Alvin Schwartz (comics)
Alvin Stanley Schwartz | |
---|---|
Born | November 17, 1916 New York City, New York |
Died | October 28, 2011 Chesterville, Ontario | (aged 94)
Nationality | American |
Awards | Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing |
Alvin Stanley Schwartz (November 17, 1916 – October 28, 2011) was an American
Biography
Early life and career
Alvin Schwartz debuted in comics with an issue of Fairy Tale Parade in 1939. He then wrote extensively for Sheldon Mayer at All-American Publications and then for National Comics, two of the three companies which merged to form DC Comics.
Golden Age of comics books
Schwartz wrote his first Batman story in 1942, expanding into the Batman newspaper comic strip in August 1944 and the Superman strip two months later. Through 1952, he scripted for most of the company's newspaper strips. For rival Fawcett Comics, he wrote stories for Superman's chief competitor Captain Marvel.
1950s
Until ending his association with DC in 1958, Schwartz contributed comic-book scripts for such
Schwartz left DC after clashing repeatedly with the new Superman-line editor Mort Weisinger.[3]
Corporate work
After leaving DC, Schwartz went into corporate
Other writing
Schwartz wrote three novels for Arco Press, one of which, the detective story Sword of Desire, won praise for its takeoff on Wilhelm Reich's orgone therapy, a popular psychotherapeutic technique used during the 1940s and 1950s. His proto-Beat novel The Blowtop was published by Dial Press in 1948. Under the title Le Cinglé, it became a best-seller in France.
In 1968, Schwartz moved to
Later life and career
In 1997, Schwartz published an autobiography titled An Unlikely Prophet. In it, he wrote that Superman had attained the status of a tulpa, an entity that according to Buddhist beliefs attains reality solely by the act of imagination. Schwartz claimed he had actually met the superhero in a New York cab. In the mid-2000s, Schwartz wrote a weekly web column.
Schwartz and his wife lived in the rural village of Chesterville near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He died in 2011 of heart-related complications.[4][5]
Awards
Schwartz and writer-editor Harvey Kurtzman were awarded the 2006 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.
Bibliography
- The Blowtop (1948) ISBN 1-58754-007-X
- Sword of Desire (Arco 1952) under pseudonym Robert W. Tracy
- An Unlikely Prophet (1997) ISBN 0-9659521-2-6
- A Gathering of Selves (2006) ISBN 1-59477-109-X
References
- ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.)
Although the covers of World's Finest Comics had teased co-appearances of Batman and Superman for years, the first joint adventure of the two in the comic occurred in issue #71...written by Alvin Schwartz, pencilled by Curt Swan, and inked by Stan Kaye.
{{cite book}}
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Schwartz, Alvin (w), Swan, Curt (p), Kaye, Stan (i). "Batman - Double for Superman!" World's Finest Comics, no. 71 (July–August 1954).
- ^ Sangiacomo, Mike. "Superman Vet Had Write Stuff: Alviin Schwartz will make Rare Public Appearance and Discuss Years at DC," Cleveland Plain Dealer (Nov. 27, 1997).
- ^ Obituary
- ^ Mackay, Brad. "Alvin Schwartz (1916 – 2011)," Sequential (Nov. 21, 2011).