Harry "A" Chesler

Harry Chesler (January 12, 1897, or January 12, 1898 (sources differ) – December 29, 1981 or, as given by his United States Social Security data, on January 12, 1898, — Chesler grew up in East Orange, New Jersey where he graduated from East Orange High School in June 1915. He moved with his family to The Bronx, New York City in 1917. There his father bought a grocery wholesale firm at 1493 Zerega Avenue, with the family living nearby at 2903 Lyon Avenue. In 1928, he bought a 90-acre summer-home property in the Succasunna section of Roxbury Township, New Jersey, and opened a side-business dairy store. (Saunders, without citation of original source, quotes Chesler saying, "I moved into the comics business in New York in 1935.) My first space was at Fifth Avenue and 32nd Street. I commuted from New Jersey for $6.45 a week. We put out a sixty-four page, four-color, comic book that sold for ten cents. In those days, paper was forty to fifty dollars a ton. I paid about a thousand dollars for the four-color plates for sixty-four pages. At one time, there were forty artists working for me." Chesler established a studio in Manhattan to supply comic-book content to publishers testing the waters of the emerging medium. The "Chesler shop", as it was informally called, These were bought by Ultem Publications in 1937, where he continued as editor until Ultem was in turn bought by Centaur Publications in 1938. By the late 1930s, Chesler's packaging business was flourishing. As Tuska recalled, Chesler "did alright with comics. Bought a lot of property in Jersey. Made his own lake".

Chesler employees remembered him as a tough but warm boss who always wore a hat and smoked a big cigar.

Chesler's later imprints included Dynamic Publications , Harry "A" Chesler Jr. Publications, and Harry "A." Chesler Feature Jr. Syndicate. The covers of many of his 1940s comics bear the phrase "Harry 'A' Chesler Jr. Features Syndicate, N.Y.". or "Harry 'A' Chesler, Jr. World's Greatest Comics". Comic-book historians sometimes label all such imprints informally "Harry A Chesler Comics." In his heyday, Chesler recalled in a 1976 profile, "besides about 75 of my own titles, we produced comics for some 50 different publishers. At one time, there were 40 artists working for me and I had 300 comic titles on the newsstands." Otto Binder, Charles Biro, Mort Meskin, Creig Flessel (briefly), Ken Ernst, Bob McCay, Otto Eppers, and many others.

Chesler's comics enterprise was severely affected by World War II. Chesler's main pre-war editor, Phil Sturm, was on active duty for most of the war, severely curtailing the company's ability to produce comics. Chesler's son, Harry A. Chesler, Jr., although listed in the business records as a co-owner in name, was never involved in the publishing business.

Chesler was briefly a partner with Archer St. John in St. John Publications in 1953.

Personal life Chesler married Hannah "Betty" Northay (b. 1897; d. October 16, 1977) on January 4, 1921, with the couple taking up residence at 165 Park Avenue in East Orange, New Jersey. They had two children, sons Harry A. Chesler Jr. (b. December 9, 1921) and Arthur Bernard Chesler (b. January 26, 1923).

Chesler Publications, Inc., 276 Fifth Avenue, New York City, New York Dynamic Publications, 163 23rd Street, New York City, New York Harry A. Chesler Jr. Publications, Inc., 163 23rd Street, New York City, New York

Bulls Eye Comics #11 (1944) Captain Battle Comics #3 (Winter 1942; numbering continued from Lev Gleason Publications' Captain Battle Comics #2; continued as Picture Scoop's Captain Battle Comics #5 [no issue #4 published]) Carnival Comics [no number] (1945; numbering continues from Kayo Comics; continued as Red Seal Comics) Cocomalt Book of Comics #! (1938; one-shot giveaway) Dynamic Comics #1-3, 8-20 (Oct. 1941 - Oct. 1946; no issues #4-7; continued as Superior Publishers Limited's Dynamic Comics) Jest Comics #10-11 (c. 1944–1945; numbering continued from Snap Comics; continued as Kayo Comics) Kayo Komics #12 (March 1945; numbering continues from Jest Comics; continued as Carnival Comics) Komik Pages #1/10 (#1 in postal indicia, #10 on cover; April 1945) Major Victory Comics #1-3 (1944 - Summer 1945) Punch Comics #1-2, 9-19 (Dec. 1941 - Oct. 1946; continued as Superior Publishers Limited's Punch Comics) Red Seal Comics #14-18 (Oct. 1945 - Oct. 1946); numbering continued from Carnival Comics; continued as Superior Publishers Limited's Red Seal Comics Scoop Comics #1-3 (Nov. 1941 - March 1942; continued as Remington Morse's Yankee Comics), #8 (1944; continued as Snap Comics; no issues #4-7) Skyrocket Comics [no number] (c. 1944) Snap Comics #9 (1944; numbering continued from Scoop Comics; continued as Jest Comics Spotlight Comics #1-3 (Nov. 1944 - March 1945) Star Comics #1-6 (Feb.-Sept. 1937; continued as Ultem's Star Comics) Star Ranger #1-6 (Feb.-Sept. 1937; continued as Ultem's Star Ranger) Yankee Comics #1-4 (Sept, 1941 - March 1942)

Erroneously attributed to Chesler Feature Funnies #1-20 (1937–1939); actually published by Quality Comics and subsequently continued as Feature Comics #21-144 by that publisher

Chesler/Dynamic characters Alias the Dragon Black Dwarf Dynamic Boy Dynamic Man Green Knight Lady Satan Major Victory Master Key Mister E Rocketboy Rocketgirl Rocketman Scarlet Sentry Spider Woman (Chesler version) Veiled Avenger Wonder Boy (Chesler version) Yankee Girl