ORIGIN ISSUE: Hector Cantu
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We recently introduced a new regular feature in Scoop: Origin Issue. The subject is a straightforward question, but one with many different answers: Why do you collect?
The subject this time is Hector Cantu, Editorial Director of Heritage Magazine.
I collect a lot of things. Magazines (stacked high on my nightstand). Excuses (from my teenage kids). Fast-food napkins (tucked into my car door). But nothing gives me as much pleasure as collecting things that mean something.
I tore through comic books and MAD magazines when I was a kid, which explains the 3,000 comics I bought and bagged between 1976 and 1984 (yes, I’m among the “fans” who nearly killed the comic-books-as-collectibles industry). Every few years, I always pull a few of these comics to reread. The characters and talented people who created them inspired me in lots of ways. Just like Peter Parker and Clark Kent, I got a job working at newspapers. Later, I actually got into the comics biz, creating the Baldo newspaper comic strip with Carlos Castellanos.
That, in turn, has changed my collecting habits. Sure, I still visit the local comic shop, where my teenage son picks up the latest zombie titles. But my focus now is original comic art.
The great cartoonist Gus Arriola, who produced the newspaper strip Gordo for more than 40 years, has always been a favorite of mine. I have been fortunate to acquire several of his original strips. I also own art by Sergio Aragones and Paul Coker (MAD magazine), Ramona Fradon (Brenda Starr), Stan Lee and Larry Lieber (the Amazing Spider-Man comic strip), and Eduardo Barreto (Judge Parker).
You would think that as an adult, my collecting would have more of an investment goal, but I honestly think I was more of a speculator when I was a teenager (I bought most #1 issues no matter how bad the title).
Today, my collection is linked to what I do for a living. It’s about artists that I admire and who inspire me. Ask what my collection is worth and we'll finish our conversation in five minutes. Ask me what my collection means and ... well, grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair. It's going to be a long, fun conversation.
Hector Cantu is editorial director at Heritage Magazine. Cantu and Jim Halperin are co-editors of Collectible Movie Posters: Illustrated Guide with Auction Prices(Whitman Books), scheduled for release in February 2010.
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).
