Klaus Nordling (May 29, 1910 – November 19, 1986)Klaus Nordling
at the

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Master File has been via the Limit ...

, which gives no specific day of death, and notes that his last address of record was Ridgefield,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Archived
from the original on January 9, 2012.
at the

Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ). His son Boris Kousemaker has been the owner since 2007. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Ke ...

. was an American writer-artist for

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, p ...

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

. He is best known for his work on the 1940s masked-crimefighter feature "

Lady Luck Lady Luck, a personification of luck, may refer to: Fiction and mythology * Fortuna, in Roman mythology, goddess of fortune * Tyche, in Greek mythology, goddess of fortune * Lady Luck (comics), a character created by Will Eisner Film * ''L ...

", and as co-creator of the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

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 ...

the Thin Man. Some of the early Nordling's pen names are Fred Nordley, F. Klaus, Ed Norris, and Clyde North.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, Klaus Nordling moved to the United States as a toddler in 1912. He broke into art professionally as a gag

cartoonist 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 comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

for '' Americana Magazine'' in the 1930s. From 1935 to 1937, he wrote and drew the weekly newspaper comic strip ''

Baron Munchausen Baron Munchausen (; ) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book '' Baron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia''. The character is loosely based on baron ...

'' for Van Tine Features, under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Fred Nordley. In 1939, he joined the studio

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, a period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by Will Eisner and Jerry Ige ...

, a prominent

comic book packager Comics packaging is a publishing activity in which a publishing company outsources the myriad tasks involved in putting together a comic book — writing, illustrating, editing, and even printing — to an outside service called a packager. Once th ...

that produced comics on demand for

publisher 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, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

s entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call 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 ...

. 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 Fox Feature Syndicate (also known as Fox Comics, Fox Publications, and Bruns Publications, Inc.) was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S. ...

' '' Wonderworld Comics'' #3-4 (July-Aug. 1939). His first confirmed credit is as

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. After the penciller creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing ...

of the six-page feature "Lt. Drake of Naval Intelligence" in Fox's ''

Mystery Men Comics ''Mystery Men Comics'' was an anthology American comic book series from the Golden Age of Comic Books published by Fox Feature Syndicate. The series was Fox's second title after the '' Wonderworld Comics'' series being first published in August 193 ...

'' #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 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 ...

's ''

Fight Comics Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...

''), "Bob Swab" (

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, ...

' ''

Hit Comics ''Hit Comics'' is a comic book anthology title published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books from 1940 until 1950. The first issue of ''Hit Comics'' featured the debut of Red Bee and Neon the Unknown, among others. The comic b ...

''), "Shorty Shortcake" in ''Wonderworld Comics'', and "The Barker" (Quality's '' National Comics''), plus the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

feature "Shot and Shell" (Quality's ''

Military Comics A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a di ...

''), among others.Klaus Nordling
at the Grand Comics Database Some of his early comics are signed under the pen names F. Klaus, Ed Norris, and Clyde North. Quality Comics editor

Gill Fox Gilbert Theodore Fox (November 29, 1915 – May 15, 2004) was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editor, and animator. Biography Fox began his career in animation at Max Fleischer's studio, but left due to labor unrest assoc ...

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 (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 ...

' ''

Speed Comics In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Introdu ...

'' #1 (Oct. 1939), and the

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

feature "Pen Miller" in ''National Comics'' #1 (July 1940). For

predecessor

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

, Nordling and an unknown writer created the Thin Man, one of comics' first "stretching" superheroes, in ''

Mystic Comics ''Mystic Comics'' is the name of three comic book series published by the company that eventually became Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans a ...

'' #4 (July 1940).

Lady Luck

In 1942, Nordling began his best-known comics work, "

", 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 as high as five million, starred

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

's masked detective the Spirit. The titular crimefighting adventureress Lady Luck had been created and designed in 1940 by Eisner (who wrote her first two stories under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

"Ford Davis"), Horn, Maurice. ''100 Years of American Newspaper Comics'' (Gramercy Books, New York, 1996) p. 173 with artist Chuck Mazoujian. Writer

Dick French Richard Allan French (born 7 August 1938 in Sydney) is an Australian Test cricket umpire. He umpired in 19 Test matches between 1977 and 1987. His first match was between Australia and India at Perth on 16 December to 21 December 1977, won by ...

then took over scripting.Lady Luck
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
October 25, 2011. Writer-artist Nicholas Viscardi (later known as

Nick Cardy Nicholas Viscardi (October 20, 1920 – November 3, 2013), known professionally as Nick Cardy and Nick Cardi, was an American comics artist best known for his DC Comics work on Aquaman, the Teen Titans and other major characters. Cardy was induct ...

) 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

Fred Schwab Fred Schwab (August 25, 1917 – May 13, 2000)Fred Schwab
at the Social Security Deat ...

. As historians at the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, comics retailer Atlas Comics noted in "The Top 100 Artists of American Comic Books", which listed Nordling at #78, "Lady Luck" stories were reprinted in the

comic book ''

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. It became the series ''Lady Luck'' for #86-90 (Dec 1949–Aug 1950). ''Smash Comics'' had the ...

'' #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

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.

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 a variety of clients. For the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, he contributed to the instructional "Joe Dope" feature in '' PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly'', which American Visuals produced. Working with Eisner, he wrote and drew the comic ''Job Scene'', designed to teach job-seeking skills to economically disadvantaged youth. At some point, as well, Nordling penciled and inked a promotional comic book for

Borden, Inc. Borden, Inc., was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. At one time, the company was the largest U.S. producer of dairy and pasta products. Its food division, Borden Foods, was based in C ...

He also was ghost artist on Guy Gilchrist's

Register and Tribune Syndicate The Register and Tribune Syndicate was a Print syndication, syndication service based in Des Moines, Iowa, that operated from 1922 to 1986, when it was acquired by King Features to become the Cowles Syndicate affiliate. At its peak, the Register a ...

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of 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 terminology#Captio ...

''The Rock Channel''. Nordling died at his home in Ridgefield,

, survived by his wife, Tel, as well as by a son and a daughter. Note: Source gives erroneous birth year of 1915.

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 DeFuccio *''Lady Luck'' (

Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hardcov ...

, 1977–1978) *''Lady Luck'' (Ken Pierce, Inc. trade paperback, 1980)

References

External links

*''

Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

'' vol. 3, #60 (July 2006): Golden Age panel discussion with Nordling,

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

, and

Larry Ivie Larry Ivie (1936–2014) was an American comics artist, writer, and Comic book collecting, collector who was active in comics fandom in the middle part of the 20th century, described by comics historian Bill Schelly as "the closest thing to an aut ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nordling, Klaus Emigrants from the Grand Duchy of Finland to the United States Golden Age comics creators 1986 deaths 1910 births