Jerry Gwin Bails (June 26, 1933 – November 23, 2006) was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.

Biography

Early life

Jerry G. Bails was born on June 26, 1933 in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

.Don and Maggie Thompson, "'It was Comics Time!' (Fandom Origins Part Two)" in

Richard Howell Richard Howell (October 25, 1754April 28, 1802) was the third governor of New Jersey from 1794 to 1801. Early life and military career Howell was born in Newark in the Colony of Delaware. He was a lawyer and soldier of the early United States ...

and Carol Kalish (ed.s) ''Comics Feature'' #8 (New Media Publishing, January 1981) A fan of comic books from a very early age, Bails was a particularly avid fan of '' All-Star Comics'', and its premiere superteam (the

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Boo ...

) of whom he was "a fan since the first Justice Society adventure appeared in ''All-Star Comics'' #3 (Winter 1941)."Letter from Jerry Bails to

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly ...

, November 24, 1960. Excerpted in Roy Thomas' "Jerry, You're The Bestest!" editorial, ''

Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

'' Vol. 3 Issue #25 (June 2003) He wrote in 1960 that by 1945, he "began my campaign to collect all the back issues of this magazine 'All-Star Comics''" and six years later when the JSA was dropped, started to work towards their revival. In the letters column of ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first s ...

'' #22 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d Jan. 1964) the editor refers to him as "one of fandom's most articulate critics."

Education

As a young man, he "sent samples of his art to EC ("and

Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine '' Mad''. After retiring from ''Mad' ...

was nice enough to respond with advice.")," before attending the University of Kansas City, from which he earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in Physics, and then his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Math. A student teacher by 1953,

Michael T. Gilbert Michael Terry Gilbert (born May 7, 1951) is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked for both mainstream and underground comic book companies. Education Gilbert attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, graduating ...

(ed.) "The Jerry Bails/

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

Letters" in ''

'' Vol. 3 Issue #25 (June 2003), pp. 9-13 he gained his Ph.D. in

Natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

c.1959, and in 1960 moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

with his wife Sondra "to become Assistant Professor of Natural Science at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

."Roy Thomas, "Jerry, You're The Bestest!" editorial, ''

'' Vol. 3 Issue #25 (June 2003)

Comics fandom

Roots

In 1953, Bails wrote to DC (c/o

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various tim ...

) to inquire about issues of ''All-Star Comics''. His letter was forwarded to former ''Justice Society'' writer

, and from Fox's reply of July 9, 1953, the two corresponded regularly. Bails was working steadily toward re-building his personal collection of the early issues of ''All Star Comics'', and was finally able to convince Fox in early 1959 to sell him Fox's personal bound copies of ''All-Star Comics'' #1-24. In November 1960, a letter from young comics fan

to Julius Schwartz similarly inquiring about back issues of ''All-Star Comics'' led to Schwartz also putting Thomas in contact with ''All-Star'' writer Gardner Fox. Fox informed Thomas that "he had sold his bound volumes f ''All-Star Comics''to a gent named Jerry Bails", and put Thomas in touch with the Detroit-based Bails. Bails and Thomas would go on to "exchange . . . 100 pages' worth of letters in less than five months" starting from the end of November 1960, and forge a friendship which in Thomas' words "set in motion a chain of events which led to ''Alter Ego'', organized comics fandom, the

Alley Awards The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with the ...

, and maybe a bit more."{{cite book, author-link=Bill Schelly, last=Schelly, first=Bill , title=The Golden Age of Comic Fandom, publisher=Hamster Press, year=1995 Excerpted online as {{cite web, url=http://www.billschelly.com/pages/aebirth.html , title=The Birth of Alter-Ego , access-date=July 17, 2008 , archive-date=February 21, 2003 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030221174140/http://www.billschelly.com/pages/aebirth.html%3C , url-status=dead /ref> With the debut of the "new Justice Society," the

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

in the pages of ''

The Brave and the Bold ''The Brave and the Bold'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983. It was followed by two mini-series in 1991 and 1999, and was revived as an ongoing title in 2007. The focus of the series has varie ...

