Alvin Schwartz (comics)

For the children's-book author of the Scary Stories series, seeAlvin Schwartz (children's author).

Alvin Stanley Schwartz(November 17, 1916 – October 28, 2011) was an Americancomic bookwriter best known for hisBatmanandSupermanstories. He was also anovelist,poet,andessayist.

Alvin Stanley Schwartz
Born	November 17, 1916 New York City,New York
Died	October 28, 2011(2011-10-28)(aged 94) Chesterville, Ontario
Nationality	American
Awards	Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing

Biography

Early life and career

Alvin Schwartz debuted in comics with an issue ofFairy Tale Paradein 1939. He then wrote extensively forSheldon MayeratAll-American Publicationsand then forNational Comics,two of the three companies which merged to form DC Comics.

Golden Age of comics books

Schwartz wrote his first Batman story in 1942, expanding into the Batmannewspapercomic stripin August 1944 and theSuperman striptwo months later. Through 1952, he scripted for most of the company's newspaper strips. For rivalFawcett Comics,he wrote stories for Superman's chief competitorCaptain Marvel.

1950s

Until ending his association with DC in 1958, Schwartz contributed comic-book scripts for suchsuperheroesasAquaman,Wonder Woman,theFlash,Green Lantern,theNewsboy Legion,Vigilante,Slam Bradley,andTomahawk.He also wrote comic books such asA Date With Judy,Buzzy,andHouse of Mystery.Among Schwartz's contributions to Superman was writing the first tale ofBizarro,denizen of an opposite, interdimensional world where "hello" means "goodbye", and citizens do good by doing bad. He wroteWorld's Finest Comics#71 (July 1954), the issue which began featuring Superman and Batman in the same story together.

Schwartz left DC after clashing repeatedly with the new Superman-line editorMort Weisinger.

Corporate work

After leaving DC, Schwartz went into corporatemarket researchand helped develop such techniques aspsychographicsand typological identification. As research director for Dr. Ernst Dichter's Institute for Motivational Research, he provided structural and marketing advice to corporations such asGeneral MotorsandGeneral Foods.He later joined the advisory committee of theAmerican Association of Advertising Agencies.

Other writing

Schwartz wrote three novels for Arco Press, one of which, the detective storySword of Desire,won praise for its takeoff onWilhelm Reich's orgone therapy, a popular psychotherapeutic technique used during the 1940s and 1950s. His proto-Beat novelThe Blowtopwas published byDial Pressin 1948. Under the titleLe Cinglé,it became a best-seller in France.

In 1968, Schwartz moved toCanada,where he wrotedocumentariesanddocudramasfor theNational Film Board of Canadafor nearly 20 years, and created several economic and social studies for theGovernment of Canada.Additionally, Schwartz wrote and lectured on superheroes, and received a Canada Council Grant for a study on religious symbolism in popular culture, using Superman as a springboard.

Later life and career

In 1997, Schwartz published anautobiographytitledAn Unlikely Prophet.In it, he wrote that Superman had attained the status of atulpa,an entity that according to Buddhist beliefs attains reality solely by the act of imagination. Schwartz claimed he had actually met the superhero in a New York cab. In the mid-2000s, Schwartz wrote a weekly web column.

Schwartz and his wife lived in the rural village ofChestervillenearOttawa,Ontario,Canada. He died in 2011 of heart-related complications.

Awards

Schwartz and writer-editorHarvey Kurtzmanwere awarded the 2006 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.

Bibliography

• The Blowtop(1948)ISBN1-58754-007-X
• Sword of Desire(Arco 1952) under pseudonym Robert W. Tracy
• An Unlikely Prophet(1997)ISBN0-9659521-2-6
• A Gathering of Selves(2006)ISBN1-59477-109-X

References

• After the Golden Age,a column by Alvin Schwartz forWorld Famous Comics
• Official Message Board
• About Alvin Schwartz
• "News from Me" (column) by Mark Evanier: "This Year's Bill Finger Award"