Tell Me a Tale - For Those Who Love Comics 7 7

[ADAMANTIUM]

@bc it was a boards malfunction, it's posted now.

I typed out the whole thing and tried to copy and paste the last part @CGC Mike and it had copy and pasted your profile along with the cgc contact us info at the bottom of the page. I had it in spoiler as planned on the phone and would have posted and edited but it didn't have the post button.

On top of that when I refreshed it left it there so couldn't retype, and it didn't have the clear editor button.

So I had to post half and use edit then,  given the reaction @CGC Mike this is making me look crazy in posting, which is unfortunate to the time here

[bc]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:12 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

@bc it was a boards malfunction, it's posted now.

I typed out the whole thing and tried to copy and paste the last part @CGC Mike and it had copy and pasted your profile along with the cgc contact us info at the bottom of the page. I had it in spoiler as planned on the phone and would have posted and edited but it didn't have the post button.

On top of that when I refreshed it left it there so couldn't retype, and it didn't have the clear editor button.

So I had to post half and use edit then,  given the reaction @CGC Mike this is making me look crazy in posting, which is unfortunate to the time here

All good man!

Saw the spoiler first, and without context, wasn't sure how to take it.

We all look crazy from time to time!

-bc

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:15 PM, bc said:

All good man!

Saw the spoiler first, and without context, wasn't sure how to take it.

We all look crazy from time to time!

-bc

Lol I still had to edit that post in this thread 

I Really should just delete it all, as the board software caused my time to edit to lag.

It was coherent, but I dont think I ever got to the point cohesively about only having a bike (similar to you) to discover my comics and collecting, especially for my Sicilloan and christian parents.

Argh! And good grief. But no hate, we all have our own stories of where we come from and how this hobby fed our soul.

Edited September 23, 2023 by ADAMANTIUM

[Jayman]

I first posted this way back in 2007 but is one of my favorite comic book memories.

My first comicbook shop was the Passaic Book Store right on Main Ave. in Passaic, New Jersey. 

It was a short bus ride away to an old building but once you entered...WOW! No bags or boards on 90% of all the books and boxes of the comic books and magazines that were all over the store. The only bagged items were pinned to the walls that streched to a 12 foot high ceiling. There were even books "clothespinned" to lines that strung across from one side of the room to the other. At the age of 12 or 13 this was a wonderland to me! This shop also had its section for adult books sectioned off by two swinging boards reminisent of saloon doors (you had to pay a dollar to get in there). But the best memory of this shop was an old basement trap door that was held open by an old rusty chain where they kept even more back issues. If for some reason I could not find what I was looking for upstairs, one of the staff would ask what title I was looking for and ALWAYS found what was on my want list in that magical cellar! Before the shop closed for good I got to go down in there once and it was just like I imagined it would be...a dark comic catacomb filled with books, I remember looking at the dirt floor and seeing it covered with loose covers and pages from old books!

Edited September 23, 2023 by Jayman

[Hudson]

So I thought I would scribble out another tale for those who love comics.....

It was 1990 something and I walked into a LCS in Dallas, TX.  The owner of the store was a really nice guy who would go out of his way to help customers achieve their collecting goals; for me that was collecting early Action Comics.  To my great surprise and joy, the owner told me he had seen a copy of Action Comics #3 on something called eBay.  Now, he might as well have told me the book was on the moon (actually if he had said it was on the moon, at least I would have understood what he was talking about).  However, he said it was on eBay and I was forced to confess my ignornace and admit I had never heard of eBay.  The owner, kind and patient as he was, explained to me what eBay was and how to use it.  So I signed up for eBay, found the book, and saw that it was being sold by someone in Oklahoma City, OK (about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Dallas).  I contacted the seller and asked if I could come and see the book in-person.  I know now that this is not typically the way things work on eBay, but I was new to "the bay" and figured it was very reasonable that I would want to see such a "high end" book in-person before making a "bid".  The seller kindly agreed to let me come and see the book and so I jumped into my Pontiac GTA and headed for the address he provided (possibly taking a little time off the typical Dallas to OKC drive time).  When I arrived at the address, it was in a strip mall of various stores and the exact address was a coin store.  At first I thought I must have had the wrong address, but having made the long drive and not wanting to give up on the dream of finding an elusive Action Comics 3, I walked into the store.  It was a small coin store and there was not a comic book in sight.  I was beginning to wonder if I had wasted an entire day and a lot of gas on a wild goose chase.  Like most men, I hate asking questions, especially of stranger, however, at this point, I felt out of options; I walked up to the guy behind the counter and asked about the Action Comic and if I was in the right place.  Thankfully, he assured me I was in the right place and escorted me into the back room.....

