A little over 20 years ago I embarked on an adventure to discover my paternal grandfather Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson’s legacy in comics history. In the process of updating the website I had an opportunity to look back at the road travelled and to reflect on what lies ahead. Like any adventure there have been some [...]
In every good comic book story there’s a moment when worlds collide, stars line up, and the evil doctor’s death ray machine threatens to blow everyone to hell and back. This is just such a story. The Mad Scientist. Fleischer Superman cartoons. 1941 In 1934 my grandfather, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson began publishing comic [...]
Cuba Si! Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was born on this day, January 7, 126 years ago. It’s fitting that tomorrow I’m leaving for Miami en route to Cuba retracing some of the steps of my grandparents on their fabled trip to Cuba in 1937. Cuba is one of the Shangrilas of travel I have wanted to [...]
It's been a busy year on the trail with the Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson Traveling Circus and Wild West Show. Beginning in January with Wizard World Comic Con New Orleans--a short drive from my Gulf Coast winter habitat. Not a bad start--beignets, Cafe du Monde, Streetcars of Desire and all the great food to be had [...]
Of the short-lived titles of the 1930s and 1940s, none is as rare nor as important to the history of comic books as New Fun, subtitled “The Big Comic Magazine.” Although New Fun was to continue as More Fun Comics with the seventh issue and then to continue on to issue 127, New Fun deserves [...]
Warner Brothers announced that they were taking control of DC Comics and renaming it DC Entertainment. Or as the headline stated from ComicMix, "Warner Brothers Gobbles up DC." I can only guess at the reasons, the obvious one being all the recent movies featuring comic book characters. According to the announcement, Paul Levitz who has [...]
The Wheeler-Nicholson family are very saddened to learn of the recent death of Creig Flessel, the legendary comic book artist who was one of the Major's early hires back at New Fun Comics in the mid-'30s, and may have been the last living person to have actually worked with the Major during that period. Mr. [...]