Like the superheroes he admires, Chris Haggard was only trying to make the world a better place when he created an online storing house for people around the world to share their passion for comic-book artwork.
Before Mr. Haggard co-founded Comicartfans.com, there was no central location for collectors and dealers to showcase their pieces, said Mr. Haggard, a Web developer by trade.
“(The old system) was hokey, from my standpoint,” he said. “It was a terrible way to display art and get it out to users.
“Comicartfans was originally purely for ourselves. … As we started putting it together, we realized, ‘Actually, this might work for everybody else. Let’s open the floodgates.’ They liked it, and it eventually became … the center of the comic-art community.”
Since launching in February 2003, Comicartfans.com has grown to an average of 5 million monthly page views. The site has about 47,000 users and more than 5,500 active galleries.
Q: Are you surprised by the site’s success?
A: I didn’t expect there would be quite so many people. Back in the day, the Comicart-L (an art collector e-mailing list) was a fairly close-knit bunch of guys. … A lot of people got the (list), but they didn’t post on it. You would see the same 150-200 people bantering back and forth, but you’d never see all the lurkers out there.
Q: Why do you collect comic art?
A: Comics were a part of my life forever. I collected things I liked from titles I liked. It’s the same reason people collect film memorabilia. They enjoyed the film beyond measure, so they want some sort of token from it.
Q: How large is your collection?
A: Acouple hundred pieces. It’s hard to tell. After you buy so much, you start forgetting about things.
Q: What is it worth?
A: $20,000-$30,000. Comic art is … a one-of-a-kind thing. I know guys who go to Comic-Con in San Diego who will drop $150,000 without batting an eyelash. Most of them are doctors or lawyers, and they’ll drop any amount for something they want.
Q: Do you have a favorite piece?
A: Not really. I have favorites, but for me they all have a certain appeal. It varies day to day, week to week, month to month. I’ve got a Brian Bolland “Animal Man” piece. You can’t buy him much anymore. You have to go back and find his old stuff because people don’t want to part with it. I picked that up a few years ago.
Q: Do you think comic books, as a medium, are misunderstood?
A: Not anymore. There have been a lot of talented writers who have really pushed the medium … stuff by people like Neil Gaiman (“Sandman”) and Alan Moore (“Watchmen”) and Grant Morrison (“Animal Man” revamp).”
Q: Why have comics remained popular for more than 75 years?
A: Because they’re so fun. They were meant to be a distraction. It was a movie in 22 pages. It was a cheap way of being able to have a little adventure and get outside yourself. And it encouraged kids to read. Goodness knows they need help with that.