| Gardner Fox | |
 Portrait of Gardner Fox by Gil Kane |
|
| Birth name | Gardner Francis Fox |
| Born | May 20, 1911 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | December 24, 1986 (aged 75) |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer |
| Pseudonym(s) | Jefferson Cooper Bart Sommers Paul Dean Ray Gardner Lynna Cooper Rod Gray |
| Awards | Alley Award
|
Gardner Francis Fox (May 20, 1911, Brooklyn, New York – December 24, 1986) was an American writer best known for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Eli Katz ( April 6, 1926, Riga, Latvia – January 31, 2000, Miami Florida, United States) who Events 325 - The First Council of Nicaea &ndash the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Events 325 - The First Council of Nicaea &ndash the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Comic-book historians estimate that he wrote over 4,000 comics stories.
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Biography
Early life and career
Fox received a law degree from St. John's College and was admitted to the New York bar in 1935. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous A bar association is a Professional body of Lawyers Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their Jurisdiction He practiced for about two years, but as the Great Depression dragged on, took work writing for DC Comics editor Vin Sullivan. Vincent "Vin" Sullivan (born circa 1911 died February 3, 1999) was a pioneering American Comic book editor, Artist His first story was for the feature "Steve Mallone, District Attorney". He later contributed scripts for many DC characters, including Zatara, Batman and especially Starman. This article is about Giovanni "John" Zatara For his nephew see Zachary Zatara. Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional Comic book Superhero co-created Starman ( Ted Knight) is a fictional Comic book Superhero in the DC Comics universe, and a member of the Justice Society He was also a frequent contributor of prose stories to the pulp science fiction magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines
Golden Age of comic books
Fox, along with writer Bill Finger, was instrumental in the evolution of Batman, introducing such crimefighting tools as the Batarang and the Batplane. William "Bill" Finger ( February 8, 1914 &ndash January 18, 1974) was an American Comic strip and Comic A batarang is a roughly Bat -shaped throwing weapon used by the DC Comics Superhero Batman. The Batplane, later known as the Batwing, is the fictional Aircraft for the Comic book Superhero Batman. He also co-created numerous DC characters including the Sandman with Bert Christman, Starman with Jack Burnley, and Doctor Fate with Howard Sherman. Sandman ( Wesley Dodds) is a fictional Superhero appearing in Comic books published by DC Comics. Starman ( Ted Knight) is a fictional Comic book Superhero in the DC Comics universe, and a member of the Justice Society Jack Burnley ( January 11[[ 911]] - December 19 2006) was the pen name of Hardin Burnley, an American Comic book artist and Doctor Fate (also known by the Diminutive, Fate) is the name of a succession of fictional sorcerers who appear within DC Comics ' universe
Though he continued to script for Detective Comics, Inc. , Fox became the head writer for the affiliated All-American Publications. All-American Publications is one of three American comic book companies that combined to form the modern-day DC Comics, one of the world's two largest comics publishers There, Fox created such iconic superhero characters as the Flash (with artist Harry Lampert), and Hawkman (with Dennis Neville). An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Harry Lampert ( November 3, 1916 in New York - November 13, 2004 in Boca Raton Florida) was a cartoonist adman and For other meanings of the term see Hawkman (disambiguation Hawkman is a Superhero in the DC Comics universe. With editor Sheldon Mayer and artist E. Sheldon Mayer ( April 1, 1917 - December 21, 1991) was an American Comic book writer artist and editor E. Hibbard, Fox created the first superhero team, the Justice Society of America. A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics Superhero group the first team of superheroes in Comic book history
During World War II, Fox took over a variety of characters and books of several of his colleagues who had been drafted. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority He worked for numerous companies including Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics; Vin Sullivan's Magazine Enterprises, where he created Skyman; and at EC, where he served a brief stint as head writer. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Timely Comics is the 1940s Comic book Publishing company that would evolve into first Atlas Comics, and then Marvel Comics Vincent "Vin" Sullivan (born circa 1911 died February 3, 1999) was a pioneering American Comic book editor, Artist Magazine Enterprises was an American Comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958 which published primarily Western, Humor, crime Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American Publisher of Comic books specializing in Crime fiction, With the waning popularity of superheroes, Fox contributed western, science fiction, humor, romance, and funny animal stories. Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West between the years of 1860 and 1900 A romance novel is a literary Genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries Funny animal is a Cartooning term for the Genre of Comics and Animated cartoons in which the main characters are Humanoid or
Silver Age of comic books
In the late 1950s, editor Julius Schwartz revived many Golden Age heroes, including The Flash. Julius "Julie" Schwartz ( June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a Jewish Comic book and Pulp magazine Fox's script for "Flash of Two Worlds!", from The Flash #123 (Sept. "Flash of Two Worlds!" is a landmark Comic book story that was published in The Flash #123 (Sept 1961), introduced Earth-Two, and more generally the concept of the Multiverse, a decades-long recurring theme of the DC Comics universe. Earth-Two is a fictional universe appearing in American Comic book stories published by DC Comics. The DC Multiverse is a Fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by Comic book company DC Comics. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Fox's other contributions to this revival period included reinventions of the Atom and Hawkman, and reviving the Justice Society as the Justice League of America. For other meanings of the term see Hawkman (disambiguation Hawkman is a Superhero in the DC Comics universe. The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics Superhero group the first team of superheroes in Comic book history The Justice League sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short is a Fictional DC Comics superhero team.
