Stephen Skeates (; January 29, 1943 – March 30, 2023) was an American

comic book creator developed specialized terminology. Several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is under di ...

known for his work on such titles as ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles ...

'', ''

Hawk and Dove Hawk and Dove are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates, they appeared in ''Showcase (comics), Showcase'' #75 (June 1968) during the Silver Age of Comic Books. The du ...

'', '' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', and '' Plop!'' He also wrote under the pseudonyms Chester P. Hazel and Warren Savin.

Early life

Stephen Skeates was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, on January 29, 1943. He and his parents lived in the attic of his maternal grandmother's Fairport home until he was four and a half, at which time they and his baby brother moved into a two-story home that his father and uncle had built. His parents tended to describe him as "a dreamer" because he preferred to play alone rather than interact with other children. He enjoyed reading

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s, preferring cartoon animal antics to the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

titles. From an early age, he wanted to become a writer, but he found that ambition hampered by the fact that he read very slowly. So, in junior high school and later at Fairport High School, he was drawn to humorists such as

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was best known for his gag cartoon, cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' an ...

Donald Ogden Stewart Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 – August 2, 1980) was an American writer and screenwriter best known for his sophisticated golden age comedies and melodramas such as '' The Philadelphia Story'' (based on the play by Philip Barry), ' ...

, S.J. Perelman, and

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, newspaper columnist and actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays ...

, who wrote short works. He also loved the parody stories in

EC Comics E.C. Publications, Inc., (doing business as EC Comics) is an American comic book publisher. It specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, nota ...

' '' MAD'', subscribing to its comic book incarnation. Skeates set his sights on becoming a humorist himself and writing for magazines, but the popularity of television in the fifties drove many publications out of business. Still desiring a writing career, Skeates chose his college based on catalog recommendations that it was a good school for writers. However, when he entered

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...

in 1961, he chose math as his major, which he later called "a truly silly idea from the start." After a year, he changed to English Literature. Despite what the college catalogs had indicated, Alfred offered only one two-credit creative-writing course, in which the instructor, Dr. Ernest Finch, required the composition of only three short stories. As he approached graduation still undecided on a career, Skeates half-heartedly applied to various metropolitan newspapers for reporting jobs. It was at about this time that he discovered the new

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

being written by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

and drawn by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...

, and

Don Heck Donald L. HeckDonald L. Heck
at the Social Security Death Index. Retrieved on Septem ...

. He became an instant fan. Then, "on a whim," he sent the four major comic book firms application letters in the form of comic book captions, "but with me as the central character rather than some superhero!" Marvel editor-writer Lee himself called with the offer of a job as his assistant.

Career

The 1960s and early 1970s

In 1965, Skeates moved to New York City to become Lee's assistant editor, which largely required him to proofread finished comics. His lack of skill for this quickly became apparent, and Lee grew frustrated when obvious artwork errors were overlooked. Within two weeks,

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

became the new assistant, and Skeates was assigned to write

westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

as compensation. Using his brief term as Lee's assistant as a calling card, Skeates picked up work at

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, Charlton, DC, Gold Key, Red Circle, Archie, and

Warren Publishing Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren (publisher), James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include ''After Hours (magazin ...

(for whom he wrote 72 stories from 1971 to 1975). His stories were illustrated by such artists as

Jim Aparo James N. Aparo (; August 24, 1932 – July 19, 2005) was an American comic book artist, best known for his DC Comics work from the late 1960s through the 1990s, including on the characters Batman, Aquaman, and the Spectre (DC Comics character), Sp ...

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (; June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera through ...

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz , ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...

Ogden Whitney John Ogden Whitney (May 1, 1919 – August 13, 1975) was an American comic-book artist and sometime writer active from the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comics through the 1960s Silver Age. He is best known as co-creator of the aviator hero Skym ...

, Ramona Fradon,

Mike Grell Mike Grell (born September 13, 1947) is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on books such as '' Green Lantern/Green Arrow'', '' The Warlord'', and '' Jon Sable Freelance''. Early life Grell studied at the University of ...

