This is a True Story:
When I was nine-going-on-ten, I would often accompany my mother when she shopped for groceries at the Food Giant on the north side of Indianapolis. I loved going to the Food Giant because it was one of the few supermarkets near us that had a comics spinner. While my mother started her shopping, I was allowed to stroll over to the far end of the store, check out what new comics had arrived, and select one or sometimes two comics for purchase.
Comics distribution was spotty in Indiana in those days, so I never knew what to expect. But one day, I approached the spinner to find a new book that had me staring wide-eyed -- it was THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #28. Just as the cover said, there were the world's greatest heroes -- the Justice League of America -- teaming up to battle Starro the Conqueror. There were Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and my two newest favorites, The Flash and Green Lantern. Inside, even Superman and Batman made a token appearance.
If there were any other new comics around, I didn't notice them. I pulled that comic from the spinner and started reading. I finished the story and started reading it again. I'd read that comic four or five times before my mother showed up. And when she asked if I'd made my selection, I nodded eagerly and handed over that copy of THE BRAVE & THE BOLD.
Mom didn't hear a peep out of me the whole ride home. I was too busy re-reading that comic. I read it again, after we got home and the groceries were put away. I don't know how many times I read that comic book, but I know that I read it until the cover came apart and fell off. And then, I kept reading it.
I won't say that the Justice League changed my life, but I did wind up writing comic books for about a quarter of a century.
I never got a chance to meet the JLA's first writer, Gardner Fox, nor its first penciler, Mike Sekowsky. But its editor? Oh, yeah...
Shortly after I first started working in comics, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman invited me to get a bite to eat with them. Accompanying us were Marty Pasko and Julius Schwartz.
I don't recall much of that evening, but I can tell you that several times during dinner, I glanced at the gruff old guy across the table and realized, "I'm having dinner with Julie Schwartz!"
For those of you too young to remember, Julie Schwartz was the editor who launched the Silver Age of Comics, who gave us The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Adam Strange, and the Justice League. It was Julie who was called upon to revitalize Batman and Superman.
It was Julie's success with the JLA that convinced publisher Martin Goodman there were sales to be found in super-heroes...leading indirectly to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko launching titles like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Avengers...the list goes on and on.
You've heard it said of some men, "If not for him, we wouldn't be here."? Well, if not for Julie Schwartz, HERE wouldn't be here.
I got to know Julie better as time went on, but never as well as I might have liked. He was a unique individual. It was fun just sharing air with him.
The world lost Julie Schwartz this past week. We are all the poorer for his passing. But we are so much richer for his having been here.
--RS
When I was nine-going-on-ten, I would often accompany my mother when she shopped for groceries at the Food Giant on the north side of Indianapolis. I loved going to the Food Giant because it was one of the few supermarkets near us that had a comics spinner. While my mother started her shopping, I was allowed to stroll over to the far end of the store, check out what new comics had arrived, and select one or sometimes two comics for purchase.
Comics distribution was spotty in Indiana in those days, so I never knew what to expect. But one day, I approached the spinner to find a new book that had me staring wide-eyed -- it was THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #28. Just as the cover said, there were the world's greatest heroes -- the Justice League of America -- teaming up to battle Starro the Conqueror. There were Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and my two newest favorites, The Flash and Green Lantern. Inside, even Superman and Batman made a token appearance.
If there were any other new comics around, I didn't notice them. I pulled that comic from the spinner and started reading. I finished the story and started reading it again. I'd read that comic four or five times before my mother showed up. And when she asked if I'd made my selection, I nodded eagerly and handed over that copy of THE BRAVE & THE BOLD.
Mom didn't hear a peep out of me the whole ride home. I was too busy re-reading that comic. I read it again, after we got home and the groceries were put away. I don't know how many times I read that comic book, but I know that I read it until the cover came apart and fell off. And then, I kept reading it.
I won't say that the Justice League changed my life, but I did wind up writing comic books for about a quarter of a century.
I never got a chance to meet the JLA's first writer, Gardner Fox, nor its first penciler, Mike Sekowsky. But its editor? Oh, yeah...
Shortly after I first started working in comics, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman invited me to get a bite to eat with them. Accompanying us were Marty Pasko and Julius Schwartz.
I don't recall much of that evening, but I can tell you that several times during dinner, I glanced at the gruff old guy across the table and realized, "I'm having dinner with Julie Schwartz!"
For those of you too young to remember, Julie Schwartz was the editor who launched the Silver Age of Comics, who gave us The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Adam Strange, and the Justice League. It was Julie who was called upon to revitalize Batman and Superman.
It was Julie's success with the JLA that convinced publisher Martin Goodman there were sales to be found in super-heroes...leading indirectly to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko launching titles like the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Avengers...the list goes on and on.
You've heard it said of some men, "If not for him, we wouldn't be here."? Well, if not for Julie Schwartz, HERE wouldn't be here.
I got to know Julie better as time went on, but never as well as I might have liked. He was a unique individual. It was fun just sharing air with him.
The world lost Julie Schwartz this past week. We are all the poorer for his passing. But we are so much richer for his having been here.
--RS
