By now you might be wondering how this led to golf cover comic books.  In looking at the non-sport golf cards, many of them were comic book characters.  There was Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, The Flintstones and Goofy, just to name a few.  In talking with other collectors, I became aware that there were comic books with golf theme covers (I had never been a comic book reader or collector growing up) and that there were already active golf cover comic collectors.  Early members that I remember first learning from were Marjorie Meltzer, Nancy Evans, Glen Hoecker, Jim and Judy Dryer, and Dave Morgan.  Mike Bestic and I started collecting about the same time and soon after Dr. Gary Wiren and Dr. Michael Hurdzan began to concentrate on building a bigger collection.  Bob Greco, Allen Johnson and many others, my apologies to those I know I am forgetting, soon were on board.

Within a couple of years, I felt the need to get out information about golf cover comic books to the collectors.  Using my limited computer skills, I published my first book on golf cover comics in 1997 using my home computer and printer. The book included information and showed pictures of 247 comic books that have a golf theme cover. Through all of my years of collecting, I finally realized that boundaries had to be put on my collecting, so I just chose to collect those comics with golf on the cover, even though there are many, many more with golf stories inside the comic book.

In 1998, I started a web site dedicated to the golf comic book collector.  It had the collecting data on the golf comics known up to then, but only a few pictures of golf covers.   By 1999, it was time for a second book with 300 golf cover comic books.  Once again, I did this with my home computer, scanner and printer and just made a small number of copies that were quickly taken by comic book and regular golf book collectors.

When you start collecting, you will find that you can acquire quite a few golf comic covers in just a short amount of time, but then it really starts to slow down.  I found the first 250 in my first two years of collecting.  However, in the next two years I added only 50 more. In the past 6 years, only 39 more have been found to add to the list.

Upon my retirement from education after 34 years, I wanted to put out another work on golf covers.  I did not want to produce a product that would be limited to just a few collectors.  With better technology available to me, I chose to update my web site on golf cover comic books, so that anyone could see and use this information.  The new web site went online on January 6, 2006.  You can find information and pictures of all 339 golf covers that are currently known.  There are also other related pages that will give you more information and keep you informed about the world of golf cover comic books.  You can see all of this at www.golfcomicbooks.com

The very first golf cover comic book just happens to be, what some consider, the first true comic book published.  The Famous Funnies series started in 1934 and was the first comic book to be sold in chain stores and this led to comics being sold through subscription.  Famous Funnies #1 shows Mutt (of Mutt and Jeff fame) swinging a golf club.  Naturally, the pedigree of this comic book makes it, by far, the most expensive golf cover comic.  Due to its cost and rarity, the collections of most golf cover collectors will never be complete.

Several variations of Mickey Mouse Magazine Vol. 1 No. 9, a promotional give-away from several different milk dairies, also appeared in 1934.  There would be a total of seven golf covers published in the 1930’s.  Each subsequent decade added more and more golf cover comics.  Some first appearances found Popeye in 1939, Archie and Mighty Mouse in 1945, Superman in 1946, Bugs Bunny in 1956, Casper the Ghost in 1962 and Richie Rich in 1969.

Golf covers reached its pinnacle in the 1970’s.  Almost one-third of the golf cover comics that we know about were published in that decade.  This makes sense, as the 1970’s was the decade that golf itself began its boom era due to the popularity of Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and Trevino.  This is in contrast to around only ten golf covers that have been published so far in this century when golf is losing some of its popularity.

What is so fascinating about collecting golf cover comic books?  First of all, many of the 339 golf cover comics can still be found near the $5.00 range or less.  You can have a very nice collection and not have to worry about spending the grocery money.  Secondly, the comic book industry sells itself without too many of the fancy frills and gimmicks you find in the sport card world, such as promo cards and silver and gold editions and subset after subset.  I know that there is some of this, but if you are just a theme collector, you do not have to worry about five or six companies putting out fifteen sets and subsets each.  The third thing is that there does not seem to be any fake comic books put on the market as there is with cards, autographs, clubs, etc.  You know that what you are buying is the real thing.

What to look for when you begin collecting?  A golf cover is what you want it to be.  In my collecting, I have stretched the imagination on some covers to include them in my collection.  I include anything with a true golf picture, the word golf on the cover, or even the act of making a golf swing.  I look at the condition of the cover as the primary criteria for selecting that particular comic book.  If you are concerned with future value, you need to look at the total comic book itself.  Look for variations of the same cover.  The best known of this is the Gold Key – Whitman covers: the exact same comic book one with a Gold Key logo and the other with a Whitman logo.  You can find a particular golf cover comic with a different price on each one.  Some of the bar code logos on more modern comics might be in different places on the cover.  You will have to be the judge on just how far you want to go in collecting these variations.

I hope that the collecting of golf cover comic books is a never ending project.  With all of the comic books that have been published and those still to come, there are more golf cover comic books out there.  If you choose not to try to collect as many as you can, just a few make good friends to have around the house in your collection.  Good luck in your collecting and please visit www.golfcomicbooks.com  I would love to hear from you about your collection and any information you might have that I can add to the web site.

Charlie Haviza