Great news from DC Comics! They are publishing a reprint of New Fun #1, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's first comics magazine published under National Allied Publications. The magazine will be reprinted as a commemorative hardcover, original tabloid size with essays by Roy Thomas and me, Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson. New Fun #1 appeared on newsstands January 11, 1935. [...]
DC Comics Before Superman: Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's Pulp Comics, published by Hermes Press will be premiered at this year's San Diego Comic Con July 19-22nd. Here's a glimpse at how it all came together. In 1934, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson had the idea to create comic books consisting of all original scripts and art as opposed [...]
Today is the 127th anniversary of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson’s birth. He was born in Greenville, Tennessee January 7th 1890. The year ahead is going to be productive for the Major. Besides working on his biography I’m pleased to announce that Dan Herman of Hermes Press is publishing a second book of the Major’s adventure stories [...]
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 [...]
Happy 125th Birthday to my grandfather Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, soldier, writer of adventure stories and novels and founder of DC Comics. What does it mean to inherit the legacy of a man who lived a life of adventure and unbelievable creativity all the while maintaining his dignity and grace under fire at various points in [...]
Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson had an extraordinary military career. Just recently I spent time in the National Archives in Washington, DC once again sifting through files there. One of the treasures found was MWN's test for entry into the US Army. His test score—99 out of 100! That’s pretty impressive, I’d say. From photos, family stories [...]
Truth be told I was more than a little worried about taking on Wonder Woman. By that I mean writing about her with any semblance of knowledge, not to mention writing about Trina Robbins, Ramona Fradon and Mary Fleener, three amazing women comics writers/artists. I wrote an article for Women’s eNews on the panel and [...]
Everyone in the know and not so much has blogged and posted and ranted and raved about Man of Steel. Within the comics’ community and serious fans it has reached the level of the battle between General Zod and Superman in the last part of the film. I had planned to do a somewhat casual [...]
The Major was a prolific, creative writer, visionary, editor and publisher. In the process of putting together his story I am continually amazed at the scope and amount of work he produced in different genres over the course of his life. Everything from low-brow comic strips to graphic representations of classic works and in the [...]