Bill Spicer (born October 1, 1937) is an editor and publisher who spearheaded the 1960s movement away from commercial comics, opening the gateway to
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
,
alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, Spicer began reading
science fiction fanzine
A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" wa ...
s in 1951–52. He learned professional lettering techniques while working at an ad agency from 1955 to 1967, and he became a letterer with
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and ...
in 1967. Three years earlier, he had entered the publishing arena himself after placing a want ad in a fanzine seeking contributors. After responses from artist Landon Chesney and others, he launched a 500-copy offset print run of ''Fantasy Illustrated'' #1 (February 1964) displaying a cover by Chesney and graphic stories in a variety of genres. This included an adaptation of
Eando Binder
Eando Binder is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1965) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).''
Under the Eando nam ...
's 1940s pulp novella "
Adam Link
Adam Link is a fictional robot, made in the likeness of a man, who becomes self-aware, and the protagonist of several science fiction short stories written by Eando Binder, the pen name of Earl Andrew Binder and his brother, Otto Binder. The stor ...
With the introduction of the column "Graphic Story Review" by Richard Kyle, the focus began to shift to articles, reviews, and interviews in addition to the stories, resulting in a change to a new title, ''Graphic Story Magazine'' with issue #8 (Fall 1967).Grant, Steven. ''Comic book Resources'', October 27, 1999. /ref> Issues #12 and #14 were devoted entirely to the work of
Basil Wolverton
Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) at the
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...
(#10). Will Gould (#11),
John Severin
John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics ''Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, ...
(#13),
Gahan Wilson
Gahan Allen Wilson (February 18, 1930 – November 21, 2019) was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations.
Biography
Wilson was born in Evanston, Illinois, and was inspired by th ...
(#15) and
Howard Nostrand
Howard Nostrand (May 13, 1929Nostrand, Howard. "Nostrand by Nostrand", ''Graphic Story Magazine'' #16 (Summer 1974), p. 18–August 1, 1984)Mickey Rat
Robert Armstrong (born 1950) is a cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and musician. He is known for his underground comix character Mickey Rat, for popularizing the term "couch potato," and for being a member of Robert Crumb's band the Cheap Suit ...
'', ''L.A. Comics'', ''Mutants of the Metropolis'' and the full-color ''Weird Fantasies''.
Comic strips
Spicer continued as a Western Publishing letterer from 1967 to 1982. He also lettered for Dark Horse, Another Rainbow, Fantagraphics. From 1988 to 2005, he lettered manga for Viz. He also lettered two comic strips in the 1980s, ''
Rick O'Shay
''Rick O'Shay'' is a Western comic strip created by Stan Lynde, which debuted as a Sunday strip on April 27, 1958. The daily comic strip began on May 19 of the same year.
'' and ''
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
''. He was contracted by Richard Kyle to letter
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...
In addition to his Alley Awards, Spicer won a 1979
Inkpot Award
The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...
. In 2000, the American Association of Comicbook Collectors Fandom Service Award went to Spicer for his significant contribution to the hobby of comic book collecting and his pioneering work with EC fanzines.