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107-429: The New York Comic Art Convention's growth in popularity coincided with the increasing media attention on comics that had been building since the mid-1960s, feeding off the then novel notions of comics being a subject worthy of serious critical study and collectibility. Circa 1961, enterprising fans including Jerry Bails , Shel Dorf , Bernie Bubnis, and future Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas began following

214-470: A Powers -themed update/homage to "22 Panels," making it available for distribution. In July 2012, Cerebus TV producer Max Southall brought together materials and released a documentary that featured Dave Sim 's homage to Wallace Wood and a focus on his 22 Panels, including a tribute that features a creation using the motif of one of them, depicting Daredevil and Wood himself, in Wallace Wood style – and

321-719: 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 ...," the Academy waned, "and it was disbanded for lack of interest by the decade's end." 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

428-505: A Manhattan studio at West 64th Street and Columbus Avenue, Wood began to attract attention in 1950 with his science-fiction artwork for EC and Avon Comics , some in collaboration with Joe Orlando . During this period, he drew in a wide variety of subjects and genres, including adventure, romance, war and horror ; message stories (for EC's Shock SuspenStories ); and eventually satirical humor for writer/editor Harvey Kurtzman in Mad including

535-465: 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

642-489: 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 ' major editorial force Julius Schwartz — he was able to gain advanced knowledge and news of upcoming comics events, launches and

749-563: 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. In October 1964, Bails released the first issue of comics' first dedicated amateur press association publication, CAPA-alpha . Between 1963 and 1964, "new fanzines were popping up right and left . . . [as]

856-548: A copy by Larry Hama at the DC office in 1978 light-boxed the pages, incorporating a non-linear dialogue, and asked Par Holman to ink it. Holman inked and lettered the piece, and the completed art was distributed through Clay Geerdes ' Comics World Co-Op, whose members produced mini- and digest-sized comics. In 2006, writer/artist Joel Johnson bought the Larry Hama paste-up of photocopies at auction and made it available for wide distribution on

963-409: A few early issues of Marvel 's Daredevil and established the title character's distinctive red costume. Wood created and owned the long-running characters Sally Forth and Cannon . He wrote, drew, and self-published two of the three graphic novels of his magnum opus , The Wizard King trilogy, about Odkin son of Odkin before his death by suicide. Much of his early professional artwork

1070-569: 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 , and maybe a bit more." With

1177-498: A hundred people found themselves in a New York City union meeting hall, a large open room with wooden folding chairs, looking around at each other oddly, surprised, not really knowing what they were there for, a bit sheepish, waiting for whatever was going to take place to begin. ... It was the first comics convention ever [and t]hat one-day assembly ... grew step by step into an annual tradition in New York and then elsewhere." In 1965,

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1284-548: A loss of vision in one eye. Faced with declining health and career prospects, he shot and killed himself in Los Angeles on November 2, 1981. Toward the end of his life, an embittered Wood would say, according to one biography, "If I had it all to do over again, I'd cut off my hands." Wally's World: The Brilliant Life & Tragic Death of Wally Wood, the World's 2nd Best Comic Book Artist by Steve Starger & J. David Spurlock ,

1391-481: A 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

1498-500: A magic pencil that could draw anything, foretold his future as an artist. Wood graduated from high school in 1944, signed on with the United States Merchant Marine at the close of World War II and enlisted in the U.S. Army 's 11th Airborne Division in 1946. He went from training at Fort Benning , Georgia , to occupied Japan , where he was assigned to the island of Hokkaidō . In 1947, at age 20, Wood enrolled in

1605-1101: A microfilm reader, Bails offered a reproduction service of "cover photographs, spanning most of the key #1 issues from the World War II 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 " comics, including The Collector's Guide to

1712-547: A number of categories" in a manner similar to the Oscars . In the letter column of Fantastic Four #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,'

1819-430: A revolution had occurred then, a turning point in the history of this medium. ... I reasoned that the 13-year-old kids that I'd been writing to back in the 1940s were no longer 13-year-old kids, they were now 30, 40 years old. They would want something more than two heroes, two supermen, crashing against each other. I began working on a book that dealt with a subject that I felt had never been tried by comics before, and that

1926-672: A satire of the lawsuit Superman 's publisher DC filed against Captain Marvel 's publisher Fawcett called " Superduperman! " battling Captain Marbles. Wood was instrumental in convincing EC publisher William Gaines to start a line of science fiction comics, Weird Science and Weird Fantasy (later combined under the single title Weird Science-Fantasy ). Wood penciled and inked several dozen EC science fiction stories. Wood also had frequent entries in Two-Fisted Tales and Tales from

2033-434: A second Flash Gordon sendup titled Flesh Fucker Meets Women's Lib! ; and The Wizard of Oz , titled The Blizzard of Ooze . Wood struggled to be as efficient as possible in the often low-paying comics industry. Over time he created a series of layout techniques sketched on pieces of paper which he taped up near his drawing table. These "visual notes," collected on three pages, reminded Wood (and select assistants he showed

2140-638: A set of two hardcover books ( ISBN   978-1-60699-815-1 , ISBN   978-1-68396-068-3 ), mainly compiled by his former assistant Bhob Stewart over a 30-year period. It is a revised, expanded, and uncensored version of his previous Wood book Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood ( TwoMorrows , 2003). It features personal recollections of Wood's friends, colleagues, and assistants, including John Severin , Al Williamson , Paul Krassner , Trina Robbins , Larry Hama , and Paul Levitz ; previously unpublished artwork and photographs; and

2247-479: A single page, which Hama titled "Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work!!" (It was subtitled, "Or some interesting ways to get some variety into those boring panels where some dumb writer has a bunch of lame characters sitting around and talking for page after page!") Hama left out two of the original 24 panels as his photocopies were too faint to make out some of the lightest sketches. Hama distributed Wood's "elegantly simple primer to basic storytelling" to artists in

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2354-471: A small publisher. After the two shared their experiences attempting to find work, Severin invited Wood to visit his studio, the Charles William Harvey Studio, where Wood met Charlie Stern, Harvey Kurtzman (who was working for Timely/Marvel) and Will Elder . At this studio Wood learned that Will Eisner was looking for a Spirit background artist. He immediately visited Eisner and was hired on

2461-516: 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

2568-560: 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

2675-578: 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 . 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 , designed to showcase the latest comic news. Spinning-off from Alter-Ego after appearing for three issues as

2782-428: A year. I also started doing backgrounds, then inking . Most of it was the romance stuff. For complete pages, it was $ 5 a page ... Twice a week, I would ink ten pages in one day". Artists' representative Renaldo Epworth helped Wood land his early comic-book assignments, making it unclear if that connection led to Wood's lettering or to his comics-art debut, the ten-page story "The Tip Off Woman" [ sic ] in

2889-804: A young man, he "sent samples of his art to EC ("and Al Feldstein was nice enough to respond with advice.")," before attending the University of Kansas City , from which he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, and then his Master's degree in Math. A student teacher by 1953, he gained his Ph.D. in Natural science c.  1959 , and in 1960 moved to Detroit with his wife Sondra "to become Assistant Professor of Natural Science at Wayne State University ." In 1953, Bails wrote to DC (c/o Julius Schwartz ) to inquire about issues of All-Star Comics . His letter

2996-571: Is a comprehensive biography. It was published in 2006 by Vanguard , which also publishes collections of Wood's comic book work, including Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction , Wally Wood: Eerie Tales of Crime & Horror , Wally Wood: Dare-Devil Aces , Wally Wood: Jungle Adventures , Wally Wood: Torrid Tales of Romance , new editions of The Wizard King books, and the Wally Wood Sketchbook . In 2017 and 2018, Fantagraphics Books published The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood ,

3103-520: Is known as the artist of the unsigned satirical Disneyland Memorial Orgy poster, which first appeared in Paul Krassner 's magazine The Realist . The poster depicts a number of copyrighted Disney characters in various unsavory activities (including sex acts and drug use), with huge dollar signs radiating from Cinderella's Castle . Wood himself, as late as 1981, when asked who did that drawing, said only, "I'd rather not say anything about that! It

3210-725: Is signed Wallace Wood ; some people call him Wally Wood , a name he claimed to dislike. Within the comics community, he was also known as Woody , a name he sometimes used as a signature. In addition to Wood's hundreds of comic book pages, he illustrated for books and magazines while also working in a variety of other areas – advertising; packaging and product illustrations; gag cartoons ; record album covers; posters ; syndicated comic strips ; and trading cards , including work on Topps 's landmark Mars Attacks set. EC publisher William Gaines once stated, "Wally may have been our most troubled artist ... I'm not suggesting any connection, but he may have been our most brilliant". He

3317-645: The Captain Action comic book series in 1968. The following year, Wood briefly served as inker of the Superboy series. Discovering from Roy Thomas that Jack Kirby had returned to DC in 1970, Wood called editor Joe Orlando in an attempt to get the assignment to ink Kirby's new work, but that role was already filled by Vince Colletta . That same year, Wood was a ghost artist for an episode of Prince Valiant . Wood worked on various series for DC between 1975 and 1977, producing several covers for Plop! and inking

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3424-590: The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors , led by Dave Kaler , hosted a convention at New York's Broadway Central Hotel , continuing that tradition in 1966 and 1967. The so-called " Academy Cons " featured such industry professionals as Otto Binder , Bill Finger , Gardner Fox , Mort Weisinger , James Warren , Roy Thomas , Gil Kane , Stan Lee , Bill Everett , Carmine Infantino , and Julius Schwartz . As Seuling told it, "In 1968, I became involved in [staging] my first convention." The 1968 show, officially known as

3531-445: The Alley Awards (below), and inspired by Roy Thomas' thoughts on a comics-industry version of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , the name and workings of the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors 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

3638-491: The Eisner & Iger comics packaging studio). As comics historian Robert Beerbohm remembers, "Iger & Eisner had brought in a few five-foot tall pallets of original comic book art, mainly Fiction House. Using a forklift. Many multi thousands of pages. The Lou Fine covers, etc., went early on for bigger bucks... [In] the last few hours they made the art $ 10 an inch." In 1973, Seuling persuaded Dr. Fredric Wertham , author of

3745-584: The Fox Comics Western Women Outlaws No. 4 (cover-dated January 1949, on sale late 1948). Wood's next known comic-book art did not appear until Fox's My Confession No. 7 (August 1949), at which time he began working almost continuously on the company's similar My Experience , My Secret Life , My Love Story and My True Love: Thrilling Confession Stories . His first signed work is believed to be in My Confession #8 (October 1949), with

3852-560: The Golden Age creators were still alive and in attendance at panels and for interviews, which helped lay the groundwork for the medium 's historical scholarship. The reputation of the Convention spread throughout fandom via an annual write-up published in The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom by columnist Murray Bishoff . Besides reporting on convention events, Bishoff also provided fans around

3959-559: The Hogarth School of Art but dropped out after one semester. In 1948, he enrolled in the Cartoonists and Illustrators School (now known as the School of Visual Arts), staying less than one year (although he made a number of professional contacts which helped him later). By October, after being rejected by every company he visited, Wood met fellow artist John Severin in the waiting room of

4066-932: The International Convention of Comic Book Art , was co-produced with SCARP, the short-lived Society for Comic Art Research and Preservation, Inc. Guests of honor at the 1968 show were Will Eisner and Burne Hogarth . Featured speakers included Stan Lee , Milton Caniff , Lee Falk , and Charles Biro . Professional guests included Neal Adams , Dan Adkins , Murphy Anderson , Dick Ayers , Vaughn Bodē , E. Nelson Bridwell , Nick Cardy , Gene Colan , Leonard Darvin , Sol Davidson , Arnold Drake , Creig Flessel , Woody Gelman , Dick Giordano , Archie Goodwin , Bill Harris , Larry Ivie , Jeff Jones , Gil Kane , Gray Morrow , Joe Orlando , Jerry Robinson , John Romita , Richard Sherry , Jerry Siegel , Leonard Starr , Jim Steranko , Roy Thomas , Sal Trapani , John Verpoorten , Al Williamson , and Wally Wood . Total attendance

