Todd Klein's Blog, page 210

Grand Canyon North Rim Day Two

Images © Todd Klein

The first thing that got our attention as we drove into the Grand Canyon National Park on Tuesday, Oct. 13th was a herd of Bison calmly grazing in one of the meadows. We’d seen them in Yellowstone, but weren’t expecting them here.

It did make sense, as the climate is not so different from Yellowstone, and there are a number of meadows like this as you approach the canyon edge. I don’t know if they stay here through winter snows.

Here’s a model of the Grand Canyon from the North Rim Visitor Center showing some of the places we would go today. There are three main viewpoints. We’d already been to Bright Angel Point, and would return there, but first we took a side road that lead to Point Imperial (which I see I’ve mislabeled Imperial Point), and from there continued down to Cape Royal. Touring these areas took up most of our morning.

Like much of the North Rim, Point Imperial is at an elevation above 8000 feet, and it’s the highest place in the entire park. We noticed the elevation most when we were walking uphill, and the air had a clarity you don’t often get where we live.

From here you can look north across a plain to other distant and higher canyons and cliffs all feeding toward the Grand Canyon.

This closer shot gives a better look at that.

Looking east into the upper canyon itself. Despite clear air at the top, haze and smoke get trapped in the canyon making for the blue vistas.

The same spot looking south.

We then drove to the Cape Royal parking lot and walked the half-mile or so trail. Along the way we came to a viewpoint overlooking Angel’s Window, a natural bridge. In a short while we were out on it ourselves, like the people you can barely see here. A tiny section of the Colorado River is visible through the window.

At the end of the trail is an amazing view looking south toward the South Rim, with massive Wotan’s Throne in the foreground.

Another part of that view.

Another small piece of the Colorado River in the distance, this is about all you can see of it from the North Rim, it’s closer to the South Rim.

Ellen gets pictures. Not a great place if you’re afraid of heights, it’s a sheer drop beyond the railing.

Then there are folks who risk their lives for a photo…

After exploring Cape Royal we drove back to the North Rim Lodge at Bright Angel Point for lunch and more exploring. This is the north side of the lodge facing the parking area.

The views around Bright Angel Point are so wonderful. We walked the trails that run along each side of it, and one that cuts across between them.

Among the Ponderosa Pines, Junipers, and other conifers were a sprinking of Aspens turning gold.

Not many flowers blooming in October, these Asters were the largest we saw.

Larger Ponderosa Pines have beautiful, sculptural bark with a reddish tone.

Just in front of the Lodge is a small promontory with a viewpoint.

Here are Ellen and I on that viewpoint.

Looking back at the Lodge’s south side from there, it sits on the Canyon edge.

Ravens were the most common birds we saw and heard “karking” as they flew around us in the canyon. Here’s one with food on the Lodge roof. The Canyon is very quiet other than Raven calls and tourists talking.

Heading back to the Lodge I got a good photo of this Cliff Chipmunk before he disappeared over the side of the wall. Looking for snacks, but we had none.

Going into the lodge, we had a better look at the statue and exhibit about the wild burro “Brighty” made famous in the book “Brighty of the Grand Canyon” by Marguerite Henry, which Ellen and I both enjoyed as children. Wild burros were once common here, but were humanely relocated years ago because they were competing with native fauna. The mules that take people down into the Canyon are all domesticated and stabled nearby.

Here’s a look at the dining room where we’d eaten the previous night. Like many National Parks, the Lodge here is beautifully designed and historic.

Tired of walking, we settled in these chairs on the East Porch for an hour or two, while listening to a Park Ranger behind us giving a talk about California Condors, now reintroduced to the area. Wish we’d seen one, but it didn’t happen.

From there we enjoyed another sunset in the Grand Canyon before driving back to our cabin and dinner at Jacob Lake. Wednesday we would drive on to Bryce Canyon. Pictures from there next time.

 

Grand Canyon North Rim Day One

Images © Todd Klein

From Oct. 12-16th Ellen and I were on vacation in and around the canyons of northwest Arizona and southwest Utah. Here are the first batch of vacation pics. Our Monday began in Los Angeles, where we’d been at a family wedding. We flew to Las Vegas, rented a car, and drove to Jacob Lake Inn near the North Rim, about a five hour drive. We stayed in this cabin, which was cute, but very small and rather cramped. Still, it worked fine for us, as we weren’t in it much. After checking in we drove south…

…about 40 minutes to the North Rim park entrance, then another 15 minutes or so…

…to the North Rim Lodge at Bright Angel Point. This is the East Porch, a small part of the Lodge, more pictures of it in the next post.

It was late afternoon by the time we arrived, and we didn’t want to miss the view, so we walked out on the half-mile or so trail to the furthest viewpoint. Needless to say, it was well worth the trip!

There are many great views of the Grand Canyon looking south from here, and we had perfect sunny weather.

Another view from Bright Angel Point Trail.

As the sun set, we were back at the Lodge, here on the West Porch with lots of other folks enjoying the moment.

