If there was a Hall of Fame for Comic Collectors/Dealers/Advocates 2 2

[sfcityduck]

To be clear, not a thread for your favorite comic artist, writer, publisher, editor, or other professional.  This is asking for your nominees for the top four comic fans/collectors/dealers/advocates.  

I'm going to reserve my top four for later, but to make sure we're all on the same boat on this thread (as opposed to the other thread that went a bit off topic I think), these are the type of folks I'm talking about:

* Lupoff - the editor and publisher of Xero, a SF fanzine which starting in Issue 1 (first distributed on September 3, 1960) commenced a seminal series of articles about comic books entitled "All in Color for a Dime" which gave a big boost to comic collecting and scholarship as a serious activity.

* Bob Overstreet - the author of the Comic Book Price Guide which did more to disseminate accurate information about the universe of comic books available to collect than any other publication, as well as boosted comic collecting by creating a resource for comic values.

* Chuck Rozanski - the owner of Mile HIgh comics who kicked comic collecting into a higher gear by (1) essentially inventing the concept of the pedigree comic collection in pricing the Edgar Church books for multiples of then going prices and (2) introduced untold readers of comic books to the concept of comic collecting through his full page ads in comic books selling the Mile High II collection.

I can think of many more deserving names, both in the early days of comic collecting and in more recent years.  In fact, the individual I believe was arguably the first great comic collecting advocate has not yet been mentioned by anyone on the other thread.  I'm curious to see if anyone does here.

So nominate away!

 

 

Edited July 21, 2018 by sfcityduck

[otherworldsj331]

What about Metropolis? Sold the first million dollar comic. Had a (small) part in the implementation of third party grading.  Continues to advance the art form and collecting through exhibits, galleries, and through nation wide publicity in newspapers and on the radio. 

[shadroch]

Phil Seuling ran the biggest shows in the East and is generally credited with creating the Direct Market.

Alan Light started the newspaper that morphed into The Buyers Guide but he seems to have completely disassociated himself from his past.

 

They were fans who became much more.

 

Edited July 21, 2018 by shadroch

[sfcityduck]

27 minutes ago, otherworldsj331 said:

What about Metropolis? Sold the first million dollar comic. Had a (small) part in the implementation of third party grading.  Continues to advance the art form and collecting through exhibits, galleries, and through nation wide publicity in newspapers and on the radio. 

I think a very good case can be made for Fishler as a key market maker in the high end comic book market, pushing prices to new heights and gaining acceptance of the hobby amongst the financial elite.

[sfcityduck]

27 minutes ago, shadroch said:

Phil Seuling ran the biggest shows in the East and is generally credited with creating the Direct Market.

Alan Light started the newspaper that morphed into The Buyers Guide but he seems to have completely disassociated himself from his past.

 

They were fans who became much more.

 

Yep.  Good points.  I think that the 60s and 70s spawned a generation of fans who took their passion and made it into first an avocation and then, for some, a vocation.  These include the fans who started publications and the fans who started businesses.  Geppi falls into that category, Bud Plant, etc.  I tend to appreciate the folks who pioneered new routes more than those who followed a beaten path, even if they proved more successful.

[shadroch]

While not Mt Rushmore worthy, I'd give a shout out to Jim Hanley. From a one man shop in the swamps of Staten Island to having one of the best shops in Manhattan is an accomplishment well worth noting, but he was also the driving force behind the East Coasts comic shop owners trade groups.

 Our very own Moondog should merit some consideration. Legendary shops in Chicago, King of the Comic bag, and partner in the first National chain.

[sfcityduck]

1 hour ago, shadroch said:

 

 Our very own Moondog should merit some consideration. Legendary shops in Chicago, King of the Comic bag, and partner in the first National chain.

And the guy who brought the Windy City pedigree to market and owns the best collection of ash cans!

[Stevemmg]

I would have to consider Russ Cochran, Edgar Church, Jerry Weist, and Roger Hill as well. 

Edited July 21, 2018 by Stevemmg

[sfcityduck]

3 hours ago, Stevemmg said:

I would have to consider Russ Cochran, Edgar Church, Jerry Weist, and Roger Hill as well. 

All reasonable choices.  However, to me, Edgar Church is a strange case.  He bought comics to aid his occupation as an illustrator.  In that sense, he was not a true comic collector obsessed with the characters or artists.  To him, the books were source material (sort of like National Geographics for Barks).  He never participated in comic fandom, never talked to other comic collectors to share knowledge, never visited a comic shop to buy or sell back issues, never contributed to fanzines or did anything to further comic collecting at all.  All he did was buy a lot of comics, for his own non-collecting reasons, and kept them in immaculate condition.  That makes him the greatest source of comics ever, but for me that's not nearly enough to make you a Mt. Rushmore figure for comic collectors/dealers/fans/advocates.