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

, and

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Ear ...

. After penning two tales for the second issue of Charlton's mystery anthology '' The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves'' (July 1967)--one of which, "The Mystic Book," is a favorite of his—Skeates was given total control of the writing for the title, including introductory pages, through issue #12. With cartoonist

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born 6 September 1937 in Sant Mateu, Castellón, Spain) is a Spanish-Mexican-American cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book ''Groo t ...

, he won the ACBA Shazam Award for the best humor story of 1972, which was "The Poster Plague," a tale that inspired DC's dark-humor

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' Plop!'', the series about which Skeates professes to be the proudest because it "spoke quite emphatically to the disillusionment extant at least throughout this country during the so-called

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

era." In 1973, he shared the best humor story award with

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017) was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his other ho ...

for "The Gourmet," which has been reprinted more than any other Skeates-written work.

Favorite co-workers

Of all of his artistic collaborators, Skeates named as his favorites Pat Boyette, with whom he worked at Charlton (his favorite employer);

, his partner on a highly regarded ''

'' run that lasted until April 1971; and Steve Ditko, with whom he co-created the quirky team

in '' Showcase'' #75 (June 1968), despite the fact that progressive Skeates and Objectivist Ditko are politically polar opposites. During the 1970s he began a long-standing collaboration with fellow comics writer Mary Skrenes.

Plastic Man

One of the series Skeates wrote at DC in the 1970s was ''

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero featured in American comic books first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole (artist), Jack Co ...

'', for which he created the villain Carrot Man, an evil game show host who hit contestants on their heads with a toaster. When that character appeared on the ''Plastic Man'' animated show, his creator received no royalties, but the showrunners "tried to make good" by changing Carrot Man's true identity to Stephen Skeates. As a result, people would stop the writer on the street and say, "You were on TV!"

The 1980s

In the early 1980s, Skeates was working for comics "from a distance," writing for Gold Key and Marvel through the mail. In 1984, while he was taking various story ideas into editors' offices, Marvel's

Larry Hama Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an People of the United States, American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s. During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles ...

tapped him to script the ''Generic Comic Book'', which he did anonymously. During the mid-1980s he also co-wrote a handful of episodes of ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'', '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', and '' Jem''. By the late 1980s, Skeates felt burnt out from trying to write comics for the more demanding hardcore fans and left the industry to take up bartending. This left him with a creative need that was going unfulfilled, so he finally went to the only daily newspaper in the area of his residence and presented its editor with the idea for a locally oriented

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

called ''The Adventures of Stew Ben and Alec Gainey'', that Skeates would write and draw for the ''Sunday Spectator'', which was the Sunday paper for both ''The Hornell Tribune'' (Steuben) and ''The Wellsville Daily Reporter'' (Allegany). While it looked like a humor strip, it was actually a continuing adventure story about two private eyes. Skeates was initially afraid that his little section of New York State wasn't ready for the "bizarre mish-mash of stuff that didn't quite mesh" which he was turning out, but readers caught on quickly. The newspaper's publisher did not, however, and wanted the strip canned, but the supportive editor convinced his employer to let the subscribers decide by way of a ballot placed in the paper. Skeates made a bundle of ballot photocopies and bribed his regulars with free drinks to save the strip. After a year (summer 1989-summer 1990) of producing "that very strange little

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

entity," Skeates ended his "most interesting experience within the wonderful world of comics" by having his

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

s sacrifice themselves to save the Earth.