As the sun left the canyon, the colors were still beautiful. Soon we were enjoying a great dinner at the Lodge, and then drove back to our cabin in the dark, being very wary of Mule Deer along the way, on both sides of the road. We would spend the next full day around the rim of the Canyon. More pictures next time.

And Then I Read: SUPERMAN 44

Image © DC Comics.

As you might expect when Superman’s secret identity and occupation come out in public media, villains of both the super and regular types go after not only him but those he works with and cares about. The “Daily Planet” staff are prime targets. Lois Lane has spilled the beans for reasons she believes in, but it’s Clark Kent who has to try to deal with the consequences, and other workmates who suffer. While predictable, the story by Gene Luen Yang is good reading because he’s handling the characters in a realistic way. The art by Romita and Janson seems a bit more stylized here, and some of the character faces are a little too distorted for me, but in all, it works okay. I’m enjoying this storyline, and wondering where it will go next.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: TOMMY BLACK AND THE STAFF OF LIGHT by Jake Kerr

Cover art by M.S. Corley

I’m on vacation and have a few new Kindle books to read on my phone, handy for the plane or the odd moment. This is one was a free download through Freebooksy, a great way to sample new authors. It’s no longer free on Amazon, but at only $3.99 for Kindle is still a bargain.

If you’ve enjoyed the Harry Potter books, I’d recommend this one. Tommy Black is a boy living with his grandfather in New York, leading a secluded life with few friends, his parents having died when he was very young. Tommy’s grandfather seems an ordinary sort, an elderly man who needs his intricately carved cane to walk, but as the pair are heading to dinner at a favorite restaurant one evening, the grandfather reveals himself as something more. They are met by magical beings called Shadows, who want the cane. It’s apparently a very powerful magical staff. When Declan Black won’t give it to him, the Shadows attack, and even the magic staff is not enough to protect them. Tommy and his grandfather flee to the restaurant owned by Declan’s old friend Baraz, and soon the restaurant is under attack by other magical creatures from Persian mythology: Djinns and Ifrits. Declan makes war on them with his magic staff, but as young Tommy watches in fear, he is losing the battle. When all seems lost, Declan gives the magic staff to Tommy and orders him to flee with a protector, Mister Ali, on a secret escape route underground that will take them to a boat on a magic river. Tommy has known nothing of the complex magic his grandfather has been long involved with, or anything much of magic at all, but he finds he has the power to create light with the staff himself, to show their way, and even to fight off evil beings like the Shadows. Thus begins an epic journey and battle across several continents as Tommy struggles to understand his new place and power, with magic creatures out to capture the powerful staff from him, and new allies in Mister Ali and a girl named Naomi he meets on his way who is a talented magician herself.

Despite my synopsis, this book has layers and is not a simple good versus evil tale. Tommy uncovers secrets about the magic he’s a part of that helps him understand and sympathize with some of his enemies, and others in the magic community that at first seem on his side and willing to help him are later revealed as enemies also out to capture the staff. It’s nicely done, the characters are well developed and real, and the situations and plot are exciting and full of unexpected twists and turns. The comparison to Harry Potter is only in the set-up of a boy thrown into the deep end of magic and having to figure things out on the fly, and a few other minor similarities, overall it’s different enough to stand on its own.

Recommended

And Then I Read: SAGA Volume 4

Image © Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Why is this book so popular? I’m sure lots of other comics creators would like to know and are attempting to figure that out. I can only say what I like about it. First, it’s quirky and unpredictable. SAGA began as a sort of interstellar Romeo and Juliet, but quickly jumped on to new storylines. For one thing, the star-crossed lovers from different planets did not die, and in fact now have a growing child, and are hiding out in a rural community. There they do what they can to get by: Alana is now acting in a soap opera (well disguised), while Marko is a stay-at-home dad for their toddler Hazel.

Meanwhile, many very dangerous people are looking for them, including a robot prince who is an odd mixture of flesh and a TV screen for a face, various bounty hunters, military organizations, etc. Brian deftly uses them to build tension while the main characters have their own marital strife and personal soap opera going on at home. Then there’s the extended family including the spirit of a dead girl, Marko’s mother, and a pet walrus. The characters are all interesting and very human, there’s elements of suspense, humor and romance, and one feels that action is always just about to happen, and probably not in a good way. This book is definitely a page turner. It’s gotten pretty complex with a large cast, and at the beginning of this volume there’s an in-story recap of at least some of the plot, which I found helpful.

In all, excellent reading, I’m always ready for more. Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: SONS OF CAIN

Image © Charles Fetherolf

About two years ago I sat next to Charles Fetherolf at a small convention, and he was kind enough to give me this comic he wrote, drew and self-published. It’s a story of prehistoric man, specifically the men and women of one small tribe living in a vast northern wilderness, struggling to survive and find food, dealing with dangerous animals, and even more dangerous rival clans. The writing is well done, though the phonetic spelling for speech is sometimes hard to read, and the art is beautifully atmospheric black and white with gray washes and textures. The story and characters took me right with them into their difficult life and relationships, as the men struggle for dominance in their own clan, while still keeping the women and children together and safe. It’s quite well done, unlike any other comics I can think of, and recommended.

