EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW !      

THE COLLECTOR'S SERIES: KIRK DILBECK
RAGING CHEETAH SHARES SOME COMICS WORDS WITH
SUPERFAN AND ARTIST REPRESENTATIVE KIRK DILBECK

July.05.2008
By Andrea Randall
Staff Writer

Raging Cheetah continues our series of exclusive interview content: THE COLLECTOR'S SERIES! We sit down with the fans - veteran collectors of comics, original artwork, commissions and convention sketches, to hear their stories and share their experiences from shows like Wizard World, Anime Expo and Comic-Con. So if you're a fan of comic book shows worldwide, read on!

RC: Let's start with where you are located, and what comic book shows you regularly attend each year. Which is your favorite show?
Kirk: I live in the Los Angeles area. The shows I attend are usually just the West Coast shows. Of course, SDCC; WWLA because it is convenient; Super-Con is fun; and I’d like to get back to Steve’s show. (I missed it this year.) WonderCon is cool but I think Emerald City [ComiCon] is going to be taking its place in the future. Seattle is a beautiful town, and the show is great. In 2009 I am going to try the Con in Arizona. My favorite would have to be SDCC since we have kind of grown up together. I think I have only missed a couple of them since 1980.

RC: Other than the artists you represent (which we'll get to in a sec), who are your top five artists right now? And who is your all-time favorite artist? ?
Kirk: Only five, I don’t think I can narrow it down that far. It is funny that Olivier Delflas (a Belgium collector) and I just went through this exercise together for fun. It is hard to pin down because some artists do amazing commission work but can’t put the love and time in on their comic work due to tight schedules and page layout so I am going to give you my top in both. Commission 1st: The lists are always changing too but today I can’t get enough of Dave Finch, Gabrielle Dell’Otto, Claudio Castellini, Ivan Reis, Alan Davis, Ed Benes, I guess that is more than five. Did I mention Adam Hughes and Andy Brase?

OK, on to the next: In comic work today I still love Jim Lee and Carlos Pacheco. Gary Frank is doing an awesome job at that other company, and I dig Jimmy Chueng’s art. Mike McKone is always very solid. My all-time favorites are Gil Kane, Jim Starlin, John Buscema, George Perez, John Byrne and Barry Smith.

RC: Okay, now please tell us a little bit about the fantastic artists you represent. How did you get started in this??
Kirk: Brian Haberlin and I are buddies from High School. He has faith in my business sense and knows that I love comic art, so he put Philip Tan and me together. Brian also connected me with Jay Anacleto and Bing Cansino. Since representing Philip my other artist friends Terese Nielsen, Mark Dos Santos, Tone Rodriguez, Walden Wong and Jeff De Los Santos have helped me by allowing me to represent them. Terese introduced me to Greg Polutanovich, who is an amazing sculptor. So here I am surrounded by world class talent all really due to friendship and trust.

RC: Out of your collection, which piece is your favorite one, and why?
Kirk: I’d have to say my Starlin Rampaging Hulk cover painting due to sentimentality, but my favorite image is my Alliance Commission that Jay Anacleto is doing for me. By the time we are done it should have over 60 of Marvels coolest heroes. We are about halfway done.

RC: Give me your favorite sketch-related experience so far.
Kirk: My first SDCC I was in line to get a sketch. In front of me were sitting George Perez, John Byrne and Bill Sinkevitch. I was next in line and the first artist available was Bill. At first I was a little disappointed in that I was a bigger fan of the other two but Bill was incredibly friendly, his then wife was easy on the eyes and he did an amazing job on Yellowjacket. He even took an exacto knife to parts of it for effect. I got back in line twice for the other two so the whole con was an incredible experience.

RC: What would be your least favorite sketch-related experience so far?
Kirk: Again Bill Sinkevitch; This time it was WWLA 2007. He quoted me a very high price, and I reluctantly paid it and I asked him to do a Black Widow for me. Later that day a friend said to me, “Did you hear what Bill is charging, and it is only for a torso sketch?” Concerned, I went back to Bill’s table and asked if what I paid for was a full figure or a torso piece. He replied torso so I asked for my money back (since he didn’t start my sketch yet). He didn’t want to refund me the money and said he’d do a full figure for me. I checked with him repeatedly/respectfully (about three times over two days) for the rest of the con and he kept saying he’d get it done. With 30 minutes left I asked again and he said ‘I’ll get it done.’ One minute after the Con closed he scrammed out of there not saying a word to me even though I was with Philip just two rows away. It took me seven months to finally get my sketch and tons of hassles. Let’s just say that Bill as a young man was a very cool and responsible guy, but things change.

RC: Geesh, sorry to hear 'bout that. Have you seen the IRON MAN movie? What did you think?
Kirk: Yes I did, and I loved it! Next to the last BATMAN I think this is the best movie in our genre.

RC: Yeah, it was good... I dunno if it was better than SPIDER-MAN 2 or the X-MEN movies. By the way, who is your top X-Men character?
Kirk: Hmmm, I am more of an Avengers guy. Gambit could be if he is written right but he rarely is. I’d say Jamie Madrox or the Starjammers. Do they count?

RC: Sure! Avengers, huh? Have you heard of the Avengers Initiative? [Spoiler Alert: This was in reference to the scene at the very end of the IRON MAN movie, following the credits.] Next comic show we'll likely be seeing you at?
Kirk: SDCC 2008!

RC: Thank you!
Kirk: Thank you, this was fun!!