Sense of Wonder: A Life in Comic Fandom

by Bill Schelly

Sense Of Wonder is the personal recollections of Bill Schelly's years as a comic book collector and fanzine publisher in the 1960s and 1970s. As Fandom's leading historian, Schelly recounts his strange-but-true encounters with Steve Ditko, Dr. Frederic Wertham, Jim Shooter, Bob Kane and more. Also included are over 150 photos and illustrations, including rare work by Dick Giordano, Joe Sinnott, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Mike Kaluta, Wally Wood, Doug Potter, Dave Cockrum, C. C. Beck, Don Newton, and a knock-out Captain America frontispiece by Jack Kirby and Mike Allred.

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics, Memoir, History

216 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

BILL SCHELLY is the Eisner Award-winning author of HARVEY KURTZMAN, THE MAN WHO CREATED MAD AND REVOLUTIONIZED HUMOR IN AMERICA, voted Best Comics-Related Book of 2015. He began researching the history of comic fandom in 1991, resulting in the book The Golden Age of Comic Fandom (1995), then became associate editor of Alter Ego magazine, a post he holds to the present day. Schelly has written several biographies of film and comics artists, including movie comedian Harry Langdon and comic book scribe Otto Binder, co-creator of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. In 2008, he authored Man of Rock, a biography of celebrated comics writer-artist Joe Kubert. Schelly's American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950’S (2013) was nominated for a Harvey Award. He has received acclaim as the premier historian of comic fandom, and perhaps the top biographer of comic book creators.

Reviews

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Recommendation: 100% worth the read. Whether you're a comics aficionado, have only a passing interest in comics/graphic novels, or are somewhere in between, Schelly has crafted an amazing memoir that encompasses so much more than his life and opened up a whole new world to me. I was sad to read that he died in 2019 because the way he writes made it feel like he's an old friend you've known forever and I was looking forward to discovering so much more of his work (thankfully he has a pretty decent sized bibliography).

My Response: I wasn't sure what to expect when I said I'd take a look at this after the publisher reached out to me about a review copy.* As much as I love the MCU and the various graphic novels I read (especially LGBTQ+ ones), I haven't read comics since the early 1990s when I read a ton of Star Wars comics at the local Borders, I was going into this blind when it came to comic fandom.

Sense of Wonder is a deep dive into comic fandom from its earliest moments to the colossal behemoth it has become today all through the lens of Schelly's life and experiences. I had no idea that fanzines were a thing back in the 1960s (oh hey, internet generation) and thanks in part to Schelly's wonderful writing style and the methodical yet meandering journey he takes you on in this work, I now long for the days of pre-internet community building via snail mail, rides from parents to other parts of town, and collect phone calls.

Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.

*I received a copy of Sense of Wonder from the publisher in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome.

Some of you may already know Bill Schelly as a premier biographer of comic book creators. This includes his tremendous Harvey Kurtzman bio, winner of the Eisner Award (the Eisners are the Academy Awards for comics) for Best Comics-Related Book of 2015, as well as his biographies of artist Joe Kubert, John Stanley (Little Lulu) and Otto Binder (SF author and scripter of Captain Marvel comics). All of these books are well written, exhaustively researched and well worth a look. But Bill has outdone himself this time, as the biography he writes is his own. It’s a highly personal and entertaining memoir of his life in comic fandom and will appeal to any comic fan. Filled with many personal anecdotes on the history of comic fandom, Schelly incorporates humorous recollections of his life as a 60’s comic fanzine publisher – the chapters involving teenage partner in crime and merry prankster Marshall Lanz are hilarious and worth the price of the paperback! Interspersed with the tale of his life in comics fandom is an uplifting story about years of frustrating trials and tribulations involving his desire to become a professional writer/artist … and finally persevering. The book also serves as Mr. Schelly’s “coming out of the closet” story and I have to give him credit for laying it all out there. It is often poignant, emotional and thought provoking, and it has much to say about the subject of being gay in the 70’s and 80’s. There are interesting snippets about his life in the gay community, and the story of how he fathered two children is surprising and utterly amazing. I won’t spoil it for you – you’ll have to read the book. All in all, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone!

Did I mention this book is awesome?!

[Cathy W · Rating 5 out of 5]

... We have lots of Bill Schelly's books, but I have always left them to my husband to read (except for "The Eye"). When we got "Sense of Wonder", I took a look at it and read about the author on the back cover. Both the book and he sounded interesting, so I knew it would be something I would enjoy reading. He really took me back in time, talking about how he started reading comic books and what he had to go through in order to find them. How he used the old mimeograph machines to print out his fanzines brought back memories of my using those same types of machines for things I did in college. I wish I had known back then that fanzines existed. It is amazing the writers and artists that contributed to his various fanzines. He lovingly put a lot of work into them, and he learned a lot along the way. I enjoyed the whole book and it was very hard to put down. I was so glad that it had the "happy" ending I was hoping for.

[Charlie Eckhaus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's straightforward, natural style and nostalgia establish your interest in his life story.
Lots of shared experience for me from the start. Conveys his excitement at his discovery and participation in early comics fandom (too bad about Ditko's displeasure.)
Touchpoints continue to abound, making me wish I'd been more of an achiever in my pretty solitary fan days.
Interesting section on his visit to the ComicCon and his discouraging dismissive treatment by Colletta and Schwartz at the DC Junior Bullpen interview (publicity made it seem like it was geared toward apprenticeships, but in actuality they were looking for cheap workhorses.)
Background as film historian new to me.
Mundane existence rears its ugly head, then he partners in a comic book store, learns some lessons.
Sad when he talks about early fans dying off.
There is a lot of joy and heartbreak in the last pages. Life is fleeting, fate is cruel.

[Comics Alternative · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://comicsalternative.com/comics-a...

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably a book with a limited appeal, as it's subject matter is rather narrow, dealing with comics fandom as it does. That being said, I found it a very interesting story of one fan's life in the amateur world that surrounds professional comics, and the ways those worlds intersect. Its so very readable and so well organized and it flows like a story, and anyone who thinks that is a simple or common feature of biographies or non-fiction in general has not read enough of them. Many of them are something of a jumble and this book never is that. It was very engaging.

[Mark Dorrough · Rating 4 out of 5]

oly really for comic fans or maybe any hardcore fns of geekdom