And Then I Read: THE COMPLETE PEANUTS 1995-96

Images © Peanuts Worldwide LLC

For the last few volumes of this series covering 50 years of Charles Schulz’ wonderful comic strip, I’ve been waiting for it to go off the track. Get bad. Show that Schulz had overstayed his time. We’re almost to the end, and it hasn’t happened! The lines may be a little shaky at times, but the writing and humor are still sharp and hilarious, and the drawing remains a case study in casual simplicity that is much harder than it looks.

Okay, there are a few more of Charlie Brown lying awake at night pondering his fate, and I have to say I’ve never found Snoopy’s brother Spike funny (more sad than anything), but there’s hardly a page in this book that didn’t make me laugh or at least smile. What a remarkable achievement.

Highly recommended

And Then I Read: MAE by Gene Ha

Image © Gene Ha

Gene is a friend, and someone I’ve enjoyed working with many times, even a partner on one of my signed prints, so you have to expect I’m going to be biased on the subject of his new project, let’s get that out front. MAE does not need any special favors to get a positive review from me, though, I like nearly everything about it. Nearly? I’ll get to that.

As you can easily see if you look at the cover above, Gene is a very talented artist. He’s a new writer, and on that front, he does well here. Mae is a small-town college girl returning to her high school haunts to have pizza with an old friend, Dahlia, but soon finds herself involved in some kind of trouble and confusion revolving around the return of her sister Abbie, who disappeared years earlier. Even before we see Abbie, we encounter angry people who are out to do her harm, and when we finally meet Mae’s sister, she’s in jail. Abbie spins a highly unlikely tale to Mae about where she’s been — some kind of other world, a fantasy world where Abbie has been living a very different life, including becoming Queen of a tribe of talking cats. Mae is skeptical, but pretty soon some very weird characters show up that indicate Abbie was not making it all up. And they also are out to do her serious harm! It’s a wild ride, and a fun one, with terrific art and coloring (Gene assisted by Rose McClain and Art Lyon) and cool hand-lettering by Zander Cannon.

Okay, the part I didn’t like? Gene seems to be taking inspiration from Japanese Anime art, not in a major way, but he’s taken on that style’s penchant for very large eyes. I’ve never been a fan of Anime art, but at least there it’s kind of a cartoony exaggeration. Gene’s art is more realistic, and the large eyes tend, to my eyes, to simply make the characters look much younger than intended (college-age, mostly). This created a dissonance that kept pulling me out of the story, as if 12-year-olds were acting and talking like 20-year-olds. And I’m probably in the minority on this point, but there it is. In any case…

Highly recommended!

IRA SCHNAPP: His Life, Work and Family, Part 6

Image © Arlen Schumer and DC Comics

During my phone conversations with Ira Schnapp’s son Marty and his wife Pam, I told them about the Ira Schnapp exhibit by Arlen Schumer then running at the Type Director’s Club, and they wanted to see it. So did I, and I suggested we go together. Unfortunately, we all had busy schedules, and by the time we arranged for the trip, it turned out to be on the very last day of the show, Monday, Sept. 21st, 2015. I had spent time with Marty the day before at his apartment, where he and I had another long talk, and looked at the few photos of Ira and his family he’d found. Pam is recovering from an injured shoulder, and was unable to join us, but Marty and I planned to meet at the show at 10 AM, and would be joined there by my research partner Alex Jay, the exhibit creator Alex Schumer, and as it turned out, a few of Arlen’s friends.

Photos by Todd Klein, except as noted

That morning I had some time and decided to spend it revisiting the Farley Post Office building on 8th Avenue from 31st to 33rd Street, the place where Ira Schnapp’s long career in design and lettering began. There’s restoration work being done, and a large crane was in front of the building, making for a less than ideal image.

The beginning of the famous quote from Herotodus that runs along the front facade. As I outlined in my recent research on these inscriptions, Ira Schnapp did not design the letters, which are in the style of ancient Trajan’s Column in Rome, nor did he carve the letters. What I believe he did was to transfer the relatively small drawings of the letters by the architects McKim, Mead and White to very large vellum or tissue paper so that they could be transferred to the surface of the stone and carved by the stone-cutters.

This close look at one giant letter revealed a detail I hadn’t noticed before. The sides of the cuts go in at a 90 degree angle first for a short distance before the angle changes to about 45 degrees, with each side meeting at the center of each stroke. This make sense, as it gives the letters more depth and better shadows, making them easier to read. And are those serifs ever pointy!

Attention is usually focused on the Herodotus quote, but there are two other inscriptions at the building’s upper corners…

…giving a very brief history of world postal services. Ira Schnapp worked on these inscriptions in his teen years. Just six blocks away, on 37th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, I was about to see an exhibit based on his lettering career that began here.

By the time I got to the show, everyone else was already there. Here, in front of the first display are Alex Jay, Arlen Schumer and myself. Not sure who took this picture, but I like the fact that Ira’s signature is above us all.

Here’s Arlen with Marty Schnapp posing for a photo by me, this photo by Alex Jay. Next to me is George Papadimatos, and behind him is the main gallery. Marty seemed very happy to be there to see his father and his father’s work being celebrated.