Once inside the backroom, I saw a few tables piled with golden age comics.  None of the books were bagged or even neatly stacked; they were just tossed in piles on the tables.  I wish I could recall all the books I saw sitting there, but alas too many days and too many other memories have come and gone since that day.   Other than the Action #3 that I was there to see, I recall there was a very early Detective and an Action 9.   The gentleman who owned the coin store (who had walked me into the backroom) then told me that he was purchasing a collection of coins from someone and when he was leaving they asked him if he wanted these comics.  In hearing the story, it sounded like the former owner of these books had just given them to this guy; probably not knowing the books were likely worth more than the coins.  To a collector. like me, such a find would have been a dream come true, but to this coin store owner, he had decided to just buy himself an Overstreet Price Guide, check out their value, and then sell them on "the bay".  He told me he was going to list the rest of the books over time.  The store owner then handed me the Action 3 and went back into the retail section of the store; leaving me holding an Action 3 and staring at piles of Golden Age goodness.  I looked through the Action 3 and immediately knew I wanted to own this book.   Eventually, I put the book back down on the table, walked back through the front of the store, thanked the owner, and began the long drive back to Dallas - knowing I needed to throw a serious bid in on this treasure.

Eventually the auction ended and to my dismay I was outbid (I may have been "sniped", I don't recall); I was devasted.  Sick over the "loss" I could only hope another copy would come along one day.  Remember, this was the early days of "the bay" and many of the other auction sites common to comic collectors today, did not exist back then.  I don't think Heritage, Comic Connect, or Comic Link were around at that time, however, there were some other auction places that were not as "user friendly"; thus finding early Actions was rare and missing out on this one felt like someone punching me in the stomach.

But the story does not end here....

It was maybe a week or two later when I recieved a message from the eBay seller (owner of the coin store).  He said that the "winning bidder" had recieved the book and then returned it.  He wanted to know if I was stil interested.  I told him I was and figured it was going to end up costing me my "max bid".  Instead the seller told me he would sell me the book for one bid increment over what the third highest bidder had bid.  This was a very significant difference and I quickly agreed to the deal.

Although I know many here hate "the bay", which has become FeeBay; full of many horrible sellers, I can only say that this is the tale of my first experience on eBay.  Since that day I have had numerous wonderful experiences on eBay and more than my share of bad experience, but for today, I am going to savor the memory of that first eBay transaction and my first copy of Action Comic #3.

Thank you for taking the time to read this tale, which I hope has brought you some enjoyment.  Thank you for letting me share one more memory of days gone by; memories that bring me joy.  Thank you!

[skypinkblu]

Hudson kindly suggested I paste this here. I had posted it in my sales thread in answer to a few requests. That thread is closed, so in case anyone else was wondering about her. I will paste this here. I'll also add some information from @ameri, who knew her husband and wrote some very interesting information including something about the origin of the hard cover archives

The Evelyn Collection

I'm going to leave out last names because I'm not in touch with the people and I don't like to share last names unless I have permission.

Evelyn is the widow of a comic book collector. She lives in New Jersey.  She is a great grandmother with  a big happy Italian family. Her husband was an engineer and amateur artist. He collected the books. Her husband ( I can't remember his first name) was part of a number of groups involving comic books. He was one of the people who Ernie Gerber traveled to in order to photo their comics for his books.

There was also a group of people,one is still a boarder but doesn't post often, and one who recently (the Yellow Kid) passed away, who were interested in preserving the history of some of the books, so they set up a microfiche project. They rounded up people with comics (I believe one was the owner of MyComicShop).

So they gathered comics and disassembled some of them to take pictures, some of Evelyn's husbands books were part of the project.  
@Ameri  Frank, if you are around I think you know more of this than I do...please post;) 

Evelyn's husband amassed a huge collection of very  old comics, some he may have bought new, but most he bought 2nd hand.  She told me that he would stop at used books stores on his way to work in Philly for years (and this was way before online sales)

Since he was an artist, he was obviously interested in color, so the books all have wonderful color. I have never seen a faded copy...and some he "fixed".  He used tempora, and would fill in some spots, so a number of them were marked restored when they were graded later on. There was quite a mixture, Larson's (Fantastic 22 was in that group) Marvel Mysteries, a long run of Top Notch, Blue Ribbons, Amazing Man, Wonder Worlds, Mystery Man, Superman...I was told there was an Action 1, but I never saw it...I own the Action 13...He just kept accumulating. There was a huge run of Famous Funnies, all kinds of odd books that I had never heard of let alone seen.

