Mr. Levitz, I just happened to re-read vol. 8 of the Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, which of course contains your introduction about E. Nelson Bridwell. You say “He became a part of the DC Universe,” presumably in one of the stories in that book, but I can’t find any homages or references to him. What have I missed? Apologies for such a trivial question!
30. November 2017
Dunno that I meant that Nelson was in any of those stories. He definitely was drawn into an INFERIOR FIVE issue that featured a tour of the DC offices in the late ’60s. But his legend is definitely a part of the DC Universe and the stories he contributed to the Legion (and his own creation, the original Secret Six) enhanced it.
Dear Mr. Levitz, next year, here in Brazil we will celebrate 25th anniversary of Vertigo with a book homage and, it would be an honour have your personnel statement regarding creation of imprint. Thanks and best regards
30. November 2017
One of the proudest accomplishments in my tenure at DC was the birth and success of Vertigo. Karen Berger launched a line of comics that attracted a new audience at a time when it was very challenging to do so, and went on to build a groundbreaking library of amazing titles. I once described her job as publishing things that made me uncomfortable, and I’ve never enjoyed being uncomfortable more.
Sir, big fan of the age of dc comic volume series…any specific reason why the dark age and modern age were cancelled for release and if is there any way to get a hold of them? Justin Waits
30. November 2017
I’m afraid there’s no current plans for those individual volumes. It amazes me that Taschen has done so many editions from the original, and I’m pleased everyone seems to keep enjoying (and buying) them…
Can you tell or show us more about the great DC warehouse adventure ? I think you said it was in Brooklyn where you saw a bunch of old DC’ s ? THANKS
12. January 2016
Back in my assistant editor days, probably in 1973 or 1974, Allan Asherman and I were dispatched to a Brooklyn warehouse where DC had some of its old files. I’ve long forgotten what we were sent there for (hope we found it), but it turned out to be a building that Warner Bros. owned and had inherited from the days when they made movies in New York City. Maybe it was First National, an early movie company that had been acquired by WB in the twenties that had originally owned it? In any case, the warehouse was a mile or two from my childhood home, and I’d walked past it many, many times without ever realizing it. Our prize find that day was one of George Reeves’ costumes, a brown and yellow one used for shooting the black & white episodes. Allan, a great expert on the Reeves shows and the earlier serials, understood what it was immediately.
Hello Paul, Just wanted to drop you a line and tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed your Champion of the Graphic Novel book. I was Will’s assistant in White Plains for about 4 years and was also in that great class in SVA along with Mike Carlin, Drew Friedman, Brian Postman and Gwen Sueling. You’ve done a great job! -Robert Pizzo www.robertpizzo.com
9. January 2016
Thanks, Robert. I especially appreciate reactions from folks like you who knew Will. His teaching years were one of the least documented parts of his life, and so many of his students were great to share their memories.
Hi Paul. Among all your writing and teaching efforts, have you put out a book on writing for comics or other genres?
6. January 2016
Nope. Done some single lecture/seminars on aspects of comics writing, and many years ago we did a long program at DC for some prospective new comics writers that I spoke at every week (and yielded the talented Mindy Newell and longtime Dark Horse editorial wizard Randy Stradley), but never any writing on the subject.
Hello Mr Levitz. Longtime fan interested in pretty much all aspects of DC history so I was wondering about the following: Given how quickly the DC Implosion shift to 17 pages seemed to happen in ’78, I was wondering if any story art was edited out on books that would have been 25 page single stories, but that ended up being printed as 22-23 pages (thinking of some DC Comics Presents, JLA, Julie’s last issue of Flash, etc). Did the changes happen before things got to the art, or are there some unprinted pages floating around out there? Live the website!
4. November 2015
Most of the good stuff from the Implosion was eventually published, and I think there were very few instances when single (or double or triple) pages were cut out. The tendency was to cut 25 page stories into two issues, and fill in the back with 8 pagers that either existed or were commissioned for the purpose, as I recall.
Over the years there were a few single pagers cut for one reason or another…I recall a Legion page from the Grell era which we eventually printed in an AMAZING WORLD OF DC issue…but it was pretty rare.
Hi Paul. Your old friend Eli Friedman here, wishing you great good luck with the website. It looks pretty cool. My question is: How directly did your work as a fanzine editor/publisher contribute to your career path. I feel like a lot of kids coming up feel like they should get hired by the majors without ever honing their skills at the amateur level. Any thoughts?
22. October 2015
Hi, Eli! Great to hear from a survivor of the basement headquarters of TCR. Thanks for all the trips round the collating table.
Everything kind of adds up in life, I guess. The fanzine days certainly opened the door to my professional life by introducing me to the people who made comics, and letting them get to know me. I’ve had the rare life experience of never really ‘applying’ for a job as a result.
But maybe more to your point, some of the tasks I did as a fanzine publisher directly prepared me for things I was able to do as a comics professional. I told the story of DC’s annual production schedule a day or two ago, and thinking over it in terms of this question, recalled how I used to type up complicated (needlessly complicated, I must point out in retrospect) annual schedules for TCR and its sister publications.
Everything you do can help you learn. (Maybe those unless walks around the collating table made us all learn some patience?)
