Steve Englehart

Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett.

Early life

Steve Englehart majored in psychology at Wesleyan University, where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He had served in the United States Army, but was honorably discharged as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War.

Career

Marvel Comics

Englehart's first work in comics was as an art assistant to Neal Adams on a 10-page story by writer Denny O'Neil in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine '' Vampirella'' #10 (March 1971). After briefly serving as a member of the Crusty Bunkers, Theakston, Greg and Nowlan, Kevin, et al., at Englehart started working as a full-time writer. He began with a co-writing credit, with Gardner Fox, on the six-page, Englehart-drawn "Retribution" in Warren's ''Eerie'' #35 (Sept. 1971). Then, as Marvel editor Roy Thomas said in a 2007 interview, Englehart became

Englehart said he had first done uncredited co-scripting on a number of stories:

This uncredited work included Friedrich's ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' #97, ''Iron Man'' #45, and ''The Incredible Hulk'' vol. 2, #152, plus two romance comics stories and a Western tale. Englehart then wrote two romance stories under the pseudonym Anne Spencer, in ''Our Love'' #18 (Aug. 1972) and ''My Love'' #19 (Sept. 1972), and, under his own name, a standalone supernatural story in the anthology '' Journey into Mystery'' vol. 2, #1 (Oct. 1972)Englehart official site
"First Marvel Scripts II"
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During his first credited superhero work, on a series starring erstwhile X-Men member the Beast in ''Amazing Adventures'' vol. 2, #12–17 (May 1972 – March 1973), Englehart integrated the Patsy Walker character, the star of a teen romantic-comedy series, into the Marvel Universe alongside the company's superheroes. He and artist Sal Buscema launched '' The Defenders'' as an ongoing series in August 1972 and introduced the Valkyrie to the team in issue #4 (Feb. 1973). Englehart has stated that he added the Valkyrie to the Defenders "to provide some texture to the group."

He wrote '' The Avengers'' from issue #105 (Nov. 1972) to #152 (Oct. 1976). During his time on that title, he wrote several major storylines including "The Avengers Defenders War" in issues #115–118 (Sept.–Dec. 1973), crossing over into ''The Defenders'' #8–11 (Sept.–Dec. 1973); "The Celestial Madonna" in #129–135 (Nov. 1974 – May 1975) and ''Giant-Size Avengers'' #2–4 (Nov. 1974 – May 1975); and "The Serpent Crown" in #141–144 (Nov. 1975 – Feb. 1976) and #147–149 (May–July 1976).

In the fall of 1972, Englehart and writers Gerry Conway and Len Wein crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis, interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont. Beginning in ''Amazing Adventures'' #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin), the story continued in ''Justice League of America'' #103 (by Wein, Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano), and concluded in ''Thor'' #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema). As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle (laughs) and each story had to stand on its own, but we really worked it out. It's really worthwhile to read those stories back to back to back — it didn't matter to us that one was at DC and two were at Marvel — I think it was us being creative, thinking what would be really cool to do."

Englehart had a run on ''Doctor Strange'' (originally with artist Frank Brunner, later with Gene Colan), in which Strange's mentor, the Ancient One, died, and Strange became the new Sorcerer Supreme. Englehart and Brunner, audaciously, also created a multi-issue storyline in which a sorcerer named Sise-Neg ("Genesis" spelled backward) goes back through history, collecting all magical energies, until he reaches the beginning of the universe, becomes all-powerful and creates it anew, leaving Strange to wonder whether this was, paradoxically, the original creation (''Marvel Premiere'' #14). Editor-in-chief Stan Lee, seeing the issue after publication, ordered Englehart and Brunner to print a retraction saying this was not God but ''a'' god, so as to avoid offending religious readers. The writer and artist concocted a fake letter from a fictitious minister praising the story, and mailed it to Marvel from Texas; Marvel unwittingly printed the letter, and dropped the retraction order. Englehart's ''Doctor Strange'' #14 featured a crossover story with '' The Tomb of Dracula'' #44, another series which was being drawn by Gene Colan at the time. In Englehart's final story for the series, he sent Dr. Strange back in time to meet Benjamin Franklin.

