Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics, Image, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, Superman | Tagged: birthday, black cat, blade, bullseye, crisis, cyborg, deathstroke, Destiny, EIC, marv wolfman, new teen titans, Night Force, nightwing, nova, omega men, raven, starfire, tim drake, vigilante

Happy Eightieth Birthday, Marv Wolfman!

Marv Wolfman of Blade, Crisis, Destiny, Bullseye, Black Cat, Nova, Raven, Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Deathstroke and Tim Drake turns eighty

Marv Wolfman was born on the 13th of May, 1946, in Brooklyn. He is eighty today. Much loved and respected in the comics industry, these kinds of articles are usually posted on the occasion of someone's death, celebrating their life. But I just wanted to do that while Marv could still see it. Because he loves all this, one of my favourite moments was with Marv Wolfman at a New York Comic Con a decade ago, when a cosplayer couple, as Cyborg and Black Cat, began talking to him, not knowing he had co-created both characters or even his name. Some might have taken offence, but Marv Wolfman was delighted that the characters had gone so far and that he could introduce himself and his relationship to them both. At which point, they became just as delighted as he was.

But let's go back eighty years. Son of a police officer, Wolfman was thirteen when his family moved to Flushing, Queens, and he later studied at New York's High School of Art and Design. First professionally writing comics at twenty-two for DC Comics' Blackhawk, and creating the character Destiny with Bernie Wrightson in Weird Mystery Tales in 1972, he later gained greater fame as the first of the Endless in Sandman. At a time when publishers were averse to crediting some creators, he wrote a story credited to a "wandering Wolfman." The Comics Code Authority, which did not permit the mention of werewolves, demanded it be removed. When they were told that was the name of the writer, the Code demanded that be clarified as a credit. Once that happened, it followed for others as well.

Marv Wolfman made a name for himself at Marvel Comics in the 1970s as a protégé of then-editor Roy Thomas. At Marvel, he revitalised their horror comics as the writer of The Tomb of Dracula, from 1972 to 1979, and, with artist Gene Colan, crafted one of the most critically acclaimed horror series in comics history, along the way creating Blade, the Black British vampire hunter who was half vampire himself. With Gil Kane, he adapted Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom books into Marvel's John Carter, Warlord of Mars series. He also wrote for Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Captain America, co-creating the likes of Bullseye, Black Cat, Nova, Terrax and Moonstone. The Spider-Woman series was launched in April 1978 by Wolfman and artist Carmine Infantino, in which he created the character of Jessica Drew. For a brief period, he even served as Editor-in-Chief at Marvel Comics.

In the 1980s, Wolfman made the move to DC Comics, where he teamed up with the late artist George Pérez to relaunch Teen Titans as The New Teen Titans in 1980, transforming the team into one that rivalled X-Men in popularity, co-creating Raven, Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, and Deathstroke along the way, as well as Vigilante, The Omega Men and Tim Drake. He even worked with Gene Colan again, at DC, on Night Force, a supernatural Mission Impossible-style team, though it was short-lived. But the pinnacle of his collaboration with Perez came with Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, a 12-issue series that streamlined DC's sprawling multiverse across parallel Earths, resulting in lasting changes such as the death of Supergirl and the merging of multiple universes. It set the template for future comic "event" series and remains a cornerstone of DC continuity. He was also involved in the relaunch of the Superman line, reinventing Lex Luthor as a billionaire businessman, and co-creating Bibbo Bibbowski and Professor Emil Hamilton with Jerry Ordway.

He was one of several creators who disagreed with DC Comics after a new ratings system was imposed without consultation or warning, and was fired as an editor. And in 1997, alongside the release of the Blade movie, Marv Wolfman sued Marvel over ownership of all characters he had created for them, stating that he had not signed work-for-hire contracts when he created them. However, in the wake of Marvel's 1997 bankruptcy and the voiding of many contracts, the judge ruled against him.

Marv Wolfman returned to write for DC, but began moving into other media for TV with the Transformers cartoon, Arrow, Batman: The Animated Series and Teen Titans, film with Stan Lee's The Condor for Pow Entertainment and The Judas Contract, as well as novels such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman Returns, Batman: Arkham Knight and Suicide Squad, video games like Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, and more, and wrote for and edited Disney comics titles. In the late 1990s, Wolfman developed the Transformers TV series Beast Machines.

In the noughties, he began writing in comics again, Defex for Devil's Due, Infinite Crisis contributions and worked with Geoff Johns on Teen Titans again. In the teens, he and Pérez completed the New Teen Titans: Games graphic novel, Wolfman revived Night Force series with Tom Mandrake and write the Man and Superman, retelling of Superman's origin story. In the twenties, he also made a cameo appearance in Legends of Tomorrow, wrote the final pages of Nightwing #300 and returned to Marvel for What If…? Dark: Tomb of Dracula

Marv Wolfman continued to be involved in the comics industry, as a legend, an influence, a commentator, a creator and a fan. Scott Dunbier of Act IV at Skybound just posted "Here are some pics of the George Perez Teen Titans Artist's Edition—this is the signed (by Marv Wolfman) and numbered version, limited to 150 copies and presented in a snazzy slipcase. It will be going on sale sometime in late June or early July. More details next month." He remains our wandering Wolfman of comic books… happy birthday, Marv.

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