Bill Blackbeard, The Man Who Saved Comics, Dead at 84

The Comics Journal writes Bill Blackbeard, The Man Who Saved Comics, Dead at 84 "Bill Blackbeard, without question or quibble, is the only absolutely indispensable figure in the history of comics scholarship for the last quarter century—and will undoubtedly retain the title for well into this century and beyond. On March 10, only a few weeks shy of his 85th birthday, Blackbeard died in California at Country Villa Watsonville East Nursing Home where he had been living for some time. But long before he died, Blackbeard knew he would live on in scores of books that reprint American newspaper comic strips, all compiled from his monumental collection. As reporter Kevin Parks said several years ago at ThisWeekNEWS.com: ‘He saved the American comic strip—all of them.’"

Long but interesting story.