My Art Collection - Sheldon Mayer Tributes - Faux Sugar and Spike #100 Covers

I’m a fan of the work of Sheldon Mayer. Though not all that well known today, Sheldon is the man who pulled Superman from a stack of submittals and got him placed in Action #1. He went on to be involved in the creation and editing of much of the All-American Comics (later DC) line-up including Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and the Justice Society of America. He is generally considered to be one of the best Editors DC ever had; he had the gift of storytelling and he had the ability to teach others how to do it in a medium that was new and different.

When he stepped down as an editor, he continued as a writer and artist on a variety of DC humor books including Sugar and Spike. He worked on S&S until his eyesight failed ending the series with issue 98. Later, he received cataract surgery and with restored vision resumed working. He produced new S&S stories for the overseas market. Many of those stories have never been reprinted in the US. He also contributed to mainline DC line by creating The Black Orchid.

He's probably best known for Sugar and Spike; though, I have to admit that Scribbly is my favorite. The main S&S series went to 98 (in the US). In 1992, DC issued #99 (DC Silver Age Classics Sugar and Spike 99), but there has never been a 100th issue.

To fill the time as we wait for DC to create and publish S&S 100 and to honor Sheldon Mayer's most famous characters, I've commissioned a few 100th issue covers. I try to find artists with an all-ages feel and have them create the cover. Sometimes I participate a lot (for example, Fred Hembeck's where I had a very specific idea that he nailed) and sometimes very little (Katie Cook where I just asked for her Gronk characters with S&S).

In general, I shoot for S&S with the artist's own characters or characters I strongly associate with the artist, next I look for seasonal S&S gags since Sheldon did a lot of those, next I just ask for a funny cover. The main thing they have to remember is that S&S can't talk to adults, just other babies including animal babies.

Of course, I need artists with an all-ages sensibility and finding them isn't easy. So, at Heroescon 2018, I started a Sheldon Mayer sketchbook. I want it to contain drawings of Sheldon's many characters by artists that I think might be appropriate to those characters. I also want to use it as a test case to see if I want the artist involved in my Sugar and Spike #100 Cover sub-theme or maybe a Scribbly commission. I prepared a lot of reference material since Sheldon's creations aren't as well known as they should be in my opinion. Heck, Skottie Young didn't know who S&S were! (Kids these days! :) )

Articles about S&S on the internet:

• Todd Klein's article on Ira Schnapp and Sheldon's work on S&S

Because I'm an Ira Schnapp fan, I thought I'd add a few other links to write-ups about the man's work:

• From the late, great DialBforBlog by Robby Reed (Kirk Kimball), there are a number of "issues" concerning his work. If you click here, the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine will take you to an index. The relevant issues are 372-381 plus 623 and one on Arlen Schumer's Ira exhibit - 752 - which is missing its pictures.
• Todd Klein's Blog has five articles on Schnapps work for DC's Girl's Romances, Challengers of the Unknown, Lois Lane, Blackhawk, Heart Throbs, and The Flash. Click here to get an index of those posts.
• George Topham Hayes wrote a post on FB that has excellent analysis here.

There are 22 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.     1 through 18 shown.

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There are 22 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.     1 through 18 shown.

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