Many of the columns I’ve written here revolve around Julius Schwartz in some way – whether on the man himself or about the work he touched or inspired.
This great science-fiction and comics legend passed away on February 8, 2004.
This is a very subdued edition of NMM. I decided to collect a few of the kind words said about “Julie” by his peers. We’ll open the column with a brief bio of the legendary Mr. Schwartz and then go into some of the tributes.
God speed Julie.
The Legend
From Man of Two Worlds.
Before there was Superman or Batman, before Ray Bradbury or Harlan Ellison ever picked up a pen, before there were science-fiction fans and conventions, there was Julius Schwartz – a man who would have an indelible effect on all this and more.
One of the inventors of the science-fiction fandom in the thirties and publisher of the first SF “fanzine” (one of its early subscribers was Superman’s co-creator Jerry Siegel), Julius Schwartz became the world’s first SF specialty literary agent while still in his teens. During the “Golden Age” of science fiction, he represented a distinguished roster of authors, including H.P. Lovecraft, Alfred Bester, Robert Bloch, and Ray Bradbury. But that was only the first chapter in Schwartz’s amazing career, for he is also one of the most influential editors in comic-book history.
Besides working on both the Superman and Batman characters – he created much of the mythology we take for granted – Schwartz was also responsible for revitalizing nearly every important DC Comics character, highlighted by the mighty Justice League of America, in what has since become known as comics’ beloved “Silver Age.” Over more than forty years, Schwartz captained such blazing talents of the comics industry as Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Curt Swan, Neal Adams, Denny O’Neil, Alan Moore, and many others.
The Respected Peer
From John Byrne
Let us hope he rides the Cosmic Treadmill to a place where all his wonderful visions are real!
From Peter David
He was a wonderful guy….
From Elliot S! Maggin
Probably my favorite moment with Julie was kind of a typical one: he was showing off like a kid. Sometime not long after Jean died — I guess it had to be maybe 20 or 25 years ago or so — I invited him over to my parents’ house for their Passover Seder, the annual ritual dinner where you tell long stories about freedom and adventuring before you eat.
My father is a little bit younger than Julie, but not much. The way he runs a Seder is to assign things to people to read on the fly, while he pages forward through the book looking for things to leave out that he supposes no one would miss. That way we can eat sooner. Jewish holidays, in my limited religious education, are usually about eating — sooner if possible. Apparently Julie had not been to a Seder in a number of years. Jean was always the spiritual one in the family; she went to church regularly and I guess he had always depended on her to cover him in the area of grace.
There’s a crucial point at the beginning of the Seder ceremony when the youngest person at the table reads a short but rather difficult paragraph in Hebrew called “The Four Questions.” It’s the kickoff for the storytelling part. My nephew Mitchell was not yet one year old, and my wife Pam, the next youngest, is generic Protestant and doesn’t do Hebrew. So it fell to my youngest sister Robin to read the questions, and she never particularly enjoyed the role. First, she complained in her ritual manner about how long it had been since Hebrew school, and it turned out she didn’t get to go through all the other caveats that generally preceded Robin’s reluctant performance.
“I haven’t been to Hebrew school since 1928,” Julie barked. “And watch this.”
And he read the Four Questions in perfect Hebrew, beginning to end, without tripping over a syllable. So it was that the oldest person at the table asked the Four Questions this time.
My father was thrilled. It brought us an entire whining-session closer to the food.
Julie was very proud of himself over this, of course. He generally was. A few days later, back at work, he showed me a gold watch he’d gotten for being the smartest kid in the Hebrew school he attended. It had Hebrew letters for the numbers, and I suggested it ought to run counter-clockwise, but it didn’t.
“The Governor’s wife came and gave this to me,” he said. And he waited for me to realize something, which I didn’t. He got impatient quickly.
“So who was the Governor’s wife in 1928?” he asked me.
Then I realized who the Governor of New York was in the late 1920’s — and that the watch was presented to him by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Julie was impish and wide-eyed and always suffered a little from a touch of arrested development — even into his eighties, but the thing most people who knew him never really thought about much was how incredibly bright he always was. He had a mind that kept working and didn’t stop, I suspect, until early this morning.
Eleanor Roosevelt noticed, though — and my little sister did. When we remember how it was that he could make so many of us happy, we might remember that a guy who knew as much as he knew, and understood as much as he understood, doesn’t do much by accident.
