Frank Z. Temerson

Frank Z. Temerson

Frank Z. Temerson (July 4, 1890 - July 27, 1963) was a comic book publisher who founded Helnit Publishing, the first company to license the Green Hornet franchise for comic book publishing. Helnit produced six issues of Green Hornet Comics between December 1940 and August 1941, after which Harvey Comics picked up the license and continued the series. Temerson directly oversaw and edited the six issues that Helnit produced.

Early life

Frank Zoilett Temerson was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Jacob and Mindel "Minnie" Temerson. He was the third of seven children. His father moved to the United States in 1891. The rest of the family followed a year later, traveling on the SS Rhaetia. They settled in Birmingham, Alabama, where a cousin lived. Jacob and Mindel were both of Jewish ancestry and the family attended the local Temple Emanual synagogue.

Career

Early career

Jacob became the proprietor of a dry goods store and the Temerson children attended local public schools and each entered the work force after completing eighth grade. By 1910, Frank was working as a salesman in his father's store. Jacob passed away in 1912 and, by 1913, Frank had relocated to Tennessee where he was enrolled at Chattanooga College of Law, a school which provided basic legal training but was not accredited by the American Bar Association. A year later, Frank was listed as a lawyer with offices in Chattanooga, despite no record of his having completed high school, undergraduate college, or passing the state bar exam. By 1915, he has returned to Birmingham where he practiced law but, by 1917, he had relocated to Detroit. He was drafted into the army in 1918 where he served in the 304th Tank Battalion. He was honorably discharged the following year and returned to Birmingham, where he worked at the local army hospital. In 1920, the rabbi of his Temerson family's synagogue passed away, and Frank reconnected with the rabbi's nephew, Isaac Wise Ullman. Frank had begun traveling to major cities as a buyer for the family dry goods store and Ullman was also in the distribution business.

Comic book industry career

By the time the 1929 stock market crash hit,  Temerson and Ullman were prosperous business associates and jointly owned multiple printing and publication companies. The November 22, 1935 issue of The New York Times reported on the newly founded Ultem Publications leasing office space. The company name was a derived from the first syllables of Ullman and Temerson's last names. In 1937,  Ultem purchased Chesler Publications and entered the nascent comic book industry with fourt short-lived titled: Funny Pages, Funny Picture Stories, Star Comics, and Star Ranger. While Ultem only published comic books for five months, Temerson saw potential in the industry and formed a number of other comic publishing companies. He and Ullman formed Brookwood Publishing Co., and he later formed Tem Publishing Co., Inc. and Nita Publishing Co., Inc., all of which also enjoyed brief forays into the comic book publishing industry.

On June 27, 1940, Tem entered into an agreement with The Green Hornet, Inc. to create a series of stand-alone comic book stories. However, Tem ceased publishing around September of that year, and Temerson formed Helnit Comics to publish the Green Hornet series. As such, the contract with Green Hornet Inc. was amended in October to include Helnit. Helnit later published additional adventures of Cat-Man, a character who had originated at Tem, and original characters Captain Aero and Captain Fearless. The first issue of Green Hornet Comics displayed a December 1940 publication date and was released in November, preceded by a radio ad campaign. That debut issue sold 213,169 copies of a 300,000 print run. Meanwhile, one or more of Temerson's companies had become indebted to the Holyoke Publishing Company. Helnit sold Green Hornet Comics to Harvey Comics, whom Temerson had previously sold Brookwood's Speed Comics to. Holyoke also agreed to temporarily publish Cat-Man and Captain Aero until Helnit could pay off Temerson's debt. As such, while some sources erroneously state Holyoke as being synonymous with Helnit, or having had a hand in publishing Green Hornet' Comics, neither is actually true. Helnit's final comic book issue was Cat-Man Comics #11, cover dated January 1942. and Temerson continued his involvement in the comic book industry through other companies.

Later life and death

In 1942, Temerson registered for the World War II draft at age fifty-five, although he was never summoned to duty. He also attempted to break into the radio and television broadcasting industry, although this venture ultimately proved unsuccessful. He died in New York City on July 27, 1963 at age 70. He is interred at Knesses Israel Cemetery in Birmingham, Alabama.