REMEMBERING THAT FIRST LCS... 3 3

[Maverickcomics]

Kinda a long story but...

My first comic shop I remember was Vic's Comics. Vic ran a booth with his wife at the local flea market near me in the late 80s up until his wifes passing in 2008ish. He sold comics she sold old creepy looking dolls. 

I didn't realize what he had until years later but I remembered boxes and boxes of silver/golden age books.  He couldn't grade for anything but luckily he always did 50% off for me. 

As I grew up I took a break from comics and stopped going to Vic's. Years later around 2008 when the comic bug bit me he was no longer there. Come to find out Vic's wife fell ill and he closed up shop to take care of her.

I tried for years to locate Vic and his collection. Around 2015 by chance I found out they both had passed unfortunately. It took another 2 years for the collection to surface. A friend of the family inherited his stuff and had to haul it off the property. 

I had the pleasure of helping... It seems Vic in his old age wasent able to do much around the house anymore and it had turned into full blown hoarder status. In the one shed out back was a massive collection of old glass bottles. In another shed was a huge collection of mre rations. The house itself was so rundown it wasent even safe to be in there. But out in the rundown garage was roughly 150 or so long boxes. 

I spent the next few weekends helping move and sort the books all on my own time for free with the notion that id be able to get first dibs. I barely cherrypicked 4-5 longboxes before they cut me off. They moved the collection to an undisclosed location until further notice. There was much stuff left behind its been driving me mad since. 

I Called a few people yesterday and made contact with the current owner of the collection to setup a meeting later this month. Now I just need to scramble to raise some more funds for an offer. 

TLDR: A child's interest in comics turns into a man's obsession with tracking down the very books that got him started. 

Edited March 18, 2018 by Maverickcomics

[mrc]

.....first 'proper' comic book store visited in Denmark St. Started going about 1980, not sure when it closed? Many Saturdays spent here!

[architeuthis]

First shop I really remember was a used bookstore called Jolie's Books, in Stuart.  Dusty, old book and comic smelling place, cheap as could be and fairly generous on trade-in credit.  May have been a few finds in that wall of long boxes, maybe about 30-40, all packed full with mostly loose books, a few in bags.  Jolie's and a dealer at the B&A Flea Market on Saturday and Sunday, J&J Rare Coins, who had a shop up in Port St. Lucie.  Mostly baseball cards and coins, but there was a comic guy a booth or two away a lot.  Might have been the same dealer?  

First real shop, though, I have no idea what the actual name was, but it was in a stand-alone building in the parking lot of a Publix on U.S.1 in south Stuart, Florida.  About 1987-1988ish, the marquee above only said "Stamps".  When I first wandered in it, at 12 years old around '87, it was still about half a stamp shop, which I collected with my grandfather, along with coins and currency.  The other half was devoted mostly to baseball cards.  Bought a 1978 Topps Reggie Jackson for all of $2, which I still have.   Prices always seemed high, but the owner was always a nice guy and willing to deal, and always willing to talk to younger collectors, although I can't for the life of me remember his name.  Four or five years later, the stamps were mostly gone and comics had overtaken the shop.   Maybe about a quarter of the space was still sports cards, might have been a few stamps left in the display cases.   No idea what he had for back issues, as I was young and dumb and only cared about new stuff.  Distinctly remember paying $12 for Spawn #4 and $6 for Pitt #1 off the "HOT BOOKS" wall.  I can only imagine the books I passed over for these...

Last time I visited was probably around 2000ish, and it had again shifted focus, this time toward coins, what with the popularity of the State Quarters at the time.  Still a fair few comics, but seemed to mostly just be newer stuff and recent back issues.  I still collected cards and coins and stamps then (still do), but the new guy running the coin counter just seemed kinda skeevy, so I left.  Place is long gone now, probably folded in the earlier 2000's.  

[Larryw7]

16 hours ago, nld3 said:

I remember a place located near there called Comics for Collecters that pre-dated Fat Jacks. It was upstairs above the Pleasure Chest If I recall correctly.  First Fat Jacks comic store I recall was the one around the corner on 20th Street. Before Mike moved the store right across 20th street to the corner shop that is now a pizza shop and then around the corner from Hoagie City now Shack Shack to it’s current location.  There was also a little mom and pop record & comic store next to the Fat Jacks Sampson Street shop that always undersold Mike on new comics. Mike tried to get the Hoagie City/Shake shack corner spot but couldn’t for some reason. 

