Marv Wolfman was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of police officer Abe and housewife Fay.[3] He has a sister, Harriet, 12 years older.[3] When Wolfman was 13, his family moved to Flushing, Queens, in New York City, where he attended junior high school.[4] He went on to New York's High School of Art and Design, in Manhattan, hoping to become a cartoonist.[5] Wolfman is Jewish.[6][7]
Career
1960s
Marvin Wolfman was active in fandom[8] before he began his professional comics career at DC Comics in 1968. Wolfman was one of the first to publish Stephen King, with "In A Half-World of Terror" in Wolfman's horrorfanzineStories of Suspense No. 2 (1965). This was a revised version of King's first published story, "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber", which had been serialized over four issues (three published and one unpublished) of the fanzine Comics Review that same year.[9]
Wolfman's first published work for DC Comics appeared in Blackhawk No. 242 (Aug.–Sept. 1968).[10] He and longtime friend Len Wein created the character Jonny Double in Showcase No. 78 (November 1968) plotted by Wolfman and scripted by Joe Gill.[11] The two co-wrote "Eye of the Beholder" in Teen Titans No. 18 (Dec. 1968), which would be Wein's first professional comics credit. Neal Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a Teen Titans story which had been written by Wein and Wolfman. The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero, but was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino.[12] The revised story appeared in Teen Titans No. 20 (March–April 1969). Wolfman and Gil Kane created an origin for Wonder Girl in Teen Titans No. 22 (July–Aug. 1969) which introduced the character's new costume.[13]
In 1972, Wolfman moved to Marvel Comics as a protégé of then-editor Roy Thomas. When Thomas stepped down, Wolfman eventually took over as editor, initially in charge of the publisher's black-and-white magazines, then finally the color line of comics.[15] Wolfman said in 1981 that, "Marvel never gave [its] full commitment to" the black-and-white line. "No one wanted to commit themselves to the staff." He added, "We used to farm the books out to Harry Chester Studios [sic] and whatever they pasted up, they pasted up. I formed the first production staff, hired the first layout people, paste-up people."[16] Wolfman stepped down as editor-in-chief to spend more time writing.[17]
He and artist Gene Colan crafted The Tomb of Dracula, a horror comic that became "one of the most critically-acclaimed horror-themed comic books ever".[18][19] During their run on this series, they created Blade,[20] a character who would later be portrayed by actor Wesley Snipes in a film trilogy. In addition, the editorship of Marvel could not resist the opportunity to assign a writer with such a surname to contribute a few stories to their concurrent monster title, Werewolf by Night, with a playful editor's comment: "At last -- WEREWOLF -- written by a WOLFMAN."[21]
In 1978, Wolfman and artist Alan Kupperberg took over the Howard the Duck syndicated newspaper comic strip.[31][32] While writing the Fantastic Four (which Wolfman stated to be his favorite comic),[33][34] Wolfman and John Byrne introduced a new herald for Galactus named Terrax in No. 211 (Oct. 1979).[35] A Godzilla story by Wolfman and Steve Ditko was changed into a Dragon Lord story published in Marvel Spotlight vol. 2 No. 5 (March 1980).[36] The creature that the Dragon Lord battled was intended to be Godzilla but since Marvel no longer had the rights to the character (which lapsed the previous year) the creature was modified to a dragon called The Wani.[37]
1980s
The New Teen Titans
In 1980, Wolfman returned to DC after a dispute with Marvel.[15] Teaming with penciller George Pérez, Wolfman relaunched DC's Teen Titans in a special preview in DC Comics Presents No. 26 (October 1980).[38]The New Teen Titans added the Wolfman-Pérez creations Raven, Starfire and Cyborg to the old team's Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Beast Boy (renamed Changeling). The series became DC's first new hit in years;[39][40]Christopher J. Priest called Deathstroke, another new character, "the first modern supervillain".[41] Wolfman wrote a series of New Teen Titans drug awareness comic books which were published in cooperation with The President's Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983–1984. The first was pencilled by Pérez and sponsored by the Keebler Company,[42] the second was illustrated by Ross Andru and underwritten by the American Soft Drink Industry,[43] and the third was drawn by Adrian Gonzales and financed by IBM.[44][45] In August 1984, a second series of The New Teen Titans was launched by Wolfman and Pérez.[46]
After Pérez left The New Teen Titans in 1985, Wolfman continued for many years with other collaborators – including pencillers José Luis García-López,[52]Eduardo Barreto and Tom Grummett. In December 1986, Wolfman was informed by Marvel writer Chris Claremont that a DC executive had approached Claremont at a holiday party and offered him the position of writer on The New Teen Titans.[53] Claremont immediately declined the offer and told Wolfman that apparently the publisher was looking to replace him on the title. When Wolfman confronted DC executives about this, he was told it was "just a joke", although Claremont reiterated that he took it to be a credible and official offer.
Crisis on Infinite Earths
In 1985, Wolfman and Pérez launched Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 12-issue limited series[54] celebrating DC's 50th anniversary. Featuring a cast of thousands and a timeline that ranged from the beginning of the universe to the end of time, it killed scores of characters, integrated a number of heroes from other companies to DC continuity, and re-wrote 50 years of DC universe history to streamline it. After finishing Crisis, Wolfman and Pérez produced the History of the DC Universe limited series to summarize the company's new history.[55]
Wolfman got into a public dispute with DC over a proposed ratings system,[57] which led to his being relieved of his editorial duties by the company.[58] DC offered to reinstate Wolfman as an editor provided he apologize for making his criticism of the ratings system public, rather than keeping them internal to the company, but he declined to do so.
1990s
Wolfman returned to the Dark Knight for another brief run on Batman and Detective Comics,[10] writing "Batman: Year Three",[59] creating Robin III Tim Drake[60] as well as Abattoir[61] and a new version of the Electrocutioner,[62] and writing an anniversary adaptation of the first ever Batman story, which was printed along with two other adaptations and the original.[63] He continued as The New Titans writer and revitalized the series with artist Tom Grummett.[64] Wolfman wrote the series until the title's last issue.[10] Wolfman's writing for comics decreased as he turned to animation and television, though he wrote the mid-1990s DC series The Man Called A-X.[65]
In 1997, on the eve of the impending release of the Blade motion picture, Wolfman sued Marvel Characters Inc. over ownership of all characters he had created for Marvel Comics.[68] A ruling in Marvel's favor was handed down on November 6, 2000.[68] Wolfman's stance was that he had not signed work-for-hire contracts when he created characters including Blade and Nova. In a nonjury trial, the judge ruled that Marvel's later use of the characters was sufficiently different to protect it from Wolfman's claim of copyright ownership.[69]
Beast Machines
In the late 1990s, Wolfman developed the Transformers TV series Beast Machines, which aired on Fox Kids for two seasons from 1999 to 2000. The program was a direct continuation of the Beast Wars series, which itself was a continuation of the original Generation One Transformers show. Beast Machines was met with mixed reviews, as the show was praised for its story, but was criticized for its focus on spirituality. Previously, in the 1980s, Wolfman wrote the story for Optimus Prime's return in "The Return of Optimus Prime" of the third season of Transformers.[70][71]
2000s
Wolfman in 2007
A decade later, Wolfman began writing in comics again, scripting Defex, the flagship title of Devil's Due Productions' Aftermath line. He wrote an "Infinite Crisis" issue of DC's "Secret Files", and consulted with writer Geoff Johns on several issues of The Teen Titans. Wolfman wrote a novel based on Crisis on Infinite Earths, but rather than following the original plot, he created a new story starring the Barry AllenFlash that takes place during the original Crisis story. Wolfman wrote the novelization of the film Superman Returns, and worked on a direct-to-video animated film, The Condor, for Stan Lee's Pow Entertainment.[72]
In 2006, Wolfman was editorial director of Impact Comics (no relation to the DC Comics imprint), publisher of educational manga-style comics for high school students. That same year, starting with issue No. 125, Wolfman began writing DC's Nightwing series. Initially scheduled for a four-issue run, Wolfman's run was expanded to 13 issues, and finished with No. 137. During the course of his run, Wolfman introduced a new Vigilante character. Following Wolfman's departure from the pages of Nightwing, the Vigilante was spun off into his own short-lived title, which Wolfman wrote. He wrote a miniseries starring the Teen Titan Raven, a character he and George Pérez co-created during their run on The New Teen Titans, helping to revamp and update the character. He worked with Pérez on a direct-to-DVD movie adaptation of the popular "Judas Contract" storyline from their tenure on Teen Titans.[72]
2010s