Describing that time, Englehart said in 1998,

Englehart and artist Starlin co-created the character Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, though they only worked on the early issues of the series. Englehart reconciled the existence of Captain America and sidekick Bucky in Marvel's 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics, an anomaly that had been ignored since Captain America's 1964 reintroduction to Marvel presented him as having been in suspended animation since 1945. Englehart's newly retconned history stated that the 1950s Captain America and Bucky had been different characters from the ones who had debuted in the 1940s. This was followed by an extended storyline of Steve Rogers becoming so profoundly disillusioned with the United States that he temporarily abandoned his Captain America identity to become Nomad until he decided to refocus his purpose as the defender of America's ideals, not necessarily its government. The Englehart/Sal Buscema run on the ''Captain America'' title saw the series become one of Marvel's top-sellers. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart's work on ''Captain America'', ''The Avengers'', and ''Doctor Strange'' fourth, eighth, and ninth, respectively, on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".

In March 1976, Englehart had a falling-out with Marvel and left the company.

DC Comics

Englehart, in fact, planned to quit comics altogether and pursue novels, but DC Comics publisher Jenette Kahn persuaded him to come to DC. His only previous credited work for the company had been scripting the Batman story "Night of the Stalker!" in ''Detective Comics'' #439 (Feb–March 1974). "I said, 'Okay I'll fix '' Justice League f America/nowiki>'' for you, but I'm only going to do this for a year."Englehart in To that end, he wrote ''Justice League of America'' #139–146 and 149–150, with artist Dick Dillin, and additionally wrote an eight-issue arc of Batman stories in ''Detective Comics'' #469–476, with pencilers Walt Simonson and Marshall Rogers. In this arc, he recreated the Batman as a pulp-oriented, dark character; the Joker's persona as a homicidal maniac; and introduced love interest Silver St. Cloud. Englehart claims this storyline was adapted as the first Batman film in 1989, with Englehart providing uncredited development. The Englehart and Rogers pairing was described in 2009 by comics writer and historian Robert Greenberger as "one of the greatest" creative teams to work on the Batman character. DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz noted that "Arguably fans' best-loved version of Batman in the mid-1970s, writer Steve Englehart and penciller Rogers's ''Detective'' run featured an unambiguously homicidal Joker...in noirish, moodily rendered stories that evoked the classic Kane-Robinson era." In their story "The Laughing Fish", the Joker is brazen enough to disfigure fish with a rictus grin, then expects to be granted a federal trademark on them, only to start killing bureaucrats who try to explain that obtaining such a claim on a natural resource is legally impossible. The ''Detective Comics'' storyline was reprinted in trade paperback in 1999 as ''Batman: Strange Apparitions''. Englehart and Rogers had a short run on DC's revived ''Mister Miracle'' series as well.

His run on ''Justice League of America'' included another unofficial crossover between DC and Marvel in issue #142 by reworking his character Mantis into the DC Universe as a character named "Willow". Other contributions to the series were crafting a new origin for the team and the induction of the character Hawkwoman into the team's membership.

Englehart temporarily left comics at this juncture, moving to Europe before his first issue of ''Detective'' was published. During this time he wrote a fantasy/occult novel, ''The Point Man'', which was republished in 2010.

A 25-page Englehart-Rogers story featuring Madame Xanadu, originally commissioned for ''Doorway to Nightmare'', sat in inventory for years before being published as the one-shot ''Madame Xanadu'' in 1981, in DC's first attempt at marketing comics specifically to the "direct market" of fans and collectors.

Return to Marvel

In 1983, Marvel's creator-owned imprint Epic Comics published ''Coyote'', a series he had earlier created at Eclipse Comics with Rogers, in collaboration with artist Steve Leialoha. Among those he collaborated with on the title was a young Todd McFarlane, whom Englehart hired on the basis of McFarlane's ''Coyote'' art samples, which was McFarlane's first comic book work.Vaughan, Kenton (Director, 2000)
''The Devil You Know: Inside the Mind of Todd McFarlane''
National Film Board of Canada.Kershner, Jim (June 3, 1997)
"'Spawn' Storm Spokane Artist Todd Mcfarlane Always Wanted To Create His Own Comic Book Series, And When He Finally Did, It Became The Hottest Title Of The Decade"
''The Spokesman-Review''.McFarlane, Todd (November 2012). ''The Art of Todd McFarlane: The Devil's in the Details''. Todd McFarlane Productions/Image Comics.

