Carl Wessler
Encyclopedia
Carroll O. "Carl" Wessler (May 25, 1913 - April 9, 1989) was an American
animator
of the 1930s and a comic book
writer
from the 1940s though the 1970s for such companies as DC Comics
, EC Comics
, Marvel Comics
, and Warren Publishing
.
Wessler was one of at least five staff writers (officially titled editors
) under editor-in-chief Stan Lee
at Marvel's 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics
.
in the 1930s, working on theatrical cartoon
shorts for the Fleischer Studio in New York City
, New York
. The studio fired him on March 30, 1937, for labor union organizing; after a subsequent strike by studio staff, lasing from May 7 to October 13 of that year, the studio settled and Wessler and others were rehired. Wessler followed Flesicher when it relocated to Florida
the following year.
While continuing to work as an animator, Wessler began doing freelance art for comic books in 1943, through the studio Sangor-Hughes, a "packager" that would produce outsourced comics for publishers entering the then-new medium
. Wessler returned to New York City when Flesicher relocated, as Famous Studios
, and segued full-time into comics during this 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books
. Due to much of his work going unsigned, in the manner of the times, comprehensive credits are difficult to ascertain; Wessler's earliest confirmed credits are as a cartoonist
writing and drawing such funny animal
features as "Snazzy Rabbit" and "Senorita Juanita McMouse" in Croydon Publishing / Rural Home Publishing's Laffy-Daffy Comics #1 (Feb. 1945). He also wrote and drew the humor feature "Happy Daze" in at least two issues of Lev Gleason Publications
' Daredevil in 1951.
in November 1950, when he turned in the six-page story "The Mad Monk", about the historical figure Grigori Rasputin
, published in Amazing Detective Cases #6 (May 1951). He soon became Atlas' primary crime fiction
writer, often scripting entire issues of All-True Crime, Amazing Detective Cases, Crime Can't Win, Crime Exposed, Crime Must Lose, Justice, and Kent Blake of the Secret Service. Going on staff in 1952, he became a member of the Atlas "bullpen" with fellow writers Hank Chapman
, Ernie Hart
, Paul S. Newman
, Don Rico
, and, on teen-humor comics, future Mad Magazine cartoonist
Al Jaffee
. Wessler wrote horror
/fantasy
stories for such titles as Adventures into Terror, Adventures into Weird Worlds, Astonishing, Mystic, and Suspense, later adding to his body of work such war comics
as Battle, Battle Action, Battlefield, Combat, and Men's Adventures.
In 1953, EC Comics
— which in the 1950s produced a number of horror and dramatic titles later considered to be classics of the field — recruited Wessler, Jack Oleck
, Daniel Keyes
and other writers to its staff. Wessler contributed a large number of stories to EC's famed horror titles Tales from the Crypt
and The Vault of Horror
— writing the entirety of Tales from the Crypt #45 (Jan. 1955), for instance, with the artists including such luminaries as Graham Ingels
, Jack Davis
, Jack Kamen
, Bernie Krigstein. He wrote as well for EC's Aces High
, Crime SuspenStories
, Impact, Piracy, Shock SuspenStories
, and Weird Science-Fantasy
.
Following the demise of EC in the wake of the newly formed Comics Code Authority
's crackdown on graphically violent comic books, Wessler returned to Atlas in late 1955 as a freelance writer. There he scripted science fiction
/fantasy stories for Mystic and, prolifically, World of Fantasy
. His last Atlas work appeared in issue #15 of the latter, cover-dated December 1958.
, home of Casper the Friendly Ghost
and other children's characters, remaining there through the early 1970s. As well, in the 1960s, his work appears in a range of titles including Charlton Comics
' Billy the Kid
, DC Comics
' American Revolutionary War
-era adventure series Tomahawk
, and Warren Publishing
's black-and-white horror-comics magazines Creepy
, Eerie
and Vampirella
.
In the early 1970s, for DC editor Murray Boltinoff, Wessler wrote for the supernatural
-fantasy anthologies, including Ghosts, House of Mystery
, The Unexpected
, and Witching Hour. He also contributed additional stories to Eerie, and returned to his old home at the former Atlas, now Marvel Comics
, with work appearing in Giant-Size Chillers vol. 2, #1 (Feb. 1975), and in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Tales of the Zombie #7 & 10 (Sept. 1974 & March 1975).
Wessler's last recorded credit is a story in Mystery In Space #114 (Dec. 1980).
Wessler was living in Miami, Florida
at the time of his death.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
of the 1930s and a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
from the 1940s though the 1970s for such companies as DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, and Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
.