'' #28 (

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

), Bails felt his "efforts adfinally paid off," and his career as an active fan began. He soon bombarded the DC offices with suggestions for new superhero revivals. For instance, in ''Justice League of America'' #4, the

letters page A comic book letter column is a section of an American comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns (or lettercols), letter pages, letters of comment (LOCs), or ...

is filled with missives from Bails under different pen names. He did everything he could to fool editor Julius Schwartz, including mailing the letters from all across the country. In particular, Bails petitioned for the monthly publication of the ''JLA'', and a year later for the revival of the Golden Age

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, a ...

as an all-new "6"-high" hero (to better reflect the name), which "whether as a result of Jerry's prodding DC or by mere coincidence" revival occurred in January 1961.

Fanzines

{{main, Fanzine Largely unbeknownst to Bails and Thomas, comics fandom had been underway for years in a variety of comics fanzines, beginning with Ted White's ''The Facts Behind Superman'', James Taurasi's ''Fantasy Comics'' and Bhob Stewart's ''The EC Fan Bulletin'' in 1953-54. These were followed by Ron Parker's ''Hoohah'', Dick and Pat Lupoff's '' Xero'' and Don and Maggie Thompson's ''Comic Art''. ''Xero'' presented essays about comics ultimately collected in a 1970 book, ''All in Color for a Dime'', published in hardcover by Arlington House and by Ace in paperback. Although Bails' innovative ideas changed the shape of comics fandom, and arguably shaped it anew, ''Xero'' had a significant role to play in Bails' work. Bill Schelly writes that, while important building blocks, the science fiction fanzines should be considered in the context of comics fandom. He notes that Don and Maggie Thompson's ''Comic Art'' and ''Xero'' were published by double-fans cience fiction and comicsand were read mainly by sf fans who generally had little interest in (or disdain for) new comics, even the Schwartz revivals. The Thompsons' interest was in just about every aspect of comic art but the superhero comics of 1961. Helped in large part to the efforts of DC editor

and writer

, Bails would play a pivotal role in the fledgling field of comics fandom, which he called "panelology" (the study of comics). Bails was the founding editor of ''

Alter-Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

'', one of the very earliest

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

fanzine A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...

s. "On January 26, 1961," wrote Roy Thomas in 2003, "I received a letter from Jerry mentioning his idea for a "JLA newsletter" . . .

o which he was intending O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...

to try to enlist Julie Schwartz's cooperation" in February 1961. The projected title and scope of ''The JLA Subscriber'' "gave way to something more ambitious" Bill Schelly, "Jerry Bails' Ten Building Blocks of Fandom" in ''

'' Vol. 3 Issue #25 (June 2003) pp. 5-8 and, returning from visiting the DC offices in New York, Bails: {{blockquote, "had come up with the name "''Alter-ego''" for a more ambitious version of a newsletter — a "

," appropriating some of what he had learned from Julie about science-fiction fandom to what he had already planned." Schwartz had, indeed, given Bails copies of ''Xero'' #1-3, as well as personal advice and memories based on his own involvement in the earliest ''science fiction'' fandom of the 1930s, in which Schwartz played an important — perhaps even integral — role. Working with Thomas and in conjunction with Schwartz, Bails contacted other comic book letter writers and invited them to subscribe to and participate in ''Alter Ego''. Thomas was named co-editor, and asked to contribute "a '' Mad''-style parody, "The Bestest League of America." By March 28, Bails had prepared the ditto masters, and shortly thereafter "200 or more" copies of the first issue of the 21-page ''Alter-Ego'' #1 (now with a capital "E") were posted to Bails' ever-growing list of fans. The issue featured a "Bestest League" cover by Thomas and Bails, in homage to Mike Sekowsky's cover for ''

'' #29. The finished article became "an amateur journal devoted to the revivals of the costumed heroes at DC and elsewhere, as well as historical studies of what Bails deemed ' The First Heroic Age of Comics.'" The original run of ''Alter Ego'' lasted 11 issues, spread over a total of 17 years. Ten issues were released between 1961 and 1969, with issue #11 following nine years later, in 1978. Bails edited and published the first four issues of ''Alter-Ego'', before turning it over to fan-artist Ronn Foss (and, initially, Foss' wife, plus his friend "Grass" Green) who edited issues #5-6.

edited a further four issues solo, and issue #11 almost a decade later in collaboration with

Mike Friedrich Mike Friedrich (; born March 27, 1949) is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series '' Star*Reach'', one of the first independent comics. He is also an a ...

