With superheroes poised to once again dominate cinemas this year, some lifelong comic book collectors recently talked about how they became fans of the genre in the first place.
Daryl D. Davis, 47, of Ringtown, said the first comic book he ever read was “Adventure Comics” Vol. 1, No. 333, which was published by D.C. Comics in June 1965. It featured Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and it featured “The Civil War of The Legion!”
“It was superheroes fighting superheroes. And as a 5-year-old, I was like ‘Wow! Look at all these people in crazy costumes!’ It just captured my imagination. I must have read it 100 times,” Davis said March 22.
Today, he has a collection of “around 10,000 comics.”
“I’m more into Marvel. I’ve been collecting comics off and on since I was about 8 years old. Now, I have thousands. I always collected Avengers. I have about every issue of Avengers that they ever made. Today, the new comics are out, and there’s an Avengers out today,” Gary Korinchock, 55, of McAdoo, said March 23.
On March 24, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” opened in movie theaters nationwide. “Captain America: Civil War” will open May 6. Multi-million dollar productions like these have become a pop culture staple over the past two decades. While they thrill moviegoers, local comic book enthusiasts said the films don’t always inspire readership.
“I have nephews who will go see these movies and they like the ideas of all these superheroes and they play the video games. But I can’t get them to read a book. But I like to read,” Korinchock said.
Places to buy comic books in Schuylkill County include Golden Unicorn Comics, 4 N. Kennedy Drive, McAdoo; Renninger’s Farmers Market, Schuylkill Haven, and Black Diamond Antiques & Collectibles, Schuylkill Mall, Frackville.
Michael Steco, 47, of Lattimer, Luzerne County, moved Golden Unicorn from Hazleton to McAdoo four years ago.
“I’ve been in business 31 years. I was in Hazleton for 27 of those years. The building I operated in was sold and I had to move. I opened here in 2011,” Steco said March 23.
“Movies like these inspire readership very little. What keeps our readers coming back are new books every week. They come in to pick up their latest,” Steco said.
Local vendors who sell their comics at Black Diamond include Bill Didyoung, 48, of Gilberton, Mahanoy Plane.
Didyoung owned a comic book store, Villains and Victors, on West Market Street in Pottsville from 1994 to 2004. Then he moved the store to his home in Gilberton in 2004. When his customer base dwindled, he closed his store at home in 2014.
“When I had my store, Iron Man was never a big seller. But now if I put an Iron Man comic out at Black Diamond, I normally sell it. Back when I had a store, I never sold a Batman comic. Now if I put Batman comics up at the shop in the mall, since the movies have come out, and I’m always selling Batman comics. I never had that before,” Didyoung said March 22.
In 2008, a former Schuylkill County resident opened up a comic book store in West Reading, Berks County.
That’s Lee Umberger, 42, of Reading, Berks County. His store, 1Up Collectibles, is at 514 Penn Ave.
Born in Massachusetts, he lived in Auburn from when he was 2 to when he was 16.
“I started collecting comics when I was 5 years old. We used to get my comics in Orwigsburg. It was a 5&10 called Fryers,” Umberger said March 22.
Fryers 5&10 operated in Orwigsburg from 1954 until 2013, according to newspaper archives.
“They used to have a spinner rack there. My dad used to buy trains there, and I bought a lot of comics, from Justice League to Detective Comics to Superman,” Umberger said.
He said the success of numerous superhero films over the past decade “is revitalizing the industry.”
“I think people who used to collect comics when they were a kid and for whatever reason got out of comics for one reason or another are now at a point in their life where they’re more financially sound and remember what they enjoyed about comics and are getting back into that. We’re also getting a new generation of people wanting to collect,” Umberger said.
Umberger said he still collects comics.
“I have a little over 18,000 comics. And that’s the collection I started when I was 5. Most of that is Detective Comics and Batman,” he said.
The comic book industry will continue to mature, Umberger said, but he wasn’t sure what the future would hold.
“I wish I could tell you, but I don’t see the industry going away. I think there have been a lot of changes to the industry, like digital comics. And that didn’t put retailers out of business. I think print comics are still there. The sales aren’t what they used to be, but we still have comics. And I don’t see the films dying. I read that in the next 10 years comic book movies are going to be done. I just don’t see that. There was a time when Westerns were really popular, and Westerns are still made even today,” Lee said.
Once a year, the Pottsville Free Public Library offers free comic books to children. It’s on Free Comic Book Day. This year, it’s May 7. Comics and Paperbacks Plus in Palmyra, Lebanon County, is supplying the books to the library for the event, according to the store’s owner, Ralph Watts. This year other libraries in Schuylkill County that will be participating include libraries in Ashland, Frackville, Ringtown, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah, Tamaqua and Tremont.