What got you into Golden Age Comics?

[Dano]

Oh gosh.

 

In 1982 when I returned to Iowa from California for a summer... I found a battered copy of SOTI at the tiny library in Charles City.

 

I was sixteen years old and I had been busy sowing my oats on the west coast and had found the 'arts' as a way out of my mostly average pre-California life. Out west, girls loved theatre and girls loved uniqueness.

 

I read Wertham's book in tiny town Iowa that summer and felt a kinship with the artists that got betrayed and marginalized.

 

Long story short: I've spent my career in the performing arts and found the Golden Age to be my personal, although mostly private, life.

 

Give me GGA. Give me the option to live free or die.

 

Dan

[G.A.tor]

hello all...

I remember being in my local comic store in 1989 just out of college (had never spent more than $50 on any comic at that time) and the comic shop owner calling me into his office to show me the collection he had just purchased...Action 1-14, Tec 27, AA 16, etc....books that I was only casually familiar with from conversations, OPG, etc...

I was amazed at the "history" , and the scarcity, and the demand, etc, that Mark (store owner) recounted to me...that "piqued" my interest...we set a up a year long purchase plan (I was just amazed that folks actually paid "thousands" for comic books) and I was on the hook....

the rest, as they say, is history

rick

[*paull*]

How I wish I didn't spend the hundreds that I spent on SA books back in the late 80s and early 90s and instead put the money into only a couple of GA books. What a waste of money those mid-grade SA books were. I could probably find those books today for maybe twice the cost, while I'd have to spend multiples to get comparable GA books..

[innocuous]

I've always been a Flash fan and wanted to own a Flash #1 since I started collecting in the early 80s. But, I never really gave any other GA a thought...until this forum.

 

Thanks guys, for opening my eyes.

[sacentaur]

Richard O'Brien's incredible 1977 The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1937-1945 is still a vivid memory for me (I remember staring at the cover scans for hours).

 

Couple that with my first trip down to locations in Los Angeles like Cherokee Books, Collectors Showcase, and Bond Street Books...and well, I was hooked on GA for life.

 

STEVE

[TheEyeSees]

Richard O'Brien's incredible 1977 The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1937-1945 is still a vivid memory for me (I remember staring at the cover scans for hours).

 

Steve, I was just drooling over my copy today... fantastic cover repro's!!

 

That was the first comic book BOOK I ever got (for Christmas)... it was, and still is, a great gift.

 

Highly recommended.

[adamstrange]

Richard O'Brien's incredible 1977 The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1937-1945 is still a vivid memory for me (I remember staring at the cover scans for hours).

 

Steve, I was just drooling over my copy today... fantastic cover repro's!!

 

That was the first comic book BOOK I ever got (for Christmas)... it was, and still is, a great gift.

 

Highly recommended.

 

I picked one up well into my collecting career long after I had acquired many other reprint books. Even though I own the Gerber Guides they don't have the nice full-size photographs of very select issues that make the O'Brien book so compelling.

[RareHighGrade]

My older brother bought comic books and I, wanting to be like him, wanted to buy them too. As a kid in the late 60's and early 70's, I would walk to the local 7-11 or drug store and buy as many comics as my meager funds could afford (4 or 5 a month at most). I was hooked on super hero books, but my parents felt they were too violent. When I misbehaved, they would confiscate them and give them away. This only made me want them more. One of my brother's friends was a serious collector and he would occaisionally let me see some of his collection. That was when I was first exposed to the world of Golden Age books. I was enthralled by the large, colorful covers that had many of the same characters I was used to -- but they looked different. The Human Torch was not with the Fantastic Four, the Flash had a funny hat, and the Green Lantern was blond and had a different colored uniform.

 

I took on a paper route, which earned me around $20 a month, and I used the money to buy my first Golden Age books. I read and re-read them over and over, and then mounted them on my wall with tacks so that I could stare at them before I went to sleep. I still have those old books, and they are now in, at best, fair condition or worse.

 

As I became obsessed with the Golden Age, I began reading every book I could find on the subject. I would stare for hours at the reprinted covers of the classics and dream of what it would be like to own them.

 

Then I hit High School. I discovered athletics and girls, and comic books no longer seemed as cool. I put my collection in boxes that ended up stored in the garage, and I forgot about them. Years went by without even a passing thought of the hobby that had once been my obsession.

