Julius Schwartz
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| Julius Schwartz | |
| Born | June 19, 1915 Bronx, New York |
| Died | February 8, 2004 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Editor, Publisher, Writer, Literary Agent |
| Pseudonym(s) | Julie Schwartz |
Julius "Julie" Schwartz (June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a Jewish comic book and pulp magazine editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in the Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various times he was primary editor over the company's flagship superheroes, Superman and Batman.
He was inducted into the comics industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1997.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and career
In 1932, Schwartz co-published (with Mort Weisinger and Forrest J. Ackerman) Time Traveller, one of the first science fiction fanzines. Schwartz and Weisinger also founded the Solar Sales Service literary agency (1934-1944) where Schwartz represented such writers as Alfred Bester, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, and H. P. Lovecraft, including some of Bradbury's first published work and Lovecraft's last. In addition, Schwartz helped organize the first World Science Fiction Convention in 1939.
In 1944 he became an editor at All-American Comics, one of the companies that evolved into DC Comics. He recruited Bester to contribute to the company's line of comic books. In the 1950s he oversaw the revival of superheroes 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[citation needed] as being more creative and dynamic than other DC titles of the time, notably the Superman line edited by Mort Weisinger.
[edit] Silver Age of Comic Books
In the 1960s, during the period fans and historians calls the mid-1950s and 1960s Silver Age of Comic Books, Schwartz began editing the Batman titles, helping craft the "New Look" Batman that premiered in Detective Comics #327 (May 1964). 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. This included an attempt to scale back Superman's powers while removing kryptonite as an overused plot device. This proved short-lived, with Schwartz bowing to pressure to restore both elements in the titles.
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.
[edit] Later life and career
Schwartz retired from DC in 1986 after 42 years at the company, but continued to be active in comics and science fiction fandom until shortly before his death. As a coda to his career as a comic book editor, Schwartz edited seven DC science fiction graphic novels, adapted from classic science fiction works by Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Bradbury, and others. In 2000 he published his autobiography, Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics, co-authored with Brian Thomsen.
His wife, Jean (who had been his secretary before they married), died in 1986 from emphysema, after 34 years of marriage. Schwartz's relationship with Jean had been particularly close, and he never remarried or dated following her death. Not many years later, Schwartz's stepdaughter Jeanne — Jean's daughter from a previous marriage — died from the same illness under similar circumstances.
Schwartz died at the age of 88, after being hospitalized for pneumonia. He was survived by his son-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whom he encouraged to refer to him not as "Great-Grandpa" but as "Super-Grandpa".[citation needed]
He remained a "Goodwill Ambassador" for DC Comics and an Editor Emeritus up until his death.[1] He was a popular guest at comic book conventions, often attending between ten and twelve conventions a year.
[edit] Awards
In 1998, Dragon*Con chairman Ed Kramer established the Julie Award, bestowed for universal achievement spanning multiple genres and selected each year by a panel of industry professionals. The inaugural recipient was science-fiction and fantasy Grand Master Ray Bradbury. Additional awards, presented by Schwartz each year, included Forrest J. Ackerman, Yoshitaka Amano, Alice Cooper, Will Eisner, Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Carmine Infantino, Anne McCaffrey, Peter David and Jim Steranko.
In addition to his induction into the both of the comic-book industry's halls of fame, Schwartz received a great deal of other recognition over the course of his career, including:
- 1962 Alley Award for Best Editor
- 1972 Shazam Award for Superior Achievement by an Individual in 1972, for bringing the Marvel Family back into print.
- 1981 Inkpot Award
[edit] Appearances in comics
Schwartz has appeared as himself in a number of comics:
- Flash #179 (May 1968)
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- In the "Flash — Fact Or Fiction" story (reprinted in The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told), the Flash finds himself in "Earth Prime" (the real Earth that we live in). He contacts the "one man on Earth who might believe my fantastic story and give me the money I need. The editor of that Flash comic mag !" Schwartz helps the Flash build a cosmic treadmill so that he can return home.
- Superman #411 (1985)
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- As a 70th birthday present, the staff at DC Comics made Superman' #411 as a surprise tribute to Schwartz, who was involved in creating what he thought was #411. The cover shows Schwartz in his office being surprised by real-life co-workers just before Superman flies in the window with a birthday cake. The story features Schwartz playing himself as a down-and-out character with a modified version of his real history.
- Action Comics #583 (September 1986)
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- The cover of part two of the two-part alternate-universe story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", written by Alan Moore and begun in the same month's Superman #423, shows Superman flying away from a number of DC Comics staff, including Schartz.
- Superman and Batman: World's Funnest (2000)
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- During Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite rampage on DC Universe in numerous realities, they find our Earth and Julie Schwartz working in DC offices.
- DC Comics Presents (2004)
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- After Schwartz's death, DC Comics issued a series of eight standalone one-shot specials. Each issue featured two stories based on a classic DC cover from the mid-1950s and 1960s Silver Age of Comic Books, reflecting Schwartz's frequent practice of commissioning a cover concept, then telling the writers to create a story around that cover. Schwartz or a doppelganger thereof appeared in all eight issues, serving various roles.[2]
- Schwartz appeared as a character in the Ambush Bug titles by Keith Giffen, which Schwartz also edited.
[edit] Quotes
Nick Cardy on the popular but apocryphal anecdote, told by Schwartz, about Carmine Infantino firing Cardy over not following a cover layout, only to rehire him moments later when Schwartz praised the errant cover art:
| “ | [A]t one of the conventions ... I said, 'You know, Carmine, Julie Schwartz wrote something in [his autobiography] that I don't remember at all and it doesn't sound like you at all'. And I told him the incident ... and he said, 'That's crazy. You know I always loved your work. Gee, you were one of the best artists in the business. The guy's crazy'. So I said, 'Okay, come on'. We went over to Julie Schwartz's table and we told him what our problem was. And Carmine and I said, 'We don't remember the incident'. So Julie said, 'Well, it's a good story, anyway'. [laughs] And that was it. He let it go at that. [laughs] He just made it up".[3] | ” |
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- Julius Schwartz.com
- Biofile: Julius Schwartz
- Schwaryz, Julius: Man of Two Worlds: My Life In Science Fiction and Comics (2000)
- DC Comics Presents tribute comics to Julie Schwartz (2004)
[edit] External links
- May The Schwartz Be With You by Philip Schweier
- "Harlan Ellison Remembers Friend Julius Schwartz" by Jonah Weiland, Comic Book Resources.
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