OA Cover/Interior Art Preferences

[Argonus]

Hey gang!

Just curious what types of covers and/or interior art drive you to purchase the above said pieces.

I know a lot of us are after work by specific artists or work in a series that we loved the storyline of, and those are certainly key factors pertaining to our purchases, but what do you look for in a cover and/or interior art?

Putting myself on the chopping block as I'm tired of the mud-slinging in this section.

[Argonus]

For covers (which I'm new to), I like either one that has nostalgic value to me, or that is illustrated by an artist that I enjoy.

For older art that still has captions, I like lots of exposition, mixed with a little action, as shown below (I almost bought this from a favorite PWJ storyline of mine, but the buyer.. as some of you know.. wants an exorbitant amount for what is essentially two Jim Lee headshots and a torso shot ):



For newer art, I enjoy a great face-to-face between foes, like TC's fantastic Ed McGuinness piece, here:



.. or some knock-down slugfest, like this Andrea DiVito piece some @sshole owns:




.. or a DPS (any excuse to post this beauty of Ken's):

[ratchet]

I am currently looking to pick up at least one page - has to have the Hulk on it - for every Hulk artist who has ever worked on the book

[Argonus]

For covers, I'm all into nostalgia; these two always being favorites of mine.

I don't own these.. nor have I ever bothered tracking them down... (hrm... Drew? ), but I'd definitely have commissions of them done; ugh.. another commission idea.

I commissioned a piece of art that later the artist turned into a cover, so I'm good on that front for now.

[Argonus]

Originally Posted by ratchet

I am currently looking to pick up at least one page - has to have the Hulk on it - for every Hulk artist who has ever worked on the book

How close are you? Awesome goal, Ryan.

I almost bought some Keown yesterday, but the Hulk was barely on the page, and the one panel he was in he was being b!tch-slapped. No thanks.

I have problems with my art, because I have to frame and mat everything. Not a fan of having stuff that isn't framed... though since I'm moving, I have stuff I won't frame until I'm settled again.

[MONSTER]

Good thread. For me, I usually know right away when I want something. When I first saw the Hulk DPS from Planet Hulk previewed online, I feel in love with it instantly and immediately started searching on how to buy it.

My collection is very character driven but sometimes the artists take me to characters and companies I wouldn't normally go with. Tim Sale and Lee Bermejo are perfect examples. I love their work so much that I'll follow them anywhere. I'm mainly a Marvel guy but I have published DC work by both Tim and Lee.

[statman]

Originally Posted by Argonus

For covers, I'm all into nostalgia; these two always being favorites of mine.

I commissioned a piece of art that later the artist turned into a cover, so I'm good on that front for now.

Hell, I can't afford nostalgia. Anything that I would want along those lines is WAAAAAAAAAAAY outta my price range.

[JadeGiant]

For OA, nostalgia is the ultimate. If I can own something that resonates with me from reading the book, I am very happy. Now I can’t afford any covers or splash pages from Sal or Herb’s run on Hulk but that is OK as I really like the panel pages from back in the day. I love an old panel page with word balloons that actually tells a story on the page. I have a page from both Herb and Sal and they are not considered high end but they are among the very favorites in my collection.

OA does not have to be nostalgic to be something I want. If the art is killer and it really appeals to me I will go for it. I do want to own some OA from all of my favorite Hulk artists – Keown and Carlo are the top dogs on my list at the moment. Other artistic styles really appeal to me and place them high on my list even if they did not draw the Hulk in the main series. Tim Sale’s Grey mini series was amazing and I will track down a page somewhere. Sometimes I will track down an artist and get a commission if I can’t find OA that fits my needs (appeal and cost). Sale is a good example – I will do a fast pass if I can ever get to a show he is at (never happened yet). This will help to tide me over until I can find the OA.

I have not added a cover to the collection yet but I am on the hunt. Steve (joefixit) just beat me out on something very recently. As I learn the game I think it is just a matter of time before I join the big boys club and get a cover.

[joefixit2]

I only go for Hulk stuff obviously. In fact, I have just made a rather huge decision on my collecting trends in the last few months that will greatly impact my OA searching: namely selling off most of my Hulk toys and memorabilia and putting all the funds into OA. For older stuff, I am trying to get interior pages that mean something to me (I have 4 pages from the first Hulk comic book I ever bought back in 1973) but I am also trying to get splash pages and covers. When I saw the PH DPS, I knew I had to have it. Unfortunately Ken knew that also and he beat me to it. When I saw the Hulk splash by DiVito in the Hulk vs X-Men book, that was another immediate. I worked the artist for over a year to convince him to sell it to me because I wanted it that badly. I have been talking to another artist for over 4 years on some pieces because they impacted me so much when I saw them.


Bottom line for me is for older OA, it should mean something to me. For newer interiors, there has to be some kind of wow factor. For covers, I am going to try to get as many Hulk covers as I can, focusing on getting ones I really like first (sorry Dave).

For current stuff, I really have to react fast since I know that if I am liking it, probably some other people are also so I try not to waste any time trying to get my name attached to it.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by ratchet

I am currently looking to pick up at least one page - has to have the Hulk on it - for every Hulk artist who has ever worked on the book

Wow. Do you mean the regular artists, or are you including even fill-in artists who may have had only one issue? I would love to do the same thing with regular artists of the GL series, but some of those pages have proven to be outside of my price range.

Oh well.

Good luck with your quest.