1990s–2010s

Skeates moved back to Rochester in 1993 or 1994 to help his mother care for his father, who had developed

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. In 2000, he began writing articles about comics for Charlton Spotlight, and he continued that until 2006. In 2011, Surprising Comics head Mark Davis found some of Skeates's

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

postings and asked him to write SC's water-based hero Depthon, Son of the Ocean, so he produced a five-page story, with art and lettering by Kenneth M. Johnson, that appeared in ''All-Surprising Comics'' #1. He then scripted a seven-pager that was illustrated by Ron Stewart and appeared in ''Monty's World'' #1. The fate of a third Depthon script is unknown to Skeates. A number of smaller comics companies proceeded to contact Skeates, including Canada-based Red Lion, whose editor-publisher, Jonathan A. Gilbert, wanted to revive an unsold talking-animal property called Stateside Mouse, which Skeates and artist Joe Orsak had developed twenty years earlier as a World War II-era adventure series (It remains unpublished, but Skeates and Orsak still have hopes for it). At the same time, Skeates self-published a 22-page magazine-sized comic called “Could I Have My Reality Check Please?” which was created in the style of the

Underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

of the sixties and seventies and sold at conventions. At

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

in July 2012, Skeates received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. He began writing for '' The Charlton Arrow'' anthology series in 2014. In 2018, two unpublished stories originally written by Skeates and penciled by

George Wildman George Wildman (July 31, 1927 – May 22, 2016) was an American cartoonist most noted for his work in the comic books industry. From 1971 until 1985, he was a top editor at Charlton Comics, where he also became the long-time regular artist o ...

in 1978-1979 for the ''

Underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...

'' comic series by Warren Publishing were completed and published in ''Underdog 1975'' #1 by American Mythology. From 1996 to 2012, Skeates was the editor of the PCBN Peoples' Comic Book Newsletter. A fanzine that promoted upcoming comic books artists and writers. https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/blogs/entry/33665-the-spirit-of-stephen-skeates/ Canadian comics creator Jonathan A. Gilbert wrote of Skeates, "The reason Steve is such an influence on me creatively is because of his unique writing style. He is not what I would call a 'pretty writer' but rather takes a subject and puts a unique twist on it that no one else had even considered. He can make the old look new again which is a rare talent in our business."

Awards

* 1972 Shazam Award: Best Humor Story, "The Poster Plague" in ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...

'' #201 (with

) * 1973 Warren Award: for Best All Around Writer * 1973 Shazam Award: for Best Writer (Humor Division) * 1973 Shazam Award: Best Humor Story, "The Gourmet" in '' Plop!'' #1 * 2012 Bill Finger Award

Bibliography

AC Comics

* '' The Charlton Arrow'' vol. 2 #2 (2017)

American Mythology

* '' Underdog 1975'' #1 (2018)

Archie Comics

* '' Red Circle Sorcery'' #6–7 (1974)

Atlas/Seaboard Comics

* ''Western Action'' #1 (1975) * ''Wulf the Barbarian'' #3 (1975)

Charlton Comics

* ''

Abbott & Costello Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in t ...

'' #1–11 (1968–1969) * ''

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three superheroes appearing in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the rights to the ...

'' #4 (

Question A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammar, grammatical forms, typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are i ...

backup story) (1967) * ''Charlton Premiere'' vol. 2 #1, 4 (1967–1968) * ''Go-Go'' #7–8 (1967) * ''The Gunfighters'' #52 (1967) * ''Hercules'' #1–13 (Thane of Bagarth backup stories) (1967–1968) * ''

Judomaster Judomaster is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. An unidentified incarnation of Judomaster appears in the television series '' Peacemaker'', portrayed by Nhut Le. Creation Creator Frank McL ...

'' #95–98 (

Sarge Steel Sarge Steel is a detective/ spy character published by Charlton Comics during the 1960s. As he was published during the time of Charlton's ''Action Heroes'' line of superheroes, and had loose ties to some, he is sometimes included with that group. ...

backup stories) (1967) * '' The Many Ghosts of Doctor Graves'' #2–13 (1967–1969) * ''Outlaws Of The West'' #66–79 (1967–1970) * '' Peacemaker'' #4–5 ( Fightin' 5 backup stories) (1967) * ''Secret Agent'' #10 (Sarge Steel) (1967) * '' Timmy the Timid Ghost'' #6 (1968)

Comicfix

* '' The Charlton Arrow'' #2–3 (2014)

DC Comics

* '' 1st Issue Special'' #11 ( Codename: Assassin) (1976) * ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'' #417, 421–424, 427–429, 432–433, 435–436, 449 (1972–1977) * ''

The Amazing World of DC Comics ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, wit ...

