Monday, February 9, 2004

Recommended Reading

Our friends over at Spinsanity fact-check certain financial claims that George W. Bush made on Meet the Press. Surprise, surprise: His claims don't stand up.

• Posted at 9:41 PM · LINK

Schwartz, Schwartz and More Schwartz

Okay, this one isn't by me, either. But it's a good biography of the man and you'll note that at the end, it gives the address to which you can send donations in his memory. Here then is DC Comics' official press release on the subject of Julie Schwartz...

JULIUS SCHWARTZ, ARCHITECT OF COMICS' SILVER AGE, DEAD AT 88 FORMER SCIENCE FICTION AGENT SOLD FIRST STORIES BY RAY BRADBURY AND OTHERS

Julius Schwartz, one of the best-loved and most influential members of both the comics and science fiction communities, died Sunday morning, February 8, in Winthrop Hospital in New York from complications from pneumonia. Schwartz was 88 years old.

Schwartz, who was popularly called "a living legend" and served as DC's Editor Emeritus, will be remembered as one of the founders of science fiction fandom, as a comic-book editor whose vision spanned five decades with DC Comics, and as the architect of comics' Silver Age, revitalizing the careers of such super-heroes as Batman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern and The Justice League of America.

"DC has lost a living legend this weekend and a true original," says Paul Levitz, DC's President & Publisher. "Julie was an editor who entertained and educated millions over three generations, performed the near-impossible feat of getting great work out of his contributors without ever ruffling their feelings, and taught many of us our craft. If the measure of an editor is the respect of his peers, he was immeasurable - for his peers who loved and respected him were often legends in their own right. Most of us were simply left in awe."

Schwartz was born on June 19, 1915, in the Bronx, NY. In 1932 he created science fiction's first fanzine, The Time Traveler, with fellow enthusiasts Mort Weisinger and Forrest J Ackerman. With Weisinger, he formed Solar Sales Service, the first literary agency specializing in science fiction, with clients including Ray Bradbury, Henry Kuttner, Alfred Bester, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, and many others. In 1939 he helped organize the first World Science Fiction Convention.

Schwartz left the world of science fiction in 1944 to join the staff of All-American Comics (one of DC's predecessor imprints), where he was hired by Sheldon Mayer. As script editor, Schwartz contributed to Green Lantern, All Star Comics, The Flash, and many others. As interest in super-hero comics faded in the late 1940s, Schwartz moved on to a variety of titles including All-American Western, Danger Trail, Hopalong Cassidy, and Rex the Wonder Dog. His passion for science fiction shined through in launching Mystery in Space and Strange Adventures, which featured fondly remembered series including Captain Comet, Space Museum, the Atomic Knights, Star Hawkins, and Space Cabby.

During this time, Schwartz continued to work with his favored stable of writers including John Broome and Gardner Fox, and artists such as Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson and Joe Kubert. With these creators and others, Schwartz would soon lead comics into a new age.

Schwartz's career — and the history of comics — turned a corner in with the publication of Showcase #4 (October 1956). The issue, which featured the debut of a new Flash, was a hit: it marked the start of the Silver Age of Comics, and of Schwartz's unparalleled streak at reintroducing Golden Age heroes in a way that would appeal to current comics readers.

The Flash soon was followed by the debuts of a new Green Lantern (Showcase #22, September 1959), the Justice League of America (The Brave and the Bold #28, February 1960), Hawkman (The Brave and the Bold #34, February 1961), and The Atom (Showcase #34, September 1961). Not content only to reinvent past heroes, Schwartz edited the far-flung adventures of science fiction hero Adam Strange, who made his debut in Showcase #17 (November 1958).

"I know a lot of people in our business, but not many I could call my friend," says acclaimed artist Kubert. "Julie helped a lot of people in this business, as an editor and as a person, mostly by being a good guy and a straight guy. He came off as a curmudgeon, but he had a soft heart underneath it all."

"Schwartz was a fan, and agent, an editor," writes New York Times best-selling novelist Neil Gaiman. "Without Julie, our media landscape would look nothing like it does today. His passing really is the end of an era."

