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111-429: 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

222-729: 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

333-560: A 1983 interview and recalled that his Tarzan work had come after his first two pieces of comic-book art: providing spot illustrations for the story "The World's Ugliest Horse" in Eastern Color 's seminal series Famous Funnies #166 (May 1948), and a two-page Boy Scouts story, his first comics narrative, in New Heroic Comics #51 (Nov. 1948). (Williamson is also identified as co-penciler, with Frank Frazetta , of

444-414: A 1988 interview Williamson indeed stated that "I'm just tracing [Romita's] pencils" and claimed that the only changes he made were occasionally leaving out an unnecessary background if he was in a rush. In 1995, Marvel released a two-part Flash Gordon miniseries written by Mark Schultz and drawn by Williamson, which was his last major work doing both pencils and inks. Also with Schultz, he illustrated

555-465: 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

666-496: 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

777-563: 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]

888-588: 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

999-503: 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,

1110-618: A latter-day generation. After leaving the Secret Agent Corrigan daily strip, he illustrated the Marvel Comics adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back with Carlos Garzon, as well as the 50th issue of the monthly Star Wars comic. Williamson was Lucasfilm 's first choice as illustrator for the Star Wars newspaper comic strip , a project Williamson had been offered years earlier but had declined to take on at

1221-481: 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

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1332-413: A lot of his Atlas work: enthusiasm," Williamson's Atlas Westerns, at least, "form a strongly consistent body of work, characterized by minimal to nonexistent action, a preponderance of closeups and reaction shots, and well-defined figures set against sparse backgrounds." From 1958 to 1959 Williamson worked for Harvey Comics collaborating with former EC artists Reed Crandall, Torres and Krenkel and inking

1443-1107: 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

1554-557: 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,'

1665-430: 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

1776-638: A six-issue adventure-strip backup feature in the Somerset Holmes miniseries . For Marvel, he illustrated the Blade Runner and Return of the Jedi movie adaptations. The two Archie Goodwin stories he illustrated for Epic Illustrated ("Relic" in issue #27, 1984; and "Out of Phase", in #34, 1986) have been considered to be some of his finest work, and Williamson himself named "Relic" as one of his best works. The letterer on all these projects

1887-522: 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

1998-700: A three-page crime story, "The Last Three Dimes", in Standard Comics ' Wonder Comics #20 [Oct. 1948].) Williamson explained that while Hogarth had offered him Tarzan work, Williamson "just couldn't do it. ... I couldn't get it into my little brain that he wanted me to do it exactly the way that he did it," and instead successfully recommended Celardo, artist of the Tarzan-like feature "Ka'a'nga" in Fiction House 's Jungle Comics . As Williamson recalled: ...Hogarth got in touch with [Celardo], and

2109-564: 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

2220-518: A writer, you have an artist that will make it look great. He's also an artist that Lucasfilm kind of begged and pleaded for and always wanted to have do Star Wars material. There was that comfort factor in it as well." A comic book adaptation of the Dino De Laurentiis ' film, Flash Gordon , written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by Al Williamson, was released by Western Publishing in both hardcover and softcover formats to coincide with

2331-590: 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

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2442-824: 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

2553-653: Is known for his collaborations with a group of artists including Frank Frazetta , Roy Krenkel, Angelo Torres , and George Woodbridge , which was affectionately known as the "Fleagle Gang". Williamson has been cited as a stylistic influence on a number of younger artists, and encouraged many, helping such newcomers as Bernie Wrightson and Michael Kaluta enter the profession. He has won several industry awards, and six career-retrospective books about him have been published since 1998. Living in Pennsylvania with his wife Corina, Williamson retired in his seventies. Williamson

2664-523: The Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and A New Hope film adaptations for the company. Through 2003, he was active as inker on several Marvel Comics titles, including Daredevil (#248–300), Spider-Man 2099 (#1–25), and Spider-Girl (#1–61), and such non-superhero projects as the four-issue Marvel / Epic Comics miniseries Atomic Age (Nov. 1990 – Feb. 1991), by writer Frank Lovece and penciler Mike Okamoto , one of

2775-595: 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

2886-445: 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

2997-495: 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

3108-577: 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

3219-942: 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

3330-620: 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

3441-740: The Star Wars newspaper strip, Williamson found that the weight of doing both pencil and inks suddenly became stressful to him, drastically reducing his output. As a response to this, in the mid-1980s Williamson made a successful transition to becoming strictly an inker , beginning at DC Comics inking Curt Swan on Superman #408–410 and #412–416. The longtime Man of Steel artist would later describe Williamson as "his favorite inker". Williamson then moved to Marvel where he inked such pencillers such as John Buscema , Gene Colan , Rick Leonardi , Mike Mignola , Pat Oliffe , John Romita Jr. , Lee Weeks , and many others. John Romita Sr. , Marvel's art director during that time, considered Williamson to be "one of

