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Gordon Belljohn Love (1939-2001) was "the driving force of comics fandom in South Florida and one of the main forces of comics fandom in its infancy." He was the founding editor of the influential fanzine The Rocket's Blast, later The Rocket's Blast and The ComiCollector.

Early Life

G.B. Love was born in 1939 in Miami, Florida with cerebral palsy which went undiagnosed for some time due to the relative lack of knowledge about the condition at that time.

Initially, he created fanzines from an office in his parents house in Miami, before moving to Texas is 1974. He began creating fanzines in large part as a "hobby to occupy his time," since the nature of his disability made holding a regular job difficult, and he was even hampered in typing, initially typing on "a typewriter by using the eraser end of a pencil to peck out the keys."

Fanzines

The Rocket's Blast...

In December 1961, he created and edited the fanzine The Rocket's Blast, with a very low print run (future-colleague James Van Hise estimates that the first issues "had only five or so copies done"), but was soon building his fan base after having letters printed in various 1960s comics. He placed advertisements in various Marvel Comics, helping link comics fans together in the fledgling years of comics fandom.

...and the ComiCollector

In 1964, The Rocket's Blast merged with with another early fanzine, The ComiCollector, and soon became known by the familiar RBCC accronym. Issue #29 was the first "Rocket's Blast Comicollector," while the early ditto and mimeographic printing "eventually gave way to photo offset reproduction when G.B. made a deal with a Miami printer."

The RBCC was one of several early fanzines to aid in the formation and furtherance of comics fandom in the mid-1960s, as well as providing "one of the first and largest forums for fans to buy and sell comics through the mail." Individual traders such as Howard Rogofsky frequently advertised their wares in the pages of RBCC, as did future owner of Mile High Comics, Chuck Rozanski. Prior to the advent of the direct market and comic book stores, "[o]ften, the only way for fans to get back issues was through ads in RBCC."

Van Hise notes however that unlike some early publications, Love's fanzine was not merely an "adzine" or Ad(vertisement) (maga)'zine, but featured articles "celebrat[ing] comics." The RBCC included comments and letters from fans, in addition to its "Ye Old Fanzine Shoppe" in which Love would act as middleman in the selling of various other fanzines - often at "a scandalous profit," much to the annoyance of the other editors.

Criticism

As well as drawing criticism for his sometimes extreme price mark-ups on bulk-bought fanzines, Love (as editor of one of the highest profile fanzines of the time) also drew comments and complaints from other key members of fandom. Van Hise recalls that Phil Seuling was displeased with not being offered free advertising rates for his New York Comic Art Convention circa 1970, which Seuling felt was "a service to fandom," and therefore shouldn't attract the high advertising page rates Love typically charged. Love also had an often-deried work ethic, proving to be far more patient than many other fanzine editors, realizing that he "was in it for the long haul" and while he may not be able to "sell 300 [copies] in one month... he'd probably sell 300 in two years" without the need to panic and drastically reduce his prices if everything didn't sell immediately, as some rivals did. This long-term viewpoint was not always shared by Love's contemporaries.

Other publications

In addition to the RBCC, Love publisher a number of "sister publications," including "Comic Collector's Handbook, Fighting Hero Comics, Fantastic Exploits, The Golden Age, The Eye, Fandom Annual and The Rocket's Blast Special." Again, he was able to allow these to sell slowly, rather than requiring them to make back their investment quickly. He was aided in this by being able to cross-advertise his publications in issues of RBCC, which as early as issue #36 claimed a "paid subscription" of over 700 customers. By 1969, Love was assisted part-time by his fellow-comics fan Andrew Warner, and the following year by James Van Hise.

Championing artists

Love's publications, as with many early fanzines, often featured early artwork (and articles) by individuals who would later go on to more mainstream success. The RBCC was a particularly fertile ground for future-creators, numbering among its Love-era contributers such people as Don Newton, Richard Corben and John Adkins Richardson. Love also befriended Captain Marvel creator-artist C. C. Beck, a local Miami-based celebrity who Van Hise recalls "was always willing to make himself available to fans," and indeed contributed to a number of fanzines.

Conventions

In addition to his fanzine work, Love was also active in early Florida comics conventions, "organiz[ing] the first comic book conventions in South Florida, beginning in the late 1960s in the unairconditioned Fireman's Hall in Coral Gables, and later at various American Legion Halls in Coconut Grove."

Helping him with the RBCC and the early Florida conventions, were "a cadre of fellow comic fans, including Jim Van Hise, Andy Warner, John Ellis, and Rick Coy." Love's work in South Florida Fandom, and the conventions in particular helped draw together individuals such as "Joe Kimbro, Vince Lavarello, Phil Beracha, Sam Ennis, Glen Lightfoot, Keith Sillman, Rob Miller, Jim Campbell, Mike Zeck, Mike and Rob Zarillo, Jeff Young, and Dennis Lambson," Lambson was C. C. Beck's grandson. This information is inaccurate. Dennis Lambson, my husband, is C. C. Beck's grandson, not his nephew.

Keith Sillman recalls that Love worked through his disability, despite the less accepting nature of the society of the time, in which"the handicapped often felt shunned." Love, he remembers "couldn't really use his fingers, but he would sit at the admissions table and grasp the dollar bills with his gnarled hands. When he spoke, his speech was so badly affected that it often sounded more like seal utterances. But you knew that trapped in that body was an amazing person, who began each day with a reserve of more bravery and determination than most of us have to tap in a lifetime."

Texas, and the passing of the torch

In 1971, Love, Van Hise and others drove from Miami to Houston, Texas "to attend a comics and nostalgia convention," and Van Hise again accompanied Love to a Dallas convention the following year. By the early 1970s, Alan Light's weekly The Buyer's Guide "had eclipsed" Love's RBCC, even as the latter attempted to distance itself from an over-reliance on advertising, and carve a different niche. Light's publication was advertised prior to its launch in the pages of RBCC, as Love believed fully "in the free market system," but was soon a much more preferable forum for advertisers and traders due in large part to its regular weekly schedule. In 1974, Love "turned over [editorship] of the RBCC" to Van Hise and moved to Texas, partly to continue helping hold Texas conventions, which Van Hise notes had made him some money when he aided Texas-based fans in holding the Summer, 1974 convention in Houston.

Later life

"G. B. liked living in Texas," and from his new home he "co-edited a series of books titled The Best of Trek" with Walter Irwin, which similar endeavours would take up most of the rest of his life. Creative disagreements with Van Hise (and others) over the ownership and copyrights of contributions to his Best of Trek books caused some friction in later life, since Love "had a certain editorial policy about owning" all such contributions himself.

Love was injured in a car accident in November 2000, and "never fully recovered" before being "rushed to the hospital" in January 2001 with a bladder infection. He died a short time later, after contracting pneumonia, on January 17, 2001. He was described by his friend Roy Bonario as "a pioneer in comics fandom" and "a good businessman" who Van Hise recalled "accepted the limitations life presented him with and... made something of it."