Al Feldstein, rest in peace

[Sarg]

There's an interview on the web with Al where he talks about why Gaines saved 12 copies of each issue. It had nothing to do with him thinking they'd be valuable one day. If I remember right, it was fear of postal inspectors or something like that.

 

But yes, Gaines definitely appears to have been something of a "hoarder" -- thank God. Not all "hoarders" only hoard junk.

[BB-Gun]

 

I love this recreation but I don't remember who owns it.

 

[Timely]

About 5 of us had a nice sit-down dinner with Al a few years back. He had A LOT of stories and was quite happy to talk about his years at EC. He talked about the reasons behind Gaines keeping all those file copies. It was truly a hobby highlight for me hearing 2 hours of tales. Thanks again Al. West

West, if you could share the stories, that would be great.

+1 What did he say Gaines' reason was for keeping all of the file copies?

I'll add my vote!

I add my vote too. Though I do guess, from reading E.C. comics and stories about the company, that it at least partially has to do with Gaines being notoriously O.C.D. and a pack rat. I also read that Gaines and Feldstein both were into the "new trend" (pun intended) of psychoanalysis and explored why Gaines was the way he was. I think there's at least one E.C. comic story about a character who is O.C.D. and saves everything, and this is based directly on Gaines and his relationship with his mother.

 

I DID ask why Gaines kept all those File Copies. I was surprised at the answer.

 

The answer went something like this, "Bill was not a smart man, he was a cheap man. There was no forethought on his part in thinking these magazines would be worth anything in the future. He kept the magazines because of printing regulations and fees. Every time a new title was published or an existing title was changed, you had to register that new title. Gaines was told he should keep copies of the titles he printed in case he had to prove later on that an new issue going to print was not a new title, but an existing title. He did it to save money. That's it."

 

One endearing thing I remember about the dinner was that he kept calling comic books "magazines" or "comic magazines", never comics or comic books.

[Sqeggs]

About 5 of us had a nice sit-down dinner with Al a few years back. He had A LOT of stories and was quite happy to talk about his years at EC. He talked about the reasons behind Gaines keeping all those file copies. It was truly a hobby highlight for me hearing 2 hours of tales. Thanks again Al. West

West, if you could share the stories, that would be great.

+1 What did he say Gaines' reason was for keeping all of the file copies?

I'll add my vote!

I add my vote too. Though I do guess, from reading E.C. comics and stories about the company, that it at least partially has to do with Gaines being notoriously O.C.D. and a pack rat. I also read that Gaines and Feldstein both were into the "new trend" (pun intended) of psychoanalysis and explored why Gaines was the way he was. I think there's at least one E.C. comic story about a character who is O.C.D. and saves everything, and this is based directly on Gaines and his relationship with his mother.

 

I DID ask why Gaines kept all those File Copies. I was surprised at the answer.

 

The answer went something like this, "Bill was not a smart man, he was a cheap man. There was no forethought on his part in thinking these magazines would be worth anything in the future. He kept the magazines because of printing regulations and fees. Every time a new title was published or an existing title was changed, you had to register that new title. Gaines was told he should keep copies of the titles he printed in case he had to prove later on that an new issue going to print was not a new title, but an existing title. He did it to save money. That's it."

 

One endearing thing I remember about the dinner was that he kept calling comic books "magazines" or "comic magazines", never comics or comic books.

 

One of the great bits of flimflammery for avoiding the post office fee for a new title was turning "Moon Girl" into a romance comic by renaming it "A Moon, a Girl ... Romance." Which, of course, then became "Weird Fantasy" with continued numbering.

[originalisbest]

About 5 of us had a nice sit-down dinner with Al a few years back. He had A LOT of stories and was quite happy to talk about his years at EC. He talked about the reasons behind Gaines keeping all those file copies. It was truly a hobby highlight for me hearing 2 hours of tales. Thanks again Al. West

West, if you could share the stories, that would be great.

+1 What did he say Gaines' reason was for keeping all of the file copies?

I'll add my vote!

I add my vote too. Though I do guess, from reading E.C. comics and stories about the company, that it at least partially has to do with Gaines being notoriously O.C.D. and a pack rat. I also read that Gaines and Feldstein both were into the "new trend" (pun intended) of psychoanalysis and explored why Gaines was the way he was. I think there's at least one E.C. comic story about a character who is O.C.D. and saves everything, and this is based directly on Gaines and his relationship with his mother.

 

I DID ask why Gaines kept all those File Copies. I was surprised at the answer.

 

The answer went something like this, "Bill was not a smart man, he was a cheap man. There was no forethought on his part in thinking these magazines would be worth anything in the future. He kept the magazines because of printing regulations and fees. Every time a new title was published or an existing title was changed, you had to register that new title. Gaines was told he should keep copies of the titles he printed in case he had to prove later on that an new issue going to print was not a new title, but an existing title. He did it to save money. That's it."

 

One endearing thing I remember about the dinner was that he kept calling comic books "magazines" or "comic magazines", never comics or comic books.

 

One of the great bits of flimflammery for avoiding the post office fee for a new title was turning "Moon Girl" into a romance comic by renaming it "A Moon, a Girl ... Romance." Which, of course, then became "Weird Fantasy" with continued numbering.

 

Very cool West, thanks for that! Was aware of the numbering trick EC and other publishers used to save money. Woe to the early collectors of EC who were wondering why Vault #1-11 were so hard to find, or how there came to be two sets of Haunt #15-17. But interesting that, despite saving the books only in case they were needed to prove the title's previous existence, he did so in a very careful, not haphazard at all, manner of filing.

 

I suppose then, it's all thanks to Gaines' OCD, that the collecting community has that wonderful smattering of nosebleed grade EC's to enjoy, beyond what would have survived through other random, carefully-kept collections. And too bad the EC annuals were never kept in the same way, but you can't have everything.

[Larryw7]

RIP

I was lucky enough to spend most of the day with Al Feldstein at the Baltimore Comic Con in 2007. What a thrill for this EC fanboy!

 

 

 

 

Nice, Todd.

[BB-Gun]

[taro90]

One of the truly greats, RIP.