Heck a "Patrick McCallum" expert might work too.....
FYI this is my first post. Enjoy story time. 😁
I'm looking for someone with any knowledge of any comic books that came with a "Wizard of Cards and Comics" certificate of authenticity, signed by Patrick McCallum who happens to be the co-founder and editor and chief of Wizard Magazine. Mr. McCallum later became the Executive Editor at DC for a while.
Long story, long, years ago I saw a Gold Maxx 1/2 for sale on ebay. It had been up for sale for a while and had no bids. It only had one picture that was kind of fuzzy. *Flashback moment* (At one point in time I owned 2 autographed cards from the 1993 topps trading card set, so I had a pretty good idea of what Sam Kieths signature looked like.) *Flashback over* It looked like there was a signature on the book and it looked like Sam Kieths. I was the only bidder, so I won. If I remember correctly, cost me around $16.00.
When it arrived, it looked like the mylar holder it was in was the original that came with the book. It is pretty worn out, the side had split open. Which was rather fortunate, I took the book out to look at it, the signature was definitely done with a gold paint pen and looked exactly like the signatures on the topps cards. To my suprise I found the certificate tucked away in the book.
When I saw the certificate I actually had a laugh. Whoever filled it out spelled Kieth wrong. If you're a Sam Kieth fan you know all about the I before E website and comic, etc., etc. I think Mr. Kieth wanted to make sure everyone knew how to spell his name.
Anyways, I digress, I bagged and boarded the book, slipped it back in the original mylar holder, boxed it up and didn't think about it for a long time. When my son got older it was fun to take out the comice and show them to him, tell him the stories, he soon became facinated with comics, like his old man. This rekindled my interest in my comics, but more specifically this book. That's when i decided to do a little research. Come to find out the original store "Wizard of Cards and Comics" located at Rockland Plaza, Route 59, Nanuet, NY was now called Toywiz. So I emailed them about the certificate. To my suprise they let me know the signature was from Patrick McCallum who was the comic book manager for many year before moving over to Wizard Magazine.
Really this comic makes sense to me, Wizard promoted and probably helped launch a lot of Image Artists and Image Comics. I would think Sam and Pactrick knew each other. Sam could have signed this comic right there in the comic store in Nanuet. Maybe Sam and Patrick had a laugh when they realized Patrick misspelled Kieth. The Maxx books started in 1993, this book was signed and certified in 1994, this was when special releases were all the rage. There was a Maxx #1 newsstand, glow in the dark and 3D. A Maxx 1/2 purple, gold and very rare blue and red. Why wouldn't there be some early signed and certified books.
I have never seen a certificate like this one, or another comic certified by Patrick McCallum, any information about this book would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance.
