Ed Wheelan
Encyclopedia
Edgar S. Wheelan was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip
Minute Movies, satirizing silent films, and his comic book Fat and Slat, published by EC Comics
. He was one of the earliest writer-artists to introduce daily narrative continuity and cinematic techniques to comic strips.
Born in San Francisco, Wheelan was the son of Albertine Randall, a costume designer and cartoonist, who drew The Dumbunnies during the 1920s, and Fairfax H. Wheelan, San Francisco businessman and political reformer..
For William Randolph Hearst
, he created the strip Midget Movies in 1918 but left in 1920 after a dispute with Hearst. Wheelan continued to mock movies in his Minute Movies for the George Matthew Adams Service
. He drew the two-tiered Minute Movies from the early 1920s until 1935, developing one of the characters into a spin-off strip, Roy McCoy. Near the end of the 1930s, Wheelan teamed with Bill Walsh on Big Top, a circus strip.
published the Edgar Wheelan Joke Book with Wheelan's Fat and Slat characters, who returned in their own title, Fat and Slat, which ran for four quarterly issues in 1947 and 1948. The book also featured Wheelan's "Comics" McCormick ("The World's #1 Comic Book Fan").
In the late 1940s, Wheelan also drew Foney Fairy Tales, fairy tale parodies that ran as a feature in Wonder Woman and Comic Cavalcade.
After leaving comics, Wheelan created paintings of clowns. He died in 1966.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Minute Movies, satirizing silent films, and his comic book Fat and Slat, published by 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...
. He was one of the earliest writer-artists to introduce daily narrative continuity and cinematic techniques to comic strips.
Born in San Francisco, Wheelan was the son of Albertine Randall, a costume designer and cartoonist, who drew The Dumbunnies during the 1920s, and Fairfax H. Wheelan, San Francisco businessman and political reformer..
Comic strips
Graduating from Cornell University in 1911, Wheelan found employment at the San Francisco Examiner, moving on to the New York American, where he drew an eight-column comic strip about sports.For William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, he created the strip Midget Movies in 1918 but left in 1920 after a dispute with Hearst. Wheelan continued to mock movies in his Minute Movies for the George Matthew Adams Service
George Matthew Adams
George Matthew Adams was a newspaper columnist and founder of the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service, which syndicated comic strips and columns to newspapers for five decades...
. He drew the two-tiered Minute Movies from the early 1920s until 1935, developing one of the characters into a spin-off strip, Roy McCoy. Near the end of the 1930s, Wheelan teamed with Bill Walsh on Big Top, a circus strip.
Comic books
In the early 1940s, DC Comics brought back Minute Movies as a feature in 58 issues of Flash Comics. In 1944, Max GainesMax Gaines
Maxwell Charles Gaines was a pioneering figure in the creation of the modern comic book. Born Maxwell Ginsburg or Maxwell Ginzberg, he was also known as Max Gaines, M.C...
published the Edgar Wheelan Joke Book with Wheelan's Fat and Slat characters, who returned in their own title, Fat and Slat, which ran for four quarterly issues in 1947 and 1948. The book also featured Wheelan's "Comics" McCormick ("The World's #1 Comic Book Fan").
In the late 1940s, Wheelan also drew Foney Fairy Tales, fairy tale parodies that ran as a feature in Wonder Woman and Comic Cavalcade.
After leaving comics, Wheelan created paintings of clowns. He died in 1966.