Holy Grail.
It is what a comic book collector states is their most wanted comic (or comic related merchandise). For some it may be that copy of X-Men #1 - the first time I saw a copy of X-Men #1 at Marshak's (my not so local anymore comic book store), my heart skipped a beat or two. When I was younger, I was a huge X-Men fan. Getting a copy of X-Men #1 seemed nigh impossible for me. But when I finally did have the opportunity to buy it, I passed. It wasn't my Holy Grail anymore.
So a person's Holy Grail will change over time, but I'd say almost every comic collector has one. What is mine you ask? Well, it is Cerebus related of course. At one time it was Cerebus #1, but I managed to snag me one of those. My current Holy Grail is the original art for Issue #162 (of Cerebus of course!) page number 2. For you see, that is the page from which I took the picture of Cerebus for my Cerebus tattoo.
Collecting original art from Cerebus is indeed a challenge. You can find pages and sketches / drawings up on Ebay from time to time and on other comic art related websites, but the art can get pricey quickly. Usually a Cerebus page will cost from $500 to $1,000 depending on if it is an action shot splash scene with Cerebus or a multi-panel page with no Cerebus or other "popular" characters in it. The covers to the series are even more expensive, ranging from $1,000 and up.
At one time Dave used to sell the original art to the series, and in back issues you can see ads from Now and Then Comics for original art (that particular ad is from issue #21). He would even sell pages while on tours. But then sometime past issue #200, that stopped. At the three SPACE conventions I've attended, Dave didn't bring any original art. But I had to have that page. So I wrote him and asked him if I could make him an offer for it.
He wrote me back stating that particular page, as most pages from that era of Mothers & Daughters with Cerebus using his "powers", were sold on the US Tour 1992. So one luckly Cerebus collector out there has my Holy Grail.
Then I saw the next best thing on EBay: page #3 from issue #162. The seller, Martin, had it in a great looking matte and frame and had a "Buy it now" option, which I promptly took use of. Now a week later, I have the page that is one removed from my page. My search for page #2 will continue until I find it, but for now - my one page of original art from the Cerebus series, is proudly hanging on my wall in my "Cerebus Corner".
I do have a few other pieces of original Cerebus art: the rough sketch and tighten sketch for issue #300, page 17 panel 4, the tighten sketch for page #482 from the Form and Void phonebook (actually, it is the top two thirds of the page), a one panel page which was only used in the fanclub Newsletter #13 of Cerebus leaning, and my final original Cerebus art is the AV table display, which is my one piece of colored Cerebus art.
So what is my point other then to brag about all my goodies? My point is there is other Cerebus art out there other then expensive original pages. Sketches and drawings can usually be found on Ebay for under $100. But my other point was while looking for my Holy Grail, I've stumbled across some other treasures. If you look, you too can find goodies while on your search for your Holy Grail, so don't give up hope.
And if you're the lucky Cerebite that has page #2 from issue #162, drop me an Email.
From the Cerebus Fangirl Site found on the web at: http://www.cerebusfangirl.com contents maybe printed for later reading if you so desire, just don't copy it and say it's yours though.