4173-603: The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and the New York Coliseum . Other companies, including Dynamic Forces, held New York City conventions but all were on a smaller scale than the Seuling shows. Changes in the industry, popular culture, and the resurgent city itself since the troubled 1960s and '70s made large-scale comic-book conventions difficult to hold profitably. Jonah Weiland of ComicBookResources.com also noted that "...dealing with

4280-567: The Minneapolis School of Art but only lasted one term. Arriving in New York City with his brother Glenn and mother Alma (of Finnish descent), after his military discharge in July 1948, Wood found employment at Bickford's restaurant as a busboy. During his time off he carried his thick portfolio of drawings all over midtown Manhattan, visiting every publisher he could find. He briefly attended

4387-731: The men's magazines Dude , Gent and Nugget . He inked the first eight months of the 1958–1961 syndicated comic strip Sky Masters of the Space Force , penciled by Jack Kirby . Wood expanded into book illustrations, including for the picture-cover editions (though not the dust-jacket editions) of titles in the 1959 Aladdin Books reissues of Bobbs Merrill's 1947 "Childhood of Famous Americans" series. Wood additionally did art and stories for comic-book companies large and small – from Marvel (and its 1950s iteration Atlas Comics ), DC (including House of Mystery and Jack Kirby 's Challengers of

Comic Art Convention - Misplaced Pages Continue

4494-453: The "Second Heroic Age of Comics". later known as the Silver Age of Comic Books . 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 [all] know about the Academy; help form a local Chapter [and] help Comic Fandom to grow!" Bails also contributed to the following year's Guidebook to Comics Fandom ,

4601-647: The 1961-1969 Alley Awards , sponsored by Alter Ego magazine and the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors , were presented at the Comic Art Convention. After the demise of the Alley, later years featured the Goethe Awards (later renamed the "Comic Fan Art Awards"). The 1971 show featured Guests of Honor Jerry Iger and Will Eisner , and their sale of hundreds of pages of original Golden Age comic book art , mostly from Fiction House (a prominent client of

4708-568: The Alley Tally and "even larger fan meetings in Chicago . . . helped build momentum" for these earliest conventions, including the aforementioned " Academy Cons " 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

4815-480: The Bold #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

4922-544: The Crypt , as well as the later EC titles Valor , Piracy , and Aces High . Working over scripts and pencil breakdowns by Jules Feiffer , the 25-year-old Wood drew two months of Will Eisner 's Sunday-supplement newspaper comic book The Spirit , on the 1952 story arc "The Spirit in Outer Space". Eisner, Wood recalled, paid him "about $ 30 a week for lettering and backgrounds on The Spirit . Sometimes he paid $ 40 when I did

5029-560: The First Heroic Age of Comics . A partial listing of Bails-involved indexes includes: 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 ." In addition to his work in comics indexing, Bails

5136-671: The Independence Day-centered Comic Art Convention into the smaller Manhattan Con , which took place in mid-June. Seuling died unexpectedly in August 1984, and the Comic Art Convention/Manhattan Con died with him. The Comic Art Conventions provided the primary nexus for fans and the largely New York City-based industry during the Silver Age and the Bronze Age of comic books . As well, many of

5243-623: The Internet. In 2010 Anne Lukeman of Kill Vampire Lincoln Productions produced a short film adapting the "22 Panels That Always Work" into a film noir -style experimental piece called 22 Frames That Always Work . Artist Rafael Kayanan created a revised version of "22 Panels" that used actual art from published Wood comics to illustrate each frame. In 2006, cartoonist and publisher Cheese Hasselberger created "Cheese's 22 Panels That Never Work," featuring bizarre situations and generally poor storytelling techniques. In 2012, Michael Avon Oeming created

5350-541: The Marvel bullpen, who in turn passed them on to their friends and associates. Eventually, "22 Panels" made the rounds of just about every cartoonist or aspiring comic book artist in the industry and achieved its own iconic status. Wood's "Panels That Always Work" is copyright Wallace Wood Properties, LLC as listed by the United States Copyright Office which assigned the work Registration Number VA0001814764. In 1986, Tom Christopher, who had been given

5457-453: 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 Julius Schwartz and writer Gardner Fox , 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 , one of

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5564-720: The Seven Dwarfs , titled So White and the Six Dorks ; Terry and The Pirates , titled Perry and the Privates ; Prince Valiant , titled Prince Violate ; Superman and Wonder Woman , titled Stuporman Meets Blunder Woman ; Flash Gordon , titled Flasher Gordon ; and Tarzan titled Starzan . A third volume, published in 1983, contained three more sexually explicit parodies of Alice in Wonderland , titled Malice in Blunderland ;

5671-563: The Unknown ), and Warren ( Creepy , Eerie , 1984 ), to such smaller firms as Avon ( Eerie , Strange Worlds ), Charlton ( War and Attack , Jungle Jim ), Fox ( Martin Kane, Private Eye ), Gold Key ( M.A.R.S. Patrol Total War , Fantastic Voyage ), Harvey ( Unearthly Spectaculars ), King Comics ( Jungle Jim ), Atlas/Seaboard ( The Destructor ), Youthful ( Captain Science ) and

5778-532: The Wallace Wood Estate's official print of the panels. Wood was married three times. His first marriage was to artist Tatjana Wood , who later did extensive work as a comic-book colorist . Their marriage ended in the late 1960s. His second marriage, to Marilyn Silver, also ended in divorce. For much of his adult life, Wood had chronic, unexplainable headaches. In the 1970s, following bouts with alcoholism , Wood had kidney failure . A stroke in 1978 caused

5885-435: 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

5992-528: 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

6099-710: The annual ACBA Sketchbook . In one of his final assignments, Wood returned to a character he helped define, inking Frank Miller 's cover of Daredevil #164 (May 1980). His last known mainstream credit was inking Wonder Woman #269 (July 1980). Over several decades, numerous artists worked at the Wood Studio. Associates and assistants included Dan Adkins , Richard Bassford , Howard Chaykin , Tony Coleman, Nick Cuti , Leo and Diane Dillon , Larry Hama , Russ Jones , Wayne Howard , Paul Kirchner , Joe Orlando, Bill Pearson , Al Sirois, Ralph Reese , Bhob Stewart , Tatjana Wood , and Mike Zeck . In 1966, Wood launched

6206-583: The awards were given out being 1969. 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 , which were held later in the year. Attendees included Ronn Foss, Don Glut, Chuck Moss, Don and Maggie Thompson , Mike Vosburg , and Grass Green . Bill Schelly (among others) notes that

6313-554: The board of directors for the Grand Comics Database . 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 Golden Age and Silver Age DC Comics books. In 1985, DC Comics named Bails as one of

6420-481: The careers of every person to have contributed to, or supported the publication of, original material in U.S. comic books since 1928. 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

6527-447: The country with a benchmark market report by surveying attending dealers regarding what was selling and whether prices realized were above or below those quoted in the de facto standard, The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide . Will Eisner , creator of the Spirit in 1940, credited the 1971 Comic Art Con for his return to comics. In a 1983 interview with Seuling, he said, "I came back into

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6634-515: The covers and throughout the interior. Wood penciled and inked the first four 10-page installments of the company's " Dr. Doom " feature in Astonishing Tales #1–4 (Aug. 1970-Feb. 1971), and both wrote and drew anthological horror/suspense tales in Tower of Shadows #5–8 (May–Nov. 1970), as well as sporadic other work. In circles concerned with copyright and intellectual property issues, Wood

6741-485: 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: 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

6848-487: The data, ultimately embracing the internet through the medium of the 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

6955-558: The debut of the "new Justice Society," the Justice League of America in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #28 ( 1959 ), Bails felt his "efforts [had] finally 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 is filled with missives from Bails under different pen names. He did everything he could to fool editor Julius Schwartz, including mailing

7062-414: The drawings, too". Feiffer, in 2010, recalled Wood's studio, "which was at that time in the very slummy Upper West Side [of Manhattan] in the [West] 60s, years before it was [the] Lincoln Center [area]. It was a cartoonist and science-fiction writers' ghetto – just a huge room where the walls were knocked down, dark, smelly, roach-infested, and all these cartoonists and writers bent over their tables. One

