Maxwell Charles Gaines[a](bornMax Ginzberg,[b]September 21, 1894 – August 20, 1947[2]) was an American publisher and a pioneering figure in the creation of the moderncomic book.[3][4]
| Max Gaines | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Max Ginzberg September 21, 1894[1] New York City,U.S. |
| Died | August 20, 1947(aged 52) Lake Placid, New York,U.S. |
| Area(s) | Publisher |
In 1933, Gaines devised the first four-color, saddle-stitched newsprint pamphlet (Funnies on Parade), a precursor to the color-comics format that became the standard for theAmerican comic bookindustry. He was co-publisher ofAll-American Publications,a seminal comic-book company that introduced such enduring fictional characters asGreen Lantern,Wonder Woman,andHawkman.He went on to foundEducational Comics,producing the seriesPicture Stories from the Bible.He authored one of the earliest essays on comic books, a 1942 pamphlet titledNarrative Illustration, The Story of the Comics.
After Gaines' death in 1947, Educational Comics was taken over by his sonBill Gaines,who transformed the company (now known asEC Comics) into a pioneer of horror, science fiction, and satirical comics.
Early life
editMax Ginzberg was born in New York City to aJewishfamily.[5]Maxwell Charles Gaines was described as a "hard-nosed, pain-wracked, loud aggressive man".[6]At age four, Gaines had leaned out too far from a second story window and fell to the ground, catching his leg on a picket fence. The leg would give him pain and discomfort for the rest of his life, aggravating his disposition. As an adult he developed a vicious temper, and according to his son,William M. Gaines,"expected the worst from his son and was rarely disappointed." Gaines continually reinforced this belief by venting his frustrations on the boy, beating him savagely with a leather belt while shouting, "You'll never amount to anything!".[6]
Career
editGaines had been a teacher, an elementary school principal, a munitions factory worker, and a haberdasher. In 1933 he had begun a new job as a salesperson atEastern Color Printing,which printed Sunday newspaper comic strips. Deducing that packaging such strips together could create promotional publications, Gaines contactedHarry L. Wildenberg,Eastern's sales manager and his direct superior. The two needed promotional ideas for a client,Procter & Gamble,and suggested to the company a tabloid-sized book of color comic-strip reprints available for five cents and a label or coupon from any Procter & Gamble product. The company, however, rejected the idea.[6]Undaunted, and with Wildenberg's blessing, Gaines producedFunnies on Parade,[7]an eight-page newsprint magazine reprinting several comic strips licensed from theMcNaught Syndicateand theMcClure Syndicate.These included such popular strips as cartoonistAl Smith'sMutt and Jeff,Ham Fisher'sJoe Palooka,andPercy Crosby'sSkippy.This periodical, however, was neither sold nor available onnewsstands,but rather sent free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. Ten-thousand copies were made.[7]The promotion proved a success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals forCanada Drysoft drinks,Kinney Shoes,Wheatenacereal,Phillips' Dental Magnesia,John WanamakerDepartment Stores, and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000.[8][6][9]
Later in 1933, Gaines collaborated withDell Publishingto publish the 36-page one-shotFamous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics,[10]followed in 1934 byFamous Funnies,which ran for 218 issues and is considered the first true American comic book.[11]After he quit Eastern Color, he joined McClure Newspaper Syndicate as company manager, and eventually partnered withDell Comicsto produce three of the comic booksThe Funnies,Popular ComicsandThe Comicswhereas Dell financed Gaines of its three comic book titles, until Dell became associated withWestern Publishingin 1938.[12][13][14]
All-American Publications
editIn 1938, Gaines andJack Liebowitzbegan publishing comics with original material under the name "All-American Publications".At the time, Liebowitz was the co-owner withHarry DonenfeldofNational Allied Publications,the precursor company toDC Comics,and Donenfeld financed Gaines' creation of All-American. All-American published several superhero/adventure anthologies such asAll-American ComicsandFlash Comics,as well as other titles. For a time, All-American and National shared marketing and promotional efforts as well as characters. Several of National's characters (Starman,Doctor Fate,The Spectre) appeared alongside All-American'sGreen Lantern,Wonder Woman,andHawkmanin that company's successfulAll Star Comics.
