Leonard Brown in his Upstairs Inner Sanctum at Collectors Book Store's Original, Wilcox Location

Leonard Brown is shown in the second story room of the first Collectors Book Store location. Throughout the nearly 40 years that I knew Leonard, he looked pretty much as he does in this early photograph, all the way down to how he always dressed. I only set foot in the room that meant so much in my young life a handful of times. Malcolm Willits took me and my family upstairs during our first visit the the store in Feb. 1966. Here I saw for the first time actual issues of Superman No. 1, Action Comics No. 1, and Batman No. 1 -- all of which were priced well beyond my means -- which actually amounted to no means at all. But they were within the reach of my parents. The existence of such wonderful things caused me to soon become determined to have enough money of my own when I grew up to buy any comics that I wanted. I met Leonard on my second visit to Hollywood, at which time my parents bought Superman No. 16 and Batman No. 16 [first Alfred the Butler] for me -- $6.50 each. But we didn't go upstairs. It was during the third visit that we saw leonard in his element. At that time, my sister bought a few Big Little Books from the trove shown behind Mr. Brown in this photo. I bought a Justice League of America No. 1 and an Atom No. 1, both of which were stored on shelves on the opposite side of this small room. On another trip to Collectors, I bought a Flash No. 105 and a Superman Annual No. 3, while my sister settled for a few more Big Little Books and some still photographs of Shirley Temple out of Malcolm's film files. Once I actually thumbed through the comics on the shelves, finding a buying for $3 Action Comics No.256. The last time my mother, sister, and I went to the Wilcox store, we didn't make it past the somewhat larger ground floor of the store. I was asking Leonard for Silver age comics, and comics from that period had been sent by Leonard to his friend, Steve Edrington's store, Bond Street Books, down the street, on the other side of Hollywood Blvd. Although Leonard tried to explain that he had decided to only deal in the higher end comics, my mother was put-out by what she perceived as Leonard not wanting to bother with our patronage. She was undoubtedly largely correct in her assessment, but I realized that the Silver Age comics just weren't at Collectors Book Store anymore, so it was down to Edrington's store for us. And I was very pleased with the Green Lantern No. 1 [Silver Age] and other comics I found in Steve's dimly lit back room. I remained loyal to Leonard and Collector's book store despite the slight, which I hear and picture as if it was delivered yesterday. I followed my favorite store wherever it was situated, whether on Wilcox, Hollywood Blvd. near Highland, Sunset Blvd., or close to the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. There were always interesting things to buy, rumors to hear, and facts about comics/comic art, comic artists, and comic/animation collections to learn.

Despite the fact that I only experienced the environment of the upper story of Collectors on Wilcox a few times, it will forever be the site where my fondest comic-related memories were formed. The store was then still very well stocked with high grade Golden and Silver age comics, with packed shelves for Leonard to go to in satisfying my dreams. The whole world of comic book collecting on a high level was new and thoroughly exciting for me. As a result of these positive memories, collecting instincts, under the guidance of Leonard Brown, were instilled in me. Those drives and desires may have been redirected to comic book originals, comic strip art, and animation art, but they have never diminished one iota over all these years. I'll always be grateful to Leonard Brown and the others associated with Collectors Book Store for their roles in keeping me comic rich and money poor!