Here’s that photo I took with Arlen and Marty, and Arlen’s handsome book, “The Silver Age of Comic Book Art,” recently reprinted, which he was kind enough to give to those of us who didn’t already have it.

I had seen Arlen give his slide show/lecture on Ira Schnapp at the San Diego Comic Con, and that included pictures and a video of the exhibit, so I knew what to expect, but it was all new to Marty, and Arlen essentially gave him a good part of the lecture while the rest of us listened and commented. In the background of this display is the Farley Post Office inscription I’d just visited. Some of the information about Ira Schnapp’s history and early work seen here needs to be revised if Arlen mounts the show again, and that was something we talked about. This and some of the other show photos are by Alex Jay.

Images © DC Comics

The rest of the show focuses on Ira’s work for DC Comics from 1940 to the late 1960s, and the displays are excellent, employing clever used of space, as with the Schnapp cover logos here floating in front of a giant ACTION COMICS logo. This image was found online, and I rearranged it by cutting it in half and stacking the halves so the logos would be more visible, sorry Arlen! My only quibble is that I don’t believe Ira designed the ACTION logo, but the display is very effective.

As Arlen talked about Ira, his love and enthusiasm for the man’s work and the era it appeared in was evident and heartfelt. Marty seemed to take it all in with slight astonishment. “Did Ira really do all this?” he asked, and we assured him he did.

Arlen talks while Marty stands in front of some full-page DC house ads that are infused with energy, creativity and fun. I remember many of them from the comics of my childhood, and wishing I could buy every comic featured in them!

Arlen points out some of the creative and unusual lettering styles Ira used on his half-page DC Comics house ads, with Arlen’s favorite full-page house ads behind us.

Arlen in front of the giant Superman logo pointing out some of the finer details of this display, as Marty and I listen.

Arlen was thrilled to have Marty there, and everyone enjoyed talking to him.

I was very happy that my idea for us to go to the show together had worked out, and I loved seeing the joy in Marty’s eyes when everyone praised Ira’s work.

In turn, Marty told Arlen some things about his father that were new to Arlen, things you’ve read about in this blog series. “My sister Terry would have loved this,” Marty said. About the exhibit, he added, “It’s phenomenal. I really am blown away by it.”

Marty had to leave after about an hour, but before he did, we arranged with Carol, the gallery manager, to get group shots of us all. Arlen passed out some of the cookies with Ira’s logos on them he’d had made for the opening in May. They might be stale, but they look cool! Marty brought one home for Pam. Left to right are John Colquhoun, Bob Gill, Arlen Schumer, J.J. Seledmaier, Alex Jay, Marty Schnapp, Todd Klein and George Papadimatos.

Here’s what Arlen had to say about the experience:

“Talk about ‘saving the best for last’!

“Thanks to Todd’s efforts, I was shocked and awed to meet Martin Schnapp, Ira Schnapp’s son! Eighty-five years old and in great shape, still working in the men’s clothing business, and with a gentle, warm spirit that I can only imagine he got from his father, who came across the same way to me via recollections from Neal Adams and others who had contact with him.

“Though I was immediately struck with regret that I dropped the ball back in May — in terms of ‘hunting’ Martin down so I could have invited him to the May 14th opening of my Schnapp exhibit, as he would have loved to witness all the Schnapp love in the Type Directors Club air that night — that regret was immediately dispelled by the pleasure I had taking Martin through my exhibit of his father’s ‘greatest hits’ during his nearly 30 years at DC Comics!

“The specialness of Martin’s visit was only burnished by getting to see two of my favorite typographic practitioners and influences, the great Alex Jay, whom I last saw around 30 years ago at his studio in NYC — he doesn’t looked like he’s aged a year — and, of course, Todd Klein himself, who honored me by coming to my exhibit and arranging for Martin Schnapp to be there! Thank you, Todd!”

It was a fun time, and a great way to celebrate the life and work of Ira Schnapp, made particularly special by sharing it with his son Marty. Arlen plans to continue his lecture, “The Super Type of Ira Schnapp” at future comics conventions and wherever he can do it, and you can find a video of the talk on YouTube HERE. Arlen’s enthusiasm is infectious. I enjoyed seeing it in person at San Diego a great deal. Thanks to Arlen for having us in for the final day of the exhibit. Hope he gets to do it again elsewhere. Arlen’s website with information on this and his other lectures and books is HERE.

Image © DC Comics

I wish I had room for more of Ira Schnapp’s lettering and design, like the series of Public Service one-pagers he lettered for DC Comics, sample above. I’ve only scratched the surface of his massive output, but this article is long enough! Here are some other places to find it:

• A ten-part article about Ira on the Dial B for Blog website begins HERE. While I feel some of the facts in the series need to be revised, it does have lots of Ira’s fine comics work on display, especially from part 4 on, and it was the place where many first learned about Ira’s career.

•  Collections of DC House Ads from the period 1950-1966 will contain mostly Ira Schnapp display lettering. THIS is one.

