Paul S. Newman
Encyclopedia
Paul S. Newman was an American
writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s. Credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific comic-book writer, with more than 4,100 published stories totaling approximately 36,000 pages, he is otherwise best known for scripting the comic-book series Turok
for 26 years.
, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Newman. He served his World War II
military service
in the Po Valley
campaign in Italy
, earning a service star
as an enlisted man in a bomb disposal
unit, and, later, as a first lieutenant
special-services officer aboard troop transports. Following his discharge, he attended Dartmouth College
, graduating in 1947.
That same year, Newman broke into comic books with DC Comics
' teen-humor series A Date with Judy
, based on the radio program, for which Newman had originally applied to write. He went on to script for Avon Comics
, Fawcett Comics
, Hillman Periodicals
, St. John Publications
, Ziff Davis
, and, as a staff writer, at Marvel Comics
' two predecessor companies, Timely Comics
and Atlas Comics
.
At Timely/Atlas, where he and other staff writers were officially titled editors, Newman worked on the teen-humor series Patsy Walker, Hedy Devine and Jeannie under editor-artist Al Jaffee
. Under Atlas editor-in-chief Stan Lee
, he wrote stories (generally uncredited, as were virtually all those of the staff writers) for such horror
/mystery
titles as Journey into Mystery
and Marvel Tales, as well as for romance titles.
Turok, whose uncredited creation is disputed, debuted in an issue of the omnibus title Four Color Comics and, after a second issue in that series, continued as issue #3 of Turok, Son of Stone
(the first issue of that series under its own name), published by Western Publishing
— first through its business partner Dell Comics
and then through its own label, Gold Key Comics
. The uncredited Newman was one of the series' writers, along with Gaylord DuBois
, from its inception in 1954.
Newman had an additional decades-long run on the character the Lone Ranger
, in the Dell Comics comic-book series. With artist Tom Gill
, Newman chronicled the adventures of the radio, television and comic-strip Western
hero from #38-145 (April 1948 - July 1962), the final issue.
editor Matt Murphy created the character Doctor Solar. Later that decade, Newman wrote the comic-book adaptation of the Beatles' animated feature Yellow Submarine. By the 1980s, he was writing for the DC Comics
series G.I. Combat
and House of Mystery
; for the Disney comic Darkwing Duck
; and industrial films
and audio-visual presentations.
Tom Corbett — Space Cadet, drawn by Ray Bailey
. Newman additionally wrote issues of Dell Comics
' Tom Corbet comic book.
Among his other strips are Laugh-In (with artist Roy Doty
), based on the TV show; Smokey Bear
; Robin Malone; and The Lone Ranger.
for his lifetime contribution to the comic-book field. He was a 1997 nominee for the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame
.
. The ceremony by Rabbi Max Ticktin took place at Newman's New York City home. Newman was the father of two children, Peter Newman and Lisa Newman, and had two grandchildren, Daniel and Mara. Newman died of a heart attack in Columbia
, Maryland
, where he and wife lived.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s. Credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific comic-book writer, with more than 4,100 published stories totaling approximately 36,000 pages, he is otherwise best known for scripting the comic-book series Turok
Turok
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
for 26 years.
Early life and career
Paul S. Newman was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Newman. He served his World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
in the Po Valley
Po Valley
The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain is a major geographical feature of Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of 46,000 km² including its Venetic extension not actually related to the Po River basin; it runs from the Western Alps to the...
campaign in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, earning a service star
Service star
A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...
as an enlisted man in a bomb disposal
Bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...
unit, and, later, as a first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
special-services officer aboard troop transports. Following his discharge, he attended Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, graduating in 1947.
That same year, Newman broke into comic books with DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' teen-humor series A Date with Judy
A Date with Judy
A Date with Judy was a comedy radio series aimed at a teenage audience which had a long run from 1941 to 1950.The show began as a summer replacement for Bob Hope's show, sponsored by Pepsodent and airing on NBC from June 24 to September 16, 1941, with 14-year-old Ann Gillis in the title role...
, based on the radio program, for which Newman had originally applied to write. He went on to script for Avon Comics
Avon (publishers)
Avon Publications was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. As of 2010, it is an imprint of HarperCollins, publishing primarily romance novels.-History:...
, Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
, Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals, Inc. was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher...
, St. John Publications
St. John Publications
St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During its short existence , St. John's comic books established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John , the firm was located in Manhattan at 545 Fifth Avenue. After the St...
, Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis Inc. is an American publisher and Internet company. It was founded in 1927 in Chicago by William B. Ziff, Sr. and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as cars,...
, and, as a staff writer, at 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...
' two predecessor companies, 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....
and Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
.
