The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors was the first official organization of comic book enthusiasts and historians. Active during the 1960s, the ACBFC was established by Jerry Bails, the "father of comics fandom." A vital player in the development of comics fandom, the ACBFC brought fans of the medium together, administered the first industry awards, and assisted in the establishment of the first comic book fan conventions.
The idea of the Academy was inspired by Bails' friend and fellow enthusiast Roy Thomas, who felt a comics-industry version of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would be an effective way "to emphasize the seriousness of comics fans about their hobby." Bails further liked "the idea of a fandom organization that would not only perpetuate the concept of comics as an art form, but would also act as a sort of umbrella for all his ideas and projects, and those of others." In short order — 1961 or 1962 — the Academy of Comic-Book Arts and Sciences was established. Bails served as the Academy's first executive secretary, which had an initial roster of about twenty members. The Academy's first order of business was to administer the Alley Awards, which traced their origin to "a letter to Jerry dated October 25, 1961," by Thomas, in which he suggested to Bails that his fanzineAlter-Ego create its own awards to reward fandom's "favorite comic books in a number of categories" in a manner similar to the Oscars. Initially suggested as "The Alter-Ego Award," the resulting idea was soon named "The Alley Award," "named after V. T. Hamlin's Alley Oop" by Thomas "because surely a caveman had to be the earliest superhero chronologically." The first Alley Awards, given for the calendar year 1961, were reported in Alter Ego #4.
Ratification
In 1963 Bails renamed the organization the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors upon ratification of its charter, with these goals:
On March 21–22, 1964, the first annual "Alley Tally" by ACBFC members was organized by Bails at his house in Detroit, with the purpose of counting "the Alley Award ballots for 1963." This became notable in retrospect as the first major gathering of comics fans, predating the earliest comic book conventions, which were held later in the year. Attendees included Ronn Foss, Don Glut, Don and Maggie Thompson, Mike Vosburg, and Grass Green. Comics historianBill Schelly notes that the Alley Tally and "even larger fan meetings in Chicago... helped build momentum" for these earliest conventions. At the end of 1964, Bails passed on his role as executive secretary to fellow fan Paul Gambaccini.
By 1968, comics fandom — including annual conventions being held in New York, Detroit, St. Louis, and the Southwest — had become well established, and the Academy's mission had been essentially fulfilled. In early 1968, due to a number of factors, Executive Secretary Kaler left, and Academy member Maggie Thompson declared the ACBFC "moribund." A 1969 mention in "Marvel Bullpen Bulletins" may have helped revive interest temporarily — it noted that the group "holds an annual poll to determine the most popular mags, writers and artists of the preceding year," and directed fans to obtain a ballot from then ACBFC executive secretary Mark Hanerfeld. Nonetheless, the Academy waned, "and it was disbanded for lack of interest by the decade's end." 1970 was also the final year of the Alley Awards. The Comic Reader, meanwhile, became "a mainstay of fandom," continuing as a monthly magazine under a succession of editors, before being taken over in 1973 by Street Enterprises, which published the magazine until the mid-1980s.