.Roy Thomas, "The Altered Ego: An editorial of sorts" in ''Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection'' (TwoMorrows, 2001), p. 7 In 1998, Thomas wrote to publisher John Morrow, and shortly after Thomas relaunched the second volume of ''Alter Ego'' on the flipside of issues of

TwoMorrows Publishing TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its products also include books and DVDs. List of magaz ...

's ''Comic Book Artist''. A third, standalone volume was launched as a separate magazine (with similarly revived fanzine the ''Fawcett Collectors of America'' as a section) in 1999, and continues to 2011. Shortly after the launch of ''Alter-Ego'', Bails founded ''The Comicollector'', which launched in September 1961.Bails, Jerry G., "America's Four-color Pastime..." in ''The Guidebook to Comics Fandom'' (

Bill Spicer Bill Spicer (born October 1, 1937) is an editor and publisher who spearheaded the 1960s movement away from commercial comics, opening the gateway to underground, alternative, and independent comics, notably with his publication ''Graphic Story Maga ...

, Summer 1965). The major motivating force behind comics fandom "was to bring fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book collections." Inspired in part by the

science-fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" was ...

/"adzine" ''The Fantasy Collector'', comics fandom had "a need for a publication devoted primarily to the field" rather than the occasional advertisements of comics for sale that appeared in ''The Fantasy Collector''. Bails' initial thought was "to run such ads in each issue of ''A/E'', but it soon became clear that it couldn't be published often enough." Accordingly, in September 1961, the first issue of the 20-page Bails-published ''The Comicollector'', the self-styled "companion to ALTER-EGO" (as the masthead declared it), and "first comics advertising fanzine." Included among adverts from the "stalwarts of fandom" (including Bails, John McGeehan and Ronn Foss among others) was a review of the first issue of ''

The Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the firs ...

'' by Roy Thomas, originally destined for the pages of ''Alter-Ego''. After publishing ''The Comicollector'' for a year, Bails passed it on to Ronn Foss, and in 1964 it merged with G. B. Love's fanzine ''The Rocket's Blast'' to form '' The Rocket's Blast and the ComiCollector''.Yutko, Nick
"1961," Absolute Elsewhere, Oct. 3, 1998.
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015205243/http://www.cafes.net/ditch/F61.htm , date=2009-10-15 Retrieved July 16, 2008. {{main, The Comic Reader A month after the debut of ''The Comicollector'', in October 1961, Bails also founded and published ''On the Drawing Board'', the forerunner to the long-running news-zine ''

The Comic Reader ''The Comic Reader'' (''TCR'') was a comics news- fanzine published from 1961 to 1984. Debuting in the pre- direct market era (before the proliferation of comics retailers), ''TCR'' was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine, a ...

'', designed to showcase the latest comic news. Spinning-off from ''Alter-Ego'' after appearing for three issues as a column within that publication, Bails' ''On the Drawing Board'' "was devoted to blurbs and news items pertaining to upcoming events in pro comics." Thanks to the links forged, and respect gained, by Bails with various key individuals involved in the creation of comics — and in particular,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

' major editorial force

— he was able to gain advanced knowledge and news of upcoming comics events, launches and the creators behind them. Released in standalone form as "a single-page news-sheet," ''On the Drawing Board'' #4 (#1-3 being applied to the columns appearing in those issues of ''A/E'') debuted on October 7, 1961. Bill Schelly described, in 2003, its impact: {{quote, text=Suddenly, fans had a way to see what was coming up on the newsstands. In some cases, they also found out the names of the writers and artists of certain features, in an era before such credits were routinely given. While there was considerable interest in developments at DC (especially the revival of

Hawkman Hawkman is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1, published by All-American ...

), fans also closely followed the entrance of other companies into the costumed hero sweepstakes:

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Gold Key, Charlton, and Marvel. In March 1962, issue #8 of ''On the Drawing Board'' was retitled ''The Comic Reader'', and the (generally) monthly title became "a mainstay of fandom." With issue #25 Bails ceded his editorial duties, first to Glen Johnson, and later individuals, including Mark Hanerfeld. New York teenager Paul Levitz revived ''The Comic Reader'' in 1971, and it continued until 1984.

