Fantagraphics premieres Bill Everett Archives vol.1 at San Diego Comic-Con 2011, the first of at least two projected volumes gathering Golden Age Pantheon artist Bill Everett’s non-Marvel work from 1938-42 from the dawn of the comic book era, for the first time. This is most exciting news, I am well chuffed, and welcome it as a perfectly lovely addition to Fanta’s bio on the master of Golden Age superhero comics. The author of that book, comics historian Blake Bell, provides the 5,000 word essay on Bill Everett for this first volume. 

from http://blakebellnews.blogspot.com/2011/03/intro-to-bill-everett-archives-v1-off.html

Lots of people use the first appearance of Superman in 1938, or Marvel Comics #1 in 1939 (featuring Bill Everett’s The Sub-Mariner), as the landmark in comic-book history and they certainly are key in the history of the super-hero, but Bill Everett’s beginnings in the comic-book industry pre-date both events. His career can be viewed as a bridge between the evolution of the comic-book form and the whirlwind of superhero comic books that led the charge into World War II. We explore the connections in essay and I’ve been rewriting it until I’ve gotten it right…which I’ve hopefully done this morning!