Sheldon Mayer
| Sheldon Mayer | |
|---|---|
Sheldon Mayer self-portrait
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| Born |
April 1, 1917 New York |
| Died | December 21, 1991 (aged 74) Copake, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Editor |
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Notable works
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Black Orchid Funny Stuff Scribbly Sugar and Spike The Three Mouseketeers |
| Awards |
Jack Kirby Hall of Fame Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame |
Sheldon Mayer (April 1, 1917 – December 21, 1991) was an American comic book writer, artist and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics work for the company that would become known as DC Comics.
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 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.
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.
He began working for National Allied Publications (Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's initial company, later known as DC Comics) shortly after it was founded, in 1935, writing and drawing stories and "thus becoming one of the very first contributors [of original material] to comic books."
Between 1936 and 1938, Mayer worked for Dell Comics, producing illustrations, house advertisements and covers for titles including Popular Comics, The Comics and The Funnies. Also in 1936, he joined the McClure Syndicate "as an editor working for comics industry pioneer M.C. Gaines." While working for the McClure syndicate, Mayer came across Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's unsold Superman 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 [its] praises so much that in 1938 Gaines finally took the strip up to Harry Donenfeld, who was looking for original material to run in his new title, Action Comics," where the soon-to-be iconic character debuted as the lead feature of the first issue.Action Comics editor Vin Sullivan is also among those credited with discovering Superman. Mayer said,
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