Tenth Letter of the Alphabet: Human Torch

Showing posts with label Human Torch. Show all posts

Monday, May 18, 2026

Comics: A Few Details About Alex Schomburg, Artist

Alex Schomburg was born Alejandro Schomburg on May 10, 1905 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico according to the Civil Registration at Ancestry.com. His death certificate had the name Alexander Anthony Schomburg. Schomburg’s parents were Guillermo Schomburg and Francisca Rosa.

The 1910 United States Census counted Schomburg (line 30) as the youngest of seven siblings who were Arturo, Guillermo, Carlos, Augusto, Oma and Federico. His father was a widower. The family and three housekeepers lived in San Cristobal, Puerto Rico.

On November 28, 1917, Schomburg (line 3) and his brother, Federico, were aboard the ship Coamo when it departed San Juan, Puerto Rico. They arrived in New York City on December 4, 1917. The passenger list recorded Schomburg’s birth date as April 24, 1906.

In the 1920 census the Schomburg brothers adopted new names. Carlos was Fred, an export salesman (he was Charles Frederick on his World War I draft card); Augusto was August, an artist; Federico was William, an export clerk; and fourteen-year-old Alejandro was Alex (line 94), a student. They lived in Manhattan at 630 West 124th Street.

The 1925 New York state census said Schomburg (line 43) and his brothers, Charles (aka Fred) and August, were commercial artists. They resided at 65 West 46th Street.

Schomburg married Helen Scott on November 7, 1928 in Manhattan. At the time, Schomburg lived at 587 Riverside Drive.

The 1930 census recorded Schomburg (line 24) and his wife in the Bronx at 1240 Walton Avenue. He was an artist in the film industry.

Schomburg’s brother, Charles, passed away on February 2, 1933. He was laid to rest at the Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium.

One of Schomburg’s clients was Thrilling Wonder Stories. The June 1939 issue profiled its contributors including Schomburg.

Born in N.Y.C. [sic] in 1905. Studied art under private teacher.

Started own studio about 15 years ago. Built window displays, illustrated song slides for theatre organists. Later sold business to slide manufacturer and worked for them. Four years later joined large film company as a staff artist.

First did magazine illustrations more as a hobby than anything else. Mostly Westerns and Detective stuff. One day the publisher asked me to do an illustration for Thrilling Wonder Stories. I had always been interested in science fiction and he liked the way I handled the art work.

I enjoy reading the story as much as doing the illustrations. In my opinion an illustration is very important. For instance, give the same story to two different persons ... then ask them to picture a certain scene. You can bet they’ll be entirely different.

According to the 1940 census, enumerated in April, Schomburg and his wife had a seven-year-old son, Richard. They were Bronx residents at 2165 Ryer Avenue. The artist earned $5,000 in 1939.

Schomburg signed his World War II draft card on October 16, 1940. His Bronx address was 2691 Reservoir Avenue. Schomburg was employed by the National Screen Service. His description was five feet four inches, 130 pounds, with brown eyes and hair.

A list of Schomburg’s comic book work is at Grand Comics Database. Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 has an overview of his career.

Manhattan city directories, from 1942 to 1946, listed Schomburg’s office at 690 Eighth Avenue. The 1947 Darien, Connecticut city directory said Schomburg, a commercial artist in New York, lived at 21 Green Avenue in New Canaan. That address was added to his draft card.

The 1950 census said Schomburg had an eight-year-old daughter, Diana. He was a self-employed commercial artist who earned $7,900 in 1949.

The 1955 Darien directory said Schomburg and his son, Richard, had moved to Seattle, Washington. Apparently they lived there a while then moved to Spokane.

The Spokesman-Review, October 11, 1957, said

Two “Sputnik” Watchers Say they Saw It
Two Spokane residents yesterday reported they believed they saw the Russian Sputnik at around 5:45 a.m.

One was Alex Schomburg, N921 Burns road, who said he saw what looked like “a very bright star” directly overhead. The object, which he watched through binoculars, moved south out of sight, after “10 or 11 minutes.” ...

Schomburg was in the 1958 Spokane city directory. His address was N921 Burns Road. In 1962 Schomburg moved to Newberg, Oregon.

Schomburg’s daughter, Diana, was an artist who was profiled in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, May 11, 1964.

In the early 1960s, Schomburg painted mural for Portland General Electric. The story of Schomburg’s work was told in the Sunday Oregonian, January 29, 2014. Restoration of the painting was told here and here.

On April 11, 1970, Schomburg filed a claim for Social Security benefits.

In 1977 Schomburg did commissions for Collectors Showcase which auctioned the paintings.

Schomburg was a convention guest at the 1976 Portland Alliance of Fans; 1977 All-American Comic Con in Portland; Palouse Empire Science Fiction Association’s 1979 Moscon 1 in Moscow, Idaho; Portland Science Fiction Society’s 1979 OryCon; and 1984 Westercon 37.

Schomburg was featured in the Oregon Journal, June 28, 1977, and Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction, August 1979. Steve Duin, political columnist of The Oregonian, produced two illustrated profiles of Schomburg. A four-page article appeared in the Sunday Oregonian’s Northwest Magazine, March 24, 1991. Comic Book Marketplace, August 1995, published a seven-page feature. Material from those profiles appeared in his 1998 book, Comics, Between the Panels.

