Monday, April 4, 2016

Comics: Zoltan and Terry Szenics, Letterers and Artists


A CHRONOLOGY


Zoltan Michael Szenics
Birth: April 9, 1915, New York, New York
John Szenics, father, and Emma Chopota, mother, were Hungarian emigrants. Szenics’ full name, birth and death information and parents’ names are from the Social Security Death Index and Social Security Applications and Claims Index at Ancestry.com.

1915 New York State Census
Name / Age
John Szenics, 28 [Wood Worker]
Emma Szenics, 23
Zoltan Szenics, 2 months

241 East 73 Street
Manhattan, New York City


World War I
Szenics’ father signed his draft card on June 5, 1917. His address was 318 East 70th Street in Manhattan, New York City.

Terezia / Theresa Woik

Birth: December 26, 1919, Pestszenterz, Hungary
Her parents were Julious Woik, and Emma Turk. Names, birth and death information are from the Social Security Death Index and Social Security Applications and Claims Index at Ancestry.com. 

1920 United States Federal Census
Name / Age
John Szenics, 33 [Wood Worker/Automobile]
Emma Szenics, 29
Zoltan Szenics, 4
Elsie Szenics, 3

1420
Queens, New York

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
(New York)
August 18, 1926
Humane Club.
Zolton [sic] Szenics

Puzzle Club.
Zolton [sic] Szenics

Literary Club.
Zolton [sic] Szenics

Art Club.
Zolton [sic] Szenics
































Long Island Daily Press 
(Jamaica, New York)
June 28, 1929
Large Class at P.S. 108 Get Their Diplomas
Arthur A. Gargan, Legion Commander, Addresses Pupils
Commencement exercises of P. S. 108, 108th street and 109th avenue, Richmond Hill, were held in the school auditorium. Florence Wolovich was the salutatorian, Ruth Dawson valedictorian. Pearl Powell, 8B3 gave a recitation; violin solo by Zolten [sic] Szencis and Charles O’Hara. There were songs by the graduates, and an address by Arthur A. Gargan, commander of A. Gordon Webster post, 951 A.L….

The graduates were: …Zolten [sic] Szenics…
































1930 United States Federal Census
Name / Age
John Szenics, 43
Emma Szenics, 38
Elsie Szenics, 13
Zoltan Szenics, 15
104-17 115th Street
Queens, New York

Long Island Daily Press
(Jamaica, New York)
June 2, 1930




















Long Island Daily Press 
(Jamaica, New York)
June 2, 1933
2,000 Witness Graduation at John Adams High School
Rabbi Arthur W. Neulander Gives Baccalaureate Sermon
Development of a social spirit among students, in order that they might participate in outer life to the fullest degree possible, was stressed last night by Rabbi Arthur Neulander of Congregation Beth Israel, Richmond Hill, at the graduation exercises of John Adams High School, Ozone Park.

A total of 335 students were presented with diplomas by Dr. William Clarke, principal. The large group offered a startling contrast to observers, who had attended the first commencement in January, 1932, when less than 50 were graduated….

General course graduates were: …Zoltan Szenics...


Passenger List
A New York passenger list had, on line three, Therese Woik, who sailed on the Berengaria, on March 26, 1936, from Cherbourg, France. She arrived April 1, 1936, in New York City, then joined her uncle, A. Goldsult [?], at Bay Lawn Avenue, Long Island, New York.

Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson

Tom Sito
University Press of Kentucky, 2006
...On Thursday, May 6, [1937] Max [Fleischer] fired thirteen more artists because of their union activities: Harold Abbey, Edward McCarthy, Martin Nadel, Eli Levitan, Sophie Korff, Zoltan Szenics, Sam Robinson, Beatrice Skolnick, Ellen Jensen, Monroe Halsey, Betty Palesak…

The New York Times
October 2, 1937
Pickets Held in Scuffle
8 Arrested, 1 Hurt in Melee With Police Over Number Marching
Sixteen pickets engaged in a minor scuffle with police yesterday afternoon at 1:30 o’clock in front of 1,600 Broadway, offices of Max Fleischer Co., makers of animated cartoons. One picket was slightly injured and eight others were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. The disturbance attracted 350 persons, who tied up pedestrian traffic between Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Streets for several minutes.

Sergeant Emil Skala of the West Forty-seventh Street station requited the pickets to limit their group to ten or face arrest. They refused and Skala phoned for the patrol wagon. The scuffle began when the wagon arrived. Zolten [sic] Szenics, 25 years old, of 104-15 115th Street, Richmond Hill, Queens, received slight cuts on the forehead.

The pickets were arraigned in the West Side Court before Magistrate Frank Oliver, who postponed the case to next Wednesday. They were paroled in the custody of their lawyer, Martin Popper.

Long Island Daily Press
(Jamaica, New York)
November 19, 1938
Curtains to Adorn Windows of New Love Nest
While her bridal attendants looked on, Elsie Ssenics of Richmond Hill, who will be married Thanksgiving Day to Joseph Sutta of Locust Manor, tried her new kitchen curtains, one of the gifts she received at a shower given in the home of Ann Kemper of 107-07 110th street. Left to right, are Anne Urgo of Richmond Hill, Miss Kemper, Miss Szenics, Theresa Woik of Woodside and Petra Schertler of Manhattan. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Szenics of 104-15 115th street.































Long Island Daily Press 
(Jamaica, New York)
November 26, 1938
SUTTA—SZENICS
Elsie Szenics, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Szenics of 104-15 115th street. Richmond Hill, was married Thursday afternoon at St, Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Manhattan, to Joseph Sutta, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Sutta of 117-19 168th street, Locust Manor.

The newlyweds left on a wedding trip after a reception in Manhattan. They will live next door to the Szenics.

The bride designed her own wedding gown and the ensembles of her attendants. Her gown was of white taffeta, fashioned with a tight bodice and full skirt, and her tulle veil was draped, around the face, pointed at the back of the head and fastened to gardenias. Her bouquet was also of gardenias.

Petra Schertler of Manhattan, the maid of honor, wore a frock of old rose triple sheer crepe, also made in the old fashioned mode, with dubonnet accessories, flowers in her hair and a Colonial bouquet. Anne Urgo and Ann Kemper of Richmond Hill and Theresa Woik of Woodside, the bridesmaids, were dressed alike in gowns of changeable blue and flame taffeta, made with hooped ruffled skirts, dubonnet accessories, and plumed caps. They carried Colonial bouquets.

The bride's brother, Zolton [sic], came from his home in Miami, Fla., to be best man. The ushers were Gilbert Reinerstein of South Ozone Park and Theodore Chapota and Joseph Jonas of Manhattan.

The bride, a designer, was graduated from Jamaica High School, Manhattan Industrial High School and the Central School of Costume Design, where she won a number of medals for general scholarship and design. Mr. Sutta was educated in Chicago and in Europe. He is in the restaurant business in Manhattan.
















1940 United States Federal Census
Name / Age
John Szenics, 52 [Automobile Mechanic]
Emma Szenics, 49
Zoltan Szenics not yet found in 1940 census.
104-15 115th Street
Queens, New York

Name / Age
Louis Weiss, 32
Blanche Weiss, 31
Gary Weiss, 5
Susan Weiss, 3
Theresa Woik, 22 [Lodger who was a domestic worker at a private home.]
107-21 Lefferts Boulevard
Queens, New York


Alter Ego
Volume 3, #12, January 2002
Quality Control
A Conversation with Gill Fox – Artist, Writer, and Editor of Quality Comics Group
Fox: ...Well, I pulled in Tony Di Preta to letter, and Zully Szenics, too. They began to help me. Zully would help check art and proofread scripts, but he mostly lettered. His wife became a letterer, too. They were married because of me. Both were Hungarian. He was living with his mother and father and I’d go up there to visit. Once, we were sitting in his room and I saw a girl passing the doorway. I said, “Who’s that?” Zully said, “That’s a girl who came from Hungary to help my mother.” I asked, “Did you ever look at her? She’s beautiful!” Well, a year later they were married. Her name was Terry, and the four of us used to vacation together.

Zully came back from WWII and went to art school for nine years on the G.I. Bill. I had met him at Fleischer’s in the inking department, and he was funny as hell. He also inked for us, but he couldn’t create. Zully would set an alarm clock and letter a page before that clock went off. It used to break us up!


Zip Comics
#39, August 1943

Script: Ed Goggin
Pencils: Harry Sahle
Inks: Zoltan Szenics
































Archie Comics

#4, September-October 1943
Script: Ed Goggin
Pencils: Harry Sahle
Inks: Terry Szenics
































Heritage Auctions
Zoltan and Terry Szenics original artwork

Petition for Naturalization
Theresa Woik Szenics formerly Terezia Woik
237 East 54th Street, Manhattan, New York City

Married May 3, 1942
Naturalized February 10, 1944

Witnessed by Zoltan Michael Szenics and Elsie S. Sutta
Women and the Comics
Trina Robbins, ‎Catherine Yronwode
Eclipse Books, 1985

...Another comic book artist of that period, who only worked on humor features, was Terry Cloik [sic]. Working for the female publisher Rae (also known as Ray) Herman at Orbit Comics, she inked the teen humor series Patches. Shortly after that, she married Zoltan Szenics, a comic book letterer and artist. It would be years before her name appeared again, but in the 1960s, as Terry Szenics, she was lettering comics for Marvel.

