Marv Wolfman

Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's '' The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Teen Titans'' and the ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' limited series with George Pérez.

Among the many characters Wolfman created or co-created are Cyborg, Starfire, Deathstroke, Tim Drake, Rose Wilson, Nova, Black Cat, Phobia, Bullseye, Vigilante (Adrian Chase), the Omega Men, and the Nightwing identity of Dick Grayson.

Early life

Marv Wolfman was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of police officer Abe and housewife Fay. He has a sister, Harriet, 12 years older. When Wolfman was 13, his family moved to Flushing, Queens, in New York City, where he attended junior high school.Wolfman, ''Alter Ego'' No. 112, p. 5 He went on to New York's High School of Art and Design, in Manhattan, hoping to become a cartoonist. Wolfman is Jewish.

Career

1960s

Marvin Wolfman was active in fandom before he began his professional comics career at DC Comics in 1968. Wolfman was one of the first to publish Stephen King, with "In A Half-World of Terror" in Wolfman's horror fanzine ''Stories of Suspense'' No. 2 (1965). This was a revised version of King's first published story, " I Was a Teenage Grave Robber", which had been serialized over four issues (three published and one unpublished) of the fanzine ''Comics Review'' that same year.

Wolfman's first published work for DC Comics appeared in '' Blackhawk'' No. 242 (Aug.–Sept. 1968). He and longtime friend Len Wein created the character Jonny Double in '' Showcase'' No. 78 (November 1968) plotted by Wolfman and scripted by Joe Gill. The two co-wrote "Eye of the Beholder" in ''Teen Titans'' No. 18 (Dec. 1968), which would be Wein's first professional comics credit. Neal Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a ''Teen Titans'' story which had been written by Wein and Wolfman. The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero, but was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino. The revised story appeared in ''Teen Titans'' No. 20 (March–April 1969). Wolfman and Gil Kane created an origin for Wonder Girl in ''Teen Titans'' No. 22 (July–Aug. 1969) which introduced the character's new costume.

1970s

He and artist Bernie Wrightson co-created Destiny in '' Weird Mystery Tales'' No. 1 (July–Aug. 1972), a character which would later be used in the work of Neil Gaiman.

In 1972, Wolfman moved to Marvel Comics as a protégé of then-editor Roy Thomas. When Thomas stepped down, Wolfman eventually took over as editor, initially in charge of the publisher's black-and-white magazines, then finally the color line of comics.Cadigan, Glen "The New Teen Titans Start a Sensation" ''Titans Companion'' TwoMorrows Publishing 2005 p. 9
Online version
available at Google Books Wolfman said in 1981 that, "Marvel never gave tsfull commitment to" the black-and-white line. "No one wanted to commit themselves to the staff." He added, "We used to farm the books out to Harry Chester Studios icand whatever they pasted up, they pasted up. I formed the first production staff, hired the first layout people, paste-up people." Wolfman stepped down as editor-in-chief to spend more time writing.

He and artist Gene Colan crafted '' The Tomb of Dracula'', a horror comic that became "one of the most acclaimed horror-themed comic books ever". During their run on this series, they created Blade, a character who would later be portrayed by actor Wesley Snipes in a film trilogy. In addition, the editorship of Marvel could not resist the opportunity to assign a writer with such a surname to contribute a few stories to their concurrent monster title, ''Werewolf by Night'', with a playful editor's comment: "At last -- WEREWOLF -- written by a WOLFMAN."

Wolfman co-created Bullseye in '' Daredevil'' No. 131 (March 1976). He and artist John Buscema created Nova in that character's eponymous first issue.
Wolfman and Gil Kane adapted Edgar Rice Burroughs' ''Barsoom'' concepts into comics in Marvel's '' John Carter, Warlord of Mars'' series. Wolfman wrote 14 issues of ''Marvel Two-in-One'' starting with issue No. 25 (March 1977). The '' Spider-Woman'' series was launched in April 1978 by Wolfman and artist Carmine Infantino. As the first regular writer on ''Spider-Woman'', he redesigned the character, giving her a human identity as Jessica Drew. Wolfman succeeded Len Wein as writer of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and in his first issue, No. 182 (July 1978), had Peter Parker propose marriage to Mary Jane Watson who refused, in the following issue. Wolfman and Keith Pollard introduced the Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' No. 194 (July 1979).

In 1978, Wolfman and artist Alan Kupperberg took over the Howard the Duck syndicated newspaper comic strip. While writing the ''Fantastic Four'' (which Wolfman stated to be his favorite comic), Wolfman and John Byrne introduced a new herald for Galactus named Terrax in No. 211 (Oct. 1979). A Godzilla story by Wolfman and Steve Ditko was changed into a Dragon Lord story published in ''Marvel Spotlight'' vol. 2 No. 5 (March 1980). The creature that the Dragon Lord battled was intended to be Godzilla, but since Marvel no longer had the rights to the character, the creature was modified to a dragon called The Wani.

1980s

''The New Teen Titans''

In 1980, Wolfman returned to DC after a dispute with Marvel. Teaming with penciller George Pérez, Wolfman relaunched DC's Teen Titans in a special preview in ''DC Comics Presents'' No. 26 (October 1980). ''The New Teen Titans'' added the Wolfman-Pérez creations Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg