Joe Sarno's Comic Kingdom | History of Comic Kingdom

When COMIC KINGDOM closed it's doors on March 1, 2003 it marked the end of an era. But it also was the beginning of COMIC UNIVERSE and the era of the Internet!

The store that eventually become known as COMIC KINGDOM first opened its doors December 4, 1971 at 4717 N. Harding Avenue under the name THE FANTASY SHOP.

On January 6, 1973 a new location opened just around the corner at 3905 West Lawrence Avenue with a new name, THE NOSTALGIA SHOP. This was done to reflect the fact that we carried a large variety of nostalgia collectables from the 1930's, '40's, and '50's, including toys, movie posters, radio premiums and trading cards. In February 1974 we appeared on TV with Shelley Long of SORTING IT OUT, a weekly magazine show she co-hosted with Bob Smith that was on Sunday nights on NBC.

For two summers we carried baseball cards in our back room, the first store to make sports cards available to the general public. In the summer of 1975 a larger, second store opened at 3816 West Lawrence and carried comics and comic related material there, while our original store reverted to THE FANTASY SHOP name and carried science fiction and movie related items.

In November 1978 we joined forces with METRO GOLDEN MEMORIES. At that time we only had 300 square feet of space so we decided to specialize in comic books. In 1980 we reopened our store at 3905 West Lawrence and officially became known as COMIC KINGDOM.

In November 1987 we moved to our current location, and in January 1997 our Mount Prospect store opened. The Mount Prospect store closed its doors December 31, 1999.

Among the customers that have visited our stores are Walter Koenig, Terry Zwigoff, Gene Siskel, Mike Gold, Gary Colbuono, Chuck Schaden, Lyle Conway, Jamie Graham; writers Frank Robinson, Mike Resnick, Don Glut, Jim Harmon, Max Allan Collins, Artists: Alex Ross, Mark Silvestri, Franchesco, Paul Fricke, Scott Beaderstadt, Hillary Barta, Todd Hamilton. As well as "Mighty" Joe Young, "Billy" Batson and two (count them, two) Clark Kents!

We have had countless newspaper and magazine articles written about our stores, and had TV and radio coverage and interviews with Bob Sirot, Bob Kennedy, Frank Mathie, Bob Jordan, John Coleman, Milt Rosenberg, & Andrew Leckey. Most recently we were seen on CNBC with Jerry Weist of Sotheby's.

COMIC KINGDOM officially closed it's doors on March 1, 2003. A special edition of our weekly newsletter C. B. was published at that time, and we're still sending copies out to people. If you'd like a copy please write to us at: P.O. Box 72, Mount Prospect, IL 60056-0072
From the Captain's Veranda of this last issue:
   There are so many people I have to thank for our very long run as a comics shop. First and foremost my wife Joan, who has stood by me these many years, through thick and thin; then my oldest daughter, Laura, who worked with me at the shop for so long, and my son Jamie, who also worked with me for a long time. And finally Adrienne, the youngest, who just got married in June 2003.
   There are a lot of people who worked with us over the years, and I'd like to thank them each and every one in chronological order, starting with those who helped us when we first got started in 1971: George Breo, Greg Revak, Mike Caisson, Joey Santagarda, Bob Villani, Ron Villani, John Barabas, Nick Magliatto, Ron Massengil, Bud Hanzel, Ray Beldon, Jerry Budde, Susan Risdon, and last (and certainly not least) the gal who worked with me the longest, Nancy McAtee Klein
   The memories are great. I'll never forget the evening when Joey and a few others helped me to haul what seemed like a-half million comics into the basement of our store on Lawrence. Traveling to New York to ask Stan Lee to be Guest-of-honor for our first Chicago Comicon. And those first conventions: confabbing with Mike Grell, Ernie Chan, Marshall Rogers and Dennis Franz, Jeannette Kahn and Stan.
   It has been a long and interesting haul, and will always continue to be interesting. And of course, we'd like to thank all our customers, especially those who stuck with us in the last few years.

Joe Sarno, the founder of COMIC KINGDON has worked on a number of projects related to comic books and science fiction through his long career. He worked on two consecutive World Science Fiction Conventions, Chicago, in 1962 and Washington, D.C. in 1963 where he shared the dais with the legendary science fiction author Isaac Asimov. He has also worked on a number of science fiction fanzines in the late 1950s and early 1960s including PLANET FAN-ATTIC, JOE-JIM, and UNIVERSE. In the late 1970s he published the archival SPACE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER, and much of that information has been updated and is now a part of this website. He recently published the highly acclaimed SHADOWORLD trading card set.

Joe Sarno also founded a local comic book club, The Fantasy Collectors of Chicago in 1969, and Chicago Comicon in 1976, which has now become known as Wizard World.

Comic Version of Joe Sarno As a collector Joe amassed one of the largest collections of Nostalgia items in the Chicago area in the 1960's that included over 40,000 comic books, as well as children's books, pulp magazines, toys, trading cards, movie posters and radio memorabilia. These were often displayed at local banks, schools, libraries and museums including The Art Institute of Chicago. Currently a portion of Joes collection is on display at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in downtown Chicago. By 1980 he decided to pare down his collection to just 1950's space collectables, a part of which are on display at his store.

