| Steve Gerber |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT STEVE GERBER | |
| 1947 births | |
| american comics writers | |
| living people | |
| people from st. louis, missouri | |
| university of missouri–columbia alumni | |
| gerber, stephen ross | |
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BIOGRAPHY Early life and career After corresponding with fellow youthful comics fans Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails , and starting one of the first comics fanzines, ''Headline'', at age 13 or 14, Gerber attended college at the University Of Missouri -St. Louis, the University of Missouri-Columbia, and St. Louis University, where he finished his Communications degree and did some post-graduate work. He then began work as a Copywriter for a St. Louis Advertising Agency . In early 1972, Gerber asked Thomas, by now Marvel editor-in-chief, about writing comics; Thomas sent him a writer's test — six pages of a '' Daredevil '' car-chase scene drawn by Gene Colan — which Gerber passed. He accepted a position as an associate editor and writer at Marvel Comics for $125 a week — $25 less than at the ad agency — and $13 a page for writing. Marvel Comics Gerber initially penned standard superhero stories for titles such as ''Daredevil'' and '' Sub-Mariner '', but soon developed an individual voice that mixed adventure with social satire and absurdist humor. In one issue of '' The Defenders '', for example, a group of supervillains, tired of always being beaten by the good guys, seeks out a Self-help guru for motivation. Besides a lengthy run on ''The Defenders'', Gerber is noted for scripting '' Man-Thing '' (a quasi-horror title); '' Omega The Unknown '' (which explored the strange link between a cosmic superhero and a small boy); and '' Howard The Duck '', created with artist Val Mayerik as a throwaway character in a Man-Thing story, and then eventually brought back in solo backup stories in ''Giant-Size Man-Thing'' (with artist Frank Brunner ) before getting his own series (with art primarily by Penciler Gene Colan and Inker Steve Leialoha ). Gerber and Colan later collaborated on a ''Howard the Duck'' Syndicated Comic Strip . Among other Marvel projects, Gerber also wrote a short-lived comic based on the band KISS . Steve Gerber is noted for his memorable supporting or guest characters who become cult favorites in their own right. His best-known are probably Everyman Richard Rory, who has appeared off and on in most of the Gerber books, and the Foolkiller , a Psychopath ic vigilante who inspired several different individuals to adopt his identity over the years and acquired his own 10-issue Limited Series in 1990. He is also responsible for the creation of the Silver Samurai during his ''Daredevil'' run. Battle for Howard the Duck Gerber left Marvel in 1979 and launched a lengthy legal battle for control of Howard the Duck. During the late 1970s and 1980s he did some work for DC (including a 1981 Superman miniseries, ''The Phantom Zone'') and for independent comic companies. In 1982 he teamed with Jack Kirby to create ''Destroyer Duck'', a satirical comic that raised funds for his court case and Kirby's similar legal battles against Marvel. Gerber and Marvel reached a settlement in the case. Later career Since that time, Gerber has worked sporadically in comics, writing several miniseries for Marvel (including '' Void Indigo '' for the Epic Comics imprint in 1983) and DC (including ''Nevada'' for the Vertigo imprint in 1998). In 2002 he created a new ''Howard the Duck'' miniseries for Marvel's MAX line. For DC he then created Hard Time , which outlasted the short-lived imprint DC Focus . He has also worked in Television Animation , working as Story Editor on the Animated series '' G.I. Joe '' and '' Dungeons & Dragons ''; creating '' Thundarr The Barbarian '', and sharing a 1998 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class — Animated Program, for the WB program ''The New Batman/Superman Adventures''. AWARDS He has received recognition for his work in comics with several awards and nominations. Gerber has been nominated for several Shazam Awards , including for Best Writer in both the Dramatic and Humor Divisions in 1974 QUOTES Steve Gerber: "We had some problems with the ''Howard'' newspaper strip, which led to problems with the Howard book, which ultimately led to the lawsuit. Marvel wouldn't pay the artist to draw it. Gene Colan and I were supposed to get a percentage of the syndicate's take for the strip. The problem was, the money came in 90 days, 120 days, six months — I don't remember how long exactly — after the strips were published. So, essentially, the artist was working for nothing up until that time, and no artist can afford to do that. comparison with Stan Lee and John Romita 's Spider-Man comic strip, Stan, as publisher of Marvel, had a regular salary coming in, and John Romita , I believe, was also on staff at the time. They didn't have quite the same problem." REFERENCES
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