As we’ve been working on our next book, The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comic & Animation Art, we’ve reached out to a number of our Overstreet Advisors. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing samples of the feedback we’ve been getting. This week we’re hearing from longtime collector and frequent Scoop contributor Art Cloos.

Editor’s note: The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comic & Animation Art can be found on Pages 321-322 in the August 2013 issue of Previews from Diamond Comic Distributors.

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?
Art Cloos (AC): For me, it’s who is in the panels. I look for Batman or Batman family members in any art I look at. Second is “Who is the artist?”

Scoop: How do you define the eye appeal of a page?
AC: There is no easy way to define it. It either grabs me when I see it or not.

Scoop: Is that different than the eye appeal of a cover or is it the same?
AC: For me, it’s the same.

Scoop: When purchasing a cover from the paste-up era, is it more desirable to have the logo in place or not?
AC: Absolutely. If the art was done to be printed, then I want it as close as possible to what showed up in the book.

Scoop: Other than eye appeal, what are the ways you evaluate a piece?
AC: Is it an artist I admire and try to collect? Is it from a key book of some kind (for example when I first saw my Moldoff page from the death of Alfred in Detective Comics #328, I knew I wanted it). Does it “stand out” from other pages around it?

Scoop: What makes a page stand out from other pages of the same issue or same run?
AC: Who is the artist? Is it from a key book? A high end series “star?” There are so many factors. Ultimately it is personal preference and having a page just hit you. Sometimes you can’t explain it.

Scoop: Splash pages are often touted. Including the obvious, what gives them their appeal?
AC: They are almost never multi-panel, they very often look like a piece of art that was made to hang on the wall and usually look good framed and up for all to see.

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 the equation?
AC: Using Frazetta as an example, is it from an artist that did not do a lot of comic art but is considered a giant for the work he did in comics and elsewhere? Is it from a time where little original art survived? Is it a historically significant piece (imagine if art from Detective Comics #27 turned up, for an example)?

Scoop: When does a page of comic art transcend being a component of a bigger effort and become a piece of art unto itself?
AC: Tough question. Infantino at his peak created pages in Flash comics that absolutely became works of art. His talking hands in the captions of panels are legendary as is his depictions of cities of the future, and I am not even mentioning his astonishing Adam Strange work. His cover from Detective Comics #365 is a stand-alone masterpiece. Same with Kirby, his Galactus stories [had] full pages [that] are stand-alones worthy of hanging in a museum.

Scoop: Does action always trump “talking heads” material, and if not, when doesn’t it?
AC: Not always. A close up of Batman explaining a key point can be very effective. A full page brooding Batman on a roof top just standing there can draw me into a buy. Spider-Man just clinging from a wall can be a very high demand pose.

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?
AC: Well, I had the chance to see and buy the Infantino splash to “The Death of Batman” story from Detective Comics (January 1966) and did not do so because I had no interest in seeing him shot. Some buyers will be fine with a page where the hero goes down. I, being old school in this regard, really would not be.

Scoop: How does the flow of the story on the page or how a page reads contribute to its desirability?
AC:  I want to be able to read the page and get some sense of what is going on even if I have not read the book. In addition, if the artist is not good with transitions from panel to panel, that will be an issue.

Scoop: From the paste-up era, what is the impact of missing word balloons or caption boxes?
AC: As I said above, I want the page as close to how it appeared in the actual comic as possible.

Scoop: How does the significance of the featured character affect the appeal of a piece?
AC: It will to a point. Who the artist is will affect the appeal as much if not more to me than who the featured character is. Also historical significance absolutely plays a role, too.

Scoop: How important is it that the main character is in all (or many) of the panels?
AC: The more Batman is in a page the more desirable the page will be. However, for me, a page that does not have Batman in every panel but does have, say, Commissioner Gordon and Deadman all on the same page (though not all in every panel) is killer. Another example is a page with Batman and Robin in only two panels that also has the Batmobile and Alfred across the page is most desirable. But I would ask how would this question apply to art from a horror, teen, romance, war, funny animal book? Would not the question have to be answered very differently as there would not be a main continuing character in most (though not all) cases?

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?
AC: Somewhat, but I think the character and the artist and the significance of the story can be just as important.

Scoop: How do first appearances, crossovers or other notable events affect the desirability of a page?
AC: Obviously they are always going to be key factors in any page of art.

Scoop: How does the aging of the art board or paper affect your decision making?
AC: Not that much in terms of will I buy it or not as I have not seen many pages with poor paper quality.

Scoop: How does restoration or clean-up impact a piece of comic art?
AC: I have no problem with cleaning a page. If by restoration you mean redrawing missing art, well, that is a different issue and not something I would be happy with.

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)?
AC: It surely does. Kirby/Sinnott is much more desirable then Kirby/Royer. Same with Infantino/Anderson over say Infantino/Heck (which did not happen virtually ever, but you get the idea). Inkers can seriously impact the final look of the art and collectors have their favorites in terms of penciler/inker combinations

Scoop: How much effect does – or should – nostalgia have in such purchases?
AC: For collectors in so many different areas nostalgia does and, yes, should play a role. It has for me (Death of Alfred for example).

Scoop: What – if anything – makes a piece an automatic “yes” for you?
AC: There is no automatic yes per say but an artist I like and a character I like is a good start

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?
AC: Genera should and does play an important role. It’s not just about super heroes (though I love them). Romance, war, horror, funny animal, teen, newspaper comics, they all are factors in what people collect, but of course the hero art is going to be at the head of the line. And of course who the artist is.

Scoop: How do you price your pieces?
AC: Since every page is a one of a kind, it ain’t easy. Prices are based on artist, story and book significance and of course genera and character. Demand for any and all of the above plays a big role. Ultimately since creating a price guide for original is most impractical this means the seller will put whatever price he/she thinks can be got for it and dealers do tend to push the prices perhaps more then comic dealers do.

Scoop: Where do you see the market going over the next five years?
AC: I think that the market is going to develop further and prices will rise, but I also do think that collecting original comic art is not going to reach the level of popularity of collecting the actual books has in those next five years. It is an expensive area to collect (of course comics are too but they can attract a wider audience just by nature of what they are you can read the whole story with a comic, not with a single page of it).

Recent Notable Sales/Acquisitions:
Adventure Comics #360 cover by Ross Andru & Dick Giordano, an Infantino Batman sketch, Justice League #80 by Kevin Wes, Brave and the Bold #79 by Neal Adams, Wonder Woman #174 by Ross Andru, Bernie Wrightson Batman vs. Predator.