•  Most DC covers from 1950 to 1967 have Ira Schnapp lettering on them, and some from earlier and later. You can browse through cover galleries of any title on the Grand Comics Database. If you’re not familiar with what titles DC published in the past, year-by-year listings can be found on the DC Wikia site.

•  Alex Jay’s blog, Tenth Letter of the Alphabet has many articles about comics creators that include even more of his detailed research than I had room for here. I’ve linked to specific ones, but others there may interest you, as well as commentary on some of Alex’s own work.

•  Finally, my own blog has comics history and design articles you might enjoy on the COMICS CREATION and LOGO LINKS pages. I’ve quoted from or linked to most that involve Ira Schnapp, but there are lots more on other topics.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together. Comments and corrections are welcome. Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

IRA SCHNAPP: His Life, Work and Family, Part 5

Ira Schnapp at work in the National Comics production room some time between 1954 and 1960, photo courtesy of Martin Schnapp

While Ira Schnapp was on staff at National Comics, now known as DC Comics, and probably at home as well, he produced a vast amount of lettering and design work, while remaining unknown to the comics fans he was entertaining. Ira was a modest man, and this probably suited him fine. He worked very hard and made a good living, being  able to support his wife and himself while sending his children Terry and Marty to college. Whether he was paid by the page and piece, or if he was instead on a salary is not known.

Gaspar Saladino, 1950s, photo courtesy of his daughter, Lisa Weinreb

When Gaspar Saladino began working at National in late 1949, he came to work every weekday and sat in Julie Schwartz’ office lettering page after page of comics. Gaspar told me he was expected to letter about nine pages a day on average for a pay rate of $2 per page. This does not seem like a full day’s work for a letterer today, but if you look at the stories Gaspar was working on, where often the lettering filled 30 to 50% of the comics page, you’ll see it was. Examples can be seen HERE. Though he worked in the office, he was considered a freelancer. At the end of the week he’d submit a voucher for the work he’d completed, about $90 a week, which was good money in those days, especially for a single guy living with his parents. Figuring a yearly income of $4500, that would equal $45,000 a year today.

Image © DC Comics, from Our Army At War #25 dated Aug. 1954

Whether Ira worked on the same freelance plan or not, it was likely that the elaborate house ads he produced, like the one above, as well as his cover lettering and logos, which took a lot more time and skill than lettering story pages, would have paid more than the standard page rate. Possibly he was offered a salary in exchange for the special work he did, with the understanding he’d fill in any time left over with story lettering, but that’s just a guess on my part. Artist Murphy Anderson, who often sat in the DC offices next to Ira, told me that Ira worked very carefully and deliberately on covers and house ads, often laying things out first on tracing paper before putting pencil and then ink to paper. I know that when Gaspar and I were working on house ads, logos and cover lettering in the 1970s, those things paid more than standard page rate, often two or three times as much, but then they took longer for us, too. In my case, I did them at home in the evening, along with story lettering, after working full time in the Production Department for a salary, and was paid as a freelancer for what I did at home. This was common practice for staffers, as the salaries were not generous.  Ira might have had a similar arrangement, we don’t know.

Around 1960, National Comics moved to 575 Lexington Avenue near 52nd Street, and Ira with them. The company began offering regular tours of their offices on Friday afternoons for fans who wrote or called to ask about it. Some of those fans remembered meeting Ira Schnapp in those offices, and here’s what one fan, present day comics writer Pat McGreal, remembers about his visit.

“My memory of the place is a series of offices and production rooms surrounding a central bullpen furnished with drawing tables. We were shown massively wide filing cabinets filled with original art destined to see print. Production man Jack Adler introduced us to the staff members who happened to be there that afternoon — Morris Waldinger, Stan Keith Starkman, Joe Letterese, Walter Herlitschek and Ira Schnapp. Ira had designed many of the logos that graced DC covers and was proud to show off his work to an adoring audience of two [Pat and his brother Terry]. The guys gave us an assortment of postcards featuring various DC characters (including Jack Larson, TV’s Jimmy Olsen) and they all signed them.”

On the above postcard is the handsome script “Best Wishes” and Ira Schnapp’s signature lettered by him for those two fans, and you can see the pencil guidelines he put down first to keep the lettering aligned. Ira’s artist signature looks like some of those on “The Art of the Ages” newspaper feature he produced in the late 1930s. (The signature by Jack Larson is printed on the card.)

On a similar visit by writer, movie producer and comics historian Michael Uslan, Ira talked to young Michael about his work. Michael writes,

“He loved that I was interested in the history of the industry and DC. He showed me many of his logos and was proudest of creating the classic trademark Superman logo. I then assumed he designed every DC logo and he said he did not do the ones before Superman like DETECTIVE COMICS or ACTION COMICS but that he started right after that.”

It’s that conversation which convinced me Superman was the first logo Ira worked on for DC, and not ACTION COMICS, as many have assumed. You can read more about visiting the DC offices in the 1960s beginning HERE.

