As the president of Superworld, which has been in business since 1987, Ted VanLiew has bought, graded, priced, and sold tens of thousands of books. It's the classic American story, as he says. He started with about $100 to his name, a small number of nice comics, and a lot of enthusiasm, but not much business acumen.

"We're very happy to have Ted VanLiew on board as an Overstreet Advisor," said Robert M. Overstreet, the author and publisher of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. "He's got a great reputation for having a broad knowledge of comics, and it's clear that he really loves the field."

As a lifelong collector who still has a treasured personal collection of comics and original art, there's no question that Ted still has that same enthusiasm for this great hobby. Once he noticed Marvel Comics on the newsstand in April of 1969, his prized baseball cards and matchbox cars just didn't seem to matter any more. Dazzled by the uniquely American genius involved in the combination of words and art that comprises comic books, he started drawing his own comics, in the hopes of becoming a comic artist too someday. After attending art school at Mass College of Art and UMass Amherst, and graduating with a BFA in painting and illustration in 1985, commercial freelance illustration and cartooning became Ted's vocation. Soon, he got the bright idea of starting up a little sideline comic business to earn some extra money.

For the past 17 years and counting, Superworld's reputation for selling high quality books and friendly service has been steadily growing, while entertaining customers and having lots of fun remains a priority. You will see Ted at many of the large comic shows that are held around the country each year, from Boston and New York to San Diego and points in between.

Much of the business that Superworld does is from its website. Ted has also been active enough selling on eBay to become a noted Power Seller. In 1995, Ted had the honor of serving on Christie's Auction Grading Committee, which remains a source of pride.