sfcityduck

If the topic is a top 10 or 20 comic collectors/dealers list, you can count me out. I'd probably have trouble keeping a list below a top 100 or more! There are so many "greats" that have arisen because comic collecting has been going very strong since the early 1960s, over 50 years ago. But, those greats are just a fraction of the far larger number of ordinary comic collectors, and truly deserve to be called "greats." If the topic is who belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of comic collecting, I would not be putting on Dave on my top four list. But, for me, Dave is a really interesting character and he deserves attention for what he was. But, my guess is that most folks lurking out there are wondering what happened to his collection.

As I stated up thread, there are more people than I can count who can claim to be a "Great Comic Collector." The deeper we get into the 1960s and onward, the more people who can tick the boxes because of the more opportunities there are to tick the boxes. This thread is NOT arguing that Dave Wigransky was the "Greatest" comic collector. It instead is arguing that Dave Wigransky is the guy who did enough, by the earliest date, to qualify as the "First" great comic collector. And, no, I'm not arguing that Dave was the first "Comic Collector" either. There were lots of kids collecting comics in the 1940s, many who went on to great prominence in the 1960s. But, Dave Wigransky stands above the crowd in the 1940s because of the prominence he achieved in articulating his defense of comics in their greatest hour of need and because of the sheer sophistication of his approach to comic collecting which was ahead of its time.

Richard, the stories you sent me last year, after I sold you that comic, about you and Leonard Brown were one of the inspirations that helped me in tracking down Dave's story. You and Leonard were clearly way ahead of the curve in the methods and strategies you guys used to acquire comics and, later, deal them. Your stories allowed me to realize just how remarkable Dave's campaign of buying back issue comics starting in 1948 using classified in national publications, pulps and newspapers really was.

There is no doubt that Dave was socially awkward. The clear picture that emerges of him is that he was in the mold of "Leonard" from the Big Bang. Brilliant, great memory, loved to pontificate, hated disagreement, depended on his friends to give him social aid, very awkward in building relationships with women (I may go into some of his personals ads) - in other words, almost the prototype of the comic nerd stereotype.

Dave spent some time in Berkeley in 1967. Enough time that he took out a personal in the Berkeley Barb. Ironically, Dave may well have been the guy who responded to Ed Denison's, the manager of Country Joe and the Fish, personal in the Berkeley Barb by sending Ed a copy of his "Raising Hell" book, all without knowing that Ed Denison even knew him.

So on the list of factors, there's only three I can't check off: The extent of the person's enthusiasm and love of comics and collecting; [CHECK - Dave clearly loved comics!] The length of time the person collected comics; [CHECK - Dave started collecting in 1941 and kept going for at least 20 years] The breadth of the the person's comic collection; [CHECK - Dave collected all genres and his collection numbered 5,000 to 6,000 comics by 1948, and he kept on going strong] The quality of the person's comic collection; [CHECK - Dave kept his comics in great shape, and his collection covered the GA] Whether the person has sought out comic book back issues to fill in gaps in their collection, as opposed to just buying comics off the stands; [CHECK - He bought back issues to fill in holes in collection, especially 1938-1942] Whether the person has engaged in comic collecting strategies which go beyond just the normal for comic collectors (normal being buying new off the stand and buying back issues from bookstores); [CHECK - Dave might have been the first collector to place classifieds in national magazines, pulps, and newspapers] Whether the person deals comics; Whether the person has been a market maker; Whether the person has taken the next step to collect original art; [CHECK - Dave collected comic book and cartoon original art.] Whether the person has shown the enthusiasm to take advantage of publisher sponsored fan interaction opportunities (e.g. letters to the editors, joining publisher sponsored fan groups like Sentinels of Liberty or Supermen of America, entering contests, etc.); [CHECK - Dave joined comic groups like the Shield Junior G-Men and entered contests] Whether the person has directly communicated with comic creators (artists, writers, editors) or publishers; [CHECK - Dave sent and received correspondence from industry professionals and developed relationships with them.] Whether the person has created or availed themselves of opportunities to interact with other fans (fanzines, adzines, conventions, networking); [CHECK - Dave shared knowledge with fans for use in fanzines] Whether the person has gained a significant depth of knowledge about the comics they buy (first appearances, creators, importance to comic history); [CHECK - We've seen that Dave indexed his comics and proposed to write a book on the history of the medium] Whether the person has gained a significant depth of knowledge about the comic business; [CHECK - Dave knew about the business history from talking to people who lived it] Whether the person has shared their knowledge with other comic collectors; [CHECK - Dave contributed key knowledge to the first serious article about comics to ever appear in a fanzine] Whether the person has advocated in favor of comics and/or comic collecting; [CHECK - Dave was probably the most famous anti-comic censorship advocate of his time] Whether the person has authored articles on comics or comic collecting; [CHECK - Dave wrote the seminal rebuttal of Wertham's attacks on comics, and saw its arguments repeated in newspapers and Timely/Marvel editorials] Whether the person has created or published amateur comics; [CHECK - Dave authored an amateur comic housed in the National Comic Society archives.] Whether the person has attempted to or become a professional comic creator; [Can't verify this, just a suspicion] and Whether the person has done other acts to further comics or comic collecting (a catch-all). [CHECK - Dave is still inspiring comics fans like me] Two of those categories concern dealing comics. There's no information that I yet know of that Dave ever sold comics.

