Before Superman...before there were even comic books...there was the Great Mystery and Adventure Series, the first-ever adaptation of classic literature to comics form. It spawned a host of imitators and launched an entire genre that included the highly-regarded Classics Illustrated comic books.
The man behind it all was Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, who enjoyed an illustrious career as a U.S. Army officer and author of pulp fiction adventure stories.But his biggest claim to fame was as founder of the company now known as DC Comics, home to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.What's less known is that, a decade earlier, Wheeler-Nicholson headed a syndicate that provided comic strips and features to daily newspapers.
This material has been unavailable in any form for 100 years. But now for the first time since its original publication, JD Press is proud to offer the complete Great Mystery and Adventure Series and its successor, the Famous Short Story Series. Thrill then to ten tales by the world's greatest authors, originally presented by comics innovator Wheeler-Nicholson and lovingly rendered by artist Nicholas Afonsky (Little Annie Rooney).
Included in this volume are essays providing in-depth historical context, written by comics historians Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson (granddaughter of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson) and Jim Davidson.
Davidson, Jim: - Jim Davidson is the founder and past president of the National Association for the Advancement of Perry Mason and former publisher/editor of the periodicals NAAPM Newsletter and Classic TV. His articles, interviews, and reviews have appeared in Films in Review, Filmfax, Tower Records' Pulse! magazine, and The TV Collector. He has contributed research to the books The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (Fifth Edition) by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh (Ballantine Books), Primetime Proverbs by Jack Mingo and John Javna (Harmony Books), Donna Reed: A Bio-Bibliography by Brenda Scott Royce (Greenwood Press), and was a member of the expert panel that ranked shows for The Best of Crime & Detective TV by Max Allan Collins and John Javna (Harmony Books). He has appeared on TV in The Case of the Courtroom Legends, a Showtime special about Perry Mason author Erle Stanley Gardner and star Raymond Burr, and was co-producer of the Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition DVD set from CBS-Paramount. He's the author of The Perry Mason Book: A Comprehensive Guide to America's Favorite Defender of Justice and maintains the websites Classic TV Info and JD's Comics History Hub. Jim attended the New England Conservatory of Music and is a professional jazz musician and retired employee of The Clorox Company.
Wheeler-Nicholson, Nicky: - Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson has been researching her grandfather Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson for more than 25 years. She has published DC Comics Before Superman (Hermes Press, 2018), Applying the Lasso of Truth to The Secret History of Wonder Woman (International Journal of Comic Art, 2018), The Texas-Siberia Trail (Off-Trail Publications, a reprint of the Major's pulps), and contributed an essay to the Famous 1st Edition reprint of New Fun #1 (DC Comics, 2020). She has written the comic stories Sondra of the Secret Service: The Cuban Affair (art by Lee Marrs, Aces Weekly, Volume 56) and Adventures in Comics: The Case of the Crazed Collector (art by Scott Larson, included in Meanwhile...A Comic Shop Anthology). She has appeared on Robert Kirkman's The Secret History of Comics on AMC.