The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors

{{main, Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors Established in large part solely to deal with the

(below), and inspired by Roy Thomas' thoughts on a comics-industry version of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

, the name and workings of the

Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors (ACBFC) was the first official organization of comic book enthusiasts and historians. Active during the 1960s, the ACBFC was established by Jerry Bails, the "father of comics fandom". A vital player in ...

became a way "to emphasize the seriousness of comics fans about their hobby." Bails further liked "the idea of a fandom organization that would not only perpetuate the concept of comics as an art form, but would also act as a sort of umbrella for all his ideas and projects, and those of others." The ACBFC's charter, "enthusiastically endorsed by members of fandom" detailed the Academy's intentions: formation of the Alley Awards, publication of ''The Comic Reader'' and "a directory of comic fans," to assist in establishing a yearly comics convention and to endorse a "code of fair practice in the selling and trading of comic books." Bails introduced and attempted to popularize the term "panelologist" for comics fans and their hobby, implying a study of the panels which make up comics. Bails served as the Academy's first Executive Secretary, later passing his role on to fellow fan

Paul Gambaccini Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born April 2, 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author in the United Kingdom. He has dual United States and British nationality, having become a British citizen in 2005. Known as "The Grea ...

(who termed himself "ExecSec2"), who later gave way to

Dave Kaler Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

. Under Kaler's leadership, the Academy produced three successful conventions in New York City during the summers of 1965–1967.Schelly, Bill. ''Founders of Comic Fandom: Profiles of 90 Publishers, Dealers, Collectors, Writers, Artists and Other Luminaries of the 1950s and 1960s'' (McFarland, 2010), p. 8.Schelly, Bill. "The Kaler Con: Two Views: Bigger And Better Than The Benson Con Just Three Weeks Before?? (Part VIII of '1966: The Year Of (Nearly) Three New York Comics Conventions')," ''Alter-Ego'' #64 (Jan. 2007). Despite a 1969 "Marvel Bullpen Bulletins" mention noting that the group "holds an annual poll to determine the most popular mags, writers and artists of the preceding year," and directing fans to obtain a ballot from future comics professional Mark Hanerfeld at 42-42 Colden Street in

Flushing, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the i ...

...," the Academy waned, "and it was disbanded for lack of interest by the decade's end."

The Alley Awards

{{main, Alley Awards The first comic book awards trace their origins to "a letter to Jerry dated October 25, 1961," by Roy Thomas, in which he suggested to Bails that ''Alter-Ego'' create its own awards to reward fandom's "favorite comic books in a number of categories" in a manner similar to the

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. In the

letter column A comic book letter column is a section of an American comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns (or lettercols), letter pages, letters of comment (LOCs), or ...

of ''

'' #33 (1964), it is stated that the Association "elected Stan the best writer, and the best editor of the year! They've also voted the ol' F.F. and SPIDER-MAN the two best comic books of the year! Also -- what was their choice for the year's best annual? The FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL, natch!" Initially suggested as 'The Alter-Ego Award,' the resulting idea was soon named 'The Alley Award', "named after Alley Oop" by Thomas "because surely a caveman had to be the earliest superhero chronologically." (Bill Schelly notes no one "bothered to ask the NEA Syndicate for permission to utilize

V. T. Hamlin Vincent Trout Hamlin (May 10, 1900 – June 14, 1993), who preferred the name V. T. Hamlin, was an American comic strip cartoonist. He created the popular, long-run comic strip ''Alley Oop'', syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. ...

's comic strip character.") The Alley Awards were tallied yearly for comics produced during the previous year, with the last year the awards were given out being 1969.

Convention forerunner

{{main, Alley Awards#Alley Tally Between March 21 and March 22, 1964, the first annual "Alley Tally" was organized by Bails at his house with the purpose of counting "the Alley Award ballots for 1963." This became notable in retrospect as the first major gathering of comics fans, predating the earliest

comic book conventions A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...

, which were held later in the year. Attendees included Ronn Foss, Don Glut, Chuck Moss, Don and Maggie Thompson,

Mike Vosburg Mike Vosburg (born July 23, 1947) is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the '' Tales from the Crypt'' TV series. Biography Mike Vosburg's comics career began in the 1960s, when as a 15-year-old teenager he started ''Ma ...

