Frank Z. Temerson (1890–1963)Saunders, David

Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists. Accessed July 15, 2018. was a comic book publisher from the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

. Temerson's imprints included Ultem Publications, Helnit Publishing, Et-Es-Go Magazines, and Continental Magazines. Notable titles published by Temerson included ''Captain Aero Comics'', '' Cat-Man Comics'', and ''Suspense Comics''; notable characters included Cat-Man and Kitten and Miss Victory. L. B. Cole worked as an art director for many of Temerson's earliest comics; other notable creators associated with Temerson included

Tony DiPreta Anthony Louis DiPreta (July 9, 1921 – June 2, 2010) was an American comic book and comic strip artist active from the 1940s Golden Age of comic books. He was the longtime successor artist of the comic strip '' Joe Palooka'' (1959–84) and ...

Irwin Hasen Irwin Hasen (; July 8, 1918 – March 13, 2015) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator (with Gus Edson) of the ''Dondi'' comic strip. He also had a significant run on DC Comics' original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, in the 1940s as we ...

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz , ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...

Don Rico Donato Francisco Rico II (; September 26, 1912 – March 27, 1985) was an American paperback novelist, screenwriter, wood engraver and comic book writer-artist, who co-created the Marvel Comics characters the Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) with p ...

, and Charles M. Quinlan. Temerson often used the names of family members and associates as proxies for companies which he actually owned and operated.

Biography

Temerson was born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, the third child of Jacob (a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...

merchant) and Mindel Temerson. In 1892, when Frank was two years old, his family moved to the United States, settling in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. Frank's parents subsequently had four additional children, including Frank's younger sisters Esther, Goldie, and Ethel. The family were members of Birmingham's Temple Emanu-El

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, whose founding president was businessman, poet, and humanitarian Samuel Ullman. Temerson finished school after the eighth grade, going to work at his father's dry goods store. In 1913, despite never having gone to high school or college, Temerson was enrolled at the Chattanooga College of Law, which was not an accredited law school but which offered courses in legal studies. In 1914 Temerson was working as a "lawyer" (although he never graduated from the Chattanooga College of Law or passed the state bar exam). Temerson worked as an attorney in Birmingham for a couple of years before moving to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in 1917. Shortly thereafter he registered with the draft board (where he was described as "short, stout, with brown eyes, brown hair, and partly bald"). Temerson served overseas with the Army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from 1918 to 1919. Returning to Birmingham after the war, he soon connected with his old synagogue's president's nephew, I. W. (Isaac Wise) Ullman (1873–1947), who was also in the distribution business. Temerson and Ullman became business partners, moving into

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...

printing and distribution. Companies they jointly owned, under the name Ultem Publications (a combination of the first syllables from both names, Ullman and Temerson), included Vamos Color Printing and Inspirational Publications. By 1935, Ultem was headquartered in New York City, at 381 Fourth Avenue, and in 1937 the company was located at 404 Fourth Avenue. Ultem published ''Modern Movies'', ''Movie Stars Handies'', ''Movie Humor'', ''High Heel Magazine'', and ''Silk Stocking''. In 1937, Ultem moved into the burgeoning comic book business. That year Ultem bought out

Harry "A" Chesler Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ)Harry Chesler
at ...

's comic book titles ''Star Comics'' and ''Star Ranger''. In September 1937, Ultem acquired the Comics Magazine Company's titles ''Funny Pages'' and ''Funny Picture Stories'', retaining Chesler as the packager for both his own previous titles and the two that were continued from the Comics Magazine Co."Ultem (1937-1938)
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

Financial difficulties forced Ultem to sell some of its properties, including The Clock, to Everett M. "Busy" Arnold's

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...

. By January 1938, Ultem was bought out by

Centaur Publications Centaur Publications (also known as Centaur Comics) was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing-Man (Centaur Publications), Amazi ...

