The Buyer’s Guide #1
[February-March, 1971]
20 pages, 1 section • Cover by John Fantucchio
No publication date appears
By early 1971, fandom was in full swing. Dozens of fanzines were criss-crossing the continent, notables including The Rocket’s Blast ComiCollector and The Comics Reader. Robert Overstreet had just published the first volume of his Comic Book Price Guide. A group of fans in San Diego were planning their second annual comics convention. And media fans were mourning the 1969 cancellation of Star Trek and wondering what they could do about it.
Enter Publisher Alan Light, who at age 17 launched his own trade newspaper, The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom in February 1971. “Response to this first issue has been overwhelmingly favorable, and if response continues, we’ll have a real winner on our hands,” Light wrote on Page 2 of the 20-page issue.
The first issue’s cover said, tongue-in-cheek, “Daring ? Original ? Inevitable first issue.” A full-page ad cost $30. The circulation was 3,600. The first ad, on page 3, came from Claude Held; other first-issue advertisers included Avery Klein’s Investors Corporation of America, Ed Kalb, Gary Berman, and Ted Hanes. Klein’s ad offered Amazing Spider-Man #1 for $11, but another ad offered it for $4. Terry Stroud priced a Fantastic Four #1 in VG or better condition at a whopping $24. For Golden Age fans, Claude Held offered a VG Batman #5 for $30.
“We drool over these ‘low’ prices now, but I can’t remember a time in fandom when everyone didn’t think the prices were terribly high,” Light later said.
Commentary by John Jackson Miller.
Special thanks to Russ Maheras for additional commentary and cover scans!
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