In 2011, he and Pérez completed the New Teen Titans: Gamesgraphic novel, which they had begun working on in the late 1980s.[73] Wolfman revived his Night Force series with artist Tom Mandrake in 2012.[74] He served as writing consultant on the video game Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, which he was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing.[75] In 2015, Wolfman wrote a novelization of the videogame Batman: Arkham Knight.[76]
And in 2016 he published the novelization of the Suicide Squad film through Titan Books.[77] He received the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. That year also marked Wolfman's first work for Marvel since 1998: a backup story for Bullseye #1, starring the titular character that he had co-created in 1976. In 2019, he wrote the main story for the DC Primal Age 100-Page Giant.[78] Also in 2019, DC published the oversized, 100-page comic book Man and Superman, Marv Wolfman's retelling of Superman's origin story, to high acclaim.[79][80]
In 2023, Wolfman returned to Marvel Comics for the oneshot What If…? Dark: Tomb of Dracula featuring his character Blade.[84] In April 2024, Wolfman co-wrote the final two pages of the landmark 300th issue of Nightwing alongside Tom Taylor.
Writing credit pioneer
Wolfman, on the panel "Marvel Comics: The Method and the Madness" at the 1974 New York City Comic Art Convention, told the audience that when he first began working for DC Comics, he received DC's first writing credit on its mystery magazines. Gerry Conway, who wrote the horror-host interstitial pages between stories, wrote in one issue, House of Secrets Vol. 1 Issue 83, that the following story, "The Stuff that Dreams are Made of" was told to him by a "wandering Wolfman." The Comics Code Authority, which did not permit the mention of werewolves or wolfmen at that time, demanded it be removed. DC informed the Authority that "Wolfman" was the writer's last name, so the Authority insisted he be given a credit to show the "Wolfman" was a real person. Once Wolfman was given a credit, other writers demanded them as well. Shortly, credits were given to all writers and artists.[85]
Personal life
Wolfman is married to Noel Watkins. Wolfman was previously married to Michele Wolfman, for many years a colorist in the comics industry. They have a daughter, Jessica Morgan.[86]
In 1985, DC Comics named Wolfman as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great.[90]
1986 Nominated for the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1986,[91] and his work on the "Batman: Year Three" story arc in Batman #436–439 was nominated Comics Buyer's Guide Favorite Writer Award in 1990.[92]
2007 Scribe Award for "Adapted Speculative Fiction Novel", given by writers of novelization and tie-in fiction for his novel based on Superman Returns.[93]
2007 National Jewish Book Award for "Children's and Young Adult Literature", for Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel[94]
^McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, eds. (2010). "1960s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 134. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. Four years after the debut of Wonder Girl, writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gil Kane disclosed her origins.
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 152 "The host that was first presented in a framing sequence by scribe Marv Wolfman and artist Bernie Wrightson would provide endless creative material for Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series decades later."
^"Marv is swapping our editor's chair for a full-time writing schedule here at the bullpen." Lee, Stan "Stan's Soapbox" Bullpen Bulletins Marvel Comics cover-dated September 1976.
^Sanderson, Peter; Gilbert, Laura, eds. (2008). "1970s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 155. ISBN978-0756641238. The team of writer Marv Wolfman, penciler Gene Colan, and inker Tom Palmer took over the series with issue #7.
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 160: "Early in their collaboration on The Tomb of Dracula, writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan co-created Blade, a black man who stalked and killed vampires with the wooden blades after which he named himself."
^Wolfman, Marv (November 1973). "Comes the Hangman". Werewolf by Night. 1 (11).
