Rocket's Blast Comicollector

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Zine
Title: Rocket's Blast Comicollector
Publisher: Science Fiction and Comics Association (1964–1974)
James Van Hise (1974–1981)
New Media Publishing (1981-1983)
James Van Hise (2002–2003)
Editor(s): G.B. Love (1964–1974)
James Van Hise (1974–1982; 2002–2003)
Organizer(s):
Author(s):
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):
Type: adzine
Date(s): April 1964-1982, 2002-03
Topic:
Medium: print
Size: 18/2 x 11" (magazine)
Frequency:
Fandom: comics, science fiction
Rating(s):
Warning(s):
Language: English
External Links: see more at Wikipedia
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Rocket's Blast Comicollector is a zine with a focus on comic book collecting, which later expanded to include science fiction media. It was published monthly/bimonthly from 1964 to 1974, after which things became more erratic and the zine folded in 1983. Another four issues were released in an attempt to revive the zine in 2002-2003.

In the (first) editor's own words:

The RB*CC is primarily an "ad zine", not an "article zine" (The Golden Age is our regular article zine). In order for an ad zine to serve its purpose it must come out as regularly and as often as possible. A good article zine takes a great deal of time (not only to gather material) but to prepare it for publication. Therefore it is not possible for the RB*CC to be both. Even if it were possible to prepare the articles and art on a six week schedule (WHICH IT IS NOT) there certainly is not that much good material around. HOWEVER, the RB*CC will continue to contain as much non-ad material (columns, cover repros, etc) as space and time permits. I am sure that with writers like Gambaccini, Harner and Sueling (not to mention others) writing for each issue, you won't become bored.

"IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL READERS" - G.B. Love - RB*CC #36

About

In 1964, "The Comicollector" (edited by Jerry Bails) and "The Rocket's Blast" (edited by G.B. Love) merged to form The Rocket's Blast and the Comicollector under the editorship of G.B. Love. For the new zine, numbering started at Issue 29, continuing on from the numbering for The Rocket's Blast. By issue #51, the name had been shortened to Rocket's Blast Comicollector, or RBCC.

Example of a comic classified ad from RBCC #54


The RBCC was vital to early comic collectors in the early 60s-70s; before the prevalence of comic shops it was the only way for fans to collect back issues and buy and sell comics and fanzines.

Before The Buyer's Guide (now known as Comic Buyer's Guide), there was the RBCC. The Rocket's Blast Comicollector (aka RC-CC) was the largest and most influential adzine, and frequently the only avenue for fans to buy and sell comic books and fanzines during the 60's. But it was produced in a slap-dash fashion, All-typography RBCC 50 cover by John Fantucchio complete with typos, crossed-out misspellings, upside down ad reproductions and generally poor production values. I don't wish to denigrate Editor/Publisher G.B. Love's early efforts as he was a truly amazing individual, practically jump-starting 60's fandom by producing the RBCC on time, every month, despite being afflicted with severe cerebral palsy. Love could not use his hands and typed whole issues with a pencil eraser to hit the keys! [1]

Most importantly, it was also the best venue for fans to interact and discover they weren't alone.

In 1966, three years after I read my first comic, I discovered there were other fans like me. My awakening to all of this was an adzine/fanzine called Rocket’s Blast Comicollector. The magazine was originally two separate fan publications that began in 1961, “The Rocket’s Blast” (from G.B. Love) and “The Comicollector” (started by Jerry Bails). In 1964, they merged, with Love as publisher and editor.

I don’t know how I heard of RBCC in the first place (likely through an ad in a comic) but when the issue, #45, arrived I was amazed. It was a ditto and photo-offset publication featuring approximately 90 pages stapled together. The front cover was a tribute to two Golden Age heroes from Hillman Publications, Nightmare and Sleepy, drawn by then-fan Richard Buckler.

And, inside the issue… well… for me, it was the equivalent of what it must be like for a comics fan walking into the San Diego Comic-Con today for the first time. This was an exciting, crowded world full of dealers, publishers of other fanzines, and fans who wrote articles about comics’ four-color history.

 [2]

The zine was the early publisher of various future professional comics artists, including Richard Corben, Don Newton, Howard Keltner, Don Rosa, Rich Buckler and others. It, along with Alter Ego, was also considered the start of comics fandom in the U.S. and inspired others, such as Alan Austin in the U.K., to start their own adzines.

RBCC was an adzine not just for comics - it also advertised fanzines. From Issue #63, it provided advertising for Love's zine reprint business, The Olde Fanzine Shoppe. Love's enterprise was frequently the best way to obtain copies of comics (and other) fanzines with new zines being published at a rapidly increasing rate in the late sixties. The section also provides insight into comic zine fandom of the time.


