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Welcome, friends, to another edition of Comic Cave Makeover!

Things stalled for a while as I was making final preparations for how to decorate my walls. Part of this was waiting for my birthday, as I knew my wife had some plans to get me some things for my walls.

I used to love those Marvel and DC handbooks that had the plans for all the headquarters of the heroes and villains. I loved finding out where that giant penny in the Batcave came from, or where the Avengers did their workouts, or where the Sinister Six sat when they made plans to destroy Spider-Man. One thing I loved about those was how they explained each item. So in that grand tradition, I’m going to do the same with my wall decor.

Wall of Vintage DC Covers: OK, those of you who know me may think this is an odd thing to put on my walls. I’m not a DC fan by any means. But I am a fan of vintage covers. A few years ago someone gave me a calendar with all these awesome covers in it. So I kept it and decided to put them all up. I’d love a Marvel one so I could line all the walls with this historical art!

Wall of Bookshelves and the 90s: Here are my bookshelves where I’m displaying some of my most recent favorite covers. Also, I was displaying my old Star Wars action figures on one shelf, but my kids found them and wanted to play with them. I don’t want to be one of those people who won’t let kids play with toys, so I took the time to introduce them to a Tauntaun and some Ewoks. On top of the shelves are pictures of family and friends. But you’ll also see next to the shelves a poster I got when I was in high school. Somehow, this poster got folded up and stuck into one of my long boxes. It’s the early 90s line up of the X-Men, which was when I first started collecting X-Men regularly. Where else can you find a poster with Jim Lee, Larry Stroman, Alan Davis, and Rob Liefeld art all-in-one? Hooray for the 90s!

Wall of John Romita, Sr.: My mother recently gave me a bunch of old stuff from her house, and in some of my old art portfolios, I had crammed this gem. It’s got that sticky wall tack stuff on the back that shows through, but who cares? It’s John freakin’ Romita, Sr.! I remember staring at this poster for hours as a kid. I’m glad it finally has a place to be displayed again. Above it is a shelf a friend gave me where my coconut monkey rests (everyone needs a coconut monkey!) along with some books I’ve read or am currently reading, and a picture of some friends.

Wall of Antique Mall Stuff: Here’s what my three kids got me for my birthday. My wife found these at an antique mall. They aren’t vintage or anything, but they look really cool. And of course, John Byrne’s Wolverine gets center stage on this wall. Such a cool image! Eventually, I want to put more things on this wall, but for now, it looks pretty sweet.

Wall of Original Art: I don’t have a lot of original art, but I sure want more. When I was a teenager, my mom’s cousin was doing his own comics and he gave me a page from one of his books (not pictured here). Eventually, I want to get it framed and get it on this wall. But for now, I have some original commissions from artist Otis Frampton of my two favorite X-Men characters: Jamie Madrox and Nightcrawler. I have another piece by Otis of St. Nicholas (which is the name of the church I serve), but have yet to get it framed. Downstairs, we framed Otis’s depiction of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice which I gave to my wife. They look great, as do these pieces. So my collection is small, but I hope to grow it as time goes by.

Wall of Other Stuff: Here are some random things I put up. A poster of R.E.M., one of my favorite bands, an “Episcopal Church Welcomes You” sign, which is old and rusty, and a VW tin. I don’t have a VW right now, but I used to have a ’72 Micro Bus and someday hope to get another one. So these are things that are important to me and deserved a miscellaneous space.

Ceiling of Star Wars: This is not a good picture, but I couldn’t get the light right. Dangling from the ceiling over my desk are a Millennium Falcon and an X-Wing. I long lost my original versions of these ships, but I found these two at a yard sale. Took a while to get them hanging right, but they look pretty good floating over my head as I type this.

Wall of Art Gallery: Finally, we have a wall of my own artwork. Well, not just my own artwork. I needed a place to hang pictures my kids draw, plus hang up other things as I draw them and want to ruminate on them for a while. I put some eye-screws into the wall and hung some twine to make three “clothesline” galleries with clothespins. I can change things out however I want. Also in this image you can see that page of original art I have from my mother’s cousin who wrote a book called Diebold back in the early 90s. If there are any Diebold fans out there, holla!

So that’s what I have up for now. The Comic Cave is pretty complete. My next column will be my last on the comic cave, which will be a before-and-after retrospective. Until then, friends, thanks for all your suggestions. Feel free to send in your own comic caves to be put on display!

Jeff Jackson
jeff@comicattack.net