Schomburg’s brother, August, passed away in February 1973 in New Jersey. His wife, Helen, died on February 26, 1985 in Oregon. Three years later his daughter, Diana, died on October 4, 1988.

Schomburg passed away on April 7, 1998. An obituary appeared in The Oregonian, April 10, 1998.

A funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday, April 10, 1998, in Attrell’s Funeral Chapel in Newberg for Alex Schomburg, who died April 7 at age 92.

Mr. Schomburg was born May 10, 1905, in Agiadilla, Puerto Rico. He moved to New York City as a youth and worked in his bothers’ commercial art business, whose clients included Great Northwestern Railway. He later illustrated comic books, pulp magazines and science fiction novels, for which he attained prominence. He lived in Spokane from 1954 until moving to the Newberg area in 1962. In 1928, he married Helen Scott; she died in 1985.

Survivors include his son, Richard of Hillsboro; and five grandchildren. A daughter, Diana Beaudry Thiessen, died in 1988.

Interment will be in Valley View Memorial Park in Newberg.

The Comics Journal, May 1998, published an obituary.

Schomburg’s son, Richard, died on February 17, 2015 according to a death notice in The Oregonian, March 15, 2015.

Further Reading and Viewing

Digital Comic Museum photograph
Space Art
Out of Time: Designs for the Twentieth-Century Future
Encyclopedia of Collectible Children’s Books: Identification & Values
The Art of Alex Schomburg
Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists

(Next post on Monday: Art Direction 1962)

Monday, April 24, 2017

Comics: Carl Burgos

Carl Burgos was born Max Finkelstein on April 18, 1916, in New York, New York. The birth date is based on the Social Security Death Index and his parents’ petitions for naturalization at Ancestry.com.

Burgos’s father was Isidor Finkelstein, a tailor, whose naturalization petition, dated December 13, 1923, said he was born in Moghielev, Russia, on October 25, 1886. (Isidor’s World War II draft card said his birth was October 15, 1886 in Zlobin, Russia.) He sailed on the steamship Merion which departed Antwerp, Belgium, on November 16, 1907. The ship arrived in New York City on November 29, 1907. Isidor became a naturalized citizen February 14, 1927.

Burgos’s mother was Ester Bielin, a dressmaker, whose naturalization petition said she was born in Stressin, Russia, on March 2, 1886. She sailed on the steamship Samland which departed from Antwerp, Belgium. The ship arrived in New York City on April 2, 1907. She married Isidor on August 26, 1911. On the petition, dated June 27, 1941, her first name was spelled Esther. She became a naturalized citizen July 16, 1942.

Burgos’s brother, Rubin Finkelstein, was born March 2, 1912, in New York City. Rubin married Clara Cantor on March 30, 1935 in Manhattan, according to the New York, New York, Marriage Index at Ancestry.com. Clara passed away May 22, 1996. Rubin passed away May 20, 2003.

The 1920 U.S. Federal Census recorded the Finkelsteins in Manhattan, New York City at 191 East 100 Street.

The same address was in the 1925 New York state census.

In the 1930 census, the Finkelstein family resided in the Bronx at 945 Faile Street.

In the Steranko History of Comics (1970), page 58, Steranko wrote:

The man responsible for the inflammable fury [The Human Torch] was Carl Burgos. Born in New York in 1917 [sic], his childhood was little different than most others except for his natural artistic talent and unruly imagination. In his early teens he enrolled in the National Academy of Design. “I quit after one year because I couldn’t learn enough,” Burgos says.

At 17, he took a job with the Franklin Engraving Company which just happened to be the firm that engraved the plates for a line of comic books produced by Harry A. Chesler. For the first time, Burgos was exposed to stacks of original comic art. Whenever possible, he took the time to study the artist’s techniques, their pen styles and brush strokes. He discovered he could draw as well as some and better than a few who already worked in comics. He formulated an idea about becoming a comic artist. What could he lose?

An overview of Burgos’s comics career is at Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999. Many of his comic book credits are at the Grand Comics Database. A collection of images from Google is here.

According to the 1940 census, Burgos and his parents lived at 602 West 157th Street in Manhattan. Burgos’s occupation was artist in the newspaper industry. He had completed four years of high school.

A 1942 Manhattan city directory had this listing: “Burgos Carl 602W157…..AU dubn 3-4117”.

During World War II, Burgos enlisted as Max Finkelstein. In the Steranko History of Comics, Burgos said “I started in the Air Force, took infantry ranger training, went overseas as a rifleman, was transferred to the Signal Corps, and came back in the engineers. It sounds crazy, but it could only happen to a comic book man.” The Department of Veterans Affairs Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, at Ancestry. com, said he was discharged March 18, 1946.

Alter Ego #49, June 2005, published “The Privacy Act of Carl Burgos”, Jim Amash’s interview with Burgos’s daughter Susan, a teacher and animation artist. She mentioned her mother, Doris, sister, Linda, grandparents and uncle. Doris’s Social Security application, at Ancestry.com, had her full maiden name. In July 1947 her name was Doris Finkelstein, then in September 1948 she was Doris Burgos.

In 1968 Burgos filed copyright renewals on his creation, the Human Torch. The renewal registrations were published in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 22, Part 1, Number 1, Section 1, Books and Pamphlets, Current and Renewal Registrations, January–June 1968, on page 1256

and in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 22, Part 1, Number 2, Section 1, Books and Pamphlets, Current and Renewal Registrations, July–December 1968, on pages 2761 and 2762.