Post by outoftowner on Jun 21, 2005 15:08:00 GMT -7
In case you hadn't heard.
I remember seeing his ads in Overstreet as a kid, to me he was the king of comic dealers. Years later I met him briefly a few times, it was like talking to a comic book encyclopedia, he knew just about everyone and everything to do with comics. Thankfully what he has done for comics will survive him. I have pasted others comments below.
In Memoriam: Bruce Hamilton
A towering figure in the history of American comic books is gone. Bruce
Hamilton, publisher of Gladstone Publishing, comics historian, and fan
activist, passed away at 3:00 AM on Saturday, June 18, 2005.
Known around the world for the licensed line of Disney comics he lovingly
published, Hamilton was a central figure in documenting and advancing the
detailed history of the medium. Through his involvement in fandom to the
limited edition Disney lithographs and fine, bone china figurines his
companies produced, he remained committed to gaining a wider, more serious
acceptance for comic characters in mainstream circles.
Possessed of an imposing stature, a radio announcer's voice, and a fiery
drive, Hamilton was a primal force in getting the comics industry
organized, first as a dealer in Golden Age comics, then in other diverse
collectibles such as original art, movie posters, and cartoon cels. He was
among the first to suggest that classic material be repackaged into deluxe
formats. Together with Russ Cochran, he was largely responsible for
promoting Carl Barks into the superstar he became in the 1980s and onward.
Barks' work was already known, thanks to the efforts of Malcolm Willits
and others, but Hamilton and Cochran significantly made his work
better-known.
He began a 20-year relationship with The Walt Disney Company in 1980 when
he and Cochran acquired a license to produce The Fine art of Walt Disney's
Donald Duck, a collection of all of the Carl Barks Disney-based oil
paintings to that date. The book sold out quickly and won an award for
excellence in production values from the American Bookbinders Association.
The success of that project enabled Hamilton to acquire the Disney license
to produce limited edition lithographs based upon newly-produced Barks oil
paintings. After Western Publishing dropped the license to produce the
Disney comics in the mid-1980s, he was granted the license and the
now-legendary Gladstone Publishing company was created.
"This is a bitter loss for the entire industry, and a very personal one
for me," said Steve Geppi, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Diamond Comic Distributors. "I've said publicly before that I considered
Bruce to be a mentor, as well as a friend and business associate. The
knowledge we have lost in his passing is incalculable. My thoughts,
prayers and deepest sympathies go out to his wife, Helen, his daughter,
Summer Hinton, his son-in-law, Richard Hinton, and his three grandsons."
"Bruce Hamilton recognized very early the potential that our industry had
and still has," said John K. Snyder, Jr., President of Diamond
International Galleries. "His foresight helped preserve the history of
Disney comics for future readers, and he also helped expand the frontiers
by growing past the printed page and expanding into figures, lithographs
and different areas. He made comic characters more accessible, and in
doing so left a legacy of enjoyment behind for others."
While his Disney licenses dated from the early 1980s, his enthusiasm and
vision for comics was honed well before that time. In 1971, a few months
after the first edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide was
published, Hamilton appeared unannounced at the Cleveland, Tennessee
doorstep of Robert Overstreet. He understood the potential importance of
the then-new book to the market and recognized the influence it could have
in the years ahead.
"Bruce was there in the beginning to help me develop the proper approach
to pricing this complex market. For years Bruce and I would discuss the
philosophy of market economics and how the guide should reflect a pricing
policy that would be fair to dealer and collector alike," Overstreet,
Publisher for Gemstone Publishing's line of price guides, said. "Whenever
the market got in trouble, Bruce was there to lead discussions with other
top people in the market to help me figure out the best position the guide
should take to steer the market in the right direction. He attended and
participated in all my meetings held in Tennessee during the formative
years of the guide's development."
Of Hamilton's long list of other accomplishments, one lesser-known is the
instrumental role he played in spear-heading the development of
independent grading certification of comics. He actively encouraged
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) to enter the comics market, which
lead to the formation of Comics Guaranty, LLC (CGC). A year before the
first comic was certified, he told participants in the meetings that they
would remember they were there for a momentous time in the market's
history.
While many are aware of his distinct influence in the comics arena, fewer
may realize that he was a force in record collecting as well. Together
with partner and musicologist Jerry Osborne, Hamilton produced over a
dozen record price guides between 1976 and 1984.