Schwartz's comics were noted for their rugged heroes, who were scientists, test pilots, and adventurers. Readers enjoyed their attention to detail and their mix of science fact and fiction, as well as their tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and strong romantic relationships between the heroes and their leading ladies.

In September, 1961, Schwartz transformed the world of DC Comics into a complex multiverse with The Flash #123. "Flash of Two Worlds" opened up the possibility that DC's Silver Age heroes could race into adventure alongside their Golden Age predecessors. It was an idea inspired by science fiction, and one that Schwartz would use for years to come in annual Justice League/Justice Society crossovers, and in stories that introduced Earth-2, Earth-3, Earth-S, Earth-X, and even Earth-Prime, home of DC Comics and Schwartz himself. This depiction of the science fiction concept of multiple earths became so iconic that it became the basis for a recent cover on a national science magazine.

By 1964, Schwartz's reputation for revitalizing DC's characters had grown so great that he was asked to rework Batman, whose adventures he edited through 1978. The "New Look" Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #327 (May 1964). The issue featured the addition of an easily recognized bright yellow oval on the Dark Knight Detective's chest, while the tone of the stories shifted to moody and mysterious.

Schwartz helped move the comics industry forward again in the late 1960s by teaming Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams for the first time in Detective Comics #395 (January 1970), which started the collaboration that still informs the portrayal of the Dark Knight today. Under Schwartz's watchful eye, O'Neil and Adams also created an award-winning run of Green Lantern/Green Arrow that brought the concept of relevant, contemporary issues into comics.

Following the retirement of his old collaborator Weisinger, Schwartz stepped in as the new Superman editor from 1971 through 1985. Typically, Schwartz enhanced what made the Man of Steel work while downplaying elements that seemed dated. He pared down Superman's out-of-this-world abilities, introduced a host of new characters into the Man of Steel's milieu, and gave Clark Kent a new job as TV reporter.

Schwartz retired from editing monthly comic books in 1986 with the two-part story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," which appeared in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583. The story, written by Alan Moore with art by Curt Swan, George Pérez and Kurt Schaffenberger, served as a closing chapter to the Silver Age of Superman.

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.

Since his retirement in 1987, Schwartz made countless appearances as a goodwill ambassador for DC Comics. He has received awards including the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award, the Shazam, the Eagle, the Alley, the Inkpot and the Jules Verne Awards. In 1998, DragonCon established the Julie Award, whose recipients, including Bradbury, Ackerman, Gaiman, Ellison, Will Eisner and others, are recognized for achievements in multiple genres.

Schwartz's memoirs, Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics, co-written with Brian Thomsen, was published by HarperCollins in 2000.

Schwartz is survived by his son-in-law, three grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. The family asks that donations be made to the Julius Schwartz Scholarship Fund c/o DC Comics, 1700 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019.

• Posted at 7:47 PM · LINK

Schwartzian Memories

I posted Elliot Maggin's thoughts about Julie and then decided, "Okay...no more that aren't by me." But then this one came in from my pal Mindy Newell, another fine writer who worked for him. And since it's Mindy and it's so nice, I'm making an exception. Here it is...

Julie was truly one of a kind, and a man who was not only shaped by his era, but who also helped shape the era he lived in. I will always remember him with love and a smile, which is the best way to be remembered — we should all be so honored!

My favorite memory of Julie is how he used to feed those pink sucking candies he kept in his office at DC (when it was at 666 Fifth) to my daughter Alixandra, who was only four when I first started in the business. She, with a young person's true sight, saw right through his gruffness, and displayed no fear, only putting out her hand again and again for another candy, calmly and patiently staring down Julie's gruff "You want another one?" until he delivered.

My other memory of Julie is one from before I became a comics professional, and dates back to the late '50's and early '60's, when Julie was the editor of the Superman books and I was six and/or seven — 1959, 1960. Anyway, I was in a science quiz...the question was "How far is the Earth from the Sun?" Of course I knew the answer — 93 million miles. The teacher and the principal were so impressed! And you know how I knew the answer? Because when Julie was the editor of Superman, and Supes flew to the sun, his Editor's Note said: "The Sun is 93 million miles from the Earth." Julie always put little facts like that into his comics in those days...it was also how I discoverd that krypton is an inert gas, and how I learned what "invulnerable" means, and, oh, so many other things!

