| Sheldon Mayer | |
|---|---|
 Sheldon Mayer self-portrait from the cover ofThe Amazing World of DC Comics #5 (March–April 1975) | |
| Born | (1917-04-01)April 1, 1917 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | December 21, 1991(1991-12-21) (aged 74) Copake, New York, U.S. |
| Area | Writer,Penciller, Editor |
Notable works | Black Orchid Funny Stuff Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist Sugar and Spike The Three Mouseketeers |
| Awards | Jack Kirby Hall of Fame Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing |
Sheldon Mayer (/ˈmeɪ.ər/; April 1, 1917 – December 21, 1991)[1] was anAmericancomics artist, writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of MajorMalcolm Wheeler-Nicholson'sNational Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics work for the company that would become known asDC Comics.
He is among those credited with rescuing the unsoldSuperman comics strip from the rejection pile.
Mayer was inducted into the comic book industry'sJack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1992 and theWill Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.
Mayer was born inHarlem, New York City, to aJewish family.[2][3] 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 theFleischer animation studios as an "opaquer" in 1934, at the age of seventeen.[4]
He began working forNational Allied Publications (MajorMalcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's initial company, later known asDC 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."[5]
Between 1936 and 1938, Mayer worked forDell Comics, producing illustrations, house advertisements and covers for titles includingPopular Comics,The Comics andThe Funnies.[4] Also in 1936, he joined theMcClure Syndicate "as an editor working for comics industry pioneerM.C. Gaines."[5] While working for the McClure Syndicate, Mayer came acrossJerry Siegel andJoe Shuster's unsoldSuperman comics strip, which he "immediately fell in love with."[5] 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 toHarry Donenfeld, who was looking for original material to run in his new title,Action Comics,"[5] where the soon-to-be iconic character debuted as the lead feature of the first issue.[6]Action Comics editorVin Sullivan is also among those credited with discovering Superman. Mayer said,
I was crazy aboutSuperman for the same reason I likedThe Scarlet Pimpernel,Zorro, andThe Desert Song. The mystery man and his alter ego are two distinct characters to be played off against each other. The Scarlet Pimpernel's alter ego was scared of the sight of blood, a hopeless dandy: no one would have suspected he was a hero. The same goes for Superman.[5]
In 1939, "Gaines left McClure to enter into a partnership with National Periodical Publications," and Mayer went with him, becoming the first editor of theAll-American Publications line, then run as a separate entity from National/DC, publishers ofSuperman andBatman.[5][7] Mayer edited and participated in the creation of - among others - theFlash (inFlash Comics),Green Lantern,Hawkman,Wonder Woman andAll-Star Comics, home to theJustice Society of America.[5][8][9] Comics historianLes Daniels 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."[10]
Among his non-superhero work, Mayer assisted with lettering and logo creation on severalAll-American titles, and drew a number of covers for the "Mutt and Jeff" reprints appearing in the companies flagship titleAll-American Comics (1939–1958).[4] Having created the semi-autobiographical stripScribbly the Boy Cartoonist[5] forDell Comics in 1936, where the feature appeared inThe Funnies #2–29 andPopular Comics #6–9),[11] 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 theGolden Age incarnation of theRed Tornado, with Mayer writing, penciling and inking the renamedScribbly and the Red Tornado forAll-American Comics between 1941 and 1944 when All-American merged with National.[4][12] Mayer launched severaltalking animal titles includingFunny Stuff (Summer 1944),[13]Animal Antics (March 1946),[14] andFunny Folks (April 1946).[15]
Scribbly the Boy Cartoonist is a comic book character created in 1936 by Sheldon Mayer, first appearing inDell Comics.
Mayer retired from editing in 1948,[16] "to devote himself full-time to cartooning". He began to write and draw a number of humor comics for National, including the featuresThe Three Mouseketeers,Leave It to Binky, a teenage humor book, andSugar and Spike.[5]Leave It to Binky debuted in February 1948[17] whileScribbly received its own title in August 1948.[18] He also created the backup feature "Doodles Duck", starring a dimwitted, easily angered instigator and his smarter, calmer nephew Lemuel, inAnimal Antics #40 (Sept. 1952). This is unrelated toHowie Post's early DC creation Doodles Duck.[19]
Sugar and Spike proved to be one of Mayer's longest-lasting strips, starring two babies who could communicate inbaby talk that adults could not understand.[20] Mayer even signed the stories he drew, something rare at National Periodical Publications in the late 1950s whenSugar 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 notablyHouse of Mystery,House of Secrets andForbidden Tales of Dark Mansion.[4][12] With artistTony DeZuniga, he co-created the "Black Orchid" feature which ran inAdventure Comics #428–430 in 1973.[21] Mayer wrote and drew several "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" treasuries[22] starting in 1972. These were published asLimited Collectors' Edition C–24, C–33, C–42, C–50[23][24] andAll-New Collectors' Edition C–53, C–60.[25] Additionally, one digest format edition was published asThe Best of DC #4 (March–April 1980).[26] In 1978, Mayer wrote and drew a "How to Draw Batman Booklet" as part of an ongoing debate with DC editorPaul Levitz regardingcontinuity in comic books.[27] In the 50th anniversary publicationFifty Who Made DC Great, Mayer is cited as still writing and drawing "for the company that first published his great discovery,Superman, forty-seven years ago."[5]
After successfulcataract surgery, Mayer returned to drawing Sugar and Spike stories for the international market;[28] only a few have been reprinted in the United States. The American reprints appeared in thedigest sized comics seriesThe Best of DC #29, 41, 47, 58, 65, and 68. In 1992,Sugar and Spike #99 was published as part of theDC Silver Age Classics series;[29] this featured two previously unpublished stories by Mayer. DC writer and executive Paul Levitz has describedSugar and Spike as being "Mayer's most charming and enduring creation"[30] while novelist andSandman creatorNeil Gaiman has stated "Sheldon Mayer'sSugar and Spike series...is the most charming thing I've ever seen in comics."[31]
DC attempted tolicenseSugar and Spike as a syndicatednewspaper strip but was unsuccessful.[32] Sales on the "Sugar and Spike" issues ofThe 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.[33]
Mayer received anInkpot Award in 1976.[34] He was posthumously inducted into theJack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1992[35] and theWill Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.[36] He was posthumously awarded theBill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing in 2025.[37]
It was editor Sheldon Mayer, working at M. C. Gaines' McClure Syndicate, who suggested Superman to DC as a potential filler feature forAction Comics.
Sugar Plumm and Cecil "Spike" Wilson had to make sense of their environment without assistance from those who already knew their way around it, because everybody but their fellow babies spoke in the incomprehensible gobbledygook of grownups.
[Mayer] also worked on several tabloid-formatted comic books for DC in the mid-1970s, including the company's first use of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer since the early '60s.
Mayer objected to the idea of continuity in comic book stories...this eighteen-page story, written and penciled by Mayer arrived as an instructional component to the debate.
Did you know that DC tried to sell Shelly Mayer'sSugar and Spike as a syndicated newspaper strip? [A] sample, ca. 1979–early 1980s was one of three DC concepts unsuccessfully pitched to papers.
Don Glut and Sheldon Mayer have been selected to receive the 2025 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.
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