"Comic Books's Old-Time Authors"

C.C. Beck

Clarence Charles Beck transformed every boy’s fantasy into four-color reality: he gave us a magic word that could transform young Billy Batson into the red-and-gold-clad Captain Marvel. That word? SHAZAM! Beck was born on June 8, 1910, and joined Fawcett Publications in 1933 as a staff artist. Beck’s whimsical, cartoony style was a perfect fit for the new medium of comic books, and in the first issue (which sports a #2 on the cover due to a pre-publication name-change) of WHIZ COMICS, Captain Marvel was born. Gifted with the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength o Hercules, the Courage of Achilles, the Power of Zeus, the Stamina of Atlas, and the Speed of Mercury, Captain Marvel was the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Mighty, indeed, as it’s reported that “The Big Red Cheese” (as the Captain was affectionately called) sold over 1,000,000 issues per month.

After Fawcett folded its comics line in the early 1950s (due to losing a copyright infringement suit brought by DC Comics, who claimed Captain Marvel was an imitation of Superman), Beck dabbled periodically in comics, which he saw as having grown far too realistic and downbeat. He died on November 22, 1989.

Jack Cole

Creator and illustrator of one of the strangest superheroes ever to grace the four-color page, Plastic Man. Jack Cole was born on December 14, 1918, and got his start in comics in 1937, working for Harry “A” Chesler. He went to work for Lev Gleason in 1939, where he created Daredevil (no relation to the Marvel character of the same name), and assisted Will Eisner on The Spirit. In 1941, Cole created Plastic Man, a former crook who gained the ability to stretch his body into any shape imaginable. Surreal and bizarre, Cole’s Plastic Man stories remain a high water mark of the Golden Age, and his work is increasingly studied by those interested in graphic story-telling. Beginning in 1954, Cole became the premiere artist for Playboy, and his gag cartoons graced that magazine for several years until his death by suicide on August 15, 1958. The reasons for his suicide have never been made public.

Jack Davis

Born on December 2, 1924, one of the finest caricature artists of this or any age, Jack Davis began his career working for Bill Gaines’ EC Comics’ titles. Particularly adept at the goriest and creepiest stories Gaines could produce, Davis also had a comic flair that was well-displayed in his work for MAD. Currently, Davis’s work can be seen in everything from movie posters to product ads to magazine covers.

Steve Ditko

An intensely private man, Steve Ditko rarely gives interviews, and has mostly left his comics work behind him. An unfortunate state of affairs for the co-creator of one of the most popular comics characters of the last half of the 20th Century: The Amazing Spider-Man.

Born on November 2, 1927, Ditko began his comics career in the 1950s, first at Charlton, then at Atlas/Marvel, where he produced mystery, sci-fi, and horror tales. In 1962, he and writer Stan Lee created Spider-Man for the final issue of AMAZING FANTASY (#15), and a legend was born. Spider-Man received his own title shortly thereafter, and Ditko stayed with the book until issue #38, when he left due to creative differences with Lee. During this time, he also co-created Dr. Strange, and worked on the Hulk, Iron Man, and other Marvel characters.

After leaving Marvel, Ditko returned to Charlton, where he created Captain Atom and revamped the Blue Beetle, then went to DC to bring to life such offbeat heroes as The Hawk and The Dove and the Creeper. In later years, Ditko would briefly return to Marvel before abandoning company-owned comics all together in favor of his own creations.

Steve Ditko is, reportedly, a staunch adherent to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, which states, in Rand’s own words, “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” (excerpt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957)

Will Eisner

One of the most innovative and influential creators the medium has ever known, Eisner’s career spanned the history of comics. Born on March 6, 1917 in Brooklyn, NY, Eisner sold his first cartoons at the age of 19 to WOW!, WHAT A MAGAZINE, published by Jerry Iger. The magazine lasted only a short time, but it led to a fortuitous collaboration between Eisner and Iger, who formed their own comics company. In 1939, Eisner dissolved his partnership with Iger and created his most famous and lasting character, The Spirit, who appeared in newspapers nationwide until 1952 (during Eisner’s stint in the service during World War II, The Spirit was “ghosted” by Eisner’s assistants on the strip, including Jules Feiffer, Lou Fine, and Jack Cole).

Throughout the 1960s, Eisner turned his talents to advertising and marketing, but in 1970, he returned to comics, creating what would come to be called the “graphic novel.” A CONTRACT WITH GOD, AND OTHER TENEMENT STORIES told tales based on Eisner’s childhood in Brooklyn, and revolutionized the industry. This pioneering publication would set the stage for a graphic revolution, the effects of which are still being felt today. A true giant in a field full of giants, Eisner continued writing and drawing almost until the day he died, on January 3, 2005.

Bill Everett

Bill Everett’s fame rests squarely on the shoulders of one character: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Originally created for a comic book called MOTION PICTURE FUNNIES WEEKLY in the late 1930s (the intent was to hand the book out to kids for free at movie theaters to kids as a promotional item), it was never distributed, and the Sub-Mariner story was repackaged for the first issue of Martin Goodman’s flag-ship comics title, MARVEL COMICS. Perfectly paired with Carl Burgos’s Human Torch, who premiered in the same issue, Namor became one of the leading characters of the Golden Age. After a brief revival in the 1950s, the Sub-Mariner entered the Silver Age in the pages of FANTASTIC FOUR #4, to become a key component of the Marvel Age of Comics. In fact, in 1972, with the fiftieth issue of SUB-MARINER, Everett would return to draw the adventures of the character he created more than three decades earlier. After suffering a series of heart attacks, Everett passed away on February 27, 1973.

