Rest In Peace, John Verzyl 6 6

[Sqeggs]

He took the unusual step of having binders with photocopies of the books he had for sale.  Kind of fun to flip through them.  I suppose at a busy con it also reduced the number of people asking him to let them into the booth to examine his wall books.  I can't recall another dealer taking that approach.

[VintageComics]

15 hours ago, nearmint said:

I always enjoyed talking to him in San Diego.  He had a great memory, and I loved hearing his stories about past comic deals.  Such a wealth of knowledge.

He was amazing and fun to talk to and his sense of humor was off the charts.

I posted this on Al Stoltz' Facebook page:

I was a newcomer being a full time dealer when I met John. John was one of those old school dealers who was legendary because of all the stories I'd heard about him. He was a pioneer at San Diego and of course had one of the best collections on the planet. So I was always surprised when from day one he treated me like I was a member of his family. I grew to get to know his entire family through meeting him at shows and I can honestly see he'll be sorely missed. Thanks for everything you've done for me John. I'll keep the family in my thoughts and prayers.

[Cat-Man_America]

I've gone back and forth about sharing this photo with the boards.  On the one hand, it's the most poignant image of John I have, as it reflects both his passion for comics and how he's passed the love of our hobby on to his son. My reservation about posting this image is that the photo was part of a personal thank you message from Little John for a secretive deal I'd made with his dad just before Christmas to surprise him with a tough book he'd been wanting for awhile (as you can see, Little John has good taste in GA too). In order to hide this from Little John, John & I literally tiptoed out the back door, around our house and slipped the book into his van while my sneaky spousal unit kept John Jr. occupied discussing other things.

Keep in mind that I received this letter just last week.  This is likely the last image of John taken, and that is why I was reticent about posting the image.

The reason I decided to go ahead and post this after weighing the pros & cons of it is that this image captures John as I knew him and ...this is the poignant part... it almost seems like he's waving goodbye with a genuinely warm embrace of the hobby, passing that joy on to his son.  Feel free to shed a tear and raise a toast to one of the true icons of our hobby.

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

Sorry to hear this; John's booth at the Shrine shows in LA used to WOW me with his beautiful Mile High Captain Midnights! I really only picked up one book from him but it was a beauty and one of the prides of my collection. I'll miss stopping by his booth at SD and gawking.

 

 

[CentaurMan]

rarehhighgrade's quote "He was the most kind, generous and thoughtful person I ever had the pleasure of doing business with" is beautifully said and 100% accurate.

I haven't brought myself to tell my daughters yet.  They're going to be so sad.  Every year when they dressed up at the Chicago con, they did it partially so show off to him & the entire Verzyl clan, who would take pictures and ooh & aah over them.  They even would send us framed pics afterwards.

He was a genius in many ways, but he was an even better person.  We miss you, John.

[Dark Knight]

Such a tragedy.. may you RIP John! Very sad news and yes one of the pillars in the comic book collecting community. He will always have an eternal flame lit in this hobby.

[Mmehdy]

12 hours ago, lou_fine said:

A true comic book collector filled with passion for our hobby here with lots of stories to tell from the early days.

Definitely a huge and sad loss to our comic collecting community here and one who left us way too early.

Condolences to his family and loved ones and may he tell his endless stories at the big comic convention in the sky. 

Second that , a class act, true true comic book collector and Giant of a man....great conversations and please RIP

[jmg3637]

Very sad to hear this news

My wife and I met John and his wife doing comic shows  dating back to the Ambassador and the various hotels prior to settling in at the shrine (I believe  that it is down to twice a year at a different venue).

I remember  him purchasing the entire collection of "my greatest Adventure" i had recently picked up and him telling his wife to give me "two bills".  I had kept the Doom Patrol Issues  but I think he got like the 60 issues prior.

I know that he was a BIG guy,  but years ago he lost the weight and seemed to be in better health.

Years later I did a big trade  with him in San Diego..  I think the main book he got from me was a Superboy 2

I got 15 nice books including these

 

 

 

[batman_fan]

very sad news 

[rob_react]

17 hours ago, nearmint said:

For those who haven’t heard, Jon suffered a heart attack very early this morning and passed away.   He will be sorely missed by the entire collecting community.  

I only met him once and it was one of the most memorable conversations I've ever had. He was one of the most passionate and knowledgeable collectors I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and I really appreciated how open he was with regards to his collection and experience in the hobby.

[telerites]

2 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

He took the unusual step of having binders with photocopies of the books he had for sale.  Kind of fun to flip through them.  I suppose at a busy con it also reduced the number of people asking him to let them into the booth to examine his wall books.  I can't recall another dealer taking that approach.