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When COMIC KINGDOM closed it's doors on March 1, 2003 it marked the end of an era. But it also was the beginning of COMIC UNIVERSE and the era of the Internet! The store that eventually become known as COMIC KINGDOM first opened its doors December 4, 1971 at 4717 N. Harding Avenue under the name THE FANTASY SHOP. On January 6, 1973 a new location opened just around the corner at 3905 West Lawrence Avenue with a new name, THE NOSTALGIA SHOP. This was done to reflect the fact that we carried a large variety of nostalgia collectables from the 1930's, '40's, and '50's, including toys, movie posters, radio premiums and trading cards. In February 1974 we appeared on TV with Shelley Long of SORTING IT OUT, a weekly magazine show she co-hosted with Bob Smith that was on Sunday nights on NBC. For two summers we carried baseball cards in our back room, the first store to make sports cards available to the general public. In the summer of 1975 a larger, second store opened at 3816 West Lawrence and carried comics and comic related material there, while our original store reverted to THE FANTASY SHOP name and carried science fiction and movie related items. In November 1978 we joined forces with METRO GOLDEN MEMORIES. At that time we only had 300 square feet of space so we decided to specialize in comic books. In 1980 we reopened our store at 3905 West Lawrence and officially became known as COMIC KINGDOM. In November 1987 we moved to our current location, and in January 1997 our Mount Prospect store opened. The Mount Prospect store closed its doors December 31, 1999. Among the customers that have visited our stores are Walter Koenig, Terry Zwigoff, Gene Siskel, Mike Gold, Gary Colbuono, Chuck Schaden, Lyle Conway, Jamie Graham; writers Frank Robinson, Mike Resnick, Don Glut, Jim Harmon, Max Allan Collins, Artists: Alex Ross, Mark Silvestri, Franchesco, Paul Fricke, Scott Beaderstadt, Hillary Barta, Todd Hamilton. As well as "Mighty" Joe Young, "Billy" Batson and two (count them, two) Clark Kents! We have had countless newspaper and magazine articles written about our stores, and had TV and radio coverage and interviews with Bob Sirot, Bob Kennedy, Frank Mathie, Bob Jordan, John Coleman, Milt Rosenberg, & Andrew Leckey. Most recently we were seen on CNBC with Jerry Weist of Sotheby's. COMIC KINGDOM officially closed it's doors on March 1, 2003. A special edition of our weekly newsletter C. B. was published at that time, and we're still sending copies out to people. If you'd like a copy please write to us at: P.O. Box 72, Mount Prospect, IL 60056-0072 From the Captain's Veranda of this last issue: There are so many people I have to thank for our very long run as a comics shop. First and foremost my wife Joan, who has stood by me these many years, through thick and thin; then my oldest daughter, Laura, who worked with me at the shop for so long, and my son Jamie, who also worked with me for a long time. And finally Adrienne, the youngest, who just got married in June 2003. There are a lot of people who worked with us over the years, and I'd like to thank them each and every one in chronological order, starting with those who helped us when we first got started in 1971: George Breo, Greg Revak, Mike Caisson, Joey Santagarda, Bob Villani, Ron Villani, John Barabas, Nick Magliatto, Ron Massengil, Bud Hanzel, Ray Beldon, Jerry Budde, Susan Risdon, and last (and certainly not least) the gal who worked with me the longest, Nancy McAtee Klein The memories are great. I'll never forget the evening when Joey and a few others helped me to haul what seemed like a-half million comics into the basement of our store on Lawrence. Traveling to New York to ask Stan Lee to be Guest-of-honor for our first Chicago Comicon. And those first conventions: confabbing with Mike Grell, Ernie Chan, Marshall Rogers and Dennis Franz, Jeannette Kahn and Stan. It has been a long and interesting haul, and will always continue to be interesting. And of course, we'd like to thank all our customers, especially those who stuck with us in the last few years. Joe Sarno, the founder of COMIC KINGDON has worked on a number of projects related to comic books and science fiction through his long career. He worked on two consecutive World Science Fiction Conventions, Chicago, in 1962 and Washington, D.C. in 1963 where he shared the dais with the legendary science fiction author Isaac Asimov. He has also worked on a number of science fiction fanzines in the late 1950s and early 1960s including PLANET FAN-ATTIC, JOE-JIM, and UNIVERSE. In the late 1970s he published the archival SPACE ACADEMY NEWSLETTER, and much of that information has been updated and is now a part of this website. He recently published the highly acclaimed SHADOWORLD trading card set. Joe Sarno also founded a local comic book club, The Fantasy Collectors of Chicago in 1969, and Chicago Comicon in 1976, which has now become known as Wizard World. As a collector Joe amassed one of the largest collections of Nostalgia items in the Chicago area in the 1960's that included over 40,000 comic books, as well as children's books, pulp magazines, toys, trading cards, movie posters and radio memorabilia. These were often displayed at local banks, schools, libraries and museums including The Art Institute of Chicago. Currently a portion of Joes collection is on display at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in downtown Chicago. By 1980 he decided to pare down his collection to just 1950's space collectables, a part of which are on display at his store.