Love of comic books runs in his family
While the bulk of his original comic book collection is no more, Norris Coleman built a new collection later in life that was the basis for opening his shop in Baytown, Emerald Dragon Comics and Games.
“In my family, a love of comic books goes back all the way to the 1940s. My mom and uncle had the really old comics from the golden age, like Donald Duck. They really liked the Disney comics. Then my aunt came along in the 1950s, and she fell in love with comics, too, and started buying. My grandmother never threw anything away. So by the time I came around and started learning how to read, there were these stacks and stacks of comics at my grandma’s. I caught the bug at about 5 years old, and I started collecting. I got into the more modern comics from Marvel and DC, superhero stuff like Spiderman, Avengers and Justice League.
“I learned how to scavenge at a very young age, looking for coins behind couch cushions, under chairs and in the car. I also had some fairly generous grandparents. They let me do chores around the house, and they would pay quite well for my age. Then I would spend all that money on comic books. There was an army surplus store and some thrift stores in the Midland area, and I could pick up comics for 5 or 10 cents each. By the time I was 8 or 9, I had amassed about 20,000 comics in my personal collection. I had a pretty decent size bedroom, and they took up a big chunk of it.
“I was fascinated by comics. Really, I just loved to read. My dad taught me how to read at a very young age. So I was constantly reading comics, sci-fi paperbacks, whatever I could get my little hands on. I thought it was all really cool. I still do.”
— Norris Coleman
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