From Marv Wolfman
Although there have been many greats in comics, in my mind there are only four creative people who you could arguably say truly affected the course of the comic book industry. Numbers one and two were Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. There is no way of knowing if there would even be a comic book industry if they hadn’t created Superman. The fourth person is Stan Lee. Not as the writer or even co-creator of most of Marvel Comics, but as its editor and guiding force. No matter how different comics appear to be today, deep down we are still using the very same template he initiated in the early 1960s.
The third person is, of course, Julie Schwartz. No, he didn’t write comics (though, God knows if you’ve seen any of the early scripts he edited, he certainly re-wrote them, almost 100% in many cases) or draw them. I’m not even sure he could draw a straight line. He didn’t letter or color them. What he did was re-create them.
The comic business in the mid 1950s was not a pretty thing to behold. The Comics Code helped kill creativity. Or if not that, incentive. Super heroes had pretty much run their course. In the 40s there were hundreds of super-heroes. By the mid 50s, there was only Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Westerns were beginning to die. Funny animal comics, with few exceptions – namely the Disney comics, were not doing well. Sales were down.
Back then, before all comic books began to feel the same, comics reflected the viewpoint not of its writer or artist, as they pretty much do today, but of its editor. You could tell a Mort Weisinger comic from a Robert Kanigher comic from a Jack Schiff comic from a… Julie Schwartz comic. Each editor had his own approach as well as his own creative stable. Each editor produced books that completely reflected his thoughts. Today, you might not really know who edits Flash from whoever edits Superman. It wasn’t the same then.
My two favorite National Comics (as DC was called back then) of the time were Mystery In Space and Strange Adventures. I have complete collections of both those titles. The books were intelligently written and beautifully drawn. Whereas other comics went up and down in quality, these two books were consistent. Every issue was good. And both books were edited by Julie Schwartz.
Someone at DC decided to bring back the super-heroes. They worked once. Maybe they’d work again. Fortunately, the job was given to Julie Schwartz. I say fortunately, because God knows what would have happened if one of DCs other editors had been given the assignment to revive the Flash. Chances are they would have still used the original Jay Garrick Flash. Or, if they reinvented him, he might have been magical or just plain silly. If you’re old enough, imagine Mort Weisinger creating the new Flash. Or what a Jack Schiff Green Lantern would have been like. I think it’s safe to say that, no matter how talented those gentlemen may have been, based on their past work, those revivals would not have long survived.
Julie Schwartz brought his team together and created something that could not have been done in the 1940s. Except for the nod where Barry Allen used to read Flash Comics, he didn’t look back. In point of fact, as a kid growing up in the mid to late 50s, I had never heard of the original DC heroes, so I thought “Flash Comics” was just a funny concept.
Julie understood that the world had changed since the 40s. What was done then could not be done ten to fifteen years later. His new comics appealed to kids growing up in the atomic age. The stories resonated in ways the other comics did not. As much as a fan I was of Superman, I never much liked the Superman stories. But I loved the turns, twists and concepts Julie and his team came up with for the Flash. I loved the great space opera type stories he put in Green Lantern. I loved Atom and the Spectre, Hawkman and the Justice League of America.
Julie did something other than produce great comics. He did great letter columns, something that is sadly missing from today’s books. Julie made you feel like you were part of something bigger. He printed the most intelligent letters he got and he actually answered questions as if he respected the people asking them. Julie also did something that completely changed the course of comics; he included addresses.One of my earliest letters was in Mystery In Space. Because of that letter, I received my first fanzines which introduced me to the world of comics outside my neighborhood. I became part of fandom. I started writing and drawing my own fanzines. A lot of other people did, too. Roy Thomas. Len Wein. In fact, almost every person who became a comics creator later on began in fandom. Julie promoted comics and fandom, creating the very people who would slowly enter the business and reshape it.
I can say with certainty that because of Julie Schwartz, I became a comic professional. I can say with certainty, that dozens of other professionals owe their current positions directly or indirectly to Julie, whether or not they ever worked for him.
Legend says because of the success of Julie’s comic, The Justice League of America, Marvel Comics decided to start a super-hero line of their own. I think it is safe to say without Julie, there probably would not be a Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk or any of the others, my characters included.
In the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the Jimmy Stewart character learns how one man’s life affects so many others. I think it is not only safe, but obvious to say, Julie Schwartz’s life has affected all of us.
From Mike Grell
JULIUS SCHWARTZ PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING AT THE AGE OF 89. THE COMIC INDUSTRY LOST A GIANT AND I LOST A DEAR OLD FRIEND, THE MAN WHO, ALONG WITH JOE ORLANDO, GAVE ME MY BREAK IN THE BUSINESS.
