I’m seven years old, in first grade, and my dad showed me an item in the New York Post (back in those days, it was a respected tabloid) that Batman was coming to television. I remember being so excited about this that I blurted it out in class, interrupting whatever math my teacher was trying […]
The best part of Baltimore Comic-Con is seeing old colleagues and friends, catching up, and trading stories (okay, gossip). I do my part by moderating panels and this year, I don’t have a particularly full schedule, although I will be panelist on two others, so it’s busy enough. If you happen to be at the […]
The sale of Diamond Comic Distributors this week is another seismic shift in the comic book industry. I have already seen a former DC Comics colleague, Rich Johnson, announce his firing. Two other good frieds remain employed—for now. It reminded me of my brief time working closely alongside Diamond while I was on staff at […]
I was at Farpoint this weekend and awoke Sunday to discover the news I had expected. The world lost KC Carlson on Saturday night. KC died from a combination of cancer and Alzheimer’s so my first thought was that he was finally no longer in pain and was at peace. The second thought was that […]
The world Peter David leaves behind is a webbed one. Like Spider-Man, whom he wrote for several years, Peter spun a web trapping unsuspecting people, until we all found how connected we were to one another. Social media is filled, since news broke of his dying in his sleep Saturday night, with stories and anecdotes, […]
I will be back at Trek Long Island this weekend, joining a coterie of fellow authors in addition to an impressive line-up of media guests, We open at 6 on Friday and traffic willing, I’ll be there. On Saturday, you can find me at my table, or on the following panels: 10:00-10:50 am, Pale B […]
DC and I parted company in January 2006, and that spring, writer/editor Lee Nordling reached out to me. As part of The Pack, a group of freelancers he collaborated with, he’d begun working with Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s Platinum Studios. He wanted to know if I was interested in doing some freelance editing for them, and […]
I love the Baltimore Comic-Con, a show that puts its love of all things comics ahead of all things media. It’s a great chance to catch up with peers and friends while keeping my eye out for the next great thing. As always, I will be a panel moderator while wandering the aisles and visiting […]
My friend Howard Weinstein has been asking me to write something original, and my free time has dwindled once I added teaching at MICA to my schedule. So, as I wrapped up work on Above the Ground 3 (coming in 2026, if not sooner) last summer, I swore to everyone within earshot that I was […]
Recently, I wrote about my time working with Jordan B. Gorfinkel and Avalanche Comics Entertainment. I ended by referencing Valiant Comics, intending to write about my multiple years of consulting with them. As I began to prepare this, it turned out that much of the email archive was gone, and mysteriously, my file on the […]
As I was between assignments in 2007, my old DC Comics colleague Jordan B. Gorfinkel reached out to me about working with his start-up, Avalanche Comics Entertainment. His goal was to produce custom comics for clients or work with them in handling transmedia exploitation of their Intellectual Property. For the next seven years or so, […]
Around the beginning of 2024, Randy Tischler invited me to be a juror for the 2024 Ringo Awards, which will be presented on September 21 at the Baltimore Comic-Con. I was going to be part of a quintet scattered around America, and I would read submissions and make my choices. I read comics and graphic […]
When I accepted the MICA teaching assignment, the deal with Deb would be that I wouldn’t do any freelance writing. So, I’ve slowed pursuing opportunities and deferred others to when school was not in session. The Winter break saw me research and write some 20,000 words for the forthcoming Superman: The Definitive History as I […]
With the arrival of May comes the conclusion of my second semester at MICA. Boy, did that rush by. It’s fascinating to witness the collective journey of our cohort. They start off slowly, gradually building momentum, and by Spring Break, find themselves complaining of exhaustion. They then gear back up, sometimes falling short of our […]
I am a child of the Silver Age. My touchstones and reference points are the DC and Marvel Comics of the era and the myriad of smaller publishers who populated the Bronze Age. When I lectured this past week on writing dialogue, all my visuals came from those eras, which was fresh to the students. […]
Adding Making Graphic Novels at MICA definitely made for some tiring weeks, but I was genuinely energized as I worked with the students on their 30-page stories. Only two flamed out, which is not a surprise. But, those who finished the work delivered some strong stories or chapters in their larger works. We were blessed […]
