The subject this time is Vincent Zurzolo, Jr., an Overstreet Advisor who serves as Chief Operating Officer of Metropolis Collectibles and its sister company, ComicConnect.

When J.C. Vaughn first contacted me about this new column I was very intrigued. For years, while at parties, people would ask me about how I got into comics, my answer to what I referred to as “The Origin Issue Question” developed over time. J.C. had a working title for the column but I quickly suggested Origin Issue which, I am happy to say, he liked and decided to use it.

 So far I have enjoyed reading other’s origin issues and hope to see more collectors and dealers alike get involved. Kudos to Scoop for finding the time to start this cool column!

Getting to the point, why do I collect? I fondly recall my childhood growing up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I had two older brothers, Sal and Jerry, who had their comic collection in the basement of our home. I remember racing down to the basement as a little boy and being greeted by that old musty comic smell and diving into the comics! I don’t even think I could read yet but I loved the art, cool costumes and the fight scenes. The first X-Men I read were Giant Size X-Men #1 and X-Men #95-100, my first Incredible Hulk issues #180-182 and a whole host of issues of Marvel Two-In-One and Marvel Team-Up. I recall a ratty copy of Iron Man #1 and Captain Marvel #1.

As I grew older I would get as much change together as I could find in the house and walk to Beach 129th Street, to two stores and to buy my comics. I remember a little old Chinese man at the luncheonette who was always very nice to me when I would go through the spinner rack and the people at Allen’s where I would buy comics and pick out a few candies for 2-5¢ a piece. Those were the good old days.

My passion for comics grew from these early experiences. Later on I would continue to collect and trade with my elementary school pals. When I was sixteen a friend asked me if I wanted to start buying and selling comics with him. I had no idea what I was doing but believe it or not we were buying comic collections every week. Our company was called VM Comics and we had buy ads in the Comics Buyer’s Guide in the mid-to-late ‘80s.

When I graduated college in 1993 I decided to deal in comics full time, and in 1999 Vincent’s Collectibles merged with Metropolis Collectibles and here I am. So in essence I collect because I love art and stories about good triumphing over evil… and I wanted to be like my big brothers! Thanks, Sal and Jerry!

In addition to being an Overstreet Advisor and operating both Metropolis Collectibles and ComicConnect, Vincent Zurzolo hosts the web-based radio series The Comic Zone, and he gave this column its name.

If you’d like to share your origin issue, drop us a line with “Origin Issue” in the subject line. We’re looking for a maximum of 200 words addressing why you collect (and it doesn’t have to be comic books).