Yes I remember that.  I'm sure I left some of my salivating juices in those binders.  @Cat-Man_America does that as well - maybe they started doing that together?  I enjoy looking through Cat's binders of his collection at OAFCON every year.Man_America

[rob_react]

Does anyone have a scan  of the old comic heaven ad handy?

[MrBedrock]

In the mid 80s I used to look forward to San Diego because of the incredible books I would see there. After just a few years I began to look forward to San Diego because John was going to be there.

[rjpb]

7 hours ago, jimjum12 said:

20 years old there................. I was still laying out of work a couple days a week at that age ..... and still under my parents roof. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Is the 1961 birth date correct? He opened his store in 1979, which isn't impossible, but on the young side. I also recall he had a college age daughter in the mid 90s, or was she a step-daughter?

 

I recall buying stuff from his annual auctions in the 90s, and picking them up in person in Alhambra, as well as his booth at the old Shrine cons back then. Nice guy. His booth prices could be a little steep, but he was willing to deal as I recall. Sorry to hear he has passed.

 

[jimjum12]

2 minutes ago, rjpb said:

Is the 1961 birth date correct? He opened his store in 1979, which isn't impossible, but on the young side. I also recall he had a college age daughter in the mid 90s, or was she a step-daughter?

 

I recall buying stuff from his annual auctions in the 90s, and picking them up in person in Alhambra, as well as his booth at the old Shrine cons back then. Nice guy. His booth prices could be a little steep, but he was willing to deal as I recall. Sorry to hear he has passed.

 

A lot of those guys began forging their empires right out of High School ....... a lot of folks started working books in the summer for college and just never looked back..... it really was the gold rush days..... GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[telerites]

2 hours ago, rob_react said:

Does anyone have a scan  of the old comic heaven ad handy?

I am sure I do but finding them is another story.   Mine are probably boxed up with the TBG/CBGs I saved and how I first discovered them.   The site remains up from 2011 and if I remember correctly parts of the catalog was listed but bidding remained via mail at least as I remember it.  

http://www.comicheaven.net

 

 

[rjpb]

3 minutes ago, jimjum12 said:

A lot of those guys began forging their empires right out of High School ....... a lot of folks started working books in the summer for college and just never looked back..... it really was the gold rush days..... GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

True. I used to set up at local show in the 70s with a buddy, mostly just liquidating our collections, but even before that as interests shifted. I think I was 14 or 15 the first time I had a table at a show (circa 1974). But I wasn't really interested in becoming a dealer, so after getting rid of the last of my books in the CBG, it was quite a few years before I paid much attention to anything other than undergrounds. 

Still, in that 1981 photo he claims to have a million books. Even if that's a ten-fold exaggeration, that's a lot of books to accumulate by the time you are 20, unless you had someone bankrolling you to pick up large collections. Did he have a kid when he was 17 as well?

[woowoo]

18 minutes ago, rjpb said:

Is the 1961 birth date correct? He opened his store in 1979, which isn't impossible, but on the young side. I also recall he had a college age daughter in the mid 90s, or was she a step-daughter?

 

I recall buying stuff from his annual auctions in the 90s, and picking them up in person in Alhambra, as well as his booth at the old Shrine cons back then. Nice guy. His booth prices could be a little steep, but he was willing to deal as I recall. Sorry to hear he has passed.

 

I thought the same thing than I read this on his website and thought NO way was he born in 1961

http://www.comicheaven.net/id18.html

John Verzyl started collecting comic books in 1965, and within ten years he had amassed thousands of Golden and Silver Age comic books. In 1979 he opened "Comic Heaven," a retail store devoted entirely to buying and selling comic books.

 

Edited March 12, 2018 by woowoo

[rob_react]

9 minutes ago, telerites said:

I am sure I do but finding them is another story.   Mine are probably boxed up with the TBG/CBGs I saved and how I first discovered them.   The site remains up from 2011 and if I remember correctly parts of the catalog was listed but bidding remained via mail at least as I remember it.  

http://www.comicheaven.net

 

 

Thanks! I'm looking, specifically, for the ad with his daughter, that ran for many years in Overstreet. I have a full run of Overstreet, they're just in storage and I was looking to post that specific ad in a little RIP post tomorrow since it was so memorable to me. 

 

 

[rjpb]

1 minute ago, woowoo said:

I thought the same thing than I read this on his website and thought know way was he born in 1961

http://www.comicheaven.net/id18.html

John Verzyl started collecting comic books in 1965, and within ten years he had amassed thousands of Golden and Silver Age comic books. In 1979 he opened "Comic Heaven," a retail store devoted entirely to buying and selling comic books.

 

The only way one was amassing thousands of Gold and Silver Age books by the time you were 14, even in the early 70s, was if Dad was buying you everything you wanted.