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Robert Lee Beerbohm (born June 17, 1952) is an American comic book historian and retailer who has been intimately involved with the rise of comics fandom since 1966. Beginning as a teenager in the late 60s, he became a fixture in the growing comic convention scene, while in the 1970s and 1980s he was heavily involved in Bay Area comic book retailing and distribution.

Beerbohm has been a consultant and author detailing the early history of comics in the United States, including rediscovering the first comic book in America, Rodolphe Töpffer's The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck. He has supplied data and visual aids as listed in the acknowledgements of over 200 books on comics and counting.

Early life

Beerbohm attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1970 – 1972.

Career

Robert Beerbohm Comic Art

In October 1966, while still in junior high school, Beerbohm took out his first ad in Rocket's Blast Comicollector (a.k.a. RBCC) #47, launching what has eventually become known as Robert Beerbohm Comic Art. The company sells vintage American popular culture artifacts (mostly comic books) via the internet. Beerbohm set up a booth at his first comics convention June 16–18, 1967, at the first Houstoncon. Traveling 28 hours on a Greyhound bus, Beerbohm turned 15 the first day of that seminal show.

Comics and Comix

Beerbohm, John Barrett and Bud Plant as Comics & Comix published the first three issues of Jack Katz' The First Kingdom beginning in 1974. They also published comics by Jim Pinkoski and Dan O'Neill during Beerbohm's involvement.

Best Comics and the Rick Griffin art gallery

In June 1991, Beerbohm, with partner Edward Walker, opened Best Comics and Rock Art Gallery, an art gallery centered on seminal rock poster illustrator Rick Griffin in Fisherman's Wharf at The Cannery. The store's grand opening party June 1, 1991, 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

As a comics historian, Beerbohm rediscovered the first comic book in America, Rodolphe Töpffer's The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck, published on September 14, 1842 in New York City, as Brother Jonathan Extra No. IX, which is in the same format as a "modern" day comic book, sans staples, which had not yet been invented.

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 Houstoncon.

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. Comics & Comix entry, Grand Comics Database. Accessed Oct. 8, 2016.
5. FOLKART, BURT A. (20 August 1991). "Rick Griffin; Psychedelic Artist Adorned Rock Music Posters". Retrieved 24 October 2016 – via LA Times.
6. The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. "On September 14, 1842, a New York paper, Brother Jonathan, ran an English-language version of Oldbuck (published in Britain a year earlier) as a supplement."
7. Beerbohm, Robert; Wheeler, Doug; De Sá, Leonardo (2003). "Töpffer in America". Comic Art. No. 3. St. Louis, Missouri. pp. 28–47.
8. Heritage Comics and Comic Art Auction #824: Dallas, Taxas, May 3–4 2007, Heritage Capital Corporation, p. 1.
9. Duin, Steve, and Richardson, Mike. Comics Between the Panels (Dark Horse Comics, 1998), p. 333–335.

• 1952 births
• Living people
• Comics retailers
• American archivists
• University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni
• California State University, East Bay alumni
• Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area