Englehart returned to mainstream Marvel comics later that decade with stints on ''West Coast Avengers'', the second ''Vision and the Scarlet Witch'' limited series (with artist Richard Howell), ''Silver Surfer'' (again with Rogers), and ''Fantastic Four'' (during which editorial disputes led to his using the pseudonym John Harkness, a name he had first used on his last issue of ''Mister Miracle''). Englehart was going to be the regular writer of '' Daredevil'' in 1986 but left after only one issue due to an editorial conflict.

Simultaneously, Englehart wrote DC Comics' ''Green Lantern'', overseeing the title's name change to ''Green Lantern Corps.'' During that time he also wrote both the DC weekly crossover series ''Millennium'' (Jan–Feb 1988) and the first two issues of the spin-off The New Guardians. Issue #2 was notable for featuring the villain SnowFlame, a superpowered human who derived his powers from cocaine.

Other comic work

In 1992, Jim Shooter hired Englehart to write for Valiant Comics where he scripted issue #1–4 of ''X-O-Manowar'' and the first issue of '' Shadowman''.

Also in 1992, he co-created the Ultraverse comics universe for Malibu Comics and wrote '' Night Man'' and the superhero-team series '' The Strangers''. ''Night Man'' was later adapted for a syndicated television series which ran for two seasons. Englehart wrote three episodes of the television series. He also wrote issues of other Malibu comic series like ''Freex'', '' Hardcase'' and ''Prototype''.

For Claypool Comics, he wrote the supernatural series ''Phantom of Fear City'' #1–12 (May 1993 – May 1995) and, for Topps Comics, several ''Jurassic Park'' limited series in the years 1993 to 1995.

Return to Marvel and DC

In the early 2000s, Englehart returned to comics to write the miniseries '' Hellcat'', ''Fantastic Four: Big Town'' and '' Avengers: Celestial Quest'' for Marvel and stories for ''The'' ''Batman Chronicles'' and ''Legends of the DC Universe'' for DC. In 2005, he reunited with Rogers and Austin on the miniseries ''Batman: Dark Detective'', elements of which he alleged were adapted into the Batman film ''The Dark Knight''. The next year, he wrote a storyline featuring the Detroit Era Justice League and the Justice Society of America that ran in '' JLA Classified'' #22–25 and '' JSA Classified'' #14–16 for DC, and the one-shot ''Strange Westerns starring the Black Rider'' for Marvel.

Novels

Starting in 1994, he wrote a series of young adult books for Avon, including the ''DNAgers'' series (with his wife, Terry) and the ''Countdown'' series. ''Countdown to Flight'' was selected by NASA for its school curriculum on the Wright Brothers.

In the mid-2000s, Englehart turned his 1980 novel, ''The Point Man'', into Book Zero for a series concerning its hero, Max August. The first sequel, ''The Long Man'', was published in 2009, ''The Plain Man'' in 2011, and ''The Arena Man'' in 2013. In the series, Max became immortal in 1985 and is dealing with the consequences two decades later in real time.

He has admitted to writing the novel ''Hellstorm'' in the TALON Force series under the house pseudonym Cliff Garnett.Steve Englehart official site: Prose - ''Hellstorm''
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Film and TV

For producer Michael Uslan, Englehart wrote early treatments and served as script doctor for the ''Batman'' film that was based on his comics series; it was later scripted by Sam Hamm and directed by Tim Burton. He wrote three episodes of the television series '' Night Man'', an adaptation of the comic series of the same name that he had created for Malibu Comics. Englehart also worked in animation, with episodes of ''Street Fighter'' and '' G.I. Joe Extreme'', and wrote one of the three episodes in Disney's '' Atlantis: Milo's Return'' film. His screenplay for an unproduced film, ''Majorca'', was published as a book by Black Coat Press.