He didn't slab any, he collected them before CGC. Then he became ill, he had Alzheimers. Eventually he passed away. While he was suffering from the disease, Evelyn told me he started trying to destroy the comic books he had loved. She rescued most of them and put them away where he couldn't get to them. 

Once her husband had passed, Evelyn was left with all these boxes of books. She contacted some dealers who purchased some...then about 20 years ago, a very nice man named Richard who somehow knew her... would buy them and put them on eBay. Richard the eBay seller had also had his comics photographed by Ernie Gerber.

Both the eBay seller (Richard)  and Evelyn were older and not exactly computer literate, so she would send him   lists of the comics written in pencil, no pictures, no or very few details. ..he would buy them and then sell them on eBay...people would grab them like they were hotcakes.  I only saw his listings after he had sold a few hundred. I think they were mostly DCs that sold first.

I really knew very little about GA books at the time, but I LOVED the covers and the colors, I had no idea that some were rare.  So I started watching the auctions and ..when I saw the listings...YIKES...between the descriptions and the lack of information...it was scary.  Anyway, I won a few and Richard and I started talking on eBay ...you could do that in those days. Then he asked me to help him with his auctions...and I did, I edited them. I posted pictures for him  too sometimes.

As a way of thanking me, he'd call me when he was putting up the books so I could be there to hit bins...after a while, he just contacted Evelyn, bought books and sold them directly to me. I had a limited budget so when he bought books and I had reached my...(am I going to get divorced if I spend more limit;)  sometimes I'd sell them for him on these boards. I made a few big mistakes, (someone got a very nice copy of Amazing Man 22 very cheap)  lol...but it was ok. Richard was retired and his son no longer collected comics so he wanted a comic book friend. Really sweet man. I have to see if I have any of those penciled lists, but I doubt it. 

Then Richard moved to be with one of his sons and I didn't hear anything else about the collection or him...until I got a phone call a few years ago from Richard (the ebay seller) telling me that Evelyn needed some help. She was trying to sell the leftover books (the ones left after the dealers had cherry picked) and he thought she was getting cheated, so would I sell them for her, since he was not longer doing that?

It was not on the top of my list, She had been told they were all junk and the "dealers" she was talking to wanted to buy them at junk prices.

When  I spoke to her  she was so nice, I said OK, I'd try selling them for her...IF she would trust me and mail me the books...and she did, a box at a time. It turned out she had some very interesting things left, so I sold them here on the boards for her. Nice lady, very interesting to talk to...

She was shocked at how much money she got ...all through boards sales. The books I have mostly came from Richard's (the eBay seller)  sales. 

When I listed the books and mentioned her name was Evelyn, Richard Olsen (The Yellow Kid) contacted me, told me he knew her husband and her...he was involved in the comic book group and he wanted to speak with her.

She was delighted to find out that Richard Olsen (the Yellow Kid) not the Richard from Ebay...was around and they spoke with each other.  They remembered each other and were friendly after all those years and even though they were 1,000 miles away.  Richard Olsen told me quite a bit about the history. I was very sad at his passing and realized I should have asked MORE before he passed...which is the reason I'm sitting here and typing for you guys;) 

I hope this helps 

Ameri's response 

Hi Sharon, long time no hear. Miss you!  I was always on the phone with Evelyn's husband who was Pat. He told me a different story about the microfiche project. Pat told me he was in the army corp of engineers during WW2 with a bunch of other guys in the microfiche and photographic departments. They were responsible for producing and supplying blueprints and maps to the army brass. His buddies were also avid comic book readers and they got together after the war to photograph every page of all their comic books from cover to cover. It was a massive undertaking. Most of the digital comics on CDs out there today are Pat's comic books that he personally microfiched in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1990, he was contacted by Microfiche International in New Jersey to supply that company with full series of DC, Timely and Fawcett comics. Those microfiche from the 90's have become collectors items. They were eventually phased out because DC and Marvel no longer wanted to license reprints on microfiche. Instead, DC and Marvel figured they could reprint the stories themselves in hardcover which is exactly what happened and that's when the Marvel Masterworks and DC Archives started. I bought many microfiche from Pat's own collection. These have made their way to Digital Comic Museum and other public domain platforms. When Pat took ill, Evelyn was trying to sell off his comics and she contacted our mutual friend Richard (the Ebay seller) to facilitate sales. Pat had everything. Full runs of Action, Detective, Marvel Mystery. You name it, he had it. He was missing some early New Funs and More Funs and to this day the digital CD companies still don't have those missing issues like 3,6,7,8,18,20,26. For those unacquainted with microfiche, here's an example and the reader needed to view them.  