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3552-400: The "Fleagle Gang" style and has since been reprinted by Marvel Comics (in the black-and-white comics magazine Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #1, January 1975), Pacific Comics and Kitchen Sink Press . Wood would later write the script for a three-page story drawn by Williamson, "The Tube", in another alternative-press comic, publisher Flo Steinberg 's Big Apple Comix (1975). By

3663-518: The "Fleagle Gang", named after a notorious criminal gang. Williamson primarily worked on EC's science-fiction comics Weird Science , Weird Fantasy , and Weird Science-Fantasy , illustrating both original stories, primarily by writer Al Feldstein , and adaptations of stories by authors such as Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison , but his work occasionally appeared in EC's horror and crime comics as well. Williamson worked at EC through 1956 until

3774-459: 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 ,

3885-509: The 1950s forerunner of Marvel Comics , working in various genres but primarily Westerns . He continued to collaborate with Torres and Krenkel, as well as with Gray Morrow , George Woodbridge and Ralph Mayo. With Mayo, one of the first editors to give Williamson work, at Standard Comics , Williamson collaborated on the jungle girl series Jann of the Jungle #16–17 (April and June 1957). Following Mayo's death, Williamson drew stories solo for

3996-667: 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

4107-408: The 1970s working on his own credited strip, another Raymond creation, Secret Agent X-9 . The following decade, he became known for his work adapting Star Wars films to comic books and newspaper strips. From the mid-1980s to 2003, he was primarily active as an inker , mainly on Marvel Comics superhero titles starring such characters as Daredevil , Spider-Man , and Spider-Girl . Williamson

4218-578: The Alex Raymond-created comic strip Rip Kirby for a three-year period. According to Williamson: "The reason that I was called in to help him out was that John had decided to go to Mexico and Mac [ Al McWilliams ], John's prior assistant, didn't want to go... The deal was: would I be willing to go to Mexico?... and I said 'Si!'..." It proved to be a solid learning period for Williamson, as he credits Prentice with teaching him many fundamental illustration methods. According to Prentice: "...he

4329-589: 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

4440-484: 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

4551-673: The Cheyenne Kid (#10–11) with Angelo Torres, and science-fiction stories for ACG, including "The Vortex", in Forbidden Worlds #69 (1958). He also worked with former EC artist John Severin on the "American Eagle" feature in Prize Comics Western #109 and #113 (1955). Williamson's work during this decade was his most prolific in terms of comic book work and has garnered considerable praise for its high quality. He has been noted for his perfectionism and love for

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4662-581: 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

4773-713: 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

4884-458: 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

4995-592: The Sorcerer", in ACG's Forbidden Worlds #3 (Dec. 1951), inked by Wally Wood . In 1952, upon the suggestion of artists Wally Wood and Joe Orlando , Williamson began working for EC Comics , an influential comic book company with a reputation for quality artists. While at EC, Williamson frequently collaborated with fellow artists Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel and Angelo Torres , a group which, along with Nick Meglin and George Woodbridge , became affectionately known as

5106-507: The States, got married and went down there. I grew up down there so I learned both English and Spanish at the same time. It was comic books that taught me to read both languages." At age nine, Williamson took an interest in comic strips via the Mexican magazine Paquin , which featured American strips as well as Underwater Empire by Argentine cartoonist Carlos Clemen . Later, Williamson

5217-491: The United States at the age of 12. In his youth, Williamson developed an interest in comic strips , particularly Alex Raymond 's Flash Gordon . He took art classes at Burne Hogarth 's Cartoonists and Illustrators School , there befriending future cartoonists Wally Wood and Roy Krenkel , who introduced him to the work of illustrators who had influenced adventure strips. Before long, he was working professionally in

5328-435: 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

5439-528: 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

5550-589: 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

5661-531: The best pencillers in the world but he really can't make a living at penciling because he wants to do these beautifully pencilled pages with ample time to do them. That's why Al is inking now ... and adding a greater dimension to the penciller he's working with." He won nine industry awards for Best Inker between 1988 and 1997. Williamson provided the covers and additional artwork for Dark Horse Comics ' 20-issue Classic Star Wars (Aug. 1992 – June 1994), which reprinted his Star Wars daily strips. He later inked

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5772-567: 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

5883-685: The cancellation of most of the company's line. Williamson's EC art has been lauded for its illustrative flamboyance, evident in such stories as "I, Rocket", in Weird Fantasy #20 (Aug. 1953), co-penciled and co-inked with Frank Frazetta; and "50 Girls 50", in Weird Science #20 (Aug. 1953), co-inked by Williamson and Frazetta. His final published EC story was the 10-page "A Question of Time", in Shock Illustrated #2 (Feb. 1956) with partial inking by Torres, who put his initials on

5994-481: 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

6105-605: The comics industry. His most notable works include his science-fiction / heroic-fantasy art for EC Comics in the 1950s, on titles including Weird Science and Weird Fantasy . In the 1960s, he gained recognition for continuing Raymond's illustrative tradition with his work on the Flash Gordon comic-book series, and was a seminal contributor to the Warren Publishing 's black-and-white horror comics magazines Creepy and Eerie . Williamson spent most of

6216-451: 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

6327-461: The cover of #3 (Jan. 1967). Williamson received a National Cartoonist Society Best Comic Book art award for his work on that title. In 1967, on the strength of a backup feature he had done in the Flash Gordon book, he took over another Alex Raymond creation, the long-running Secret Agent X-9 comic strip, collaborating with writer Goodwin. At the start of their tenure, the title was changed to Secret Agent Corrigan . Williamson helped assemble

6438-485: 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

6549-541: The daily and Sunday feature until March 11, 1984, when the strip was canceled. Williamson's daily strips on this series were completely reprinted in Russ Cochran's three-volume slipcase edition in 1991. Returning to comic books full-time for the first time since 1959, Williamson began work for Pacific Comics , collaborating with writer Bruce Jones for the Alien Worlds title (#1, 4, 8), and "Cliff Hanger",

6660-490: 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

6771-613: 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

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6882-614: 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

6993-462: The end of the decade, Williamson was beginning to encourage younger artists whom he would meet at comic book conventions , helping Bernie Wrightson to enter the comics profession. Williamson worked on Secret Agent Corrigan through the 1970s until he left the strip in 1980. The first Corrigan anthology was published in France in 1975, Le FBI joue et gagne , reprinting Williamson's first episode on

7104-774: The feature. He returned to Warren Publishing in 1976 and again in 1979 to draw three additional stories in Creepy (#83, 86, 112). These were published in France in the collection Al Williamson: A la fin de l'envoi in 1981. He drew a few more stories for Gold Key Comics , in Grimm's Ghost Stories #5 and 8 (Aug. 1972, March 1973), and The Twilight Zone #51 (Aug. 1973), as well two mystery stories for DC Comics , in The Witching Hour #14 (May 1971), with inker Carlos Garzon , and House of Mystery #185 (April 1970), with Michael Kaluta , another artist whom he helped enter

7215-465: 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

7326-614: The film's release. A photograph of actor Sam J. Jones , who played Flash Gordon, was pasted into the original cover art. It was serialized in three issues of Whitman's Flash Gordon comic book, #31–33, March–May 1981. Alden McWilliams inked the backgrounds for the last 25 pages. According to Williamson, "It was the hardest job I ever had to do in my life." He then began drawing the Star Wars comic strip in February 1981 following Alfredo Alcala 's tenure, with Goodwin writing. He drew

7437-726: 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

7548-419: 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

7659-461: 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

7770-415: The first major book on Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon , published by Nostalgia Press in 1967, and wrote the introduction. In 1969, Wally Wood 's alternative-press comic book witzend #1 published Williamson's "Savage World", a 1956 story originally drawn for a Buster Crabbe comic book that had been cancelled. With significant contributions by Frazetta, Krenkel, and Torres, the story is a prime sample of

7881-571: 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

7992-760: The great illustrators — the artists who directly influenced adventure cartoonists like [Alex] Raymond and [Hal] Foster . He showed me J.C. Coll , Franklin Booth , Joseph Franke , Dan Smith , Norman Lindsay , Fortunino Matania , and the great Blue Book illustrators like Herbert Morton Stoops and Frank Hoban ." As he continued to learn about the cartooning field, he would visit the comic-book publisher Fiction House , meeting such artists as George Evans , Bob Lubbers , John Celardo , and Mort Meskin . Williamson's first professional work may have been helping Hogarth pencil some Tarzan Sunday pages in 1948, although Williamson, who had initially believed so, reconsidered in

8103-617: 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. Al Williamson Alfonso Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist , comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure , Western , science fiction and fantasy . Born in New York City, he spent much of his early childhood in Bogotá , Colombia before moving back to

8214-800: 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

8325-477: The last page. In the fall of 1956, writer Larry Ivie introduced Williamson to future comics writers-editor Archie Goodwin , with whom he would become friends and, later, a frequent collaborator. Williamson eventually helped Goodwin enter the comics field, having him script a Harvey Comics story, "The Hermit", penciled by Reed Crandall and inked by Williamson. From 1955 to 1957, Williamson produced over 400 pages of three-to-five-page stories for Atlas Comics ,

8436-601: 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

8547-433: The medium. Despite its high reputation, S.C. Ringgenberg felt that Williamson's artwork from this period could at times be uneven and uninspired. Williamson was single during this period and, according to The Art of Al Williamson , had a bohemian and undisciplined lifestyle. In 1960, with little work to be found in the comic book field due to a downturn in the industry, he went to work as an assistant to John Prentice on

8658-685: 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

8769-654: The next thing you knew, he was penciling the Sunday page for him. He did it for quite some time and something must have happened ... but at that point I was going to the Hogarth school again in the evenings ... and he asked me again if I would like to give it a try, so I said OK. He gave me a page and he had already laid it out, so I just tightened it up. Then he gave me another page that I tightened up and he inked it. Then I said I'd like to try laying it out myself and asked if I could do that, and he said, 'Go ahead, Al,' and handed me

8880-420: 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)

8991-578: 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

9102-874: The pencils of Jack Kirby (for Race to the Moon #2–3 and Blast-Off #1). On inking Kirby, Williamson relates: "I remember going up to Harvey and getting work there. They said, 'We haven't got any work for you, but we have some stories here that Jack penciled. Do you want to ink them?' I'd never really inked anybody else before, but I said, 'Sure,' because I looked at the stuff, and thought, I can follow this , it's all there. I inked it and they liked it, and they gave me three or four stories to do." Additionally, Williamson drew stories for Classics Illustrated (in collaboration with Crandall and Woodbridge); Canaveral Press 's line of Edgar Rice Burroughs books (inked by Crandall); Westerns for Dell Comics (including Gunsmoke #8–12) and Charlton Comics , including two complete issues of

9213-900: The planned #18, but the series was abruptly canceled before that issue could be published. His "prolific though somewhat uneven two-year stint at Atlas", where he first drew war comics , yielded superlative art in such stories as "The City That Time Forgot", in Marvel Tales #144 (March 1956); "Menace from the Stars", in Mystery Tales #44 (Aug. 1956); "The Unknown Ones", in Astonishing #57 (Jan. 1957); "Dreadnaught", in Navy Tales #2 (March 1957); and "Helpless", in Battle #55 (Nov. 1957). While "something appeared to be missing from

9324-456: The professional field, assisting him. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "Williamson's atmospheric technique, which relied on subtle textures as much as hard lines, was not typical of traditional DC art" and that editor Joe Orlando "got complaints from the production department" over using Williamson's art. He drew various Flash Gordon illustrations. In the burgeoning fan movement, Williamson became an early subject of comics historians with

9435-520: The publication of Jim Vadeboncoeur's Al Williamson: His Work in 1971 and the "Al Williamson Collector" by James Van Hise and Larry Bigman, featured in the fanzine Rocket's Blast Comicollector in the early 1970s. Samples of his sketches appear in various fanzines of the period. Marvel Comics began regularly reprinting Williamson's 1950 Atlas Comics Western stories, starting with The Ringo Kid #1 (Jan. 1970) and Kid Colt Outlaw #147 (June 1970), further introducing Williamson's early work to

9546-565: 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,

9657-466: 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

9768-1215: The script. So I laid that page out on a sketchpad. He said fine and just made a couple of suggestions as to what I should do; then I just did it on the big Sunday page, and when I was through, he inked it and the other one I had done the same way, and that was it. During this period Williamson met his main stylistic influence, Raymond: "I had just turned 18. I had been in the business about six months or so. He gave me about two hours." From 1949 to 1951, Williamson worked on science-fiction and Western stories for publishers such as American Comics Group (AGC), Avon Publications , Fawcett Comics , Standard Comics , and, possibly, Toby Press . He began collaborating with Frank Frazetta , who often inked his work; and with Roy Krenkel , who often did backgrounds. Examples of his work from that period include "Chief Victorio's Last Stand", in Avon's Chief Victorio's Apache Massacre (no number, no month, 1951); "Death in Deep Space", in Magazine Enterprises ' Jet #4 (no month, 1951); and "Skull of

