comicstock's Bio
I began my comic collecting in 1965, convincing my father to buy me a copy of Superman #179 at The Corner Store in Baptistown, New Jersey. I remember the comic laying flat on the bottom of the big magazine rack with the cover showing Superman delivering bags of cash taken from Fort Knox to a mobster at his secret lair. I was hooked. Having grown up in Frenchtown, N.J., a small town of about 1,000, I was very lucky to have Hummers Tobacco Shop. This wonderful, little store carried penny candies, sports cards, magazines and an excellent selection of comic books. Hummers had a free standing, two-sided, wire comics rack. One side held all DC Comics, the other, Marvels. They also stocked a spinner rack of Dell/Gold Keys, a spinner of Archies and a spinner of Classics Illustrated. Hummers carried ALL the titles. Books would arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons and Mr. Louis, the owner, had them all checked in and displayed that evening. I remember him smoking a pipe, pulling off and counting old issues for return and replacing empty slots on the rack with the new ones. In the beginning, I loved DC Comics. I read Superman, Batman, Detective Comics, Green Lantern, Flash, Atom, Hawkman, Superboy & World's Finest but my absolute favorites were the team books: Justice League of America and Adventure Comics with the Legion of Super-Heroes. My first JLA issue was #36 and Adventure Comics was #336. Gosh, I loved those titles! I bought as many as I (or my parents) could afford. Twelve cents for one comic was a lot of money to an 8-year old kid in 1965! A couple years later I tried the Marvel line with Fantastic Four #64 being the first. I loved the Hulk in Tales to Astonish. Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, the Avengers, Thor, X-Men...WOW! Life as a kid in the 60s was great! In the 70s, high school and college became priority but I spent time with my hobby. I discovered Doc Savage and began tracking down the Bantam paperbacks. Also the Conan paperbacks by Lancer Books with the wonderful Frank Frazetta covers. Great stuff! The Direct Market (vs. newsstand distribution) took off and comic book specialty stores popped up all over the place. I'd regularly travel 40 minutes to Quality Comics, Jersey's first comic store, in Princeton. Owner Alex Koehn carried everything new (with a reserve service!) plus back issues. Now, I'd never miss an issue! Quality Comics eventually moved to Somerville but I followed Alex there as well. Comic shows became common during the decade. I traveled to New York City and Philadelphia to attend the big Creation Conventions. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of meeting Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, George Tuska, Russ Heath, Jim Mooney, Walter Simonson and many others. In 1990, I quit my 13+ year job with New York Life Insurance Company and became co-owner of a couple of comic shops. One in Bethlehem, PA, the other in Easton, PA. My dream of being an owner was finally realized! The first couple of years were a struggle but the business grew quickly in the early 90s. We had a number of successful store signings. Some of our guests were Lee Weeks (Daredevil & Gambit), Gray Morrow (Power Rangers), Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales), Mark Bright (Green Lantern), Rick Parker (Beavis & Butt-head), Ed Polgardy (From the Darkness), Jim Balent (Catwoman & From the Darkness), Bob McLeod (Spider-Man) and others. At the end of 1995, I sold my share of the business and moved my family to South Florida where I became the buyer for the BIG Entertainment/Tekno Comix entertainment retail chain. I left Big E in 1997 and took a job outside the comic industry in the Fort Lauderdale area. In 2010, we moved into the Charlotte, NC area. As of this writing (March 2023), I'm reading just about anything by Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis, Jeff Lemire, JMS, Ed Brubaker, David Lapham, Charles Burns plus titles such as: Parker Girls, Geiger/Junkyard Joe & Time Before Time. In trade paperback, I pickup The Nice House on the Lake, That Texas Blood & Saga and others. I cannot believe I've been buying, reading and collecting comics for over fifty-five years. 55 YEARS?!?!? As Stan Lee would say...SHEESH! Today, I'm selling back issue comics from my eBay Store. Send over a want list and I'll see if I can help. This is a wonderful hobby with a rich history. Enjoy it! - - - Jim J. updated 3/25/2023