, and Grass Green. Bill Schelly (among others) notes that the Alley Tally and "even larger fan meetings in Chicago . . . helped build momentum" for these earliest conventions, including the aforementioned "

Academy Con The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors (ACBFC) was the first official organization of comic book enthusiasts and historians. Active during the 1960s, the ACBFC was established by Jerry Bails, the "father of comics fandom". A vital player in ...

s" held in New York in 1965–1967. Bails himself was "on the organizing committee" for the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, 1964. THE DTFF would continue sporadically through the 1970s under its initial format, though expanded; while primarily a comic convention, the event also gave balanced coverage to historic film showings (often running all night long for the convention's duration) and science-fiction literature, in a manner that provided a template for many future convention organizers—most of whom have yet to attain the same level of equal service to this sort of linked fan base.

CAPA-alpha

{{main, CAPA-alpha In October 1964, Bails released the first issue of comics' first dedicated

amateur press association An amateur press association (APA) is a group of people who produce individual pages or zines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group. History The first APAs were formed by groups of amateur pr ...

publication,

CAPA-alpha CAPA-alpha (sometimes abbreviated to K-a) was the first amateur press association (APA) devoted to comic books, started by Jerry Bails (the "father of comics fandom") in the United States in 1964. History In October 1964 Bails released the first i ...

. Between 1963 and 1964, "new fanzines were popping up right and left . . . sa lot of fans were infected by the "publishing bug," many of them talented writers and artists." In an attempt to focus these emerging talents, and head off the over-abundance of "crud-zines" (poor quality fanzines), which seemed to equal in number their good quality counterparts, Bails adapted the long-standing practice of amateur press alliance (APAs) for comics, creating the first all-comics APA, "CAPA-alpha" (the first — e.g., 'alpha' — 'Comics A.P.A.'). This allowed the easy formulation of a fanzine, created through submissions by each of its fifty-strong membership, who could all contribute short submissions on a regular basis. Compiled in the regular APA mold by a 'central mailer' (in which role Bails first served), copies of the membership's individual submissions could then be collated and mailed out to everyone. "Now," explained fandom historian Bill Schelly, "fans could get into print and retain editorial control of their material, without publishing their own fanzine."

Indices and reference materials

Bails also worked on and published extensive cross-referencing systems allowing researchers the ability to follow the published credits of Golden Age comic book creators. As this approach had never been used before, the data were later appended, and have since been adapted by a variety of comic price guides and comic book historians. A "professor of science and technology," Bails "had a technical bent" that saw him embracing new forms of technology and novel ideas in his continued efforts within fandom. Among his ideas was "microfilming rare, hard-to-find Golden Age comics," which film could then be loaned/viewed rather than the tangible comics themselves, reducing considerably wear and tear. Alongside

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...

's ''Great Comic Book Heroes'' (1965), Bails' microfilm library was the major source of "substitutes for the real" comics themselves, which were rarely reprinted. To accommodate readers who did not have access to a microfilm reader, Bails offered a reproduction service of "cover photographs, spanning most of the key #1 issues from the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

era," in black & white for $2. These reproductions pre-dated by three decades the four volumes of comic book covers published as ''The Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books'' by Ernie Gerber in the mid-1990s. The lack of reference materials available to comics fans meant that much early fandom activity revolved around indexing various companies and individuals' output. A pioneer in this field, Bails worked with Howard Keltner, Raymond Miller and Fred Von Bernewitz (among others) to index various comics, detailing "what comics had been published, their contents, how many issues they ran, etc." Naturally Bails' early efforts dealt with ''All-Star Comics'' and DC, in first his ''All-Star Index'' and then an ''Authoritative Index to DC Comics''. With Howard Keltner in particular, Bails then compiled several extensive wider inventories of "

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

" comics, including ''The Collector's Guide to the First Heroic Age of Comics''. A partial listing of Bails-involved indexes includes: * ''The Authoritative Index to All-Star Comics'' * ''The Collector's Guide to the First Heroic Age of Comics'' * ''Howard Keltner's Index to Golden Age Comic Books'' * ''The Authoritative Index to DC Comics'' * ''The Panelologist presents: the Justice Society of America on Earth-Two'' * ''The Panelologist presents: the Green Lantern Golden Age Index'' Bails' friend and colleague Ray Bottorff Jr. recalls that Bails had "begun to create a comic book price guide, when a man named Bob Overstreet contacted him because he was doing the same thing." Bails' extensive notes "became a backbone to the '' Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide''."