Julie, you were a true mensch, the living proof of how one life touches another and another and another until, to paraphrase the Talmud, you havae touched the world.And I will miss you. We all will. And when I told Alixandra (now 24) tonight that you had crossed over, she said, "I remember him. He used to give me all those pink candies."

Alechem shalom, Julie.

• Posted at 6:11 PM · LINK

Schwartz Stuff

There are tributes to Julie all over the Internet but I thought I'd direct your attention to the ones from from Neil Gaiman and Mike Netzer.

And here's a link to the AP wire service obit, which contains a lot of info from this site. An important and probably beautiful obit by Harlan Ellison will be appearing shortly.

Lastly, a correction: I said Julie, back in his agenting days, sold some of H.P. Lovecraft's first stories. Wrong. As Bob Beerbohm reminds me, Julie actually sold some of Lovecraft's last stories, including those that appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in 1936. As the tale is recounted, Julie (then a young, go-getter agent) approached Lovecraft, who was living in near-poverty. Lovecraft agreed to let Julie rep his work, whereupon Julie got him the highest fee he'd ever received...which, amazingly, displeased Mr. Lovecraft. He apparently felt it was unseemly for a writer to fight for money, which might explain why he so rarely had any. In any case, the author responded by firing his new agent and dying not long after...so Julie knew Lovecraft at the end, not at the beginning. My apologies for the error and my thanks to Bob and also to Juli Thompson, who wrote in about it.

• Posted at 5:36 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Here are two views of Bush's turn on Meet the Press, neither of them particularly favorable. Fred Kaplan notes that Bush seems to be advancing the idea that it's fine for the U.S. to attack any country we think might someday have the capacity to build Weapons of Mass Destruction. And Andrew Sullivan, formerly a Bush cheerleader, discusses the economic part of the interview, which greatly worried him.

• Posted at 4:45 PM · LINK

Meet the Prez

I watched a little of George W. Bush on Meet the Press and thought he did poorly. He seemed to be clinging to the notion that if you act with a pure heart, you can't possibly be accused of being a poor president. (I think that was Jimmy Carter's attitude, too.) Even if the public buys that Bush's intentions and courage are admirable, I think they'll still demand some sort of reckoning for the vast disparity between what we were told, pre-war, about Weapons of Mass Destruction...and what now seems to have been the case. Most of those who believe that Saddam's ouster was a good thing, well worth however many American lives and dollars it will ultimately have cost us, can't be too comfy with the thought that our leaders were that misinformed in the planning stages. As I understand it, the current excuse is that it was all the C.I.A.'s fault. But of course, we still have absolute confidence in the current administration of the C.I.A. and do not contemplate any changes there.

I have no particular enthusiasm for John Kerry...or any name I'm likely to see on a ballot this year. I suspect we will all spend much of '04 revisiting the Vietnam protest era. Republicans seem to be ready to start tarring Kerry's patriotism and linking him with the likes of Jane Fonda. Democrats are going to flog Bush's National Guard service as far as it will take them. My Press Corps pal says that the wish-dream there is to uncover something that will suggest not just that Bush got special family-related privileges but that he stopped flying due to a drug problem. This is sounding to me a little like the folks who were praying that by keeping the Vince Foster matter alive, they would eventually implicate one or more Clintons in a murder scheme.

Getting back to Meet the Press: It's interesting to see not only the wide mix of reviews for Bush but also for Tim Russert's interrogation. The right-wing websites think it's obvious he had it in for Bush and was doing the Democrats' bidding. The left-wing websites think it's obvious he avoided the kind of follow-up questions that might have shredded Bush's answers. I never thought much of Russert as an interviewer but if he's evoking this range of reactions, he probably did a decent job.

