With their continued goal of growth through providing top notch services to their clientele, Hake’s Auctions has added Gary Guzzo as a Comic Art Consultant & Artist Representative. In this new capacity, Guzzo will use his extensive experience in the industry to find original art for auctions, including fresh to the market pieces, and help to authenticate material. He will also act as a liaison between Hake’s Auctions and the artists who are looking to sell their work.

A comics industry veteran, Guzzo’s appreciation for comic books goes back to his childhood when it was a family affair. His mother read comics, so books were always in the house, and he remembers seeing his sister reading Lois Lane when they were kids. At one point, Guzzo traded his DC comics for Marvel back issues (including Fantastic Four #20), which is when he started considering himself a true fan.

In addition to comics and related material, he collects rock ‘n’ roll records, tapes, and concert posters. He has collected posters from local shows, shows that he promoted while working in the music industry, and classics from the Fillmore and other Bill Graham and Family Dog posters. Guzzo also collects coins, stamps, toys, a model train set, antiques, advertising material (especially tourism memorabilia), and anything unique.

Professionally speaking, Guzzo has had a busy career in both the music and comics industries.

“I literally spent half my life in the music biz and the other half in comics. I did my first live concert at 13, but even when I was cemented in that business, it always came with a side order of comic books,” he said.

Starting as a comic reader, he became a collector after attending his first New York Comic Art Convention and discovering The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. While working in the music business, he temporarily drifted away from regularly buying comics, until the early ’80s. Guzzo decided to open Amazing Tales, his own comic shop, in 1984. Located in Dobbs Ferry, NY, it quickly outgrew its 12’ x 20’ storefront and moved to a larger location.

“I became very friendly with the sales departments at Marvel, DC, and Archie Comics, so Amazing Tales quickly turned into a store with almost weekly comic book creator appearances, which spread and turned into a shop that comic book pros would hang around in, so I became very involved with publishers, artists, writers and the like,” he recalled.

He sold the shop in ’89 while still working on staging shows, and turned that into his own staging company that specialized in convention A/V services. He moved his business location to Manhattan, which put him near Marvel Comics, where he remained in touch with Lou Bank and Steve Saffel, who would notify him about openings at Marvel.

“Shortly after, I started a national staging company with a partner, and we graduated from entertainment to strictly corporate convention work, designing and building large convention booths and specializing in large video presentations,” Guzzo said.

After a while, one type of staging company would morph into another staging business, and he sold his share in the current company to explore other options. While deciding what to do next, Bank (who was then head of Direct Sales at Marvel) asked if he would help put together a relief program for the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew.

Working with retailers, radio and TV stations, the National Guard, and the Red Cross, he helped put together a relief package for affected retailers, as well as a multi-day entertainment program and brought in tons of comics for kids affected by the storm.

When he returned to New York, Bank requested that he join the Marvel staff. Guzzo became the Director of Publicity, tasked with connecting the company with the press and Marvel readers. He began by meeting with The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide’s Robert and Carol Overstreet and Comics Buyer’s Guide’s Don and Maggie Thompson, and they developed a new, open door policy for releasing material to the press and to fans. Aspects of the job included escorting Stan Lee to various appearances, as well as running their convention services and creating an impactful Marvel con booth.

“As Marvel downsized dramatically, I left to become a publicity and marketing consultant for new start-up companies, working for Broadway Comics, Acclaim/Valiant, Byron Preiss, Central Park Media, and numerous small publishers,” he said.

Once Guzzo and longtime Marvel Graphic Designer Dawn Geiger got married in ’95, they opened Atomic Studios, a graphic design and marketing firm, specializing in entertainment and tourism. A few years ago, they transitioned away from tourism work back to comic book production via what is now called the Atomic Studios Bullpen. An injury forced Guzzo to take a break from Atomic Studios, and during that period a long conversation began between Steve Geppi and Guzzo.

As the Comic Art Consultant & Artist Representative for Hake’s, he will use his knowledge as a collector, comic shop owner, Marvel publicist, and industry consultant. He will seek original art for consignment to Hake’s auctions, paying close attention to fresh to market material, and help authenticate the art that they find.

“I am a huge fan of comic book history, so tracking down original art will move from a casual hobby, to a job, now that I have found the right auction house to work with,” he said.

As an artist representative, he said he plans to “act as an in-house representative for artists and their estates, and act as an advisor and curator that will bring the consignor the best possible return on their items, by being aware of the depth of the material they have, and working to move that material to auction in a logical and profitable way.”

Acting on behalf of the artists and Hake’s, Guzzo will provide consignors with the facts and reasoning involved in auctioning their material to satisfy the buyers and aid consignors through the auction process.

“I plan on being a representative that gives artists quicker results in marketing their art and I hope to make this as exciting and as much fun as it is to be the bidder,” Guzzo said. “I plan on having artists as involved as they want to be, so expect this to add a whole new social media component to spotlight the careers and accomplishments of these artists in a way that is fun, for all of us.”

He will gather consignments for both the premier auctions and build special comic art auctions.

“My long-range goal is to keep a steady stream of original art, mostly unseen for decades, through the Hake’s premier auctions. Having so many contacts among comic book artists and comic book collectors, you can expect a wide variety of artists and characters to become a regular part of Hake’s premiere auctions, as well as some focused entirely on comic book page art,” he said.

Guzzo has had a long relationship with Hake’s owner & CEO Steve Geppi, and was eager to reenter the industry through the companies that make up Geppi Family Enterprises. He recalls that when he was introduced to the people at Hake’s, he was “fascinated by how long they have been auctioning collectibles, and how much knowledge they had of the products they consign.”

“Being friends with a lot of comic book artists, I have been approached numerous times about representing them in the sale of their original art, but I never had the correct outlet to dedicate myself to doing that for them,” Guzzo said. “After many long talks with Hake’s President, Alex Winter, I realized that I would be very comfortable representing my friends in the sale of their cherished artwork. Having this relationship with a company that I admire, finally added the last piece to my desire to help artists sell their work for decent prices.”

“Over the past few years Hake’s has added several consultants and specialists to our staff, passionate collectors and respected experts in their fields,” Alex Winter said. “This now continues with the addition of Gary Guzzo, a person who has a pedigree that is second to none. Gary’s exuberant passion and impeccable reputation are a perfect fit for Hake’s. Even after 53 years, Hake’s is always looking to take things to another level and with bringing Gary on board, America’s first collectibles auction house has done just that. We hope artists, bidders and consignors enjoy working with Gary as much as we know we will.”

Guzzo plans to achieve worthwhile results for the artists with whom he will consult. Having seen many secondary sellers receive huge sums for original art that the artist sold years ago for low prices, he wanted to get involved.

“I have long had a goal of putting the artists directly in control of the sale of their artwork, and with such an honorable company like Hake’s Auctions behind me, I felt the time was right for me to take steps to make that happen,” he said. “Steve Geppi and I spoke of establishing some innovative programs that will be a great aid to the people who have created some of our most cherished comics. As we all get older, there is a need for stability and security, and we hope to be able to offer all sorts of aid to comic creators in this area.”

“In addition, I am very impressed with the entire Hake’s Auctions operation and that attention to detail that they have. The fact that they have a long history of selling all sorts of Americana, makes them the logical choice to lead the way to the future of comic book art auctions, as well as knowing that the same sources that have stockpiles of artwork, also possess their own varied collections of art, comics, toys and other memorabilia that can also be sold, with great success via Hake’s. I am here to help Hake’s grow to the position that I believe they deserve, which is the very top of Americana and pop art auctions,” Guzzo said.