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Robert Lee "Bob" Beerbohm (born 1952) is an American comic book historian and retailer who has been intimately involved with the rise of comics fandom since 1966. As a teenager he was a fixture in the nascent comic convention scene, while in the 1970s and 1980s he became a major figure in the Bay Area retailing and distribution scene. In recent decades, Beerbohm has been an important consultant and author detailing the early history of comics in the United States re-discovering the first comic book in America, The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck created by Rodolphe Topffer published by Wilson & Co, New York City, Sept 1842.

Biography

Education

Beerbohm attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1970 – 1972. Later, after moving from outside Omaha to the Bay Area, he attended California State University, Hayward.

Retailer

Beerbohm began as a teenage comic book fan and collector, first making contact with other fans via the "Trade Corner" in Blackhawk #225 (Oct. 1966). He was an early advertiser in the fanzine Rocket's Blast Comic Collector.

Beerbohm set up a booth at his first comics convention in June 17–18, 1967, at the Houstoncon in Texas.

Robert Beerbohm Comic Art

In October 1966, with his first ad in Rocket's Blast ComiCollector #47 aka RBCC while still in Jr High school, Beerbohm began what has become known as Robert Beerbohm Comic Art in more recent years, selling vintage American popular culture artifacts (mostly comic books) at conventions and trade shows. Beerbohm's first comics convention was Houstoncon held june 17 18 1967. He age 14 left on a Greyhound bus traveling 28 hours, turning 15 the first day of that seminal show.

Early conventions he attended also included DallasCon in the summer of 1968; and HoustonCon, the Detroit Triple Fan Fair, and the St. Louis World SF Convention in 1969. In 1970, along with friend Stephen Johnson he set up at Oklahoma City's Multicon, Phil Seuling's Comic Art Convention (the first of many appearances there), the first PhoenixCon hosted by Bruce Hamilton, the only Disneyland Hotel Comicon, another Detroit Triple Fan Fair, and the first San Diego Comic-Con, held at the U.S. Grant Hotel. By 1971, Beerbohm was a regular at most national comics shows, including New York City's first Creation Con, held on Thanksgiving weekend. In 1972, Beerbohm set up tables of vintage comics at almost a dozen comics conventions, including the first Chicago Comicon, and the first of every San Diego Comic-Cons held at the El Cortez Hotel. He has sold comics at San Diego Comicon since the first one in 1970.

Also in 1970 he acquired from Russ Cochran who in turn was given it by EC publisher William Gaines the original art to what was soon realized to be the very first Superman cover drawn by Joe Shuster back in early 1933 for Humor Publishing Company located in Chicago. It was in four pieces and fire-tinged along the edges from when Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel literally pulled it out of the Shuster family fire place after Joe got depressed with the first of what turned out to be many rejections. Beerbohm did not know what he had at the time, but knew it needed to be preserved on some level so he had a couple hundred twice-up original size poster prints made at a local printer. This image has since shown up in many books on DC Comics history.

Beerbohm continues to operate Robert Beerbohm Comic Art, now mostly on the Internet and at selected trade shows.

Comics and Comix

In late August 1972, with housemate Bud Plant and John Barrett, Beerbohm co-opened Comics & Comix on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California.

In April 1973 Comics & Comix hosted the first Bay Area comics convention, Berkeleycon 73, in the Pauley Ballroom in the ASUC Building on the University of California, Berkeley campus. Berkeleycon was the first comic-con focused to underground comix. After Berkeleycon, Beerbohm continued to promote comics trade shows in the Bay Area for another ten years, running his last one in 1983.

At Berkeleycon 73, Comics & Comix acquired over 4,000 Golden Age comic books owned by Tom Reilly. Beerbohm personally sold a good majority of the highest-grade items from the pedigree Reilly collection, including a copy of Detective Comics #27 (which sold for $2,200 to Burl Rowe who later co-opened ] in Houston Texas, the first comic book to break the $2,000 barrier). The phenomenal sales of the Reilly collection enabled Comics & Comix to open more retail locations, first in San Francisco (May 1973)on Columbus Ave down from North Beach area in the way to Fisherman's Wharf, and later in San Jose and Sacramento, making it the first comic book chain store in America.

Beerbohm and Bud Plant published the first three issues of Jack Katz' The First Kingdom in 1975–1975.

Beerbohm stayed with Comics & Comics until early 1975 (the firm itself lasted until the early 2000s).