As Marty Schnapp has told me, Ira and his family had a good life, and lived comfortably, but not lavishly, supported by Ira. In the 1960s Ira and Beatrice began to go to Florida for six to eight weeks in the winter, staying at a hotel in Miami. Some of his siblings were living there, or came down on vacation with their families as well, and family gatherings and dinners resumed at least somewhat like the old days on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. Probably Ira took work with him, or had it mailed to him, but that’s just a guess. Some time in the 1960s, Beatrice had a stroke and afterward needed in-home care and help with housework from a series of “maids,” as they were then called.

Beatrice, Ira and Terry, January 1969 at an unknown event, photo courtesy of Martin Schnapp

Ira Schnapp was about 55 years old when he started working on staff at DC Comics. By 1965 he was 71, an age when many have retired, but I think Ira loved going to work at DC, even though his artistic abilities were beginning to decline, and his style was considered by some to be old-fashioned. Working at the office provided him a social life, and as artist Neal Adams remembers, he loved telling stories about his life and work there. Ira was also infused with a strong work ethic, and he enjoyed what he did.

Carmine Infantino, 1960s

One of the most popular artists at the company then was Carmine Infantino, known for his excellent work on THE FLASH, among other titles. In 1966, Irwin Donenfeld made him art director, in charge of designing all the company’s covers, and Infantino was later promoted to Editorial Director. One of the changes Carmine enacted was to start putting long-time DC letterer Gaspar Saladino on logos, cover lettering and house ads, shifting that work away from Ira. Apparently Carmine felt the company’s design presence needed a fresh approach, and Gaspar’s work was excellent, as he rose to the challenge with dynamic, energetic and artful lettering and logos. Carmine kept Ira on for a while doing less important tasks, but in 1968 he was let go. As artist Neal Adams, who had befriended Ira when he started working at DC around 1967 put it, it meant Ira was being sent home to die. Gaspar Saladino has described Ira as “Mister DC,” and said it was sad that when he left, it was as though he’d never been there at all.

From “The New York Times,” July 27th, 1969

Marty Schnapp remembers his father dying suddenly of a heart attack on July 24th, 1969. “I was watching TV at work, and it was the day they came back from the moon,” Marty said, referring to the Apollo 11 mission. Ira died at St. Luke’s Hospital on 113th Street, New York. Marty was working at Bambergers in Morristown, NJ, and told me his store manager drove him to the hospital to be with his father, but Ira had already passed by the time Marty got there. Ira’s brief obituary, above, appeared in the New York Times on July 27th. He was 74. Other than the people at DC Comics he had worked with who he was related to, or who might have been informed by them, no one in comics knew about the passing of the man who had done so much for the company and its readers.

From “The New York Times,” Oct. 4th, 1977

Beatrice continued to live at 515 West 110th Street, New York until her own passing in October, 1977. The Nina Wechsler mention in her obituary was a step-sister. Marty said there was not much money left in the estate after her death.

Moving on to the rest of the family, Martin Schnapp married Pamela Feld on August 20th, 1961. Marty said they knew each other only six months, and they are still together. They were married at Temple Emanuel in New York. They have a son, Jonathan David Schnapp, who lives in New Jersey. They’ve been happily married 54 years, and have enjoyed a life filled with travel all over the world.

Marty has remained in retail clothing all his life, after being given his first job at the May Company by his uncle Samuel. Marty told me:

“I was an assistant in the May Company buying office in New York before it was bought by Macy’s. I was making $23 a week. I went to another buying office for $45, and then one of their stores which was the main company in Washington, DC. I went there as an assistant buyer at $60. I didn’t like Washington. Where I lived was all government people, and I had to work six days a week. The head company (Macy’s) had a store at that time at 14th St and 6th Avenue, New York. I transferred back to that store as a buyer in boy’s wear. They weren’t ready for me for a few months, so at that time my friends and I backpacked through Europe for a number of months. When I came back I went to that job. That store went out of business in a couple of months and I went to Abraham and Strauss in Long Island. Then I switched to Bambergers in New Jersey, which became part of Macy’s, working in the Morristown store. At that point I stayed with the Macy’s corporation for 37 years, working myself up to vice president in merchandising, buying for the whole east coast. My family and I lived in The Oranges, including a home we bought in South Orange, but when my son had graduated college we moved back to Manhattan. I retired when I was 65, but soon I took a job to keep busy with Burlington Coat Factory. I am now 85 and I’m still working for them. I work here in the New York market as a consultant, helping the new buyers in the ladies’ sportswear world. At Macy’s I used to go to Asia and Europe. I used to go to Japan, Bangkok and Hong Kong.” At his current job, Marty said, “I don’t work hard. They’re very good to me and I can take off if I need to, it’s no problem. I’m very fortunate. As long as I stay healthy, it’s okay.”