7169-614: 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." Bails also worked on and published extensive cross-referencing systems allowing researchers

7276-459: The field because of you. I remember you calling me in New London, [Connecticut] , where I was sitting there as chairman of the board of Croft Publishing Co. My secretary said, 'There's a Mr. Seuling on the phone and he's talking about a comics convention. What is that?' She said, 'I didn't know you were a cartoonist , Mr. Eisner.' 'Oh, yes,' I said, 'secretly; I'm a closet cartoonist.' I came down and

7383-625: The final art by Bob Powell and Norman Saunders . For Marvel during the Silver Age of Comic Books , Wood's work as penciler-inker of Daredevil #5–8 and inker over Bob Powell of issues #9-11 established the title character's distinctive red costume (in issue #7). Wood and Stan Lee introduced the Stilt-Man in Daredevil #8 (June 1965). When Daredevil guest-starred in Fantastic Four #39–40, Wood inked that character, over Jack Kirby pencils, on

7490-690: The first Big Apple Convention in the basement of Manhattan's Church of St. Paul the Apostle . These small shows nonetheless attracted many comics creators and pop-culture figures, and by 2000 the convention had moved to the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th Street in Manhattan, and by the mid-2000s were taking place at the Penn Plaza Pavilion at the Hotel Pennsylvania — the same location of

7597-419: 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. Roy Thomas edited a further four issues solo, and issue #11 almost a decade later in collaboration with Mike Friedrich . In 1998, Thomas wrote to publisher John Morrow, and shortly after Thomas relaunched the second volume of Alter Ego on

7704-461: 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 by Roy Thomas, originally destined for the pages of Alter-Ego . After publishing The Comicollector for

7811-558: The flipside of issues of TwoMorrows Publishing '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. The major motivating force behind comics fandom "was to bring fans together for

7918-581: The honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great . Bails died in his sleep of a heart attack on November 23, 2006. He was 73 years old. Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics 's titles such as Weird Science , Weird Fantasy , and MAD Magazine from its inception in 1952 until 1964, as well as for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents , and work for Warren Publishing 's Creepy . He drew

8025-472: The independent magazine witzend (originally to be titled et cetera , a name which had to be withdrawn when Wood was told another magazine had already used this) one of the first alternative comics , a decade before Mike Friedrich 's Star Reach or Flo Steinberg 's Big Apple Comix for which Wood drew the cover and contributed a story. Wood offered his fellow professionals the opportunity to contribute illustrations and graphic stories that detoured from

8132-787: The industry-changing 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent , to attend what would be Wertham's only panel with an audience of comics fans. The 1974 show featured a panel on the role of women in comics, with Marie Severin , Flo Steinberg , Jean Thomas (sometime-collaborator with then-husband Roy Thomas ), Linda Fite (writer of The Claws of the Cat ), and fan representative Irene Vartanoff. By 1984, as his comic-book distribution business occupied more time, and as other comics conventions, most notably in San Diego and Chicago , became larger, more prominent, and more commercial- rather than fan-driven, Seuling segued

8239-586: 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 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. Largely unbeknownst to Bails and Thomas, comics fandom had been underway for years in

8346-680: The name " Alter-ego " for a more ambitious version of a newsletter — a " fanzine ," 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

8453-498: The name "Woody" half-hidden on a theater marquee . He penciled and inked two stories in that issue: "I Was Unwanted" (nine pages) and "My Tarnished Reputation" (ten pages). Wood began at EC co-penciling and co-inking with Harry Harrison the story "Too Busy For Love" ( Modern Love #5), and fully penciling the lead story, "I Was Just a Playtime Cowgirl", in Saddle Romances No. 11 (April 1950), inked by Harrison. Working from

8560-420: The original Comic Art Conventions. In 2002, the first MoCCA Art Festival , focused on alternative comics and the small press, was held at New York City’s Puck Building ; it has been held annually since. In 2006, the first New York Comic Con was held in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center ; it also has been held annually since. Jerry Bails Jerry Gwin Bails (June 26, 1933 – November 23, 2006)