I’ve thought about this column long before the “How long have you been in comics” meme began circulating on social media. After all, today is a very special day for me. It was 40 years ago that I officially joined the staff at DC Comics, where I would stay for 16 wonderful years (returning a […]
Allan Asherman is a name familiar to older generations of comics and SF fans, but remained a relatively little known figure. He died on Friday after a serious fall and his passing should not go unnoticed. Allan was born April 21, 1947, poised to be the first television generation, raised on the live-action children’s fare, […]
I dearly love attending the Baltimore Comic-Con, largely because it has been an annual reunion with former colleagues and old friends. With its attention squarely on comic books, it’s a chance to immerse myself in my first love, seeing what’s new and hearing the buzz. This year will be a little different as I will […]
I’ve casually known creator Jose Villarrubia for decades, and back in March, I saw on Instagram that he lived in Baltimore, a fact that I had missed. When I said something about being in the same area, a series of dominoes began tumbling, resulting in a brand-new opportunity. The following day he reached out to […]
Sometime in June 1983, I was told Comics Scene was being canceled. My newly hired managing editor, Patrick Daniel O’Neill, would be laid off while I would be reassigned within Starlog Press. This reduced me to being the in-house traffic manager for the boxing and pro wrestling magazines being produced by freelance editors. I was […]
Now that it’s public, I am excited to talk about the novel I wrote last year. As you may recall, I was asked to step in and complete Paul Antony Jones’ This Alien Earth trilogy for Aethon Books. They were happy enough with the finished product that I was recommended to Matt Medney, CEO of […]
Returning to work on Tuesday, January 2 felt weird. There was a definite gloom in my corner of the offices. By then, I had used the holiday break to steel myself for getting fired. Deb was incredibly supportive, which helped tremendously. Given the pressure Bill Jemas had placed on Collected Editions, I stepped in and […]
The days were growing shorter as December settled in. All was humming along nicely, or so it seemed. The growing sense that something was off between me and Bill Jemas was definitely growing. I was in his office less and less often; he rarely popped his head into my office, a floor below. Unlike some […]
As November arrived, things continued to hum along although I was beginning to sense that it was soon my turn to be in Bill Jemas’ sights. The “issues” I spotted on a document months before had yet to be raised to me but as David Bogart settled in, Bill seemed to be involving him more […]
Sometimes, change can be both slow and quick. After a few weeks, we landed David Bogart, coming over from Harris Comics. He settled in as my Number Two and we set him up in space just outside my office, initially relegated to a cube since there weren’t enough offices for the executive growth Bill Jemas […]
After way too long, I will be attending a live, in-person convention this weekend. I’ll be returning to the Biltmore Comic-Con and with a slightly stripped down schedule, I will be honored to moderate five panels across the three days. Since the first quarter ends Thursday, we have Friday as a break so I get […]
Shagg Matthews, an online friend, reached out to me this week to tell me that the family of Xum Yukinori wanted me to have a copy of his privately printed Xum’s Who. Subtitled, Xum Yukinori’s Addendum to the Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. Xum had passed away last December leaving behind a legacy I […]
SEPTEMBER Cons were over and it was back to getting the books out on time. My team settled in and were executing Bill Jemas’ plans. This meant Chet Krayewski was out securing deals, Fred Pagan was finding economies in the production and printing process, and Ben Abernathy and the collected editions team were scaling up […]
Having survived the San Diego Comic-Con, planning was nearing completion for a stripped-down appearance at WizardWorld in Chicago. Bill “The Bullet” Rosemann would head up our presence there while I tended to matters at the new offices. The first real order of business was getting our new production director, Fred Pagan, up and running. Before […]
As the second half of 2001 opened, Marvel had severed ties with the Comics Code Authority and relocated to new quarters. The company was enjoying superlative reviews and sales from the one-two punch of the revitalized Amazing Spider-Man and New X-Men. President Bill Jemas was having a ball. His outsized persona seemed to enjoy tweaking […]
June was perhaps the craziest month I spent at Mighty Marvel. First, with every passing day, we were ramping up for the move. Packing had begun, the film was being gathered to be shipped to a warehouse in Yuma. Marvel was showing off its three-story booth at the Licensing Show and the convention planning was […]