A true polymath, Fox sprinkled his strips with numerous real-world historical, scientific, and mythological references. For instance, in the span of a year's worth of Atom stories, Fox tackled the 1956 Hungarian revolution, the space race, 18th-century England, miniature card painting, Norse mythology, and numismatics, just to name a few. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 ( Hungarian: 1956-os forradalom) was a spontaneous nationwide Revolt against the Stalinist government of The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the Soviet Union and the United States, which lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975 Norse mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and Legends of the Scandinavian peoples including those who settled on Iceland Numismatics (numisma nomisma "coin" from the νομίζειν nomízein, "to use according to law" is the study or collection of Currency
Fox also wrote scripts for Batman, reintroducing villains such as The Riddler and The Scarecrow, who would go on to become some of the Caped Crusader's most famous foes. The Riddler ( Edward Nigma or Nygma, or Nashton) is a Fictional character, a DC Comics Supervillain, an enemy of The Scarecrow ( Dr Jonathan Crane) is a DC Comics Supervillain, an enemy of Batman.
Return to novels
Fox stopped receiving work in 1968 when DC Comics refused to give health insurance and other benefits to its older creators. Fox, who had written a number of historical adventures, mystery and science fiction novels in the 1940s and the 1950s, began to produce novels full time, both under his own name and several pseudonyms. A pseudonym is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name (see Alias) He briefly worked for DC's rival publisher, Marvel Comics, writing scripts for features such as Dr. Strange and Red Wolf. Red Wolf is the name of a number of Fictional characters in Marvel Comics ' Shared universe, the Marvel Universe.
Fox wrote over 100 novels in genres such as science fiction, sword and sorcery, espionage, crime, fantasy, romance, western, and historical fiction. Sword and sorcery ( S&S) is a fantasy subgenre generally characterized by swashbuckling heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts The Genre of spy fiction —sometimes called political thriller or spy thriller or sometimes shortened simply to Spy-fi —arose before Crime fiction is the Genre of Fiction that deals with Crimes their detection criminals and their motives It is usually distinguished from Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author His pen names included Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, and Lynna Cooper.
Death
Upon his death, Fox was survived by his wife Lynda, his son Jeffrey, his daughter Lynda, and four grandchildren.
Awards
Fox won two 1962 Alley Awards — for Best Script Writer and for Best Book-Length Story ("The Planet that Came to a Standstill" in Mystery in Space #75), with penciler Carmine Infantino) — as well as a 1963 Alley, for Favorite Novel ("Crisis on Earths 1 and 2" in Justice League of America #21-22, with penciler Mike Sekowsky), and the 1965 Alley for Best Novel ("Solomon Grundy Goes on a Rampage" in Showcase #55) with penciler Murphy Anderson). The Alley Award was an American series of Comic-book fan awards first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961 Mystery in Space is the name of two Science fiction Comic book series published by DC Comics. Carmine Infantino (born May 24, 1925) is an American Comic book Artist and editor who was a major force in the Silver Age The Justice League sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short is a Fictional DC Comics superhero team. Mike Sekowsky ( November 19, 1923 - March 30, 1989) was a Jewish American Comic book Artist best known Showcase has been the title of several Anthology series published by DC Comics. Murphy Anderson (b 1926 in Asheville North Carolina) is an American Comic book Penciller and Inker who has worked for companies
In 2007, Fox was one of the year's two recipients of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing, given under the auspices of Comic-Con International. The Bill Finger Award For Excellence In Comic Book Writing is an American award for Comic book writers who were not sufficiently honored for their work in the medium Comic-Con International San Diego, commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, is an annual multigenre Fan convention founded as the Golden [1]
Legacy
In 2002, the Cartoon Network aired an episode of the animated TV series Justice League titled "Legends", an homage to Fox's Justice Society and his annual Silver Age Justice Society/Justice League crossovers. An animated cartoon is a short hand-drawn (or made with computers to look similar to something hand-drawn Film for the cinema, Television or computer Justice League is an American Animated television series about a team of Superheroes which ran from 2001 to 2004 on Cartoon Network The episode was dedicated to Fox.
Footnotes
References
- Gardner F. Fox at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- SciFan: Gardner F. Fox Bibliography
- The FictionMags Index: Fox , Gardner F(rancis)
- JSA Members: The Sandman
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Sandman
- Once Upon a Dime (Spring 1997): "Enter the Sandman"
- Who's Who of American Comic Books
External links
| Preceded by None |
Justice League writer 1960–1968 |
Succeeded by Dennis O'Neil |
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