Subpages for Rocket's Blast Comicollector:

Issues 101-125 · Issues 126-153 · Issues 51-75 · Issues 76-100

Reviews and Reactions

One of the longer running “zines” was Rocket’s Blast Comicollector. This unofficial fanzine ran from 1964 to 1983, almost 20 years! During that time it connected comic collectors with regular articles, advertisements, and classifieds for exchanging back issues. The zine contained news and regular review articles discussing all corners of the budding comic industry. Apart from the fan community this magazine fostered, it also provided amateur artists and writers the opportunity to break into the comic book publishing industry. Within its pages, you’ll find many household names who went on to produce great works at the House of Ideas, Distinguished Competition, and other publications.

 [3]

Long before he began drawing Disney Duck stories, I knew and loved Don’s work as a columnist and cartoonist in fanzines like RBCC (Rocket’s Blast Comic Collector), where his regular feature “Information Center,” sample page above, was a great compendium of things Don liked and collected, including old comics, but also detailed indexes of TV shows like Star Trek and The Avengers (Steed and Mrs. Peel), classic movies, pulp magazines, and all sorts of fannish culture. At a time long before the internet, it was information we fans could all use, and Don’s entertaining way of presenting it, writing with great personality and including many of his unique drawings, made it a must-read for me. I learned many things from his column! And as you can see above, he was already drawing Uncle Scrooge there from time to time.

 [4]

Some of the more popular zines left behind the mimeograph machines and graduated to color covers and crisp, inky-black interiors printed via photo offset. We eventually took the plunge and subscribed to Rockets Blast/Comicollector (affectionately and mercifully shortened to RBCC) with issue #64 and kept that sub running until the magazine folded around issue #150. The Comics Buyer’s Guide, a newspaper-format news and advertising zine, made the RBCC obsolete, and added the aura of a weekly newspaper devoted solely to comics news and ads.In turn, the Internet made CBG obsolete, even after it switched from newspaper to magazine. (The late Bill Schelly’s excellent book, The Golden Age of Comics Fandom, chronicles this era much better than this very condensed version of mine. Look for the second edition published by Hamster Press, the one with the Michael T. Gilbert “green” cover. You can find it on eBay.)


But the fanzines created something else. By offering this forum for comics fans in the United States (and elsewhere in the world), they started something much bigger: A community. And the next logical step for that community was to meet in person.

 [5]

The Rocket's Blast and The Comicollector (#29-50)[6]

Issue #29

RBCC #29 interior page, includes printing info and staff listing
Issue #29 cover art by Buddy Saunders featuring Daredevil.

April 1964. 66 pages, print run: 350. Editor and publisher: GB Love; chief artists: Buddy Saunders and Raymond Miller. Published monthly.

Contents:

Issue #30

Issue #30 cover by Buddy Saunders, featuring Blackhawk

May 1964. 71 pages, print run: 400. Published monthly.

Contents:

Issue #31

Issue #31 cover by Ronn Foss, featurning Kenton of the Star Patrol.

June 1964.

Contents: 74 pages, print run: 400. Published monthly.

Issue #32

Issue #32 cover by Raymond Miller, featuring U.S. Jones and "Joy Holiday".

June/July 1964. 78 pages, Print run: 400. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #33

Interior, RBCC #33
Issue #33 cover by Raymond Miller, featuring Blue Beetle

August/September 1964. 84 pages, print run: 625. Editor and Publisher: G.B. Love. Staff: Raymond Miller, Rick Weingroff, Paul Gambaccini, Ronn Foss, Biljo White, Howard Keltner, Bob Harner, Bill Spicer, Bernie Bubnis, Buddy Saunders, Kent Russell, Larry Herndon, Dave Bibby and Sherman Howard. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #34

Issue #34 cover by unknown, features Yank and Doodle

November/December 1964. 66 pages, print run: 650. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #35

Issue 35 cover by Ronn Foss, featuring the Phantom and Joy Holiday
Issue #35, interior page

January 1965. 78 pages, print run 675. Editor and Publisher: G.B. Love. Staff: Raymond Miller, Paul Gambaccini, Ronn Foss, Howard Keltner, Bob Harner, Bernie Bubnis, Kent Russell, Dave Bibby, Bob Malisani, Phil Seuling and Sherman Howard. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #36

Issue #36 cover by Howard Keltner, featuring The Hangman
Issue #36 interior

February 1965. 84 pages, print run: 725. Published bi-monthly. Editor and Publisher: G.B. Love. Staff: Paul Gambaccini, Howard Keltner, Dave Bibby, Bob Harner, Phil Seuling, Ronn Foss, Raymond Miller, Bob Malisani, Sherman Howard, Kent Russell. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #37

Issue #37 cover by unknown, The Green Mask

March 1965. 74 pages, print run 725. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #38

Issue #38 cover by unknown, Captain Courageous

April 1965. 42 pages, print run: 775. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #39

Issue #39 cover by Buddy Saunders, The Hulk

June 1965. 70 pages, print run: 750. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #40

Issue #40 cover by Biljo White, Ghost Rider

July 1965. 68 pages, print run: 775. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

