Morris S. Weiss (August 11, 1915 – May 18, 2014) was an American comic book and

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

artist and writer. Active from the 1930s through the mid-1970s, he created the teen- comedy character "Margie" for Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, and was the final

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 comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

on the comic strip '' Mickey Finn''. He also worked as a writer or illustrator on numerous other strips, including ''

Joe Palooka ''Joe Palooka'' was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher. The strip debuted on April 19, 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers. It was cancelled in 1984. The strip was adapt ...

''.

Biography

Early life and career

Morris Weiss was born in 1915 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in New York City,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, where he studied sign-painting as a vocational elective in high school. Additional . He broke into the comics field in 1934 with brief stints as the letterer for the comic strip ''Minute Movies'' by

Ed Wheelan Edgar Stow Wheelan (1888–1966), who signed his work Ed Wheelan, was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip ''Minute Movies'', satirizing silent films, and his comic book ''Fat and Slat'', published by EC Comics. He was one of the ...

, and as an assistant on the '' Joe Jinks'' comic strip; in the early 1940s, United Features Syndicate hired him to draw ''Joe Jinks''.Harvey, R. C. "Morris Weiss, Mickey Finn, and the Palooka", ''Cartoonist Profiles'', September 1995, pp. 74-83. Between 1934 and 1936 he lettered for

Harold Knerr Harold Hering Knerr (September 4, 1882 – July 8, 1949) was an American comic strip creator, who signed his work H. H. Knerr. He was the writer-artist of the comic strip '' The Katzenjammer Kids'' for 35 years. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, ...

on the comic strip '' The Katzenjammer Kids''. At the same time he also worked as an "opaquer" for

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

. In 1940 Weiss created the syndicated comic strip ''It Never Fails'', but asked to be released from his contract the following year, explaining later, "I never was a good gag man....I can come up with a gag here and there, but not on a steady basis." That same year he attended 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 stu ...

in order to study figure drawing with George Bridgman; future fellow cartoonists in the same class were Bob Lubbers and

Stan Drake Stanley Albert Drake (November 9, 1921 – March 10, 1997) was an American cartoonist best known as the founding artist of the comic strip ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''. Born in Brooklyn, Drake worked in the back of a Dugan's Donut truck for a do ...

. Weiss was the

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...

and assistant on cartoonist Lank Leonard's ''Mickey Finn'' from 1936 to 1943, and again from 1960 on. He took over the strip following Leonard's retirement in 1968, continuing through the final

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 ...

on December 21, 1975, and the daily strip's finale on July 31, 1976. Following his first stint with ''Mickey Finn'', Weiss transitioned to comic books. His earliest known credit there 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, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

and inker of the six-page feature "Boxie Weaver" in

Holyoke Publications The Holyoke Publishing Company was an American magazine and comic-book publisher with offices in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Holyoke, and Springfield, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, and New York City, Its best-known comics characters were ...

' '' Blue Beetle'' #28-30 (Dec. 1943 - Feb. 1944) and ''Sparkling Stars'' #9 (Feb. 1945), the last of which he signed with the pseudonym Ink Higgins. Other early Weiss features for Holyoke include "Private Plopp" and "Petey and Pop". While in the army in 1944 and 1945, Weiss was the staff artist for the camp newspaper at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Virginia, where he wrote and drew the comic panel ''M.P. Muffit''. In 1946, he did his first known work for Timely Comics, the 1940s forerunner of Marvel Comics, writing and drawing the title character's stories in the career-gal humor comic ''Tessie the Typist''. He went on to do numerous stories featuring Tessie and her friend Skidsy,Morris Weiss
at the Grand Comics Database and created the teen-humor feature "Margie", which ran in ''Margie Comics'', ''Georgie Comics'' and '' Patsy Walker''. About this time Weiss was contacted separately by both Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, the creators of ''

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 publi ...

'', each of whom were interested in collaborating with him on a comic strip. At various times Weiss turned down opportunities to continue strips such as '' Terry and the Pirates'' and '' Nancy'' after the departure of their creators. He occasionally assisted

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

on '' Mutt and Jeff''. In 1955, he began drawing the ''Adventures of Pinky Lee'', a comic written by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

. Weiss wrote the dramatic continuity for ''Joe Palooka'' from about 1962 to 1970, with Tony DiPreta drawing the strip. Weiss befriended a host of notable artists, including James Montgomery Flagg, who drew Weiss's portrait,

Charles Voight Charles Anthony Voight (April 28, 1887 – February 10, 1947) was an American cartoonist, best known for his comic strip ''Betty''. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, Voight was 14 when he dropped out of school and became an art staffer at ...

, Milton Caniff, Ernie Bushmiller, and Edwina Dumm. As a member of the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

, he proposed the idea of a charity fund for members on hard times, which Alex Raymond developed into the Milt Gross Fund for Indigent Cartoonists.Morris Weiss interview, ''

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

'' #43 (December 2004), pp. 7-22. Pages 7-10 onlin
here
A collector of American illustration, he purchased a painting in 1947 from Norman Rockwell for $150.

Later life

In 1960, Weiss and his family moved to North Miami, Florida. With his artist wife, Blanche, whom he met in George Bridgman's class at the

and married in 1944 Weiss founded the Miami Society for Autistic Children. As president of the MSAC in the 1970s, he arranged fund-raising events that were emceed by Larry King, and featured celebrities.Berger, Ellis. "'Pretty' Ali Turns on Charm, Roasts Larry King for Kids", p. 1. '' The Miami News'', Florida Report, October 2, 1970. The couple had four children: daughter Wendy and sons Jacob, David and Jerry Weiss, an artist. Weiss died at his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 18, 2014.

References

External links

* Additional . *
Lank Leonard (Frank E. Leonard)
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, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

(Gives Leonard death date as Aug. 1, 1970)
Caskets on Parade
(Gives Leonard death date as Aug. 2, 1970)
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Morris 1915 births 2014 deaths American comics artists Golden Age comics creators Artists from Philadelphia People from North Miami, Florida Marvel Comics people