And it's even worse when you have to post three in one day…
Dr. Jerry Bails, sometimes known as "The Father of Comic Book Fandom," died in his sleep last night from an apparent heart attack. He was 73 years old.
He was one of the first people (some say The First) to attempt to document and chronicle the history of the medium. In 1961, he published Alter Ego #1, one of the first fanzines to ever put comic buffs in contact with one another. You can read a lot about it and about Jerry in this article by Bill Schelly.
Those of us who loved super-hero comics in the sixties owe a tremendous debt to Jerry. He was a strong cheerleader for the revivals that constituted what we call "The Silver Age of Comics." Almost all of the checklists and databases that exist today of what's been published and who wrote and drew it began with Jerry's work.
Jerry handed Alter Ego off to his friend Roy Thomas in the early sixties. It ended when Roy went off to become one of the top guys at Marvel Comics…and by then, there were hundreds of similar homemade magazines. A few years ago, Roy revived it and it's now one of the best magazines out there about comic book history. I'm sure future issues will tell more about Dr. Bails and his massive contribution to comics. On a personal note, I feel an enormous sense of loss. I never met Jerry in person but I've subscribed to his publications and projects since the mid-sixties and aided him with research whenever possible. We corresponded from time to time — by mail and later by e-mail — and you could tell that he'd managed to channel his passion for the medium into constructive, non-nerdy purposes. The art form is a lot better for having had him as a champion.