The spring definitely felt like things were gaining momentum. There was excitement in Editorial as we got to see what J. Michael Straczynski brought to Spider-Man and in May, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Tim Townsend brought fresh life to New X-Men. Joe was eager to begin promoting Mark Millar’s The Ultimates and was having […]
April was a pause. We were on the cusp of releasing buzz-worthy books, the con season was being planned, we had a movie about to open, and anticipation filled the air. The pieces were all being moved on several fronts as the company prepared some figurative and literal moves. After the excitement over the previous […]
By March, I had settled in to my new role at Marvel. Most days saw me wandering from office to office, checking in with editors or production or lettering or collected editions. I had become a familiar figure, especially in offices where things were running less than smoothly. That usually meant brainstorming with Mark Powers […]
When I arrived at Marvel in early January 2001, the company was still recovering from the bankruptcy battle that left the company in the hands of ToyBiz owner Ike Perlmutter. In 1999, Marvel Knights, the imprint run by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, made more noise with their four titles than most of the line […]
All of a sudden, I find myself looking back. The other day it was the 49th anniversary of my attending the first Star Trek Convention. This month marks 37 years since I joined DC Comics full-time and 20 since I had my less-than-marvelous year at Marvel Comics. It was late November, if I recall, that […]
I think I first met Marty Pasko as the ubiquitous letter hack, nicknamed Pesky Pasko by editor Julie Schwartz. He was a familiar name to me for some time and then suddenly, he was compiling Julie’s letter pages. I still recall his tender editorial reply to the sister of one reader, James T. McCoy, who […]
In late 1981, just about the time Comics Scene was debuting, I got a call from Jim Shooter, inviting me to lunch. The Marvel Editor-in-Chief met me with Jim Starlin in tow to discuss the company’s new creator-owned contracts, which enticed Starlin back to the company. The first work to benefit from this would be […]
As 2019 ends, and the final year of the decade begins (at least that’s how I count it), it’s time to take stock and judge the year as a whole. Deb and I had a relatively quiet, relatively good year. We saw plenty of television, a handful of plays and a bunch of movies, did […]
I completed the manuscript for The Flash: 100 Greatest Moments in mid-July, ahead fo schedule, and DC Comics was quick to review the manuscript. Their comments, delivered by Andrew Martino, an assistant editor who I knew long before through two different mutual acquaintances, were cogent and helpful. The manuscript is off to copy editing while […]
As you know, I have been spent much of my writing time thelast year or so on the 100 Greatest Moments series for Chartwell Books, adivision of Quarto. I have been deeply gratified by the largely positive responsethey have received from reviewers and readers. The sales were better than Quarto anticipated so after thefirst three […]
Back in late November, I received a call from my publisher atChartwell Books. Apparently, sales have been so strong, and the reviews so superlative,on the first three 100 Greatest Momentsbooks, they negotiated a deal with DC Comics for three more books. She wantedto know if I was interested in writing them. What do you think? […]
A parent didn’t show for a conference so I checked in with the rest of the world and discovered Stan the Man had left for Valhalla. I had wall to wall meetings until a little while ago and as I drove home, I finally had time to process his loss and his place in the […]
One reason I have come to love living in Maryland is because each year I get to attend the Baltimore Comic-Con, a large, wonderful show about comic books. I don’t book a table so I can wander freely and visit with old friends wherever they may scattered around the convention center.I’ve become a regular and my Westfield Comics […]
My school year was done at the beginning of June and the students report tomorrow morning for the first classes of the new school year. I’ve been back in the building since last Wednesday and will admit that I was lesson planning in bits and pieces throughout the summer.But it was also a time to […]
There’s a lot being written about Marvel’s cinematic universe turning ten this summer. It’s a cause for celebration, especially considering their track record, and creative accomplishments. For a number of reasons, we couldn’t see Avengers: Infinity War opening weekend (6:40 p.m. this Friday), and we’re very excited to see a cinematic experience.However, this week, and […]
I was six and stuck in bed, once again suffering from bronchitis. For whatever reason, my mother thought I would like a comic book for company and brought home a Superman comic. The year was 1964 and I wish I could remember which my first comic was.What I do know is that I was hooked.The […]
Sometime in April, the actual 80th anniversary of Action Comics #1 will arrive but the celebration is already underway. Last night at the Library of Congress, the Washington Post’s David Bettencourt interviewed Paul Levitz and Dan Jurgens before a few hundred interested people. Since this was nearby, I was invited to hang out with the […]
