Alley Award
Awarded forExcellence in the field of comic books
VenueAcademy Con (1965–1967)
Comic Art Convention (1968–1970)
CountryUnited States of America
Presented byAlter Ego magazine / Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences
First awarded1962
Last awarded1970

The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences,[1] the award shared close ties with the fanzine Alter Ego magazine. The Alley is the first known comic book fan award.[2]

The Alley Awards were tallied for comic books produced during the previous year. The Alley statuette — a likeness of the comic strip character Alley Oop[3] — was initially sculpted by Academy member Ron Foss out of redwood, from which "plaster duplications" were made to be handed out to the various winners.[4]

History

The Alley Award traces its origin to "a letter to Jerry dated October 25, 1961" by Roy Thomas, in which he suggested that Jerry Bails' fanzine Alter-Ego, which had debuted in March 1961, create an award for fandom's "favorite comic books in a number of categories".[4]

Initially suggested as the "Alter-Ego Award", the name evolved into the Alley Award after comic strip caveman Alley Oop, since, as Thomas reasoned, "surely a caveman had to be the earliest superhero chronologically".[4] Comics historian Bill Schelly notes that no one "bothered to ask the NEA [newspaper] syndicate for permission to utilize V. T. Hamlin's comic strip character".[4]

By the awards' third year, the number of ballots received had become so overwhelming that Bails called for a fan get-together at which votes could be tabulated by group effort. This gathering of Midwestern fans, held in March 1964 at the Detroit-area home of Bails, was dubbed the "Alley Tally", and its success provided inspiration for the organizing of comic book fan conventions that began soon afterward.[5]

Results of the voting were published in the comics fanzines On the Drawing Board / The Comic Reader [3] The Alley Awards themselves were given out from 1962 to 1970 (for comics published 1961–1969, respectively), with comic strip awards added in 1967 (for calendar year 1966). The awards were presented at all three Academy Cons from 1965 to 1967. The final three years' awards were presented at Phil Seuling's New York Comic Art Convention.[6]

After the dissolution of the Alleys, from 1971 to 1974 the Comic Art Convention presented the Goethe Awards[7]/Comic Fan Art Awards.[8]

Winners

1961

Source[1]

1962

"Ama" (Fan) Division

1963

Source[9]

Pro Categories

Best Comics Categories

Amateur Division (on a scale of 1-5 points)

Write-In Categories

1964

Pro Categories

Fan Categories (on a scale of 1-5 points)

1965

Source[10]

Pro Categories

Fan Categories (on a scale of 1-5 points)

1966

Best Comic Magazine Section

Best Professional Work

Newspaper Strip Section

Fan Activity Section

1967

Source[11]

Best Comic Magazine Section

Best Professional Work

Popularity Poll

Newspaper Strip Section

Fan Activity Section

1968

Comic Magazine Section

Professional Work

Popularity Poll

Newspaper Strip Section

Fan Activity Section

1969

Sources[12][13]

Best Comic Magazine Section

Professional Work

Special Awards

Popularity Poll

Newspaper Strip Section

Fan Activity Section

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b "The Alley Awards for 1961: A Report from Roy Thomas, Secretary of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences". Alter Ego (4). October 1962. Reprinted in Thomas, Roy; Schelly, Bill (2008). Alter Ego: The Best of the Legendary Comics Fanzine. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-893905-88-7.
  2. ^ Kleefeld, Sean. "A Brief History", Comic Book Fanthropology (Lulu.com, 2009), p. 31.
  3. ^ a b Siegel, Howard P. "Made in America", BEM #17 (Feb. 1978).
  4. ^ a b c d Schelly, Bill (June 2003). "Jerry Bails' Ten Building Blocks of Fandom". Alter Ego. 3 (25): 5–8.
  5. ^ Schelly, Bill. The Golden Age of Comic Fandom (Hamster Press, 1995).
  6. ^ Gabilliet, Jean-Paul (trans. by Bart Beaty and Nick Nguyen). Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books (University of Mississippi Press, 2010), pp. 250–251.
  7. ^ "The 1971 Goethe Awards" (ballot), Graphic Story World vol. 2, #2 (whole #6) (July 1972), p. 29.
  8. ^ Miller, John Jackson (July 19, 2005). "Goethe/Comic Fan Art Award winners, 1971-74". CBGXtra.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2010.
  9. ^ "1963 Alley Awards", Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved Dec. 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "1965 Alley Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  11. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "1967 Alley Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  12. ^ "1969 Alley Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved March 1, 2023. Tallied by Mark Hanerfeld. Total number of votes: at least 319.
  13. ^ Thompson, Don; Thompson, Maggie, eds. (June 1970). "Academies" (PDF). Newfangles. No. 36. Mentor, Ohio.
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