• Posted at 11:18 AM · LINK

Schwartz and All

Julie Schwartz loved going to comic conventions, especially the annual Comic-Con International in San Diego. He loved being at the con, he loved seeing friends, he loved signing autographs. He especially loved answering questions about his work and every time I had him on a panel — I did at least four dozen with him over the years — he'd goad me: "Ask me something you don't know, something they [meaning the audience] don't know." I tried. Lord, how I tried...but it was tough sledding, especially in the later years when some anecdotes were rerun more often than "Chuckles Bites the Dust." Year before last, I had what I thought was a brilliant idea: Scott Shaw! assembled a slide show of a couple hundred of the odder covers that appeared on Schwartz-edited comics. Then we did a panel where Scott projected said slides and I sat with a microphone to interview Julie and extract whatever recollections were evoked by each cover. It was sound in theory but in practice, it went more or less like this...

ME: Here's the cover of Strange Adventures #144 where you have the Atomic Knights riding giant dalmatian dogs. How did you come up with an idea like that?

JULIE: Boy, I don't remember this cover at all.

Last year, we had a wonderful panel with Julie, Ray Bradbury and Forrest J Ackerman, three long-time friends from the Paleolithic era of science-fiction. Before it started, Julie told me to make sure and ask him to tell some of the secrets about Bradbury that only he, as Ray's one-time agent and long-time friend, knew. I said fine. When we got into the panel itself in front of 2000+ rapt audience members, it went roughly like this...

ME: Julie, you've known Ray here for close to seventy years. Tell us something about him that we don't know.

JULIE: (A long pause, then:) You'll have to come back to me on that one.

But I didn't care and most of the audience didn't, either. The man was in his late eighties and he'd given so much, he didn't have to give any more. What did drive me crazy was the occasional (like, every year) matter of his hotel room in San Diego.

For a long time, DC Comics paid to fly Julie out each year and they'd pick up his hotel costs and other expenses, as well. That was the case while he was actively editing for the company and also later, when he was semi-retired and serving as a kind of Good Will Ambassador for the company. Finally though, the company could no longer justify the expense and Julie had to either pay his own way or not go to the con. For a time, he paid his own way but money got tight so each year, he'd call some of us (always me, sometimes Harlan Ellison and others) and urge us to use whatever clout we had to suggest that the con at least cover his hotel bill. He got to be a terrible, self-admitted nag about this, calling over and over, to the point where Harlan and I were both ready to just pay for his room ourselves so we didn't have to endure endless calls from Schwartz. I don't think either of us ever did pay because every year, either the convention would find it in the budget or some other organization would sponsor his appearance.

Julie hounded the convention committee members with requests, as well. A year or so ago, they decided that in recognition of his magnificent contribution to the field, they would make him a "permanent" guest of honor, meaning they would fly him out to every San Diego Con and put him up in a hotel room at their cost. When they told me of the decision, I was thrilled...and not just for Julie. I was thrilled for myself because it meant I wouldn't have to put up endless badgering to please, please, please talk to the convention about getting him a free room. I was so happy I wanted to call him right up and tell him but I didn't. I waited until the next con and let the convention officials tell him how it would henceforth be. Right after they did, he came over to me...and I assumed he was about to tell me how pleased he was and perhaps thank me for whatever role I had played in making it happen. The entire exchange went like this...

JULIE: Have you heard? The convention's going to fly me out every year now and give me a hotel room.

ME: Well, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. You deserve that, Julie. You really do. And of course, now you don't have to ask me to talk to them for you.

JULIE: Well, that's just it. I was wondering if you could talk to them. You see, with my legs giving me trouble, I really need to be flown First Class...

• Posted at 9:35 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Which of the two major political parties is interested in limited government? Well, according to James Pinkerton, neither of them.

• Posted at 9:34 AM · LINK

Announcer News

Last Saturday night, Don Pardo made a funny gaffe doing the opening announce on Saturday Night Live. He gave the name of Chris Kattan when he was supposed to say "Chris Parnell." He quickly caught and corrected his own mistake, which was then fixed for the West Coast broadcast. If a show is supposed to be live, they ought to leave in things like that.

In other late night announcer news, some time in March, Edd Hall is departing as Jay Leno's guy. No word yet on a replacement. Hall has had a pretty good track record in late night TV. He worked for ten years for David Letterman, mostly behind the camera in a production capacity and doing graphic design but occasionally in sketches. Then he logged twelve as Jay's announcer. You can find out more about the guy over at his website.

• Posted at 1:07 AM · LINK