Jerry Iger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jerry Iger |
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| Born | Samuel Maxwell Iger August 22, 1903 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | September 5, 1990 (aged 87) Sunnyside, Queens, New York City, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Editor, Publisher |
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Notable works
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Eisner & Iger |
| Relatives | Bob Iger (grandnephew) |
Samuel Maxwell "Jerry" Iger (born August 22, 1903 – died September 5, 1990) was an American cartoonist and a smart businessman. He helped create and run a company that made comic books.
With his business partner Will Eisner, he started a company called Eisner & Iger. This company created comic books for new publishers. This happened during the late 1930s and 1940s. This time is known as the Golden Age of Comic Books.
Jerry Iger was honored in 2009. He was added to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. This is a special place for important people in comics.
Contents
About Jerry Iger's Life
Early Life and Start in Comics
Jerry Iger was born in New York City. His parents, Rosa and Jacob Iger, were from Austria. He grew up in Idabel, Oklahoma. This town was close to a Choctaw Native American reservation.
When Jerry was a child, he got polio. His mother took good care of him. He was the youngest of four children. His brother Joe had a son named Arthur. Arthur later became the father of The Walt Disney Company CEO, Bob Iger.
In 1925, Jerry Iger moved to New York. Even without formal art training, he became a cartoonist. He drew for the New York American newspaper.
Ten years later, he joined the new field of comic books. He drew funny one-page strips for Famous Funnies. This was an early comic book that reprinted newspaper comics.
Iger also became the first editor of another early comic book. It was called Wow, What a Magazine!. This magazine also had some new stories. Wow only lasted for four issues in 1936. But it brought Iger together with a young artist. This artist was 19-year-old Will Eisner. Eisner later created The Spirit.
Creating Comics for Publishers
After Wow magazine stopped, Eisner and Iger had an idea. They thought that old newspaper comics would soon run out. So, in late 1936, they started Eisner & Iger. This was one of the first companies to "package" comics.
A comics packager creates comic book stories and art for other publishers. These publishers were new to the comic book business. Eisner & Iger quickly became very successful. They had many artists and writers working for them. They made comics for companies like Fox Comics, Fiction House, and Quality Comics.
Eisner said they made a good profit from each page. He even said he "got very rich before I was 22." In 1939, during the Great Depression, they split $25,000. This was a lot of money back then!
In 1940, Will Eisner left the company. Iger continued to make comics on his own. His company was then called the S. M. Iger Studio. In 1945, he partnered with artist and editor Ruth Roche. Some people say the studio was then called the Roche-Iger Studio.
Iger also owned parts of other comic book companies. He was a co-owner of Superior in Canada from 1945 to 1956. He also co-owned Ajax-Farrell in the U.S. from 1946 to 1958. His studio made comics for Superior and Ajax-Farrell. Iger also worked as the art director for Ajax-Farrell until 1957.
Iger also started a small company called Phoenix Features. This company shared comic strips with newspapers. In the early 1950s, they shared a comic strip of Mickey Spillane's detective character, Mike Hammer.
The S. M. Iger Studio worked until 1961. After that, Iger moved into making art for advertisements.
Later Years and Recognition
Jerry Iger was a special guest at a comic convention in New York in 1974. He talked about his plans for an art show. This show would raise money for cancer research. He mentioned that his mother had passed away from the disease. At this time, he lived in the Sunnyside area of Queens, New York City.
Some of Iger's old comics have been collected and published again. Blackthorne Publishing released books like The Iger Comics Kingdom (1985). They also published Jerry Iger's Classic Jumbo Comics and Jerry Iger's Classic National Comics. There was also a six-issue series called Jerry Iger's Golden Features (1986).
Awards and Honors
Jerry Iger was added to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009. This honor recognizes his important contributions to comic books.