Wessler was one of at least five staff writers (officially titled editors
Editors
Editors are a British indie rock band based in Birmingham, who formed in 2002. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band consists of Tom Smith , Chris Urbanowicz , Russell Leetch and Ed Lay .Editors have so far released two platinum studio...
) under editor-in-chief Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
at Marvel's 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
.
Early life and career
Carl Wessler began as an animatorAnimator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
in the 1930s, working on theatrical cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
shorts for the Fleischer Studio in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The studio fired him on March 30, 1937, for labor union organizing; after a subsequent strike by studio staff, lasing from May 7 to October 13 of that year, the studio settled and Wessler and others were rehired. Wessler followed Flesicher when it relocated to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
the following year.
While continuing to work as an animator, Wessler began doing freelance art for comic books in 1943, through the studio Sangor-Hughes, a "packager" that would produce outsourced comics for publishers entering the then-new medium
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
. Wessler returned to New York City when Flesicher relocated, as Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
, and segued full-time into comics during this 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
. Due to much of his work going unsigned, in the manner of the times, comprehensive credits are difficult to ascertain; Wessler's earliest confirmed credits are as a cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
writing and drawing such funny animal
Funny animal
Funny animal is a cartooning term for the genre of comics and animated cartoons in which the main characters are humanoid or talking animals, with anthropomorphic personality traits. The characters themselves may also be called funny animals...
features as "Snazzy Rabbit" and "Senorita Juanita McMouse" in Croydon Publishing / Rural Home Publishing's Laffy-Daffy Comics #1 (Feb. 1945). He also wrote and drew the humor feature "Happy Daze" in at least two issues of Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
' Daredevil in 1951.
Atlas and EC
Wessler began writing for Atlas ComicsAtlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
in November 1950, when he turned in the six-page story "The Mad Monk", about the historical figure Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian Orthodox Christian and mystic who is perceived as having influenced the latter days of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their only son Alexei...
, published in Amazing Detective Cases #6 (May 1951). He soon became Atlas' primary crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
writer, often scripting entire issues of All-True Crime, Amazing Detective Cases, Crime Can't Win, Crime Exposed, Crime Must Lose, Justice, and Kent Blake of the Secret Service. Going on staff in 1952, he became a member of the Atlas "bullpen" with fellow writers Hank Chapman
Hank Chapman
Henry P. "Hank" Chapman is an American comic book writer for Marvel Comics' two predecessors, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics, and later for DC Comics, where he specialized in war fiction. Though much of his Timely/Atlas work went unsigned, comics historians estimate that Chapman, a staff writer,...
, Ernie Hart
Ernie Hart
-Early life and career:Ernie Hart was part of the Timely Comics "animator" bullpen, separate from the superhero group producing comics featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America...
, Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman was an American writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s...
, Don Rico
Don Rico
Donato Francisco Rico II was an American paperback novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer-artist, who co-created the Marvel Comics characters Jann of the Jungle, with artist Jay Scott Pike, and Leopard Girl, with artist Al Hartley. His pen names include Dan Rico, Donella St...
, and, on teen-humor comics, future Mad Magazine cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Al Jaffee
Al Jaffee
Abraham Jaffee , known as Al Jaffee, is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in. As of 2010, Jaffee remains a regular in the magazine after 55 years and is its longest-running contributor...
. Wessler wrote horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
stories for such titles as Adventures into Terror, Adventures into Weird Worlds, Astonishing, Mystic, and Suspense, later adding to his body of work such war comics
War comics
War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II.-American war comics:Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began including stories of wartime adventures in the multi-genre...
as Battle, Battle Action, Battlefield, Combat, and Men's Adventures.
In 1953, EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
— which in the 1950s produced a number of horror and dramatic titles later considered to be classics of the field — recruited Wessler, Jack Oleck
Jack Oleck
Jack Oleck was an American novelist and comic book writer particularly known for his work in the horror genre.The brother-in-law of comics pioneer Joe Simon, Oleck's comic book career was basically in two parts. During the Golden Age of comics Oleck wrote for EC Comics and the Simon-Jack Kirby...
, Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes
Daniel Keyes is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.-Early life and career:Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New...
and other writers to its staff. Wessler contributed a large number of stories to EC's famed horror titles Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (comic)
Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror are three bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s...
and The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies...
— writing the entirety of Tales from the Crypt #45 (Jan. 1955), for instance, with the artists including such luminaries as Graham Ingels
Graham Ingels
Graham Ingels was a comic book and magazine illustrator best known for his work in EC Comics during the 1950s, notably on The Haunt of Fear and Tales from the Crypt, horror titles written and edited by Al Feldstein, and The Vault of Horror, written and edited by Feldstein and Johnny Craig...