And here is what Richard Kyle's footnote to the first serious comic article to ever appear in a fanzine, "The Education of Victor Fox" in Xero 8 (1962), says happened after Dave Wigransky was contacted: There is a LOT to be learned from this footnote. Key points include: * Dave Wigransky was known to and in communication with other comic collectors, most notably Ron Graham who was relying on Dave for the information he provided to Alter Ego; * Dave was happy to share his knowledge with other comic fans like Ron Graham and Richard Kyle; * The knowledge Dave had to share was deep, including not only his knowledge of hard to find comics like Wonder 1, but also his conversations with key comic industry figures; * Dave was in contact with key comic industry figures such as Monte Bourjaily in the mid-50s, and had a good enough relationship that Dave was actually lending Bourjaily his copy of Wonder 1; * Dave was learning key information about comics history and the comic business from guys like Bourjaily, including details of the DC versus Fox suit, which he was sharing with the modern comic collecting community coalescing in the early 1960s; * Dave was aware of key events in the history of comics, such as the general chronology of the development of the superhero (from which we can infer that Dave not only had owned Wonder 1, but also Action 1 and Detective 27); * That Dave was aware of the importance of Will Eisner to comic history (which might seem obvious, but this was 1962), and he was even familiar with Eisner's pen names; * Dave even recalled or had at his fingertips (remember, Dave indexed his comics) such minutia as that Wonder Comics became Wonderworld with no skip in numbers or dates; and * It can be strongly inferred that Dave still possessed his comic collection at this time. I strongly suspect that Dave had other contacts with folks in the comic collecting community in the early days of comic fandom beyond just Ron Graham and Richard Kyle. I haven't delved into Bails' Who's Who to see if Dave's in there, or checked the SF fanzines of the 50s to see if he had ads in those to buy comics, or looked for his name in the early comic adzines. But, this footnote checks off three more boxes for Dave Wigransky on the list of factors that I think matter. With this information, I don't really think it can be disputed that Dave Wigransky really was the "First Great Comic Fan."

