Jeff Vaughn at Gemstone just sent me a care package of some of their recent books, including THE OVERSTREET GUIDE TO COLLECTING COMICS. A slick 300+ pages, it was a long way from the half-dozen or so typed pages at the front of the first Overstreet Price Guide covering the same subject. It also reminded me of my first book contract, a deal Jenette Kahn had instigated with Warner Books in the mid-1970s. I was supposed to write a guide to comic collecting, back when there were still only a smattering of comic shops. As I recall, I had done a pretty thorough outline for the project, which doesn’t survive. It was officially a real project for about a year before I gave up, preferring to use the time my full-time staff job allowed me to write comics instead. Roads not taken…