I recently saw a Sunday sample from a proposed Jonah Hex newspaper strip by Mike Fleisher and Russ Heath. Not surprisingly, it was gorgeous and makes me think of what could have been. But I never heard a peep about this before. Any insight into its background – who proposed it, when this was, how far the idea got?
30. November 2017
Pretty sure Joe Orlando was developing that out of DC’s special projects team in the late ’70s, when we were working with the Tribune Syndicate on Superman. There was also a Shelly Mayer Sugar & Spike project, if memory serves. Both would have been amazing if they could have happened.
Dear Mr. Levitz; I read the last two trades of your last Legion run. I thought the absolute zero freezing electrons resolve was clever and I appreciate your insertion of science fact resolves in your stories and I wish more writers used their opportunites with a youth audience to sneak in technology appeal. I think you missed a storytelling opportunity with R.J. Brande’s exit though. If the Legion had to self finance thru crowdfunding that would be a new and interesting storytelling route. Unpopular members could be voted out, inappropriate teams could be chosen to tackle threats, letting the in-story Legion followers work against the Legion while subsidizing their adventures would be a promising plot development imho. I’m sad the Legion seems to have concluded for the time being. I first encountered them thru a few issues in an older cousin’s comic collection and never was able to find other Legion material until I took a look into Comixology. I think your work is pretty daring while remaining upbeat, a tough trick to pull off, the villains always seem formidable and the heroes vulnerable but the books were never dour. If I can ask your opinion of another creator, what do you think of Jerry Siegel as a writer? I never see him listed as an all time great but I think the few stories of his I’ve read were remarkable.
30. November 2017
All of us who do super heroes work on Jerry’s shoulders. I loved much of his ’50s and ’60s Superman family work, and his handful of Legion stories.
In Comic Reader #164 was an announcement for a collection of Superman stories, which DC and Western Publishing wanted to publish. Do you know if this project ever saw print ? Or can you point me to somebody who might be able to answer this question ? All the best, Georg
30. November 2017
Since modern day living is so strictly digital, how often do you check your social media (like Facebook) for things like fan mail? (I highly suggest checking your Facebook)
30. November 2017
Facebook pretty often, my own website not often enough (sorry). Twitter almost never these days.
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.
