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A private collector in the northeastern United States has accomplished the
astounding and unprecedented feat of assembling a complete collection of every
comic book ever published by DC Comics.
For those of you who have
trouble visualizing the enormity of the task, that's over 30,000 individual
comic books!
Amazingly, with the exception of a small handful of items
toward the end of the quest, this collection was achieved the old-fashioned way
with a lot of legwork and mileage, scouring comic shows and stores large and
small from coast to coast. Almost no Internet usage was involved in assembling
this amazing collection.
The collector, who has chosen to remain
anonymous at this time, started on the road to this accomplishment in 1970, when
it was decided on whim, to accumulate all the back issues of all the DC
superhero comics. Subsequently at the San Diego ComiCon (as it was then known)
in 1987, with the superhero titles virtually completed, the collector had
reached a crossroads.
"What do I do once my primary collecting goal has
been achieved?" was the basic gist of the discussion, a situation many
collectors have faced.
At the urging of the staff of the now-defunct
Sparkle City Comics, the collector chose to expand the parameters of the
collection to include all of the comic books ever published by
DC.
For 5 years, until its dissolution in 1992, Sparkle City served as
the main conduit, funneling vintage DC Comics into the collector's hands. With
their heavy annual show schedule, the company was able to easily connect with
other dealers and private collectors throughout the country in order acquire
needed items.
A dedicated band of fellow collectors and other supportive
dealers also actively participated in the hunt over the years. It was common
practice at the beginning of a major convention for the hunters to congregate at
the Sparkle City table for copies of the latest want list update, before fanning
out into the dealers room.
In early 1992, Mike Wilbur of Diamond
International Galleries and Alan Grobman (both then of Sparkle City) entered the
ranks of the select few who have personally seen the collection. They spent
three weeks that winter at the collector's house. Day after day, from morning
until after midnight, they flipped through a seemingly endless succession of
boxes, as they checked, verified and toke notes.
Complete runs of
Action, Adventure, All Star, Batman, Detective, More Fun, Sensation,
Superman, and other titles both well-known and obscure passed through their
hands as the weeks progressed. From early rarities like Big Book of Fun
Comics and New Fun Comics up through the Golden and Silver Ages to
then-current titles, the main core of the DC collection was there. All that
remained at that point was to finish filling in the fringes with the rest of the
war, western, romance, mystery, and humor titles. Ongoing new releases were
covered through a long-standing arrangement with a local comic shop.
"It
was an almost surreal experience," Wilbur said, "just box after box of books
that most collectors can only dream of seeing."
Among the more esoteric
items in the collection is the two-volume set of Cancelled Comics
Cavalcade, published by DC in 1978. With a print run of only 35 copies,
these books contain stories left over following the infamous "DC Implosion."
Printed for copyright purposes, these were distributed internally to creators
whose work it featured. The collector's copy was acquired from The Overstreet
Comic Book Price Guide's publisher Bob Overstreet. Included with the books
is a cover letter to Overstreet from then-DC Editor Mike Gold, detailing the
information for the Guide.
"I remember [the collector] spent a lot
of time visiting when we were still down in Tennessee," recalled Overstreet, "I
sold [the collector] an Action Comics #1 and a few other
things."
The almost final book in the collection was the romance title
Girls' Love Stories #56, a nothing-in-particular issue of a
nothing-special title that was simply frustratingly difficult to locate.
Acquired in late 2002, this was thought to be the end of the long road, until
the discovery of the obscure Golden Age DC comic, the Fat and Slat Joke
Book. Once this additional piece became known, a copy was acquired within a
couple of months, in early 2003.
Since the assembly of the collection was
primarily a labor of love and not a search for glory, the collector had chosen
to avoid the limelight. However, in light of the historical importance of the
achievement, the collector did acknowledge to Scoop that "The First Complete DC
Collection" was a reality.
The collector would like to extend personal
thanks to Joe Vereneault of JHV Associates, Alan Grobman, Gene Carpenter of
All-American Comics, fellow collector Mike D'Alessandro and Wilbur, with special
mentions also going to Joe Mannarino, John Verzyl of Comic Heaven, Mike Goldman
of Motor City Comics, Ron Pussell of Redbeard's Book Den, Harley Yee, Richard
Evans of Bedrock City Comics, Rob Ronin, Michelle Nolan, and Nostalgia Zone of
Minnesota for their assistance, support, and encouragement.
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