Four weeks ago in Scoop, we began running market reports and observations from contributors to our new book, The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comic & Animation Art. We started with Comic Art Con founder Joe Veteri. The we shared thoughts from Metropolis Collectibles and ComicConnect.com Chief Operating Officer Vincent Zurzolo and former Comics Buyer’s Guide editor Maggie Thompson, followed by veteran comic art dealer Anthony Snyder and longtime collector Art Cloos. Last week we featured, collector Nick Katradis, a recent addition to the ranks of the Overstreet Advisors.

This week we’re happy to turn the spotlight on Alex Winter and Todd Sheffer of Hake’s Americana & Collectibles (below) and Peter Bilelis, a veteran collector and Overstreet Advisor who wrote about artist Mac Raboy for The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #43 (in our In The Limelight section).

Editor’s note: The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comic & Animation Art was offered on Pages 321-322 in the August 2013 issue of Previews from Diamond Comic Distributors. Retailers can still place orders for it. It’s due on sale in October.

Overstreet Advisor Questions for
The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comic & Animation Art – #1

Scoop: What is the first thing that compels you about a piece of comic art?
Alex Winter and Todd Sheffer (Hake’s): The pencil and ink artist(s). It really is about the art.

Scoop: How do you define the eye appeal of a page?
Hake’s: The flow of the story through the layout of the panels. The ingenuity of the artist. Does the composition break the bounds of the panels, is it dynamic?

Scoop: Is that different than the eye appeal of a cover or is it the same?
Hake’s: Very different, the cover has one shot at getting the attention of the viewer. The story needs to be summed up in one shot.

Scoop: When purchasing a cover from the paste-up era, is it more desirable to have the logo in place or not?
Hake’s: Yes, the logo defines that it’s a cover instantly.

Scoop: Other than eye appeal, what are the ways you evaluate a piece?
Hake’s: Content is important as well as storytelling. Does the page contain principle characters and does it move the story forward?

Scoop: What makes a page stand out from other pages of the same issue or same run?
Hake’s: The characters that are featured on the page. Everyone wants a page from the book with the title character on it.

Scoop: Splash pages are often touted. Including the obvious, what gives them their appeal?
Hake’s: Other than the cover, it’s the largest one shot illustration in the book usually with main characters involved in the content.

Scoop: Given that any page of original art is inherently a one-of-a-kind item, what are the other ways that rarity or scarcity could enter into.
Hake’s: It instantly becomes rarer when a page is done by an artist who is not known for that character. Say for instance that you have a page of comic art done by the same artist for 100 issues in a row but due to a deadline someone else did one of those issues instead, it then becomes unique or unusual.

Scoop: When does a page of comic art transcend being a component of a bigger effort and become a piece of art unto itself?
Hake’s: That depends on the creative talent behind the page. The writer and artist determine if it’s just more storyline or a masterwork of graphic story storytelling.

Scoop: Does action always trump “talking heads” material, and if not, when doesn’t it?
Hake’s: Some artists are well known for great facial expressions or just a bit of humor so a close up shot of characters interacting can be just as desirable.

Scoop: And in terms of action, particularly in superhero titles, how important is it if the hero is triumphant or winning as opposed to being defeated in on the page in question?
Hake’s: That depends on the collector. It’s a matter of taste. Usually the hero wins, so do you want that page or the one where he gets defeated which happens more rarely?

Scoop: How does the flow of the story on the page or how a page reads contribute to its desirability?
Hake’s: If the page has a contained bit of story in itself. It becomes more desirable in that anyone can enjoy it without knowing the rest of the storyline from that issue.

Scoop: From the paste-up era, what is the impact of missing word balloons or caption boxes?
Hake’s: It’s disappointing that things like that happen but on a good page of art, it’s far from a deal breaker.

Scoop: How does the significance of the featured character affect the appeal of a piece?
Hake’s: Everybody wants a page of art to have the main character but a beautiful page with other content can still be appealing depending on the actual artwork.

Scoop: How important is it that the main character is in all (or many) of the panels?
Hake’s: That depends on the price to me. If it’s a high priced page, you’d expect the main character to be featured in more panels. However I’d take a page full of villains any day.

Scoop: It seems that the market generally deems art from main or original titles, such as Amazing Spider-Man, more desirable than that of secondary titles, such as Spectacular Spider-Man. Only speaking in general, is that the case or is that reading too much into it?
Hake’s: Most people slant toward the main title of a character but a page with Spider-Man is still great from any title.

Scoop: How do first appearances, crossovers or other notable events affect the desirability of a page?
Hake’s: Those pages become the most desirable. It defines a page as great instead of just good.

Scoop: How does the aging of the art board or paper affect your decision making?
Hake’s: Common sense prevails. No one expects a 70-year-old page to be pure white but no one wants an ‘80s page to be yellow either. Yellow Zip-A-Tone can really ruin the eye appeal of an otherwise clean piece of older art.

Scoop: How does restoration or clean-up impact a piece of comic art?
Hake’s: Not as much as it affects a printed comic, however it does add questions to what else may have been done to the art that you don’t see.

Scoop: How do different penciler/inker teams affect the desirability of a piece (for instance, Jack Kirby inked by Joe Sinnott vs. Jack Kirby inked by Mike Royer)?
Hake’s: It’s a huge difference in who inks it. It can be night and day to the point that you question who penciled the art after the inks were done.

Scoop: How much affect does – or should – nostalgia have in such purchases?
Hake’s: It’s a personal preference. Everyone has a favorite book or artist that may influence a purchase more than content or rarity or even value sometimes.

Scoop: What – if anything – makes a piece an automatic “yes” for you?
Hake’s: The artist. I’d purchase any title or page from an artist I like.

Scoop: In addition to such choices as collecting by creator, by series, or splash pages, what are the different ways to collecting comic book art?
Hake’s: Price can always come into play on art. Do you want one really great piece by one great artist for $100,000 or a sampling of many different pieces that make up a collection that is worth the same amount?

Scoop: How do you price your pieces?
Hake’s: Always sample current market sales prices and go from there. There is no exact science to pricing a one of a kind piece of art. Recent auctions show the sky’s the limit.

Scoop: Where do you see the market going over the next five years?
Hake’s: The market has been and continues to grow stronger all of the time. Comic book prices continue to soar yearly on key issues and the original artwork will continue to do the same