Remembering Andromeda Publications, Canadian Comic Book Distributor

Once upon a time, 

Ron Van Leeuwen,

the founder, owner and operator, of

The Silver Snail,

comic book emporium and all around cool spot,

decided to move into the realm of comic book distribution.

Since he already had the legal rights to use 

Andromeda Publications, 

the name under which he had published several comic books, back in the Seventies:

Andromeda

&

Arik Khan

So, he simply repurposed the name and set about being a distributor.  As I recall, by about 1987, the distribution arm of his business interests, was making a "river of money" and Ron was living the high life!

Despite the ballpoint pen addition, of the business address, this was one of their giant sized cards.

In 1991 they started producing their own version, of the catalogue that Diamond Distributions, continues publishing to this day.

They called it

Comics Etc.

and it ran from March of 1991

until the collapse of the comic book distribution world, 

in early 1995...

this might be the cover to their final issue?

The inside page, listed the contents and the names of the people involved in it's production:

All of them have, of course, dispersed and moved on.

Andromeda declared bankruptcy in 1995 and while Ron continued to own and run The Silver Snail, 

even he finally retired in 2011

and sold the business to his long-time employee/manager 

George Zotti and his business partner.

These days, even George has been forced out and The Snail, is now a pretty soulless place... more's the pity!

But I still remember the GLORY days, when we all so very much younger and everything seemed so much more interesting.

Coppervale's International Studio

The other day, after a lucky find, 

I now have what constitutes an "almost" set,

of 

James A. Owens'

Coppervale's International Studio

magazine.

When they were first published, 

I didn't really pay them any attention, 

mainly because I seem to recall only ever seeing one of them.

Anyway, I am now the proud owner of the second, third, fourth (and final) issues.

Apparently, the first issue is very rare and I somehow doubt, that I will ever be lucky enough to find a copy.

This is the rare first issue...

and these are the ones that I own!

They were very well produced and lovely objects to own.

James A. Owens deserves to be commended for spending his own, hard earned money, to produce them.

Just as the last issue was being published, James was switching gears again and setting off on his new project, 

becoming a write and a successful one, too!

Marshall Rogers Drew Erotic Comics!

Before reading this, I should make it clear that the images, that are contained in this post, are 

NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

You Have Been Warned!

Just at the cusp, of his becoming the new 

Hot Batman Artist,

Marshall Rogers was making his rent money

by drawing an Erotic comic strip for

Escapade

one of the lower echelon, to be sure

but their money was as good as anyone else's!

Oddly, when I went searching on-line, for any mention of these works, I was astonished to find out that, 

other than this brief mention, from the lips of the man himself:

I worked for "[r]eal low-grade schlock sleazo magazines that had illustrations to precede the stories".

At the same time, he too, failed to mention the comic strips.

So, there you have it.

I hope no one takes offence because, truthfully, by modern standards, these pages are pretty tame.

Marshall Rogers went on to redefine The Batman and to have an extended career in comic books, which was unfortunately cut short, by a probable heart attack, at the age of 57, in 2007.

Along with a lot of other people, in the late Seventies, I was really impressed with the Batman stories, that Rogers and Englehart produced and for me, that was Marshall's peak.

Rest easy, Marshall, you left a lasting impression.