There are two reasons you wouldn't go to thecliffguy.com:

1. if your best friend got into an accident involving a car, a seatbelt, and an rpg pewter statue of an axe wielding magical dragon caretaker mage dwarf hunter, and you hurriedly need to check the internet for first aid advice

2. if you need to get stains of red wine off your school uniform

There are two main reasons you would go to thecliffguy.com:

1. if you want to see your favorite comic book artist's rendition of a cliff

2. if you want to see your favorite comic book artist's drawn contents of a jar stamp

"I usually get what I ask for: someone or something on a cliff," says Walt, the self-proclaimed cliff guy. "If someone draws a character just standing on a cliff, I'm happy! I've been lucky that several artists have taken the opportunity to show their creativity and made it something more than that, though."

The Cliffs
In 1990, this business manager of a non-profit community theater went to his first comic book convention in Tacoma, WA, and after seeing people walking around with convention sketches, he decided to get his own. He approached Sergio Aragones and Stan Sakai, his two favorite artists there, to draw their character facing each other on opposite cliffs. After telling me this he decides it wasn't a good story, "How about this: I'm afraid of heights, so I ask people to draw fictional characters on cliffs to help me psychologically. Conquering the fear of heights, one sketch at a time! That sounds better!"

And thus his collection grew to the point that he eventually started getting unsolicited cliff drawings and offers which he gladly takes in, "My work is not complete until every artist in the world has drawn something on a cliff for me."

After the first five years of collecting convention sketches, the popularity of the internet made his requests and commissioning easier. These days he gets about 50% of his collection from convention, 45% from the internet, and the rest through regular mail. "Luckily," says Walt as he ends this paragraph, "I have such an odd theme most people know that I'm not going to turn around & sell it--and I have no plans to sell ANY of my cliff drawings."

The Jars
Also a regular collector of comics, XBOX games, and random Star Wars items here and there, Walt has other quirky collections. On the page, snapshots of his Madman doll is displayed with people like Jim Lee, Neil Gaiman, the Misfits, and Lou Ferregno. There are also first hand pictures of the sites where they shot real life scenes for Goonies. But another growing collection that can rival his cliff obsession is entitled "CANNED."

Before going to the San Diego Comicon in 2000, he found a rubber stamp of a jar outline in a craft store a week earlier. He stamped every page in his sketchbook and approached the artists, asking them to draw something in it. This idea is my personal favorite because every artist would start from the same constraint and you could see where their creativity takes them.

The Advice
For getting your own sketches, Walt offers his own experience as advice:

"It's always awkward asking folks to draw you something, and I still get really nervous because I'm quite shy. I'm usually approaching an artist that I've admired for a long time, so there's a bit of being ‘star struck’ there. I imagine it would be like seeing a celebrity in a restaurant and asking for his or her autograph.

"If you are going to ask an artist to draw you something at a convention, know who it is you are asking... perhaps bring a comic that s/he worked on to sign as well. You'd be surprised how many times I've seen ‘fans’ ask artists (and even writers) to draw something without ever knowing who the creator is. And it doesn't hurt to be polite and well-mannered."

The Stories
A quality quirky people have is that they usually have an interesting story to tell. I got Walt to tell me about his encounters with some of my favorite artists since high school: Tomm Coker, Larry Stroman, and Sam Kieth.

"Tomm Coker is a real gentleman. I emailed him out of the blue several years back and he agreed to do a piece for me. We even spoke on the phone several times. I think he did one for me originally that got lost, and he was kind enough to do another one. His recent work on DC's ‘Blood & Water’ (written by Judd Winick) is some of his best art in my opinion. And since his cliff drawing turned out so cool, I hope to get another one from him someday!

"I met Larry Stroman in Portland, OR at a comic show. He had just come out with his comic 'Tribe' through Image, and I had him sign a copy for me. I asked him if he'd like to draw something for my collection & he cheerfully agreed. He worked on it at such an angle that I couldn't see it develop. At one point he turned to the artist next to him and asked, 'What does a pig's snout look like?' I thought, what in the WORLD is he drawing? When he handed it to me, all was clear and to date it's still one of my absolute favorite cliff drawings. And I have no idea where he is today. I hope he comes back to comics at some point!

"Sam Kieth I met in San Diego in a shuttle van from the airport! We happened to be staying at the same hotel, and chatted a little (but not about cliffs--there's a time and place for everything). At the convention he drew 'Sandman in a jar' for my CANNED sketchbook, and then I asked about a cliff commission. We spoke more via email and this amazing Sandman piece is the result. Very talented, very humble guy."

The Top Fives
I forced Walt to list the top five conceptually creative cliff and jar drawings in his opinion. I didn’t have the time to list my own, but I remember Greg Hyland's cliff and Evan Dorkin's jar were pretty good.

His Cliffs:
Drew Struzan
John Severin
Linda Medley
Howard Cruse
Jeff Parker

His Jars: Evan Dorkin
Phil Hester
Andy Lee
Linda Medley
Steve Purcell

There are plenty other creative and technically pleasing cliffs and jars from your favorite comic artists, so if you have hours to spare, go ahead and enjoy them out.

On the web: TheCliffGuy.com