| Harry "A" Chesler | |
|---|---|
| Born | Harry Chesler, Jr. 1898 |
| Died | 1981 |
| Area(s) | Editor, Publisher |
Harry Chesler, Jr. (1898[1]–1981)[2] was the entrepreneur behind what is often credited as the first comic book "packager" of the late-1930s to 1940s Golden Age of comic books, supplying complete comics to publishers testing the waters of the emerging medium.
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Most often credited as Harry "A" Chesler — the "A" was an affectation rather than a true initial, and Chesler sometimes quipped that it stood for "anything"[3] — Chesler's studio was located at 28th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, and was active between 1935 and 1946, according to one source,[1] or from 1936 to 1940, and then reorganized and running from 1940 to 1953 per a different edition of the same source.[1] His shop employed "a growing group of men who produced scores of strips & entire books (often first issues) for nearly every publisher".[1] George Tuska, a notable comic book artist for decades, who had worked for Chesler in the late 1930s, recalled in the mid-2000s that, "Chelser had his office on the fourth floor of a building on 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenue[s]".[4] Tuska also recalled that Chesler "was in the furniture business before he went into comics. He sold furniture. He did alright with comics. Bought a lot of property in [New] Jersey. Made his own lake".[5] Circa 1939 to 1940, Chesler was living in Succasunna, New Jersey.[5]
Chesler's studio produced comics work for a number of titles including Chesler's own Star Comics, Star Ranger, Dynamic Comics, Punch Comics and Yankee Comics. The studio also "[p]roduced the early issues of MLJ Publications Zip Comics, Pep Comics and Top-Notch Comics, Captain Marvel, Master," and titles for Centaur Comics.[1]
Chesler was an editor for Centaur between 1937 and 1938, and a partner with Archer St. John in the latter's St. John Publications in 1953.[1]
Once dispersed, the employees of the Chesler Shop "went on to form the nuclei of various comics art staffs" for a number of different early comics companies.[1] Chesler alumni include Jack Cole, Jack Binder, Otto Binder, Charles Biro,[6] Mort Meskin,[7] Creig Flessel (briefly[8]), Ken Ernst [9] Bob McCay[10] Otto Eppers and dozens of others. Carmine Infantino remembers that, c. 1940, he was paid by Chesler "a dollar a day, just [to] study art, learn, and grow. That was damn nice of him. I thought. He did that for me for a whole summer" while Infantino was in high school.[11]
He later published comics himself through his Harry A. Chesler Feature Syndicate. His other imprints include "Dynamic Publications", "Home Guide Publications", "Magazine Press" (during a partnership with publisher Lev Gleason), as well as his own eponymous syndicate. Comic-book historians sometimes label all such imprints informally "Harry A Chesler Comics."
Chesler's comics enterprise was severely affected by World War II. Both he and his main pre-war editor, Phil Sturm, went on active duty for most of the war, severely curtailing the company's ability to produce comics. Except for a brief period of time in 1942, evidence from his publications' statements of ownership indicate that he was "on leave to the US Army." In actuality this was his son, Harry A Chesler, Jr., who was listed as the business manager in name and was enlisted in the US Army. Harry A Chesler, Sr. was in fact the publisher. Harry A Chesler, Jr., although listed in the business records, was never involved in the publishing business.
1939–1950)