I did add that there might have been two projects, or at least another group of people involved because both the Yellow Kid and Richard S. the eBay seller told me about something in the 50's. ..

There is another boarder who was involved, but I have not seen him post in a long time. Maybe he will.

[Dr. Balls]

One of my fondest set of memories isn't so much about a particular book, but a time when I was 11-12 years old and moved to Denver, right next door to an older kid named Greg Madison, who - not only introduced me to Heavy Metal - but showed me the more teenager-ey side to comics. At this point, I was reading comics like GI Joe - but he had a huge collection (at least by my standards) of Daredevil, Moon Knight and Master of Kung Fu. In 1986 the "Ninja" wave had hit America - with Sho Kosugi being the 80's equivalent of Jackie Chan, so MOKF was an easy fit for me to start reading. Not to mention, moving to a new city with no friends is challenging enough - I was fortunate to have bonded with a kid over something we both liked. It made the transition to a whole new world easier.

We spent all sorts of time reading comics together, recording songs off the radio, trading and going to the comic shop. This was before the days I was concerned with Near Mint or how many times I handled a book with absolutely no fear of ruining it's condition so long as I got a good read out of it.

Greg got older, moved to a different neighborhood and eventually I moved back to Montana, where comics took a backseat to skateboarding, getting a driver's license and sneaking beer with my new friends. But, I always came back to comics - and sure, part of the desire was this undefined need to "collect" something, but - being an artist - there was always a huge enjoyment of not only reading comics, but admiring the art, and fantasizing about being a comic artist (spoiler alert: never happened). I opened up my own comic shop in the mid-90's which was fun, stressful, rewarding and exciting all at the same time. When I closed and moved into my career in advertising and design - I set comics aside again.

When I moved to NYC in 2008, I got back into them again - mostly out of loneliness and boredom. I had a few friends there, but until I met a gent by the name of John Torrani (who ran a hilarious YouTube channel called America's Bad Kids) - I was alone in my hobby. With John, we trucked down to Midtown Comics and even a venture to some crazy old comic shop in St. Marks Place which was an amazing place to box dive. I had helped him as his cameraman at NYCC in 2008 or 2009 (can't remember) for his YouTube channel and got to meet a lot of creators that I'd never heard of. I was at the convention to sell my design services, but it was cool to take a day and dive into comics at the show.

I moved back to Montana, and my books sat for a few years while I paid off the failed business venture of NYC, and my new wife and I were getting ready to welcome our new baby into the world. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be, and we lost our little guy before he was born - and it was very difficult to move forward.

That's when I found this place. It was filled with all sorts of different people who had more, less or the same love for comics I did. I dropped right in and was able to move part of my life forward with a hobby that had been in my life since childhood.

When tragedy strikes, it feels like the world just moves by you, swirling by as you stand there trying to figure out what to do, where to go. It was a difficult time, not knowing whether to take a step forward or backward, because it felt like I just didn't have anywhere to go.

My wife and I had each other, but the times where she wasn't there was a challenge. I am always thankful this place was here, because I needed something to focus on. Comics came back to help me adapt to my new world once again.

Tara and I were not able to have children - we wanted to be parents, but it just wasn't in the cards for us. We needed something to challenge us, and focus on - so we started our restaurant. Funded by the sale of my 1967 Impala and entire collection of comic books and art - we succeeded. And despite wiping out all my books, I have had the great fortune to be able to get back into the hobby again a few years ago - and enjoy the rich history and fun of comic books.

Focuses change, key books come and go - but comics, the stories, the art and the fellow collectors who enjoy them are always here in some form. And for that, I'm thankful.

[Hudson]

@Dr. Balls

Thank you for sharing the above tale and the heartbreaking experience  you and Tara went through.  I know that took a lot of courage to write as you relived in your mind those tragic times.

I remember what it was like when my wife and I lost our unborn child.  Noone, who has not experienced this, can possibly understand the grief one goes through.  I am sincerely sorry for your loss.

Thank you again for shairng, for opening up, and for being a part of this community.  You are a great asset to everyone here.

 

[Get Marwood & I]

@Dr. Balls None of the like options seem appropriate for that post. I just wanted to say I enjoyed reading it, related to it, and I sympathise 

[CorndogBurglar]

I love this idea! So sit back, while I weave ye a tale of triumph most glorious and tragedy most foul! 