The record store was Record Rendezvous, and most of their comics were pretty low grade. I enjoyed rummaging around in there. Comics for Collectors was run by Ron Oser and Ron Krenksi. They eventually moved their place to Bustleton Avenue near Cottman Mall and renamed the store Comic Investments. That was my go to place as a kid since they were in the neighborhood. Their prices for GA were on the high side. But DC Silver Age in high grade were usually 3 bucks a pop, so I would get a few of those a week from my paper route money. Eventually  I  trekked down to Fat Jack's and was surprised at the low prices.

[Ken Aldred]

4 hours ago, mrc said:

.....first 'proper' comic book store visited in Denmark St. Started going about 1980, not sure when it closed? Many Saturdays spent here!

Yup. That was an incredible experience, as there wasn't a comic shop in the Manchester area at the time, and it had a great selection of material.

From  early 1978, I used to have several 'days off' school each year to go down to London on the train and buy imported comics there. 

A pity it went so corporate, later in the 80s.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Ken Aldred

[Get Marwood & I]

4 hours ago, mrc said:

.....first 'proper' comic book store visited in Denmark St. Started going about 1980, not sure when it closed? Many Saturdays spent here!

Love the Comic Mart poster in the window. That moved location a few times down the years. As did FP. It was a good shop in them days. All back issues and fanzines. Loved it. 

[1950's war comics]

7 hours ago, Maverickcomics said:

TLDR: A child's interest in comics turns into a man's obsession with tracking down the very books that got him started. 

I am the exact opposite, i have no desire to reacquire the comics of my youth ,... been there done that ,,,

when i got back into comics i went after the Golden age stuff one could only dream about as a kid.....

[nld3]

18 hours ago, namisgr said:

That's the one, Comics for Collectors.  Thanks for setting the record straight on it.  When I came back to the city after moving away, I thought it had moved around the corner and changed its name to Fat Jack's.  I remember C for C with great fondness as being poorly lit and filled with that wonderful smell of old comics, and also a great place to buy posters.

My fuzzy recollection is that the head shop there was called Wonderland, with the sex shop The Pleasure Chest later replacing the comic shop.

 

 Comics for Collectors was the first back issue comic store I ever went to. I was probably 10 or 11 years old.  I remember the first back issue comic I purchased ever was there. It was an Avengers #45. It was a big deal for me it was like a few dollars and that was a lot for one book in those days. It was in a flimsy plastic bag. Then I was told about Fat Jacks around the corner. They were both open at the same time because I remember running between stores to check prices. Then all of a sudden C for C closed or moved.  I have no idea what happened to them. I have searched for years on the Internet trying to find some information about that store. That’s how I found this thread with your post.  The Pleasure Chest was downstairs only when Comics for Collectors was open. I wish I could get a picture or some more info on C for C.  I think there was a write up on them in one of the Philadelphia newspapers in the 70s. I will try to search their archive.  They have to be one of the first back issue comic stores ever to be open in Philadelphia. 

Edited March 19, 2018 by nld3

[nld3]

8 hours ago, Larryw7 said:

The record store was Record Rendezvous, and most of their comics were pretty low grade. I enjoyed rummaging around in there. Comics for Collectors was run by Ron Oser and Ron Krenksi. They eventually moved their place to Bustleton Avenue near Cottman Mall and renamed the store Comic Investments. That was my go to place as a kid since they were in the neighborhood. Their prices for GA were on the high side. But DC Silver Age in high grade were usually 3 bucks a pop, so I would get a few of those a week from my paper route money. Eventually  I  trekked down to Fat Jack's and was surprised at the low prices.

Awesome thanks for the info. I remember they were a lot higher in price than FJs. But they were the better store at that time.  Comic Investments sounds familiar as well. I’m from Delaware County so going into Philly was not a usual occurrence until I got a few years older to where I could take public transportation on my own.   Record Rendezvous was a mess. But they always had new issues for sale at  $.05 or $.10 cheaper than cover price. In order the pull in business away from Fat Jacks.

