In 1935 Jack Binder was drawing story illustration for the pulp magazine Weird Tales. In 1937 he began to work in comics at the Harry Chesler Shop. He worked there for three years and became art director. In 1940 he joined with his brothers Earl and Otto to open an art studio at 163 West 23rd Street, a four story wooden loft building that had no heat or elevator, where he drew story illustrations for pulp magazines Astonishing Stories, Stardust, Science Fiction Quarterly, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and Captain Future.
At that same time Jack Binder opened his first comic art shop in the same space. The first artist he hired was Bill Ward (1919-1998). Much of their work was on assignment for Fawcett Comics.
In 1941 Binder moved to Englewood, New Jersey, where he lived on property that included an old horse stable, which he converted into the art studio of the Binder Shop, to which all of his employees commuted.
The Binder Shop was probably the most enjoyable of the shops to work for. Some of the artists had gone to Art School at Pratt together, such as Ken Bald, Kurt Schaffenberger, and Bill Ward. They were the most assembly-line of the early shops. Each of the tasks was broken down for every page, involving as many as six different people passing around finished pages with layout, pencil, background, inking, and lettering.
In October of 1942 Binder moved the shop back to 507 Fifth Avenue on 42nd Street in NYC, where he hired illustrators such as Harry Daugherty, Walter Popp, Sam Nisenson, Ernest Townsend, and George Hausman. Jack Binder keep a detailed record of his shop personnel, which was a big help to researchers, since so many people contributed to each page and very little of it was signed.
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BINDER SHOP ARTISTS from 1940 - 1943
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1940
Jack Binder
Dan Fanshaw
Red Holmdale
Bernard Klein
Rod Parkinson
Al Plastino
E.C. Stoner
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1941
Ken Bald
Al Bare
David Beens
Jack Binder
Bob Boyajian
Memphis Brooks
Bob Butts
Nate Champlin
Vince Costello
Sid Davignon
Vic Dowd
Al Duca
Dan Fanshaw
Frank Frollo
Gus Hamden
Ray Harford
Arnold Hicks
A.C. Hollingsworth
Red Holmdale
Andre LeBlanc
Bob McCay
David Moneypenny
Nick Panesis
Jimmy Potter
Pete Rissg
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1942
Ray Abel
Jack Alderman
Gerald Altman (backgrounds)
Harry Anderson
Ken Bald
Al Bare
Dan Barry
Jack Binder
Bernard Borne (inking)
H Butler
Bob Butts
R Canales (inking)
Nick Cassale
Nate Champlin
Walter Chapman
Charles Coll
Vince Costello
Al Costi (backgrounds)
Lincoln Cross
Harry Daugherty
Martin DeMuth (lettering)
Vic Dowd
R Fairfield
Dan Fanshaw
Leonard Frank
August Froehlich
R. L. Golden
Gus Hamden
George Harrison
G Hausman (backgrounds)
Jack Hearne (backgrounds)
Arnold Hicks
June Hill (backgrounds)
Red Holmdale
Carmine Infantino (backgrounds)
Ken Jackson
Gloria Kamen
Gil Kane
Betty Kathe (backgrounds)
Frank Koste (inking)
Alex Kostuk (backgrounds)
G Kritsch (lettering)
J Landry (lettering)
Charles Lapasopa
Andre LeBlanc
Pauline Loth
Ray Lufkin
George Marko
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1943
Harry Anderson
Phil Bard
Jack Binder
Bernard Boerne
Ann Brewster
D.M. Brioso
R Canales
Rose Cerney
Lincoln Cross
Charles Coll
Harry Daugherty
Nick De Stephano (backgrounds)
H.C. Ellison
Leonard Frank
G. Hausman (backgrounds)
Arnold Hicks
Carmine Infantino
Frank Koste (inking)
Kurt Menczer (backgrounds)
Munson Paddock
Pete Riss
David Rose (backgrounds)
Chris Rule
Art Scott
Marcia Snyder
Jimmy Thompson
George Thurston
Clem Weisbecker
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