So the remaining categories we've yet to check off are: Whether the person has created or availed themselves of opportunities to interact with other fans (fanzines, adzines, conventions, networking); Whether the person has gained a significant depth of knowledge about the comic business; Whether the person has shared their knowledge with other comic collectors; That first bullet point was really hard to satisfy until the 1960s. And I never thought that Dave Wigransky would ever check that box. Until, that is, I took another look at the birth of modern comic fandom. One of the key events in the birth of modern comic fandom was the birth of comic fanzines. The first modern comic fanzine is generally considered to be Jerry Bails' Alter Ego which first came out in 1961. But, Alter Ego was not the first fanzine to turn a serious focus on comics. The Science Fiction fanzine Xero ran an on-going series on comics entitled "All in Color For a Dime" starting with its first issue in 1960. In fact, to help find subscribers for Alter Ego, Julius Schwartz loaned Bails his copies of Xero and Bails wrote to everyone in the letter column for Xero to see if they'd subscribe to the first issue of Alter Ego. Simply put, the history of Xero and Alter Ego are tangled together. And I'm here to tangle them a little further. Now the "All in Color for a Dime Series" of articles initially were of the nostalgic fan looking back appreciation type. Don Thompson's first article in the series was basically an appreciation of Captain Marvel. But, that pattern was broken with the publication of Xero 8 in 1962, which featured as the "All in Color for a Dime Series" contribution the article "The Education Of Victor Fox” by Richard Kyle. Kyle's piece was unlike anything published before. It did not ooze fond nostalgia, instead Kyle engaged in a serious critique of the Fox comics output and basically claimed they were a disgrace to the comics industry. Kyle's article has been referred to as the first serious comic collecting article, and Kyle himself went on to create Graphic Story World. What's interesting about Richard Kyle's article, however, is that Kyle included a footnote because he learned very late in his drafting process that he'd gotten some facts wrong. The footnote begins: So, the back story on the very first serious article about comics to ever appear in a fanzine is that the author got some key facts wrong, learning that only late in the drafting process from a letter to another fanzine. That's sort of an interesting sidelight that again shows the tangled history of Xero and Alter Ego, and standing alone, it would seem nothing more than a minor footnote. But, then Kyle made a statement in his footnote that almost made me fall out of my chair when I read it: When I first saw this, I thought: You are frigging kidding me! The very first serious article about comics to ever appear in a fanzine, and to correct his mistake and get correct information Richard Kyle, one of fandom's founding fathers, is referred to Dave Wigransky for the straight scoop. Unbelievable! And you know what, Richard Kyle did contact Dave Wigransky, and Dave replied!

Did I say ZERO doubt? I meant Xero doubt! But, first, let's look at the checklist for Dave Wigransky with regard to the factors I identified as relevant to whether he was a "Great Comic Collector": The extent of the person's enthusiasm and love of comics and collecting; [CHECK - Dave clearly loved comics!] The length of time the person collected comics; [CHECK - Dave started collecting in 1941 and kept going for at least 20 years] The breadth of the the person's comic collection; [CHECK - Dave collected all genres and his collection numbered 5,000 to 6,000 comics by 1948, and he kept on going strong] The quality of the person's comic collection; [CHECK - Dave kept his comics in great shape, and his collection covered the GA] Whether the person has sought out comic book back issues to fill in gaps in their collection, as opposed to just buying comics off the stands; [CHECK - He bought back issues to fill in holes in collection, especially 1938-1942] Whether the person has engaged in comic collecting strategies which go beyond just the normal for comic collectors (normal being buying new off the stand and buying back issues from bookstores); [CHECK - Dave might have been the first collector to place classifieds in national magazines, pulps, and newspapers] Whether the person deals comics; Whether the person has been a market maker; Whether the person has taken the next step to collect original art; [CHECK - Dave collected comic book and cartoon original art.] Whether the person has shown the enthusiasm to take advantage of publisher sponsored fan interaction opportunities (e.g. letters to the editors, joining publisher sponsored fan groups like Sentinels of Liberty or Supermen of America, entering contests, etc.); [CHECK - Dave joined comic groups like the Shield Junior G-Men and entered contests] Whether the person has directly communicated with comic creators (artists, writers, editors) or publishers; [CHECK - Dave sent and received correspondence from industry professionals and developed relationships with them.] Whether the person has created or availed themselves of opportunities to interact with other fans (fanzines, adzines, conventions, networking); Whether the person has gained a significant depth of knowledge about the comics they buy (first appearances, creators, importance to comic history); [CHECK - We've seen that Dave indexed his comics and proposed to write a book on the history of the medium] Whether the person has gained a significant depth of knowledge about the comic business; Whether the person has shared their knowledge with other comic collectors; Whether the person has advocated in favor of comics and/or comic collecting; [CHECK - Dave was probably the most famous anti-comic censorship advocate of his time] Whether the person has authored articles on comics or comic collecting; [CHECK - Dave wrote the seminal rebuttal of Wertham's attacks on comics, and saw its arguments repeated in newspapers and Timely/Marvel editorials] Whether the person has created or published amateur comics; [CHECK - Dave authored an amateur comic housed in the National Comic Society archives.] Whether the person has attempted to or become a professional comic creator; [Can't verify this, just a suspicion] and Whether the person has done other acts to further comics or comic collecting (a catch-all). Have we proven enough to deem Dave the "First Great Comic Collector"? I think we already have. But, let's address the remaining un-checked categories, and bring this story to a close.