8667-683: The pages to) of various layouts and compositional techniques to keep his pages dynamic and interesting. (In the same vein, Wood also taped up another note to himself: "Never draw anything you can copy, never copy anything you can trace, never trace anything you can cut out and paste up.") In 1980, Wood's original, three-page, 24-panel (not 22) version of "Panels" was published with the proper copyright notice in The Wallace Wood Sketchbook (Crouch/Wood 1980). Around 1981, Wood's ex-assistant Larry Hama , by then an editor at Marvel Comics , pasted up photocopies of Wood's copyrighted drawings on

8774-570: The pattern of the long-established science fiction fandom by publishing fanzines , corresponding with one another and with comic-book editors (most notably DC Comics ' Julius Schwartz ), and eventually arranging informal and later professional, commercial conventions. Among the first were the 1964 Tri-State Con (a.k.a. the New York Comicon) and that same year's precursor to the Detroit Triple Fan Fair (officially established in 1965). As Seuling described his convention's genesis, "In 1964, about

8881-507: The pencil artwork of Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby on Stalker and The Sandman respectively. He worked on the Hercules Unbound series as well, providing inks for José Luis García-López and Walt Simonson . Wood penciled and inked All Star Comics and contributed to the creation of Power Girl by exaggerating the size of her breasts. Active with the 1970s Academy of Comic Book Arts , Wood contributed to several editions of

8988-556: The purpose of adding to their comic book collections." Inspired in part by the science-fiction fanzine /"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,

9095-459: 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 's comic strip character." ) The Alley Awards were tallied yearly for comics produced during the previous year, with the last year

9202-479: 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 [science fiction and comics] and were read mainly by sf fans who generally had little interest in (or disdain for) new comics, even

9309-545: The spot. Over the next year, Wood also became an assistant to George Wunder , who had taken over the Milton Caniff strip Terry and the Pirates . Wood cited his "first job on my own" as Chief Ob-stacle , a continuing series of strips for a 1949 political newsletter. He entered the comic book field by lettering , as he recalled in 1981: "The first professional job was lettering for Fox romance comics in 1948. This lasted about

9416-544: The strips into a series of comics published by Eros Comix , an imprint of Fantagraphics Books , which in 1998 collected the entire run into a single 160-page volume. In 1969, Wood created another independent comic, Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon , intended for his "Sally Forth" military readership as indicated in the ads and indicia. Artists Steve Ditko and Ralph Reese and writer Ron Whyte are credited with primary writer-artist Wood on three features: "Cannon", "The Misfits", and "Dragonella". A second magazine-format issue

9523-433: 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 (who termed himself "ExecSec2" ), who later gave way to Dave Kaler . Under Kaler's leadership, the Academy produced three successful conventions in New York City during the summers of 1965–1967. Despite

9630-421: The toy company Wham-O ( Wham-O Giant Comics ). In 1965, Wood, Len Brown, and possibly Larry Ivie created T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents for Tower Comics . He wrote and drew the 1967 syndicated Christmas comic strip Bucky's Christmas Caper . During the 1960s, Wood did many trading cards and humor products for Topps Chewing Gum, including concept roughs for Topps' famed 1962 Mars Attacks cards prior to

9737-432: The usual conventions of the comics industry. After the fourth issue, Wood turned witzend over to Bill Pearson , who continued as editor and publisher through the 1970s and into the 1980s. Wood additionally collected his feature Sally Forth , published in the U.S. servicemen's periodicals Military News and Overseas Weekly in 1968–1974, in a series of four oversize (10"x12") magazines. Pearson, in 1993–95, reformatted

9844-462: The various convention unions made it difficult for most groups to get a show off the ground." In 1996, Greenberg, at a very late point, cancelled what had been advertised as a larger-than-usual Great Eastern Conventions show, which the fan press had suggested might herald a successor to the Comic Art Con. As a substitute event, promoter Michael Carbonaro and others on the spur of the moment mounted

9951-503: The very earliest superhero comics fanzines . "On January 26, 1961," wrote Roy Thomas in 2003, "I received a letter from Jerry mentioning his idea for a "JLA newsletter" . . . [to which he was intending] 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" and, returning from visiting the DC offices in New York, Bails: "had come up with

