I started collecting Golden Age Comics at around age 13 when I first discovered them. Well, I knew they existed because I’d read about them in both the COMICS BUYERS GUIDE and the OVERSTREET Guide— but I never saw one before then.
That’s Entertainment on Chandler Street in the Big Woo was a fantastic comic shop— what it lacked in size it more than made up for in energy and absolute GEMS.
It was there that I discovered Monster Magazine back issues— I’d been buying FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND for many years but those great classic issues I’d only seen as artifacts in the current issues were often there for sale, happily shown to me by TE Owner Paul Howley who, although he was only ten years older than me, was like a Merlin-like Mentor into the world of comics and pop culture. I discovered the gorgeous Norm Saunders painted Batman Trading Cards there and bought them eagerly with my meager paycheck. At 13 I worked part time after school and on weekends as a photographer’s assistant. I had my own checking account which had to have my mother’s name on it solely so I could buy things at That’s Entertainment.
One day checking out at Paul’s store I saw what looked like an oversized BATMAN book— “is that a coloring book?” I naively asked him. “No,” the wise man said as he took it off the shelf, pulled it from its protective holder and showed me the amazing contents, “it’s a golden age comic book from 1942.”
At 13 I was also a big World War II Buff— collecting movies from that period on VHS tapes. Listening to Old Time Radio— I was a WWII Buff. I had to have it.
Eventually it ended up in my possession and I have it still (I also have 3 other copies which I’ve bought in the years since).
I am something of a strange collector— I don’t feel the need to check off a complete run, I buy only what I like. For years I had no interest in a BATMAN #1 because it’s been re-printed so many times— but the BATMAN #2— that was a grail item. Two years ago I really started chasing one— Ritchie Havens at Bedrock Comics had one on his wall at a show I was at— but it was so nice and so pricey I would have had to trade him my Miata for it. I ended up finding a low grade copy from Terry at Terry’s Comics for a really good price, then another one in slightly better shape and finally this one coincidently from Ritchie. It’s restored which turns some collectors away (although old timers take note- the new only generation of collectors are OK with restoration because the books look better), but I love this one and am very happy with it.