Roy Thomas’ Major Comics Fanzine
MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELERNICHOLSON THE VISIONARY WHO FOUNDED DC COMICS!
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No.88 August 2009
THE
BATCAVE C O M P A N I O N NOW SHIPPING! Batman. Is he the campy Caped Crusader? Or the grim Gotham Guardian? Both, as The Batcave Companion reveals. On the brink of cancellation in 1963, Batman was rescued by DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz, who, abetted by several talented writers and artists, gave the hero a much-needed “New Look” which soon catapulted Batman to multimedia stardom. In the next decade, when Batman required another fresh start, Schwartz once again led a team of creators that returned the hero to his “creature of the night” roots. Writers Michael Eury (The Krypton Companion, The Justice League Companion) and Michael Kronenberg (Spies, Vixens, and Masters of Kung Fu: The Art of Paul Gulacy) unearth the stories behind the stories of both Batman’s “New Look” and Bronze Age (1970s) comic-book eras through incisive essays, invaluable issue-by-issue indexes, and insightful commentary from many of the visionaries responsible for and inspired by Batman’s 1960s and 1970s adventures: Neal Adams, Michael Allred, Terry Austin, Mike W. Barr, Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich, Mike Grell, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Adam Hughes, Sheldon Moldoff, Will Murray, Dennis O’Neil, Bob Rozakis, Mark Waid, Len Wein, and Bernie Wrightson. Featuring 240 art- and info-packed pages, The Batcave Companion is a must-have examination of two of the most influential periods in Batman’s 70-year history.
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TwoMorrows. Celebrating The Art & History Of Comics. TwoMorrows • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 • E-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com
Vol. 3, No. 88 / August 2009 Editor Roy Thomas
Associate Editors Bill Schelly Jim Amash
Design & Layout Christopher Day
Consulting Editor John Morrow
FCA Editor P.C. Hamerlinck
Contents
Comic Crypt Editor Michael T. Gilbert
Editorial Honor Roll Jerry G. Bails (founder) Ronn Foss, Biljo White Mike Friedrich
Circulation Director
Christina Blakeney talks to Jim Amash about her illustrious grandfather, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
“His Goal Was The Graphic Novel” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Douglas Wheeler-Nicholson on his father and the early days of DC—and Superman!
Bob Brodsky, Cookiesoup Productions
Cover Artist
“He Was Going To Go For The Big Idea”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson Brown in search of her grandfather’s super-secrets
“The Old Beezer”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Winslow Mortimer
The Major’s daughter Antoinette Wheeler-Nicholson on her legendary sire
Cover Colorist
Beaver Hats! Hobo Disguises! Naked Women On Horseback!. 55
Tom Ziuko
With Special Thanks to: Jack Adams Jon Adams David Allen Heidi Amash Henry Andrews David Armstrong Michael Barrier Jim Beard Jon Berk Christina Blakeney Dominic Bongo Matt Brady/ Newsarama Jason Brown Nicky WheelerNicholson Brown Nick Caputo Michael Catron Bob Cherry Chet Cox Keith Dallas Teresa R. Davidson Dwight R. Decker Michael Dunne Mark Evanier Michael Feldman Ron Fernandez Shane Foley Ron Frantz Jeff Gelb Janet Gilbert Irv Goldfarb Jennifer Hamerlinck Greg Huneryager Jim Korkis Phil Latter
Writer/Editorial: Major Revelations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 “A Real Iconic, Quintessential American Figure” . . . . . . . . . . 3
Stan Lee Dominique Leonard Michel Maillot Dan Makara Sam Maronie Bruce Mason Monroe Mayer Sean Menard Sheldon Moldoff Brian K. Morris Mrs. Eileen Mortimer Frank Motler Will Murray Christine Quigley John G. Pierce Bob Rivard Charlie Roberts Dr. Peter Schilder David Siegel Howard Siegel Marc Swayze Carl Taylor Jeff Taylor Dann Thomas Anthony Tollin Michael Uslan Jim Van Hise Len Wein Antoinette WheelerNicholson Douglas WheelerNicholson Ian WheelerNicholson Eddy Zeno
This issue is dedicated to the memory of
Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, John Wright, & Roger Armstrong
Pioneer comics artist Creig Flessel tells Ian Wheeler-Nicholson about 1930s National/DC!
