sfcityduck

Dave was undoubtedly very very proud of the profile he had achieved. In fact, he was probably insufferable. A firefighter friend of Dave's in the later part of the 1950s remembers Dave as being like E.F. Hutton - "When Dave spoke, people listened." However, one of Dave's friends from the record collecting world of the 1960s noted that while Dave was a charismatic presenter of arguments, and he was often swayed by what Dave argued, "disagreement was anathema to Dave." The impression you get is that Dave loved to pontificate. Loved to argue with others (but not be questioned). Loved to delve deeply into his passions. And comics were certainly one of his passions. One of the articles about Dave noted that Dave not only read his comics, but indexed them. This detailed level of interest in comics is consistent with a letter Dave wrote to the publisher of Dell Comics in the late 1940s or 1950 proposing that Dave write a history of the comics industry. That's a remarkably confident action for a young man to take! But, Dave had reason to be confident when communicating with comic industry personalities. Not only had Timely/Marvel name-checked him their anti-Wertham editorial, but other comic professionals were showing Dave their appreciation. For example, Simon & Kirby sent Dave the original art for the cover to Headline 25 (May 1947) in appreciation of his defense of comics:

After Dave's article appeared in the Saturday Review of Books, an article written about him appeared in numerous newspapers throughout the country in November and December 1948. It repeated the arguments made by Dave in the defense of comics, and publicized them to the much wider national audience served by those many local and state newspapers. For its February/March 1949 issues, Timely/Marvel publishing ran an anti-Wertham editorial which liberally quoted Dave's article: In short, the profile achieved by Dave at the age of 14 rivals the national profile achieved by any comic collector ever.

So, back to the topic of Dave's article in that national publication. The background is this: 1948 was a dark dark year for comic publishers. The forces of censorship, which had been slowly mounting a case against comics as early 1940, mounted a full scale attack on comics. This attack was played out in the pages of magazines like Colliers, Time, and the Saturday Review of Literature. In this later publication, appeared the first significant article by the man who would take the lead in pushing for censorship of comic books. Yes, the May 29,1948 issue of the Saturday Review of Literature published Frederick Wertham's article entitled "The Comics ... Very Funny." You can read it here: http://www.lostsoti.org/SaturdayReviewOfLiteratureMay291948Page1.htm (Thanks SOTICollector, for this and much of information on this time period!). In the face of this onslaught, the comics publishers began to beat a retreat. Lev Gleason adopted a code of self-censorship and on July 1, 1948, the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers Adopted the First Comics Code. But, then, an unlikely advocate for comic collecting and defender of comics burst onto the scene: "David Pace Wigransky!" (FYI - "Pace" was his mother's maiden name). Dave wrote and sent to the Saturday Review of Books an incredibly articulate rebuttal of the argument made by Prof. Wertham which Dave entitled "Cain Before Comics." The power of this lengthy rebuttal is illustrated by the fact that the Saturday Review of Books not only decided to publish it, but that they sent a professional photographer to Dave's house in D.C. to photograph him with his comics to illustrate the rebuttal. And its no wonder. I am a former High School debater who won State Championships and competed at Nationals, and I know what a good argument by a High School student looks like. Dave's article puts forth an argument that is of the highest quality, not just for a High School student, but also for a social science researcher. You can read it here: https://issuu.com/twomorrows/docs/alterego90preview/18 Dave started his article by stating his qualifications, in a way that is enough to make any comic collector stand up and cheer. He noted he'd personally read over 5,100 comics and "intends to make drawing them his profession and life's work." He then contrasted his personal experience with comics with that of the comic book critics: Dave then proceeded in a lengthy argument to tear Wertham apart. The central point made by Dave is both sophisticated and simple to understand - Wertham reliance's upon anecdotal evidence was a distorted case using a bad methodology: Dave was, of course, right. The truth of his rebuttal, which offers other similarly persuasive points, shines through. And the world, especially the comic world, took notice. At that moment, Dave Wigransky became the face of comic collecting and the comic business's most persuasive defender.

They sure did! And one of the things that we'll discuss later is whether Dave had any involvement with the burgeoning comic fanzine scene in the early 1960s. I think you and everyone else be surprised!

Thanks! Doing dinner, back later.

If you're interested, I've started presenting my argument for the guy who is the "First Great Comic Collector" over on the Golden Age Forums.

But, the article in the national publication is not the first time that the name "David Pace Wigransky" popped up in connection with the comic book world. The first such reference I can find to Dave is in Pep Comics no. 60 (March 1947), over a year earlier. Dave had joined the "Shield G-Man Club" and entered a contest. And he won! There can be no doubt that Dave loved comics and their characters!