I'm pleased to advise you that there is ZERO doubt that Dave Wigransky stayed a comic collector into the 1960s, including having meaningful interactions with comic industry figures in the 1950s and with the founders of modern comic fandom in the 1960s. That story comes next.

Dave not only knew what he was doing, he quickly became a bit of a legend in his chosen area of jazz record collecting. He wrote a couple of books (one of them about Irving Berlin, another about Al Jolson), wrote a bunch of articles for the International Al Jolson Society (IAJS), and was the IAJS's first researcher. On the message boards of Al Jolson collectors (yes, they exist), Dave is referred to as Dave Jay, and he is still spoken of with awe. An original edition of his self-published "Jolsonography" is considered a major trophy. He is credited with a quote that Jolson fans revere, "An Al Jolson doesn't come once in a lifetime. He comes once." One of Dave's friend's, Maynard Bertolet (who was once considered to own the largest vinyl collection in the world, but has recently died and his collection sold), authored a very nice "memorial" to Dave for one of the Jolson collector journals (yes, those exist also). There's no doubt that Dave remained an active record collector until the day he died. "Ok, ok," you say, "but, what about comics?"

Did Dave give up collecting in the 1950s? Nope. In fact, like a lot of comic collectors who enter their later teen-age years and twenties, he doubled down on collecting by taking up record collecting. A lot of us get into music when we're in our teens, and branch out to collecting records. Dave was no exception. The fact that Dave put out a 45 record of his own in 1956 shows that he'd been recording collecting for a while before then. Why? Because the record he put out was what is known to record collectors as a "break in" record. The classic example for guys my age is "Mr. Jaws." These records usually feature a narrator telling a story with soundbites blended in from various popular records. The other reason we know that Dave had been collecting records for a while before 1956 is that he was dealing records in adzines. At the time, record collecting was a much more advanced hobby then comic collecting. Musical recordings had been around a lot longer than comics and the record collecting community was already organized, with an active used record market, adzines, and auctions. Dave was part of that. In the Spring 1956 issue of International Discophile, we see Dave running his own record auction: The records he was auctioning were Jazz and even some folk. He clearly knew what he was doing.

"Raising Hell" was a fictional account of Beer Dave's exploits. But, it's not the only book that talks about some of Beer Dave's adventures. And the other book is not fiction at all. In the mid-1950s, Dave made the acquaintance of guys who were members of the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. One of those squad members, Daniel Knowles, has published a book detailing some of the stories of the squad, including their partying. They drank a lot of beer. Knowles recalls that he had "befriended Beer Dave at the Hot Shoppe one time, and Beer Dave was a trusted cat. He was named Beer Dave because he drank beer." Knowles also recalls that Beer Dave had "throngs of admirers at the Hot Shoppe" and that they had a lot of good times together. The "Hot Shoppe," for those not in the know, was this drive-in: It sold beer. Beer Dave liked hanging out there. Knowles recalls that "Dave usually knew what he was talking about because it was said that he had graduated from BCC High School with the highest score anyone ever had in about 1952, and I had no doubt that was true." But, Knowles mainly tells lots of stories about excessive drinking and minor mayhem that might have amounted to delinquency in the 1950s, but didn't really do any lasting harm to anyone. My favorite recollection he has of Beer Dave is this: And so we too leave the part of our story where Dave Wigransky was known as "Beer Dave." But, the big question remains, with all of his drinking and partying in the 1950s, did he give up collecting?