“Cartoonists Are Like Kids!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Mrs. Eileen Mortimer interviewed by Eddy Zeno about her late husband, Golden Age artist Win Mortimer
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Dr. Lauretta Bender – Part II . 65 Michael T. Gilbert re-introduces the “anti-Wertham”—one of comics’ early defenders
Comic Fandom Archive: John Wright, 1933–2008 . . . . . . . 71 A tribute to John Wright, one of the bright lights of early comics fandom, presented by Bill Schelly
In Memoriam: Roger Armstrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 re: [correspondence, comments, & corrections] . . . . . . . . . 77 FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #147 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 P.C. Hamerlinck showcases C.C. Beck, Marc Swayze—and Fatman the Human Flying Saucer! On Our Cover: What to feature on a cover of an issue of Alter Ego largely centered around Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the little-known visionary who basically founded DC Comics? A/E is primarily a magazine devoted to super-hero comics of the Golden and Silver Ages, and the Major was gone from the company by spring of 1938 when Superman made his debut in Action Comics #1, while Batman was still a year in the future. Still, those two are beyond all doubt the greatest icons of that comics giant—so we chose a classic drawing by Winslow Mortimer done for a DC public service page honoring the Boy Scouts of America. It appeared, among other places, on the inside back cover of AllStar Comics #53 (June-July 1950), and was reprinted recently in the Comic Crypt section of A/E #62. Somehow it seemed fitting to have Superman, Batman, and Robin saluting the Major! Thanks to Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson Brown and the W-N family for the photo, which is also seen and discussed on p. 9 of this issue. [Art ©2009 DC Comics; photo ©2009 Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson Estate.] Above: One of the more notable one-page “comic strips” in 1935’s New Fun #1 was artist Clem Gretta’s “Don Drake on the Planet Saro,” a Flash Gordon wannabe. In this fourth panel on the 12-panel page, Don and his companion Betty land on Saro after their hot-air balloon (!) somehow manages to rise “beyond Earth’s gravity-pull”—and, where Flash encountered Hawkmen, Lion Men, and the like, this pair at once run into—“midget men”! All P.C. aside, it all reminds Ye Editor of something Golden Age writing star Gardner Fox once wrote him: “Anything worked in the comics in those dear, departed days!” Thanks to Ron Frantz for the photocopy. [©2009 DC Comics.] Alter EgoTM is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Single issues: $9 US ($11.00 Canada, $16 elsewhere). Twelve-issue subscriptions: $88 US, $140 Canada, $210 elsewhere. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in Canada. ISSN: 1932-6890 FIRST PRINTING.
writer/editorial
2
M
Major Revelations
ajor Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson has long been one of the great mysterious figures in comic book history.
A shadowy presence who founded National Allied Publications, which over time evolved into the entity now known as DC Comics—one of the earliest, and soon one of the largest and most influential, companies ever to publish comic books. The man who, for whatever reason or combination of reasons, abandoned the then-standard practice of simply licensing the rights to reprint previously printed newspaper comic strips in favor of producing brand new material that only looked like comic strips. And, of course, since it was National/DC’s issuing of Action Comics #1 in 1938 that knocked the fledgling industry on its collective ear and led to (as well as led, period) its so-called Golden Age, that makes “the Major,” as he’s often been familiarly referred to, an even more important legend in the history of the medium. Until now, though, precious little has been written about him that didn’t emanate ultimately either from his early (and respectful) artistemployee Creig Flessel—or from those who learned the “facts” directly or indirectly from the men who in ’38 forced the Major out of the company he had founded.
his immediate family, including his son and two grandchildren. In addition, one of the latter interviewed the Major’s daughter for us, so that we have first-hand accounts by no less than two of his five children. Besides that, one of the Major’s grandkids conducted a final interview with Creig Flessel, not long before that colorful artist left us last year at the age of 96. These are folks who have made a special effort, especially over the past few years, to thoroughly research the Major’s life and work and surviving documents (such as they are), with the purpose of correcting the historical record and dispelling what the family feel are myths that have grown up around him. When future histories of DC comics—or indeed, of the field as a whole—are written, they will need to take into account what follows over the next 56 pages, if they’re to be taken seriously. Alter Ego is both proud and grateful that, through the good efforts of Jim Amash (as well as film producer and one-time comics writer Michael Uslan), we were invited to be the ones to first put the Wheeler-Nicholson family’s side of the story on the public record. And may we immodestly add: that story also makes a damn good read! Bestest,
And it turns out, according to the Wheeler-Nicholson family, that much of what we “knew” about him is flat-out wrong… or, at the very least, hotly disputed. For, if interviewer/associate editor Jim Amash couldn’t ask the Major himself at this late date about the facts of the case, he could do what is often the next-best thing: he spoke with no fewer than three members of
P.S.: Our apologies to Jeff Jaworski for our accidentally crediting another with providing us with the splendid Rick Veitch illo we used as last issue's Marvelman/Miracleman cover.
