I ask fwooshmembers questions
They answer them
ig64 " Original comic art has really become my number one hobby"
ig64? What does your username mean?
ig64 comes from IG-64, which is the name of a character I played in a Star Wars online, text-based RPG in the late 90s. He was an assassin droid in the vein of IG-88, one of the droid bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back, but even cooler if you can believe it. Anyways, I’ve used ‘ig64’ or some variant thereof for most of my online aliases since then.
Where do you live?
In Manhattan and work in New Jersey, which is like the exact opposite of 99% of people in this area.
Where do you work?
I work as an organizational development analyst at a large hospital in New Jersey. Basically I go to different departments and look for all the things they’re doing wrong or inefficiently. I like it a lot so far, but I’m still relatively new to it, so I’m sure I just haven’t pissed off enough people yet.
What are some details in internal audit?
Well, it’s not financial auditing like what the IRS does, which is what most people probably think of when they hear of auditing. It probably has a negative connotation because of that. What I do is more like compliance and quality control. I go into different departments in the hospital and do everything from making sure they have all the proper documentation for a given patient to a top down review of their entire process to make sure things are being done efficiently. On a good day, the people in the department will be receptive and will give me the access I need to do my job, but since I’m always an ‘outsider’, some people are just going to be wary when I’m around. So far, I haven’t pissed off anyone too much. From what I see in my job, a lot of problems stem from unnecessary paperwork and procedure. So many things have to be done ‘by the book’, even though that means things get tied up in bottlenecks because the procedure is so god awfully inefficient. The fact that so much is still put on paper as opposed to entered electronically is nuts as well.
Who is in your family?
I’m a single guy right now. I really don’t try hard enough (or at all).
Any pets?
Nope, none allowed at my apartment, unfortunately. My parents have a German Shepherd that I still consider my pet even though I moved out more than a year ago. Being an only child, the various German Shepherds my parents had were the closest things I had to siblings.
What are your future plans?
I hope to get into healthcare consulting eventually, hopefully for one of the Big 4 firms or some smaller firm. Basically so I could travel more. Yeah, I know, business travel… but Hell, I’ll take it.
Do you customize?
Nope, never had the time or inclination to learn it. I’ve never been an artistic person either; the closest I ever got was photography. I do own a genuine levit05 custom though!
Where did you go when you were gone for so long?
Wow, didn’t think anyone noticed I was gone! Anyways, with the Hasbro switchover coming and my dislike of most of that first wave, I realized I could stop collecting ML with the completion of the M.O.D.O.K. wave and be 95% happy with my collection. Also, at that point in my life, I really needed to get my sh!t together, and Fwoosh, among other things, were too much of a distraction. Luckily, I did get my sh!t together and some of the later Hasbro stuff turned out pretty decent and, well, I missed the board a bit, so after a good old NYC Fwooshering, I decided to come back.
Do you cook?
Nope, nothing fancier than steaks, pastas or stir fries. I want something easy to make after a long day at work.
What is in your collection?
I have a lot of the Toy Biz-era MLs and related lines; all displayed in a massive Heroes vs. Villains battle sprawled out over a desk. The battle has evolved constantly since I’ve restarted it a few times and moved it to my apartment. I like where it’s at now, but it’s pretty much at capacity. If I really started collecting the Hasbro MLs, I’d definitely need a new desk. I’m pretty OCD about the ‘space-time continuum’ of my setup; no two versions of the same character, mostly current or iconic costumes. If you look hard enough, there are a few continuity violations that I’m too lazy to fix.
Where do you vacation? Where would you like to vacation?
Funny you should ask, I just got back from vacation in the Philippines! Two awesome weeks filled with lots of partying book ended by the weddings of two of my cousins. Needless to say, I was bombed out of my mind most of the time between various parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, after-wedding parties, weddings, etc, that combined with massive jetlag to produce a few nasty hangovers.
What other sites do you visit?
The usual comics news sites like Newsarama and Comic Book Resources. I always check out Comic Art Fans to see what new comic art is out there. I usually get my non-comics news from The New York Times. For laughs, I like to check out What Would Tyler Durden Do?, Fire Joe Morgan and The Comics Curmudgeon.
What video games do you like?
Anything Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy. Definitely a Playstation guy, though I still haven’t bought a PS3, mainly because the PS3 iterations of those games still haven’t come out yet (soon though). I can’t wait till GTA IV or MGS4 come out so I can buy the system already.
What do you spend your money on?
Well, other than boring stuff like rent and utilities, I spend it mainly on comic books and original comic art. Original comic art has really become my number one hobby in the past two years.
Who is Eduardo Risso?
Eduardo Risso is the artist on my favorite ongoing comic of all time, 100 Bullets, written by Brian Azzarello. He’s the best, and possibly most unknown and underrated artist of today. He’s able to create an overall mood from issue to issue that is pretty much perfect for the story and characters involved. He’s also done a wonderful job establishing diverse and distinctive looks for the many characters that are central to the story. Also, his layouts are incredible and have a truly cinematic quality that few other artists can match. Plus, how many other artists could successfully frame a whole panel through the bottom of a glass ashtray? Or from the inside of a trashcan lid looking out?
Who is Adam Hughes?
Adam Hughes is one of the best comic artists of all time. A lot of people label him as a cheesecake-y, T&A type artist, but he’s much better than that. His figure work, his attention to detail, the facial expressions he puts to paper… all of it is superb. He’s one of the few artists who can do ‘sexy’ without it turning excessively trashy. Getting a con sketch from Adam is notoriously difficult to do and I’ve been lucky enough to get two already, which I display on my avatar. Black Widow is one of my favorite Marvel characters, so getting a Widow sketch from Hughes was really cool.
Do you only get Black Widow drawn up?
I try to alternate equally between Widow and Black Cat, another of my favorite characters. It depends a lot on the artist I’m asking, though, and which character I’d rather see them draw.
Why so much love for the Black Widow?
She’s one of the strongest female characters in all of comics and she gets by largely without any special powers, just a functional costume and two nifty wrist gauntlets. Just a take-no-sh!t attitude and a willingness to bend the rules a bit to succeed. Also, red is my favorite color, so her red hair immediately stuck out to me when I first saw her in a comic. Her costume is overall pretty simplistic, but the flowing red hair makes her stand out.
How much is a custom art piece?
It varies depending on the artist. Typically, the more popular or ‘hotter’ the artist is, the higher the price they command. For me, personally, I’ve paid about an average of $150 for the commissions and con sketches in my collection. I try not to go higher than that unless it’s an artist I really, really love and I know the money will be worth it. I’ve seen artists who charge ridiculous amounts for just pencilled, un-inked pieces with minimal backgrounds, or for simpler pieces that would barely qualify as another artist’s freebie con sketch.
How do you go about choosing the artist?
Well, most of the artists whose art I collect are guys I’ve followed for a while now, artists whose work I really love. Until recently, it was always the artist that first drew me into any comic I read; art was and is always the first thing I notice in a comic. So when I got into original art, I made it a point to collect a piece, original page or otherwise, from all the artists whose work I love. I’ve made pretty good progress, but pricing will always keep me from getting stuff from certain artists until I become a millionaire or something.
How much have you spent?
Ugh, I honestly don’t want to think about it. It helped that I bought very few toys last year. But so far, every piece I own has been worth it.
What is wrong with you?
I’ve started to see comic books as colorized original art catalogs…
Thanks Iggy!
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