The Golde Age of Comic Book Fandom

The book-length history of comic fandom’s early years…now revised and expanded. The Fanzines! The Dealers! The Comicons! An American grass roots movement from its humble origins to its status as a true cultural phenomenon. Covers life before the Golden Age, the birth of Alter-Ego, the advent of the amateur comic strip, the first comicons of the 1960s, and much more. Fanzine mania, regional fan scenes, the coming of pro-zines, the first Overstreet Guide (1970), and finally the 1997 fandom reunion in Chicago. From Bill Schelly, who lived through this entire era and was a fan publisher himself, and later co-editor of Alter-Ego. Bill provides us an intimate look at the early shakers and movers of fandom, the fans-turned-pros, great photos of all the youngsters, early comicon pictures, lots of artwork. This is a must-have book for any comics enthusiast. This is the origin of so much that we take for granted today: creator-owned characters, independent publishers, comic stories and comic-cons. Fully indexed (I have a picture from 1968 and six entries), a who’s-who of amazing people who started with ditto fanzines and no budgets, to become famed publishers and creators.