Ira Schnapp

Ira Schnapp (October 10, 1894 – July 24, 1969) Nothing specific is known about his art training. Ira's occupation is listed as Salesman in the New York State Census of 1915, and his family was then living in The Bronx. On September 30, 1918, he married Beatrice Schwadron. By 1920 the couple were living in their own home in The Bronx.

By 1917, Schnapp was doing lettering for the W.T. Slide Company of 115 East 23rd Street in Manhattan, according to his World War I draft card. This work was probably used as title and/or intertitle cards in silent films. Nothing is known of his output during the 1920s, but by the 1930s, Schnapp was doing show card lettering for movie theater lobbies, including huge displays for the premiere of King Kong at Radio City Music Hall in 1933, and many others.

The Art of the Ages Ira and Beatrice Schnapp had two children: daughter Theresa, born in 1922, and a son, Martin, born in 1930. In the 1930 census Schnapp's occupation is given as Artist. By the early 1930s, Schnapp and his extended family and siblings had relocated to Manhattan's Upper West Side around 110th Street.

With his own family now numbering four, Schnapp looked for ways to increase his income. He began work on a project he hoped would become a syndicated newspaper feature. Called The Art of the Ages, each entry featured a famous work of art, either a painting or sculpture, reproduced in pen, ink, and textured shading, with a small portrait of the artist, and descriptive text. The only known publication of the series was in the Toledo Blade of Toledo, Ohio. Twenty-four entries were published from January 23 to July 2, 1940. No syndication information is included in any entry, and the project was not a success. The feature is the only known time Ira Schnapp received a newspaper byline.

The Superman Logo By 1940, Donenfeld and Liebowitz, now in control of National Comics, were the dominant figures in comic book publishing. Their most popular character was Superman, who debuted in Action Comics #1 in 1938. Superman gained his own title with Superman #1 in the summer of 1939, featuring cover art and logo by Joe Shuster. Shuster redrew the logo for each subsequent issue, leading to a very inconsistent look. Schnapp was brought in to redesign the Superman logo. His version first appeared on the cover of Superman #6, dated Sept.-Oct. 1940. Based on Shuster's ideas, Schnapp gave the logo professional polish and correct perspective, greatly improving it. It was used on all Superman merchandise thereafter until another redesign in 1983, a very long run of 43 years. Schnapp is often credited with designing the Action Comics logo in 1938, but he later told a young fan, Michael Uslan (now a comics professional and movie producer) that the Superman logo redesign was his first work for the company. The designer of the original Action Comics logo remains unknown.

DC Comics staff position Around 1949, Schnapp took a staff position at National (DC) Comics, working in their production department at 480 Lexington Avenue every day. Schnapp may have been the company's first staff letterer. His main task was to produce nearly all the logos, cover lettering and in-house advertising, as well as lettering story pages when he had time. By doing so, Schnapp set the style for the entire company, producing a huge amount of work that caught the imagination of readers and kept them coming back for more. Dozens of logos for books like The Flash, Justice League of America, Green Lantern, The Atom, Hawkman, and Metal Men brought Schnapp's classic and art deco styles to the newsstand. His cover lettering and house ads were full of excitement, encouraging children to buy the comics. Despite the great volume of work he was doing, Schnapp did not receive credit, except on two issues of The Inferior Five in 1967, near the end of his career. Schnapp was retired by the company in 1968. Artist Neal Adams, who had befriended Schnapp when he started working at DC around 1967, said it meant Schnapp was being sent home to die. called Schnapp "Mr. DC," and said "It was sad that when he left it was as though he'd never been there at all."

Schnapp's son Marty remembers his father dying suddenly of a heart attack on July 24, 1969. He died at St. Luke's Hospital on 113th Street, New York, not far from his long-time home. A brief New York Times obituary ran on July 26, 1969. There was no mention of his death at age 74 by DC Comics, and it seems to have gone unnoticed in the comics world. Schnapp's wife Beatrice died in 1977, and his daughter Theresa (Teddy) died in 2009. As of 2015, his son Marty was alive and working in New York City.