Klaus Nordling
Encyclopedia
Klaus Nordling was a Finnish American
writer-artist for American
comic books
. He is best-known for his work on the 1940s masked-crimefighter feature "Lady Luck
", and as co-creator of the Marvel Comics
superhero
the Thin Man
. Some of Nordling's earliest comic books are signed F. Klaus, Ed Norris, or Clyde North.
, Klaus Nordling moved to the United States as a child. He broke into art professionally as a gag cartoonist
for Americana Magazine in the 1930s. From 1935 to 1937, he wrote and drew the weekly newspaper comic strip Baron Munchausen for Van Tine Features. In 1939, he joined the studio Eisner & Iger
, a prominent comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books
.
Due to Golden Age comics work often going unsigned, comprehensive credits are difficult if not impossible to ascertain. Nordling's tentative credits begin with script and art for the naval adventure feature "Spark Stevens" in Fox Comics' Wonderworld Comics #3-4 (July-Aug. 1939). His first confirmed credit is as penciler-inker
of the six-page feature "Lt. Drake of Naval Intelligence" in Fox's Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939). Nordling, who is confirmably credited as the "Spark Stevens" writer-artist in Wonderworld Comics #5-#15 (Sept. 1939 - July 1940), also wrote and drew the humor features "Strut Warren" (in Fiction House
's Fight Comics), "Bob Swab" (Quality Comics
' Hit Comics), "Shorty Shortcake" in Wonderworld Comics, and "The Barker" (Quality's National Comics
), plus the aviation
feature "Shot and Shell" (Quality's Military Comics), among others.
Quality Comics editor Gill Fox
recalled Nordling as "a little guy. Good-looking. And involved in local theatre. He had a very vivid imagination and was a good writer. In later years I'd send some work in his direction. But if you did something for him, he'd think you wanted something back. We got to know each other socially, but he still mistrusted people. Even me. But I admired his cartooning. And he was a great guy to sit and talk to".
Nordling created the feature "The Three Aces", also known as "Crash, Cork, and the Baron", in Harvey Comics
' Speed Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), and the detective
feature "Pen Miller" in National Comics #1 (July 1940). For Marvel Comics
predecessor Timely Comics
, Nordling and an unknown writer created the Thin Man
, one of comics' first "stretching" superheroes, in Mystic Comics
#4 (July 1940).
In 1942, Nordling began work on his best-known feature, "Lady Luck
", which appeared as a four-page weekly feature in a Sunday newspaper insert colloquially called "The Spirit Section". This 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book, sold as part of eventually 20 Sunday newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million, starred Will Eisner
's masked detective The Spirit
and also initially included the feature Mr. Mystic
, plus filler material. The titular crimefighting adventureress Lady Luck had been created and designed in 1940 by Eisner (who wrote her first two stories under the pseudonym
"Ford Davis"), with artist Chuck Mazoujian. Writer Dick French then took over scripting. Writer-artist Nicholas Viscardi (later known as Nick Cardy
) took over the feature beginning with the May 18, 1941 strip. Nordling succeeded him from the March 1, 1942 to March 3, 1946 strip, when "Lady Luck" was temporarily canceled. After briefly being replaced by the humor feature "Wendy the Waitress" by Robert Jenny, "Lady Luck" returned from May 5 to November 3, 1946 under cartoonist
Fred Schwab
.
"Lady Luck" stories were reprinted in the Quality Comics
comic book Smash Comics
#42-85 (April 1943 - Oct. 1949), whereupon the series changed its title to Lady Luck for five more issues. Nordling providing new seven- to 11-page stories in Lady Luck #86-90 (Dec. 1949 - Aug. 1950), with Gill Fox
drawing the covers. Lady Luck #90 was Nordling's last known original comics work.
Nordling assisted Eisner on "The Spirit
" pencil art from 1948 until 1951, sometimes doing full ghost-art penciling.
, the American Medical Association
, Esso
, the Lionel Corporation, Maryland
Game and Fish, the National Safety Council
, the Red Cross, the U.S. Labor Department, and the South Korea
n and Turkish
armies. For the U.S. Army, he contributed to the instructional "Joe Dope" feature in P*S: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, which American Visuals produced.
At some point, as well, Nordling penciled and inked a promotional comic book for Borden, Inc.
Nordling died at his home in Ridgefield
, Connecticut
.