"Appropriately, Bruce and I first met at a comic convention in Scottsdale,
Arizona, 1969. Our mutual love for the works of Carl Barks, coupled with
our radio history and love of music, cemented our friendship. He is the
only person I ever knew who can say they saw both Elvis and Buddy Holly on
the same show (January 6, 1955, Lubbock, Texas)," Osborne said. "As a
mighty close friend for exactly half of Bruce's 72 years, there are a
million memories and stories that could be told. But we'll save those for
another time. For now, I'm reminded of a line Bruce would jokingly quote
when he was so agitated he wanted to scream in frustration - one
originally written by Barks for Donald Duck: 'Now I'm more determined than
ever to force cheer onto the world.' Mission accomplished, my old friend!"
With success in records and other businesses, though, it remains comics
for which he'll be best remembered.
"I met Bruce Hamilton at a comics convention in the early 1970s, and our
mutual interests in the works of Carl Barks and in collecting original
comic art led to us becoming good friends," said Russ Cochran, now
publisher for Gemstone Publishing's Missouri office. "We formed a
partnership known as Another Rainbow Publishing and Gladstone Publishing
in 1980 to explore the possibilities of publishing the works of Carl
Barks, including his oil paintings and his comic book stories. Bruce was
an unforgettable character, full of idiosyncrasies which often made him
difficult to deal with, but his natural intelligence and life-long love of
learning made people respect him. He and I enjoyed many cross-country
motor trips together where he would talk and I would listen. He was a rare
and strange duck, and I will miss him."
After relinquishing the Disney comics license, Hamilton worked behind the
scenes to support Gemstone Publishing's acquisition of the license. John
Clark, who served as Gladstone's final Editor-in-Chief and now serves in
the same capacity for Gemstone's Disney line, knew Hamilton for 35 years.
"I first met Bruce circa 1970 when he was a DJ for radio station KBUZ in
Scottsdale, Arizona. He had just moved to Arizona and my friend, artist
Don Newton, got in touch with him through an ad Bruce had run in The
Rocket's Blast - Comic Collector fanzine. That ad contained for sale a
handful of original Grandma comic strip art and some obscure, non-super
hero Golden Age comics," Clark said. "Little did Don or I realize at that
time that Bruce would go on to be one of the truly driving forces in early
comics fandom and that his lifetime of accomplishments would have
considerable impact on collecting. Bruce's legacy in fandom will truly
live on through the ages."
A private funeral was held Monday, June 20.
I remember seeing his ads in Overstreet as a kid, to me he was the king of comic dealers. Years later I met him briefly a few times, it was like talking to a comic book encyclopedia, he knew just about everyone and everything to do with comics. Thankfully what he has done for comics will survive him. I have pasted others comments below.
In Memoriam: Bruce Hamilton
A towering figure in the history of American comic books is gone. Bruce
Hamilton, publisher of Gladstone Publishing, comics historian, and fan
activist, passed away at 3:00 AM on Saturday, June 18, 2005.
Known around the world for the licensed line of Disney comics he lovingly
published, Hamilton was a central figure in documenting and advancing the
detailed history of the medium. Through his involvement in fandom to the
limited edition Disney lithographs and fine, bone china figurines his
companies produced, he remained committed to gaining a wider, more serious
acceptance for comic characters in mainstream circles.
Possessed of an imposing stature, a radio announcer's voice, and a fiery
drive, Hamilton was a primal force in getting the comics industry
organized, first as a dealer in Golden Age comics, then in other diverse
collectibles such as original art, movie posters, and cartoon cels. He was
among the first to suggest that classic material be repackaged into deluxe
formats. Together with Russ Cochran, he was largely responsible for
promoting Carl Barks into the superstar he became in the 1980s and onward.
Barks' work was already known, thanks to the efforts of Malcolm Willits
and others, but Hamilton and Cochran significantly made his work
better-known.
He began a 20-year relationship with The Walt Disney Company in 1980 when
he and Cochran acquired a license to produce The Fine art of Walt Disney's
Donald Duck, a collection of all of the Carl Barks Disney-based oil
paintings to that date. The book sold out quickly and won an award for
excellence in production values from the American Bookbinders Association.
The success of that project enabled Hamilton to acquire the Disney license
to produce limited edition lithographs based upon newly-produced Barks oil
paintings. After Western Publishing dropped the license to produce the
Disney comics in the mid-1980s, he was granted the license and the
now-legendary Gladstone Publishing company was created.