Nope. Dave's "Raising Hell" was published in 1963. The only review I know of the book occurred in a 1967 issue of the Berkeley Barb, an independent newspaper like the Village Voice. The reviewer was Ed Denison, a writer and musician who was also the manager of Country Joe and the Fish, and who is now an environmental and marijuana activist and attorney. Ed knew of Dave. They grew up in the same area. Amongst many other things in the review, Ed wrote this: http://voices.revealdigital.com/cgi-bin/independentvoices?a=d&d=BFBJFGD19670609.1.11&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-"dave+jay"--------------1# Yep. Dave Wigransky really was known as "Beer Dave" in the D.C. area in the 1950s. A Bethesda College reunion website for the class of 1961 includes this message: http://bcc61.com/newsletters/newsletter_10-08.htm There's no doubt that Dave was bit wild in the 1950s, but how wild was he? Is he another case study supporting Wertham's argument? And, more importantly, did he stop collecting?

Pretty crazy book cover, eh? Here's some back story that might make more sense of this thing. You see, Marlon Brando's "The Wild One" came out in 1953. It was the first "outlaw biker" movie. And it had a galvanizing impact on teen-agers at the time. The subsequent looks of James Dean and Elvis were highly influenced by the look of Brando's character. And the film helped usher in a new rebellious attitude amongst teens. The relation between the movie and the book cover is clearly seen in the central figure in the book cover - the guy with the belt buckle that says "Beer Dave." And here's the sleave of Dave's 1960 45 record: That's Dave Wigransky in his Brando inspired finest. And the "Beer Dave" that Dave illustrated on the cover of his "Raising Hell" book is a fantasy view of himself. "Raising Hell" purports to be "A contemporary novel of modern juvenile delinquency told from the standpoint of the delinquents themselves." WAIT A MINUTE! Is Dave admitting he became a juvenile delinquent? Was Wertham right?

Dave graduated from High School in 1951. Dave's father died in 1955. Dave was 22 at that time. You have to dig very very deep to find information on Dave from that time period. And if you dig deep enough, and you know that by 1956 Dave was using the nom de plume "Dave Jay," eventually you learn that Dave spent a fair amount of time in the 1950s

Just curious if any of you guys over here have ventured over the GA forums to give my case for the "First Great Comic Collector" a read. I'm curious to see everyone's reactions.

Dave's amateur comic is notable for a lot of reasons. But two leap out at me: * He sent to the National Cartoonist Society and they thought enough of it to save it in their archives; * It is a twisted twisted take on the Wertham controversy, essentially a revenge fantasy that ends with Wertham blowing out his brains; Think about this for a moment. Dave had literally authored the best rebuttal ever made to Wertham's anti-comics argument. It was a rebuttal which was published initially in the Saturday Review, but was then re-broadcast in newspaper articles throughout the nation. Here's an example from a November 1948 Ohio newspaper: Dave's rebuttal was so powerful, that it was re-published again 6 years after it first appeared, as part of the Senate Hearings on the Investigation of Juvenile Deliquence in the United States (the so-called "Kefauver Hearings") in 1954. YET, WERTHAM NEVER ONCE ATTEMPTED TO RESPOND TO DAVE'S REBUTTAL AND NEVER, NOT ONCE, MENTIONED DAVE'S NAME. Why? Because Wertham had no good response. Wertham was making his case based on a limited number of anecdotal case studies of juvenile delinquents who read comics. Dave was rebutting that methodology by pointing out the vast number of healthy teens who read comics. And Wertham could not rebut that fact. Wertham was smart enough to know it. So he ignored Dave's argument. Now think of what Wertham would have done if he'd known about Dave's anti-Wertham comic? He'd have portrayed Dave as a twisted juvenile delinquent who "proved his case." And maybe Wertham would have been right. The 1950s were turbulent times for Dave.