. Beginning in 1939, Temerson went solo, publishing comics during the period 1939–1941 under the names Tem Publishing, Nita Publishing, and, most prominently, Helnit Publishing. Helnit published six issues of '' Green Hornet Comics'', with the writing attributed to Fran Striker, starting in December 1940. Assets from Helnit — including the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

series '' Cat-Man Comics'' and the

war comics War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II. History American war comics Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began inc ...

series ''Captain Aero Comics'' — were acquired by

Holyoke Publishing The Holyoke Publishing Company was an American magazine and comic-book publisher with offices in Holyoke, and Springfield, Massachusetts, and New York City, Its best-known comics characters were Blue Beetle and the superhero duo Cat-Man (later ...

in late 1941, with comics

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d January 1942''Cat-Man Comics'' (Holyoke, 1942 Series)
at the Grand Comics Database and February 1942.''Captain Aero Comics'' (Holyoke, 1942 Series)
at the Grand Comics Database Temerson's staff, including artist Charles Quinlan, continued to produce both series."Holyoke (1942-1946)
at the

In 1943, the two titles acquired from Heinit reverted to Temerson's new company Et-Es-Go Magazines (likely named after Temerson's younger sisters Ethel, Esther, and Goldie), which soon transitioned to Continental Magazines. Pioneering female publisher, editor, and cartoonist

Ray Herman Ray Herman (b. Ruth Rae Hermann, June 9, 1920December 26, 1996),Saunders, DavidField Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists. Accessed Sept. 23, 2017. also known as Rae Herman or Ray Mann, was a publisher, editor, writer, penciller, and inker whose car ...

started her career as an assistant to Temerson in 1943."Rae Herman,"
''Who's Who of American Comic Book Artists, 1928–1999.'' Accessed Sept. 23, 2017. Other titles published by Temerson in the period 1943–1946 were ''Suspense Comics'' and ''Terrific Comics''. Some sources indicate Temerson was behind Continental Publications in 1950."Temerson / Helnit / Continental: 1940 - 1950,"
Grand Comics Database. Accessed July 16, 2018: "''Foodini'', apparently published by 'Continental Publishing' from the same address used by Continental Magazines, Inc. This has not been verified from actual copies, but the link seems strong enough to include this series here." Temerson died in 1963 at age 73.

Comic book titles published

* '' Captain Aero Comics'' elnit, Et-Es-Go, Continental Magazines(14 issues, Dec. 1941–Aug. 1946) — published by

in 1942–1943 * ''Captain Fearless Comics'' elnit(2 issues, Aug.–Sept. 1941) * '' Cat-Man Comics'' elnit, Et-Es-Go, Continental Magazines(21 issues, May 1941–Aug. 1946) — published by

in 1942–1943 * ''Crash Comics Adventures'' em(5 issues, May–Nov. 1940) * ''Foodini'' ontinental Publications(4 issues, March–Aug. 1950) * ''Funny Pages'' ltem(5 issues, Sept. 1937–Jan. 1938) — taken over from Comics Magazine Company; continued by

* ''Funny Picture Stories'' ltem(5 issues, Sept. 1937–Jan. 1938) — taken over from Comics Magazine Company; continued by

* '' Green Hornet Comics'' elnit(6 issues, Dec. 1940–Aug. 1941) — continued by

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

* ''Star Comics'' ltem(3 issues, Oct./Nov. 1937–Jan. 1938) — taken over from Chesler/Dynamic; continued by

* ''Star Ranger'' ltem(3 issues, Oct./Nov. 1937–Jan. 1938) — taken over from Chesler/Dynamic; continued by

* ''Suspense Comics'' t-Es-Go Magazines, Continental Magazines(12 issues, Dec. 1943–Sept. 1946) * ''Terrific Comics'' t-Es-Go Magazines, Continental Magazines(6 issues, Jan–Nov., 1944) * ''Whirlwind Comics'' ita(3 issues, June–Sept. 1940)

Comic book characters published by Temerson companies

* Alias X * Captain Aero * Captain Fearless * Cat-Man **

Kitten A kitten is a Juvenile (organism), juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are fully dependent on their mothers for #Establishing immunity, survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. A ...

*Commandos of the Devil Dogs *Deacon * Flagman *

The Hood The Hood (Parker Robbins) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan, and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell (comics), Eric Powell, the character was introduced in his own sel ...

(unrelated to Marvel Comics'

Hood Hood may refer to: Covering Apparel * Hood (headgear), type of head covering ** Article of academic dress ** Bondage hood, sex toy * Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt Anatomy * Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitoris * Hood, a flap of ...

) * Miss VictoryGrand Comics Database: ''Captain Fearless'' #1
at the

*Pied Piper (published by Helnit and Holoyoke only) *Ragman (unrelated to

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

' Ragman) *Solar (last published by Holyoke before Temerson reclaimed characters)

References

Notes

Sources consulted