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Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson: The Visionary Who Founded DC Comics
Part I
“A Real Iconic, Quintessential American Figure” CHRISTINA BLAKENEY Introduces Us To The Wondrous World Of MAJOR MALCOLM WHEELER-NICHOLSON
I
Interview Conducted by Jim Amash
Transcribed by Brian K. Morris
NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson is often thought of by comic book historians as the least known and least understood of the several “fathers“ of the modern comic book. We have known that he served in the United States Army, wrote pulp stories, and failed at syndicating newspaper strips—and, though recognized as the founder of DC Comics (originally known as National Allied Publications), he is best remembered for losing the company right before the initial appearance of Superman (whose first rescue was that of the company that published his exploits). The only other certain fact that we had was that he died in relative obscurity (with a universally accepted 1968 death date—which we now know to be incorrect!). As long as this status quo existed, the Major’s story remained a woefully gaping hole in comics’ history. Thankfully, happily, and not a moment too soon by our lights, this glaring omission has come to an end. Several members of the WheelerNicholson family have finally gone on record to tell us about the Major. They will correct and expand upon previously held beliefs that have cloaked his life and death, the circumstances surrounding both the publication birth of “Superman” in Action Comics #1 in 1938 and the wresting of the company from founder WheelerNicholson’s hands. The first of my three interviews is with the Major’s granddaughter Christina Blakeney— followed by one with his son Douglas Wheeler-Nicholson, then with Nicky Brown, the daughter of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Jr. After that comes Nicky’s own talk with Antoinette WheelerNicholson (“Aunt Toni”), the Major’s daughter… and we’ll wind up
Spanning The Years Christina Blakeney (above left) and her grandfather Major Malcolm WheelerNicholson, who is pictured in 1948. Their images flank the cover/first page of New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935), the first magazine from the company that would one day become National Periodical Publications, Inc., then DC Comics—and a key panel from Superman’s first public appearance, in the 1938 Action Comics #1. The tabloid-sized New Fun was the first regularly published comic book featuring new material rather than newspaper comic strip reprints; the “Jack Woods” Western adventure “strip“ on its cover was drawn (and signed) by Lyman Anderson. The “Superman” panel is reproduced from the 1971 Crown hardcover collection Superman from the 30’s to the 70s. Thanks to Christina Blakeney and to Nicky & Jason Brown, respectively, for the photos—and to Ron Frantz for the photocopies of New Fun #1. [Comic art ©2009 DC Comics; CB photo ©2009 Christina Blakeney; Major MWN photo ©2009 Finn Andreen.]
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Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson: The Visionary Who Founded DC Comics
Part II
9
“His Goal Was The Graphic Novel” DOUGLAS WHEELER-NICHOLSON, Son Of The Major, Reveals Startling Facts About The Early Days Of DC— And Superman! Interview Conducted by Jim Amash
Transcribed by Brian K. Morris
“I’m Uncomfortable Calling Him ‘The Major’” JIM AMASH: Do you have a birth date for the Major? DOUGLAS WHEELER-NICHOLSON: January 4th, 1890. JA: I understand he was born in East Tennessee. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: That’s correct. Let me explain something first. I’m uncomfortable calling him “The Major,” although everyone does. I refer to him as “the old man.” [Jim laughs] Not because he was an old man when I knew him, but it’s an old Army term that refers to the commanding officer. So you’ll get a grizzled old sergeant talking to a 17-year old lieutenant, calling the lieutenant “the old man.” JA: Fine. Before I ask about his early career, did people call him “the Major”? WHEELER-NICHOLSON: It was either “Nick” or “the Major.” Mother and close friends called him “Nick,” as in “Nicholson.” I never heard anyone call him “Malcolm.” JA: According to your website, his grandfather was Dr. Christopher Wheeler, a Massachusetts-born Cavalry officer and surgeon. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: And also the founder of the first newspaper in Jonesborough, Tennessee, which is still extant, amazingly. JA: The Herald and Tribune. What do you know about his grandparents? WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Just what’s in the local histories. Christopher was an Army surgeon, he was a Cavalry officer, and eventually a newspaper owner. The family, way back, always seems to have veered towards journalism, writing, and so forth, and that hit heavily with the old man’s mother. She also became a journalist, and led him into that field. JA: And the family, at some point, moved to the Pacific Northwest? WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Yes, that’s a strange part of his history. The old man’s mother, Antoinette Wheeler, was a really weird old bird. She
Generations (Left:) Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson—”when he was first in the Army,” according to granddaughter Nicky. She‘s “not sure of the date, but he is very young, so probably soon after he first entered the Army circa 1913 or so.” (Above:) Two later generations of the family— the Major’s son Douglas Wheeler-Nicholson, and Douglas’ niece Nicky WheelerNicholson Brown, sharing a laugh at the 2008 San Diego ComicCon, where they accepted the Hall of Fame award given in memory of the founder of DC Comics. The photo was taken by Nicky’s sister Christine Quigley. With thanks to Nicky & Jason Brown. [MWN photo ©2009 Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson Estate; Comic-Con photo ©2009 Christine Quigley.]
was very strong, very intelligent, and had kind-of a tenuous grip on accuracy and information. His father’s last name was Strain. When he died in 1894, just after the birth of a second son— Malcolm’s brother—she split and moved to New York, got into journalism, and then was offered a job starting a magazine on the West Coast for women, so she moved out there. She changed her last name to “Straham,” which is a related name. It comes from the same sources, but his actual name was “Strain.” Later on, when she met T.J.B. Nicholson on the Coast and they decided to marry, she took her maiden name Wheeler again and appended it to his, Nicholson, which explains the hyphenated name. JA: I had wondered, because hyphenated names, unless you were British, were very uncommon in those days. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Well, of course, he was British, and she was sort-of faux-British. That is to say, her family was from Virginia, and she was very conscious of class. JA: Do you remember the name of the women’s magazine? WHEELER-NICHOLSON: No, I don’t. We’re due out there, actually, to
20
Douglas Wheeler-Nicholson, Son Of The Major, Reveals Startling Facts About The Early Days Of DC—And Superman!
WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Well, it was that and also, that’s what he wanted to say, and he wanted this character to do this. JA: So he would create a character and write it, then he’d give the script to whoever the artist was. Do you think he did any humor writing, or was most of it detectives and adventure? WHEELER-NICHOLSON: He did very little humor writing.
“Terrible, Tough Times” JA: Creig Flessel told me that the building he remembered was on 28th Street, Fourth Avenue, on the fourth floor. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Yes, that’s what I remember. JA: At one point, they were also in the old Holland Hotel. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Yes, but I don’t remember that. JA: And then Creig said, “We moved uptown to the old Graybar Building on Lexington Avenue.” WHEELER-NICHOLSON: That’s the coup-de-grace. That’s when Harry Donenfeld actually took over, in a sense. That was a month before “Superman” came out on June 8th. JA: So what you mainly remember is the building on 28th and Fourth.
We Already Gave At The Office… We’ve run this 1990s sketch by the late great Creig Flessel a time or two before—but since it depicts Major Wheeler-Nicholson, his two editors, and the young artist who shared an office with them, we felt we should show it again. This was Creig’s symbolic recollection of the early days of National Allied Publications, Inc. (Left to right:) Vin Sullivan, the Major (in fedora), Creig, and Whitney Ellsworth. The Major’s fedora may be the ultimate source of Creig’s references to his wearing a “beaver hat”—as discussed in this interview, and by Creig on p. 57. [©2009 Estate of Creig Flessel.]
JA: Sullivan and Ellsworth were both editing and drawing, and in Ellsworth’s case, writing, too. The early characters that your father published, how much writing of those did he do? WHEELER-NICHOLSON: A lot. His imprint was not only in his creating the features and saying, “Let’s have a character that does this, this, and this,” giving it to somebody else, but editing what they were doing if he wasn’t, himself, writing it. A lot of it, he was actually writing in the ’35, ’36, ’37 period.
WHEELER-NICHOLSON: That was ’37 and ’38, right. Fourth Avenue, which is Park Avenue South now. But the building had other publishers in it, as well. JA: Then that’s why he was there. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: I’m sure you’re right. Donenfeld had an office there on another floor. JA: Donenfeld was doing some magazines and spicy pulps. But all the Major did was comic books. He had no other publishing besides that. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Not that I know of. The particular part of the offices that I remember is one largish room, maybe 18 x 20, with a couple of desks and a couple of drawing boards. One of those desks was the old man’s, so he was in an open area. He didn’t have a private office in my memory. There were doors going to other places, too. JA: This is what Creig told me: “There was one fairly big-sized room that we worked in. Vin Sullivan was in one corner and Ellsworth was in
JA: Then he didn’t have to pay a writer a salary. [chuckles again]
[continued on p. 24]
Big Whit & Little Linda An older and wiser Whitney Ellsworth, in a purposely pixilated photo from that strange 1985 publication Fifty Who Made DC Great—and three panels from the first appearance of his “Little Linda” character, in New Fun #2. Thanks to Bob Rivard, who owns a copy of that rare issue but reports these panels are all he could salvage of “Little Linda” in a scan; still, as he says, it suggests the feature’s Little Orphan Annie inspirations. Will Murray’s study of Ellsworth’s career will appear in the very next “early-DC” issue of Alter Ego. [Little Linda TM & © DC Comics; photo ©2009 DC Comics.]
“His Goal Was The Graphic Novel”
21
Interlude #2:
“Superman Created By Jerry Siegel & Russell Keaton” Is it really possible that the above phrase, rather than one ending “Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster,” might have become the byline on today’s “Superman” stories? According to a recent posting on the Newsarama website, art and script have surfaced to vindicate the longstanding rumors that, circa 1934, writer Siegel approached other artists besides Shuster to draw the proposed newspaper strip, after Joe began to lose heart over the prospect of selling it. Most prominent among these possible alternates was Russell Keaton, then ghost artist of the Buck Rogers strip (and future artist/creator of the aviation strip Flyin’ Jenny, of which numerous examples have been seen in Marc Swayze’s columns in FCA); but Keaton decided in the end not to become involved, since the teenage Siegel was then basically an unknown quantity. According to writer Jeff Trexler in the Newsarama piece, the material Siegel and Keaton created together was rediscovered by the Siegel family in 2007. It consists of Siegel’s letter to Keaton which included two weeks’ worth of scripts (the first of which is reprinted on this page) and the nine sample dailies which appear on the following two pages. Our thanks to Newsarama (and to Matt Brady) for permission to pick up this material from their website. And thanks to Michael T. Gilbert and Jim Amash for bringing these strips to our attention. [Letter ©2009 Estate of Jerry Siegel; Superman is a trademark of DC Comics.]
From The ‘30s—To The 21st Century! The dust jacket of Crown Publications’ 1971 hardcover Superman from the 30’s to the 70’s boasts a central Superman image which is at least based on a figure by Wayne Boring, one of the first artistic assistants hired by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster (and during the 1950s & ‘60s one of the hero’s major artists). The four background panels are early “Superman” panels by Siegel & Shuster. [Book cover ©2009 DC Comics; Superman TM & ©2009 DC Comics; letter ©2009 Estate of Jerry Siegel.]
Even Without Drawing A Cape, He Kept 'Em Flying! (Left:) Artist Russell Keaton in 1943, as a member of the Army Air Corps Reserve. Photo courtesy of Marc Swayze.
38
Douglas Wheeler-Nicholson, Son Of The Major, Reveals Startling Facts About The Early Days Of DC—And Superman!
WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Yeah, a buoyancy. JA: When you think of him, what do you think of? WHEELER-NICHOLSON: His general attitude, which was very attractive. He just liked the world around him. He got pleasure out of thinking, of dealing with people, of his own work. He dug into stuff for his own interest. Towards the end, when there was no market for [his writing] or anything, he was just interested in things, which is why he was studying and writing about them and so forth. I think of him having a very even temper and [being] a pleasure [to be with]. He was distant as a father, but was perfectly warm. JA: So he wasn’t the type to tell you he loved you, but you knew he did. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: He actually said that once. I was quite shocked. [laughs] I was a very independent cuss, and I guess he was stressed out or something. This wasn’t during his shake-up period. He sort-of took after me sort-of unfairly about something. I just listened to it and then I left. Nobody knew where I was, and he was chagrined. I’d climbed up in the second-story window and went up to the attic, but nobody knew it. They thought I’d run away forever. When the rapprochement finally occurred, he said, “You know I loved you as much as I could.” I said, “What???” [chuckles once again] It was so uncharacteristic, but he said it. He wasn’t an overtly affectionate person, but very warm. He loved us all at the table and talking and arguing, and so forth. He loved to initiate it, and watch it go. JA: Did he ever work with cars or build furniture... that kind of thing?
WHEELER-NICHOLSON: The family had, from time to time, sort-of roused itself a little and said, “This is really shameful. We want to do something to resuscitate his name, since he was so critical to comics,” and nobody did anything about it. Nicky galvanized everybody into that mode of “Let’s get serious about this” about four years ago. Mother was bitter to the end, I know that. I’m not bitter. I mean, it was so much out of my life for me not to be bothered with it. But I think that a grave injustice has been done him. I have no feeling about it for myself. It’s just not relevant to my life. I’ve had a very full, full life. I’m 81, and I’ve had huge successes and I’ve been broke. I’ve got lovely children. But we do want to set the record straight. That’s the motivation and it’s very important, I think. It’s fascinating to me how all of the next generation— that is Nicky and all her peers, my daughter’s children, and my other niece’s children—are much more interested in this than Diane and I were. I want to see something happening for his sake. I don’t want that record, the official Donenfeld/Liebowitz/Vin Sullivan record being the one that’s there. JA: I can understand that. You want to fight for your father’s reputation, and you should. Frankly, it’s past time, but it’s easy for me to say that. Still, you sound like a proud son. WHEELER-NICHOLSON: Oh, I am. I think he was a fabulous man. He was incredible. He was certainly one of the brightest people I’ve ever met. He had a sense of the whole world at any one time, and he was a history fanatic, he was a language fanatic. The military was just a subchapter of that and his general interest in world events completely, and that’s what his mind was about. He was a gentle man.
WHEELER-NICHOLSON: No, he was a gardener, growing flowers. He used to go around in terribly disreputable gardening clothes. And my older sister, when a date would come, said, “That’s the gardener.” [mutual laughter] JA: As far as you’re concerned, when did you start thinking about all this: DC Comics and “Superman”? When did they start meaning anything to you?
A Super Marketplace The most enduring legacy of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, in the eyes of the world, is that he founded the company that would soon give the world “Superman”—not only in the comics, but in film, radio, television, and many other media, and in a truly formidable pile of merchandise, as merely suggested by these two photos from Sotheby’s auction catalog for June 18, 1994. Seen here are figurines, toys, dolls, puzzles, and (on the right) what the catalog described as “Miscellaneous Superman Memorabilia, from the 1960s and onward, comprising pins, rings, buttons, badges, soda caps, and a belt buckle”; there were approximately 130 items in the latter lot. [Superman TM & ©2009 DC Comics.]
Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson: The Visionary Who Founded DC Comics Part III 39
“He Was Going To Go For The Big Idea” NICKY WHEELER-NICHOLSON BROWN— In Search Of Her Grandfather’s Secrets Interview Conducted by Jim Amash
Transcribed by Brian K. Morris
“A Lot Of Mythology In The Family” JIM AMASH: Nicky, you get the tell the readers who you are. NICKY BROWN: [laughs] I am the daughter of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Jr., the oldest son of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. JA: Tell me about researching your grandfather’s history. BROWN: When I started asking a lot of questions, I realized that people in the family had a funny kind of attitude [about my grandfather]. On one hand, people were very proud of the Major. But on the other hand, there was this sort-of uncomfortable feeling about what had happened and, as you’ve discovered, once [he lost his comics company], he never really talked about it again. People in the family talked about it, but no one ever really talked about it with him, because he didn’t want to talk about it. So there was a lot of mythology in the family that grew up around this issue. What I’ve done, basically for my family, is put together a timeline through our family, and now my family is able to speak about things in a lot more informed way—not just from memory, but also from the things that I’ve discovered about the past. That’s how it got started for me. About ten years ago, I got the idea that something really need to be done. It took me a long time to work through all of that, to get people to the point where everybody was pretty much on the same page, and want things to happen in a good way, and to see my grandfather’s reputation restored.
“Strange Visitor From Another Planet” Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson Brown watches as her uncle Douglas speaks at the Eisner Awards ceremony at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con. The WheelerNicholson family was happy for a chance to begin to set the record straight concerning their legendary ancestor’s life and accomplishments. Thanks to Nicky & Jason Brown for the photo, which was taken by Christine Quigley. [©2009 Christine Quigley.] While Batman, in recent years, has perhaps become nearly as iconic as the Man of Steel, it’s still Superman who has been the ultimate fountain of DC Comics’ influence over the past seven-plus decades. One of the artists most identified with Siegel & Shuster’s creation was the late Curt Swan, who by the 1960s had succeeded Wayne Boring as representing “the look” of the last son of Krypton. This pencil drawing was done for Michael Dunne, who generously shared it with us. [Superman TM & ©2009 DC Comics.]
JA: Douglas told me about a lot of the early parts of the Major’s life that he knew. Do you want to expand on any of that? BROWN: I would like to go through my timeline a little bit and throw some things out to add to what he talked about. One thing that is good to know is that [my grandfather] came out of a background of publishing and writing, since his grandfather started the Herald and Tribune in Jonesboro, Tennessee, which is in East Tennessee. Antoinette—the Major’s mother—was a writer because she grew up in this household of
newspapers and writing. She was also a very good horseback rider, because her father was a really excellent horseman. That line is something that is part of the family. It didn’t just appear out of nowhere. She had a very difficult early life, and I think this affected my grandfather. When she was still a very young woman with four small children, first her father died, then her husband died, and then her oldest child, who was only six, died. And at the same time, she gave birth to her youngest child by herself, since her husband was deceased. It really affected her, and she left East Tennessee, and went to New York where her sister was working as a nurse. From there, she got hired to go out to Portland, Oregon, to start a newspaper. She was a suffragette; and at the time, there were all these women’s magazines that were very popular that were started by these suffragettes, like Women’s Club and Women’s Magazine. She was very
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Conversations With Antoinette Wheeler-Nicholson Harley About Her Legendary Father
something like that. After that, we lived in Great Neck, where I graduated from high school in 1939. A polio epidemic hit, and the old Beezer and Mother decided to get out of the city, figuring it would be less of a chance of our getting polio. NB: What kind of personal memories do you have of him? HARLEY: I remember the old Beezer giving me advice about reading and about religion. I think if he had a favorite religion, it was Buddhism. There are few people who have faith, you know, and usually they’re very good people. The old Beezer said the thing to read was the history of religion, and that everything in history would fall into place if you examined the religions of the various factions. It was the first politics, that’s what it was, with the priest figurehead. You could really stun the natives with a nice… You could keep everybody in line. He was very witty and erudite, but not in a preachy way. I think of the fact that he always listened to the Metropolitan Opera on Saturdays. I think of him reading. He said if I read nothing but Shakespeare and Dickens, that I would encounter every person that I bumped into in my lifetime. They produced such prototypes of humanity. It was pretty heady stuff. He treated me as an adult. We had a very nice relationship. NB: He seems to have been very loving towards you and Marianne. HARLEY: Oh yes. I think that he became tangled up with so many things after the comic book business. I think the other [children] suffered neglect because he was so terribly busy fighting trying to make a living, and to survive. I was very fortunate. I think each child has their own relationship with a parent, and I was lucky that I was the firstborn.
Man Of Tomorrow On The March Superman, an important part of the Major’s inheritance to the world, was from the start an influence for good—as per this public service ad from 1943-44 DC Comics. [©2009 DC Comics.]
call a big woman. When she hit a chair, she’d stick her leg out and you hoped you weren’t going to be under her, because you would be demolished. I’m trying to figure out when we were in Europe. It was in the ’30s at some point when we scuttled out of Europe. I do have a passport which has [the] date on it. Where I was in charge of getting you [the other 3 children] across the Atlantic. There were the four of us children. Diane wasn’t even in the picture at that point. So we moved back [to America], and I believe we moved to Gramercy Park. I was probably 11 years old. NB: Do you know why they came back from France? HARLEY: Everything dried up. The Depression really hit us because they couldn’t afford to live there. And they got out, and sent me with my father’s secretary, Murray. There were several stops between Gramercy Park and Great Neck. I have a recollection of us being in Tenafly, New Jersey, for some reason or other when he started trying to pull the Superman thing together. One place we lived was in Westport, Connecticut, where we froze because we didn’t have any fuel in the wintertime. We were really poor then, I mean really. I remember going to school in a summer dress, and some hand-me-downs. That was not fun. I was probably in junior high or
Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson: The Visionary Who Founded DC Comics
Part V 55
Beaver Hats! Hobo Disguises! Naked Women On Horseback! Late Legendary Artist CREIG FLESSEL Discusses The Early Days of Comic Books With The Grandson Of One Of Its Founding Pioneers
I
Interview Conducted & Transcribed by Ian Wheeler-Nicholson
NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: In December 2007 I had the opportunity to sit down with fabled comic book illustrator Creig Flessel (1912-2008), one of the first artists hired by my grandfather, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson [1890-1965], to work on his new comic book, New Fun, in 1935. New Fun was published by Wheeler-Nicholson’s National Allied Publications, the company that would one day become DC Comics, though my family has no connection to the company today—which is part of what I wanted to talk to Creig about. Creig was 95 when we sat down to talk, and still drawing actively. He showed me around the California home he shared with Marie, his wife of more than 70 years. On the desk and shelves of his cluttered office, reams of drawings from many decades were literally spilling over one another. He was cheerful and energetic and filled with happy memories of the early days of the comic book era, which he graciously agreed to share with me and a tape recorder. This interview meant a lot to me and my family. Over the years, my grandfather’s reputation has been persistently shadowed by rumors of questionable financial dealings, which purportedly led to his loss of control of the company he had founded to his co-publishers, Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz. Donenfeld and Liebowitz took total control of the company in 1938, shortly before it had its first real success with Action Comics #1, featuring the debut of Superman—a character created by two more of Wheeler-Nicholson’s hires, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. My grandfather (known as “the Major” for the rank he had held in the US Cavalry during the First World War) went back to what he had been doing before, supporting his family as a writer of fantastic stories, many of which were published in such pulp magazines as Black Mask and Argosy.
Caught In The (Creative) Act! Creig Flessel in a 1992 photo/self-caricature combo put together for an interview conducted by Charlie Roberts for Comic Book Marketplace #15 (July ’92)—flanked by two examples of Creig’s artwork. At left is the cover of Detective Comics #15 (May 1938), one of many he did for the early National/DC; above is a ’92 pencil sketch of Sandman done for collector Bruce Mason. The Sandman, of course, was a DC “latecomer,” not debuting till 1939—the artistic creation of Bert Christman (probably with writer Gardner Fox); Creig took it over in 1941, when Christman left for what turned out to be a fatal tour of combat with Chennault’s Flying Tigers in China. For full coverage of both Flessel and Christman, pick up a copy of Alter Ego #45. [CBM art ©2009 Estate of Creig Flessel; cover ©2009 DC Comics; Sandman TM & ©2009 DC Comics.]
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Creig Flessel Discusses The Early Days Of Comic Books With The Grandson Of One Of Its Founding Pioneers
Supermen—From The 30’s To The 2000’s (Left:) Creig was still drawing—and drawing well—at age 93, a couple of years back, as witnessed by this color sketch he did for Belgian collector Dominique Leonard. [©2009 Estate of Creig Flessel.] (Above:) Here’s Creig at a comics convention about a decade ago, flanked by a couple of the “new kids on the block”—or at least, they had been in 1938! Sheldon Moldoff (on left) and Fred Guardineer (right) both made their debuts in Action Comics #1—Shelly on a sports page on an inside cover, Guardineer writing and drawing the initial tale of “Zatara the Master Magician.” Thanks to David Siegel for the photo.
FLESSEL: Everybody was struggling. We didn’t go into it expecting it to make money. You had to do it because you loved it. We had no idea if this thing would still be around in a year. But that was the risk we all took. We knew it was an untried thing. And it was the Depression. Come on! Nobody had any money! IWN: Did my grandfather seem nervous, or was he pretending everything was OK? IWN: Did he have his own office in the place, or was it more casual? FLESSEL: He had his own office, but I never went in there more than once or twice. He was a formal guy. Polite, but formal. I was just a kid, and he seemed much older than me. Well, he was from another generation. He had been in the First World War, and all that. And I had just started working with the Major when I left to get married. He had his secretary—he could afford a secretary for a while—get us a silver bowl, as a wedding present. IWN: That’s nice. FLESSEL: He was very sentimental.