Work has been progressing on Justice League: 100 Greatest Moments, the first in a three volume set from Chartwell Books. Design work on the interiors has been continuing since I first announced the project, but now I have a DC-approved cover to show off.It’s a fine illustration of the current incarnation and should look just […]
With 2017 winding down, I am taking some time to look back and evaluate what sort of professional year it was.As the year began, I was out of work, seeking a school that wanted me fulltime and subbing most days at St. Vincent Pallotti. March saw me do a four-week stint at New Town High […]
You can’t buy it yet, nor is there a final cover, but over at Amazon, my next project has been posted. The title they have is The 100 Greatest Moments From The Justice League, which has since been modified to Justice League: The 100 Greatest Moments. It’s a 304-page hardcover from Chartwell Books, showing a […]
As you know, my Captain America novel has been out a week. I haven’t heard any feedback yet but I wanted to have this available to those curious to the various shout outs, references, and details. I had fun mining the Marvel mythos for people, places, and events. Hopefully, it makes for a better read […]
I first pitched a Captain America novel on October 31, 2016. The first notion was considered too political and controversial, as was the tweaked second pitch. I finally tried something entirely different and that met with approval from Marvel. A revised outline was submitted for review in January and in February, an expanded outline was […]
In January 1966, I was seven years old and thrilled beyond belief when Batman debuted on ABC. I was fairly new to comics but was already drawn to the Caped Crusader and bought every wacky thing about the live-action series.West had the right vocal tone, the right demeanor so his ultra-straight portrayal worked for my […]
Once the chapter by chapter outline for Captain America; The Never-Ending Battle was approved by both Marvel Comics and Joe Books, I set myself a schedule to ensure that I could have the book done in time for at least one beta reader and still meet the June 15 deadline.I allocated 20 writing days for […]
Once I met the Marvel Super-Heroes as a series of animated adventures playing weeknights at 7 p.m. on channel 9, I quickly fell in love with them. Ever since, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, sticking with them through great stories and downright lousy […]
I’ve heard good things about the Great Philadelphia Comic-Con so when my pal Phil Guinta arranged for Crazy 8 Press to be invited as guests this year, I jumped at the chance.As it turns out, I will be joined this weekend by Peter David, Aaron, Rosenberg, and Russ Colchamiro instead of the full seven-member team. […]
Once upon a time, I was DC Comics’ Editorial Coordinator, responsible for overseeing lots of things including getting all the work copied and materials shipped to our talent around the world. During my tenure, I had the good fortune for having a reasonably good eye for talent and hired quite a number of people who […]
I like to be busy. There are some stretches where time hangs heavy without an active project, and I find that I procrastinate rather than really use the time for personal projects. That’s certainly one of the reasons I resolved to write a short story a month, something to keep me focused.Then there are days […]
This wasn’t the year I was expecting nor am I in a place I ever imagined for myself at 58 but if I have proven anything over time it’s that I can roll with the punches and keep moving.EducationIn the first part of the year, I watched my hopes for staying at Owings Mills High […]
Last night I finished watching the final part of the CW’s DC Universe crossover event. I give the production team kudos for trying something so ambitious. The mainstream reviews fell all over themselves to praise the four-parter and the ratings were sky high so this can be seen a legitimate commercial success.It also means this […]
This was sent to me by Sarah at Personal Income, a financial management company that at least tries to talk in language most people understand. I thought it was fun and was willing to share it with the understanding that I do not endorse their services or have been paid to run this. Anyone would […]
This has been a nostalgic summer on a number of levels, starting with all the attention paid to the Suicide Squad. The comic has endured and been a highlight in many people’s memories. John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell, Karl Kesel, and I have previously talked about our work way back in Back Issue! #26.On his Facebook […]
When I proposed the title of Suicide Squad to John Ostrander, neither one of us knew what would happen. For all we knew, DC wouldn’t be interested. Instead, they were and it was rolled into the Legends miniseries so it would spinout, much as The Flash and Justice League would.And now, look, all three are […]