'' #13 (1976) * ''

'' #40–56 (1968–1971) * '' Blackhawk'' #244–246, 249–250 (1976–1977) * '' Date with Debbi'' #1–3 (1969) * '' Debbi's Dates'' #1–5 (1969–1970) * '' DC Graphic Novel'' #2 (1984) * ''

DC Super Stars ''DC Super Stars'' was a comics anthology series published by DC Comics from March 1976 to February 1978. Starting off as a reprint title, it finished its run with original stories. Publication history The tagline "The Line of DC Super-Stars" wa ...

'' #13 (1977) * ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

'' #202, 204, 207, 209–211, 216 (1970–1972) * '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion'' #10 (1973) * ''

'' #1–4 (1968–1969) * ''

'' #201–202, 209, 213–214, 217, 224, 251, 254, 256, 261, 310, 313 (1972–1983) * '' House of Secrets'' #84, 93, 97, 103, 105, 107, 117–118, 120, 125–126, 131, 134–135, 139, 143–144 (1970–1977) * '' The Mighty Isis'' #2–4 (1976–1977) * ''

Mystery in Space ''Mystery in Space'' is the name of two science fiction American comic book series published by DC Comics, and of a standalone Vertigo anthology released in 2012. The first series ran for 110 issues from 1951 to 1966, with a further seven issues ...

'' #114 (1980) * ''

Phantom Stranger The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo (DC Comics), Vertigo imprint. The character ...

'' vol. 2 #18–19, 22, 27–30, 34 (1972–1974) * ''

'' #11–13, 15–16 (1976–1977) * '' Plop!'' #1–2, 4, 6–11, 13, 15–20, 22, 24 (1973–1976) * '' Secrets of Haunted House'' #8, 42 (1977–1981) * ''

Secrets of Sinister House ''Secrets of Sinister House'' was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1972-1974, a companion to '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion''. Both series were originally inspired by the successful ABC soap opera ''D ...

'' #10 (1973) * '' Showcase'' #75 (Hawk and Dove) (1968) * ''

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...

'' #8 (1969) * '' Star Spangled War Stories'' #184, 196, 199 (1975–1976) * ''Super DC Giant'' #S-26 (Aquaman) (1971) * ''

Super-Team Family ''Super-Team Family'' is a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 that lasted for 15 issues. It included a mix of original and reprinted stories. Publication history ''Super-Team Family'' began publication with an O ...

'' #3 (

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

and

Hawkman Hawkman is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1, published by All-American ...

teamup); #8–10 (

Challengers of the Unknown The Challengers of the Unknown is a fictional group of adventurers appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The quartet of adventurers explored paranormal occurrences while facing several fantastic menaces. The characters' provenance is ...

) (1976–1977) * ''

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from September–October 1954 until March 1974, spanning a total of 163 issues. Featuring the adventures of Superman supporting character Jimmy Olsen, it conta ...

'' #152–153 (1972) * ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' #28–32, 36 (1970–1971) * '' Unknown Soldier'' #205–207 (1977) * '' Weird Mystery Tales'' #4, 7, 11–12, 14, 21, 23 (1973–1975) * ''

Weird War Tales ''Weird War Tales'' is a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September - October 1971 to June 1983. Publication history The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was an an ...

'' #32, 35, 46–49 (1974–1976) * '' Weird Western Tales'' #32 (1976) * '' The Witching Hour'' #6–7, 12, 26 (1969–1971) * ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'' #203, 205, 214 (1971–1972)

Gold Key Comics

* ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' #76 (1977) * ''

'' #7, 11–13, 17–18, 22–23 (1976–1979) * '' Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny'' #44, 57 (1977–1978)

Marvel Comics

* ''

Bizarre Adventures ''Marvel Preview'' is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group. Public ...