Two of the other factors I mentioned are: Whether the person has created or published amateur comics; Whether the person has attempted to or become a professional comic creator; Does Dave check these boxes? While I think Dave may well have attempted at some point to become a professional comic artist, I have ZERO evidenced of that. He corresponded with publishers, creators, and art shops in the industry. He had stated his intent in the Saturday Review to pursue a job as a comic artist. And his mother's obituary states that Dave was a professional artist, but I have no evidence of who employed him (if anyone). And I have no evidence that he ever applied for a job as a comic creator. Thus, "Whether the person has attempted to or become a professional comic creator" is one box that definitely cannot be checked for Dave based on the information now known. BUT, Dave did create at least one comic book! This comic was discovered by Prof. Carol Tilley, who has written a fair bit about Dave, in the archives of the National Cartoonist Society. The comic likely dates to 1948, and it is called "The Uncanny Adventures of I Hate Dr. Wertham"! You can read about Tilley's discovery of the comic here: https://library.osu.edu/blogs/cartoons/2016/02/23/guest-post-found-in-the-collection-the-uncanny-adventures-of-i-hate-dr-wertham/ Prof. Tilley summarizes the comic, thusly: Twisted, but very intelligent and timely (for its time), story. Here's some examples of the art from the comic, but follow the link to the Tilley article for more. I think its fair to say that Dave's 14 year old effort shows he has some talent. At the time, his style was a cross between Crumb and Wolverton with a lot of teen-age aggression:

Thanks for the kind words about the thread! I'm taking my kid to go take the SAT, and after I drop him off I'll be moving on to Dave's amateur comic book and the stage of his life I think of as: "Raising Hell" or "Wertham Was Right" or "It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn of Modern Comic Fandom"

Check out the "Personals" page of the January 1950 issue of the pulp "Other Worlds". Tucked away about two inches down the left column is this tidbit: "David Pace Wigransky ... wishes to obtain fantastic comic magazines published during 1938 to 1942." The wording's sort of strange, right? Dave's not a brit. Why is he saying he wants "fantastic comic magazines"? Did he mean as contrasted with "unfantastic comic magazines"? NO. As Fishler would certainly recognize, what Dave wanted was Fantastic Comic magazines! Dave was taking a classified ad out in a nationally distributed pulp seeking a single title, a title now considered highly collectible but which Dave recognized was highly notable even back then! Dave was ahead of his time! P.S. Look at some of those other names: Robert Silverberg and is that Ed Wood?

Let's take a bit of a deeper dive into a few of the factors I outlined in the first post. Specifically, these: Whether the person has sought out comic book back issues to fill in gaps in their collection, as opposed to just buying comics off the stands; Whether the person has engaged in comic collecting strategies which go beyond just the normal for comic collectors (normal being buying new off the stand and buying back issues from bookstores); Whether the person has taken the next step to collect original art; All three of those factors deserve check offs. Why? Well, starting at least in 1948 and continuing to at least 1950 or so, Dave embarked on a remarkable campaign to fill in the holes in his collection. Dave was born in 1934. He probably first started buying comics off the rack in 1941, and I doubt his buying was as comprehensive when he was 7 as it later became. So, Dave started taking classified ads out in national magazines like Popular Science, pulps like Other Worlds, and state and local newspapers seeking to buy back issue comics. Pop Hollister may have been using "wanted to buy" ads first to get supply for his early comic dealing business, but Dave was probably the first comic collector to take out classifieds in a such a wide array of publications across a wide geographic area for the purpose of obtaining back issue comics he needed to fill in holes in his collection. For example, Dave took out the following classified ad in the Brookshire Times, the newspaper for Brookshire, Texas (at the time Dave lived in D.C.): Although it may not look like it to our eyes, this was an astounding classified ad for 1949. Think about it. Dave was: (1) taking out an ad in Texas when he lived in D.C.! (2) taking an ad out to buy comic books published in 1938 thru 1942! Why start in 1938? I think we all know why! (3) taking an ad out to buy original comic and cartoon art at a time when most fans probably didn't even know it existed! And this is just one of MANY classified ads Dave took out in newspapers. Dave did more than just take out classifieds. He wrote comic artists to ask for original art. A letter to Caniff in 1949 asking for a Steve Canyon page is preserved in the National Cartoonist Society archives. Dave clearly checks all of three of the boxes I identify above! But, let's dig a bit deeper into his classifieds.

