Methods and Madness: Staten Island’s Past At Comic Book Jones – Collectors Confessions

Methods and Madness

By Brian VanNostrand

Years ago, I did all my comic book shopping at a store that used to be on Forest Avenue called Comic Book Jones, and some of what I am going to recount here might seem a bit strange, but if you know the fondness that customers had for C.B.J., you would understand.

Anyway, it came up in the course of events that Comic Book Jones was going to move from one store front in the shopping center to another space a few doors down. The reasons for the move were varied, but, from my understanding, it had to do with getting cheaper rent for a comparable space. The owner of the store, who went by the name Socko Jones (real name Michael Rivos – everyone who worked in C.B.J. had a nickname with the surname Jones which was a nod to a similar practice by the seminal punk band The Ramones) threw a “moving party” in which customers came to the store to help the workers move everything to the new location a few doors down. This is the strange part I mentioned before – the customers actually did show up and help the move – this is how much people loved the store.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to the moving party (I can’t remember why), but many people I knew went, including my YouTube partner Chad. The next time I saw him, he showed me a picture of a genuine celebrity helping the Jones guys move stock: it was Method Man (real name Clifford Smith Jr. – everyone has a superhero name) of the Wu Tang Clan.

Like anyone who has listened to WuTang or Method’s solo music, I knew he was a comic book fan and that he lived on Staten Island, but the picture still surprised me. I mean here you had someone famous, someone other people do work for, and he was working to help out the employees of the comic book store I shopped at; as a rule, I’m not usually starstruck, but the image of Method performing this service for a place he obviously loved really impressed me.

And not only is he a fan of comic books, but apparently he is possessed of the very same madness only seen in the die hard devotees of the form. According to multiple sources, Method Man has over 30,000 comic books in his collection, and owns one of the most important artifacts in the history of Marvel Comics: The Incredible Hulk issue 181, featuring the first full appearance of perennial fan-favorite Wolverine. If you don’t know, trust me that this is a big deal.

So, if you’re out and about in the Shaolin and see Method Man (this happens; I hear multiple reports of sightings), don’t be like everyone else. Don’t ask him about Wu Tang, or its members, or music at all. Say hi and ask him about his comic book collection. And if you really want to get his attention, try something like this, “Hey! Wasn’t the first appearance of Wolverine actually in Hulk 180?”

On second thought, don’t do that. Maybe just say thanks for all the good music.

Banner Image:  Wu Tang Clan at Ferryhawks Stadium. Image Credit – Sean Fitzpatrick