"This is a bitter loss for the entire industry, and a very personal one
for me," said Steve Geppi, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Diamond Comic Distributors. "I've said publicly before that I considered
Bruce to be a mentor, as well as a friend and business associate. The
knowledge we have lost in his passing is incalculable. My thoughts,
prayers and deepest sympathies go out to his wife, Helen, his daughter,
Summer Hinton, his son-in-law, Richard Hinton, and his three grandsons."
"Bruce Hamilton recognized very early the potential that our industry had
and still has," said John K. Snyder, Jr., President of Diamond
International Galleries. "His foresight helped preserve the history of
Disney comics for future readers, and he also helped expand the frontiers
by growing past the printed page and expanding into figures, lithographs
and different areas. He made comic characters more accessible, and in
doing so left a legacy of enjoyment behind for others."
While his Disney licenses dated from the early 1980s, his enthusiasm and
vision for comics was honed well before that time. In 1971, a few months
after the first edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide was
published, Hamilton appeared unannounced at the Cleveland, Tennessee
doorstep of Robert Overstreet. He understood the potential importance of
the then-new book to the market and recognized the influence it could have
in the years ahead.
"Bruce was there in the beginning to help me develop the proper approach
to pricing this complex market. For years Bruce and I would discuss the
philosophy of market economics and how the guide should reflect a pricing
policy that would be fair to dealer and collector alike," Overstreet,
Publisher for Gemstone Publishing's line of price guides, said. "Whenever
the market got in trouble, Bruce was there to lead discussions with other
top people in the market to help me figure out the best position the guide
should take to steer the market in the right direction. He attended and
participated in all my meetings held in Tennessee during the formative
years of the guide's development."
Of Hamilton's long list of other accomplishments, one lesser-known is the
instrumental role he played in spear-heading the development of
independent grading certification of comics. He actively encouraged
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) to enter the comics market, which
lead to the formation of Comics Guaranty, LLC (CGC). A year before the
first comic was certified, he told participants in the meetings that they
would remember they were there for a momentous time in the market's
history.
While many are aware of his distinct influence in the comics arena, fewer
may realize that he was a force in record collecting as well. Together
with partner and musicologist Jerry Osborne, Hamilton produced over a
dozen record price guides between 1976 and 1984.
"Appropriately, Bruce and I first met at a comic convention in Scottsdale,
Arizona, 1969. Our mutual love for the works of Carl Barks, coupled with
our radio history and love of music, cemented our friendship. He is the
only person I ever knew who can say they saw both Elvis and Buddy Holly on
the same show (January 6, 1955, Lubbock, Texas)," Osborne said. "As a
mighty close friend for exactly half of Bruce's 72 years, there are a
million memories and stories that could be told. But we'll save those for
another time. For now, I'm reminded of a line Bruce would jokingly quote
when he was so agitated he wanted to scream in frustration - one
originally written by Barks for Donald Duck: 'Now I'm more determined than
ever to force cheer onto the world.' Mission accomplished, my old friend!"
With success in records and other businesses, though, it remains comics
for which he'll be best remembered.
"I met Bruce Hamilton at a comics convention in the early 1970s, and our
mutual interests in the works of Carl Barks and in collecting original
comic art led to us becoming good friends," said Russ Cochran, now
publisher for Gemstone Publishing's Missouri office. "We formed a
partnership known as Another Rainbow Publishing and Gladstone Publishing
in 1980 to explore the possibilities of publishing the works of Carl
Barks, including his oil paintings and his comic book stories. Bruce was
an unforgettable character, full of idiosyncrasies which often made him
difficult to deal with, but his natural intelligence and life-long love of
learning made people respect him. He and I enjoyed many cross-country
motor trips together where he would talk and I would listen. He was a rare
and strange duck, and I will miss him."
After relinquishing the Disney comics license, Hamilton worked behind the
scenes to support Gemstone Publishing's acquisition of the license. John
Clark, who served as Gladstone's final Editor-in-Chief and now serves in
the same capacity for Gemstone's Disney line, knew Hamilton for 35 years.
"I first met Bruce circa 1970 when he was a DJ for radio station KBUZ in
Scottsdale, Arizona. He had just moved to Arizona and my friend, artist
Don Newton, got in touch with him through an ad Bruce had run in The
Rocket's Blast - Comic Collector fanzine. That ad contained for sale a
handful of original Grandma comic strip art and some obscure, non-super
hero Golden Age comics," Clark said. "Little did Don or I realize at that
time that Bruce would go on to be one of the truly driving forces in early
comics fandom and that his lifetime of accomplishments would have
considerable impact on collecting. Bruce's legacy in fandom will truly
live on through the ages."
A private funeral was held Monday, June 20.