Harris Levey
Encyclopedia
Harris Levey whose pseudonyms included Lee Harris, Leland Harris, and Harris Levy, was a comic book
artist for DC Comics
primarily in the 1940s. He co-created the Golden Age
superhero
Air Wave
, who has continued, in new permutations, into the 21st century.
in The Bronx
. During his time there, he contributed illustrations to its literary magazine, The Magpie.
His first known credited comic book
work was the one-page filler "Super Sleuths" in Fox Comics' Mystery Men Comics #5 (Dec. 1939), near the beginning of the period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books
. Creator credits were not routinely given during this period, making a comprehensive account of Levey's credits difficult to ascertain. However, following a story drawn for MLJ Comics in 1940, standard databases credit him as artist for a several-year on Detective Comics
from the publisher National Comics
, a forerunner of DC Comics
. Among his first works there, he co-created the superhero
Air Wave
with a writer tentatively identified as either Mort Weisinger
or Murray Boltinoff, the DC Comics superhero
Air Wave
. Levey, credited as Lee Harris, drew the character's seven- to eight-page adventures from Detective Comics #60 (Dec. 1942) to at least #74 (April 1943).
He returned to comics with a Rin-Tin-Tin story in DC's Real Fact Comics #2 (June 1946) before taking over Air Wave's art once more in Detective Comics #114-137 (Aug. 1946 - July 1948).
Harris, often referred to in comic-book literature as "Harris Levy", generally signed his DC work as "Lee Harris", sometimes simply "Harris", or as "Leland Harris" (the latter being his legal name at the time).
apartment complex in Manhattan
, Harris took a job with the New York Journal American
newspaper. There and subsequently at The New York Times
he worked in commercial illustration, layout, design, and advertising copy.
During this period he created freelance cover illustrations for paperback book covers. He also illustrated the cover of the March 1953 issue of the science-fiction pulp magazine
Amazing Stories
, credited as Harris Levey.
Harris left the New York Times to serve as art director for the New York City advertising agencies Fuller-Smith & Ross, LM Frolich, Foote Cone & Belding, Ted Bates
, and NW Ayer. In the early 1980s, Harris worked on print ads and a string of television commercials for the Bomstein Agency in Washington, D.C.
.
in the Adirondack Mountains
, Harris suffered a heart attack during a hike. He was taken to Lake Placid
Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to heart failure at age 63.
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...
artist for 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...
primarily in the 1940s. He co-created the Golden Age
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...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Air Wave
Air Wave
Air Wave is the name of three fictional superheroes in the DC Comics universe. The first two were active in the Golden Age of Comic Books...
, who has continued, in new permutations, into the 21st century.
Early life
As a teenager, Harris Levey studied at DeWitt Clinton High SchoolDeWitt Clinton High School
DeWitt Clinton High School is an American high school located in the Bronx, New York City, New York.-History:Clinton opened in 1897 at 60 West 13th Street at the northern end of Greenwich Village under the name of Boys High School, although this Boys High School was not related to the one in Brooklyn...
in The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
. During his time there, he contributed illustrations to its literary magazine, The Magpie.
DC Comics
Harris changed his name legally from "Harris Levey" to "Leland Harris" in his late teens following high school. After graduating, he worked briefly as an assistant to a theatrical magician billed as "Dante.His first known credited 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...
work was the one-page filler "Super Sleuths" in Fox Comics' Mystery Men Comics #5 (Dec. 1939), near the beginning of the period historians and fans 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...
. Creator credits were not routinely given during this period, making a comprehensive account of Levey's credits difficult to ascertain. However, following a story drawn for MLJ Comics in 1940, standard databases credit him as artist for a several-year on Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
from the publisher National Comics
National Comics
National Comics may refer to:* National Comics: An early name for the comic book publisher known later as DC Comics.* National Comics : a 1940's comic book series published by Quality Comics....
, a forerunner of 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...
. Among his first works there, he co-created the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Air Wave
Air Wave
Air Wave is the name of three fictional superheroes in the DC Comics universe. The first two were active in the Golden Age of Comic Books...
with a writer tentatively identified as either Mort Weisinger
Mort Weisinger
Mortimer Weisinger was an American magazine and comic book editor best known for editing DC Comics' Superman during the mid-1950s to 1960s, in the Silver Age of comic books...
or Murray Boltinoff, the DC Comics superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Air Wave
Air Wave
Air Wave is the name of three fictional superheroes in the DC Comics universe. The first two were active in the Golden Age of Comic Books...
. Levey, credited as Lee Harris, drew the character's seven- to eight-page adventures from Detective Comics #60 (Dec. 1942) to at least #74 (April 1943).
He returned to comics with a Rin-Tin-Tin story in DC's Real Fact Comics #2 (June 1946) before taking over Air Wave's art once more in Detective Comics #114-137 (Aug. 1946 - July 1948).
Harris, often referred to in comic-book literature as "Harris Levy", generally signed his DC work as "Lee Harris", sometimes simply "Harris", or as "Leland Harris" (the latter being his legal name at the time).
Commercial art and advertising
Circa 1948, Harris left the comic book field. In 1954, prior to his marriage to Elinor Seidl (1955), Harris changed his name legally from "Leland Harris", back to his original given name of "Harris Levey". In 1956 and 1963, Harris and his wife had two sons. By the early 1960s, while living in the Stuyvesant TownStuyvesant Town
Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village is a large private residential development on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, and one of the most iconic and successful post-World War II private housing communities...
apartment complex in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Harris took a job with the New York Journal American
New York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
newspaper. There and subsequently at The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
he worked in commercial illustration, layout, design, and advertising copy.
During this period he created freelance cover illustrations for paperback book covers. He also illustrated the cover of the March 1953 issue of the science-fiction pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
, credited as Harris Levey.
Harris left the New York Times to serve as art director for the New York City advertising agencies Fuller-Smith & Ross, LM Frolich, Foote Cone & Belding, Ted Bates
Ted Bates
Ted Bates may refer to:*Ted Bates , American football player*Ted Bates , English footballer and manager with Southampton F.C.*Ted Bates , American advertising executive and founder of Bates Worldwide...
, and NW Ayer. In the early 1980s, Harris worked on print ads and a string of television commercials for the Bomstein Agency in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
Death
During a weekend with his wife at a cabin near Crown Point, New YorkCrown Point, New York
Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 2,119 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, "Point au Chevalure."...
in the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
, Harris suffered a heart attack during a hike. He was taken to Lake Placid
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to heart failure at age 63.
External links
- Lee Harris/Harris Levy at the Grand Comics Database
- Harris Levy at the DC Database