Comic Book Marketplace Memories 4 4

[Ricksneatstuff]

Comic Book Marketplace came out when I was running a comic shop and it opened my eyes to some cool stuff I rarely saw before. Golden age comics did not seem anywhere near as available 28 years ago as they are now with the webosphere. Now, I sound like an old-timer. I guess hitting 50 does that to you.  

I got out of comics to work in other areas around 2 years into CBM and I kind of forgot about it until a year or two ago. A few months back our own @Robot Man had a ton of them for sale in a lot and just today is the first minute I’ve had to really crack them open and start perusing. Such cool stuff with so many boardie contributors.  If you get a chance to pick these up you should. I need the first 10 issues still if anyone has them.  

 

[Ricksneatstuff]

From the same issue 11 an article by @jbcomicbox

 

[buttock]

I still go back and read the first 60 issues or so from time to time.  That and the CBM were the equivalent of these boards. 

[Ricksneatstuff]

Starting with paragraph 3 it is interesting that the same concerns I hear lately were stated back then and yet the comic market has only continued to grow in all that time.  

 

[Robot Man]

Glad you liked them and are reading them Rick. Such a time capsule of comic fandom. Every issue had something of interest. The early ads and the letters columns were great. So many of these people are now gone or moved on. Quite a number of us are still here though. I remember buying them every month at Richard Kyle’s Wonderworld comic store. I miss Richard. Lots of talk about comics with him. He was one of the “old guys” at the time who bought early GA and ECs off the racks. Between this magazine and guys like Richard, I quickly left the SA behind and moved into the wild world of GA. 

Just a note, Richard was good friends with Kirby and Royer and had at any given time, 20 or so Kirby pages and covers on the wall for sale at $100 for a page and $150. For a cover. Never had that kind of money at the time so I never got any...

[Ricksneatstuff]

A cover featured article by our own @storypapers

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I subscribed from the late 20's. Wish I had done so earlier. Gary Carter came up to me at the local Shrine Show (though this one was in Pasadena for some reason) and handed me a copy of the first issue to read. It would become my favorite publication for quite a few years. I also met Gary Coddington at that show who was a huge Superman collector and a Barks guy too. I believe Gary passed away; anyone know what happened to his collection?

[adamstrange]

44 minutes ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

Starting with paragraph 3 it is interesting that the same concerns I hear lately were stated back then and yet the comic market has only continued to grow in all that time.  

There are similar sentiments expressed in Rocket's Blast Comic Collector.  From the 1970s.

[lou_fine]

2 hours ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

I need the first 10 issues still if anyone has them.  

The first 15 issues were the absolute best of the entire CBM run as they had cover features and articles on topics such as The First 1,000 Comic Books, 50 Rarest Golden Age books, Alex Schomburg, Lou Fine, Centuar Comics, Edgar Church 4-issue run, Relative Scarcity and Demand for specific DC SA runs, etc.  Needless to say, it was an absolute treasure trove of information at the time and an absolute must read for any true collector of comic books.  I basically started subscribing with Issue #2 and Gary Carter was then nice enough to send me a complimentary copy of Issue #1 in order for me not to have missed anything.    

I still go back and refer to Issue #32 which is known as The Pedigree Issue as it had articles on several of the more established GA pedigrees at the time.  I guess it's actually the closest that we will get to having the Pedigree Book itself if it ever does come out.    

The CBM magazine definitely did not have the same fan feel to it after it was taken over by Geppi and became a more slick magazine starting with Issue #22.   Near the end, it was unfortunately not even a shadow of its former self once Russ Cochran took over the magazine and drove all of the fans away with his inane topics until it finally got cancelled.    

[storypapers]

47 minutes ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I subscribed from the late 20's. Wish I had done so earlier. Gary Carter came up to me at the local Shrine Show (though this one was in Pasadena for some reason) and handed me a copy of the first issue to read. It would become my favorite publication for quite a few years. I also met Gary Coddington at that show who was a huge Superman collector and a Barks guy too. I believe Gary passed away; anyone know what happened to his collection?

Thanks for the Sound Out Rick...yes these were some fun times....and the Shadow article took me many years to "complete"...I did so in a Blood & Thunder magazine many years later
Wrote a few others too...one on Planet Comics and Planet Stories..and also one about grading comics similar to coins...I got a lot of accolades and also grief for that one!!   Gary and Overstreet made me an Advisor for the upcoming year and I even graded once or twice for Sotherby's with Joe Mannerino soon afterwards.   Time marches on..I have all the early issues somewhere... LOL 

[Robot Man]

1 hour ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

I subscribed from the late 20's. Wish I had done so earlier. Gary Carter came up to me at the local Shrine Show (though this one was in Pasadena for some reason) and handed me a copy of the first issue to read. It would become my favorite publication for quite a few years. I also met Gary Coddington at that show who was a huge Superman collector and a Barks guy too. I believe Gary passed away; anyone know what happened to his collection?

