Back in the sixties on my Dad’s nightstand, beneath the Field & Stream mags, was the latest Playboy. I hadn’t reached puberty yet, but the beautiful woman held a certain fascination for me. I couldn’t explain it but it was there. What I could explain was the fascination I had for monsters, since discovering Famous Monsters. It was the main thing on my mind. My Aunt Ruth, who lived in
Brockton
,
MA
. with my grandmother Stetson told me of a friend of hers named Joe. Joe owned a shop in
Brockton
that sold monster magazines. He sold all kinds of magazines and comic books. His store was called “Bookmart”. Aunt Ruth said the next time we visit Grammy we’d have to pay a call on Joe. Can’t remember the details but inbetween then and the highly anticipated next trip to Grammy’s house, I’d learned that the guy who drew the covers for most of those Creepy & Eerie mags in the back issue pages of Famous Monsters was this guy named “Frazetta” and…AND Frazetta did a comic strip, an actual COMIC STRIP in the first issue of Creepy, and get this…it was about a WOLF MAN! Waiting for Christmas was nothing compared to the long days, nights, hours, minutes and seconds I waited until I was finally standing outside of Joe’s Bookmart.
I got my Creepy number one from Bookmart. When you walked in you could smell the old books and magazines. I
love that smell. That smell had a promise of pure amazement and awe in that little shop. Old books and magazines filled that shop. You could see Clark Gable, FDR,
John
ny Weismuller, or Bob Hope among others, many other stars and heroes of bygone days surrounding the store on magazines that were cover priced at a nickel or less, but in clear bags marked a dollar or more. There was a section only grownups could go in. I’d peek in and see beautiful, scantily clad women on the covers of most. It was a strange fascinating place to be, Bookmart. Time stood still in there. Though the whole shop fascinated me, the back of the place was what thrilled me the most. Great wooden shelves were filled with magazines. Little labels that read Famous Monsters, Creepy, Eerie,
Castle
of
Frankenstein
, Monster Mania and tons of other titles I knew of or even better didn’t know of were there. Being in the back of that store was like finding a fantasy land, going into a beautiful tropical island cave, and there, right before you, was a treasure chest. All you had to do was open it, and dreams would come true. And they did. Soon most of the magazines I had seen in the back issue pages of Famous Monsters, I held in my trembling hands. I’m guessing I spent about two hours in Bookmart that first time. I came out with a pile of pure fantasy courtesy of Forrest J Ackerman, Jack King Kirby, Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth, Al Williamson and many others who would become heroes, every bit as great as Batman & Superman. By the way, Frazetta’s Werewolf in Creepy #1 blew me away then and still does today. Once back in
Pittsfield
, I would dream daily of visiting Gramma Stetson and Aunt Ruth’s buddy Joe, in the wonderland he called Bookmart.
B.C.S. Before Comics Shops. In the days of BCS, you usually leafed though magazine racks looking for treasure. Didn’t always find it, like these days when you can reserve the latest Hulk, X-Men or Liberty Meadows. Leafing was how I discovered Neal
Adam
s, the Severans and
John
Buscema. Swamp Thing and Conan were new titles in those days. Only we Creepy & Eerie fans (not to mention we read Edgar Rice Burroughs & Robert E. Howard fans) had seen anything like it before. The comic world was elevated to new heights with the talent of Bernie Wrightson & Barry Windsor Smith. Not to mention Joe Kubert, who was doing his version of Tarzan that opened some eyes wide as well. Mike Ploog was doing Frankenstein & Werewolf by Night and Ernie Colon did the atmospheric illustrations on The
Tom
b of Dracula. These giants kept reading comics as fresh as the days when Gramp took me to buy Batman & Superman or the days when I was introduced to the Hulk & Fantastic Four. It was around this time that I knew comics were what I wanted to do in life. I won best artist in
Iroquois
Village
at
Camp
Becket
. Guys would give me lunch money to draw naked girls (usually of the hot teachers). Got caught once, was reprimanded, but was told I had a bright future in art. I thought I was every bit as good as all my heroes. Problem was, there was nobody there to tell me I wasn’t. I thought I ruled the days BCS. I didn’t. I started smoking pot, drinking beer, getting in fights (usually getting my ass kicked) and failing school.