Lou Fine

A master draughtsman and illustrator, Fine, born in 1914, is known for his “fine line” technique of illustration, particularly noticeable on his classic covers for Fox and Quality comics. His best-known work is found on “The Flame,” published in WONDERWORLD COMICS and “The Black Condor,” who appeared in CRACK COMICS. Fine passed away on July 24, 1971.

William Gaines

Son of M.C. Gaines (credited as the “father of the modern comic book), Bill, born on March 1, 1922, was the driving force and head writer behind the infamous EC Comics of the 1950s. After the Senate Hearings on Comic Books and Juvenile Delinquency and the institution of the Comics Code Authority all but shut EC’s doors, Bill focused on his comic magazine, MAD, which became one of the most popular comics ever published. He passed away on June 3, 1992, but MAD, fortunately, lives on.

Graham Ingels

“Ghastly” Graham Ingels, born on June 7, 1915, certainly put the “grue” in “gruesome.” With an artistic style that made his panels almost look as if they were cut from blocks of wood, Ingels is rightly hailed as one of the kings of the horror comics genre. His work for EC Comics stands as some of the best put out by that legendary publisher. After EC folded their comics line, Ingels left the field to become part of the faculty at the Famous Artist’s correspondence school. He refused to acknowledge his prior career until shortly before his death on April 4, 1991.

Bob Kane

Bob Kane will always be remembered as the main creator of The Batman in 1939 (writer Bill Finger is now credited as co-creator), inspired, at least in part, by his love for the Douglas Fairbanks film “The Mark of Zorro,” and Mary Roberts Rinehart’s “The Bat.” Born on October 24, 1915, Kane learned quickly from the mistakes Siegel and Shuster had made in selling Superman outright to National, and signed a lucra- tive contract in which, in exchange for outright ownership, Kane was guaranteed credit on each strip, whether or not he was actually involved, and a handsome salary, in addition to other benefits. Kane’s actual day-to-day involvement with Batman pretty much ended in the 1940s, as he handed over more and more responsibility to “ghosts” within his studio, while he more and more enjoyed the life of a minor celebrity, especially during the “Batmania” days of the mid-1960s and the popular revival that accompanied the Tim Burton-helmed film, “Batman,” which starred Michael Keaton. He died on November 3, 1998.

Jack Kirby

Born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28, 1918, Jack Kirby was the undisputed “King” of comics. An innovative and influential artist beginning in the Golden Age, Kirby worked for virtually every publishing house in town, from Timely to DC to Harvey, before forming his own studio in the late 1940s with frequent collaborator Joe Simon. During this time, the pair invented and inaugurated the genre of romance comics, beginning with YOUNG ROMANCE COMICS #1 in 1947. Co-Creator of Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Mister Miracle, and more long-lasting characters than you can shake a stick at, his career can hardly be encapsulated in such a small space. He brought an operatic, nearly Wagnerian sense of drama to his comics, with bigger-than-life characters that practically leapt off the page in all their cosmic glory. No doubt, “Star Wars” owes more than a small debt of gratitude to the work of “The King.” Just remember: when you think of comics, you’re probably thinking of Jack Kirby, who passed away on February 6, 1994.

Stan Lee

Born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, he began his career at Timely in the early 1940s (his earliest published credit is on a text piece in CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #3 [1941]) as an assistant to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. He later became the editor and head writer of Marvel Comics, where he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, Daredevil, and countless other characters. In the 1970s, Stan moved to California to head Marvel’s burgeoning media efforts. He is currently the head of POW! Entertainment, and is still creating characters and content for a variety of media. He has had cameo roles in such films as “The X-Men,” “The Fantastic Four,” and “Spider-Man.”

William Moulton Marston

Born on May 9, 1893, psychologist and feminist William Moulton Marston was a man ahead of his time. He is credited as one of the early inventors of the “lie detector” (specifically, he is credited as the creator of a device to measure changes in systolic blood pressure to detect deception. This device became one of the components of the modern polygraph machine), he was a noted psychologist whose book, “The Emotions of Normal People,” became an instant classic in the field of passive/aggressive emotional studies upon its publication in 1928. He also believed very strongly in the great educational potential of comic books.

His stand on comics came to the attention of Max Gaines, who hired Marston as an educational consultant for his line of comic books, Detective Comics. Marston quickly noted the fact that all of the current heroes were male, and decided to create a super-female character, based on his wife, Elizabeth, and his former student, Olive Byrne (with whom he and Elizabeth then lived in a polyamorous relationship, and upon whose appearance Moulton’s new character would be based). Using the pen name Charles Moulton, and assisted by illustrator H.G. Peters, Marston soon gave birth to “Suprema.”

An Amazon from an island inhabited entirely by warrior women (the often overt themes of bondage and lesbianism are hard to miss), Wonder Woman (as Suprema was renamed by Sheldon Mayer) made her debut in the pages of ALL-STAR COMICS #8, and went on to a cover-featured spot in SENSATION COMICS #1. WONDER WOMAN #1 wasn’t far behind, and the Maid of Might became one of only three characters (the others are Superman and Batman) to be published continuously throughout the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Marston passed away from cancer on May 2, 1947, but Elizabeth and Olive continued to live together until Olive’s death in the late 1980s. Elizabeth died at age 100 in 1993.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

The creators of Superman, arguably the single most influential comics character ever set on paper, Siegel was born on October 17, 1914 and Shuster on July 10, 1914. They sold all the rights to their super-character in 1938 to National for the sum of $120, and were thereafter paid only page rates for their work on Superman. Their battle for recognition and compensation during the 1970s stands as a landmark in the field of creator’s rights. Joe Shuster died on July 30, 1992; Jerry Siegel passed away on January 28, 1996.