I was very good friends with Gary Coddington. We met over a couple boxes of GA comics at the Azusa swap meet. We hit all the used book stores like the Book Nook in Pasadena. He was a little older than me and drove me down to Hollywood to Cherokee, Collectors and Bond Street Books. We went to each other’s houses many times. He let me read his Action #1 and Superman #1. I still have the Superman #24 I got from him. His brother collected Batman and had a Tec #27 which I also got to read.

Gary had an amazing collection. Not just comics but toys, premiums, movie posters and the like. Probably, the most serious collector I ever met up to that point. Sadly, Gary had serious kidney problems and passed away in his very early 40’s. His father and brother sold off his collection for real decent prices in the day. Bruce Hamilton was a major buyer I believe. 

[Mmehdy]

3 hours ago, buttock said:

I still go back and read the first 60 issues or so from time to time.  That and the CBM were the equivalent of these boards. 

Top publication for its time..."Alter Ego" which recently has just been flat out amazing  by TwoMorrows , the last two issues are fantastic.....

Edited September 16, 2019 by Mmehdy

[Larryw7]

I have a complete set of CBM and I've read them to death. A great resource, and fantastic articles.I agree that the early issues were the best,but their was plenty to enjoy during the Geppi era. It was a huge shock when G. Carter quit. Cochran unfortunately ignored GA and SA and went into the direction of newspaper strips, and the only comics he covered with depth were the EC's. I still remember an article(during the Cochran.era) where a guy wrote an article completely dedicated to the cover of FF 48,  but thought the Watcher on the cover was Galactus!

I've always wondered about the inside dope of why Carter left. I also wish eternal rest to Keith Contarino, whose article was posted above. His writing was always entertaining, and never dull.

  

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Larryw7

[ThothAmon]

CBM was my pull list. Not so much once Carter left. 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

48 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

I was very good friends with Gary Coddington. We met over a couple boxes of GA comics at the Azusa swap meet. We hit all the used book stores like the Book Nook in Pasadena. He was a little older than me and drove me down to Hollywood to Cherokee, Collectors and Bond Street Books. We went to each other’s houses many times. He let me read his Action #1 and Superman #1. I still have the Superman #24 I got from him. His brother collected Batman and had a Tec #27 which I also got to read.

Gary had an amazing collection. Not just comics but toys, premiums, movie posters and the like. Probably, the most serious collector I ever met up to that point. Sadly, Gary had serious kidney problems and passed away in his very early 40’s. His father and brother sold off his collection for real decent prices in the day. Bruce Hamilton was a major buyer I believe. 

That's interesting as I would have been in my early thirties when I met him and I think he passed away not long afterwards. He looked much older from what I remember; I'm sure as a result of the medical condition you mention. I wish I had got to know him.

I also remember passing on a real nice Superman 76 at that show for $100 or something; still regret it to this day. I was recently married with our first house and money seemed tight. Should have bought it anyway!!

[adamstrange]

17 minutes ago, Larryw7 said:

I've always wondered about the inside dope of why Carter left. I also wish eternal rest to Keith Contarino, whose article was posted above. His writing was always entertaining, and never dull.

More and more editorial interference.  Geppi was easy to work for but CBM was under Gemstone Publishing and it wasn't of interest to that leadership and didn't make enough money for Carter to have any weight to throw around.  He left and was eventually became a Dean at a California college.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

Another of my favorite articles from those early issues was an article on the Dell Giants by a collector who specialized in them; though his name escapes me. Anyway he declared Peter Pan Treasure Chest (the elusive 50 center - see avatar at left) the grail of the giants!! Since I bought what was likely a file copy back in NY; that made me real happy.

[comicjack]

Brings back memories reading those magazines that were so well done by Gary Carter 

[BuscemasAvengers]

Unless these are available digitally (or in an older buried thread), it would be very cool to post (occasionally) the kind of articles like Mint Mania II above, with the vets giving some background as to who the author is, etc. ...

[lou_fine]

57 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

1 hour ago, Larryw7 said:

I've always wondered about the inside dope of why Carter left. I also wish eternal rest to Keith Contarino, whose article was posted above. His writing was always entertaining, and never dull.

More and more editorial interference.  Geppi was easy to work for but CBM was under Gemstone Publishing and it wasn't of interest to that leadership and didn't make enough money for Carter to have any weight to throw around.  He left and was eventually became a Dean at a California college.

Weren't there also runours at the time that he was hoping to be the heir apparent for the Overstreet Guide whenever Bob would eventually decide to leave or the Great Comic Shop in the Sky came calling for him.  I believe he got the message that this was not going to be his destiny within the Gemstone Publishing Empire and decided to leave.  

Like any other sane individual, if you was given a choice between living in dreary moddy Timonimun or sunny seaside San Diego which he absolutely loved and came from, the choice would be pretty much of an no-brainer from my own personal point of view.