CAPA-alpha (sometimes abbreviated to K-a) was the first amateur press association (APA) devoted to

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

, started by Jerry Bails (the "father of comics fandom") in the United States in 1964.

History

In October 1964 Bails released the first issue of comics' first dedicated APA publication.Bails, Jerry G., "America's Four-color Pastime..." ''The Guidebook to Comics Fandom'' ( Bill Spicer, Summer 1965). 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."Schelly, Bill. "Jerry Bails' Ten Building Blocks of Fandom," ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #25 (June 2003), pp. 5-8. In an attempt to focus these emerging talents, and head off the over-abundance of poor quality fanzines (or "crud-zines") which seemed to equal in number their good quality counterparts, Bails adapted the long-standing practice of APAs for comics, creating the first all-comics APA, "CAPA-alpha" (the first—e.g., 'alpha'—'Comics A.P.A.'). Cartoonist and fanzine publisher Johnny Chambers is credited with coming up with the title CAPA-Alpha.Caplan, Alan
"50 Years of Comics Fandom,"
John G. Fantucchio Artwork Gallery (2011). Accessed May 1, 2013. This allowed the easy formulation of a

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), 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 pleas ...

, 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." CAPA-alpha soon grew to its present limit of fifty members, becoming along the way the archetype for most subsequent comics APAs. Besides Bails, notable members have included

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series '' Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book '' Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and ...

, Carl Gafford, Fred Patten,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and Wendy Pini, Neal Pozner,

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. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

, Bob Ingersoll, Dan Alderson, Dave Kaler, Ralph Alfonso, Rick Norwood, Don Markstein, Dwight Decker, Rob Solomon, Rocky Bronstein, Tom Stern, Jim Korkis, Richard Morrissey, Harry Broertjes, Jim Chadwick, Wayne DeWald, Meloney Crawford, Gary Brown, Alan Hutchinson, Jeffrey H. Wasserman, and Don and Maggie Thompson. In addition, Michael Barrier's animation fanzine ''Funnyworld'' started as a CAPA-alpha contribution.

References

Comics fandom Magazines about comics Journalism-related professional associations Zines {{comics-stub