Ira Schnapp

Infobox Comics creator
name = Ira R. Schnapp


imagesize =
caption =
birthname = Israel R. SchnaptKimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/372/ "Present at the Creation," Dial B for Blog (Oct. 10, 2006).] Retrieved July 21, 2008.]
birthdate = October 10, 1892 [http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com Social Security Death Index.] Retrieved July 26, 2008.]
location = Sassow, Austria
deathdate = 1970
deathplace = FloridaKimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/372/ "The Big Fall," Dial B for Blog (Oct. 10, 2006).] Retrieved July 21, 2008.]
nationality = naturalized American citizenKimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/380/ "The Ira Schnapp Story," Dial B for Blog (Oct. 10, 2006).] Retrieved July 21, 2008.]
area = Letterer, Designer
alias =
notable works = "Action Comics" logo
DC Comics house style
awards =

Ira R. Schnapp (October 10, 1892-1969) was a logo designer and letterer who defined the DC Comics house style for thirty years. He designed the world-famous "Action Comics" logo, as well as scores of others for the company.

Biography

Early life and immigration

Schnapp was born in Sassow, Austria, in a region called Galicia. A Jew, he came to America with his family some time before 1910, when he was 18 years old. Although his exact schooling is unknown, Schnapp was apparently well-educated. According to DC colorist Jack Adler, "Ira Schnapp was a very nice guy who had a classical background. He'd talk about things a lot of people wouldn't know about."

Stonecutter, engraver, intertitle designer, and lobby card designer

Upon his arrival in the United States, Schnapp was already a skilled stonecutter, engraver, and graphic designer. In 1911, while still only 19 years old, Schnapp was hired to hand-carve the engraving on the front of the main branch of the New York Public Library: "MDCCCXCV • THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY • MDCCCCII". He then worked designing and engraving stamps for the U.S. Post Office, and in 1914 was hired as a stone carver for the post office. Schnapp personally designed the lettering, and hand-carved, the famous slogan "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" in the facade of the James Farley General Post Office. In the later years of the 1910s, Schnapp found work as a silent movie intertitle designer and movie theater lobby card designer.

DC

Little is known about Schnapp in the 1920s, but by 1934 he was working as a title designer for Trojan Publishing Corporation, a pulp magazine publisher. Shortly thereafer, in 1938, Schnapp was hired by comic book publisher DC Comics for his first job. It was an association that lasted for thirty years. Schnapp worked for DC from 1938 to 1968, creating scores of logos and lettering countless covers and interiors, yet ironically he only received a single in-print credit (in "Inferior Five" #6, published in 1966). [Mike Tiefenbacher in Kirk Kimball's [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/381/ "The Big Fall!" Dial B for Blog (Oct. 10, 2006).] Retrieved July 21, 2008.] Most of Schnapp's work was done on front covers, and "mere" cover letterers (or interior letterers, for that matter) were never credited in the era in which Schnapp worked.

; LogosIn the early summer of 1938, Schnapp created the iconic "Action Comics" logo for DC. He also refined and perfected the "Superman" logo in 1940, a logo which existed, unchanged for four decades. Over time, Schnapp designed scores of logos for the company's comic books, virtually defining DC's look for 30 years. In addition to the "Action" and "Superman" logos, some of the more celebrated logos Schnapp designed include:

* "Adventure Comics"
* "The Atom"
* "The Flash"
* "Green Lantern"
* "Hawkman"
* "Justice League of America"
* "Metal Men"
* "Secret Origins"
* "Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane"

; DC house adsWith Superman editor Mort Weisinger, Schnapp designed and hand-lettered the DC house ads "Coming... Super-Attractions!" which proliferated throughout the pages of the company's comics.

; LetteringAmong many other books, Schnapp was the original interior letterer on "Superman" and "Green Lantern". Despite his brilliance as a logo and title designer, however, in the words of comics historian Kirk Kimball, "Schnapp's word-balloon lettering was . . . surprisingly pedestrian."Kimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/376/ "The Big Chill," Dial B for Blog (Oct. 10, 2006).] Retrieved July 21, 2008.] Most of Schnapp's interior lettering was done for DC's line of romance comics. In fact, pop artist Roy Lichtenstein used the splash page of a romance story lettered by Schnapp in "Secret Hearts" #83 (November 1962) as the basis for one of Lichtenstein's most iconic works. Lichtenstein slightly reworked the art and dialogue, and re-lettered Schnapp's original word balloon. "Drowning Girl" (1963) is now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

; Comics Code Authority sealIn 1955, with changes brought about by Dr. Frederic Wertham and the adoption of the Comics Code, Schnapp designed the infamous Comics Code Authority seal, which became a fixture on comic book covers for over forty years.

; Retirement
Carmine Infantino's appointment as DC's editorial director in 1966 brought about a major shake-up in the company. One of the first things Infantino did was bring in Gaspar Saladino as the new cover letterer for the company's entire line of comics. Long-time DC writer Marv Wolfman recalled that "DC kept Ira employed doing miscellaneous things around the production department because . . . management felt they owed him for all his great work." [Wolfman in Robby Reed's [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/381/ Kimball, Kirk. "The Big Fall!" Dial B for Blog (Oct. 10, 2006).] Retrieved July 21, 2008.] Saladino called Schnapp "'Mr. DC.'" . . . It was sad that when he left it was as though he'd never been there at all. So much of it all came down to business, though. It was to make money." [B.D.S. [http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/saladino.shtml Interview with Gaspar Saladino in "Silver Age Sage," The Silver Lantern: A Tribute to the Silver Age of DC Comics (May 25, 2007).] Retrieved July 19, 2008.]

Schnapp left DC in 1968 and retired to Florida.

Personal life

According to census documents, Schnapp married a woman named Beatrice in 1919, and the couple took up residence in the Bronx, New York. They had two children, Martin and Theresa. Schnapp died in Florida in 1969.

Quotes

Mark Evanier, on the "Superman" logo:

Kirk Kimball of Dial B for Blog:

Notes

References

* B.D.S. [http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/saladino.shtml Interview with Gaspar Saladino] in "Silver Age Sage," The Silver Lantern: A Tribute to the Silver Age of DC Comics (May 25, 2007)
* Evanier, Mark. [http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_10_05.html#012201 Living La Vida Logo] , News From Me (Oct. 5, 2006)
* Kimball, Kirk. [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/372 Dial B for Blog] (Oct. 10, 2006)