In 1961, comic fandom founding father and The Comic Reader editor/publisher Jerry Bails added the Comicollector to his schedule. The Comicollector was primarily what we used to call an adzine, devoted to publishing ads for back issues and other fanzines by fans for fans at the rate of $1/quarter page and was sent out free to subscribers of TCR. It also featured a news column (under a revival of the “On The Drawing Board” title that was the original name for TCR) and articles.
In 1964, the Comicollector merged with Florida fan Gordon B. Love’s Rocket’s Blast to become The Rocket’s Blast and the Comicollector, which evolved into a full-fledged magazine with slick color covers that would run for 153 issues until 1984 under editors Love and, later, James Van Hise.
But it started here…
Tags: advertising, adzine, comic books, comics, fanzine, G.B. Love, Gord B. Love, James Van Hise, Jerry Bails, TCR, The Comic Reader, The Comicollector