When it came to the organized comic book fandom of the early Silver Age of Comics, there was no character that hardcore audience was more behind than Hawkman. The Winged Wonder had been a favorite of both Dr. Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas during their youth decades earlier as part of the Justice Society of … Continue reading WC: HAWKMAN #2
Dr. Jerry Bails was truly the forefather of organized comic book fandom in the early 1960s. As a full-grown adult, his interest in comic books and comics history brought some respectability to the medium, and his status as a grown-up allowed him to interact with the creators and editors of the comics as a peer … Continue reading The 1964 Alley Award Winners
The Rocket's Blast/ComiCollector was one of the longest-running fanzines of its era. Originally, it had begun as two separate 'zines both started in 1961--the Rocket's Blast, created by Miami-based fan G.B. Love, and the Comicollector by Jerry Bails. Eventually, the two combined their mailing lists and merged with #29 (continuing the numbering of The Rocket's … Continue reading The Rocket’s Blast/ComiCollector #152
THE COMIC READER was one of the longest-running and critical comic book fanzines of the Silver Age of Comics. It was created, as so many things were, by uber fan Dr. Jerry Bails, who was also responsible for the first super hero fanzine (Alter Ego) and the first comic book adzine. And in fact, the … Continue reading The Comic Reader #13
I suspect that this post is going to put some noses out of joint. How can it not, given the subject matter that we're about to get to? So I want to state right up front that I'm not looking to give any insult to anyone. As always, I'm looking to try to ferret out … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Enigmas and Non-Enigmas of FANTASTIC FOUR #8
This is the first issue of Dr. Jerry Bails' newsletter, The Comicollector, dated September 1961. It was intended as a more periodical release than Bails' main fanzine, Alter-Ego , intended to provide a place for fans to buy, sell and swap comics and to disseminate the latest news and gossip from the big publishers. It … Continue reading The Comicollector #1
Whenever the conversation turns to the question of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and their collaborations during the 1960s and who was responsible for doing what--a question that I don't think can ever be definitively or conclusively answered--one of the misconceptions that I see come up time and time again is the notion that Lee … Continue reading Lee & Kirby: The Four Work Stages of Lee & Kirby
This wound up being the last issue of ALL-STAR COMICS from this original run that i was able to find, which is a shame, as i was a great fan of the series. But during this period, DC's distribution seemed to start having difficulty, at least in my area, and finding the books featuring the … Continue reading BHOC: ALL-STAR COMICS #70
In addition to new old issues of FANTASTIC FOUR and MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS, the drug store’s big bin of somewhat older comics had also received copies of a few issues of THE INVADERS, which I picked up as well. This one had a somewhat messy cover–how is it that Captain America is seemingly standing in … Continue reading BHOC: INVADERS #3
The Tom Brevoort Experience 