Several of Englehart's characters appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The 2014 film '' Guardians of the Galaxy'' featured his character Star-Lord. He returned in its 2017 sequel ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'', which also featured Mantis. Both characters appear in '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019), '' Thor: Love and Thunder'', '' The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'' (both 2022), and '' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (2023). The 2021 film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' features his character Shang-Chi.

Music

in 2019, Steve Englehart appeared in the music video for "Welcome To My World" by ZorDonofDoom. In 2021, Englehart created titles and themes based on Shang-Chi for the album ''Prism Club'' from InRage Entertainment.

Personal life

Englehart married Marie-Therese (Terry) Beach in 1975. They have two sons, Alex and Eric.

Awards

* 1977: nominated for Favourite Comicbook Writer at the Eagle Awards
* 1978: Favourite Writer at the Eagle Awards
* 1978: Roll of Honour at the Eagle Awards
* 1978: nominated for Favourite Single Story at the Eagle Awards for ''Detective Comics'' #472: ''I am the Batman'' with Marshall Rogers
* 1978: nominated for Favourite Continued Story at the Eagle Awards for ''Detective Comics'' #471–472 with Marshall Rogers
* 1979: Inkpot Award
* 1979: nominated for Best Comic Book Writer (US) at the Eagle Awards
* 1979: nominated for Best Continued Story at the Eagle Awards for ''Detective Comics'' #475–476 with Marshall Rogers

Bibliography

Comics work includes:

Antarctic Press

* '' Warrior Nun Areala: Scorpio Rose'' #1–4 (1996–1997)

Claypool Comics

* ''Phantom of Fear City'' #1–12 (1993–1995)

DC Comics

* ''Batman'' #311 (1979)
* '' The Batman Chronicles'' #19 (2000)
* ''Batman: Dark Detective'' #1–6 (2005)
* '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' #109–111 (1998)
* '' Congorilla'' #1–4 (1992–1993)
* ''DC Comics Presents'' #8, 12, 88 (1979–1985)
* ''Detective Comics'' #439, 469–476 (1974–1978)
* ''Green Lantern'' vol. 2 #188–200 (1985–1986)
* ''Green Lantern Corps'' #201–224 (1986–1988)
* '' Heroes Against Hunger'' #1 (1986)
* '' JLA Classified'' #22–25 (2006)
* '' JSA Classified'' #14–16 (2006)
* ''Justice League of America'' #139–146, 149–150 (1977–1978)
* '' Kamandi'' #51 (1977)
* ''Legends of the DC Universe'' #26–27 (2000)
* '' Madame Xanadu'' #1 (1981)
* ''Millennium'' #1–8 (1988)
* ''Mister Miracle'' #19–22 (1977–1978)
* '' New Guardians'' #1–2 (1988)
* ''Secret Origins'' vol. 2 #7 (1986)
* '' Starfire'' #6–7 (1977)
* ''Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual'' #2 (1986)
* '' Weird War Tales'' #50, 60, 73 (1977–1979)
* ''World's Finest Comics'' #256 (1979)

Deluxe Comics

* ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #1–2 (1984–1985)

Eclipse Comics

* '' Eclipse Magazine'' #1–8 (1981–1983)
* ''The Foozle'' #3 (1985)
* ''Scorpio Rose'' #1–2 (1983)

Malibu Comics

* ''Break-Thru'' #1–2 (1993–1994)
* ''Freex'' #6 (1993)
* '' Hardcase'' #4 (1993)
* ''Mantra'' #12 (1994)
* '' Night Man'' #1–23 (1993–1995)
* ''Night Man: The Pilgrim Conundrum Saga'' #1 (1995)
* ''Prototype'' #5 (1993)
* ''Solitaire'' #3 (1994)
* ''Solution'' #5 (1994)
* ''Strangers'' #1–24 (1993–1995)
* ''Strangers: The Pilgrim Conundrum Saga'' #1 (1995)
* '' Ultraverse Origins'' #1 (1994)
* ''Ultraverse Premiere'' #0 (1993)

