Move over, Joker: here comes Doctor Octopus, Vulture and Green Goblin. In the wake of the box office success of comic book characters such as ”Batman” and ”Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” collector Chuck Furman is producing the Sport Card/Comic Book Trade Show Saturday at Palatine`s Birchwood Recreation Center.
But unlike many similar traders events, this show is for youngsters 17 and younger-no grownups allowed.
”The kids can haggle for their own prices,” Furman said. ”The parents tell me they like their kids involved in the trading, because it teaches them to learn the value of things, to keep their things in good shape.”
To Furman, who runs Fat Dutchie`s Comic Book Store in Palatine, cartoons are more than a business; they`re a way of life.
”I`ve always been fascinated by comic books,” he said. ”For as long as I can remember, it`s been a hobby. When you`re a kid growing up, it`s a release, like a soap opera. It`s an escape, where you can say, `Hey, my problems aren`t so bad compared to this guy`s.` ”
Furman began collecting when he was 10. ”I`m a saver, that`s just my personality,” he said. ”So I have tons and tons of stuff. Right from the beginning, if I really liked a book, I`d buy a duplicate, and my best friend from grade school and I would trade books during recess. That`s how it started for me.”
The state of comic book art has changed since the ”golden age,” which Furman said began in the 1940s with Superman, Batman and Captain America.
For a period during the 1950s, the very existence of comic books was threatened by authorities who thought them too violent for impressionable youngsters.
”They were especially worried about `Tales of the Crypt` and `Vault of Horror.` I love them myself, but they do get a little gruesome,” Furman admitted with a chuckle.
Furman said comics` ”silver age,” dominated by Marvel Comics` Spider-man and Incredible Hulk, began in the 1960s and depicted brooding
characters with complex motivations.
”You get to know these characters to the point where you talk about them like you`d talk about a real person you know.”
But one thing that hasn`t changed is the villains. Just as the Joker stole most of the thunder in the ”Batman” film, so the bad guys are often the most compelling characters in comic books.
”If anything, the old villains were the best, and they`ve been bringing a lot of them back. Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, Vulture, King Pin-he`s a respected businessman on the surface, but he`s really a crime boss. There`s a lot of realism in these cartoons,” Furman said.
Indeed. Furman`s real world is greatly enhanced by these comics and their fans. ”The kids are the ones who keep my business going,” he said. ”So this is a way to give something back. After all, it starts out as a kids` hobby, so this is for the kids.
”Of course,” said Furman, 29, ”some kids never grow up.”
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The Sport Card/Comic Book Trade Show runs from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Birchwood Recreation Center, 435 W. Illinois Ave. Admission is free. Call 708-991-0333.
