William Carl Schelly (November 2, 1951 – September 12, 2019) was an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

-winning author who chronicled the history of

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

and comic book

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

, and wrote biographies of comic book creators, including

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

, L.B. Cole,

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Poland, Polish-born Americans, American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawk ...

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ...

, John Stanley, and James Warren as well as silent film comedian

Harry Langdon Henry Philmore "Harry" Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American actor and comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', December 27 ...

.Biographer and Comics Fandom Chronicler Bill Schelly Dies Unexpectedly at 67
by Mike Dean, September 18, 2019, from The Comics Journal website, tcj.com. Accessed October 8, 2019.

Early life

Bill Schelly was born in

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...

, and had been a comic book enthusiast since 1960. He was living in a suburb of

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

when he heard about comics fandom in 1964. Upon seeing his first amateur publication about comics, a mimeographed

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

called ''

Batmania ''Batmania'' is a term coined by Billy Joe (Biljo) White in the early 1960s and the title of his influential fanzine dedicated to the DC Comics, DC comic book character Batman. The name is "almost certainly" a nod to the then-prominent term "Bea ...

'', Schelly decided to become a fanzine publisher himself. He launched ''Super-Heroes Anonymous'' in February 1965, the first in a string of magazines he edited and published until 1972. It was for his fanzine ''Sense of Wonder'' that Schelly became known to the comics community. Begun while living in Pittsburgh, but mostly published after he moved to

Lewiston, Idaho Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's North Central Idaho, north central region. It is the third-largest city in the Idaho Panhandle, northern Idaho region, behind Post Falls, Idaho, Pos ...

, in 1967, it began as a collection of amateur

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

s and stories. In 1970, while attending the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

, Schelly changed the format of ''Sense of Wonder'' to a "general fanzine" made up of articles and artwork about the history of comic books. By the end of its 12-issue run, ''Sense of Wonder'' had presented the first attempt to chronicle the whole career of comics innovator

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

, as well as work by

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American artist known for themes of Fantasy art, fantasy and science fiction, noted for comic books, mass market paperback, paperback book covers, paintings, p ...

and Stanley Pitt. It was discontinued after he graduated from the

with a B.S. in education in 1973.

Writing

In 1990, Schelly began researching the history of the classic era of comic book fandom. Eventually, his research culminated in a book-length manuscript called ''The Golden Age of Comic Fandom'' It was well-received, quickly sold out, and was nominated for a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award. A revised and expanded edition was published in 1998, and another printing was done in 2003.

Awards

Schelly won a

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 Comic-Con Internati ...

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

for Fandom Services in 2011 and the 2016

for Best Comics-Related Book for his biography, ''

: The Man Who Created'' Mad'' and Revolutionized Humor in America'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2015)

List of Eisner Award winners The following is a list of winners of the Eisner Award, sorted by category. The Eisner Awards have been presented since 1988, but there were no Eisner Awards in 1990 due to balloting mix-ups."Eisners Cancelled," ''The Comics Journal'' #137 (Sept. ...

Death

Bill Schelly died September 12, 2019, due to blood clotting in the lungs during

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

for his recently diagnosed

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

Bibliography

* ''

'' (

Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...

, 1982) * ''The Golden Age of Comic Fandom'' (Hamster Press, 1995) * (with

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

) ''Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine'' (Hamster Press, 1997; re-issued by TwoMorrows Publishing in 2008) * ''Fandom's Finest Comics'' Vol. 1 (Hamster Press, 1997) * ''Fandom's Finest Comics'' Vol. 2 (Hamster Press, 1998) * ''Giant Labors of Love'' (Hamster Press, 2000) * ''Sense of Wonder: A Life in Comic Fandom'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2001) * ''Comic Fandom Reader'' (Hamster Press, 2002) * ''The Best of Star-Studded Comics'' (Hamster Press, 2005) * ''Words of Wonder: The Life and Times of

'' (Hamster Press, 2003) * ''Man of Rock: A Biography of

'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2008) * ''Harry Langdon: His Life and Films'' (substantially revised and appended second edition, McFarland, 2008) * ''Founders of Comic Fandom: Profiles of 90 Publishers, Dealers, Collectors, Writers, Artists and Other Luminaries of the 1950s and 1960s'' (McFarland Books, 2010) * ''The Art of

'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2011) * ''Weird Horrors and Daring Adventures'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2012) * (with

) ''The Best of Alter Ego, Vol. 2'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2013) * ''American Comic Book Chronicles: The 50s'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2013) * ''Black Light: The World of L.B. Cole'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2015) * ''

: The Man Who Created Mad and Revolutionized Humor in America'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2015) * ''

: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary'' (North Atlantic Books, 2016) * '' John Stanley: Giving Life To

Little Lulu ''Little Lulu'' is a comic strip created in 1935 by American author Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character, Lulu Moppet, debuted in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' on February 23, 1935, in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding ...

'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2017) * ''Sense of Wonder, My Life in Comic Fandom--The Whole Story'' (North Atlantic Books, 2018) * ''Bill Schelly Talks with the Founders of Comic Fandom, Vol. 1'' (Pulp Hero Press) * ''The Bill Schelly Reader: Collected Essays about Comic Books, Comic Fandom & James Bond'' (Pulp Hero Press, 2019) * ''Come With Me'' (novel; Pulp Hero Press, 2019) * '' James Warren, Empire of Monsters: The Man Behind

Creepy Creepiness is the state of being creepy, or causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease to someone and/or something. Certain traits or hobbies may make people seem creepy to others; interest in horror or the macabre might come across as 'c ...

Vampirella Vampirella () is a vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of '' Creepy'' and ''E ...

, and

Famous Monsters ''Famous Monsters'' is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits, released on October 5, 1999. It is the second in the post- Danzig era of the band, and the last album to feature Michale Graves, Dr. Chud and Doyle Wolfgang ...

'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2019)

References

External links

*
Spotlight on Bill Schelly
video from San Diego Comic Fest, March 9, 2019.
Biographer and Comics Fandom Chronicler Bill Schelly Dies Unexpectedly at 67
by Mike Dean, September 18, 2019, from The Comics Journal website, tcj.com. Accessed October 8, 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schelly, Bill 1951 births American comics writers American comic book editors People from Walla Walla, Washington Writers from Washington (state) 20th-century American biographers 21st-century American biographers Comics historians Comics scholars American male biographers University of Idaho alumni University of Washington faculty 20th-century American male writers 2019 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma