30% off new comics? All new comics? Wow, no wonder I can't find any hint of this company on the net these days . . . though to be honest, with such a generic name that's hardly surprising.
The Comic Gallery appears to still be going, though, at least it was round about this time last year according to this business listing. Sad to say the last entry mentions they're no longer taking in new comics, although I do like the fact they still have the same phone number after all these years!
CentorComics are still going and have branched out into cards, posters and albums as evidenced by their website. And hey, they even have the same logo!
Just a quick search for "Howard D Rogofsky" brings up loads of hits, mostly from forums where people are talking about these sorts of ads but I can't find anything about the guy himself. However, one search that did turn up led me to the Ralph Nader library where transcripts of Batman: Seduction of the Gun by John Ostrander and Vince Giarrano have been put on line. And by transcripts, I mean even the ad pages!
But while Rogofsky managed to get a typeset, bordered ad, others went for the more . . . homely approach:
I'm guessing Robert Robbins of Graham, Texas was sort of young when he wrote that ad and sent it in. While the design may be a little basic, you can't fault the kid's optimism!
And I wonder of that Robert grew up to be the owner of Bob Robbins Furniture store in Graham, Texas?
Doing a Google search for something else I ran across this blog post, specifically the part about Comic Gallery. After seeing that ad for years, I had no idea that was the same comic shop I went to when I lived in San Diego from 2004-2008. I went there all the time. It was small but jam-packed, with a really deep selection of comics, and a small but nice selection of RPGs. I'm saddened to find it went out of business as a brick and mortar store. Regardless, it's a but mind-blowing to find out now that the comic shop I frequented so often was also responsible for one of the ads I was poring through as a kid in Ohio.
ReplyDeleteGlad this little post gave you a trip down memory lane, Jeff!
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