Yes, Jim, Jerry Bails was quite a guy, I did a two part article on Jerry Bails' little known talent of art and Superheroes.
In Jim Main's Comic Fan.
I happened to be e-mailing with Michael T. Gilbert (Mr. Monster) about Jerry's Who Who site, so I asked if he could do a couple of spot illos. Below is the result of that conversation.
What a great guy Michael is and a great example why Fandom is so great.
Yes, Michael is a great guy and he's someone I learn things from. I greatly enjoy people like that. He found the REAL Al Walker after Hames and Jerry (at my urging, if I remember correctly) ID'd him as an artist from the turn of the century. It was an eye-opener and I was SO glad I was wrong. Crediting the art to a young, beginning artist made so much more sense than to a 60-something old-timer ending his long career by drawing comic books. Thanks for that and much more, Michael.
Too Bad Jerry didn't live to see that. I think I was one of the last to communicate with him before he left us.
and I'll bet he was still mightily involved. He sure was a couple of months prior to his death. We (Hames and I) had a three way exploration/discussion with him that was very satisfying - eventually. He was a tough sell when he truly believed in something, but was ALWAYS amenable to persuasion via facts. Too bad some of these last facts didn't make it into the WW. I guess he had other worries.
So how long have you lived in Cali. Tim Gua and I used to go to Cherokee's and Collector's in Hollywood back in the 70's.
I've lived in California since 1958. In 1970 I was in the enviable position of making about twenty times my rent for about 15 months. About once a month, I used to leave work on a Friday afternoon and DRIVE to Los Angeles (from Sunnyvale - about 375 miles), sleep in my car somewhere off Sunset and hit Cherokee and Collector's (and one other whose name I've forgotten that was just off of Sunset) right after breakfast. I'd make a pile of comics about two to three feet high (Atlas, Harvey, Avon, Hillman, ANYTHING I didn't have) and offer them $1 a book. They usually took it, though sometimes they would ask for $2 on a handful of them. I was spending about half a month's salary on comic books at a time when the Price Guide wasn't gospel and you could get "quantity discounts".
I'd do that with Barry Baumann in Oakland, too, when he was a major player in the old comics biz.
Of course, such wealth came with a penalty and I hated my job. I eventually quit to work for a printer at about 1/3 my exalted salary - but I was much happier. I moved in with Karen around this time (1971) and we've been together ever since. Since then I've never had to pare my collection of pre-1960s books and always had the space to store and add to the collection. I'm a lucky guy.
Sorry, but I don't have a copy of the GAC you're looking for.
Peace, Jim (|:{>
Author
Topic: Looking for KO Komics #1 (Hey I liked the cover) (Read 2989 times)
