Otto Binder

Born in Bessemer, Michigan on August 26, 1911, Otto Binder began writing comics in 1939 in order to supplement his income as an editor at Otis Klein's literary office in New York. His brother Jack was the foreman at Harry "A" Chesler Studio, which provided companies like Timely Comics (later Marvel) with finished material for their books. Binder wrote scripts for Dan Hastings, Power Nelson, The Black Owl, and Captain America while in Chesler's employ. In 1941, Binder moved over to Fawcett Publications, where he became the primary writer on Captain Marvel. When the series was discontinued in 1953 as the result of a lawsuit filed by DC Comics, Binder moved on to other companies such as Gold Key, Timely, Quality, and even DC, where he co-created the Legion of Super-Heroes with Mort Weisinger. Although he only wrote four actual Legion stories (three if you discount the first appearance of Insect Queen in Superboy # 124), Binder wrote what was argueably their most important appearance -- their first in Adventure Comics # 247. He left comics in 1968 when he and a group of fellow creators were dismissed by DC Comics after asking for basic health benefits. He then returned to his first writing occupation: prose science fiction. Otto Binder died on October 14, 1974 in Chestertown, New York.

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