Geoffrey Wood Patterson’s lifelong comic book fandom began when he was eight years old and his mother would give him a dime to buy the latest issue of Blackhawk at the local market.
The DC Comics book featured the heroic exploits of a team of World War II-era fighter pilots who carried out missions from their secret base on Blackhawk Island. In its heyday, only Superman comic books outsold Blackhawk.
Decades later, Patterson would purchase a vintage back issue of Blackhawk for $100 through the mail and become hooked on collecting comics.
Patterson was born in Inglewood a week before the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. His family moved to a Hermosa Beach trailer park in 1950, then to Torrance in 1951.
He attended Seaside Elementary, and was a member of the first graduating class from North High School in 1959. He went on to El Camino College and then to California State University Long Beach.
After graduating from CSULB, he worked as an officer for the Los Angeles County Probation Department for the next couple of decades. But after purchasing that Blackhawk comic, he began to think more and more about making his obsession his profession.
In 1979, he opened Geoffrey’s Comics at 15900 Crenshaw Blvd., Suite B, in Gardena. It was only the fourth comic book shop operating in Southern California at the time. Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica was the first, opening on July 7, 1977.
Patterson continued to work for the probation department until 1989, when he quit to run his store full-time.
He married his wife, Monica, in a 1993 ceremony during which both were dressed in superhero costumes.
Patterson dressed as “Captain Greedy,” a character he invented that parodied greedy comic book store owners, while Monica wore a full Wonder Woman outfit. Geoffrey Patterson II, his 14-year-old son from a previous marriage, came dressed as Cyclops.
The couple had met when she came into the store as a customer. In addition to Geoffrey II, they raised three children, Cazzie, Ozzie and Jazzmin.
The family’s home in South Torrance became a popular local attraction every Halloween. As many as 500 people would visit and tour the Patterson residence, festooned as it always was with paintings and action figures of superheroes and all types of comics and pop culture memorabilia.The Pattersons would hand out free comic books along with the usual Halloween treats.
The Gardena shop always was an active participant in the Free Comic Book Day giveaway every May. The annual event at Geoffrey’s featured costumed comic book characters and drew hundreds of comics enthusiasts.
Patterson enjoyed playing his Captain Greedy role, wearing the green costume during episodes of his Torrance public access television show, “Comic Book Geeks,” which featured skits and interviews.
He even released his own “Captain Greedy” comic in July 2003, telling Daily Breeze business reporter Muhammad el-Hasan, “He’s heroic, but likes to be compensated.”
Geoffrey’s Comics also held its own special events featuring prominent artists, writers and other comic book industry figures.
Geoffrey II shared his father’s passion for comics, and became a part owner of Hi De Ho in Santa Monica as well as taking on a larger role in running Geoffrey’s Comics.
Sadly, Geoffrey Sr. died of liver failure at UCLA Medical Center on June 8, 2014. He was 72.
Geoffrey II continued operating the business in Gardena until 2020, when the store moved to a new location at 4068 Redondo Beach Blvd. in Torrance.
Several factors lead to the closing of both Geoffrey’s Comics in Torrance and Hi De Ho in Santa Monica on Dec. 31, 2023. The COVID pandemic played a role, causing many consumers to shift from visiting comics stores in person to making their purchases online.
In addition, the explosion in popularity of superhero comics boosted by the parade of blockbuster films based on DC and Marvel comic book characters in recent years resulted in an increased number of larger retailers such as Target stocking and selling comics, which reduced business at specialty stores.
Geoffrey’s and Hi De Ho held large going-out-of-business sales at their brick-and-mortar shops before shuttering them and switching to online operations only.
Sources:
Daily Breeze archives.
Geoffrey’s Comics website and Facebook page.
“Two of LA’s Oldest Comics Stores Are Closing Down,” by Anne To, LAist website, Oct. 29, 2023.
