call "Pig on a Bike" by Scott Morse. I've admired Scott's work for sometime and would love to get an S&S commission by him someday. When I ran across this at my LCS, Bedrock City Comic Company in Houston, among some pieces that CAF'r Mike Steenbergen was selling, I knew it would be the perfect gift for the girl who has wanted a pig for a pet for most of her life. If you met her beagle, you'd know she was almost there - that dog is a stomach with legs. Anyway, she was thrilled and has a place picked out in her apartment. You can see it here: here. It's been a very nice Christmas. The Batman Pig on a Bike

Thanks, Malvin. I thought I was the last OA collector left on earth. Of course, that wouldn't be all bad.

At the risk of monopolizing the thread, take a look at what my wife gave me for our anniversary. Fred Hembeck's finest work IMHO. You can read about the cover in my CAF - http://cafurl.com?i=13843.

My eldest child, Allie, graduated from college yesterday. I knew/hoped that this day would come and I wanted to give her a gift that was special for the two of us. The first comic that I bought my girls was Betty and Veronica Double Digest#14 by Dan and Jim DeCarlo and I thought that a recreation would be a good idea. Sadly, Dan and Jim are not longer with us. By chance, I "ran into" John Sterling Lucas on eBay and we got to talking. John is the one who brought Katy Keene back to light after a long hiatus. He did it with the blessings of Bill Woggon, Katy's creator. My girls love Katy so we decided to expand the cover scene to include a picnic with Katy, Sis, and my daughter, Allie. You can see the results here: You can see the original cover, the pencils, and the inks in my CAF. As always, comments on the piece in the CAF are welcome.

Dave's been Gene's regular inker for commissions for some time. As one person commented on my CAF, Dave is one of the few who really "get" Gene's pencils. I really like what he did. Did you go look at the larger scans on my CAF gallery?

In 2005, my wife bought me a wonderful Daredevil and Black Widow commission for me by Gene Colan. He suggested that I should get it inked and colored by Dave Gutierrez, but we couldn't do it at that time. Recently, I contracted with Dave to ink (from a scan) and color (digitally) the piece. You can see all three here at full size. The description has links to each piece. Here's a thumbnail