^Mithra, Kuljit (November 1997). "Interview With Marv Wolfman". ManWithoutFear.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 175 "In March [1976], writer Marv Wolfman and artist Bob Brown co-created one of the Man Without Fear's greatest nemeses, Bullseye."
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 176: "Seeking to create a new teenage Marvel super hero in the tradition of Spider-Man, writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Buscema presented Richard Rider, alias Nova."
^Ewbank, Jamie (August 2013). "Idol of Millions: The Thing in Marvel Two-in-One". Back Issue! (66). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 29–30.
^Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, eds. (2012). "1970s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 101. ISBN978-0756692360. Writer Marv Wolfman and penciling legend Carmine Infantino reintroduced fans to Spider-Woman in this new series all about the female wall-crawler.
^Johnson, Dan (August 2006). "Marvel's Dark Angel: Back Issue Gets Caught in Spider-Woman's Web". Back Issue! (17). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 57–63.
^Manning "1970s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 103: "As new regular writer Marv Wolfman took over the scripting duties from Len Wein and partnered with artist Ross Andru, Peter Parker decided to make a dramatic change in his personal life."
^Manning "1970s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 107: "Spider-Man wasn't exactly sure what to think about his luck when he met a beautiful new thief on the prowl named the Black Cat, courtesy of a story by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Keith Pollard."
^"Howard the Duck". Nemsworld.com. n.d. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
^Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 190: "Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Byrne, Terrax would not only become a threat to the Fantastic Four but also Galactus himself."
^DeFalco, Tom "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 197: "Tako Shamara became the Dragon Lord in Marvel Spotlight No. 5 by writer/editor Marv Wolfman and artist Steve Ditko."
^Cronin, Brian (December 24, 2009). "Comic Book Legends Revealed No. 239". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2013. The Godzilla fill-in by Marv Wolfman and Steve Ditko, ended up appearing in the pages of the re-launched Marvel Spotlight in 1980 as Dragon Lord, about a fellow who can control dragons.
^Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 188 "[The New Teen Titans] went on to become DC's most popular comic team of its day. Not only the springboard for the following month's The New Teen Titans No. 1, the preview's momentous story also featured the first appearance of future DC mainstays Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven."
^Levitz, Paul (2010). 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking. Taschen America. p. 454. ISBN978-3-8365-1981-6. [Marv Wolfman and George Pérez] created a title that would be DC's sales leader throughout the 1980s.
^Priest, Christopher (November 10, 2016). "Exclusive Interview – Christopher Priest Talks Superman vs. Deathstroke". Superman Homepage. Marv created the first modern supervillain. He broke every rule by making Deathstroke three-dimensional and giving him internal conflicts while maintaining a level of skeeve we weren't used to seeing from a typical 2-dimensional bad guy.
^"Turner, Carlton E.: Files, 1981–1987 – Reagan Library Collections". Simi Valley, California: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. n.d. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. This series contains material relating to the development and distribution of the Teen Titans drug awareness comic books. The comic books were designed to communicate the dangers of drug abuse to elementary school children. The Drug Abuse Policy Office coordinated the project, DC Comics developed the story line and artwork, and private companies funded the production costs. The Keebler Company sponsored the fourth grade book (released in April 1983), the National Soft Drink Association sponsored the sixth grade book (November 1983), and IBM sponsored the fifth grade book through the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth (February 1984). The files consist primarily of correspondence with educators, parents, and children.
