Lee Elias (May 21, 1920 – April 8, 1998) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

. He was best known for his work on the ''

Black Cat A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...

'' comic book published 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 A ...

in the 1940s.

Biography

Emigrating to the United States from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, England, when he was a boy, Elias studied art at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique ...

and the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may st ...

. He started working in comics in 1943 at

Fiction House Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...

, where his work included features such as "Captain Wings" in ''

Wing Comics A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

'', on which he succeeded

Bob Lubbers Robert Bartow Lubbers (January 10, 1922 – July 8, 2017) was an American comic strip and comic book artist best known for his work on such strips as ''Tarzan'', ''Li'l Abner'' and '' Long Sam''. Biography Born Robert Bartow Lubbers in 1922, he ...

, as well as the Western hero

Firehair Firehair is a 1945–1952 comic book character who appeared in features in the comic book anthology ''Rangers Comics'', published by Fiction House during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She is a Western heroine, a young woman raised by Native Ameri ...

. After leaving Fiction House in 1946, he worked for several different comics companies, including

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

, Hillman Periodicals, and National/DC where he worked on such characters as the Flash,

Tommy Tomorrow Tommy Tomorrow is a science fiction hero published by DC Comics in several of their titles from 1947 to 1963. He first appeared in ''Real Fact Comics'' #6 (January 1947). He was created by Jack Schiff, George Kashdan, Bernie Breslauer, Virgil Fin ...

, and

Black Canary The Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics: Dinah Drake and her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance. The original version was created by the writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and ...

. He drew three issues of ''

All Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All S ...

'' in 1947 and co-created the Fiddler and the original Star Sapphire with writer

Robert Kanigher Robert "Bob" Kanigher (; June 18, 1915 – May 7, 2002)Social Security Death Index, social security #116-07-5117. was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for ...

in '' All-Flash'' #32 (Dec. 1947).

''Black Cat''

It was Elias's work on ''

'', a stuntwoman turned crimefighter, for Harvey Comics, that stood out in this period. The series was praised by comics historian Trina Robbins for its "logical" and "straightforward" approach, in contrast to more fantasy-oriented titles like ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...

''. Elias worked both as a penciler and an inker in this series, with an art style largely influenced by artists such as

Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a r ...

and Noel Sickles. Elias worked for a period as Caniff's assistant. He used the same style for the comic book version of ''

Terry and the Pirates ''Terry and the Pirates'' is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, ...

'', Caniff's classic

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

in the same period. Lee Elias left comic books after the 1954 publication of

Fredric Wertham Fredric Wertham (; born Friedrich Ignatz Wertheimer, March 20, 1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German-American psychiatrist and author. Wertham had an early reputation as a progressive psychiatrist who treated poor black patients at his Lafarg ...

's anti-comics book '' Seduction of the Innocent'', which used four of his ''Black Cat'' panels as examples of "depraved" comic art.

''Beyond Mars''

Elias' work on

s included a two-year stint as an assistant to

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (wi ...

on ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn b ...

''. His best known comic strip was '' Beyond Mars'', which ran from 1952 to 1955 and was co-created by Elias and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

writer

Jack Williamson John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term ''genet ...

. The strip was exclusive to the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...

Sunday paper John Charles Bryan (November 12, 1934 – February 1, 2007) was an American newspaper publisher, editor, and journalist best known for founding and running the Los Angeles alternative newspaper ''Open City''. He also published the San Francisc ...

in the United States but was syndicated in Europe and Australia. It was the last

Sunday strip The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

to be color-engraved by hand, according to comic strip historian

Rick Marschall Richard "Rick" Marschall (born February 3, 1949) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed January 10, 2011. . is a writer/editor and comic strip historian, described by ''Bostonia'' magazine ...

Later career

Elias drew the "

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in '' More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His real name is Oliver Jonas Quee ...

" backup feature in ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' and ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'' from 1959 to 1964. He and writer

Bob Haney Robert Gilbert Haney, Jr. (March 15, 1926 – November 25, 2004) was an American comic book writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. He co-created the Teen Titans as well as characters such as Metamorpho, Eclipso, Cain, and the Super-Sons. ...

co-created the

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are of ...

Eclipso Eclipso () is a supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre. The character bares notable similarities to Dr. Jekyll an ...

in '' House of Secrets'' #61 (August 1963). Elias only drew the first two appearances of the character and was succeeded on the feature by

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

. His other work for DC in the 1960s included Cave Carson and

Adam Strange Adam Strange is a fictional space adventurer appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by editor Julius Schwartz with a costume designed by Murphy Anderson, he first appeared in ''Showcase'' #17 (November 1958). Adam Stran ...

. From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Elias returned to his native England."Comments to Cage," ''Power Man'' #40 (Marvel Comics, Feb. 1977). In 1972, Elias came back to American comic books, working mainly on DC's various horror titles and secondary

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

titles including '' Power Man'' and ''The Human Fly''. His last major project was '' The Rook'' series for

Warren Publishing Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include '' After Hours'', '' Creepy'', '' Eerie'', '' F ...

, a black-and-white time travel series which played to his strengths as a Western and science fiction artist. With the cancellation of ''The Rook'' in 1982, Elias retired from comics, though he continued teaching at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

and

The Kubert School The Kubert School, formerly the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art and Joe Kubert School, is a private, for-profit technical school focused on cartooning and located in Dover, New Jersey. It teaches the principles of sequential art a ...

Bibliography

DC Comics

* ''

'' #257–269 (

); #439 ( Seven Soldiers of Victory) (1959–1975) * '' All-Flash'' #29–32 (1947) * '' All-Out War'' #2 (1979) * ''

'' #34–36 (

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Boo ...

) (1947) * ''

Batman Family A collective of fictional characters appear in American comic books published by DC Comics featuring the superhero Batman as the main protagonist. Since Batman's introduction in 1939, the character has accumulated a number of recognizable suppo ...

'' #15 (

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in ...

and

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') ** Bush-robin **Forest r ...

) (1977) * ''

Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg ( , ; from 'lightning' + 'war') is a word used to describe a surprise attack using a rapid, overwhelming force concentration that may consist of armored and motorized or mechanized infantry formations, together with close air ...

'' #5 (1976) * ''

Challengers of the Unknown The Challengers of the Unknown is a fictional group of adventurers appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The quartet of adventurers explored paranormal occurrences while facing several fantastic menaces. The characters' provenance is ...

'' #72 (1970) * '' Comic Cavalcade'' #29 (1948) * '' Danger Trail'' #1 (1950) * ''

DC Special ''DC Special'' was a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics originally from 1968 to 1971; it resumed publication from 1975 to 1977. For the most part, ''DC Special'' was a theme-based reprint title, mostly focusing on stories from DC's ...

'' #23–25 (

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

) (1976) * '' DC Special Series'' #13 (1978) * ''

DC Super Stars ''DC Super Stars'' was a comics anthology series published by DC Comics from March 1976 to February 1978. Starting off as a reprint title, it finished its run with original stories. Publication history The tagline "The Line of DC Super-Stars" wa ...

'' #15 (1977) * ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...

'' #156–157, 163–166 ( Robotman) (1950) * ''Falling in Love'' #113, 116, 119–120 (1970–1971) * ''

Flash Comics ''Flash Comics'' is a comics anthology published by All-American Publications and later by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics). The title had 104 issues published from January 1940 to February 1949. Despite the title, the anthology featu ...

'' #86, 91–93, 97–99 (1947–1948) * ''

Ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

'' #24, 30, 42–44, 46, 49–50, 69–70 (1974–1978) * '' Girls' Romances'' #153, 156 (1970–1971) * '' Heart Throbs'' #125 (1970) * ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First se ...

