Jerry Bails
| Jerry Bails | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jerry Gwin Bails June 26, 1933 Kansas City, Missouri |
| Died | November 23, 2006 (aged 73) Macomb, Michigan |
| Education | University of Kansas City |
| Occupation | Popular culturist |
| Spouse(s) | Sondra Jean |
| Children | Steven, Brenda, Kirk |
Jerry Gwin Bails (June 26, 1933 – November 23, 2006) was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.
Jerry G. Bails was born June 26, 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri. A fan of comic books from a very early age, Bails was a particularly avid fan of All-Star Comics, and its premiere superteam (the Justice Society of America) of whom he was "a fan since the first Justice Society adventure appeared in All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1941)." He wrote in 1960 that by 1945, he "began my campaign to collect all the back issues of this magazine [All-Star Comics]," and six years later when the JSA was dropped, started to work towards their revival. In the letters column of Fantastic Four #22 (cover-dated Jan. 1964) the editor refers to him as "one of fandom's most articulate critics."
As a young man, he "sent samples of his art to EC ("and Al Feldstein was nice enough to respond with advice.")," before attending the University of Kansas City, from which he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, and then his Master's degree in Math. A student teacher by 1953, he gained his Ph.D. in Natural science c.1959, and in 1960 moved to Detroit with his wife Sondra "to become Assistant Professor of Natural Science at Wayne State University."
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