[batman_fan]

As a young kid growing up in rural Indiana in the 70s I bought new comics from a drug store in Osgood. If you didn’t get there when new books came in you got stuck with the stuff no one wanted like X-men, marvel team up, and some DC stuff. For old stuff there was a used bookstore in Madison that did 2 for 1 or $0.20 per book. The first real comic book store I went to was in Ft Collins, CO in the late 70s. It was Mile High Comics. My first visit I had $50 from helping shingle a roof and I spent it all on comics. That store went out of business not too long afterwards. 

[nld3]

I recently found this article in The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper from 1976 about those Philly comic stores. Here a clip of it. I’ll post the rest of it tomorrow.

Edited November 9, 2018 by nld3

[kav]

Comics and Comix formerly capitol comic art shop sacramento had stereotypical rude comic shop guys.  Yes lets make fun of all the people that pay our salary-

[Karl Liebl]

Kubic's comics in cleveland...

[the blob]

West side comics in Manhattan. Owner creeped the hell out of me as a kid in the 70s and 80s. Lots of good stuff though. No idea in hindsight whether he was expensive as I hit the 4/$1 and 3/$1 boxes (those dang marks on the back of the books!). Had an AF 15 on the wall behind him for years. He apparently got amazing silver age collections all the time out of the projects and tenements just north and he would pay 5 cents a book. One guy was so ticked off he set up shop in front of his store and was giving his books away instead. Got evicted from an amazing lease because he insisted on selling videos too when his lease limited him to magazines/comics, etc.

Edited November 9, 2018 by the blob

[1Cool]

My first LCS was actually called The Comic Shop in Fairbanks, Alaska.  It was located in the basement of a downtown building it always smelled like pot and it was so dark and dungy that my parents would only let me go with them.  It moved while I was in High School to a nice new store and I think it's still operating today. 

[nld3]

On 3/18/2018 at 5:46 PM, Larryw7 said:

The record store was Record Rendezvous, and most of their comics were pretty low grade. I enjoyed rummaging around in there. Comics for Collectors was run by Ron Oser and Ron Krenksi. They eventually moved their place to Bustleton Avenue near Cottman Mall and renamed the store Comic Investments. That was my go to place as a kid since they were in the neighborhood. Their prices for GA were on the high side. But DC Silver Age in high grade were usually 3 bucks a pop, so I would get a few of those a week from my paper route money. Eventually  I  trekked down to Fat Jack's and was surprised at the low prices.

Here's the full article I found on those stores. Plus a Comics for Collectors add I found also, and to my amazement it was drawn by Chuck Dixon.

[ADAMANTIUM]

A LCS near me was called Keith's Comics, which was quite a ways form where we lived at the time. I was only old enough to see it while parents were driving and ask to go in. Didn't really know what I was looking at or what to look for etc

As I got older I did the 7-11/Grocery store thing, but I'm proud to say that I go to Keith's now, which is a little further down the road from where they were in the 80's.

Edited November 9, 2018 by ADAMANTIUM

[joeypost]

Little Nemo in Forest Hills, Queens. IIRC it was under the LIRR ‘L’. 

The area was actually filmed in the original TM Spider-Man movie. He runs out from an alleyway and is seen in front of a fruit stand. The store was across from the fruit stand. 

Picked up lots of back issues from Richie M. At the aqueduct flea market back in the 70’s. 

[Larryw7]

6 hours ago, nld3 said:

Here's the full article I found on those stores. Plus a Comics for Collectors add I found also, and to my amazement it was drawn by Chuck Dixon.

Whoa! That's awesome! Thanks for posting it. 

[DanCooper]

2 hours ago, joeypost said:

Little Nemo in Forest Hills, Queens. IIRC it was under the LIRR ‘L’. 

Yes, remember it well on Ascan Avenue!

Mike Carbonaro also had at least two different locations in Forest Hills - one on Austin Street and then a move to Queens Boulevard by the old Midway movie theatre.

Speaking of Spiderman's old nabe of Forest Hills Queens, I don't know if this has been brought up here in the past, but Peter Parker's address in Forest Hills is 20 Ingram Street. Back in 2002, the following attached NY Times article shows a coincidence that a Parker Family lived at that address at the time! (also their neighbors on Ingram Street were named Osborn! Don't know if they had a preference for the color "Green"!)

NY Times article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/08/nyregion/so-spider-man-brilliant-disguise-real-mild-mannered-parkers-are-superhero-s.html