Win Mortimer

James Winslow Mortimer (May 1, 1919 – January 11, 1998)[1] was a Canadian comic book and comic strip artist best known as one of the major illustrators of the DC Comics superhero Superman. He additionally drew for Marvel Comics, Gold Key Comics, and other publishers.

Win Mortimer
Mortimer at his drawing board
BornJames Winslow Mortimer
May 1, 1919
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
DiedJanuary 11, 1998(1998-01-11) (aged 78)
NationalityCanadian
Area(s)Penciller
Notable works
Action Comics
Adventure Comics
Star-Spangled Comics
The Superman Family

He was a 2006 inductee into the Canadian comics creators Joe Shuster Hall of Fame.

Biography

Early life and career

Win Mortimer was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[1] Trained as an artist by his father, who worked for a lithography company, and at the Art Students League of New York, Mortimer found work as an illustrator after a short stint in the Canadian Army during World War II. Discharged in 1943, Mortimer found work designing posters.[1]

DC Comics

Mortimer began working for DC Comics in 1945,[1] and quickly became a cover artist for comics featuring Superman, Superboy and Batman.[2] His first known comics work is as the penciler and inker of the 12-page lead Batman story, "The Batman Goes Broke" by writer Don Cameron, in Detective Comics #105 (Nov. 1945); contractually credited to Bob Kane, it is also signed "Mortimer."[3] The introduction of Batman's Batboat in Detective Comics #110 (April 1946) was another Cameron/Mortimer collaboration.[4] Mortimer launched a Robin feature in Star-Spangled Comics #65 (Feb. 1947).[5]

Mortimer image from the 1978 Marvel Comics Calendar.

He succeeded Wayne Boring on the Superman newspaper strip in 1949, leaving it in 1956 to create the adventure strip David Crane for the Prentice-Hall Syndicate. Following his run on that series, Mortimer produced the Larry Bannon strip for the Toronto Star beginning in 1960.[1]

During the same period, Mortimer returned to DC and worked on a large variety of comics, ranging from humor titles such as Swing with Scooter to superhero features starring the Legion of Super-Heroes and Supergirl.[3] He and writer Arnold Drake co-created Stanley and His Monster in 1965.[6]

Later life and career

By the early 1970s, Mortimer was also freelancing for other publishers. At Marvel, he drew virtually every story in the TV tie-in children's comic Spidey Super Stories, starring Spider-Man, for its entire 57-issue run (Oct. 1974 – March 1982) as well as the short-lived Night Nurse series.[7] Mortimer's work at Gold Key Comics included Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery and The Twilight Zone.[3] He left comics in 1983 to do advertising and commercial art for Neal Adams' studio, Continuity Associates.[1]

Mortimer's last superhero art was the four-issue DC miniseries World of Metropolis (Aug.–Nov. 1988), plus some character drawings for the reference Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #7 (Nov. 1988). His final comics work was penciling the four page "Noble Heart" story for The Big Book of Martyrs (Aug. 1997).[3]

Awards and honors

Mortimer is a 2006 inductee into the Canadian comics' creators Joe Shuster Hall of Fame.[8]

Bibliography

Comics work (interior art) includes:

DC Comics

Gold Key Comics

Marvel Comics

References
  1. "Win Mortimer". Lambiek Comiclopedia. October 3, 2008. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Note: The Marvel Comics 1978 Calendar merchandise lists Mortimer's birth date as June 23 and Comics Buyer's Guide lists it as May 23 per Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010.
  2. "Scott's Classic Comics Corner: The Cover Art of Win Mortimer Pt. 1". Comic Book Resources. May 12, 2009. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012.
  3. Winslow Mortimer at the Grand Comics Database and Win Mortimer at the Grand Comics Database
  4. Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, ed. (2014). "1940s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 36. ISBN 978-1465424563. Batman and Robin christened the H.M.S Batboat during a trip to England in this story by writer Don Cameron and penciller Win Mortimer.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  5. Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1940s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The first solo Robin series began with what the cover promised would be 'a thrilling new series of smash adventures.' Readers seemed to agree, and Robin held this spot for five years until Star Spangled Comics published its last issue...Robin's ten-page introductory tale, 'The Teen-Age Terrors', by J. Winslow Mortimer centered on the Boy Wonder going undercover."CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  6. Markstein, Don (2004). "Stanley and His Monster". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on June 15, 2014.
  7. Markstein, Don. "Night Nurse". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 13, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  8. "Mortimer, Win (1919–1998)". Joe Shuster Awards. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013.
Preceded by
Wayne Boring		 Superman newspaper strip
artist
1949–1956		 Succeeded by
Curt Swan
Preceded by
Don Heck		 "Supergirl" feature
in The Superman Family artist
1980–1982		 Succeeded by
n/a
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