Sheldon Mayer
Sheldon Mayer | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, U.S. | April 1, 1917
Died | December 21, 1991 Copake, New York, U.S. | (aged 74)
Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Editor |
Notable works | Black Orchid Funny Stuff Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist Sugar and Spike The Three Mouseketeers |
Awards | Jack Kirby Hall of Fame Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame |
Sheldon Mayer (
He is among those credited with rescuing the unsold Superman comics strip from the rejection pile.
Mayer was inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000. Mayer is not to be confused with fellow Golden Age comics professional Sheldon Moldoff.
Early life and career
Mayer was born in
He began working for
Between 1936 and 1938, Mayer worked for
I was crazy about Superman for the same reason I liked The Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro, and The Desert Song. The mystery man and his alter ego are two distinct characters to be played off against each other. The Scarlet Pimpernel's alter ego was scared of the sight of blood, a hopeless dandy: no one would have suspected he was a hero. The same goes for Superman.[5]
All-American Comics
In 1939, "Gaines left McClure to enter into a partnership with National Periodical Publications," and Mayer went with him, becoming the first editor of the
Among his non-superhero work, Mayer assisted with lettering and logo creation on several All-American titles, and drew a number of covers for the "
Scribbly
Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist is a comic book character created in 1936 by Sheldon Mayer, first appearing in Dell Comics.
Editorial retirement
Mayer retired from editing in 1948,
Sugar and Spike proved to be one of Mayer's longest-lasting strips, starring two babies who could communicate in baby talk that adults could not understand.[20] Mayer even signed the stories he drew, something rare at National Periodical Publications in the late 1950s when Sugar and Spike debuted.
In the 1970s, when failing eyesight limited his drawing ability, he continued to work for National/DC, contributing scripts to the companies horror and mystery magazines, including most notably House of Mystery, House of Secrets and Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion.[4][12] With artist Tony DeZuniga, he co-created the "Black Orchid" feature which ran in Adventure Comics #428–430 in 1973.[21] Mayer wrote and drew several "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" treasuries[22] starting in 1972. These were published as Limited Collectors' Edition C–24, C–33, C–42, C–50[23][24] and All-New Collectors' Edition C–53, C–60.[25] Additionally, one digest format edition was published as The Best of DC #4 (March–April 1980).[26] In 1978, Mayer wrote and drew a "How to Draw Batman Booklet" as part of an ongoing debate with DC editor Paul Levitz regarding continuity in comic books.[27] In the 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great, Mayer is cited as still writing and drawing "for the company that first published his great discovery, Superman, forty-seven years ago."[5]
After successful
DC attempted to license Sugar and Spike as a syndicated newspaper strip but was unsuccessful.[32] Sales on the "Sugar and Spike" issues of The Best of DC were strong enough that DC announced plans for a new ongoing series featuring the characters. The project was never launched for unknown reasons.[33]
Awards
Mayer received an Inkpot Award in 1976.[34] He was posthumously inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1992[35] and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.[36]
Bibliography
Centaur Publications
- Comics Magazine #1 (1936)
DC Comics
- Adventure Comics #428–430 (Black Orchid); #431 (writer) (1973–1974)
- All-American Comics #1–5 (writer/artist) (1939–1944)
- All New Collectors' Edition #C–53, C–60 (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) (writer/artist) (1977–1978)
- All Star Comics #3–6, 8 (Justice Society of America) (artist) (1940–1941)
- Best of DC #4 (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer); #29, 41, 47 (Sugar and Spike) (writer/artist) (1980–1984)
- Big All-American Comic Book #1 (writer/artist) (1944)
- Buzzy #32–34, 39 (writer/artist) (1950–1951)
- Comic Cavalcade #4, 7, 40–63 (artist) (1943–1954)
- DC Silver Age Classics #10 (Sugar and Spike) (writer/artist) (1992)
- Dodo and the Frog #80–81, 83–90, 92 (artist) (1954–1957)
- Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #12 (writer) (1973)
- Funny Stuff #1, 3, 5, 18, 28, 55, 57–58, 61–62, 64–65, 68, 70, 72, 74–79 (writer/artist) (1944–1954)
- Ghosts #111 (writer) (1982)
- Hollywood Funny Folks #28–35, 37–40, 43–46, 48–51, 53, 56–57, 60 (artist) (1950–1954)
- House of Mystery #207, 211, 217, 219, 224, 243, 258, 283, 317 (writer) (1972–1983)
- House of Secrets #101, 103–104, 120 (writer) (1972–1974)
- Leading Screen Comics #45–48, 50, 54–57, 60, 62–77 (writer/artist) (1950–1955)
- Leave It to Binky #1 (writer/artist) (1948)
- Limited Collectors' Edition #C–33, C–42, C–50 (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) (writer/artist); #C–36 (The Bible) (writer) (1975–1977)
- Movietown's Animal Antics #28–33, 35, 37–41, 43–44, 47, 49–51 (artist) (1950–1954)
- New Comics #1–4 (writer/artist) (1935–1936)
- Nutsy Squirrel #61–62, 65, 67–72 (artist) (1954–1957)
- Peter Porkchops#30–38, 40–42, 44, 46–52, 61 (artist) (1954–1959)
- Phantom Stranger #31, 35–36 (Black Orchid backup stories) (writer) (1974–1975)
- Plop! #1 (writer) (1973)
- Raccoon Kids #52–62 (artist) (1954–1956)
- Scribbly #1–15 (writer/artist) (1948–1951)
- Red Tornado) (writer/artist) (1988)
- Secrets of Haunted House #43 (artist); #44 (writer) (1981–1982)
- Secrets of Sinister House #6–7, 9 (writer) (1972–1973)
- Sensation Comics #84 (Wonder Woman) (writer) (1948)
- Sugar and Spike #1–98 (writer/artist) (1956–1971)
- The Three Mouseketeers #1–8 (writer/artist); 19, 24 (writer) (1956–1959)
- Time Warp #5 (writer) (1980)
- The Unexpected #217 (writer/artist); #219 (writer) (1981–1982)
- Weird Mystery Tales #5 (writer) (1973)
- Weird War Tales #10–11, 14, 18, 21, 42–44 (writer) (1973–1976)
References
- ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch : Sheldon Mayer, December 21, 1991 accessed March 13, 2013
- ^ "JEWS 'N' COMICS: The 13 Most Influential Jewish Creators and Execs". 13 September 2015.
- ^ "Interview with Merrily Mayer Harris, Shelly Mayer's Daughter - Comic Book Artist #10 - TwoMorrows Publishing".
- ^ a b c d e Bails, Jerry (2006). "Mayer, Sheldon". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Marx, Barry, Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Sheldon Mayer Superman Discovered" Fifty Who Made DC Great, p. 13 (1985). DC Comics.
- ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.)
It was editor Sheldon Mayer, working at M. C. Gaines' McClure Syndicate, who suggested Superman to DC as a potential filler feature for Action Comics.
{{cite book}}
:|first2=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Wallace "1930s" in Dolan, p. 24: "Jack Liebowitz partnered with publisher M. C. Gaines (who brought with him his sharp young editor, Sheldon Mayer) to launch a new line of comics under the All American Publications banner."
- ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 33: "DC took the 'greatest hits' premise of the comic to its logical conclusion in All Star Comics #3 by teaming the Flash, the Atom, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hourman, Sandman, and the Spectre under the banner of the Justice Society of America for an ongoing series."
- ISBN 1-893905-055.
- ISBN 0821220764.
- ^ Scribbly at the Grand Comics Database.
- ^ a b Sheldon Mayer at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 46: "Edited by Sheldon Mayer, the anthology title showcased a number of new animal humor features."
- ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 50
- ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 51: "Editor Sheldon Mayer launched yet another talking-animal title. Like the newly launched Animal Antics, the features in Funny Folks were originals, not based on characters from animated movie shorts."
- ^ "Sheldon Mayer". Lambiek Comiclopedia. December 20, 2006. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013.
- ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 58
- ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 59
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Doodles Duck". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Sugar and Spike". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on December 14, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
Sugar Plumm and Cecil "Spike" Wilson had to make sense of their environment without assistance from those who already knew their way around it, because everybody but their fellow babies spoke in the incomprehensible gobbledygook of grownups.
- ^ McAvennie, Michael "1970s" in Dolan, p. 156: "Very little was known about the Black Orchid, even after writer Sheldon Mayer and artist Tony DeZuniga presented her so-called 'origin issue' in Adventure Comics."
- ^ Markstein, Don (n.d.). "Sheldon Mayer". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
[Mayer] also worked on several tabloid-formatted comic books for DC in the mid-1970s, including the company's first use of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer since the early '60s.
- ^ Arnold, Mark (December 2012). "You Know Dasher and Dancer: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer". Back Issue! (61). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 7–10.
- ^ Limited Collectors' Edition #C–20, #C–24, #C–33, #C–42, and #C–50 at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ All-New Collectors' Edition #C–53 and #C–60 at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ The Best of DC #4 at the Grand Comics Database
- ISBN 978-0762436637.
Mayer objected to the idea of continuity in comic book stories...this eighteen-page story, written and penciled by Mayer arrived as an instructional component to the debate.
- ^ Markstein "Sheldon Mayer": "He continued to write and draw Sugar & Spike until 1971, when failing eyesight forced him to abandon cartooning...Mayer's sight was restored a few years later, and he went back to producing new Sugar & Spike stories. But the American comic book market was no longer able to support such a feature, so these were mostly published overseas."
- ^ DC Silver Age Classics Sugar and Spike #99 (1992) at the Grand Comics Database
- ISBN 9783836519816.
- ISBN 1563894653.
- ^ Wells, John (July 2012). "The Lost DC Kids Line". Back Issue! (57). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 47.
Did you know that DC tried to sell Shelly Mayer's Sugar and Spike as a syndicated newspaper strip? [A] sample, ca. 1979–early 1980s was one of three DC concepts unsuccessfully pitched to papers.
- ^ Wells pp. 46–47: "In a 'Meanwhile' column in several Aug. 1984-dated titles...DC vice-president-executive director Dick Giordano tentatively announced Sugar and Spike #1 as appearing 'sometime this fall or early winter'...Ultimately, for reasons virtually no one recalls, DC quickly got cold feet on the project even as Marvel's Star Comics rolled out in 1985."
- ^ "Inkpot Award Winners". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012.
- Harvey Awards. 2013. Archived from the originalon October 12, 2013.
- San Diego Comic-Con International. 2014. Archivedfrom the original on January 10, 2014.
External links
- Sheldon Mayer: Writer, Artist, Cartoonist, Editor and More at the Wayback Machine (archived June 24, 2008)
- Sheldon Mayer at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Sheldon Mayer at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
- "Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist" at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017.