| Julius Schwartz |
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| 1915 births | |
| 2004 deaths | |
| american comics writers | |
| comic book editors | |
| deaths by pneumonia | |
| eisner award winners | |
| people from the bronx | |
| science fiction editors | |
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Julius "Julie" Schwartz ( June 19 , 1915 – February 8 , 2004 ) was a Comic Book and Pulp Magazine Editor , and a Science Fiction Agent and prominent Fan . He was born in The Bronx , New York . In 1932, Schwartz co-published (with Mort Weisinger and Forrest J. Ackerman ) '' Time Traveller '' one of the first science fiction Fanzine s. Schwartz and Weisinger also founded the Solar Sales Service literary agency (1934-1944) where Schwartz represented such writers as Alfred Bester , Robert Bloch , Ray Bradbury , and H. P. Lovecraft , including some of Bradbury's first published work and Lovecraft's last. Schwartz helped organize the first World Science Fiction Convention in 1939. In 1944 he became an editor at All-American Comics (which later merged into DC Comics ). He recruited Bester to contribute to the company's line of comic books. In the 1950s he oversaw the revival of Superhero es such as The Flash , Green Lantern , Hawkman and The Atom , which led to the Silver Age Of Comic Books . This revival has been cited as an inspiration for the transformation of Marvel Comics in the 1960s. The Schwartz-edited line of titles was regarded by many as being more creative and dynamic than other DC titles of the time, notably the Superman line edited by Mort Weisinger . In the 1960s, Schwartz began editing the Batman titles, helping craft the "new look" Batman which indirectly led to the '' Batman '' television series. He also helped writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams come to prominence at DC Comics. From 1971 to 1985 Schwartz was the editor of the Superman titles, helping to modernize the settings of the books and move them away from "gimmick" stories to stories with more of a character-driven nature. As an editor, Schwartz was heavily involved in the writing of the stories published in his magazines. He worked out the plot with the writer in story conferences. The writer would then break down the plot into a panel-by-panel continuity, and write the dialogue and captions. Schwartz would in turn polish the script, sometimes rewriting extensively. Schwartz featured as a character in the '' Ambush Bug '' titles by Keith Giffen , which he also edited. Schwartz retired from DC in 1986 after 42 years at the company, but continued to be active in comics and science fiction . In 1998, , Yoshitaka Amano , Alice Cooper , Will Eisner , Harlan Ellison , Neil Gaiman , Carmine Infantino , Anne McCaffrey , and Jim Steranko . Schwartz died on February 8 , 2004 , at the age of 88, after being hospitalized for Pneumonia . He received a great deal of recognition over the course of his career, including the 1962 Alley Award for Best Editor, and the Shazam Award for Superior Achievement by an Individual in 1972 for bringing the Shazam Family back into print. Although Schwartz has gotten praise for his creative endeavors, some criticisms of his behavior towards women came out after his demise. ''The Comics Journal '' printed an article which contained female professionals (including Colleen Doran , Jo Duffy , and Jill Thompson ) reporting some disturbing behaviour of Sexual Harassment after the death of his wife. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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