Finnish American
Finnish Americans are Americans of Finnish descent, who currently number about 700,000.-History:Some Finns, like the ancestors of John Morton, came to the Swedish colony of New Sweden, that existed in mid-17th century....
writer-artist for American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic books
American comic book
An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...
. He is best-known for his work on the 1940s masked-crimefighter feature "Lady Luck
Lady Luck (comics)
Lady Luck is a fictional, American comic-strip and comic book crime fighter and adventuress created and designed in 1940 by Will Eisner with artist Chuck Mazoujian . Through 1946, she starred in a namesake, four-page weekly feature published in a Sunday-newspaper comic-book insert colloquially...
", and as co-creator of the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
the Thin Man
Thin Man (comics)
The Thin Man is a fictional, American comic book character in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. Created by artist Klaus Nordling and an unknown writer in Mystic Comics #4 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the time fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books, the...
. Some of Nordling's earliest comic books are signed F. Klaus, Ed Norris, or Clyde North.
Early life and career
Born in FinlandFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Klaus Nordling moved to the United States as a child. He broke into art professionally as a gag cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
for Americana Magazine in the 1930s. From 1935 to 1937, he wrote and drew the weekly newspaper comic strip Baron Munchausen for Van Tine Features. In 1939, he joined the studio Eisner & Iger
Eisner & Iger
Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books...
, a prominent comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
.
Due to Golden Age comics work often going unsigned, comprehensive credits are difficult if not impossible to ascertain. Nordling's tentative credits begin with script and art for the naval adventure feature "Spark Stevens" in Fox Comics' Wonderworld Comics #3-4 (July-Aug. 1939). His first confirmed credit is as penciler-inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
of the six-page feature "Lt. Drake of Naval Intelligence" in Fox's Mystery Men Comics #1 (Aug. 1939). Nordling, who is confirmably credited as the "Spark Stevens" writer-artist in Wonderworld Comics #5-#15 (Sept. 1939 - July 1940), also wrote and drew the humor features "Strut Warren" (in Fiction House
Fiction House
Fiction House is an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its comics division was best known for its pinup-style good girl art, as epitomized by the company's most popular character, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.-History:-Jumbo and Jack...
's Fight Comics), "Bob Swab" (Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
' Hit Comics), "Shorty Shortcake" in Wonderworld Comics, and "The Barker" (Quality's National Comics
National Comics
National Comics may refer to:* National Comics: An early name for the comic book publisher known later as DC Comics.* National Comics : a 1940's comic book series published by Quality Comics....
), plus the aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
feature "Shot and Shell" (Quality's Military Comics), among others.
Quality Comics editor Gill Fox
Gill Fox
Gilbert Theodore "Gill" Fox was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editor, and animator.-Biography:...
recalled Nordling as "a little guy. Good-looking. And involved in local theatre. He had a very vivid imagination and was a good writer. In later years I'd send some work in his direction. But if you did something for him, he'd think you wanted something back. We got to know each other socially, but he still mistrusted people. Even me. But I admired his cartooning. And he was a great guy to sit and talk to".
Nordling created the feature "The Three Aces", also known as "Crash, Cork, and the Baron", in Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
' Speed Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), and the detective
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
feature "Pen Miller" in National Comics #1 (July 1940). For Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
predecessor Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
, Nordling and an unknown writer created the Thin Man
Thin Man (comics)
The Thin Man is a fictional, American comic book character in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. Created by artist Klaus Nordling and an unknown writer in Mystic Comics #4 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the time fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books, the...
, one of comics' first "stretching" superheroes, in Mystic Comics
Mystic Comics
Mystic Comics is the name of four comic book series published by the company that would eventually become Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books...
#4 (July 1940).
Lady Luck
Lady Luck (comics)
Lady Luck is a fictional, American comic-strip and comic book crime fighter and adventuress created and designed in 1940 by Will Eisner with artist Chuck Mazoujian . Through 1946, she starred in a namesake, four-page weekly feature published in a Sunday-newspaper comic-book insert colloquially...
", which appeared as a four-page weekly feature in a Sunday newspaper insert colloquially called "The Spirit Section". This 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book, sold as part of eventually 20 Sunday newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million, starred Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
's masked detective The Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...
and also initially included the feature Mr. Mystic
Mr. Mystic
Mr. Mystic is comics series featuring a magician crime-fighter, created by Will Eisner and initially drawn by Bob Powell. The strip featured in four-page backup feature a Sunday-newspaper comic-book insert, known colloquially as "The Spirit Section"...