, Jack Davis
Jack Davis (cartoonist)
Jack Davis is an American cartoonist and illustrator, known for his advertising art, magazine covers, film posters, record album art and numerous comic book stories...
, Jack Kamen
Jack Kamen
Jack Kamen was an illustrator from Brooklyn, New York. His first professional job was as an assistant to a sculptor working for the Texas Centennial. He studied sculpture with Agop Agopoff and was a student of Harvey Dunn, George Brandt Bridgman and William C. McNulty...
, Bernie Krigstein. He wrote as well for EC's Aces High
Aces High (comic)
Aces High was a short lived comic book series published by EC Comics in 1955 as the fourth title in its New Direction line. The bi-monthly comic was published by Bill Gaines...
, Crime SuspenStories
Crime SuspenStories
Crime SuspenStories was a bi-monthly anthology crime comic published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. The title first arrived on newsstands with its October/November 1950 issue and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue, producing a total of 27 issues...
, Impact, Piracy, Shock SuspenStories
Shock SuspenStories
Shock SuspenStories was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The bi-monthly comic, published by Bill Gaines and edited by Al Feldstein, began with issue 1 in February/March 1952. Over a four-year span, it ran for 18 issues, ending with the December/January 1955 issue.- Artists and writers...
, and Weird Science-Fantasy
Weird Science-Fantasy
Weird Science-Fantasy was a science fiction anthology comic that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a 14-month span, the comic ran for seven issues, starting in March 1954 with issue #23 and ending with issue #29 in May/June 1955....
.
Following the demise of EC in the wake of the newly formed Comics Code Authority
Comics Code Authority
The Comics Code Authority was a body created as part of the Comics Magazine Association of America, as a tool for the comics-publishing industry to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. Member publishers submitted comic books to the CCA, which screened them for adherence to...
's crackdown on graphically violent comic books, Wessler returned to Atlas in late 1955 as a freelance writer. There he scripted science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/fantasy stories for Mystic and, prolifically, World of Fantasy
World of Fantasy
World of Fantasy was a science fiction/fantasy comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor company, Atlas Comics. Lasting from 1956 to 1959, it included the work of several notable comics artists, including industry legends Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Bill Everett.The...
. His last Atlas work appeared in issue #15 of the latter, cover-dated December 1958.
Later career
Wessler next wrote for Harvey ComicsHarvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
, home of Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable...
and other children's characters, remaining there through the early 1970s. As well, in the 1960s, his work appears in a range of titles including Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
' Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (Charlton Comics)
Billy the Kid is a Western comic book series published by Charlton Comics, with stories of a fictional character based on the historical Billy the Kid. Taking over the numbering of a previous Western comic, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid was published from issues #9-153...
, DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
-era adventure series Tomahawk
Tomahawk (comics)
Tomahawk is a comic book character whose adventures were published by DC Comics during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as a backup feature in Star Spangled Comics and World's Finest Comics and in his own eponymous series...
, and Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
's black-and-white horror-comics magazines Creepy
Creepy
Creepy was an American horror-comics magazine launched by Warren Publishing in 1964. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. The anthology magazine was initially published quarterly but...
, Eerie
Eerie
Eerie was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. Each issue's stories were introduced by the host...
and Vampirella
Vampirella
Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in...
.
In the early 1970s, for DC editor Murray Boltinoff, Wessler wrote for the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
-fantasy anthologies, including Ghosts, House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...
, The Unexpected
The Unexpected
The Unexpected was a DC Comics horror comic book, a continuation of Tales of the Unexpected. It ran 117 issues, #105-222, from 1968 to 1982.-Publication history:...
, and Witching Hour. He also contributed additional stories to Eerie, and returned to his old home at the former Atlas, now Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, with work appearing in Giant-Size Chillers vol. 2, #1 (Feb. 1975), and in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Tales of the Zombie #7 & 10 (Sept. 1974 & March 1975).
Wessler's last recorded credit is a story in Mystery In Space #114 (Dec. 1980).
Wessler was living in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
at the time of his death.
Further reading
- Wessler, Mary, "In Memorium Carroll O. Wessler", Robin Snyder's History of the Comics vol. 2, #5 (May 1991), p. 1
- Wessler, Mary, "Stories Written by Carl Wessler for Timely Comics, 1956", Robin Snyder's History of the Comics vol. 2, #11 (Nov. 1991), pp. 117–122
- Wessler, Mary, "Carl Wessler's Work for Simon and Kirby in 1954 and 1955", Robin Snyder's History of the Comics vol. 4, #2 (Feb. 1993), p. 32
External links
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
- Vassallo, Michael J. "Esoteric Atlas: Bible Tales for Young Folk", Comicartville Library, 2002, n.d. WebCitation archive.