Jerry Weist

[Ted Knight]

He was a real joy to buy from. My first purchase at a comic bookstore was from the Million Year Picnic in the late 70's. When I bought books from him on ebay recently, he was incredibly nice and willing to have conversations through email. I knew he was sick and hoped he would overcome the cancer. Just so sad, right now. Thanks for everything you did, Jerry. You'll be missed.

[500Club]

[MedicAR]

I really had to think hard about any dealings with Jerry. I felt like I had, but I just couldn't remember what they were. I knew him by reputation and for his attempt at an Original Art price guide. I bought few books from him and he was always great to deal with.

 

He will be missed.

[jimjum12]

What a drag....anyone going to take up a collection ? GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[shiverbones]

Very sad news.

[smithdatura]

Just a small voice adding my condolences to Jerry's family. I had the pleasure of dealing with him on eBay and having a good transaction with him where the books I won were markedly below his "auction estimate"... he definitely seemed in my limited dealing with him like he was a very fair dealer who cared passionately about the hobby.

[Ameri]

Oh my. My sincere condolences go out to his family. I've known Jerry since the early 90's when he organized the first Southeby auctions for comic books which elevated the vintage comic to it's present respected status comparable to rare coins, stamps, and autographs. His vision was to take the sale of vintage comic collectibles out of the back ads of fanzines and have them brokered through respected auction houses. Through his tenacity, Jerry brought our hobby to the forefront of everyone's attention and made comics a force to reckon with. His accomplishments can not be overestimated. I received his updates about his stem cell treatment and he seemed always optimistic of the prognosis. I will miss him greatly.

[Silver]

I had the absolute pleasure of buying a book from him in the last year and getting to talk to him several times. I was amazed and in awe of what he told me of his collection. When I told him I loved Edgar Rice Burroughs material and grew up reading the paperbacks, he lit up on the phone and told me about his ERB collection. It was to put it mildly...amazing.

 

He told me all about his cancer then; I am so glad I got a chance to know him even for a moment.

[shortstack comics]

What was Jerry's eBay handle? Just wondering if I've purchased from him.

[Paris_Fred]

So sad, did work with Jerry for a too little bit of time, a great man, so important for our hobby.

We need more persons like Jerry but in these days I have the feeling that nobody will match him.

Too sad....it really hurts.

 

 

[Tsimanga]

Just a small voice adding my condolences to Jerry's family. I had the pleasure of dealing with him on eBay and having a good transaction with him where the books I won were markedly below his "auction estimate"... he definitely seemed in my limited dealing with him like he was a very fair dealer who cared passionately about the hobby.

 

+1

[BlissComics]

Sad news. I never met him, but heard great things about him and the knowledge he had of the comic collecting hobby.

 

I recently watched the DVD "Tales from the Crypt: From Comic Books to Television", and the DVD extras include video of Jerry Weist moderating a discussion between EC editor and artist Al Feldstein and science fiction author Ray Bradbury. Very cool stuff!

[Ameri]

Jerry's Ebay tag was "jerryweist" and he was still listing through December.

[markseifert]

His vision was to take the sale of vintage comic collectibles out of the back ads of fanzines and have them brokered through respected auction houses. Through his tenacity, Jerry brought our hobby to the forefront of everyone's attention

 

Well put. I've been reflecting on this as well since the news came and think early Sotheby's is probably an under-appreciated moment in the history of the hobby.

[comicnut]

Jerry was a very very kind man and great friend. He will be missed by everyone particularily his family. I cannot express the sadness I feel for such a man passing, nor the loss that this has on the comic/art community. So I want you all to know what a kind man this was. A couple of years ago while I was overseas in Afghanistan and going through a rough time with things, he sent me all sorts of nice things to help cheer me up. This while going through his own personal war with cancer. All the while he always held his head up, had a positive outlook and always thought he'd beat this no matter how many times it kept coming back. This was a great man.

You will be missed Jerry!!!

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

Such a sweet, generous man, and honest til the day is long.

 

Rest in peace, gentle soul.

[comick1]

About 8 years ago, Jerry ran an ebay auction for a page of Kubert art I was missing from an OAAW story (from a near-complete story I'd gotten years prior). When I saw the page on ebay, my heart skipped a beat. I bid competitively and won it, and I remember asking--after the auction ended--if he had more from that story because I wanted to complete the story. I remember that his comment was that I was a TRUE COLLECTOR for caring about getting the complete story and reassembling it piecemeal. A minor observation on his part, but in retrospect, high praise from a collector of his caliber and experience. He was a very approachable and affable guy whose ventures were wide-ranging. His Squa Tront is STILL among my top 3 favorite fanzines EVER produced (my other two favs are CBM, and Graphic Story Magazine). His collection discoveries (White Mountains being paramount) were legend. His involvement in Sothebys (a bit of a double-edged sword in terms of dawning an era of insane prices. . .but I'm pragmatic enough to appreciate that if it wasn't Jerry, it'd have been somebody with nowhere NEAR his integrity pulling the strings. Suffice to say that Ebay was just around the corner). All of these ventures made him a veritable renaissance man of comics fandom.

 

As a teen-ager in the mid-80s, I visited Jerry's Million Year Picnic when I visited my older brother in Cambridge. It was a cool store that had a movie poster shop right next to it. It was the first time I recall thumbing through high grade 10¢ and 12¢ DCs. The people in San Diego still had some old stuff in stock at that time, but it wasn't high grade like THIS. I remember buying a nice copy of Detective Comics 319 that was in about 9.2 range in addition to a few other odds and ends. It was a big deal for me at the time as I was looking for something from the 60s in nice shape. I want to say that it was my first SA DC in nice shape. I don't recall meeting Jerry at that time, but it was definitely his store. When I saw his ads in Overstreet a few years later, I reflected upon the wonder of just visiting a place as monumental as an Overstreet advisor's store (I'd been buying Overstreet for a number of years previous and elevated the advisors and advertisers to god-like status. . .and that's saying a lot for an atheist).

 

Gary Carter introduced me to Jerry at the first Sotheby's auction preview in LA at their location on Rodeo drive. He was speaking with reporters and showing off some virtually flawless pre-hero Marvel White Mountains (that I believe eventually made their way in to Adam Strange's collection). I remember driving up the coast and bringing my mom (who was and remains supportive of my collector mentality--my mom rocks!). Jerry was incredibly gracious and talked with my mom at length about the significance of George Herriman's contributions to the comic strip medium when she inquired about why artwork for a funny looking mouse and cat could be valued so high (as projected by the auction estimates). It was a lesson for me as well and I remember being blown away by this guy's knowledge and his willingness to take time away from some of the hoity-toity high-caliber collectors with cash to throw around just so he could explain something like that to people who were totally clueless about that genre and would not realistically be people who would be interested in spending $$$ on that kind of thing.

 

Even for the few minor transactions and occasions I spoke casually with Jerry (he didn't make it out to the SD con very often and I didn't make it out to his neck of the woods much), I feel truly lucky to have interacted with a fellow who left an indelible legacy of anecdotes and published material over the course of 5 decades of fandom. My hat's off to the memory of Jerry. Always a gentleman and scholar to be sure.

[thehumantorch]

Nicely said sir.

[Cat-Man_America]

During the heyday of comic collector fanzines Jerry was a guy that I deeply admired...scratch that, worshipped; he was one of my heroes.

 

I met Jerry and Bud Plant quite by accident at my very first comic convention (HoustonCon '69) and hung out with them at every opportunity discussing the growth of fandom (EC fandom in particular) most of the glorious weekend. Jerry was a great guy back then, but on the quiet, slightly reserved side compared to the exuberant, outgoing Mr. Plant.

 

That would be my only direct contact with Jerry Weist for nearly four decades. Over the years I lost track of Jerry outside of worshipping his magnificent zine Squa Tront, which I purchased in multiple copies and admired as being the most intelligently designed semi-pro zine on earth. Every issue, Squa Tront grew in size and quality before exhausting virtually all unpublished EC art, stories and anecdotes, after which the zine appeared less frequently, found new directions to explore and eventually was handed off to other capable hands.

 

I reconnected with Jerry a few years ago at an OAF (Oklahoma Alliance of Fans) sponsored convention in Oklahoma City. He brought with him original EC art from his collection that would have been amazing to see in a national museum or Heritage auction, but totally unexpected at a private, OAF members only reunion in a cheesy little cheap rate hotel with fewer than 200 folks in attendance. But he was there to be with friends and share his collection, not to impress investors; Jerry was still the consumate fan at heart.

 

Had he changed? Yes, but only in that he was even warmer and friendlier than I remembered him back in those days of youthful excitement attending conventions like Houstoncon.

 

I knew nothing of Jerry's battle with the disease that would eventually take him; he chose not to dwell on the present, but rather the past and future. We shared memories and photographs of the intervening years and directions our lives had taken. No one who knew Jerry could doubt his eternal optimism and gratitude for the bounty that life had bestowed upon him.

 

Some say that tragedy can be measured in threes; we lost the remarkable creative talents of Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta within the last year. I think it's entirely reasonable to view Jerry Weist's contributions, especially to EC fandom, in that same light. I'm not sure what more can be said about the sadness folks around here must be feeling about Jerry's passing. From my own heart all I can add is we'll miss you, buddy.

[herc2000]

RIP Jerry, lovely person such a shame!