Emanuel Harry Demby was born December 12, 1919 in New York City. As a teenager he was a reporter for his high school newspaper. In 1936 he spent the summer visiting the South and wrote about his impression of racist policies in a published essay, “Southern Journey.” In 1938 his articles were a regular feature on WMCA radio. After graduation he produced his own radio program on WEVD called "Where Do We Go Tonight?" with advice to listeners for their evening's entertainment.
While primarily known in comics as a writer, in 1939 Emanuel Demby opened a comic book studio called Comic Supplement Incorporated at 17 East 45th Street in Manhattan. As the name of his business suggests, he hoped to break into the lucrative business of supplying editorial columns and comic strips to newspaper syndication, but he instead produced finished material for publishers Lev Gleason, Victor S. Fox, and Quality Comics. Demby wrote "Dollman" for Quality (1941), "Ghost Patrol" for National (1942), text features for Eastern Color. His Shop launched the careers of Joe Gallagher, Joe Edwards, and Norman Maurer. The studio closed in 1942 when he was drafted into the Army Air Force. During the war he finally won newspaper syndication with a feature called "A.F.F. CHAFF" all about army life, which was written and illustrated by soldiers.
After the war he wrote an adaptation of “Marco Polo” for Gilberton's Classics Illustrated (1946). Demby also wrote "Thrill fo the Week" for radio, and "Cavalcade of Music" and "World of Space" for television. In 1958 he produced the movie "Invisible Avenger" which he planned as a pilot for a TV series based on the radio and pulp ficiton character "The Shadow."
In the 1960’s Emanuel Demby worked in public relations and consumer research. He popularized the concept of “psychographics” (a combination of psychology and demographics) to create marketing based on personality traits.
During the 1970’s he ran MPI Marketing Research. In 1982 he founded Demby and Associates. He also promoted the first cable tv service.
Emanuel Demby married Anne Grace Hirsch and had two children, Ilsa Joan Demby (b. 1942) and Peter Lawrence Demby (b. 1947).
Emanuel H. Demby died at the age of seventy-five on March 26, 1995 in Flushing, Queens, NYC.
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DEMBY SHOP ARTISTS from 1939 - 1942
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1939
Emanuel Demby (writer)
Dave Berg
Joe Edwards
Lou Ferstadt
Joe Gallagher
Samm Schwartz
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1940
Emanuel Demby (writer)
Joe Gallagher
Samm Schwartz
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1941
Emanuel Demby (writer)
Joe Gallagher
Joe Kubert (apprentice)
Norman Maurer (apprentice)
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1942
Emanuel Demby (writer)
Joe Gallagher
Al Tyler
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