Back when the first Civil War comic series was taking place I was having a discussion with my LCS owner (who is also a friend of mine outside of his shop) about how Civil War was going to end. I explained to him that I thought it could only end with either the death of Iron Man or Captain America. I thought that because they did a good job if showing that neither Cap or Iron Man were 100% in the right, one of them would need to die and the other would be left feeling responsible for the death of one of their best friends, due to their actions.

I told him because they had been somewhat villainizing Iron Man throughout the story (at least more than Cap) that I think it will be Cap that buys the farm. Cap would become a martyr and Iron Man will feel guilty and realize the errors of his actions.

My buddy didn't believe it and said something along the lines of "Nah! They won't kill Cap." So the conversation ended there......for the moment.

Fast forward to the final issue of Civil War. Neither Cap nor Iron Man died. My buddy laughed and told me how wrong I was, and I told him, "Wait. It's not over yet. The issue ended with Cap surrendering, being placed in handcuffs, and taken into custody. There's more coming."

He was kind of still laughing because he felt like that was it. That was the end of the story. And I told him that was no way to end it. So I made a bet with him. Order 10 extra copies of the next issue of Captain America (#25). If he doesn't die in that issue, then I will pay for all the books. If he does die, then I get the 10 copies for free. He was real quick to jump on that bet because he was convinced Cap wasn't dying. 

Fast forward again to the day Captain America #25 released. I walk in his shop to pick up my books around noon. He looks at me and starts shaking his head. I had no idea what he was doing and honestly forgot about our bet. He said, "You haven't heard anything? It was on the news this morning and I heard them talking about it on the radio. You really haven't heard?"

I was like, "No, what are you talking about?". He then pulls out a stack of comics and sets them on the counter. On the cover is Captain America's red glove with handcuffs around the wrist, and blood spattered all around the cover with a newspaper in the background reading "Captain America. Death of the dream.".

I started laughing hysterically, because quite honestly, I had started doubting they would kill him off also. But there it was. 

My buddy was so mad because people had been coming in all morning to buy that book. He had already burned through all his stock and was calling other local stores to see if he could buy any extra copies off of them, but they had sold out also. 

So I told him to give me my copy and he could keep the other 9 to sell. He was hesitant because he didn't want to back out on our bet. So he told me that he'll give me in store credit for the cost of the books and I can use it whenever want. 

I ended up cashing in a few months later when Wolverine #55 (The death of Sabretooth) came out. I wanted this Greg Land homage cover soooooo bad, so my buddy gave it to me for free to cover the bet. Granted, the cost of the 9 Cap comics was more valuable than this one variant issue, but I told him this made us even. 

Great memories haha.

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/29/2023 at 11:30 AM, Hudson said:

@Dr. Balls

Thank you for sharing the above tale and the heartbreaking experience  you and Tara went through.  I know that took a lot of courage to write as you relived in your mind those tragic times.

I remember what it was like when my wife and I lost our unborn child.  Noone, who has not experienced this, can possibly understand the grief one goes through.  I am sincerely sorry for your loss.

Thank you again for shairng, for opening up, and for being a part of this community.  You are a great asset to everyone here.

 

 

On 11/29/2023 at 11:38 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

@Dr. Balls None of the like options seem appropriate for that post. I just wanted to say I enjoyed reading it, related to it, and I sympathise 

Thanks, you guys. It's not something I share very often - it's difficult and will always be difficult. But having a community - even if it's online - of people who enjoy what you enjoy makes life more interesting. Some day, I'll get to meet people from here in person and make a few more memories. This place and the people in it will always have my gratitude - even when I am disagreeing with them.

[seanfingh]

On 11/29/2023 at 2:42 PM, Dr. Balls said:

 

Thanks, you guys. It's not something I share very often - it's difficult and will always be difficult. But having a community - even if it's online - of people who enjoy what you enjoy makes life more interesting. Some day, I'll get to meet people from here in person and make a few more memories. This place and the people in it will always have my gratitude - even when I am disagreeing with them.

If we meet, you are making me a burger.

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/29/2023 at 1:10 PM, seanfingh said:

If we meet, you are making me a burger.

Deal.

[skypinkblu]

On 11/29/2023 at 12:45 PM, Dr. Balls said:

And for that, I'm thankful.

I have no problem posting what is an appropriate response for that post....((((Dr.Balls)))))  

@ComicMike we really do need a hug emoji...I'm sure I'm not the only one who will use it.