''Who's Who''

In addition to his work in comics indexing, Bails was also involved in the tabulating of information about the people involved in both comics and comics fandom. Described in the ACBFC charter, ''Who's Who in Comic Fandom'' was the first concerted effort to provide a centralized store of data on the ever-increasing number of comics fans. It was released in April 1964 by Bails and L. Lattanzi. The volume opened with Bails' chronologies of both early comics fandom and the "Second Heroic Age of Comics". later known as the

Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an in ...

. The directory itself contained fan listings culled from Bails' master list of 1,600 names. Bails invited fans to contact each other, "make sure they llknow about the Academy; help form a local Chapter ndhelp Comic Fandom to grow!" Bails also contributed to the following year's ''Guidebook to Comics Fandom'', a brief guide to the major fanzines being published. He wrote an introductory essay on the collecting of comics and produced a brief timeline of fandom as well as a "truncated Golden Age index." In addition, he set out in print the "standard grading system for comics" which with some slight revisions "is still used today." Bails and co-editor Hames Ware published ''Who's Who of American Comic Books'' in four volumes between 1973 and 1976, designed to document the careers of every person to have contributed to, or supported the publication of, original material in U.S. comic books since 1928.

Methodology

With many creators largely unknown before the advent of comics fans and fandom in the 1950s and 1960s, Bails was one of the earliest proponents of documenting these individuals' credits. He wrote to a large number of creators and was able to encourage many to share their recollections, credits and, in some cases, personal records to assist in the accuracy of his project. A major part of the reference work was fan-identification of artistic styles and signature-spotting and recognition, which deductions often formed the basis for Bails' questions to creators, who could then offer corrections and additions. This included collecting and microfilming more than 500,000 comic book pages and contacting many hundreds of comic book professionals, asking them to fill out questionnaires about their careers. After two subsequent editions, Bails focused on computerizing the data, ultimately embracing the internet through the medium of th
online Who's Who
"Bails Project" website. The online database also attempts to cover foreign creators, the small press and alternative publishers of comic books which have received U.S. distribution. Members of Bails' "advisory board" for the ''Who's Who'' include Craig Delich, a long-time friend and teaching colleague of Bails and Ray Bottorff Jr., who also serves on the board of directors for the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

."With a Little Help From His Friends..." in ''

'' Vol. 3 Issue #25 (June 2003) pp. 14-19 A stroke late in Bails' life affected his vision and cut into his ability to pursue work on Who's Who, but until his death he was still adding hundreds of new records each week and consolidating and revising old records. Bails also wrote introductions and forewords to a number of collections of

and Silver Age DC Comics books. In 1985, DC Comics named Bails as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication ''

Fifty Who Made DC Great ''Fifty Who Made DC Great'' is a one shot published by DC Comics to commemorate the company's 50th anniversary in 1985. It was published in comic book format but contained text articles with photographs and background caricatures. Publication h ...

''.{{Cite comic, writer = Marx, Barry, cowriters = Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas, artist = Petruccio, Steven , editor = Marx, Barry, story = Jerry Bails Fandom Founded, title = Fifty Who Made DC Great, date = 1985, publisher = DC Comics, page = 32, panel = , id =

Personal life

Bails died in his sleep of a heart attack on November 23, 2006. He was 73 years old.{{cite web , url = http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/jerry_bails_1933_2006/ , author-link=Tom Spurgeon, last=Spurgeon , first=Tom, title=Jerry Bails, 1933-2006, publisher=ComicsReporter.com, date= November 24, 2006, access-date= July 15, 2008, archive-date= September 12, 2015, archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150912030430/http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/jerry_bails_1933_2006/, url-status=live

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Who's Who of American Comic Books
{{Inkpot Award 1980s {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Bails, Jerry 1933 births 2006 deaths Writers from Kansas City, Missouri Comics critics American magazine editors American archivists Inkpot Award winners Wayne State University faculty