I’LL NEVER FORGET THE FIRST WORDS HE SPOKE TO ME WHEN I WALKED INTO HIS OFFICE WITH MY PROTFOLIO: “WHAT THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN DRAW COMICS?” THAT WAS JULIE’S WAY OF CUTTING THROUGH THE CRAP AND GETTING STRAIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER. AND JULIE WAS ALL HEART, ASK ANY OF THE LEGION OF WRITERS AND ARTISTS WHOSE CAREERS HE LAUNCHED OVER THE DECADES. HE LOVED COMICS AS MUCH AS HE LOVED THE PEOPLE HE HELPED ALONG THE WAY.
HE SURE DIDN’T DO IT FOR THE MONEY. HE ONCE TOLD ME A STORY FROM HIS AGENT DAYS, ABOUT LOCKING A YOUNG WRITER IN HIS OFFICE ALL NIGHT WHEN A DEADLINE WAS DUE. JULIE NAPPED ON THE COUCH WHILE THE CAPTIVE WRITER BANGED AWAY ON JULIE’S TYPEWRITER. IN THOSE DAYS, THE RATE WAS A PENNY A LINE. WHEN THE BELL WOULD RING AT THE END OF EACH LINE, JULIE WOULD RAISE HIS HEAD AND SHOUT, “ANOTHER TENTH OF A CENT FOR ME!”
TAKE A LOOK AT THE GREAT DC COMICS FROM THE SILVER AGE – FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, HAWKMAN, THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA – AND YOU’LL FIND A WHOLE ROSTER OF TALENTED PEOPLE IN THE CREDITS. BUT THERE’S ONE NAME THOSE BOOKS ALL HAVE IN COMMON… ONE MAN WHO MADE ALL THAT HAPPEN: JULIUS SCHWARTZ, EDITOR.
JULIE WAS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS A “LIVING LEGEND”. WELL, HE STILL IS. AS LONG AS THERE ARE COMIC BOOKS, JULIE’S LEGACY WILL LIVE ON IN THE WORK OF ARTISTS AND WRITERS HE NURTURED, CAJOLED AND INSPIRED.
From Neil Gaiman
…Julie was a fan, and agent, an editor. By the time I met him, about seventeen years ago, he’d just retired, age 72, as an active editor, and DC Comics had appointed him their “goodwill ambassador”. I liked him, and he liked me, even though I was by no stretch of the imagination a gorgeous young woman, and we’d make time to find each other and talk, at conventions. Julie was all about stories, and he had known everyone. (He once came to a convention with photographs of Eric Frank Russell, solely in order to find me and say “You know who this is?”, so I could say “No,” and he could tell me Eric Frank Russell stories.)
His passing really is the end of an era….
The Distinguished Competition
From Marvel Comics.
Marvel Comics solemnly extends condolences to the family of Julie Schwartz.
Julie, we thank you for helping to shape our current comic book industry, and we join our creators, fans, professionals, friends and family in mourning your passing.
Without Julie’s genius, the fantastic world we all love — from creators to fans to professionals — may not have been so incredible, amazing or uncanny.
As Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley said, “The impact of Julie’s work — along with the other greats of the Silver Age — cannot be underestimated. Everyone at Marvel will miss Julie, and we will all continue to honor his contributions and remember him for his tireless work as creator, ambassador and living legend.”
Marvel’s Editor in Chief, Joe Quesada, added, “I owe a special debt to Julie, as he was another of the inspirations that drove me to accept the pressures of steering these characters’ ‘lives’, so to speak. Every time I saw Julie at an industry function, he always greeted me with a smile and the firmest of handshakes. Julie and so many others have touched our hearts in a special way and helped to show us the potential of the medium. These guys are a big part of why we’re in these seats today. A hero has passed.”
Thank you, Julie. You will be missed every bit as much as you will be remembered.
The Architect
From DC Comics.
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 & THE BOLD #28, February 1960), Hawkman (THE BRAVE & 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.
Final Thoughts
Julius Schwartz’s contribution the comics industry and sci-fi is known by many of us. He brought many of his sci-fi influences and innovatrions with him and applied them to his comics’ work, particularly the rebirth of the comics’ industry – it’s Silver Age.
I encourage you to head over to Julie’s good friend Mark Evanier‘s website where many of Julie’s tributes are collected.
God bless.
Reading Rack
Here are a listing of some of the NMM and other 411 pieces I’ve written that relates in some way to this comics legend and his legacy.
Near Mint Memories:
Super-Reading and a Super-Rumour
Through the Ages towards Infinity
Reviews:
