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A BIT OF COMIC HISTORY / ALTER-EGO #4

Started by burntboy,

29 posts in this topic

burntboy

burntboy

Posted
Posted

well i promised DrBanner, so here are the first 8 pages of issue #4 of ALTER-EGO #4.

 

this was published (up to that point) by Dr Jerry Bails of Michigan. he, along with Roy Thomas are possibly the two most famous Comic Collectors ever. i know there were others, but when it comes to giving credit to two guys who arguably can claim responsibility for starting and nurturing Comic Fandom, you have to start here.

 

these 8 pages are like looking through a window into the past. Jerry Bails is leaving AE to pursue other comic interests. Ron Foss is taking over. Roy Thomas has a lengthy summary of the results of the first Annual Poll of the Academy of Comic-book Arts and Sciences (The Alley Awards). (i mean, these guys just got together and formed this organization and then started producing AE and then started to hand out Annual Awards, etc.......)

 

i could go on, but i'll just let you read the artcles as you like. if there appears to be any interest, i'll post more of the issue in the future.

 

i've had this copy in it's original mailing envelope for 42 years and i still open it from time to time and remember what it was like back in the beginning...... cloud9.gif

 

 

1093500238100_Alter_Ego.jpg

1092975857125_Alter_Ego_001.jpg

1091818299192_Alter_Ego_002.jpg

1093182233732_Alter_Ego_003.jpg

1092548283461_Alter_Ego_004.jpg

1090773515793_Alter_Ego_005.jpg

1090381680672_Alter_Ego_006.jpg

1092897191855_Alter_Ego_007.jpg

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s-man

s-man

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Posted

While its always cool to see comic related material of the past such as this... for me, sorry to say its a sleeping.gif....ONLY because I started out with Marvel and never really got into DC.

 

But pretty cool otherwise! Did they ever get into Marvel material??

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burntboy

burntboy

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While its always cool to see comic related material of the past such as this... for me, sorry to say its a sleeping.gif....ONLY because I started out with Marvel and never really got into DC.

 

But pretty cool otherwise! Did they ever get into Marvel material??

 

sure, but this was released just after FF#1 came out!!! there's an original pencil of the thing in this issue by Jack Kirby, just for AE........

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Zonker

Zonker

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Posted

Great stuff! 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

A few quotes captured my attention:

 

Jerry Bails: "dealers and collectors please note I always have money for items on my want list"

 

So dealers (in the plural) were pretty prevalent as early as 1962, if Bails felt it worthwhile to 'broadcast' a message to all of them? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Roy Thomas: "I seriously doubt if many people would actually have voted for Fantastic Four as best comic book merely on the basis of the first issue." 893whatthe.gif

 

Jerry Bails: ("complimenting" recent competitors to the Alter-Ego fanzine) "...and at least one has mastered the ditto machine" 27_laughing.gif

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bobpfef

bobpfef

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Jerry Bails: ("complimenting" recent competitors to the Alter-Ego fanzine) "...and at least one has mastered the ditto machine"

 

I was wondering HOW AE was printed? Some sort of offset printing? Looks like gold color on the cover at least. Xerox was something they could do at the time and ditto was really the only cheap way (if you could get access to the school ditto machine wink.gif ) for putting out a fanzine, though the quality from ditto was usually awful. I have some old ditto fanzines around. I remember talking to some old-timers about how they printed up the fanzines, some later even had there own small offset presses! There was also Hecto printing wish often looked just as bad as ditto....

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drbanner

drbanner

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That's awesome...thanks burnt! 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Jerry mentions acquiring back issues, as well as "...dealers and collectors..." in his editorial, although the content appears to be focused on current publications. Did Alter Ego (or any of the other early fanzines for that matter) ever have advertisements for back issues for sale?

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JohnBull

JohnBull

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893applaud-thumb.gif Great stuff!

 

I loved the editorial. I wish I was too busy to reply to this post because I had 100 rare 1940's comics to read, all of which I'd bought last year! I also liked the choice of rewards available for helping to photocopy old comics (now let's see, shall I go for a free advert in The Comic reader or some pre-1962 original JLA art 893scratchchin-thumb.gif). I wonder how much Jerry's definition of mint resembled that of most current forumites?

 

The awards write up was also interesting, with Marvel already being mentioned. Most fascinating of all though was the Hulk's mention in the Worst Comic category and in this case the readers also voted with their wallets.

 

Thanks very much and I'm sure we'll all appreciate anymore when you have time. thumbsup2.gif

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burntboy

burntboy

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Jerry Bails: ("complimenting" recent competitors to the Alter-Ego fanzine) "...and at least one has mastered the ditto machine"

 

I was wondering HOW AE was printed? Some sort of offset printing? Looks like gold color on the cover at least. Xerox was something they could do at the time and ditto was really the only cheap way (if you could get access to the school ditto machine wink.gif ) for putting out a fanzine, though the quality from ditto was usually awful. I have some old ditto fanzines around. I remember talking to some old-timers about how they printed up the fanzines, some later even had there own small offset presses! There was also Hecto printing wish often looked just as bad as ditto....

 

according to page 30, Alter-Ego (America's Leading Comic Fanzine) was done using Photo-offset reproduction.

 

the cover was a somewhat thicker and more textured paper stock than the rest of the pages and had the only color in the Fanzine (the aforementioned Gold).

 

subscriptions were $.50/issue.

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Zonker

Zonker

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subscriptions were $.50/issue.

 

FIVE times the cost of a brand-new comic book???

 

That would be like, what?, $15-16 for a single issue of 2004-era fanzine.

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burntboy

burntboy

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That's awesome...thanks burnt! 893applaud-thumb.gif

 

Jerry mentions acquiring back issues, as well as "...dealers and collectors..." in his editorial, although the content appears to be focused on current publications. Did Alter Ego (or any of the other early fanzines for that matter) ever have advertisements for back issues for sale?

 

Yup - Ron Foss's (taking over AE for Bails with issue #5) own Comicollector was a bimonthly fanzine listing thousands of back issues for sale. it was billed as "The meeting place of all active comic fans and collectors"............

 

i'll post a few pages from it soon........ thumbsup2.gif

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s-man

s-man

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Posted
While its always cool to see comic related material of the past such as this... for me, sorry to say its a sleeping.gif....ONLY because I started out with Marvel and never really got into DC.

 

But pretty cool otherwise! Did they ever get into Marvel material??

 

sure, but this was released just after FF#1 came out!!! there's an original pencil of the thing in this issue by Jack Kirby, just for AE........

 

Do you have a copy of the Thing drawing??

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burntboy

burntboy

Posted
  • Author
Posted
While its always cool to see comic related material of the past such as this... for me, sorry to say its a sleeping.gif....ONLY because I started out with Marvel and never really got into DC.

 

But pretty cool otherwise! Did they ever get into Marvel material??

 

sure, but this was released just after FF#1 came out!!! there's an original pencil of the thing in this issue by Jack Kirby, just for AE........

 

Do you have a copy of the Thing drawing??

 

i knew that would hook you grin.gif

 

here's the Alter-Ego exclusive by Kirby from 1962:

 

1090600982439_Alter_Ego_008.jpg

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s-man

s-man

Posted
Posted
While its always cool to see comic related material of the past such as this... for me, sorry to say its a sleeping.gif....ONLY because I started out with Marvel and never really got into DC.

 

But pretty cool otherwise! Did they ever get into Marvel material??

 

sure, but this was released just after FF#1 came out!!! there's an original pencil of the thing in this issue by Jack Kirby, just for AE........

 

Do you have a copy of the Thing drawing??

 

i knew that would hook you grin.gif

 

here's the Alter-Ego exclusive by Kirby from 1962:

 

1090600982439_Alter_Ego_008.jpg

 

NOW YOUR TALKING!! 893applaud-thumb.gif

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Red Hook

Red Hook

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Posted

Great Thread Harry.....

 

Wow, this stuff even predates MY entrance into collecting! It's as old as King Tut! (or was that Rama Tut....,?.....I always get those guys mixed up........

 

 

 

.......wait,.....it was Tang the Conqueror....um, I mean Captain Kangaroo.....uh, no....that wasn't it either......

 

 

[!@#%^&^].

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s-man

s-man

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Great Thread Harry.....

 

Wow, this stuff even predates MY entrance into collecting! It's as old as King Tut! (or was that Rama Tut....,?.....I always get those guys mixed up........

 

 

 

.......wait,.....it was Tang the Conqueror....um, I mean Captain Kangaroo.....uh, no....that wasn't it either......

 

 

[!@#%^&^].

 

Brad..I think you need another nap... 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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Larryw7

Larryw7

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Interesting to see that FLASH #123 was chosen as best book that year, as I just ordered a 2.0 copy from Comic Link. And, believe it or not, I've never read the story. I'm looking forward to seeing what my impressions of the story are.

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