So here is a picture of Sidney David Wigransky, Jr., sitting in the comic book room he had in his parent's house in Washington, D.C. At the time, his comic room housed around 5,000 to 6,000 comics or so, most of which he had bought off the stand. This picture was taken in July of 1948: There's a lot to learn from this photo. First, take a look at the easily identifiable comics. They span in time from 1935 to 1948. They cover a wide array of genres. They are: * Famous Funnies 17 (Dec. 1935) * Whiz 15 (March 1941) * Stuntman 1 (April/May 1946) * True Crime Comics vol. 1, no. 2 (May 1947) * Powerhouse Pepper 2 (Spring 1948) * Two Gun Kid 1 (March 1948) Second, look at the comic storage. All of his comics are very neatly stacked and separated in their respective cubes. Clearly, they are organized. And this guy had a frigging comic book room in 1948! Third, look at the comics themselves. These aren't comics "showing too much love." Instead, they are flat (unless "newsstand fresh"), with square corners, and aren't showing rips or creases. Fourth, look at him. He's relatively young. Only 14. Yet, he is holding a copy of a comic from 1935 (13 years old) that is in really nice shape! He clearly was not only pursuing back issues, he was pursuing really nice looking back issues! In sum, this guy was a serious collector, with a serious collection, being kept in great shape. Oh ... one other thing, the photo is obviously a professional photo. This collector had already, at his obvious young age achieved a degree of fame that the news media was photographing him. As a point of fact, he was being photographed in connection with an article he'd written about comic collecting for a national publication (more on that later). The name "Sidney David Wigransky, Jr." still not ringing any bells? Well, at that point in his life, he tended to go by the name "David Pace Wigransky," and that's the name under which he wrote the article for the national publication. From now on, we'll call him "Dave."

"Wait!," you say, "how can 'Dave Jay' be the 'First Great Comic Collector' when I've never heard of him?" Easily answered, my friends. "Dave Jay" is not this collector's real name. It is just one of many nom de plume's (or it is aka's) used by this collector. He was known by more names than some western bank robbers. Indeed, as far as I can tell, he never appears to have used his real name. The only time I've seen it was on his birth announcement and on his obituary. His real name was "Sidney."

So who is my nominee for the title of the "First Great Comic Collector"? Before I say, a quick digression. Not so long ago I sought out and bought a 45 record from 1956. I was ecstatic to get this record because the singer, Dave Jay, had written on the label: "You've never heard of me - But you will!" I was ecstatic to get this record because that sentence sums up one of the themes of the research I was doing into my nominee for the "First Great Comic Collector." Especially because Dave Jay is that comic collector.

Over on Comics General we've been discussing the topic of who the "First Great Comic Collector" might be. The quick, and obvious, answer people throw out is Edgar Church. And if the question were what is the "Greatest Comic Collection," I'd have to answer that it was Church's collection. But, for me, a "Great Collector" is defined by more than just having a "Great Collection." There are a number of factors that I think should be taken into consideration when evaluating if a person is deserving of the designation as a truly "Great collector" (as opposed to merely having a "great collection"). Very few people, if anyone, will tick every box; however, I don't think you need to tick every box to be considered a truly "Great collector." 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; The length of time the person collected comics; The breadth of the the person's comic collection; The quality of the person's comic collection; 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 deals comics; Whether the person has been a market maker; Whether the person has taken the next step to collect 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.); Whether the person has directly communicated with comic creators (artists, writers, editors) or publishers; 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); 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; Whether the person has authored articles on comics or comic collecting; Whether the person has created or published amateur comics; Whether the person has attempted to or become a professional comic creator; and Whether the person has done other acts to further comics or comic collecting (a catch-all). I believe that there are a fair number of folks who were active in the early 1960s who legitimately have earned the mantle of "Great Comic Collector." These include the fathers and mothers of modern comic fandom like Don & Maggie Thompson, Jerry Bails, Biljo White, and many others. The deeper you get into the 1960s and 1970s, the more folks you can find who tick enough boxes to legitimately deserve the accolade, probably because as fandom grew the opportunities for making meaningful contributions to comic collecting increased. But, I can only think of one collector who ticks enough boxes to have deserved that title in the 1940s. In this thread, I'm going to tell his story. By the end of my telling, you may agree or disagree that he was the "First Great Comic Collector," either of which is fine by me. My hope is that you'll come away from this thread with new information about this collector, and a greater appreciation of his collecting accomplishments.

I've read that they pre-filmed cameos.

There are a number of factors that I think should be taken into consideration when evaluating if a person is deserving of designation as a truly "Great collector," as opposed to merely having a "great collection." Very few people, if anyone, will tick every box. I don't think you need to tick every box to be considered a truly "Great collector." These factors include: The extent of the person's enthusiasm and love of comics and collecting; The length of time the person collected comics; The breadth of the the person's comic collection; The quality of the person's comic collection; 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 deals comics; Whether the person has been a market maker; Whether the person has taken the next step to collect comic book 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.); Whether the person has directly communicated with comic creators (artists, writers, editors) or publishers; 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); 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; Whether the person has authored articles on comics or comic collecting; Whether the person has created or published amateur comics; Whether the person has attempted to or become a professional comic creator; and Whether the person has done other acts to further comics or comic collecting (a catch-all)

I'm looking forward to see what folks think about my candidate and, more important to me, his story. I bought this 45 recently, and the handwritten message is a good teaser for the collector's story. Except, I'm sure that some here HAVE heard of this collector. But, I think I'm going to be able to reveal some really interesting information about this collector and his importance to comic collecting that are far from common knowledge.

There's been some great posts over the years about Rick D on this site over the years. I think he was the first guy to pioneer the collecting model that guys like Anderson would follow in the late 70s and early 80s. The story about what happened to his collection is not good, and worth chasing down.

Exactly right! Also, we should note that although Church assembled the largest pedigree collection, he did not assemble the earliest pedigree collection. Billy Wright's collecting started a year before Church's. Lost Valley pedigree may also have started before Church.

I'm with the Robot Man on this one. Chuck's stories are all we got, but Church was dead before Chuck bought the comics and Chuck is making some speculations about how and why Church bought the comics. Chuck also is known for his memory issues and, of course, he has a natural tendency (as we all do) to tell the story in a light favorable to him (there has been some controversy because he paid 10 cents a comic for the collection, a pittance even then, and the quotes you relate seemed designed in part to address that issue). Other folks have said that: "Much of the cut-up pulps and magazines were from the 1920s and 1930s." That would predate Church's comic buying, and suggests that Church bought comics to replace earlier sources for reference material. Of course, he'd have no need to cut up comics, as they are effectively all art, whereas magazines are mostly words and cutting them up made sense if all he wanted was the art.

Very similar stories. Here's what Wikipedia has to say: "A print adaptation by Carl Barks was published simultaneously in the Donald Duck comic book. Barks was given a storyboard of the film by Ralph Wright while production of the film was still in progress. Barks was asked to create a 32-page comic adaptation, yet Barks did not believe he had enough material. In the end he wound up making a lot of his own material, even creating new characters such as Smorgie the Bad, a villainous eight-armed ogre serving Witch Hazel." I believe that FC 9 is an adaptation of a cartoon that was never made. But, many more cartoons are based on Barks' stories than DD comics based on cartoons.

He's definitely one of the pioneering figures of comics fandom. He bought a Batman 1 off the stands and kept his interest in comics, ultimately starting fanzines in the early 1960s. He's one of the guys who created modern fandom, but there were guys who became more prominent earlier.

How you mount them on dryboard walls?

I can always put up an argument.

Please don't take this post as arguing against Overstreet's influence. He's on my Mount Rushmore of Comic Collectors. But, the assertion that Bob was "the first great collector of the greatest period of comic collecting" is something I cannot agree with. That assertion ignores the events of the 1960s and the people Bob would probably acknowledge as more deserving of that title. There were several comic book price guides before Bob's. Bob's was better, but it was not first. The articles in the guide are nice, but they are just a small portion of the library of articles on comics and comic collecting generated since 1960. Bob, who is the first to acknowledge this, also benefited tremendously from the extensive notes provided to him by Jerry Bails, who had begun drafting his own price guide before handing off his notes to Overstreet. Long prior to Overstreet's first Price Guide in 1970, Jerry Bails had already published "Alter Ego" (1961) with Roy Thomas which was arguably the first great comic fanzine, published "Comicollector" (1961) which was the first comic buying and selling adzine (it later merged with the Rocket's Blast and became the RBCC), published "On the Drawing Board" (1961) which was a comic news zine publicising upcoming comics and identifying their creators which was the forerunner to the "Comic Reader," founded the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors (1962) which was the first great society of comic collectors, created the Alley Awards (1962) which was the first comic awards, hosted some of the earliest comic conventions (1964), published CAPA-APA (1964) which was the first comic APA, and published extensive indexes of Golden Age comics such as the Collector’s Guide to the First Heroic Age which were relied upon Bob for the non-price info in his guide. Jerry Bails, in my opinion, is also someone I would put on my Mount Rushmore of Comic Collectors and I think he's more important than Bob, something I think Bob would probably agree with. There is a reason that Jerry Bails is called the "Father of Comic Fandom." Even so, I don't think Jerry Bails was the "First Great Comic Collector." And Bob, while he is a contender for the pantheon of greatest comic collectors ever (and IMHO on Mt. Rushmore), is not even close to the conversation for "First Great Comic Collector" because so many others were doing important things before him in the 1960s.

I'll be starting my presentation on the person I think was the first great nationally known comic book advocate over on the GA forum after this upcoming weekend, I hope. I really appreciate the comments being made, and as I take on board information may re-think my argument. So far, though, I haven't seen anything to change my mind. Please keep your thoughts and ideas coming!

Bob started buying comics in 1952, after a number of others already mentioned, and didn't really become a force in the comic collecting world until the late 1960s or 1970. Really really important comic collector, but not one of the earliest important guys.

Pop Hollinger was probably the first mail order comic book dealer. But, he lacks a lot of other criteria. And what he did to comics makes me shudder.