Bill Schelly was born in Walla Walla, Washington, and had been a comic book enthusiast since 1960.[3] He was living in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he heard about comics fandom in 1964. Upon seeing his first amateur publication about comics, a mimeographed fanzine called Batmania, 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.[1] Begun while living in Pittsburgh, but mostly published after he moved to Lewiston, Idaho, in 1967, it began as a collection of amateur comic strips and stories. In 1970, while attending the University of Idaho, 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, as well as work by Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta and Stanley Pitt. It was discontinued after he graduated from the University of Idaho with a B.S. in education in 1973.[1]
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.[1] A revised and expanded edition was published in 1998, and another printing was done in 2003.
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 Otto Binder (Hamster Press, 2003)
Man of Rock: A Biography of Joe Kubert (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)
