Jerry Bails

• Born 1933-06-26 · Died 2006-11-23

Known as "The Father of Comic Book Fandom". Winner of a cartoon contest in the newspaper, the [Kansas City Journal (Kansas City, Missouri), Saturday, March 28, 1942](https://www.newspapers.com/article/kansas-city-journal-prize-winners-i-kno/202542397/). Winner of Victor Wilson Scholarships and Graduate Fellowships for academic excellence throughout the 1950s. Created a predecessor "adzine" for the buying, selling, or trading of items of interest and need to students in the science programs at the University of Chicago, circa early 1950s. Prototype of the Comicollector. Professor of Science and Technology, Wayne State University (Detroit), 1960-1996, retired. Additional biography: * [Alter Ego, the Best of the Legendary Fanzine (Twomorrows, 1997 series), 1997](app://issue/1602647). * [Fifty Who Made DC Great (DC, 1985 series), 1985](app://issue/2301166). * Golden Age of Comic Fandom (Hamster Press, 1995 series), 1995. * [Founders of Comic Fandom, Bill Schelly](https://web.archive.org/web/20210620125413/http://www.billschelly.net/books/founders-of-comic-fandom/excerpt-founders-comic-fandom/), 2010. Co-founder and Executive Secretary of the Academy of Comic Book Fans and Collectors (originally, Academy of Comics Arts and Sciences), 1963. Organized the "Alley Tally" at the Bails' home, one of the first gatherings of comic fans from around the country to help count the ballots for the first Alley Awards, March 21-22, 1964. Co-founder with Larry Lattanzi of the Who's Who in Comics Fandom, 1964. Co-founder with Roy Thomas of the Alley Awards, first comics awards by fans, 1962. Founder of CAPA-alpha, the first comics Amateur Press Association, 1964. Founder of the Microfilm Library of Comic Art, 1964. Compiled and filmed nearly 3000 black and white microfilm copies of comic books, selling them until circa the mid-1990s when the Kodak Corporation stopped producing the film being used. Bought and sold comic books during the 1960s until the early 1970s. Was a consultant to many books and articles on comic books. Interviewed by the [New York Times, *Shazam! Vintage Comics Prices Up, Up and Away*, January 30, 1965](https://www.nytimes.com/1965/01/30/archives/shazam-vintage-comics-prices-up-up-and-away-collectors-spur.html). Interviewed by Newsweek, "Superfans and Batmaniacs", February 15, 1965, by Hugh McCann.