“[The Major] Wasn’t A Crook” IWN: I want you to know how much I appreciate your speaking with me. It’s nice to meet somebody who has fond recollections.
FLESSEL: Well, he put on a good front, and he was always polite, very polite. And he was a ladies’ man, and he’d kiss their hands, and so forth. I remember once, there was a new show called Lady Godiva on Fifth Avenue, and it had a girl who rode a horse nude on stage. So we thought it would be great to draw this girl nude on her horse, so we wanted to get her to pose for us on horseback. So the Major knew all the agents and so forth, so we all walked over to the show to try to get the girl to pose for us. And in the club there was this big veil in front of the stage, and the girls would be dancing nude on stage but you couldn’t quite see them through the veil from the audience. But we went backstage, and the Major talked to the girl’s agent, and she said she didn’t mind taking her clothes off and posing for us artists, but she refused to do it if the old man was there—the old man was the Major, and he wasn’t that old, but he seemed old. We were all young guys in our twenties and she said she didn’t mind posing for us, but she didn’t want to pose for the old man. And he was indignant. [laughs]
FLESSEL: Oh, he was a lovable guy. But it was stacked against him. You knew right from the beginning, it wasn’t going to work. But he wasn’t a crook. He never stole anyone’s paycheck on purpose. I’m not saying he was the best businessman, but he never ripped off anybody that I know of. I mean, sometimes we didn’t get paid, but if he didn’t pay us it was because there wasn’t any money. IWN: They were hard times for everybody. I suppose he and his wife were not the only ones having a hard time making ends meet in those days.
Ian Wheeler-Nicholson is a freelance writer and editor and lives in Brooklyn, New York. For more about Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson and his role in the early days of comic books, see the family website majormalcolmwheelernicholson.com
Ian WheelerNicholson
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“Cartoonists Are Like Kids” An Interview With Mrs. EILEEN MORTIMER, Widow Of Golden Age DC Artist WINSLOW MORTIMER
I
by Eddy Zeno
NTERVIEWER’S INTRO: The following conversation was conducted by phone on Sept. 21, 2006; quotations from a follow-up letter from Mrs. Mortimer in spring of 2007 have been edited into the text, to provide additional information. EDDY ZENO: Please tell us about your husband.
EILEEN MORTIMER: Win was born May 1, 1919. He always wanted to draw— cartooning was his life. While first trying to break into the business, he didn’t want to go back home till he was successful. When he sold something to The Saturday Evening Post—that’s when he went home to tell his mother. [chuckles] EZ: Did Win paint?
A Win-Win Situation Win Mortimer seems to be contemplating a 1997 re-creation he’d done of his cover for Detective Comics #120 (Feb. 1947). The photo was supplied variously by Eddy Zeno, David Siegel, and Charlie Roberts; the art scan was sent by Dan Makara, who both commissioned and (later) colored the piece. [Batman TM & ©2009 the respective copyright holders.]
MORTIMER: No, Win didn’t paint, but his father did. His father was head of a poster department and was a color expert. He also did watercolors and cartooning. He worked for Howell Lithography in Canada. EZ: When did you and Win meet?
MORTIMER: We met in 1941. I started in Canada and so did Win. We were married in July 1942. His mother died the day before we were married. She’d been ill for a long time. [Later] Win was going to the Art Students League [in New York] and had other commitments. He studied under George Bridgman. Stan Drake [creator and long-time artist of the newspaper comic strip for The Heart of Juliet Jones] went to the Art Students League when Win went. They were good friends. He died the year before Win. EZ: How did your husband get a job with the company which later became DC Comics? MORTIMER: Win had an appointment at DC Comics and he saw Harry Donenfeld, Whitney Ellsworth, and Jack Schiff. They took his artwork and he had to wait a long time. Finally, they came back with it and said, “How soon can you start?” Neither of us were citizens at that time. Later, he became a citizen because of me. I’m an American through my father. We found an apartment in Mount Vernon, New York. They put anyone new in the bullpen. Win used to say they turned out work like popcorn. [laughs] He
was a ghost artist for [Joe] Shuster. He did more covers [than anything]; he got to be the expert on covers. I still have a couple of Batman and Robin covers on the wall. Win did the daily Superman strip. Wayne Boring did the Sundays and eventually the dailies again. Wayne was making plenty. He had a beautiful second wife and we went to their home for many parties. We lost track with them when we had our second daughter and moved to a house. Later, Win spotted Wayne Boring in Steinbeck’s Department Store. They tried to avoid each other because it was sad; Wayne got fired and wound up broke; he was reduced to working in the men’s department. EZ: Mr. Boring later moved to Florida and took a job as a security guard toward the end of his life. MORTIMER: I didn’t know that.