|
I went to a meeting of the Houston Comic Collectors Association on April 19th. Anthony Smith (who you may remember as the writer of the Indy comic Alien Fire in the 80's) put this meeting together. The flyer proclaimed that the Houston Comic Collectors was a group for folks who liked old comics, films, memorabilia. It was suggested that members bring some of their stuff to sell or to trade. I am the black hole of comicsÂ…. comics come in, but they never go out. All the boxes stuffed everywhere in my house and in my mother's house testify to this.
The Houston Comic Collectors Association has a long and proud tradition in Houston. I initially belonged in 1974. It was a great time to belong to the club, too. 2 members went on to work for Rick Baker's studio out in California doing special effects art and my boyfriend at the time went on to paint science fiction book covers. One of the members later published this magazine you are now reading, back when it was in print and owned by someone else. Me? I just went to college, got married, worked on my career, had children and raised them. After the hard part of raising my kids was over, I started doing The Collector Times. I might have been last of the club at the time to do something related to comics or fandom, but I think that all the time and effort that goes into my magazine makes up for that.
My husband and I arrived late to the meeting. I was busy doing stuff for Easter, which precluded me from getting there sooner. On the way over, my husband Paul went to great lengths to tell me that I couldn't spend any money, no matter how enticing the comics were. Ok, fine, I agreed. I wouldn't spend any money.
Several folks had brought some of their comics, comic art, and other various things. One fellow had an old Houston Comic Collectors Association poster from the 70's, and he belonged to the club at a different time than I did, but I sure remembered that poster. It was a nice stroll down memory lane. Folks had brought some beautiful things, too. One fellow had a lovely piece of science fiction comic art that was in pristine condition. I just stood there and drooled until Paul dragged me away. Probably afraid I'd ask how much it cost.
I haven't seen that many old mint condition comics, except for some specialized dealers at Comic Con International, in years. Well, aside from my own collection, of course. I was sitting there eagerly eyeing all of it, and marveling at how nice all these folks kept their stuff. Paul stumbled upon an old hardbound science fiction book and was ogling it. We looked at the advertisements on the back of the book, and talked about all of the various writers listed. Paul asked how much it was and it was $50. Too much. He started to look at the big little books on the table and discovered Flash Gordon and the Monsters of Mongo. Old We-Aren't-Spending-Any-Money asks, "How much?" and this time the answer is "$20." I said, "You want it? Buy it, I have the checkbook," so Paul did.
I spoke with Anthony Smith about the plans for the Houston Comic Collectors Association. He says that he plans on having meetings every 2 or 3 months. I am going to list them on this site under the conventions section. I know I'm going to the next meeting and I hope to see you all there.
|