I started reading comics almost as soon as I could read, in the mid-1940s. Among my childhood favorites were Tom ‘n’ Jerry, Little Lulu, Donald Duck, and Tarzan (Gold Key from #11, 1949). Then I discovered the pre-code EC comics at the barbershop and started collecting those as well. As I grew older, I kept adding to those titles and saving all my copies.
Regrettably, as so often happened in those days, when I went off to college in 1961, my mother threw out nearly all of my comics—which would be worth a fortune now. Why mothers did that is something I’ve never understood, but it was a thing; apparently 1950s mothers hated comics!
However, from my college days on, I managed to retain my growing collection—though many moves and several marriages, as well as several “Ages:” Golden Age to 1954; Silver Age 1956 to early ‘70s; Bronze Age: 1970s-1986; and Modern Age 1986 ‘til today. In the mid-‘80s I even had a store (Between the Worlds) that had a big comics section.
I collected all the Underground comix, the erotic comics, Vertigo, Elfquest, animé and many independent titles as well as the mainstream DC and Marvel titles I liked. At one point in the late ‘80s I had to sell off a substantial portion of my collection to pay rent. But ever since I kept them all in boxes which came to fill the garage
But in 2014 my wife of 40 years died and I had to put everything I owned into storage. I decided to go “walkabout” for a few years, seeking a new home and someone to share it with—both of which I’ve now found. I had no place to keep new comics, so I made a momentous decision to end a lifetime obsession and quite buying comics. So my final issues date from 2014.
And now all the 4,000 comics in my surviving collection—some dating back to the 1940s—have been sorted and bagged for sale. For you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
