Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson |
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| Born | January 7, 1890 Greeneville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | September 21, 1965 (aged 75) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Publisher |
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Notable works
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DC Comics National Allied Publications |
| Spouse(s) | Elsa Sachsenhausen Björkbom |
| Children | 5 |
Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (born January 7, 1890 – died September 21, 1965) was an American writer and businessman. He is famous for helping to create the modern American comic book. He published the first comic book that had only new stories, not just old newspaper comics. Many people see him as an important link between old adventure magazines and the comics we read today. He started a company called National Allied Publications in 1934. This company later grew into DC Comics, one of the biggest comic book publishers. For his amazing work, he was added to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Army Career
Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was born in Greeneville, Tennessee. His father passed away when Malcolm was four years old. His mother, Antoinette Wheeler, later became a journalist. She moved to New York City and then to Portland, Oregon. Malcolm spent his childhood in Portland and on a horse ranch in Washington state.
He learned to ride horses from a young age. He later attended a military academy called The Manlius School. In 1917, he joined the U.S. Cavalry as a second lieutenant. He quickly rose through the ranks. By age 27, he was one of the youngest majors in the Cavalry. He traveled the world with the army. He chased bandits, played polo in the Philippines, and served in Siberia and France. After World War I, he studied at a military school in Paris.
After his military service, Wheeler-Nicholson decided to leave the army in 1923.
Writing and Comic Books
Wheeler-Nicholson started his career as a writer. He wrote non-fiction books about military topics. One of his books was Modern Cavalry (1922). He also wrote adventure stories for popular magazines called "pulps." These stories often featured military and historical adventures. He even helped write six adventure novels about an air hero named Bill Barnes.
In 1925, he created his own company to share his work. He even made a daily comic-strip version of the famous book Treasure Island.
Creating New Fun Comics
In 1934, Wheeler-Nicholson saw that comic books were becoming popular. Most comic books at the time just reprinted old newspaper comic strips. He decided to try something new. He started a company called National Allied Publications.
His first comic book was New Fun #1, released in February 1935. This comic book was special because it had only new stories and characters. It was also larger than other comics, measuring 10 by 15 inches. New Fun was the first comic to include advertisements.
New Fun #1 had many different types of stories. There were talking animal comics and college stories. It also had adventure stories like "Jack Woods" and "Barry O'Neill." Even though creating all-new material was risky, the comic sold well. This allowed National Allied Publishing to keep making new comics every month.
In October 1935, future Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster made their comic book debut in New Fun #6. They created a musketeer story and a supernatural adventure called Doctor Occult. They continued to work on Doctor Occult for many issues.
Wheeler-Nicholson launched a second comic book called New Comics in December 1935. This comic was closer to the size of modern comic books. It later changed its name to Adventure Comics. Adventure Comics ran for many decades, becoming one of the longest-running comic books.
Challenges and Changes
Wheeler-Nicholson faced many money problems. Newsstands were not always eager to sell his new comics. They preferred comics with characters people already knew. This made it hard to get his comics widely distributed.
His third and final comic book was Detective Comics, which came out in March 1937. This comic would later become very famous with the first appearance of Batman in issue #27 (May 1939).
However, by 1937, Wheeler-Nicholson was in debt to a printer and distributor named Harry Donenfeld. To publish Detective Comics #1, he had to make Donenfeld a partner. They formed a new company called Detective Comics, Inc..
Wheeler-Nicholson stayed with the company for about a year. But his money problems continued. In 1938, Donenfeld took over the company. Wheeler-Nicholson then left the comic book business. He went back to writing about military history and politics.
Personal Life
While studying in Paris after World War I, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson met Elsa Sachsenhausen Björkbom. They got married in Koblenz, Germany, in 1920. Their first child, Antoinette, was born in Sweden in 1921.
They had four more children: Marianne (born 1923), Malcolm (born 1926), Douglas (born 1928), and Diane (born 1932). The family lived in places like Great Neck, New York, and Bayside, Queens. Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson passed away in New York City in 1965.
His granddaughter, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (born 1960), is a well-known actress.
Other Works
- Modern Cavalry: Studies on Its Role in the Warfare of To-day with Notes on Training for War Service (1922)
- Battle Shield of the Republic (1940)
- America Can Win (1941)
- Are We Winning the Hard Way? (1943)
- The Texas-Siberia Trail: Adventure stories of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (2014)
- DC Comics Before Superman: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's Pulp Comics (2018)
See also
In Spanish: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson para niños
