Paul Levitz

Paul Levitz

Levitz at Midtown Comics Times Square, May 22, 2010.
Born October 21, 1956 (1956-10-21) (age 55)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Editor, Publisher
Notable works Legion of Super-Heroes,
Batman

Paul Levitz (born October 21, 1956)[1] is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn and managing editor Dick Giordano, Levitz was responsible for hiring such writers as Marv Wolfman, John Byrne and Alan Moore, artists such as George Pérez and Keith Giffen, and editor Karen Berger, who contributed to the 1980s revitalization of the company's line of comic book heroes.

Contents

Early life

Levitz was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Hannah and Alfred Levitz. He attended Stuyvesant High School[2] during which time he co-wrote and published a comic fan magazine, The Comic Reader, which according to Levitz, was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine. The Comic Reader went on to win two Best Fanzine Comic Art Fan Awards.[3] One of Levitz's teachers, the future Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt,[4] was impressed enough with Levitz's work that he arranged for Levitz to appear on McCourt's brother's radio show.[5]

Career

During the course of his research for the fanzine, Levitz became well known at the offices of DC Comics, where in December 1972, editor Joe Orlando gave him his first freelance work, initially writing text pages and letter pages, and later working as a per diem assistant editor before writing stories. Levitz later studied business at New York University but took had no formal education in writing, other than a journalism course. He dropped out after three years in order to concentrate on his writing career.[5]

After serving as Joe Orlando's assistant editor, in 1976 Levitz "fulfilled a lifelong dream" by becoming the editor of Adventure Comics on the eve of his 20th birthday.[6] He also notably served as editor for the Batman line of comics. As a writer, Levitz is best known for his work on the title The Legion of Super-Heroes, which he wrote from 1977–1979 and 1981–1989. Levitz wrote All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 (1978), a treasury-sized special drawn by Mike Grell, in which longtime Legion members Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad were married.[7] Levitz and artists James Sherman and Joe Staton crafted "Earthwar" an five-issue storyline in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #241-245 (July-Nov. 1978).[8] He and Keith Giffen produced "The Great Darkness Saga", one of the best known Legion stories, in Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2, #290-294.[9] With artist Steve Ditko, Levitz co-created the characters Stalker[10] and the Prince Gavyn version of Starman.[11] He also wrote the Justice Society series in All Star Comics during the late 1970s after Gerry Conway left the book. He was the co-creator of the Earth-2 Huntress with artist Joe Staton[12] and of Lucien the Librarian with artist Nestor Redondo.

Levitz eventually became an editor, and served as vice president and executive vice president, before assuming the role of President in 2002.

In 2006, Levitz returned to writing the Justice Society with issue #82 of JSA, completing that volume before writer Geoff Johns' relaunch.

On September 9, 2009, it was announced that Levitz would step down as President and Publisher of DC Comics to serve as the Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant for the newly formed DC Entertainment,[13] and become the writer of both Adventure Comics vol. 2[14] and Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 6.[15]

Levitz mentioned in an August 2010 interview that he was also working on "my first genuine book."[16] His 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking (ISBN 9783836519816) was published by Taschen America, LLC in November 2010.[17]

Techniques and materials

Levitz is a Mac computer user.[16]

Personal life

Levitz has mentioned that he has children.[16]

Levitz has named the run of All-Star Comics featuring the Justice Society of America as his favorite. He names Roger Zelazny as his favorite science fiction writer, J.R.R. Tolkien as his favorite fantasy writer, David McCullough as his favorite history writer and Agatha Christie as his favorite mystery writer.[16]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comic Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5trAbNQWw. Retrieved December 12, 2010. 
  2. ^ Gustines, George Gene (2006-02-07). "DC Comics' Man Upstairs Readjusts His Writer's Cap". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/books/07levi.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved 2007-11-01. 
  3. ^ "Comic-Con International Special Guests," Comic-Con Magazine (Winter 2010), p. 42.
  4. ^ O'Shea, Tim. "Talking Comics with Tim" Comic Book Resources; September 20, 2010
  5. ^ a b Interview with Paul Levitz at Midtown Comics Times Square; YouTube; May 22, 2010
  6. ^ "Dateline: Adventure," Adventure Comics #449 (Jan./Feb. 1977).
  7. ^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. "Only an oversized treasury edition could have contained Superboy and the entire Legion of Super-Heroes' battle with the Time Trapper...and the long-awaited wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl...Legion favorites Paul Levitz and Mike Grell were up to the enormous challenge with the popular tale 'The Millennium Massacre'." 
  8. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 178: "[Paul Levitz] demonstrated his great affinity for the Legion...when he and artist James Sherman waged "Earthwar".
  9. ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 198 "When [Levitz] wrote "The Great Darkness Saga", a five-issue epic that pitted the Legion against one of the most notorious villains of DC's long history, he and artist Keith Giffen crafted the most famous Legion story of all time and became fast fan favorites."
  10. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 164: "This sword and sorcery title by scripter Paul Levitz and artist Steve Ditko epitomized the credo 'Be careful what you wish for.' The series' anti-hero was a nameless wanderer whose dreams of becoming a warrior brought him first slavery, then worse."
  11. ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 186: "The second [feature in Adventure Comics #467] debuted a new version of Starman by writer Paul Levitz and illustrator Steve Ditko."
  12. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 175: "DC Super-Stars #17 (December 1977) While writer Paul Levitz and artist Joe Staton introduced the Huntress to the JSA in this month's All Star Comics #69, they concurrently shaped her origin in DC Super-Stars."
  13. ^ Warner Bros. Creates DC ENTERTAINMENT To Maximize DC Brands, Newsarama. Retrieved 09 September 2009.
  14. ^ "Levitz Releases Letter of Resignation, Announced As "Adventure" Writer", Comic Book Resources September 9, 2009
  15. ^ McMillan, Graeme (January 14, 2010). "Paul Levitz Returns To The Future With Legion of Super-Heroes". io9. http://io9.com/5447430/. Retrieved January 14, 2010. 
  16. ^ a b c d Comics Buyer's Guide #1668, August 2010, Page 80
  17. ^ 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking Gustines, George Gene "Book Shelf ‘75 Years of DC Comics" The New York Times November 18, 2010 WebCitation archive

External links

Preceded by
Jenette Kahn		 President of DC Comics
2002–2009		 Succeeded by
Diane Nelson
Preceded by
Jenette Kahn		 Publisher of DC Comics
1989–2009		 Succeeded by
Dan DiDio and Jim Lee
Preceded by
Jim Shooter		 Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes writer
1977–1979		 Succeeded by
Gerry Conway
Preceded by
Roy Thomas		 Legion of Super-Heroes writer
1981–1989		 Succeeded by
Keith Giffen and Tom and Mary Bierbaum