Eisner & Iger - Company History and Influence

Company History and Influence

However it was structured, the firm grew to be one of the most successful and influential of such comics packagers as Funnies, Inc. (which supplied the contents of Marvel Comics #1, including the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and the Angel) and the quirkily named Harry "A" Chesler's studio.

Its first client, made through Iger's connections at Wow! was Editors Press Service. Joshua B. Powers, reportedly a former U.S. government agent whose beat was South America, had founded the company when he retired, and provided Latin American newspapers with comics strips, cooking features and other material in exchange for ad space that he would in turn sell to U.S. companies. After expanding to other countries, Editors Press Service had a British client, the magazine Wags, for which Eisner and Iger, under the pseudonym "W. Morgan Thomas," created the leggy, leopard-wearing jungle goddess Sheena. That much-imitated "female Tarzan" would become famous stateside in 1938 when writer "William Thomas" and artist Mort Meskin took over her exploits in Eisner & Iger client Fiction House's Jumbo Comics #1.

Eisner & Iger created material as well for Fox Comics, Quality Comics, and others. By 1939, the firm had 15 writers, artists and letterers on staff, according to Eisner: "They were working for me full-time, on salary. I tried to avoid dealing with freelancers on a per-page basis", although future industry Jack Kirby has called his early work in the Eisner & Iger office freelance). Other future luminaries who worked there included Lou Fine, Bob Kane, Wallace Wood, Bob Powell and Jules Feiffer. During this time, Eisner is credited with co-creating characters including Doll Man, and Blackhawk.

Turning a profit of $1.50 a page, Eisner claimed, "I got very rich before I was 22", later detailing that in Depression-era 1939, for example, he and Iger "had split $25,000 between us", a considerable amount for the time.

After Eisner sold his share of company stock to Iger in late 1939 or early 1940 in order to leave and launch The Spirit, Iger would continue to package comics as the S. M. Iger Studio through 1955.