John Binder (August 11, 1902 – March 6, 1986)John Binder
at the

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the Social Security Administration, United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Mas ...

. from the original on March 6, 2012. was a Golden Age comics creator and art packager. A fine artist by education, Binder had a prolific comics career that lasted primarily from 1937 to 1953, through his most concentrated work was through 1946. He was the creator of the original comic book Daredevil, for

Lev Gleason Publications Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and ''Boy Comics''. Backgr ...

. Binder is credited with coining the term

zero gravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G. Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...

as part of a 1938 article in ''

Thrilling Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...

''. Binder's younger brothers were Earl and

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

, collectively known as

Eando Binder Eando Binder is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1965) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).'' Under the Eando nam ...

when writing science fiction.

Biography

Born into a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

family in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, Binder emigrated to America in 1910, where he settled with his parents and five siblings in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Bridwell, E. Nelson "In Memorium: Otto Oscar Binder," ''

The Amazing World of DC Comics ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, with ...

'' #3 (Nov, 1974), p. 30. Six months after the debut of ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', its June 1937 issue contained a picture feature by Jack Binder entitled '' If---!''. Binder's earlier training as a fine artist helped him create detailed renderings of space ships, lost cities, future cities, landscapes, indigenous peoples, and even ancient Atlantis. ''If---!s pen and ink drawings are hand-lettered and rendered in black and white. These one-to-two page studies presented readers with possible outcomes to early 20th-century scientific quandaries. In the October 1938 issue of the pulp magazine, Binder's article "If Science Reached the Earth's Core" is the first attested use of the phrase "

". Moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Binder worked for three years for the

Harry "A" Chesler Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ) – December 1981),Harr ...

studio, one of the early comic-book "packagers" that supplied complete comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium. Binder left the Chesler studio in 1940 as the firm's art director. In the early 1940s Binder drew for

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel, the alter ego of radio reporter Billy Bats ...

, and

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

; during this period he created the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

character Daredevil (not to be confused with the

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

character of the same name) for an eight-page backup feature in Lev Gleason Publications' ''Silver Streak'' #6 (September 1940), and along with

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

, co-created the

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

in Timely's ''

Mystic Comics ''Mystic Comics'' is the name of three comic book series published by the company that eventually became Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans an ...

'' #6 (October 1941).

Jack Binder Studio

By 1942 Binder had formed his own studio, with over 50 artists, in a

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

loft in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Later, Binder moved his studio to

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

, to the upstairs loft of a barn, where it produced material for publishers like Fawcett,

Nedor Comics Standard Comics was a comic book imprint (trade name), imprint of United States, American publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines (under a Thrilling Publications, variety of company names that he also used for the comics) and pape ...

, and Lev Gleason Publications. Features the studio worked on included the

Fighting Yank The Fighting Yank is the name of several superheroes, first appearing in ''Startling Comics'' #10 (Sept 1941). Fall 1941 was a boom period for patriotic superheroes as the country prepared to enter World War II; during this period, comic book p ...

Mister Scarlet and Pinky Mr. Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid are two duo fictional comic book superheroes connected to each other, and first introduced in '' Wow Comics''. The superheroes were originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. The original Mis ...

Bulletman Bulletman and Bulletgirl are fictional superheros originally published by Fawcett Comics. Publication history Created by Bill Parker and Jon Smalle, Bulletman first appeared in ''Nickel Comics'' #1 (May 1940). This comic was distinct from othe ...

Ibis the Invincible Ibis the Invincible is a fictional character originally published by Fawcett Comics in the 1940s and then by DC Comics beginning in the 1970s. Like many magician superheroes introduced in the Golden Age of Comics, Ibis owes much to the popular com ...

, Captain Battle, the

Black Owl The Black Owl is the name of two fictional superhero characters. Both appeared in the Prize Publications title ''Prize Comics'' in the 1940s. Publication history In 1940, Prize Publications, which was already established as a producer of pulp ...

, and the adapted

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

features

Doc Savage Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective, and polymath who "rights w ...

and

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

. In addition to running the studio, Binder drew layouts for

stories which other artists finished for him. Artists employed by Jack Binder Studios included

Ken Bald Kenneth Bruce Bald (August 1, 1920 – March 17, 2019) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for the '' Dr. Kildare'' and ''Dark Shadows'' newspaper comic strips. Due to contractual obligations, he is credited as "K. Bruce" ...

,Steranko, Jim. ''The Steranko History of Comics 2'' (Supergraphics, 1972).

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day versio ...

, Pete Riss,

Kurt Schaffenberger Kurt Schaffenberger (December 15, 1920 – January 24, 2002) was an American comics artist. He was best known for his work on Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family during both the Golden Age of comic books, Golden Age an ...

, and Bill Ward. Bald eventually became the studio art director. As Kane recalled, "Binder had a loft on Fifth Avenue and it just looked like an internment camp. There must have been 50 or 60 guys up there, all at drawing tables. You had to account for the paper that you took." After closing his studio in 1946, Binder continued to work casually in the industry until he fully retired in 1953 and returned to fine and commercial art. He lived in Chestertown,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, at the time of his death.

Erroneous Pseudonym

Some reference works erroneously state Charles Maxwell Plaisted was a pseudonym for Binder when in fact Plaisted was a real person.Mike Ashley. Addenda and Corrigenda. ''Science Fiction Rebels: The Story of the Science-fiction Magazines from 1981 to 1990''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016. p. 447.

References

External links

* * * Kyle, Richard. "A Real-Life 'Marvel Family': A 1973 Talk with Golden Age Artisans Jack & Otto Binder," ''Alter Ego'' #55 (Dec. 2005) pp. 58–67. {{DEFAULTSORT:Binder, Jack 1902 births 1986 deaths American comics artists American people of German descent Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Golden Age comics creators Pulp fiction artists