Penn South on Ninth Avenue from 26th Street, image from Wikimedia Commons

I asked about Marty’s sister Terry, and he said she lived in a walk-up apartment in Greenwich Village for a long time, then put her name in at Penn South, an affordable housing complex in Manhattan between 23rd to 30th Streets and 8th and 9th Avenues. In the later years of her life she developed dementia. Marty would go down once or twice a week to visit her and take her out to dinner. She always knew Marty. Terry watched a lot of television, and wasn’t in any pain. She had a 24-hour live-in aide. Only the last month of her life was rather unpleasant, a long hospital stay. Theresa died in 2009. I asked if there were any items from Ira in Terry’s possession. Marty told me there was one painting, but he and Pam didn’t have room for it in their small apartment. There was also Terry’s collection of movie stills that a friend of Marty put on eBay. Marty said that in her later years, Terry had begun to save everything, creating a huge clean-up task for him after she died. Unable to go through it all, he had most of her things removed by the landlord. It’s possible there’s Ira Schnapp art or other memorabilia out there somewhere, but it’s more likely they were disposed of. Terry did accumulate a good amount of money, which she left to Marty’s son.

Bringing the rest of the extended family up to date, Ira’s brother Sam died on Feb. 12th, 1974 in Florida, where he had retired from his job with the May Company. His wife Imogene predeceased him in 1967. Their daughter Dorothy Fellenbaum died in October, 2000. Dorothy’s three children survive her.

Ira’s brother Joe died in August, 1960. He worked at the Tip Toe Inn until his death. He was survived by his wife Claire and daughter Norma. In the New York Times, a notice read: “The Delicatessen Crew of Tip Toe Inn express their extreme grief and profound sorrow at the untimely loss of their union brother and co-worker.”

Ira’s brother Mo died in January, 1981, his wife Bess predeceased him in January, 1974. Marty Schnapp still hears from their children Lewis and Brenda occasionally.

Ira’s sister Lee Iger died in November, 1981. Her son Fred Iger died in April, 2015. His relationship with Arlene had ended in the 1970s, and he remarried. Lee’s daughter Toby died in June, 2000. Each have surviving children, and Marty and Pam are in touch with and see some of them.

Ira’s sister Sharlye died in Miami, Florida in February, 1992. Her son Michael died in November, 1998. Michael had married Cheryl Varney in 1970. They had a daughter, Anna. Saul Herzfeld remarried in 1974, and died in Florida in 1985.

Ira’s sister Nina died in May, 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Her ex-husband Jack Naguid died in 1992. And that’s all the information we have on Ira’s siblings. Some children and a good many grandchildren remain.

Of the Schnapp cousins, Samuel (Sam 2) rose to vice president in the Chase Commissary Corporation, which oversaw several Tip Toe Inn restaurants and a chain of Sherman Cafeterias, a total of 17 units. Illness required he partially retire in 1934, and in July, 1935 he married a second time to Isabelle Levine. The couple went on a trip to Saratoga Springs in early August, and Sam 2 died there of a heart attack on August 5th, having been married only two weeks. His heartbroken wife placed this memorial in the New York Times: “Samuel, beloved husband, departed August, 1935. Not just today, but every day in silence I remember, for death can never take away love and memory, they live forever.”

Sam 2’s brother Sol died some time before 1948. His wife Faye (Liebowitz) Schnapp died on April 11th, 2002. Their daughter Lorayne Gottesman of Woodbury, NY died on Feb. 12th, 2015, predeceased by her husband Aaron. She is survived by her three children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Jack Liebowitz, Faye’s brother and co-owner of National Comics, died in 2000 at the age of 100.

Jack Liebowitz, Jay Emmett, Irwin Donenfeld, photos found online

Jay Emmett (Schnapp) married Martha Wiley in 1948. They had three children: Paul, Steven and Andrew. Jay had a long and successful business career, first at DC Comics, then as head of the Licensing Corporation of America, then as President of Warner Communications in the 1960s and 70s. Later he was involved with Major League Baseball and the Special Olympics. Jay and Martha raised their family in Wesport, Connecticut. They retired to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he died on June 22nd, 2015. He was predeceased by his wife Martha and oldest son Paul, and survived by his other two sons and six grandchildren. A full obituary is HERE.

Carol (Schnapp) Donenfeld’s husband Irwin Donenfeld was the co-owner of DC Comics from 1948 to 1967, and the Editorial Director from 1952 to 1958, when he became the Executive Vice President. He left the company when it was sold to Kinney National Company (later bought by Warner Communications) and he and Carol moved to Westport, Connecticut where Irwin got involved in a maritime business and local government. He died in 2004 of heart failure. He was survived by his wife, six children, three grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Adolph Schnapp died in July, 1935, and his wife Rose died in October, 1937, survived by their three children. I have no record of the death of his brother Joseph (Joe 2), but his wife Hanna died in June, 1952. Their daughter Hilda’s husband Nathan Herzfeld died in June, 1979, and Hilda in January, 1982. They are survived by a daughter, Lila Ellen Herzfeld. She married Mitchell Rosen in 1953. I have no information about Hilda’s brother and sisters. I also have nothing further about the other Israel Schnapp and his brother Abram.

Of his mother’s family, Marty Schnapp remembers: “My mother’s mother remarried a man named Harry Wander. My mother was one of four. Beatrice and her brother Jack Squadron [born Schwadron] were from the first husband. From the second was Nina Wechsler and Fred, who died at a young age. Jack Squadron had two sons, Arthur and Howard. Howard Squadron was president of the presidents of the American Jewish Conference. He was a lawyer for Rupert Murdoch, and dated Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America. At his house I met Elia Kazan.”