'' #30–34 (1982–1983) * ''

Chamber of Chills ''Chamber of Chills'' is the name of two anthology horror comic books, one published by Harvey Publications in the early 1950s, the other by Marvel Comics in the 1970s. Harvey Publications The first ''Chamber of Chills'' was a 10-cent horror an ...

'' #4, 6 (1973) * ''

Crazy Magazine ''Crazy Magazine'' is an illustrated satire and humor magazine that was published by Marvel Comics from 1973 to 1983 for a total of 94 regular issues (and a ''Super Special'' (Summer 1975)). It was preceded by two standard-format comic book seri ...

'' #68–69, 75, 77 (Howard the Duck backup stories); #79 (1980–1981) * ''Generic Comic'' #1 (1984) * ''

Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber, based very loosely on his college friend Howard Tockman, and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck firs ...

'' magazine #9 (1981) * ''

Journey into Mystery ''Journey into Mystery'' is an American comic book series initially published by Atlas Comics, then by its successor, Marvel Comics. Initially a horror comics anthology, it changed to giant-monster and science fiction stories in the late 1950s ...

'' vol. 2 #1 (1972) * ''Marvel Preview'' #23 (1980) * '' Monsters Unleashed'' #3 (1973) * ''

Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham Spider-Ham (Peter Porker) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is an anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic pig and is a cartoon animal parody version of Spider-Man. He was created by Larry Hama, T ...

'' #1–7, 10 (1985–1986) * '' Savage Sword of Conan'' #98 (1984) * ''

Savage Tales ''Savage Tales'' is the title of three American comics series. Two were black-and-white comics-magazine anthologies published by Marvel Comics, and the other a color comic book anthology published by Dynamite Entertainment. Publication history M ...

'' vol. 2 #2, 6 (1985–1986) * '' Sub-Mariner'' #72 (1974) * '' Tower of Shadows'' #6 (1970) * '' Two-Gun Kid'' #80 (1966) * '' What If...?'' #23 ("What If

Aunt May Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...

Had Been Bitten by That Radioactive Spider?") (1980)

Star Reach

* ''

Star Reach ''Star Reach'' (also spelled ''Star*Reach'') was an American science fiction and fantasy comics anthology published from 1974 to 1979 by Mike Friedrich. Publication history One of the first American mainstream independent comic books, ''Star*R ...

'' #1–2 (1974–1975) * ''Quack!'' #2 (1977)

Tower Comics

* ''Noman'' #1–2 (1966–1967) * '' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #4–8, 11–14 (1966–1967) * ''Undersea Agent'' #3–4 (1966)

Warren Publishing

* ''

Creepy Creepiness is the state of being creepy, or causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease to someone and/or something. Certain traits or hobbies may make people seem creepy to others; interest in horror or the macabre might come across as 'c ...

'' #38–42, 44, 47, 52–52, 58, 60–62, 64 (1971–1974) * ''

Eerie Eerie may refer to: * Feeling of creepiness * Eerie (magazine), ''Eerie'' (magazine), an American horror comic first published in 1966 * Eerie (Avon), ''Eerie'' (Avon), a 1947 horror comic * Eerie (film), ''Eerie'' (film), a 2018 Filipino horror fi ...

'' #31–34, 36–37, 39–41, 43, 48–50, 52, 54, 56–57, 60–63, 65, 67 (1971–1975) * ''

Vampirella Vampirella () is a vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of '' Creepy'' and ''E ...

'' #8, 10–11, 17, 20–24, 30–34, 39 (1970–1975)

Western Publishing

* ''Starstream'' #1–2 (1976)

Television

*''

The Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'': "The Face of the Nijika" (November 20, 1986)

References

External links

*
Steve Skeates
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of the Marvel Comics Creators
Commentary on ''Aquaman'' #56 and ''Sub-Mariner'' #72
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skeates, Steve 1943 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American writers 20th-century American male writers Alfred University alumni American comics writers Silver Age comics creators Bill Finger Award winners People from Rochester, New York