9879-479: 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

9990-428: The short story "One Last Job" for Dark Horse Presents #120 in 1997. In 1999, he drew the Flash Gordon character a final time when regular cartoonist Jim Keefe asked for his help on a Flash Gordon Sunday page. Since 1998, there have been six career retrospective books published (see "Further Reading" section). Williamson cooperated with their production, with the exception of the books from Pure Imagination. He

10101-433: 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

10212-539: The time. He was offered the Empire Strikes Back adaptation upon Lucasfilm's specific request, as George Lucas had an appreciation of Williamson's EC Comics and Flash Gordon work. Writer Archie Goodwin cited "the comfort of knowing that I would be working with Al Williamson, an old friend that I've worked with over the years. He was absolutely the best Star Wars artist you could ever want to have. That makes it easier because you feel that whatever you do as

10323-469: 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

10434-452: 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

10545-431: The works for which Williamson won a 1991 Eisner Award for Best Inker. Daredevil penciler John Romita Jr. recalled that, "Working with Al Williamson was much like working with my father [comics artist John Romita Sr. ] in that I felt that I was protected from mistakes. ... If my art wasn't correct, then Al would repair it. Oddly enough, Al said he never had to fix anything, claiming he just 'traced' over my pencils." In

10656-577: 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

10767-416: 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

10878-499: Was Ed King. Williamson drew a short story for Timespirits #4 and the full issue of Star Wars #98. For DC Comics , he penciled and inked an eight-page story by Elliot S. Maggin for Superman #400 (Oct. 1984) and he inked Rick Veitch on the classic, oft reprinted Alan Moore Superman / Swamp Thing story "The Jungle Line" in DC Comics Presents #85 (Sept. 1985). Following the expiration of his contract on

10989-584: 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

11100-612: 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

11211-923: Was attracted to Alex Raymond 's Flash Gordon strip after his mother took him to see the Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe movie serial. While living in Bogotá he met future cartoonist Adolfo Buylla, who befriended him and gave him artistic advice. At age 12, in 1943, Williamson moved with his mother to San Francisco , California; they later moved to New York. In the mid-1940s Williamson continued to pursue his interest in cartooning and began to take art classes with Tarzan cartoonist Burne Hogarth , and later at Hogarth's Cartoonists and Illustrators School . There he met future cartoonists Wally Wood and Roy Krenkel . According to Williamson, "Roy broadened my collecting horizons, he became my guide to all

11322-657: 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

11433-675: 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

11544-545: Was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000. Al Williamson was born in Manhattan , New York City, New York, one of two children of Sally and Alfonso Williamson, who was of Scottish descent and a Colombian citizen. The family relocated to Bogotá , Colombia, when Al was two years old. "My father was Colombian and my mother was American," Williamson said in 1997. "They met in

11655-425: Was instrumental in recruiting other former EC Comics artists as Frazetta, Krenkel, Torres, Crandall, and Evans, as well as artist Gray Morrow and writer-editor Archie Goodwin . In 1966, he drew the first issue (Sept. 1966) of a new Flash Gordon comic book series, published by King Features . Williamson's work received positive reader response, and returned to draw issues #4–5 (March and May 1967), as well as

11766-787: Was interviewed for the 2003 Frank Frazetta documentary Painting with Fire , along with fellow surviving "Fleagle Gang" members Angelo Torres and Nick Meglin . In 2009, a Williamson-illustrated Sub-Mariner story written by Schultz and dedicated to Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett was published. The story itself was originally drawn ten years previously. Williamson illustrated a "Xenozoic Tales" story written by Schultz that remains unpublished. Living in Pennsylvania with his wife Corina, Williamson retired in his seventies and died on June 12, 2010, in Upstate New York . Some premature reports, based on unsubstantiated Twitter claims, erroneously gave June 13, 2010. Williamson has been

11877-529: 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

11988-446: 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

12099-476: 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

12210-661: 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

12321-849: Was terrific. He's the best guy I ever had by far." During that time, Williamson assisted John Cullen Murphy on the Big Ben Bolt boxing strip and Don Sherwood on the strip Dan Flagg . He produced some sample pages for a proposed Sunday strip version of Modesty Blaise . He returned to comics in 1965 doing one story each in Gold Key Comics ' Ripley's Believe It or Not! #1 (June 1965), The Twilight Zone #12 (Aug. 1965), and Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #11 (Sept. 1965), and helped launch Warren Publishing 's black-and-white horror-comics magazines Creepy and Eerie with several stories in early issues, while contributing to Warren's war comics magazine Blazing Combat . He

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