'' #86, 95–96, 102, 104–106, 113, 117, 123, 146, 153, 286 (1959–1980) * '' House of Secrets'' #22, 33, 36, 44, 56, 58, 61–62 (1959–1963) * ''

My Greatest Adventure ''My Greatest Adventure'' was a DC Comics comic book that began in 1955 and is best known for introducing the superhero team Doom Patrol. Publication history The title was originally an anthology series with adventure stories told in the first p ...

'' #27, 29, 34–35, 42, 44, 47, 51, 54, 59, 61, 73, 78 (1959–1963) * '' Mystery in Space'' #92–100, 102 (

); #101; #103–110 (

Ultra the Multi-Alien Ultra the Multi-Alien is a science fiction superhero featured in comics published by DC Comics. He first appeared in '' Mystery in Space'' #103 (1965), pushing out Adam Strange and Space Ranger from that title. He was created by writer Dave Wood a ...

) (1964–1966) * '' Our Army at War'' #296, 300 (1976–1977) * ''Secret Hearts'' #151 (1971) * '' Secrets of Haunted House'' #16 (1979) * ''

Sgt. Rock Sgt. Franklin John Rock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Sgt. Rock first appeared in ''Our Army at War'' #83 (June 1959), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. The character is a ...

'' #303, 308–310 (1977) * ''

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

'' #41–42, 44, 46–47 (

); #48–49, 52 ( Cave Carson) (1962–1964) * ''

Strange Adventures ''Strange Adventures'' is a series of American comic books published by DC Comics, the first of which was August–September 1950, according to the cover date, and published continuously until November 1973. Original series ''Strange Adventures ...

'' #168, 170–171, 176, 178, 193–196, 199, 202–203, 212 (1964–1968) * '' Tales of the Unexpected'' #36, 42, 49, 69–70, 72, 89, 91, 102 (1959–1967) * ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to ...

'' #15 (1968) * '' The Unexpected'' #105, 136, 140–142, 148, 158, 160–161, 169, 178, 181, 199 (1968–1980) * '' The Witching Hour'' #19, 35–36, 46, 52, 70 (1972–1977) * ''

'' #100–134, 136, 138, 140 (Green Arrow); #237 (

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...

team-up) (1959–1976) * '' Young Romance'' #165 (1970)

Harvey Comics

* ''

'' #2–30, 33, 38–39, 43–44, 46–51, 54–56, 63–65 (1946–1963)

Marvel Comics

* ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

'' #257 (1981) * ''

Daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superhero ...

'' #144 (1977) * ''

Epic Illustrated ''Epic Illustrated'' was a comics anthology in magazine format published in the United States by Marvel Comics. Similar to the US-licensed comic book magazine '' Heavy Metal'', it allowed explicit content to be featured, unlike the traditional A ...

'' #23 (1984) * '' Human Fly'' #1, 3–4, 7, 10–12, 15, 18–19 (1977–1979) * '' Invaders Annual'' #1 (1977) * ''

Marvel Preview ''Marvel Preview'' is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group. Publica ...

'' #15, 18 (1978–1979) * '' Omega the Unknown'' #8 (1977) * '' Power Man'' #40–46, ''Annual'' #1 (1976–1977) * '' Power Man and Iron Fist'' #54–55 (1978–1979) * ''

The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...

'' #35 (1979) * '' Sub-Mariner Comics'' #22 (1947)

Warren Publishing

* ''

Eerie ''Eerie'' was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like '' Mad'', it was a black-and-white magazine intended for newsstand distribution and did not submit its stories to the comic book industry's volunta ...

'' #102–103 (1979) * ''The Goblin'' #1–3 (1982) * '' The Rook Magazine'' #1–6, 8–14 (1979–1982)

References

External links

*
Lee Elias
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

Biography

''Black Cat''

''Beyond Mars''

Later career

Bibliography

DC Comics

Harvey Comics

Marvel Comics

Warren Publishing

References

External links

Further reading