Thought She Was Only Comic Collector in the World!

[@MickeyCoalwell]

Michelle’s comic scholarship over the years has been umparalleled. Thanks for capturing her recollections for posterity. Wonderful episode!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks for the kind words, Mickey. For sure. Michelle helped build the infrastructure we enjoy today!

[@JerryYamamoto-q4s]

Wonderful video! I grew up in San Jose in the 50s and 60s. I collected comics then. I wish I had known her.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Hi, Jerry. Great to hear from you. Sounds like San Jose was a happening place for comics in that period :-)

[@SteveBorockYouTube]

I have known Michelle since a was a young teen. She has, not only helped and shaped Fandom and our great hobby but became "family" to me and Pam for so very many years now. I have learned so much from my dear friend! ♥ Love ya, Michelle!!!!!!!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Awesome to see you comment, Steve! I'm much newer to the hobby than yourself -- seriously collecting since 2012 -- but have great admiration for the early trailblazers. Michelle and her contemporaries charted the territory for the rest of us 🙂

[@arthurtripp6922]

Glad to To.See another fellow first Con member is still alive. I wonder if she members me at the door of the 1964 Con.And the first comic shop started at Farmers Market in Bethpage. Glad she members Bernie Bubnis , Jerry G.Bails the God Father of Fandom. Roy Thomas , Rom Fradkin and the Gang.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, Arthur. Awesome to hear you comment. When I talk to Michelle again, I'll ask. She has a terrific memory.

[@AlextheComicHoarder]

This was absolutely a treat! Thank you Ben and Keston.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thank you, Alex. It was an honor to conduct the interview.

[@tec31kid]

Thanks, Alex. Great interview and historical journey shared 😊

[@KozysGhost]

Pretty amazing journey. Wow.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thank you, Kozy :-)

[@gwedits]

Wow, great history lesson! I didn’t start collecting until 1962 and I thought my brother and I were the only collectors! Thank you!!!!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

GW! You are not the only ones :-)

[@arthurtripp6922]

My first comic store I Found in 1958 Farmers Market in Bethpage L.I.N.Y.First met Mr. Kirby in 1962 he lived on Long Island as did Stan Lee. Got involved in Comicon there Jerry G.Bails he stated you need an adult to help.Just turned 18 that year. Worked well with Bernie and Ron, also Ethan. Sixty Years Ago

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

That's quite a story, Arthur. It must have been great being on the front end of collecting. How cool to meet Kirby on the brink of the silver-age Marvel explosion!

[@dankocher3528]

So glad you interviewed her. Her column in the Comic Buyer's Guide was my first stop each time the periodical arrived. One of her columns covered her achievement of assembling a collection of every 1950s DC. It was a fun piece of writing and near the end she revealed that the toughest book for her to track down was Buzzy #70. With the advantage of eBay I lucked into a copy and still have it after 20 years.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Hi, Dan! That is a fantastic story. I'll have to check out Buzzy 70.

[@precodepalace]

what an amazing, fulfilling, and interesting life! Thanks for sharing, Michelle 🙂

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kryptoniterocks8245]

This is what I love.. History and from another persons life for the hobby and not “what book should I buy for investment” so sick of what the social media comic channels are doing.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Kryptonite! I may do a few investment videos here and there...but it's these interviews that I always remember :-). Thanks for the kind words.

[@kryptoniterocks8245]

The investment ones are good but if nobody knows what top books to get they never will. Over street price guide was my bible to comics in the late 90s and wizard magazine. It’s hard to teach newer collectors what is right for them unless they have a love for the hobby. You really have to be deep into comics to know what is investment worthy and what’s just your average comic . Great post and love going down. Memory lane with people who have been there from the start it’s awesome to hear

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

@@kryptoniterocks8245 Thank you, my friend. Yeah, I'm not a fan of picking comic books like picking stocks. It's a hobby of passion and the investment should follow accordingly 🙂

[@xmen1bishop]

One word...AWESOME!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, X-men1. That's a good word to describe Michelle :-)

[@justinmyers5209]

Got some of my first books with my paper routs too. First book for me was 1967. Mom got it for me when I was 3. Still got it 🎉

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

That's awesome, Justin. What is that first book?

[@justinmyers5209]

It's actually a French comic mom got for me while traveling to Spain with a French detective. Jimmy Olsen 135 was the first American book mom let me pick out myself. I was blown away by the Kirby art​@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842

[@wazdakka1342]

A treasure of knowledge and experience. Hope you can do more interviews with Michelle.

[@Geoffreydarcy-pv4mq]

❤✌

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, Geoffrey!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, Waz. I hope so too!

[@brute_nm]

Thanks for archiving this comic history!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

You're welcome, Derek. These are my favorite videos to make.

[@MastodonComicsMusic]

I had the honor of hunting book at a few stands along side Michelle at Heroes con this year. Extremely nice person and she shared a few quips that she picked up over the years in collecting comics.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

That's so cool. My first time meeting Michelle was through this interview.