Many folks are asleep by now, and I'm headed that way. So there's a lot more more unspooling that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Before we start to take a deep dive into Dave's life in the 1950s, let's take a quick look at the factors I outline in my first post and how Dave measures up: The factors that I think should be considered include the following (and this is not an exhaustive list): The extent of the person's enthusiasm and love of comics and collecting; [CHECK - Dave clearly loved comics!] The length of time the person collected comics; [CHECK - Dave started collecting in 1941 and, as you'll see, accellerated his collecting in the late 40s and 50s!] The breadth of the the person's comic collection; [CHECK - Dave collected all genres and his collection numbered 5,000 to 6,000 comics by 1948] The quality of the person's comic collection; [CHECK - Dave kept his comics in great shape - more to say on this later] Whether the person has sought out comic book back issues to fill in gaps in their collection, as opposed to just buying comics off the stands; [CHECK - We've already seen that he bought back issues, and we'll see more soon] Whether the person has engaged in comic collecting strategies which go beyond just the normal for comic collectors (normal being buying new off the stand and buying back issues from bookstores); Whether the person deals comics; Whether the person has been a market maker; Whether the person has taken the next step to collect original art; [We've seen that Dave was sent comic original art, but we don't know yet if he sought it out.] Whether the person has shown the enthusiasm to take advantage of publisher sponsored fan interaction opportunities (e.g. letters to the editors, joining publisher sponsored fan groups like Sentinels of Liberty or Supermen of America, entering contests, etc.); [CHECK - Dave joined comic groups like the Shield Junior G-Men and entered contests] Whether the person has directly communicated with comic creators (artists, writers, editors) or publishers; [CHECK - Dave sent and received correspondence from industry professionals in the late 1940s] Whether the person has created or availed themselves of opportunities to interact with other fans (fanzines, adzines, conventions, networking); Whether the person has gained a significant depth of knowledge about the comics they buy (first appearances, creators, importance to comic history); [CHECK - We've seen that Dave indexed his comics and proposed to write a book on the history of the medium] Whether the person has gained a significant depth of knowledge about the comic business; Whether the person has shared their knowledge with other comic collectors; Whether the person has advocated in favor of comics and/or comic collecting; [CHECK - Dave was probably the most famous anti-comic censorship advocate of his time] Whether the person has authored articles on comics or comic collecting; [CHECK - Dave wrote the seminal rebuttal of Wertham's attacks on comics, and saw its arguments repeated in newspapers and Timely/Marvel editorials] Whether the person has created or published amateur comics; Whether the person has attempted to or become a professional comic creator; and [We've seen Dave express a desire to be a creative, but as we're still at the point he's 14-15, we have not seen this yet] Whether the person has done other acts to further comics or comic collecting (a catch-all). I think the case for Dave being the "First Great Comic Collector" is being built. But, clearly there are still a lot of factors to discuss.

And Harvey Kurtzman sent Dave this rare comic strip art (this is a detail, there is a first panel) from his short-lived "Silver Linings" comic strip that ran in the New York Herald-Tribune for nine episodes from March 7 through June 20, 1948: Dave got other pieces of inscribed original art from both comic book artists and cartoonists that can now be found in private collections and institutions, including the Library of Congress where a late 1947 Kerry Drake comic strip is inscribed with "Best wishes to David Wigransky from Kerry Drake and Alfred Andriola." Dave also got letters from comic creators thanking him for his article. For example, Milt Caniff wrote him a letter of thanks in 1948, to which Dave responded.