Robert Beerbohm

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Robert Lee Beerbohm (June 17, 1952 – March 27, 2024) was an American comic book historian and retailer who was intimately involved with the rise of comics fandom from 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 was 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 about comics.

Known as combination pugnacious businessman, archaeologist, and what cartoonist Art Spiegelman called a "feverishly enthusiastic fan," Beerbohm was an evangelist of the comics collecting hobby.^[1]

Over the years, he was accused by his business partners and customers of shady dealings — all of which he denied.^{[citation needed]}