I commissioned this sketch on March 31st/April 1st, 2007, directly from Kieron Dwyer at the Seattle Emerald City Comicon. I'd never been to a convention and was a little curious, and I'd never acquired non-published art. Noting that two of the attendees were Mark Bagley (who drew one of my favorite pieces, a two-page Serpent Society spread), and Kieron Dwyer, who drew the Serpent Society's best story (Viper's takeover), I decided to commission one sketch from each, of whomever they considered their favorite Serpent Society member. This is Kieron's choice, Diamondback.
     As this was commissioned, Captain America had been "killed" by Marvel very publicly less than a month previously. I don't know what prompted Kieron to give Diamondback Captain America's shield, but I certainly wouldn't mind seeing her pick up the role, unlikely though that may be.
     Kieron Dwyer has a website at http://www.kierondwyer.com/. I don't know his stand on commissions and such, but I strongly recommend him to anyone interested. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and I'm happy to have several of his pages in my own collection.

     I acquired this on April 1st, 2007, directly from Mark Bagley, and also at the Seattle Emerald City Comicon. I'm not big on commissions, but I also wanted something original from creators who meant something to me, so I hit upon a compromise: when/if I meet future creators, if they've drawn any of the Serpent Society members in their careers, then I'll ask them to draw their favorite Society members. Mark Bagley is the second in this long-term collection (after Kieron Dwyer's Diamondback), with this nicely flowing Sidewinder.

     Well, it took three years to get number three in my set of Serpent Society members as drawn by artists who've drawn them in Marvel books. Ron Lim drew most of the snakes in the Trial of Diamondback (one of my personal favorites) story in the late issue 370s and early issue 380s in Captain America. I attended the San Diego Comic Con in 2010, and on Thursday July 22nd I was surprised to find the esteemed Mr. Lim at a booth there in the Artists' Alley. After chatting briefly, I asked him for a pencil sketch of his favorite Society member (or whichever he most wanted to draw); I returned on Saturday morning to his choice: Cottonmouth.
     I found Ron to be pleasant and generous; I was very happy to meet him and am just as happy to have a piece by him in my small collection. If you're interested in Mr. Lim's work, he does seem to have a commissions page, though I fear it might be well out of date. Still, worth a try!

     Number four in my set of Serpent Society members as drawn by artists who've drawn them in Marvel books, and my first duplicate. George Perez created the original four members of the Serpent Squad in their first appearances in Marvel Two-in-One #64-65, but they also briefly appeared, albeit mostly in flashback, in Marvel Two-in-One #66, drawn by Jerry Bingham. Knowing that Mr. Bingham would be at the the San Diego Comic Con, he became a definite for my serpents collection. He was there only on Saturday the 24th, and despite some scheduling difficulties I managed to commission this pencil and ink drawing of the serpent of his choice, which turned out to be Sidewinder (Sidewinder was also my second serpent in this collection, done by Mark Bagley).
     By the by, though the face here appears a bit off and awkward, it really was drawn that way in the first few issues. Its only when the Captain America book starts the Serpent Society storylines that the mask changes.

     Number five, eighteen months after three and four, from the 2012 Emerald City Comicon. Bushmaster, who Scott Wegener drew in Punisher War Journal. This one is drawn only on 8.5" x 5.5" paper, half the size of all the other commissions. I think that in the future I'll restrict myself to artists who have a stronger association with the characters.