[Patches was published beginning in 1945, nearly three years after Terry’s marriage (see above Petition for Naturalization).]
Zoltan Terry Szenics
Born 1947, New York

Grand Comics Database
Zoltan Szenics
Terry Szenics

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999
Zoltan Szenics
Terry Szenics

Board of Elections of the City of New York
(City Record Supplement: Transcript of Enrollment Books)
1958

Szenics, Zoltan Đś, 104-13 115th st 744392—D[emocrat]
Szenics, Theresa, 104-13 115th st 744474—D[emocrat]
#9, July 1967
Script: Stan Lee (Plot); Larry Lieber (Script)
Pencils: Joe Sinnott
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Colors: Stan Goldberg
Letters: Terry Szenics

Third Series, Volume 23, Part 1, Number 1, Section 1, Books and Pamphlets, January-June 1969
Flash, Crash, and Glow, Electricity in a Bulb (Filmstrip) Troll Associates. 43 fr., color, 35 mm. (Learn-about filmstrip library) Written by Allan Maldonado; illustrated by Zoltan Szenics. © Troll Associates, Inc.; 9Jan69; AA9017.


Terry Szenics

Death: April 6, 1995, Brooksville, Florida

St. Petersburg Times
(Florida)
April 8, 1995
Szenics, Theresa W., 75, of Spring Hill, died Thursday [April 6, 1995] at home. Born in Hungary, she came here six years ago from Bergen County, N.J. She was a retired commercial artist and a Catholic. She was a member of the Hungarian Cultural Club, Spring Hill. Survivors include her husband, Zoltan; two sons, Zoltan T., Chile, and Jonathan, Flemington, N.J.; a brother, Julius Woik, Switzerland; and four grandchildren. Turner Funeral Home, Spring Hill.

The Tampa Tribune
(Florida)
April 8, 1995
Theresa W. Szenics, 75, of Spring Hill died Thursday [April 6, 1995] at home. A native of Hungary, she came to this area six years ago from Bergen County, N.J. She was a retired commercial artist, a member of the Hungarian Cultural Club of Spring Hill and a Catholic. She is survived by her husband Zoltan; two sons, Zoltan T. of Chili and Jonathan of Flemington, N.J.; brother Julius Woik of Switzerland; and four grandchildren. Turner Funeral Homes, Spring Hill Chapel.

Zoltan Szenics

Death: June 15, 1995, Brooksville, Florida

St. Petersburg Times
(Florida)
June 19, 1995
Szenics, Zoltan M., 80, of Spring Hill, died Thursday [June 15, 1995] at Columbia Regional Medical Center at Bayonet Point. Born in New York City, he came here seven years ago from Bergen County, N.J., and was a retired commercial artist and a U.S. Army veteran. He was a member of the Hungarian Cultural Club and attended St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. Survivors include two sons, Zoltan, Chile, and Jonathan, Flemington, N.J.; a sister, Elizabeth Sutta; and four grandchildren. Turner Funeral Homes, Spring Hill.

The Tampa Tribune
(Florida)
June 19, 1995
p3: Zoltan M. Szenics, 80, of Spring Hill died Thursday [June 15, 1995] at Bayonet Point Medical Center in Hudson. A native of New York, he moved to this area seven years ago from Bergen County, N.J. He was a retired commercial artist, a member of the Hungarian Cultural Club, a U.S. Army veteran, and attended St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. He is survived by two sons, Zoltan T. of Chile and Jonathan of Flemington, N.J.; a sister, Elizabeth Sutta; and four grandchildren. Turner Funeral Homes, Spring Hill chapel.


 
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3 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying these entries about various old-time letterers. Any chance of looking at the Rosen Brothers, Sam and Joe?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm really enjoying this article.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This was fantastic - thank you so much. Terry Szenics was a brilliant inker - no one did a better job on Harry Lucey than her. I had searched multiple times for information on her, with very little luck. She isn't given the credit she deserves in this industry.

    ReplyDelete