 

Cut to the late 80's. I had completed my college and law school studies at U.C. Berkeley and was well into my professional career. On a lark, I wandered into the San Diego Comic Book convention to look around. I found myself surrounded by tables and tables of comic books, many of which were the classic Golden Age issues that I had previously only seen pictures of. As I saw those covers and smelled the familiar smell of old paper, a wave of nostalgia washed over me. It suddenly occurred to me that I could actually afford to purchase the comics that, as a child, I had always dreamed of owning. After dipping my toes in with a few test purchases, I jumped in all the way and once again became a collector.

 

I bought the Gerber Guides and my collecting habits quickly evolved. After a couple of years, I decided to focus my efforts on books that were rare and in high grade. The thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of owning a one-of-a-kind item made the hobby even more exciting to me. It was in that same time frame that I first discovered the pre-hero books. They immediately appealed to me for several reasons. They had historical significance, having been published at the dawn of the industry and containing the earliest work of the industry's legendary creators. They also had a certain innocence and simplicity about them that harkened back to a bygone era. And finally, they were just plain rare and almost impossible to find in high grade.

 

Since then, comic books have been an important part of my life. They tap into the child in me and bring me a pleasure that is different from the satisfaction I get in my career and the joy that my family brings me. I hope that I never lose my passion for this hobby.

 

RHG

[mr.schomburg]

Ryan, thanks but the idea was as much Zee's as mine. In fact it was his question that got me thinking. Buy the way great story, enjoyed the background story and image. Of course you might have guessed I am a little bit biased when it comes to Cap, so your story is great IMHO!

[tth2]

I decided to focus my efforts on books that were rare and in high grade.

How lucky was it that your collecting interests happened to coincide perfectly with your board name?!

 

Cool story, Peter!

[CentaurMan]

I decided to focus my efforts on books that were rare and in high grade.

How lucky was it that your collecting interests happened to coincide perfectly with your board name?!

 

No kidding, you lucked out!!!! I don't even like Centaurs, but with my board name and all, I kind of have to collect them.

 

Great story, RHG!

[Forbush-Man]

I don't even like Centaurs, but with my board name and all, I kind of have to collect them.

 

No you don't!

 

Arch will be happy to change your forum name for you & you can PM me to dump your drek anytime.

 

 

 

 

 

Ready for your PM's.....

[Point Five]

I don't even like Centaurs, but with my board name and all, I kind of have to collect them.

 

No you don't!

 

Arch will be happy to change your forum name for you & you can PM me to dump your drek anytime.

 

Fuelman's right, CentaurMan...we are here for you! I'll PM you my address too and you can dump those Centaurs.

 

I'm pretty sure board name "MicronautsMan" hasn't been taken yet? ...No pressure, just throwing that out there.

[SuperBird]

PointFive got me into Golden Age, actually. I always had a real fondness for early Superman books, since I'd had a tattered copy of 'Superman: from the 30's to the 70's' as a kid. Jon made me realize that the books- which I'd always assumed were out of this world expensive- could be had for relatively cheap in lower grades.

 

Since then, no other age has been nearly as worth collecting.

[Theagenes]

I'm also new to GA collecting - I started a couple of years ago. When I grew up in the late 70's to 80's I read X-Men and other things and collected Bronze and Silver. Golden Age stuff always seemed sort of semi-mythical to me. The LCS's in my area never had any GA so I'd see the pictures in Overstreet and elsewhere but it never seemed like something I could ever collect in real life. When I got back into collecting in the late 90's after a long hiatus, due mainly to ebay and CGC, I first went right back to BA and SA where I had left off a decade before. Then after picking up some John Carter Warlord of Mars and DC Tarzan's (that I had enjoyed as a kid) I thought I might try and pick up some the earlier 50's versions of those books, now that they were readily available due to ebay. Then I got one of the Funnies issues from the early 40's and it was a completely new experience - it was big and thick and full of page after page of cool old strips! Did I mention it was thick! It had substance to it! Oh man, and the smell! This was a very different kind of comic book.

 

Not long after that, I found these boards and started lurking here in the GA forum, reading and learning. It was like discovering a whole new world. Skybolt's thread turned me on to GGA. Reading "Men of Tomorrow" got me interested in the history of the medium and the earlier books of the 30's. The glimpse of earlier eras that many of these books give you is something that has great appeal to me. The war propaganda, the racial stereotyping, the rise and fall of the "superhero" concept, the anti-commie books of the 50's, the crime and horror books of the post-WWII era - all of these things tell us a little bit about the American experience in the mid-20th century both good and bad. From an anthropological and sociological point of view, many of these books are an important record of American culture for that period. Since what I do for living is to look for old, historically significant artifacts, collecting GA is clearly my niche. Silver and bronze just don't do it for me any more. I just wish I had "discovered" the GA years ago.

