Funnies Inc.
Comic books |
Funnies, Inc. was an American
Company history
Founding
One of the many comics companies founded during this time was Centaur Publications, where Lloyd Jacquet was art director and where comic creators included writer and artist Bill Everett. Jacquet then broke off to form Funnies, Inc., initially called First Funnies, Inc.[1] Located at 45 West 45th Street in Manhattan, New York City, it was one of that era's "comic book packagers" that would create comics on demand for publishers. Its competitors included two other comics packagers formed around this time: Eisner & Iger, founded by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger, and the quirkily named Harry "A" Chesler's studio.
Everett recalled in the late 1960s that,
When Lloyd split with [Centaur partner] John [Harley], he offered me and a fellow by the name of Max Neill a chance to go in with him and two other guys, John Mahon and Frank Torpey ... We took a small loft office on 45th Street. The idea was to become publishers. But we didn't have the money or credit to publish our own books so we became an art service. We'd put the whole book together, deliver the package to the publisher and get paid for it.[2]
Torpey was Centaur's sales director, and Mahon a publisher for one of Centaur's early iterations. Other Centaur staffers who followed Jacquet, on at least a freelance basis, included artists Carl Burgos, Paul Gustavson, and Ben Thompson; writer Ray Gill; and business manager Jim Fitzsimmons. Others who worked for Funnies, Inc. included future novelist Mickey Spillane; Leonard Starr, future creator of the comic strip On Stage; and artist Bob Davis, who for Funnies, Inc. created the boy hero Dick Cole in Novelty Press' Blue Bolt Comics.[3]
As Everett described, "Lloyd ... had an idea that he wanted to start his own art service — to start a small organization to supply artwork and editorial material to publishers. ... He asked me to join him. He also asked Carl Burgos. So we were the nucleus ..."[4] I don't know how to explain it, but I was still on a freelance basis. That was the agreement we had. The artists, including myself, at Funnies, worked on a freelance basis."[5] Comics historian Hames Ware added that,
The Jacquet shop was distinct from the other major shops. It was set up more like a clearinghouse that a conventional shop. While at the other classic shops there were actually buildings and offices housing ... many artists who often collaborated on jobs, most of Jacquet's artists worked from home and did solo work and, also unlike other shops, got credit for whatever job they did. (Jacquet also allowed writer credits from time to time).[7]
Funnies, Inc.'s first known project was
The first Marvel comic
Funnies, Inc.'s first actual sale was to
Other early companies that bought material from Funnies, Inc. include Centaur,[
Simon said that his Funnies, Inc. rate for a completed comic-book page — written, drawn and lettered — was $7. For comparison, he recalled that at Eisner-Iger — where Eisner wrote the features and created characters, hiring novice artists — the page rate was approximately $3.50 to $5.50; publishers were charged $5 to $7 per finished page.[13]
Funnies, Inc. was eventually made obsolete by the growing medium's success, allowing publishers to hire their own staffs. As Simon recalled, he stopped freelancing for the company when he became Timely Comics' editor: "Soon, we were buying only 'The Human Torch' and 'Sub-Mariner' from Jacquet and irritating the hell out of him with demands for script and art changes in the hopes that he would resign the features he had helped to build".[13]
Toward the end of 1940, Jacquet sold Goodman the rights to the characters. Business relations evidently remained cordial; in an Aug. 14, 1942, photo given to attendees and widely published by the comics press in the 2000s, Jacquet was seated next to Goodman at a
Demise
After Funnies, Inc. ended, Lloyd Jacquet Studios continued to package comics through at least 1949.[15]
References
- ISBN 0-7948-1758-0.
- ^ Steranko, Jim (1970). The Steranko History of Comics - Volume One. Reading, Pennsylvania: Supergraphics. p. 59.
- Lambiek Comiclopedia.
- ^ "Everett on Everett". Alter Ego. 3 (46): 8. March 2005. Reprinted from Alter Ego (11), 1978.
- ^ a b Everett, Alter Ego, p. 9
- ISBN 978-0-375-72108-3.
- ^ Ware, Hames (August 2003). "Re (letter to the editor)". Alter Ego. 3 (27): 44.
- ^ Motion Picture Funnies Weekly at Grand Comics Database
- ^ "Heritage to Auction Legendary 'Pay Copy' of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1!". Heritage Auctions press release. September 16, 2005. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011.
- ^ "Comic Books on Microfiche". Special Collections Department, McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Overstreet, listing for Motion Picture Funnies Weekly asks: "Amazing Man No. 5 on?"
- ^ "Marvel Comics Index". 1 (7B). Marvel Comics Group. 1978.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) Reprinted at Chivian, J. (ed.). "The Deep Six Project". Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. - ^ ISBN 1-887591-35-4
- ISBN 9781932899122.
- ^ Shaw, Scott. "Your United States". Oddball Comics (column) ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on December 26, 2004.
Further reading
- Alter Ego #36 (May 2004): "The Creator of Captain America Meets the Creator of the Human Torch", by Joe Simon, pp. 3–6.
External links
- Nevins, Jess. "The Timely Comics Story". WebCitation archive.
- Pryor, Monique (November 25, 2003). "A Tribute to Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner's Father". Jim Hill Media. Archived from the original on February 28, 2006.
- Vassallo, Michael J. "A Timely Talk with Allen Bellman", Comicartville.com, 2005. WebCitation archive.