With multi-Platinum rock band System of a Down currently on a hiatus that might last for several years, drummer John Dolmayan finally has a little time to devote to his other passion, comic books and collectibles. Dolmayan, who currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada has officially launched his next endeavor, Torpedo Comics which already features over 15 million comic books, toys, graphic novels, trade paperbacks, superhero action figures and other comic book-related memorabilia, ranging in price from 99-cents to six-figures.
We caught up with John recently, who is also in the recording process of his next musical project with fellow System of a Down guitarist, Daron Malakian which is called Scars on Broadway to get his thoughts on finally launching Torpedo Comics and having a knack for comic book collecting.
Watch video: John Dolmayan Collecting Comics For Over 20 Years
"I've been collecting Comics for well over twenty years and at a certain point I couldn't afford to buy more comics anymore, so I started selling comics you know to make money to buy new ones. I noticed that I had a knack for it and I enjoyed it. There is something cool about setting up at a convention, having no guarantees and you make sales because you're personable and you have the right prices and the right product. It kind of manifested into a little bit larger than I thought it would, but at this point we have 15 million books, original art, huge Silver Surfer statue. You name it, we got it."
Although Dolmayan houses Torpedo Comics' inventory in a just-completed 30,000-square foot warehouse in Las Vegas, NV where he now lives with a staff of 25 people that he employs, he admitted he is already in the process of looking at bigger warehouses as he looks to expand his collection. So with much of his time spent in the studio finishing the upcoming Scars on Broadway album, does he have much time to concentrate on Torpedo Comics?
Watch video: Torpedo Comics A Labor Of Love For Dolmayan
"It's a labor of love for me, so the more time I spend on it the better I feel. It is really a lot of fun because you're dealing with comic books, toys, animation and it's all fun. I come in and I have a lot of great employees who work with me and it's a team effort. It isn't something that I dread you know. I wake up happy to go to work. I guess I'm lucky because I have the same experience in music that I do with Torpedo Comics."
So with the opening of Torpedo Comics, exclusively at www.torpedocomics.com, what are the long term goals of the project?
Watch video: Dolmayan On Goals Of Torpedo Comics
"We're planning on, when you have 15 million comics, inputting becomes an issue you know. It'll probably take us another year or so to get everything that we have in stock represented on line. We're starting the company November 1st with a soft opening of 8 thousand items. So, it'll progress to a hundred thousand items within a year or so and it's all for sale. You know, there are always going to be different things coming in, it's just the nature of the business. You buy stuff, you put it up for sale, somebody buys it and you feel like 'Oh I didn't want to sell that!' Then you move on to the next thing."
Torpedo Comics already has a stunning collection of memorabilia which includes such rare items like Sensation Comics issue #1 (the first solo series featuring Wonder Woman), just about every key issue of Marvel and DC comics including Marvel Comics' issue #1, multiple copies of Giant Size X-Men #1, plus superhero action figures from Marvel, X-Men, Superman, and Batman titles. Torpedo Comics will also offer original comic art, created between the 1940s and the present, by some 150 different artists, including Jim Lee, Art Adams, Bernie Wrightson, and Alejandro Gaza. Currently Scars on Broadway have finished recording the first batch of songs for the album that is due to be released in 2008. Once again lending his ear and producing skills to the project is master craftsman, Rick Rubin.
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