ABSTRACT
Comics creators have always been keen subjects of reader curiosity, but they have not always been the most popular subjects for critical work. A variety of writers—among them creators, historians, fans, and academics—have contributed to the important rediscovery of these creators. Martin Sheridan's work consisted of short biographies accompanied by self-caricatures, exclusive sketches, photos, and other ephemera. Sheridan's book was the first to actually show these creators alongside a slightly anecdotal, but overall journalistic, short biography of their lives. This relationship, between creator history and comics popularity, is one that would be repeated. Jim Steranko's, as a respected artist himself, not only assured comics fans that it was important to know their history, but legitimized a new way of researching that seemed indebted to the medium itself. Jerry Bails also showed the non-comics work of these creators, which would help later scholars make inroads into larger biographical analyses.
