Sheldon Mayer (; April 1, 1917 – December 21, 1991) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary a ...

, writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major

Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (January 7, 1890 – September 21, 1965) was an American pulp magazine writer and entrepreneur who pioneered the American comic book, publishing the first such periodical consisting solely of original material r ...

's National Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics work for the company that would become known as

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. He is among those credited with rescuing the unsold ''Superman'' comic strip from the rejection pile. Mayer was inducted into the comic book industry's

Jack Kirby Hall of Fame The following is a list of winners of the Harvey Award, sorted by category. In 2017, the Harvey Awards decided to skip the 2017 awards ceremony and to reboot the ceremony for 2018 in order to give fewer awards by focusing on works instead of indivi ...

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 Sheldon Moldoff (; April 14, 1920 – February 29, 2012) was an American comics artist best known for his early work on the DC Comics characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and as one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists" (uncredited collaborator ...

Early life and career

Mayer was born in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. Sheldon Mayer's career in the days before comic books was a diverse one. He worked as writer and artist on "scores of titles" for a juvenile audience circa 1932–33, before joining the Fleischer animation studios as an "opaquer" in 1934, at the age of seventeen. He began working for National Allied Publications (Major

's initial company, later known as

) shortly after it was founded, in 1935, writing and drawing stories and "thus becoming one of the very first contributors f original materialto comic books." Between 1936 and 1938, Mayer worked for

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

, producing illustrations, house advertisements and covers for titles including ''Popular Comics'', ''The Comics'' and ''The Funnies''. Also in 1936, he joined the

McClure Syndicate McClure Newspaper Syndicate, the first American newspaper syndicate, introduced many American and British writers to the masses. Launched in 1884 by publisher Samuel S. McClure, it was the first successful company of its kind. It turned the marke ...

"as an editor working for comics industry pioneer M.C. Gaines." While working for the McClure syndicate, Mayer came across

Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, i ...

and

Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster (; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992), professionally known simply as Joe Shuster, was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 (c ...

's unsold ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

'' comics strip, which he "immediately fell in love with." He recalled in a 1985 book that, "The syndicated press rejected it about fifteen times. I was singing tspraises so much that in 1938 Gaines finally took the strip up to

Harry Donenfeld Harry Donenfeld (; October 17, 1893 – February 1, 1965) was an American publisher who is known primarily for being the owner of National Allied Publications, which distributed ''Detective Comics'' and ''Action Comics'', the originator publicatio ...

, who was looking for original material to run in his new title, ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics ...

''," where the soon-to-be iconic character debuted as the lead feature of the first issue. ''Action Comics'' editor

Vin Sullivan Vincent Sullivan (June 5, 1911 – February 3, 1999Vincent Sullivan
at the

...

is also among those credited with discovering Superman. Mayer said,

All-American Comics

In 1939, "Gaines left McClure to enter into a partnership with ational Periodical Publications" and Mayer went with him, becoming the first editor of the All-American ublications/nowiki> line, then run as a separate entity from National/DC, publishers of Superman and Batman. Mayer edited and participated in the creation of - among others - the

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

(in ''

Flash Comics ''Flash Comics'' is a comics anthology published by All-American Publications and later by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Despite the title, the anthology featu ...

''),

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

, Hawkman,

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

and ''

All-Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'', home to the

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Boo ...

. Comics historian

Les Daniels Leslie Noel Daniels III, better known as Les Daniels (October 27, 1943 – November 5, 2011), was an American writer. Background Daniels attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on ''Frankenstei ...

noted that "This was obviously a great notion, since it offered readers a lot of headliners for a dime, and also the fun of watching fan favorites interact." 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 "

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' was a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept of a newspape ...

" reprints appearing in the companies flagship title ''

All-American Comics ''All-American Comics'' was a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Green ...

'' (1939–1958). Having created the semi-autobiographical strip '' Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist'' for

in 1936, where the feature appeared in ''The Funnies'' #2–29 and ''Popular Comics'' #6–9),Scribbly
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

. Mayer moved "Scribbly" to All-American Publications in 1939. Soon afterward, the featured included the supporting character of "Ma" Hunkel, who would go on to become 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, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

incarnation of the

Red Tornado Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

, with Mayer writing, penciling and inking the renamed ''Scribbly and the Red Tornado'' for ''All-American Comics'' between 1941 and 1944 when All-American merged with National. Mayer launched several

talking animal A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...

titles including ''Funny Stuff'' (Summer 1944), ''Animal Antics'' (March 1946), and ''Funny Folks'' (April 1946).

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, "to devote himself full-time to cartooning". He began to write and draw a number of humor comics for National, including the features '' The Three Mouseketeers'', ''

Leave It to Binky ''Leave It to Binky'' is a teen-humor comic book series published by DC Comics that ran for 82 issues, first appearing in 1948 and wrapping up in 1977. Publication history The adventures of teenager Binky Biggs started in DC Comics' ''Leave It to ...

'', a teenage humor book, and ''

Sugar and Spike ''Sugar and Spike'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1956 through 1971, named after its main protagonists. The series was created, written, and drawn by Sheldon Mayer. Publication history The series was launched in 1 ...

''. ''Leave It to Binky'' debuted in February 1948 while ''Scribbly'' received its own title in August 1948. He also created the backup feature "Doodles Duck", starring a dimwitted, easily angered instigator and his smarter, calmer nephew Lemuel, in ''Animal Antics'' #40 (Sept. 1952). This is unrelated to Howie Post's early DC creation Doodles Duck. ''Sugar and Spike'' proved to be one of Mayer's longest-lasting strips, starring two babies who could communicate in

baby talk Baby talk is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant. It is also called caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS), child-directed language (CDL), caregiver register, parent ...

that adults could not understand. 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 ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strang ...

'', '' House of Secrets'' and '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion''. With artist

Tony DeZuniga Antony de Zuñiga (November 8, 1932 – May 11, 2012) who worked primarily under the name Tony DeZuniga, was a Filipino comics artist and illustrator best known for his works for DC Comics. He co-created the fictional characters Jonah Hex and ...

, he co-created the " Black Orchid" feature which ran in '' Adventure Comics'' #428–430 in 1973. Mayer wrote and drew several "

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

" treasuries starting in 1972. These were published as ''

Limited Collectors' Edition ''Limited Collectors' Edition'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1972 to 1978. It usually featured reprints of previously published stories but a few issues contained new material. The series was published in an overs ...

'' C–24, C–33, C–42, C–50 and ''All-New Collectors' Edition'' C–53, C–60. Additionally, one digest format edition was published as ''The Best of DC'' #4 (March–April 1980). In 1978, Mayer wrote and drew a "How to Draw Batman Booklet" as part of an ongoing debate with DC editor

Paul Levitz Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...

regarding continuity in comic books. In the 50th anniversary publication ''

Fifty Who Made DC Great ''Fifty Who Made DC Great'' is a one shot published by DC Comics to commemorate the company's 50th anniversary in 1985. It was published in comic book format but contained text articles with photographs and background caricatures. Publication h ...

'', Mayer is cited as still writing and drawing "for the company that first published his great discovery, ''Superman'', forty-seven years ago." After successful

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble ...

surgery, Mayer returned to drawing Sugar and Spike stories for the international market; only a few have been reprinted in the United States. The American reprints appeared in the

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printing ...

d comics series ''The Best of DC'' #29, 41, 47, 58, 65, and 68. In 1992, ''Sugar and Spike'' #99 was published as part of the ''DC Silver Age Classics'' series; this featured two previously unpublished stories by Mayer. DC writer and executive Paul Levitz has described ''Sugar and Spike'' as being "Mayer's most charming and enduring creation" while novelist and ''

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

'' creator Neil Gaiman has stated "Sheldon Mayer's ''Sugar and Spike'' series...is the most charming thing I've ever seen in comics." DC attempted to license ''Sugar and Spike'' as a syndicated

newspaper strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

but was unsuccessful. 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.

Awards

Mayer received an

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...

in 1976. He was posthumously inducted into the

in 1992 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.

Bibliography

Centaur Publications

* ''Comics Magazine'' #1 (1936)

DC Comics

* '' Adventure Comics'' #428–430 ( Black Orchid); #431 (writer) (1973–1974) * ''

'' #1–5 (writer/artist) (1939–1944) * ''All New Collectors' Edition'' #C–53, C–60 (

) (writer/artist) (1977–1978) * ''

All Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All ...

'' #3–6, 8 (

) (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 ''Comic Cavalcade'' was an anthology comic book published by DC Comics from 1942 to 1954. Most American comic book publishers in the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age of comic books published anthology titles that showcased a variety of characters, us ...

'' #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) * ''

'' #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) * ''

'' #1 (writer/artist) (1948) * ''

'' #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 ''Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!'' is a DC Comics series about a team of talking animal superheroes called the Zoo Crew. The characters first appeared in a 16-page special insert in '' The New Teen Titans'' #16 (February 1982), follo ...

'' #30–38, 40–42, 44, 46–52, 61 (artist) (1954–1959) * ''

Phantom Stranger The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in an ...

'' #31, 35–36 (Black Orchid backup stories) (writer) (1974–1975) * ''

Plop! ''Plop!'', "The New Magazine of Weird Humor!", was a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics in the mid-1970s. It falls into the horror / humor genre. It lasted 24 issues and the series ran from Sept./Oct. 1973 to Nov./Dec. 1976. Bac ...

'' #1 (writer) (1973) * ''Raccoon Kids'' #52–62 (artist) (1954–1956) * ''Scribbly'' #1–15 (writer/artist) (1948–1951) * '' Secret Origins'' #29 (original

) (writer/artist) (1988) * ''

Secrets of Haunted House ''Secrets of Haunted House'' was a horror-suspense comics anthology series published by American company DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 and 1979 to 1982. Publication history The series began in April–May 1975. Like its predecessor '' Secrets of ...

'' #43 (artist); #44 (writer) (1981–1982) * ''

Secrets of Sinister House ''Secrets of Sinister House'' was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1972–1974, a companion to '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion''. Both series were originally inspired by the successful ABC soap oper ...

'' #6–7, 9 (writer) (1972–1973) * ''

Sensation Comics ''Sensation Comics'' is the title of an American comic book anthology series published by DC Comics that ran for 109 issues between 1942 and 1952. For most of its run, the lead feature was Wonder Woman, a character which had been introduced in ''Al ...

'' #84 (

) (writer) (1948) * ''

'' #1–98 (writer/artist) (1956–1971) * '' The Three Mouseketeers'' #1–8 (writer/artist); 19, 24 (writer) (1956–1959) * ''

Time Warp Time travel is a common theme in fiction, mainly since the late 19th century, and has been depicted in a variety of media, such as literature, television, film, and advertisements. The concept of time travel by mechanical means was popularize ...

'' #5 (writer) (1980) * '' The Unexpected'' #217 (writer/artist); #219 (writer) (1981–1982) * ''

Weird Mystery Tales ''Weird Mystery Tales'' was a mystery horror comics anthology published by DC Comics from July–August 1972 to November 1975. Publication history 100 Page Super Spectacular The title ''Weird Mystery Tales'' was first used for '' DC 100 Page S ...

'' #5 (writer) (1973) * ''

Weird War Tales ''Weird War Tales'' was a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September–October 1971 to June 1983. Publication history The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was ...

'' #10–11, 14, 18, 21, 42–44 (writer) (1973–1976)

References

External links

* *
Sheldon Mayer
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on March 29, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Sheldon 1917 births 1991 deaths American comics artists American comics writers Artists from New York City Comic book editors Golden Age comics creators Inkpot Award winners Silver Age comics creators Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees Jewish American artists Jewish American writers Writers from New York City DC Comics people