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SEULING NEW YORK CITY COMICONS 1968-1984

Started by Robert Beerbohm,

43 posts in this topic

Robert Beerbohm

Robert Beerbohm

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Hey

 

How many here went to comic book festivals hosted by Phil Seuling?

 

He put on the best of the early comicons in the NYC area from 1968 until his death in 1984

 

He also showed up at numerous other shows around the country and was a huge aspect to the growth of the comic book retailing and publishing industry which took hold in the late 1970s following the lead of the Bay Area underground comix publishers and creators.

 

Can i get a witness from every one who met him who reads this thread/

 

Thanks a Bunch - this is for a project

 

 

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sborock

sborock

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The Phil Seuling were a blast!

:gossip: People were smoking everything there :o

 

If you ever looked at his daughter, he would give you a tounge lashing, and that's when I was 11 lol

 

Mike C. (Big Apple show) would stand on his table waving books in his hand, shouting how much he would sell them for! You cannot believe what the scene was like.

 

It was great though, all about comics and nothing else (thumbs u

 

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Robert Beerbohm

Robert Beerbohm

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be that as it may, i remember doing deals with Al Williamson, Roy Krenkel and Frank Frazetta and his wife Ellie at the 71 show.

 

Ended up with 90 Frazetta Comet dailies, some 40 Secret Agent Corrigan dailes plus a pile of Krenkel's one panel EC prelim skecthes he did for every panel of every Williamson EC story - those were 50 cents to $2 each, depending on how cool RGK thought they were - my friend Steve and I bought $100 worth

 

The story of how these deals came down, how they folded together, is a good one and i will get to it here some time soon - all the legendary greats came to the Seuling 4th of July NYC show - and freely mingled with the inmates

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Robert Beerbohm

Robert Beerbohm

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and if this thread gets hi-jacked about smoking polls, well, i will simply go else where to obtain the info i seek. no biggie. This is far from the only source of comics discussion on the net.

 

Phil organized the underground comix distribution meshing it with the Code books in 1973.

 

So who knows what event precipitated Phil's expansion of the Direct Market.

 

It happened at his July 4th 1973 show when a light bulb went off when Phil and Sol Harrison were standing watching a pirahna feeding frenzy - anybody got a clue?

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swordsandrockets

swordsandrockets

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I went to a couple of the shows when I was growing up in NJ, but I was too young (14 for the first one in the early 80's) to remember much other than seeing more old comics than I could ever imagine existed. I do remember that some of the dealers would keep the bags and/or boards when they sold you a comic - amazing that anything survived that era in top shape!

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Detroit MIke

Detroit MIke

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and if this thread gets hi-jacked about smoking polls, well, i will simply go else where to obtain the info i seek. no biggie. This is far from the only source of comics discussion on the net.

 

Phil organized the underground comix distribution meshing it with the Code books in 1973.

 

So who knows what event precipitated Phil's expansion of the Direct Market.

 

It happened at his July 4th 1973 show when a light bulb went off when Phil and Sol Harrison were standing watching a pirahna feeding frenzy - anybody got a clue?

 

don't leave me hanging :eek:

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swordsandrockets

swordsandrockets

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and if this thread gets hi-jacked about smoking polls, well, i will simply go else where to obtain the info i seek. no biggie. This is far from the only source of comics discussion on the net.

 

Phil organized the underground comix distribution meshing it with the Code books in 1973.

 

So who knows what event precipitated Phil's expansion of the Direct Market.

 

It happened at his July 4th 1973 show when a light bulb went off when Phil and Sol Harrison were standing watching a pirahna feeding frenzy - anybody got a clue?

 

don't leave me hanging :eek:

 

OK - I am not old enough to remember but I am going to take a wild guess and say Shazam!

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comicparadox

comicparadox

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The Phil Seuling were a blast!

 

Mike C. (Big Apple show) would stand on his table waving books in his hand, shouting how much he would sell them for! You cannot believe what the scene was like.

 

It was great though, all about comics and nothing else (thumbs u

 

I remember going to the ones at the Hotel Pennsylvania venue - they were one Sunday a month. They had previously been at another hotel, I forget what the name of that one was. I distinctly remember Carbonaro as a wild-haired speed freak - I saw him buy a box of bundled books for $65, sell it 3 minutes later for $75, then go back to the guy with the original bundle and buying another for $65. Incrementalism in action!

 

Once he and I were dealing with another guy for an AF 15. I bought it, and slyly, he looked at it one last time and put a big thumb crease at the top of the cover. I have always remembered how uncool he was for that. Now he promotes the Big Apple shows, which I attend periodically if I happen to be in NYC at the time. He's still as manic as ever, though his shock of hair is now gray.

 

My personal best deals were 3 nice original art Alex Toth style sheets for Space Ghost, along with an Iron Man 1, all bought for $100 TOTAL. At that same show, I bought a great Archie cover. I was so excited by my shrewd purchases, I left them on the subway going home. AAARGH! I still have nightmares about that.

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Robert Beerbohm

Robert Beerbohm

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and if this thread gets hi-jacked about smoking polls, well, i will simply go else where to obtain the info i seek. no biggie. This is far from the only source of comics discussion on the net.

 

Phil organized the underground comix distribution meshing it with the Code books in 1973.

 

So who knows what event precipitated Phil's expansion of the Direct Market.

 

It happened at his July 4th 1973 show when a light bulb went off when Phil and Sol Harrison were standing watching a pirahna feeding frenzy - anybody got a clue?

 

don't leave me hanging :eek:

 

Hi Mike

 

This was a seminal occurance in the annals of comics fandom growing into a real business which we came to call The Direct Market

 

i wrote it up for Comic Artist #6 and #7 in the late 90s

 

between those two issues are some 25,000 words out of my comics business history book - excerpt if you will - which gives this story some depth

 

This event includes Ed Summer, then owner of SuperSnipe Comics Emporium New York City

 

Anybody have any idea now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Robert Beerbohm

Robert Beerbohm

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I never got to Seuling's one day shows. Coming out from the west, simple economics precluded heading that far east driving too many times

 

besides, by the mid to late 70s, there were plenty of west coast shows from San Diego LA SF to Portland to take in, keeping one very busy indeed

 

My Seulingcon experiences go from 1970 show thru the 1974 show every year

 

after that i was wrapped up in comic book stores in the Bay Area as we pioneered the multiple comic book store chain store experience

 

and we have all lost plenty good stuff similar ways over the years

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