[shadroch]

I'm not familiar with Roger Hill. Anyone want to make the case for him?

[sfcityduck]

49 minutes ago, shadroch said:

I'm not familiar with Roger Hill. Anyone want to make the case for him?

Hill and Weist started Squa Tront.  Hill's gone on to author other books on comics (a Reed Crandall book came out recently and he did a Frank Paul book), did some work for Overstreet, and founded CFA-APA (comic and fantasy art).   

John Benson is another name worth mentioning when you start talking about EC fans.

Edited July 21, 2018 by sfcityduck

[shadroch]

I saw his Crandall book. Squa Tront was before my time and I probably underestimate its place in history.

[Aman619]

Am I reading this wrong? It should be Creators, not executives.

 

Stan Lee

Jack Kirby

Siegel Shuster

Golden Age Great of your Choice”

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, Aman619 said:

Am I reading this wrong? It should be Creators, not executives.

 

Stan Lee

Jack Kirby

Siegel Shuster

Golden Age Great of your Choice”

Anybody involved in the hobby, from Howard Rogofsky or Bob Overstreet to Stan Lee or Steve Ditko. Publisher, creator, fan, conservator, dealer, show promoter, etc., etc. The 4 faces on the comic hobby mountain from the total history of the hobby, who have had the biggest impact on this hobby being what it is today!

[sfcityduck]

3 hours ago, Aman619 said:

Am I reading this wrong? It should be Creators, not executives.

 

Stan Lee

Jack Kirby

Siegel Shuster

Golden Age Great of your Choice”

Nah, on this thread I'm looking for Fans/Dealers/Collectors/Advocates, not professional creators (artists, writers, etc.) or publishers of comics.

[sfcityduck]

1 hour ago, James J Johnson said:

Anybody involved in the hobby, from Howard Rogofsky or Bob Overstreet to Stan Lee or Steve Ditko. Publisher, creator, fan, conservator, dealer, show promoter, etc., etc. The 4 faces on the comic hobby mountain from the total history of the hobby, who have had the biggest impact on this hobby being what it is today!

I'm trying to separate out the pros/creators from the fan side of collectors/dealers/advocates (by advocates I mean fanzines, scholars, etc.).

[otherworldsj331]

 

Bruce Hamilton, Steve Geppi ,Ernie Gerber, Don and Maggie Thompson, G.B. Love, Robert Bell, Burt Blum, Steve Borock, and Paul Levitz.

Jerry Bails, w/o a doubt. A first (no brainier) ballot choice.

Edited July 21, 2018 by otherworldsj331
DB

[HouseofComics.Com]

22 minutes ago, otherworldsj331 said:

 

Bruce Hamilton, Steve Geppi ,Ernie Gerber, Don and Maggie Thompson, G.B. Love, and Paul Levitz.

Jerry Bails, w/o a doubt. A first (no brainier) ballot choice.

That's a good list, for sure!  Kind of amazed that Bob Overstreet doesn't make the OP's top four!

[Stevemmg]

7 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

All reasonable choices.  However, to me, Edgar Church is a strange case.  He bought comics to aid his occupation as an illustrator.  In that sense, he was not a true comic collector obsessed with the characters or artists.  To him, the books were source material (sort of like National Geographics for Barks).  He never participated in comic fandom, never talked to other comic collectors to share knowledge, never visited a comic shop to buy or sell back issues, never contributed to fanzines or did anything to further comic collecting at all.  All he did was buy a lot of comics, for his own non-collecting reasons, and kept them in immaculate condition.  That makes him the greatest source of comics ever, but for me that's not nearly enough to make you a Mt. Rushmore figure for comic collectors/dealers/fans/advocates.

That seems like a logical argument against.  However, I’ve always thought that there must have been more to his massive accumulation and long runs of books than just the reference material explanation. It just seems like far too much to acquire for that purpose alone. Maybe it was, but it just seems unlikely. I think most accept it, but if I needed to reference say, Bob Kane’s Batman, style, I could probably get everything I would need from a few issues. 

All that being said, I think you changed my mind on him for consideration. 

[sfcityduck]

3 hours ago, otherworldsj331 said:

 

Bruce Hamilton, Steve Geppi ,Ernie Gerber, Don and Maggie Thompson, G.B. Love, Robert Bell, Burt Blum, Steve Borock, and Paul Levitz.

Jerry Bails, w/o a doubt. A first (no brainier) ballot choice.

All great choices, but still no one has mentioned a seminal figure from the earliest days of comic fandom.  I'll keep waiting.

I agree, of course, about Jerry Bails.  

Edited July 22, 2018 by sfcityduck