The 1964 New York Comicon: The True Story Behind the World's First Comic Book Convention (The 1960s: The Silver Age of Comic Conventions)

For those of you who have attended San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con, or even your local comic con, it would be hard to imagine what the actual FIRST Comic Con was like... 56 (or more...) fans gathered in a hot room with no clear program save for the hope of some professional comic book artists to show up, and fans to gather and share a nice time, and probably trade or even buy some comics (like Action #1) from a couple of dealers. That is was all organized by ads in fanzines and mail correspondence (no Internet, social networks available!). Just the will of 4 kids made it happen.The book is very very thoroughly researched with interviews with the actual attendees and many reproductions of the fanzines that got them together, most of which would be impossible to get otherwise.This is a labor of love... the author really loves comics and this period is so beautiful and simple, from when kids would go by bike to meet other kids and share their love of comics. Many of the original attendees ended up being very important in their fields, an example being George R R Martin, author of Game of Thrones who attended this con being onky 15 years old! The author tracks most of them down (most of them in their 70's by now) to find out where they went to... some of them ended up being prestigious lawyers, artists, writers, etc.Very recommended reading if you want to know the detailed story of how all the comic con movement started. To think that now SDCC welcomes more than 140,000 fans each year and is closely monitored by the news and the internet, and contrast it with this tiny convention, where it all began, is simply amazing.Thanks Mr Ballmann for taking the time to keep these moments for posterity!

Husband really likes this publication.

Even if I had never helped to organize the very first Comic Con, being just a part of those early days in comic book fandom taught me a lot. Community, self worth, desire. And it sure took a lot of desire to attempt something so many others had failed trying. Our team had to overcome some pretty large potholes and roadblocks along the way. When the idea of a book about the 1964 Comicon was presented to me I really felt like it was just a fool's journey. How could anyone put together the lost pieces of that day from over a half century ago ? Memories were clouded, written material from it had vanished long ago and very little publicity ever existed from that July 27th 1964 day. Holy cow (!) was I ever WRONG !! J. Ballmann has been able to unearth lost documents we all had forgotten even existed. His detective work allowed him to interview many of the original attendees and even found attendees we never recorded as attending. And his excellent writing ability allowed him to reconstruct that daymoment by moment. He not only covers the actual convention but also the years which led up to its creation. A little detective story and a lot of history. I never thought it was possible but that long forgotten day is alive on these pages. Bernie Bubnis

I have read that the first Comicon was in New York in 1964. I have also read about the Triple Fan Fairs which started just before, Jerry Bails Alley Tally Party and the failed convention in Nebraska. But I had no idea that the story of the New York Con still existed except as reminiscences by old New Yorkers talking about the good old days. J. Ballmann pulls up the full story from the people involved and from the fanzine accounts of the day. His research is very impressive.It is filled with photos and stories of fan activity from the Kennedy and early Johnson era.The people involved talk of going to Marvel, DC and Dell when they were small publishing companies and of the friendly receptions they received. Steve Ditko is portrayed as being extremely open to the fans, saving every fanzine, the saviour of the convention and really, nothing at all like the introverted extremist that he is perceived to be today. Julie Schwartz asks the teenagers, “Why do you read comics at your age,” but gives away original art and in once instance an entire story. Jack Kirby is shown as a helpful individual too and it seems that he tries to make his fans understand that comics is both a business and an art form. Joe Giella is friendly and helpful, allowing a fan to regularly sit in the room with him and watch him work for hours on end. Kurbert is also supportive donating art to give away at the convention. It all sounds very civil. Tom Gill attends the conventions putting on an inspiring drawing demonstration.Meanwhile, various organizations around America are all trying to have conventions. Communications are dead slow. Phone calls are expensive. The Rocket’s Blast is the only monthly magazine catering to comic fans. Letters are written one by one by hand, at times, going out to as many as three hundred people. The teens are attempting to do something that older people have failed at, with few financial resources and with no road map to follow other than the examples of what not to do. Julie Schwartz, long time SF fan, is insulted by, well an insult, a remark that the SF conventions were developed in the stone age.Yet, the spunky kids from New York are able to pull it off.The research is remarkable.The photos are delightful. There is even one of Ditko I hadn’t seen before.The fanzines, reproduced in the book from the original spirit editions, are a reminder of how far we have come.But mostly, it is a story about a time when there was virtually no financial incentive to be a fan of the media. A convention would lose the coordinator money. Fanzines were a money losing proposition in almost every instance. Comics had a very limited investment value. Fans did it for love.I imagine that J. Ballmann did it for love, too. As I said the research is impressive. I assume the book took years to put together. I further assume that his market is limited to a small number of people like me who share his interests. The next big book outlining the History of the Marvel Universe will outsell it a hundred fold, though the history of Marvel has been told many times.

It was not until I read j.ballmanns silver age marvel merchandise history, (which is an amazing book),after collecting comic books for 35 years, that I was even aware that there was a comic book convention, (the 1st) in 1964,luckily for anyone interested in the history of comic book collecting,there is now his obsessively detailed, and just full of original photos, the history and naritive of the 1st comic book convention, and from whom and how it came to be.its very well written and easy to read.if you are a comic book collector, or a fan of pop culture,you realy should read this book for a much better understanding of the earliest beginnings of comic book fandom.it will change how you view everything relating to what you thought you knew about the comic book market place.jim bissell