After running weekly in Antique Trader, the Harvey Award-nominated Antiques: The Comic Strip will be offered in a collected edition by Gemstone Publishing.  Reginald Winston, a rather snooty fine antiques dealer, is the British cousin.   William Winston, a somewhat less dapper antique dealer, is the American cousin.   Suzie Magee is the security expert both cousins end up falling for, only their secrets will trip things up.   The most notable of the cameos in Antiques, Stan Lee. This page this scene comes from will be offered in a benefit auction at the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Gemstone Publishing will be releasing its hardcover collection of the Harvey Award-nominated weekly, Antiques: The Comic Strip, in mid-September. Written by J.C. Vaughn (Gemstone's Executive Editor and Associate Publisher) and illustrated by twins Brendon and Brian Fraim (America Jr., Knights of the Dinner Table: Illustrated), Antiques tells the story of two cousins, one British and one American, who compete over the attentions of a security expert at the largest pop culture auction the world has ever seen. There are all sorts of mysteries surrounding the items in the auction, the auction itself, and the cousins. The Diamond Comic Distributors product code is JUL073588 for this book, which will retail for $14.95.

Scoop: What inspired you to write Antiques: The Comic Strip?
JCV: I had made numerous efforts to get that story done for years, but when I first started trying I didn't know how to pull it all together. I had the basic concept of the romantic triangle and the huge auction from the beginning, but the details weren't there. It took years of being exposed to high-end auctions and the collectibles business to give me the background personally that I needed to create the story's background. As for the actual inspiration for the original idea, I liked the idea of interplay between these two cousins, one British and one American, who didn't like each other.

Scoop: When did this comic first premiere and for which publication?
JCV: Antiques first appeared June 21, 2006, in Antique Trader, which has been around for more than 50 years. It's just about to wrap up its run after 62 weekly installments. The reaction has been terrific, and the book will be published right after it concludes. We put in one extra strip to set up what happens next, too.

Scoop: Are some of the characters you've created for the strip based on real people you know?
JCV: Yes, some of them are. There are all sorts of real people mentioned in the strip and some even guest star in it. Stan Lee is the most famous one, but there are all sorts of people from the collecting and auction worlds. The character of William Winston, the American cousin, was modeled after my friend Marty Grosser, the editor of Previews, who also helped me develop some of what William was interested in as a collector.

Scoop: How did you manage to get Stan Lee, living comic book legend, to make an appearance in Antiques?
JCV: Stan had given Brendon and Brian Fraim, the artists of the strip, an excellent quote about their previous work. I had arranged a number of industry guest stars, mainly cameo appearances, for Antiques. The Fraims just contacted me one day and said Stan would do that. I think we were all thinking one panel, like the other cameos. Then, with Stan's permission, we decided to expand it to the whole strip. After that, we arranged to donate the original art and our fees for that strip to The Hero Initiative at the Baltimore Comic-Con for their fundraising efforts. Stan signed it, as did the three of us, and we're looking forward to seeing who gets it. On a personal note for me, I was pretty happy that Stan didn't change my dialogue. That was definitely a high point.

Scoop: Why did you choose the Fraim brothers to illustrate Antiques?
JCV: John Petty from Heritage Auction Galleries had introduced us a few years earlier, and I really had wanted to work with Brendon and Brian when the right project came along. As I was talking over the idea with writer-director Robert Tinnell (creator of the Eisner-nominated Feast of the Seven Fishes and Harvey-nominated The Chelation Kid, who served as story editor for Antiques), and neither of us even imagined anyone else drawing the strip. The delightful thing about this association is that they started out great and got better. They were simultaneously working on an online daily strip, America Jr., and they just kept improving on it, too.

Scoop: What are other projects you have done thus far in your career?
JCV: As an editor, I'm definitely best known for The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide in terms of print, and for participating in getting Scoop done every week in terms of largest readership.

As a creator, though, I think most people know me from 24, based on the Fox TV show. Through working on the 24 one-shots and mini-series with IDW Publishing, I've been covered in TV Guide, Emmy magazine, Wizard and 24 Magazine, and on Fanboy TV. A fair number of people know I wrote or co-wrote a good number of the Shi stories for the last six or seven years with Billy Tucci, the character's creator. Also, Zombie-Proof is my current creator-owned project, and it's coming from Moonstone in just a few weeks, debuting at the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Scoop: How do you feel about your comic being nominated for a Harvey Award?
JCV: Despite the cliché, it's a honor just to be nominated. Gemstone did very well this year, too, so I'll be at the awards dinner on September 8 along with the Fraims and other folks from our staff.

Scoop: Was this strip a challenge for you to write?
JCV: Yes, in many ways. Even with years of writing comic books and other things behind me, there was a tremendous amount to learn. I'm way better at the end of the story than I was at the beginning, which is a great thing to be able to say.

Scoop: What do you hope to be doing in a year?
JCV: We have some tremendous projects in the pipeline at Gemstone. It would be great if they all panned out. Aside from that, on a personal level, I always have some story or another brewing.

Scoop: What do you hope various readers get from Antiques?
JCV: Great question since we think there's a lot there for different types of readers. It's just a great period for strip reprint books. Whether it's the phenomenal Terry and the Pirates book Dean Mullaney just put together for IDW or some of the more modern collections, there is great stuff out there and we'd like to think we fit in. Beyond that, if you like romantic comedies, we have you covered. If you love collecting, this strip is absolutely steeped in collecting trivia with all sorts of authentic tidbits thrown in, and if you know a lot of people in the collecting or auction world, it's definitely noteworthy for that, too.

If your comic shop hasn't ordered the book, you can ask them to do so using item code JUL073588 or click here.