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 209: "As one of DC's most popular team books, The New Teen Titans was a natural choice to receive the deluxe paper quality and higher price point of the new Baxter format. With the regular newsstand title having already changed its name to Tales of the Teen Titans with issue No. 41, the path was clear for a new comic to once again be titled The New Teen Titans. Featuring the trademark writing of Marv Wolfman and the art of George Pérez, this second incarnation was a success from the start, providing readers with the perfect blend of high-quality paper with high-quality storytelling."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 192 Legion of Super-Heroes No. 272 "Within a sixteen-page preview in Legion of Super-Heroes #272...was "Dial 'H' For Hero," a new feature that raised the bar on fan interaction in the creative process. The feature's story, written by Marv Wolfman, with art by Carmine Infantino, saw two high-school students find dials that turned them into super-heroes. Everything from the pair's civilian clothes to the heroes they became was created by fans writing in. his concept would continue in the feature's new regular spot within Adventure Comics."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 197 The New Teen Titans No. 21 "[T]his issue...hid another dark secret: a sixteen-page preview comic featuring Marv Wolfman's newest team – Night Force. Chronicling the enterprise of the enigmatic Baron Winters and featuring the art of Gene Colan, Night Force spun out into an ongoing title of gothic mystery and horror the following month."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 193 Green Lantern No. 141 "DC's newest science-fiction franchise, a band of over one hundred aliens called the Omega Men." "They gave Green Lantern a run for his money in this issue written by Marv Wolfman, with art by Joe Staton, and the Omega Men went on to gain their own ongoing series in 1983."
^Manning, Matthew K. (2014). "1980s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 138. ISBN978-1465424563. OCLC876351122. Plotted by Batman's new regular writer Marv Wolfman with dialog by Michael Fleisher and art by Irv Novick, this story saw Batman face this new costumed threat.
^Greenberger, Robert (August 2017). "It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time: A Look at the DC Challenge!". Back Issue! (98). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 42–43.
^Daniels, Les (1995). DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. New York City: Bulfinch Press. p. 135. ISBN0821220764. I knew that I had this incredible artist who could draw almost anything that I wanted...So I decided to make the story just the biggest spectacle I could come up with.
^"Harlan Ellison Speaks at San Diego". The Comics Journal (119). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 14. January 1988.
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 213 "Comics didn't get any bigger than this. Crisis on Infinite Earths was a landmark limited series that redefined a universe. It was a twelve-issue maxiseries starring nearly every character in DC Comics fifty-year history and written and drawn by two of the industry's biggest name creative talents – writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 220: "In an effort to organize the status quo of the DC Universe after the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxiseries, artist George Pérez and writer Marv Wolfman collaborated on a two-part prestige-format history of the DCU."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 226 "The original Superman title had adopted the new title The Adventures of Superman but continued the original numbering of its long and storied history. Popular writer Marv Wolfman and artist Jerry Ordway handled the creative chores. ."
^"DC Responds to Miller, Moore, Chaykin and Wolfman's Letter". The Comics Journal (115). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 20–21. April 1987.
^"Newswatch: Marv Wolfman fired by DC as editor". The Comics Journal (115). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 9–10. April 1987.
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 240: "Written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by Pat Broderick, the four-issue 'Year Three' saga introduced a young boy named Timothy Drake into a flashback sequence starring a young Dick Grayson and his parents."
^Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 241: "With the pencils of [George] Pérez, Jim Aparo, and Tom Grummett, [Marv] Wolfman concocted the five-issue 'A Lonely Place of Dying'...In it, Tim Drake...earned his place as the new Robin."
^Manning "1990s" in Dougall (2014), p. 190: "Marv Wolfman and penciller Jim Aparo introduced serial killer Abattoir."
^Manning "1990s" in Dougall (2014), p. 191: "Marv Wolfman and artist Jim Aparo continued their run...by introducing the second villain to bear the name of the Electrocutioner."
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 249: "Writer Marv Wolfman had revitalized the Titans franchise yet again, with the help of his new creative partner, artist Tom Grummett."
^Dean, Michael (November 16, 2000). "Wolfman loses Blade lawsuit against Marvel". The Comics Journal. No. 229. Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
^Marx, Barry, Cavalieri, Joey and Hill, Thomas (w), Petruccio, Steven (a), Marx, Barry (ed). "Marv Wolfman The Titans Break Through" Fifty Who Made DC Great, p. 48 (1985). DC Comics.
Thompson, Kim (January 1979). "An interview with Marv Wolfman". The Comics Journal (44). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 34–51.
Decker, Dwight (January 1982). "The New Teen Titans". The Comics Journal (79). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 86–98.
Groth, Gary; MacDonald, Heidi D. (March 1983). "Marv Wolfman On The New Teen Titans Part 2". The Comics Journal (80). Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books: 70–85.
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