Joe Sarno, Pioneer Fan and Retailer, Passes
Forgive me if this one gets a little personal. My very long-time
friend, comics store pioneer Joe Sarno, died today from a fall that followed a
severe, long-standing illness.
A long-time science fiction fan dating back to the 1950s,
Joe started The Fantasy Collectors of Chicago in 1969, a comics-oriented pop
culture club. It was an outgrowth of the weekend gatherings he held in the
basement of his Albany Park home, which turned into a marketplace for fans to
trade and sell comics. As a teen-aged fan I was first exposed to a great many
(then) hard-to-find classics in Joe’s basement: Justice Society, Caniff’s Terry
and the Pirates, EC Comics, The Spirit. As Joe also featured related popular
culture ephemera such as movie serials, old teevee shows, old time radio and
the like, just going to his place provided a valuable education.
In 1971, Joe opened his basement to the public, becoming one
of the nation’s first dedicated comic book stores. Slightly more than a year
later, he took his basement store out to the neighborhood, opening The
Nostalgia Shop at Lawrence near Pulaski, next door to Emil’s Meat Shop. For
comics fans, it was a joy to behold. He attracted quite a number of customers
who were notorious, or would go on to assume some notoriety on their own:
Hilary Barta, Max Allan Collins, Don Glut, Jim Harmon, Walter Koenig, John
Ostrander, Alex Ross, Chuck Schaden, Mark Silvestri, Gene Siskel, Terry
Zwigoff… to name-drop but a very few.
Over time, The Nostalgia Shop evolved into Comic Kingdom and
it changed and added locations until March 1, 2003, when age, health and a
diminishing market encouraged Joe to move his operation to the Internet.
Joe’s boundless sense of wonder and enthusiasm for the
medium was quite infectious. He loved to turn people onto stuff he enjoyed and
was always willing to listen to recommendations. He took his friendships deeply
– long after I moved to the New York area, Joe would open his store to accommodate
my schedule (and that of fellow-Chicagofan George Hagenauer, who moved to
Madison and would join me and my wife Linda), where we’d pluck goodies from his
shelves and then share lunch at the corner greasy spoon. I treasure those days.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Joe was also a
co-founder of the original Chicago Comicon, joining people including Larry
Charet, Jim Engel, Chuck Fiala, Ron Massengil, George Hagenauer and myself in
producing what quickly became one of the preeminent comic book conventions in
the nation. Long since sold to Wizard World, Joe made one of his last public
appearances at the 2009 show.
Joe Sarno is survived by his wife Joan and his children
Laura, Jamie, and Adrienne.
A special tribute to Joe will be held at the Chicago Comic
& Entertainment Expo (a.k.a. C2E2) http://www.c2e2.com/ in McCormick Place on Saturday, April 17
from 12:15 PM to 1:15 PM. Panelists will include JJ Sedelmaier, George Breo,
Larry Charet, Jim Engel, Ron Masengill, Jim Wisniewski and myself. The event
will be held in room E352.
He was the sweetest man I ever met.
A piece of me just died today.
Oh – that's sad. I only talked to Joe a few times – but I liked him!
Joe's shop was the very first comics shop I ever visited. That was back in late 1976. If not for Joe, I doubt I would have the love of comics I have today. I am very glad Ihad the oppotunity to say hello to him at last year's con. He will be missed.
Yes, this is sad news. Joe was central to Chicago Fandom. He was an extremely important part of our history, as well as a great guy to talk to. It was fun going to that basement! I saw my first EC Comics there as well as the Fleischer Superman cartoons for the first time. It seemed like nobody had seen those before. Joe always placed the old comics with other media of their era. It was a fascinating time to be a comic fan in Chicago.
Every kid has a favorite superhero. Though not a kid I also have a favorite superhero. And thatsuperhero is JOE, he must have gotten his superpowers from his love of all comics. Not only was asuperhero; he was a good friend; the kind of friend that you could speak "WALLY WOOD" to.He was a friend that could excite you about unknown world's. SUPERHERO'S live and every time Itouch a comic I'll think of JOE.
I'm very sad to hear about Joe, who opened his house to us when we were teens and remained a great friend for many years. I followed his stores here and there, and when he was on Irving Park Road, it was nicely near us after we'd moved to Norridge. A good weekend was a movie at the Patio and a drop-in at Joe's. Later, when I had one of my first books out, it was in his window, and when I walked in pointing to it, he shouted, "Mark Braun, you old hack!" and it was a wonderful moment with a man who validated the comics addiction of so many of us.