[@henrythefilit]

Seminal figure in the history of comics. Unbridled enthusiasm for the hobby. The Herodotus of Comics. Thank you so much for sharing this hopefully first history lesson. Love this channel and I don’t even collect anymore!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Henry. I love the Herodotus of Comics comment!

[@kenny_numbers]

Absolutely loved hearing Michelle’s story. Hopefully you can have her on again so we can hear a lot more. These interviews with the oldschoolers are fantastic.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, so much Kenny. Yep. Hope Ben and I can get her back.

[@ComicCollectorGeek]

Very cool interview. The fact she knows the years for when she was involved with the various aspects of the hobby is really cool. I forget what I did yesterday lol

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Haha. I hear ya. Her memory is fantastic.

[@rwc3500]

Such a wonderful episode - thank you for putting this together - well done (as always!)

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thank you, Ralph. Ben and I were chatting after the interview about how unreal it was to have Michelle tell that firsthand history.

[@RedRockShane]

The story had great pacing. Great interview

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Shane! Thank you, brother. The pacing was 98% Michelle. She's done many podcasts and radio broadcasts...and it shows.

[@arthurtripp6922]

Glad to see talking about the old times when fans could talk to the people to people at DC and Marvel.I Denver living on Long Island with Len Wein and Bernie Bubble we take the train into the NYC offices.And Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and a few others Lived on London Island.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

That's so cool Arthur. I'm jealous of the intimacy of those early days.

[@reprintranch]

Dang, there are few things that shift my imagination into overdrive faster, than hearing about comic book collecting in the old days. Keston, I salute you and Ben and Rick for facilitating this interview and would love to hear more from Michelle.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thank you, Tom. I thought you'd like this interview! We need to get you on the show.

[@reprintranch]

Wow, I would love to do some kind of video with you! My present computer options are primitive, so I would need to do a phone interview, like Michelle. But I can do a rapid--fire “Top Five Comic Collecting Memories from back in the day” recitation, and it’d be worth a listen, I think. (I can describe the candidate anecdotes to you ahead of time, and you can decide if they’re interesting) So the end product wouldn’t be too dissimilar to Michelle’s interview. I’m open to other formats/topics, and can provide ideas about specific topics that I could discuss fairly capably. And I’m not in any particular rush.

[@JSSBrooklyn]

Superior video and insight. Thank you

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Much appreciated, JSS!

[@dbulls33]

What a neat history adventure, grew up in San Jose, never heard of that story, but I just been collecting since 2017, so there's that lol, thanks for sharing this!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

HI Emilio. Awesome. You grew up right in comic history! Thanks for commenting.

[@arthurtripp6922]

Try to talk to Bernie Bubnis and see how the First Comicon was started and how fans were able to talk to the Pro at Marvel and DC.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, Arthur. Great suggestion.

[@hazeldan1216]

Such a great video! Fun interview.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Glad you all liked it, Hazeldan!

[@spinnerrackstudios]

When I saw the photo of her I am pretty sure I recognize her. I used to attend the San Diego Comicon every year starting around 1986. I never met or talked to her, by I recall seeing her there, going through long boxes at the dealer tables.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Hi, Spinnerrack. Yeah, I know Michelle still hits quite a few cons so that probably was her.

[@rocketfighter8]

I attended San Jose State in the mid-70's and used to visit a comic shop downtown. I wonder if that was the one she used to own?

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

ROCKET!!! Great to hear from you, buddy. Good chance it was.

[@clintstevens6831]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Appreciate it, Clint!

[@captain_uk]

Great video, so enjoyable.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Appreciate it, Cap!

[@chrisfrost5646]

Great story and video. Thanks.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

You're welcome. It was a pleasure hosting Michelle.

[@gorillaproductions73]

Great story and history 🖖🏾

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thank you, Gorilla!

[@Pocketsfullofcomics]

This is incredible!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks Pocketsfullofcomics. BTW: Super cool to hear your stories of inheriting golden age books from your grandad.

[@Pocketsfullofcomics]

@ hey thank you! It’s been a fun journey!

[@VaryingViewpoint]

Great interview!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Appreciate it, VV.!

[@roywatson7916]

Great video. Interesting. Jack Mallete might be an interesting guy to interview.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, Roy. I've heard of Jack and will need to do some more homework on him. Appreciate the suggestion.

[@ajguez]

Nice video.. early collecting history

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thanks, AG! Indeed.

[@tonytothe8544]

Great vid!!

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Thank you, Tony!

[@Bakerfan]

I great video and editing. The only on line interview of Michelle that I know of. I’d just had this same discussion with her a few weeks ago at our local Bellingham, WA comic show.

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Hi, Bakerfan. Yeah, we were blessed to get Michelle on KZbin. Nice to hear you connected with her. I have not met Michelle in person but am hoping to do so in the not-so-distant future.

[@grios5530]

San jooooo in da house

[@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842]

Well represented, indeed!