[Point Five]

PointFive got me into Golden Age, actually. I always had a real fondness for early Superman books, since I'd had a tattered copy of 'Superman: from the 30's to the 70's' as a kid. Jon made me realize that the books- which I'd always assumed were out of this world expensive- could be had for relatively cheap in lower grades.

 

Since then, no other age has been nearly as worth collecting.

 

Wow, thanks for the kind words, Matt!

 

Though given that you spend far more than I do on GA...methinks there's more than a little irony there.

[nearmint]

When I was 10-years-old, my friend Ty returned from a weekend trip to San Diego with a fair copy of Batman #50 that he'd purchased for $8. He and I had been collecting comics for about five years, and had just made the transition from Archies to DC and Marvel. I remember being at his house on that warm Summer day and just staring at that Two-Face cover for the longest time. We thought it was just about the coolest comic book we'd ever seen.

 

A few years later, Ty and I had a garage sale one Sunday afternoon and scraped together a few dollars each. We'd heard about a comic shop(a store that sold nothing but comics!) in Garden Grove, about a mile south of Disneyland, and took the bus all the way up Harbor Blvd. We found the shop, but to our dismay, he was closed on Sundays! I have a clear memory of the two of us gazing through the windows of Fantasy Illustrated at bookshelf after bookshelf of bagged and boarded comics, and glass cases full of Gold & Silver Age. So close, and yet so far!

 

A week later, I convinced my older brother Mark to drive me back to the store. Once there, we met the store owner, Dave Smith. I don't remember what I bought that day, probably some Adams Batmans & Detectives. What I do remember is the top shelf of the glass case, and the amazing copies of Batman #8 and #9 that lay there. The #9 had been manufactured without staples, and had the most perfect spine a black cover has ever seen. The #8 was a stong 7.0 with beautiful color strike. They were far too expensive for meager wallet, but they created a lasting impression. Years later, I owned both books, but eventually traded them when I was stung by the Action Comics bug(watch out, it's fatal!).

 

Fast forward a few more years to 1982. I had been buying up early Legion appearances in Adventure, and it suddenly hit me that for the same prices, I could be buying low to mid-grade Golden Age. So, I made my way back to Fantasy Illustrated. He was preparing for the San Diego Con(in the old convention center), and had all his good books boxed up. But, I remembered a Superman #37 that he'd had in his case the week before. He found the right box and fished it out for me. For the princely sum of $30, I purchased my first Golden Age Comic. A week later, I went back and purchased an 8.0 copy of Action #126 for $40. I was hooked.

 

It wasn't long after that that I attended my first SD Con. My big purchase was a Batman #3 from Sparkle City for $275. Some time after that, I traded it for the Batman #8 I'd seen in the glass case the first day I'd ever stepped foot in a comic shop.

 

Fantasy Illustrated is now closed. Has been ever since Mile High Chuck made his ill-advised attempt to monopolize the Southern California comics market. Dave Smith now lives in the Seattle area, and deals mostly in pulps. My friend Ty is now selling the bulk of his comics on eBay. Late last year, he found my want list on my website, and gave me a really sharp Detective #397 CGC 9.0 for Christmas. We can still talk comics for hours and hours.

 

And me? I still can't get enough. Golden Age comics are my time machine to the 1930s and 40s, a time that's always fascinated me. It's also my father's time, when he and his twin brother were buying comics with money earned from selling newspapers to passing motorists on the main drag in Asuza, CA. Dad was 8-years-old when Action #1 hit the stands. I wonder if he had a copy?

[JJBEE2001]

It's funny that you mentioned Fantasy Illustrated. I remember that place when I was a kid. One day I called them & they were nowhere to be found. They were in Fountain Valley, right? I think you're right about mile High coming in & driving smaller shops out. Are there any good shops left in OC?

[nearmint]

It's funny that you mentioned Fantasy Illustrated. I remember that place when I was a kid. One day I called them & they were nowhere to be found. They were in Fountain Valley, right? I think you're right about mile High coming in & driving smaller shops out. Are there any good shops left in OC?

 

No, Fantasy Illustrated was in Garden Grove, 1.5 miles South of Disneyland on Harbor Blvd. There was a shop in Fountain Valley called "The Land of Oohs & Ahs" that was originally owned by a whacko named John Fulce. He eventually sold the store to an employee named Bob Luginbul(sp?), who did a much better job of running the place. Chuck bought both stores, ran them for a time as satellites of his main Anaheim store, then closed them both.

 

As for good stores in OC today?

No.

[JJBEE2001]

As for good stores in OC today?

No.

 

I guess that's why I buy all my books online.