Beatrice’s mother and Marty’s grandmother Rose Wander died in December, 1939 in New York. Harry Wander died in 1951. A New York Times article about his death and accomplishments is above. Jack Squadron married Sarah Sherry in 1925. He died in November, 1986. Nina Wander married William Sadoff in 1929, and married a second time to James Wechsler in 1935.

Howard Squadron, photo found online

Jack’s son Howard Squadron became an important and influential lawyer. He died in 2001. Lengthy and impressive obituaries are HERE and HERE.

1962 DC house ad featuring Ira Schnapp lettering, including the DC symbol and Comics Code Seal he designed. Image © DC Comics

As I bring Ira Schnapp’s story to a close, I’d like to highlight a few things I’ve read online about him that I believe are incorrect or can be clarified.

• Ira’s birthdate is difficult to pin down, but I feel October 10th, 1894 is the right one. I checked with Marty and Pam, and Pam had that date written in her family papers. She’s not sure where she got it, but she said it was from some family document. The next most likely date is Oct. 10th, 1893, but I feel the presence of 1894 in the family makes it the right choice.

• Ira Schnapp did not design the ACTION COMICS or DETECTIVE COMICS logos, according to what he told a young Michael Uslan. My guesses on that are in THIS article. I believe Ira’s statement that SUPERMAN was the first DC logo he worked on. When a person refuses to take credit for something famous, I’m more likely to believe him than if he wants credit for everything. Beginning with THIS article I’ve made my guesses about what other DC logos Ira designed in the 1940s, and of course most of the company’s logos from 1950 to about 1967 are his.

• Ira Schnapp was never a stone-cutter. Marty Schnapp confirmed that Ira told him he designed the letters for the Farley Post Office building, but was not the one who cut the stone. As shown in my recent research, the inscription was designed by the architects, McKim, Mead and White, and Ira likely made huge enlargements of their inscription drawing for the stone-cutting.

• Ira Schnapp was not an engraver. He did not design any U.S. Postage Stamps. In the first half of the 20th century most — perhaps all — stamps were designed and engraved by employees of the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, DC. Many of the stamp designs in the years 1908 to 1931 were by Bureau artist Clair Aubrey Houston. Ira did not work for the Bureau, and always lived in New York.

• Ira Schnapp did not play any musical instrument, per Marty. (One site had him playing the cello.)

• The Schnapp family coat of arms associated with Ira was probably created for German or Austrian families with that name. It has no relevance for Ira’s Jewish heritage, and Marty Schnapp had never seen it.

• Ira did not move to Florida after leaving DC Comics, though he did vacation there in the winter in the 1960s. He remained in New York and died there on July 24th, 1969.

Typical Ira Schnapp cover lettering from 1959-60. He also did the logos. Image © DC Comics

If you’ve read this far, you may be wondering why I’ve gone into so much detail about Ira and his family. I began reading comics around 1956. Adding credits for the creative team on comics stories had been done sporadically and incompletely since the early days, but in the 1960s, Marvel Comics began listing complete credits on all their stories. This allowed me to learn the names and appreciated the talents of people like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, among many others, including letterers Artie Simek and Sam Rosen. DC was slow to follow Marvel’s lead, but by the late 1960s – early 1970s, they too were listing all the creators on most stories. When I started working at DC Comics in 1977, I knew the names and work of many of the company’s writers and artists, and even some then-current letterers like Gaspar Saladino, John Costanza, Ben Oda and John Workman. Yet I’d never heard the name Ira Schnapp. Ira’s career was over before credits for letterers became a standard practice, or before the newly developing comics fan press could speak to him. Gaspar Saladino started working on staff at DC in 1949, not long after Ira did, but Gaspar was about 30 years younger than Ira, and his career extended well into the credits era. In many ways, Gaspar was Ira’s successor, taking over much of the logo design, cover lettering and house ad work.

When I joined the company in 1977 and started getting some of that work myself, my curiosity about the pioneer in that design slot began to grow. I heard stories about Ira Schnapp from some who had worked with him, and came to recognize and appreciate his vast output, but there was very little information about the man to be found anywhere else. That has fueled my interest and research. In Alex Jay, himself a fine logo designer for DC comics for many years, I found a kindred spirit, and as Alex dug into the many documents you’ve seen here, I saw we could assemble a much broader life history for Ira, and even for his entire family. I’m sure we’ve overdone it, but I thought more was better than less in this case.

Meeting Ira’s son Marty has been the icing on the cake in this process, and on Monday, Sept. 21st, Marty and I went to the Ira Schnapp Exhibit at the Type Director’s Club designed and presented by another Schnapp fan, Arlen Schumer. Arlen was there, as was Alex Jay and a few other fans, and we had a wonderful time. I’ll describe and show that event in the final part of this series next time.

Other parts of the series and more articles you might enjoy can be found on the COMICS CREATION and LOGO LINKS pages of my blog.