Marvel Comics

* ''Amazing Adventures'' vol. 2 #12–17 (1972–1973)
* ''Amazing High Adventure'' #1–3 (1984–1986)
* '' The Avengers'' #105–144, 147–152 (1972–1976)
* '' Avengers: Celestial Quest'' #1–8 (2001–2002)
* ''Avengers: The Ultron Imperative'' #1 (2001)
* ''Captain America'' #153–167, 169–186 (1972–1975)
* '' Captain Marvel'' #33–46 (1974–1976)
* '' Daredevil'' #237 (1986)
* '' Deadly Hands of Kung Fu'' #1–2 (1974)
* '' The Defenders'' #1–11 (1972–1973)
* ''Doc Savage'' #1–5 (1972–1973)
* ''Doctor Strange'' vol. 2 #1–18 (1974–1976)
* ''Fantastic Four'' #304–333, ''Annual'' #20–21 (1987–1989)
* ''Fantastic Four: Big Town'' #1–4 (2001)
* ''Giant-Size Avengers'' #2–4 (1974–1975)
* '' Hellcat'' #1–3 (2000)
* '' Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men'' #1 (1985)
* '' Hero for Hire'' #5–14, 16 (1973)
* '' The Incredible Hulk'' #159–171 (1973–1974)
* '' Journey into Mystery'' vol. 2 #1 (1972)
* ''Justice'' #2–5, 7 (1986–1987)
* '' Kull the Destroyer'' #12–15 (1974)
* ''Marvel Fanfare'' #51 (1990)
* '' Marvel Premiere'' #9–14 (1973–1974)
* '' Marvel Preview'' #4 (1976)
* ''Marvel Westerns: Strange Westerns'' #1 (2006)
* ''Master of Kung Fu'' #17–19 (1974)
* '' Monsters on the Prowl'' #15 (1972)
* ''My Love'' vol. 2 #16, 19 (1972)
* ''Night Man'' #∞, #1–4 (1995–1996)
* ''Night Man vs. Wolverine'' #0 (1995)
* ''Our Love Story'' #15, 18 (1972)
* ''Power Man'' #26 (1975)
* '' Savage Sword of Conan'' #2 (1974)
* ''Silver Surfer'' vol. 3 #1–20, 22–31, ''Annual'' #1–2 (1987–1989)
* '' Skull the Slayer'' #4 (1976)
* ''Special Marvel Edition'' #15–16 (1973–1974)
* '' Super-Villain Team-Up'' #5–8 (1976)
* '' Thor Annual'' #5 (1976)
* '' The Vision and the Scarlet Witch'' vol. 2 #1–12 (1985–1986)
* ''West Coast Avengers'' vol. 2 #1–29, 31–37, 39, ''Annual'' #1–3 (1985–1988)

Epic Comics

* ''Coyote'' #1–16 (1983–1986)

Star Reach

* ''Star Reach'' #7 (1977)

Topps Comics

* ''Jurassic Park: Raptor'' #1–2 (1993)
* ''Jurassic Park: Raptors Attack'' #1–4 (1994)
* ''Jurassic Park: Raptors Hijack'' #1–4 (1994)
* ''Return to Jurassic Park'' #1–4 (1995)

Valiant Comics

* '' Shadowman'' #1 (1992)
* '' X-O Manowar'' #1–4 (1992)

Warren Publishing

* '' Creepy'' #84, 104 (1976–1979)
* ''Eerie'' #35, 46 (1971–1973)
* '' Vampirella'' #21–23 (1972–1973)

Television and film credits

* '' Street Fighter: The Animated Series'' eps. 17, 21 (1996)
* '' G.I. Joe Extreme'' S2 ep. 10 (1997)
* '' Night Man'' eps. 13, 37, 39 (1998–1999)
* '' Atlantis: Milo's Return'' (2003 movie)

References

External links

* .
*

Steve Englehart interview at Fantastic Four Headquarters

Steve Englehart
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics


at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Englehart, Steve
1947 births
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American male writers
American comics writers
American male novelists
Inkpot Award winners
Living people
Marvel Comics writers
Novelists from Indiana
United States Army soldiers
Wesleyan University alumni
Writers from Indianapolis
DC Comics people