Gaines' relationship with Donenfeld and National waxed and waned over the years.[citation needed]By the early 1940s, the All-American titles were branded separately and no longer featured National-owned characters. In 1944, Donenfeld bought out Gaines and merged National and All-American into a single company.[citation needed]
EC Comics
editGaines used the proceeds from the sale of All-American to establish another comics line, Educational Comics.EC Comicscontinued All-American'sPicture Stories from the Bibleand added new titles such asPicture Stories from American History.Gaines soon expanded the line with humor andtalking animalbooks such asLand of the Lost,Animal Fables,andEd Wheelan'sFat and Slat.Some of these books carried a slightly revised publisher logo which changed the "Educational" in EC to display the Entertaining Comics insignia.[citation needed]
Death and legacy
editOn August 20, 1947, atLake Placid, New York,Gaines, his friend Sam Irwin, and the latter's 8-year-old son William Irwin were aboard a motorboat when it was struck by another boat. Gaines and the elder Irwin died in the accident.[4]
Max Gaines' 25-year-old son,William Gaines,inherited EC and changed the direction of the company.
Although it continued to advertise and sell back issues of the Educational titles, Bill Gaines concentrated on adding new titles to the Entertaining Comics line. He replaced the juvenile humor books with titles pitched to an older audience and strongly influenced by his own love of popular culture. These spanned several genres as he made a transition from romance (Modern Love) and Westerns (Gunslingers) to science fiction (Weird Science), horror (Tales from the Crypt), and satire (Harvey Kurtzman'sMad).
In 1985, Max Gaines was posthumously named as one of the honorees by DC Comics in the company's 50th anniversary publicationFifty Who Made DC Great.[15]
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007;Social Security Administration
- ^Kaplan, Arie(Fall 2003)."How the Jews Created the Comic Book Industry - Part I: The Golden Age (1933-1955)".Reform Judaism.Vol. 32, no. 1. Archived fromthe originalon March 13, 2016.RetrievedJune 11,2006.
- ^Jones, Gerard(2006).Men of Tomorrow.Arrow Books. p. 151.ISBN978-0-09-948706-7.
- ^ab"Two Men Are Killed in Crash of Motorboats on Lake Placid".The New York Times.August 21, 1947.RetrievedMarch 24,2016.
Max Charles Gaines, 56 years old...
(subscription required) - ^"The 13 Most Influential Jewish Creators and Execs, PART 3".September 21, 2015.
- ^abcdJacobs, Frank(1972).The Mad World of William Gaines.Bantam Books. p. 54.
- ^abBrown, Mitchell."The 100 Greatest Comic Books of the 20th Century:Funnies on Parade"(Internet archive link)
- ^Goulart, Ron.Comic Book Encyclopedia(Harper Entertainment,New York, 2004)
- ^Hajdu, David(2009).The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.Picador. p. 21.
- ^Famous Famous - Carnival of Comicsat theGrand Comics Database
- ^Goulart, Ron."The Funnies: I" (entry),Comic Book Encyclopedia(Harper Entertainment,New York, 2004)ISBN0-06-053816-3,p. 144
- ^"The Gaines-Hecht Letters – The Comics Detective".September 5, 2019.RetrievedJuly 12,2024.
- ^"Comic Books and Their Adventures".www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com.RetrievedJuly 12,2024.
- ^Canote, Terence Towles (September 25, 2004)."A Shroud of Thoughts: The Great M. C. Gaines".A Shroud of Thoughts.RetrievedJuly 12,2024.
- ^Marx, Barry,Cavalieri, Joeyand Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "M.C. Gaines An Idea Becomes an Industry"Fifty Who Made DC Great,p. 4 (1985). DC Comics.
Further reading
edit- Coville, James."The History of Comic Books: Newsstand Period Part 1. 1922–1955".TheComicBooks.com. p.2.Archivedfrom the original on July 22, 2011.
- Gaines, M. C. "Narrative Illustration: The Story of the Comics."Print, 3(2). Summer 1942. pp. 25–38.
External links
edit- "A Moon... A Bat... A Hawk: A Candid Conversation With Sheldon Moldoff".Alter Ego.3(4). Spring 2000.Archivedfrom the original on December 1, 2010.