"Gary Arlington 1938-2014" Topic

I just heard that my good friend Gary Arlington passed away on Jan 16th he was 75 at the time and I was saddened by the news.

Gary opened the very first Comic Book store in America in 1968 and he opened it in San Francisco Ca.

I knew him for most of my early life and he was very nice guy but at times he was somewhat weird as well but regardless I still liked him.

He was a cool guy and I'll miss him a lot.

If you would have asked me who Gary Arlington was, I truthfully wouldn't have known. In doing a quick check, I now see that not only did he open the very first comic book store in America, but he also attracted the attention of the titans of the "underground comix" and alternative comics genre, such as Robert Crumb and Art Spiegelman. I like the fact that he opened his business, The San Francisco Comic Book Co., in the wake of 1967's "Summer of Love". He definitely made a cultural impact.

Below is an online article about the passing of Mr. Arlington, plus a couple of undated photos showing him in front of his business:

link

Godspeed, Gary, and thanks.

The photo on the left is almost certainly mid- to late-'70s, given the Howard the Duck sign. That was when Howard was at the peak of his counter-culture popularity, and years before that abomination of a movie was made.

RIP, Mr. Arlington.