At Timely/Atlas, where he and other staff writers were officially titled editors, Newman worked on the teen-humor series Patsy Walker, Hedy Devine and Jeannie under editor-artist Al Jaffee
Al Jaffee
Abraham Jaffee , known as Al Jaffee, is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in. As of 2010, Jaffee remains a regular in the magazine after 55 years and is its longest-running contributor...
. Under Atlas editor-in-chief Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, he wrote stories (generally uncredited, as were virtually all those of the staff writers) for such horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
/mystery
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
titles as Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery
Journey into Mystery was an American comic book series published by Atlas Comics, and later its successor Marvel Comics. It featured horror, monster, and science fiction stories...
and Marvel Tales, as well as for romance titles.
Turok, whose uncredited creation is disputed, debuted in an issue of the omnibus title Four Color Comics and, after a second issue in that series, continued as issue #3 of Turok, Son of Stone
Turok
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
(the first issue of that series under its own name), published by Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
— first through its business partner Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
and then through its own label, Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
. The uncredited Newman was one of the series' writers, along with Gaylord DuBois
Gaylord DuBois
Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois , or DuBois In his lifetime he wrote well over 3000 comic book stories and comic strips as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure...
, from its inception in 1954.
Newman had an additional decades-long run on the character the Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
, in the Dell Comics comic-book series. With artist Tom Gill
Tom Gill (comics)
Thomas P. Gill is an American comic book artist best known for his nearly 11-year run drawing The Lone Ranger.-Early life and career:...
, Newman chronicled the adventures of the radio, television and comic-strip Western
Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
hero from #38-145 (April 1948 - July 1962), the final issue.
Silver Age of comics
In 1962, Newman and Western PublishingWestern Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
editor Matt Murphy created the character Doctor Solar. Later that decade, Newman wrote the comic-book adaptation of the Beatles' animated feature Yellow Submarine. By the 1980s, he was writing for the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
series G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat is a long-running comic book series published first by Quality Comics and later by National Periodical Publications, which was the primary company of those that evolved to become DC Comics.-Publication history:...
and House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...
; for the Disney comic Darkwing Duck
Darkwing Duck
DarkWing Duck is an American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991–1992 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured the eponymous anthropomorphic duck superhero whose alter ego is mild-mannered...
; and industrial films
Sponsored film
Sponsored film, or ephemeral film, as defined by film archivist Rick Prelinger, is film made by a particular sponsor for a specific purpose other than as a work of art: the films were designed to serve a specific pragmatic purpose for a limited time...
and audio-visual presentations.
Comic strips
Newman wrote the Sept. 9, 1951 - Feb. 8, 1953 Sundays and dailies of the comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Tom Corbett — Space Cadet, drawn by Ray Bailey
Ray Bailey
Raymond Frederick Bailey is a former member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council. He was first elected to the now abolished Division of Cornwall on the 26 May 1990...
. Newman additionally wrote issues of Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
' Tom Corbet comic book.
Among his other strips are Laugh-In (with artist Roy Doty
Roy Doty
Roy Doty is an American cartoonist, artist, and illustrator from Columbus, Ohio. Doty served in World War II as a cartoonist and, shortly after, in 1946 began his career as a freelance cartoonist in New York City....
), based on the TV show; Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear is a mascot of the United States Forest Service created to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. An advertising campaign featuring Smokey was created in 1944 with the slogan, "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". Smokey Bear's later slogan,...
; Robin Malone; and The Lone Ranger.
Awards
Newman won a 1998 Inkpot AwardInkpot Award
The Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
for his lifetime contribution to the comic-book field. He was a 1997 nominee for the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
.
Personal
In 1985, the once-divorced Newman married his second wife, Carol Wernick, project coordinator of youth leadership for the New York City Board of EducationNew York City Board of Education
The New York City Board of Education is the governing body of the New York City Department of Education. The members of the board are appointed by the mayor and by the five borough presidents.-Rise, fall and return of Mayoral Control:...
. The ceremony by Rabbi Max Ticktin took place at Newman's New York City home. Newman was the father of two children, Peter Newman and Lisa Newman, and had two grandchildren, Daniel and Mara. Newman died of a heart attack in Columbia
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community that consists of ten self-contained villages, located in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not...
, 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...
, where he and wife lived.
External links
- Metcalf, Greg. "If You Read It, I Wrote It: The Anonymous Career of Comic Book Writer Paul S. Newman". The Journal of Popular Culture. Volume 29, Issue 1 (Summer 1995) pp. 147–162
- Newman, Paul S. "The Unknown Paul Newman". Comic Book Marketplace #19 (Nov. 1992) pp. 56, 58
- Evanier, MarkMark EvanierMark Stephen Evanier is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work. He is also known for his columns and blogs, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, in particular his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of...
. "Tom Gill, R.I.P.", P.O.V. Online (column), October 18, 2005. WebCitation archive.