, plus filler material. The titular crimefighting adventureress Lady Luck had been created and designed in 1940 by Eisner (who wrote her first two stories under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Ford Davis"), with artist Chuck Mazoujian. Writer Dick French then took over scripting. Writer-artist Nicholas Viscardi (later known as Nick Cardy
Nick Cardy
Nick Cardy , a.k.a. Nick Cardi, is an American comic book artist best known for his DC Comics work on Aquaman, the Teen Titans and other major characters....
) took over the feature beginning with the May 18, 1941 strip. Nordling succeeded him from the March 1, 1942 to March 3, 1946 strip, when "Lady Luck" was temporarily canceled. After briefly being replaced by the humor feature "Wendy the Waitress" by Robert Jenny, "Lady Luck" returned from May 5 to November 3, 1946 under cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Fred Schwab
Fred Schwab
Fred Schwab was an American cartoonist whose humor panels and short features were published in a wide variety of comic books from at least 1938 to 1950, during a period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. His notable comic-book appearances include Timely Comics' Marvel Comics...
.
"Lady Luck" stories were reprinted in the Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
comic book Smash Comics
Smash Comics
Smash Comics is the title of an American Golden Age comic book anthology series, published by Quality Comics for 85 issues between 1939 and 1949...
#42-85 (April 1943 - Oct. 1949), whereupon the series changed its title to Lady Luck for five more issues. Nordling providing new seven- to 11-page stories in Lady Luck #86-90 (Dec. 1949 - Aug. 1950), with Gill Fox
Gill Fox
Gilbert Theodore "Gill" Fox was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editor, and animator.-Biography:...
drawing the covers. Lady Luck #90 was Nordling's last known original comics work.
Nordling assisted Eisner on "The Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...
" pencil art from 1948 until 1951, sometimes doing full ghost-art penciling.
Later life and career
Following the end of "The Spirit Section" in 1952, Nordling worked for Eisner's American Visuals Corporation through the 1970s. There he helped design instructional publications and other materials for clients including the American Dental AssociationAmerican Dental Association
The American Dental Association is an American professional association established in 1859 which has more than 155,000 members. Based in Chicago, the ADA is the world's largest and oldest national dental association and promotes good oral health to the public while representing the dental...
, the American Medical Association
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
, Esso
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
, the Lionel Corporation, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
Game and Fish, the National Safety Council
National Safety Council
The National Safety Council is a 501 nonprofit, nongovernmental public service organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressional charter in 1953...
, the Red Cross, the U.S. Labor Department, and the South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n and Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
armies. For the U.S. Army, he contributed to the instructional "Joe Dope" feature in P*S: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, which American Visuals produced.
At some point, as well, Nordling penciled and inked a promotional comic book for Borden, Inc.
Nordling died at his home in Ridgefield
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
Quotes
Atlas Comics [retailer] Presents: The Top 100 Artists of American Comic Books: #78 Klaus Nordling: "Was there ever a better-dressed, better-looking heroine in comics than Lady Luck? Elegant and glamorous in the extreme, she was Nordling's crowning glory in scores of light, amusing adventure stories during the 1940s. His delicate, fine line style was a perfect compliment to the tone of the strip, both adventurous and whimsical".Reprint collections
- Ace Comics Presents #3: The Golden Age of Klaus Nordling (2000)
-
- Includes "Bob and Swab" and "The Barker" stories, and January 21, 1982 Nordling letter to Jerry DeFuccioJerry DeFuccioJerry DeFuccio was an American comic book writer and editor, known primarily for his work at Mad, where he was an associate editor for 25 years. In addition to his work on that magazine, he was closely involved in many of the Mad paperbacks, editing Clods' Letters to Mad and many other reprints...
- Lady Luck (Kitchen Sink PressKitchen Sink PressKitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen owned and operated Kitchen Sink Press until 1999. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in...
, 1977–1978) - Lady Luck (Ken Pierce, Inc. trade paperback, 1980)
- Lady Luck (Kitchen Sink Press
- Includes "Bob and Swab" and "The Barker" stories, and January 21, 1982 Nordling letter to Jerry DeFuccio