10058-567: Was "a fan since the first Justice Society adventure appeared in All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1941)." 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 #22 ( cover-dated Jan. 1964) the editor refers to him as "one of fandom's most articulate critics." As

10165-416: 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 '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

10272-497: Was [science-fiction writer] Harry Harrison ." Between 1957 and 1967, Wood produced both covers and interiors for more than 60 issues of the science-fiction digest Galaxy Science Fiction , illustrating such authors as Isaac Asimov , Philip K. Dick , Jack Finney , C. M. Kornbluth , Frederik Pohl , Robert Silverberg , Robert Sheckley , Clifford D. Simak and Jack Vance . He painted six covers for Galaxy Science Fiction Novels between 1952 and 1958. His gag cartoons appeared in

10379-570: 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

10486-599: Was an American popular culturist . Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom. Jerry G. Bails was born on June 26, 1933, in Kansas City , Missouri . 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 ) of whom he

10593-657: Was considerable interest in developments at DC (especially the revival of Hawkman ), fans also closely followed the entrance of other companies into the costumed hero sweepstakes: Archie Comics , 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. Established in large part solely to deal with

10700-675: Was forwarded to former Justice Society writer Gardner Fox , 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 Roy Thomas 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 [of All-Star Comics ] to

10807-529: Was man's relationship with God . That was the book A Contract with God .... Following Seuling's death in 1984 and continuing until 1988, Creation Entertainment continued producing large annual conventions in New York City, usually taking place over the weekend following Thanksgiving (Creation had begun hosting New York shows in 1971, and sometimes put on as many as a half-dozen New York City shows per year). From 1993–1995, promoter Fred Greenberg hosted two Great Eastern Conventions annually at venues including

10914-446: 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 The Brave and

11021-656: Was published in 1976 by Wood and CPL Gang Publications . Larry Hama , one of Wood's assistants, said, "I did script about three Sally Forth stories and a few of the Cannon' s. I wrote the main Sally Forth story in the first reprint book, which is actually dedicated to me, mostly because I lent Woody the money to publish it". In 1980 and 1981, Wood did two issues of a completely pornographic comic book, titled Gang Bang . It featured two sexually explicit Sally Forth stories, and sexually explicit versions of Disney 's Snow White and

11128-467: Was recorded as 784. The 1969 convention, the first official Comic Art Convention, was held Independence Day weekend at the Statler Hilton Hotel in New York City, and the guest of honor was Hal Foster . Admittance to the convention cost $ 3.50 for a three-day ticket, with daily passes at $ 1.50. Admittance was free with a hotel room rental, which cost $ 15-and-up per day. The final three years of

11235-661: Was stunned at the existence of the whole world. ... That was a world that I had left, and I found it very exciting, very stimulating". Eisner later elaborated about meeting underground comics creators and publishers, including Denis Kitchen I went down to the convention, which was being held in one of the hotels in New York, and there was a group of guys with long hair and scraggly beards, who had been turning out what spun as literature , really popular 'gutter' literature if you will, but pure literature. And they were taking on illegal [sic] subject matter that no comics had ever dealt with before. ... I came away from that recognizing that

11342-716: Was the inaugural inductee into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1989, and was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992. Wallace Wood was born June 17, 1927, in Menahga, Minnesota . He began reading and drawing comics at an early age. He was strongly influenced by the art styles of Alex Raymond 's Flash Gordon , Milton Caniff 's Terry and the Pirates , Hal Foster 's Prince Valiant , Will Eisner 's The Spirit and especially Roy Crane 's Wash Tubbs . Recalling his childhood, Wood said that his dream at age six, about finding

11449-468: Was the most pirated drawing in history! Everyone was printing copies of that. I understand some people got busted for selling it. I always thought Disney stuff was pretty sexy ... Snow White , etc." Disney took no legal action against either Krassner or The Realist but did sue a publisher of a " blacklight " version of the poster, who used the image without Krassner's permission. The case was settled out of court. At DC Comics, he and Jim Shooter launched

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