  • Front cover art by Biljo White - Ghost Rider
  • "Scenes from the Golden Age #5" - reprints from Prize Comics
  • "Seuling's Corner" by Phil Seuling
  • Reprint of a June 7, 1965 LA Times newspaper article about collecting old comics with photos of Rick Durell, Burt Blum of the Cherokee Bookshop, and artist Jerry Kay. 
  • "Rocketeer Gossip" by Rick Weingroff - regular comic news column
  • "A Word from the Editor" by G.B. Love
  • Captain Aero #8 cover reproduction
  • "Blasts from the Readers" - LOCs (including missives from F. James Mohl, Brian Yates (mentions Jim Halperin in letter), and Guy H. Lillian III)
  • Ad for
  • classified comic book ads
  • zine ads: Action Hero #4, Alter Ego #5, Bullseye #3, Cyclops #1, Gore Creatures, Magnum Opus #1, Review #1, Rocket's Blast Special #1, Slam Bang! #4, Spectre #5, Stories of Suspense #1, The Guidebook to Comics Fandom.

Issue #41

Issue #41 cover art by Richard Buckler of Al Camy's Black Hood .

October 1965. 84 pages, print run: 775. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #42

Issue #42 cover art by Bob Kane, traced by Raymond Miller; Batman 25 Years Ago .

November 1965. 82 pages, print run: 800.

Contents:

Issue #43

Issue #43 cover art by Steve Sabo; Captain Marvel and Mister Mind.

January 1966. 130 pages, print run: 845. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #44

Issue #44 cover by John G. Fantucchio; The Fighting Yank

April 1966. 132 pages, print run: ?. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #45

Issue #45 front cover by Rich Buckler - Nightmare and Sleepy

June 1966. 88 pages, print run: 900. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #46

Issue #46 cover art by R.A.M.; Mr. Justice

August 1966. 92 pages, print count: 1000. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #47

Issue #47 cover art by Buddy Saunders; The Spirit.

September or October 1966. 84 pages, print run: 1000. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #48

Issue #48 cover art by Earl Blair; Captain Marvel
Issue #48 - Editor's Note by G.B. Love

November 1966. 84 pages, circulation over 1,050. Published bi-monthly.

The Editor's Note included the following explanation for the lateness of this issue, plus the success of various ads place in Marvel Comics:

We are late in getting this issue out because of the extra

amount of ads and also due to the fine response of our ads in the Marvel comics.

...

I know most of you are interested in the results we are getting from the marvel ads because of its importance in the growth of fandom. Our ad appeared in 13 comics in October (and will be in 13 in Nov.) As of the end of the 4th week our ad has been out, We have received 155 ordered for the Handbook. It is too early to tell how many will eventually join fandom, but it should be at least 40%. Therefore, making an educated guess, our two-month ad should pull in around 300 orders, which in turn should produce at least 100 new collectors for comicdom. If this proves to be the case, I, for one, will be well satisfied with the ad results and will almost surely run the same ad at least twice a year.

IMPORTANT EDITOR'S NOTE - G.B. Love - RBCC #48

Contents:

Issue #49

Issue 49 cover art by Raymond Miller; Supersnipe

January or February 1967. 132 pages, print run: 1,150. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Issue #50

Issue #50, cover by John G. Fantucchio

February or March 1967. 96 pages, print run: 1125. Published bi-monthly.

Contents:

Rocket's Blast and The Comicollector Annual (1964)

RBCC Annual (1966) cover by Ronn Foss

1964 58 pages. "PAGES FROM THE PAST - Inside, Reprints From Early RB/CC Issues!"

Contents:

References

  1. ^ John G Fantucchio, Comic Fanzine Artist, Fandom Illustrator, Archived version
  2. ^ "13 COVERS: A Groovy Salute to the Classic Mag ROCKET’S BLAST COMICOLLECTOR" by Peter Bosch, 13th Dimension.Com (Jun 25/22) (via Wayback Jun 10/23)
  3. ^ "Adventures In Comic Collecting: Rocket’s Blast Comicollector 139- The Star Wars Issue" Drunk Wooky [2002] (via Wayback Mar 13/22)
  4. ^ "Praise of Don Rosa" at Todd's Blog [Jun 5/08] (via Wayback Dec 5/22)
  5. ^ "My Life in Comics: Part 3—The Fanzine and Convention Years" innocent-bystander.com [Apr 7/21] (via Wayback Jun 22/28)
  6. ^ Zine details provided by ComicBookRealm.com (via Wayback May 14/24), Mycomicship.com (via Wayback Dec 11/23) and the Poopsheet Foundation (via Wayback Oct 2/23)
  7. ^ At this time, Calvin Castine was also writing for SICK! magazine, hence the identifier.
  8. ^ The entry for ComicBookRealm.com and MyComicShop.com lists the fan as Harold Scarlett. The Poop Foundation entry lists him as Gene Arnold.
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