Best of Two Worlds

In November 1976, Beerbohm opened the comics retailer Best of Two Worlds, its first location being in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district at 1707 Haight at Cole across the street from the Straight Theater. In May 1977, Beerbohm took over Comics & Comix' old location at 2512 Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley when his ex-partners at Comics & Comix moved up to a larger location on the next block, and in October 1978 with then-partner Gary Wood he opened a branch of Best of Two Worlds on Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf called Funny Pages.

Eventually, Best of Two Worlds also had locations in San Francisco's Sunset District in Irving Street, and the Brickyard Mall in Santa Rosa. By this time Robert Borden had bought out Gary Wood as well as Rory Root bought in as a 14% co-owner.

During this period, in c. 1978, Beerbohm founded the "sub-distributor" Common Ground Distributors, which was initially supplied by Detroit-based distributor Big Rapids Distribution. In addition to retailing and distribution, Beerbohm again dipped into publishing comics during this era.

Best of Two Worlds was knocked out of business in February 1986 due to the massive flooding of its central warehouse in Emeryville, California which also destroyed Eclipse Comics that same weekend in Forestville, Calif; Common Ground was acquired by Capital City Distribution in 1982 which enabled owners Milton Griepp and John Davis to take CCD national in scope outside of the more immediate Chicago/Milwaukee area.

Best Comics and the Rick Griffin art gallery

After the demise of Best of Two Worlds, Beerbohm opened Best Comics (later called Best Comics & Rock Art Gallery), which operated in the Bay Area from 1987–1994.

In June 1991, Beerbohm with partner Edward Walker opened an art gallery centered on seminal rock poster illustrator Rick Griffin in Fisherman's Wharf at The Cannery. The store's grand opening party featured bands like Big Brother and The Holding Company, New Riders of the Purple Sage, members of Quicksilver Messenger Service, It's a Beautiful Day, the Irish band Phoenix, and others. Tragically, two and a half months later, Griffin was killed in a motorcycle accident; Beerbohm and Walker were forced to close the gallery in 1992.

Historian

With his friend Steve Johnson, Beerbohm publishing five issues of the fanzine Fanzation in 1969–1970.

Beginning in the 1980s, Beerbohm worked as a consultant on a number of publication related to popular culture, specifically comics and rock music. Clients included the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (1981–2012), The Big Little Book Price Guide (1980–1983), and The Underground and New Wave Comix Price Guide (1981) among many others.

In the 1990s and 2000s since closing down brick and mortar outlets and converting to more of an internet presence, Beerbohm has authored and co-authored numerous articles for the comics trade press on such topics as the history of American comics, the evolution of the direct market, and individual creators.

Personal life

Beerbohm, retailing partner Bud Plant, Terry Stroud, and Dick Swan were involved in a van accident in June 1973 coming out of the Houston Comic-con. Thrown in to the dash board of the van Beerbohm suffered a slightly cracked skull, a broken nose, cracked shins, and impacted teeth in the accident, as well as evidently damage to his hips. The other injuries healed, but cartilage damage caused him to eventually have hip replacement surgery in Oct 2009.

Bibliography

• "The Big Bang Theory of Comic Book History" (Comic Book Marketplace, 1997)
• "The Mainline Comics Story: An Initial Examination" (Jack Kirby Collector #25, 1998)
• "Secret Origins of the Direct Market Part One: 'Affidavit Returns' - The Scourge of Distribution" (Comic Book Artist #6, Oct. 1999)
• "Secret Origins of the Direct Market Part Two: Phil Seuling and the Undergrounds Emerge," (Comic Book Artist #7, Mar. 2000)
• "The Illustrated Books of Frank King" (Comic Art #1, 2001)
• "Topffer in America" (Comic Art #3, 2003) (with Doug Wheeler and Leonardo De Sa)
• "The American Comic Book: 1929-Present: The Modern Comics Magazine Supplants the Earlier Formats" (Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #40, 2010) (with Richard Olson, PhD) — article has been continuously expanded and revised every year by the authors since Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #27 (1997)

References

1. Beerbohm profile, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Accessed May 29, 2012.
2. Beerbohm LinkedIn profile. Accessed May 29, 2012.
3. Beerbohm, Robert. "Update to Comics Dealer Extraordinaire Robert Beerbohm: In His Own Words," Comic-Convention Memories (June 24, 2010).
4. Nolan, Michelle. "Newswatch: Pioneering Comics Retailer John Barrett Dies at 50," The Comics Journal #233 (May 2001).
5. Duin, Steve, and Richardson, Mike. Comics Between the Panels (Dark Horse Comics, 1998), p. 333–335.

Template:Persondata

• 1952 births
• Living people
• Comics retailers
• American archivists
• University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni
• California State University, East Bay alumni