Archie Goodwin (September 8, 1937 – March 1, 1998) was an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

and

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

work. For Warren he was chief writer and editor of landmark horror anthology titles ''

Creepy Creepiness is the state of being wikt:creepy, creepy, or causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or wikt:unease, unease. A person who exhibits creepy behaviour is called a creep. Certain traits or hobbies may make people seem creepy to others. The ...

'' and ''

Eerie ''Eerie'' was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like '' Mad'', it was a black-and-white magazine intended for newsstand distribution and did not submit its stories to the comic book industry's volunta ...

'' between 1964 and 1967. At Marvel, he served as the company's editor-in-chief from 1976 to the end of 1977. In the 1980s, he edited the publisher's anthology magazine '' Epic Illustrated'' and its

Epic Comics Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's ...

imprint. He is also known for his work on '' Star Wars'' in both comic books and newspaper strips. He is regularly cited as the "best-loved comic book editor, ever."Pilcher, Tim and Brooks, Brad, ''The Essential Guide to World Comics'' (Collins & Brown, 2005) , p. 42

Biography

Early life and career

Archie Goodwin was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and lived in many small towns along the Kansas-Missouri border including

Coffeyville, Kansas Coffeyville is a city in southeastern Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, located along the Verdigris River in the state's southeastern region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,826. Coffeyville is the most popul ...

. He considered

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

as his home town. There he spent his teen years at

Will Rogers High School Will Rogers Middle and High School, located at 3909 E. 5th Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was built by Tulsa Public Schools in 1939 using WPA workers and designed by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. and Leon B. Senter. It was named for the humorist Will Rog ...

and in used magazine stores searching for

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...

. Goodwin moved to New York City to attend classes at what became the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

.DC Comics press release March 2, 1998 "Archie Goodwin dies at 60
Online version
available at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

Goodwin began as an artist drawing cartoons for magazines and as a freelance "writer and occasional art assistant" to

Leonard Starr Leonard Starr (October 28, 1925 – June 30, 2015) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist, and advertising artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strip '' On Stage'' and reviving ''Little Orphan Annie''. Early life Born Octob ...

's newspaper comic strip ''

Mary Perkins, On Stage ''Mary Perkins, On Stage'' (originally titled simply ''On Stage'') is an American newspaper comic strip by Leonard Starr for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. It ran from February 10, 1957, to September 9, 1979, with the switch to the l ...

''. His first editorial work was for '' Redbook'' magazine, on which he worked both before and after his Army service as a draftee.

Warren

His first story written before he went into the Army was drawn by

Al Williamson Alfonso Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy. Born in New York City, he spent much of his early childhood in ...

and

Roy Krenkel Roy Gerald Krenkel (July 11, 1918 – February 24, 1983), who often signed his work RGK, was an American illustrator who specialized in fantasy and historical drawings and paintings for books, magazines and comic books. Influences and stud ...

and published in 1962 just after his discharge from the Army. He was never on staff at Harvey Comics. By 1964 he was the main script writer for

's ''

'' magazine. Much of his work there, according to Batman editor Mark Chiarello, was a "homage to the favorite comics of his youth, the E.C. line." By the second issue he was co-credited (alongside Russ Jones) as editor, and soon became editor of the entire Warren line: ''Creepy'', ''

'' and '' Blazing Combat''. He worked for Warren between 1964 and 1967, as head writer and Editor-in-Chief, in which roles he is credited with providing a mythology for Warren's classic

Vampirella Vampirella () is a fictional 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 '' Cre ...

character, as well as penning her most compelling stories. '' After his departure from Warren in 1967, Goodwin would occasionally contribute stories over the next 15 years and even returned for a short stint as editor in 1974.

Famous name

Archie Goodwin's first prose story was published by ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...

'', which warned him he could not use Archie Goodwin as a pen name because it was a

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

character in the

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West ...

books. According to Goodwin's wife Anne T. Murphy, the magazine's editors "then were so delighted when he wrote back to say that it was his real name that they used the anecdote as the introduction to the story, which ran in the July 1962 issue."

Comic strips and DC Comics

From 1967 to 1980, Goodwin wrote scripts for King Features Syndicate, including the

daily strip A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. Bud Fisher's ''Mutt and Jeff'' is commonly regarded as the first daily c ...

Secret Agent X-9 ''Secret Agent X-9'' is a comic strip created by writer Dashiell Hammett ('' The Maltese Falcon'') and artist Alex Raymond (''Flash Gordon''). Syndicated by King Features, it ran from January 22, 1934 until February 10, 1996. Premise and publ ...

, drawn by

, as well as working on other strips including ''

Captain Kate ''Captain Kate'', is a US newspaper comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text i ...

''. His experience ghost writing ''Dan Flagg'' inspired "The Success Story" (drawn by Williamson, who had ghosted on ''Flagg'') for ''

'' #1 (1964), famed among comic strip fans for its EC style dark humor in depicting a creator whose only contribution to the strip that made him rich was his signature. Goodwin worked briefly for

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

during the 1970s, where he edited the war comics ''

G.I. Combat ''G.I. Combat'' was an American comics anthology featuring war stories. It was published from 1952 until 1956 by Quality Comics, followed by DC Comics until its final issue in 1987. In 2012 it was briefly revived. Publication history The focu ...

'', ''

Our Fighting Forces ''Our Fighting Forces'' is a war comics anthology series published by DC Comics for 181 issues from 1954–1978. Publication history ''Our Fighting Forces'' began with an October–November 1954 cover date. Writer-editor Robert Kanigher's w ...

'', and '' Star Spangled War Stories'', and replaced

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various ...

as editor of '' Detective Comics'' for one year. Goodwin's collaboration with

Walt Simonson Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned w ...

on the "Manhunter" back-up feature in ''Detective Comics'' won several awards. Goodwin also wrote the Batman lead feature in ''Detective Comics'', where his collaborators included artists

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, along with famous stories ...

Sal Amendola Sal Amendola (born 1948, in Italy) is an Italian American comics artist and teacher primarily known for his association with DC Comics. Career Sal Amendola graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1969 with the school’s then offered 3-year ...

Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker. Early life ...

, and

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 throughout ...

Marvel Comics

Goodwin first worked for Marvel Comics in 1968 and was the original writer on the '' Iron Man'' series which launched that year. According to Goodwin, when he entered editor Stan Lee's office to apply for a job with Marvel, Lee was in the middle of writing an Iron Man story and handed him

photostat The Photostat machine, or Photostat, was an early projection photocopier created in the decade of the 1900s by the Commercial Camera Company, which became the Photostat Corporation. The "Photostat" name, which was originally a trademark of the c ...

s of the pages he was working on for his writer's test. Goodwin speculated, "I assume if he had been working on '' Sgt. Fury'', I'd have been writing ''Sgt. Fury''. Thank God he wasn't writing ''

Millie the Model ''Millie the Model'' was Marvel Comics' longest-running humor title, first published by the company's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and continuing through its 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics, to 1970s Marvel. The comic book series deals with ...

'' when I walked in." Goodwin and artist

George Tuska George Tuska (; April 26, 1916 – October 16, 2009),George Tuska
at the

co-created the supervillain the

Controller Controller may refer to: Occupations * Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position * Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage * Air traffic controller, a person ...

in ''Iron Man'' #12 (April 1969).

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...

, the first African American superhero to star in an

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

Marvel comic book series, was created by Goodwin and artist

John Romita Sr. John V. Romita (; born January 24, 1930) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and for co-creating characters including the Punisher and Wolverine. He was inducted into the Will Eis ...

in June 1972. While briefly writing ''

The Tomb of Dracula ''The Tomb of Dracula'' is an American horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from April 1972 to August 1979. The 70-issue series featured a group of vampire hunters who fought Count Dracula and other supernatural menaces. On rare ...

'' series, Goodwin and artist

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the

introduced the supporting character

Rachel van Helsing Vagabond Vagabond (real name Priscilla Lyons) is the former partner & girlfriend of Nomad (Jack Monroe). She prevented Black Racer's assassination attempt on Sidewinder. She thwarted and captured Dr. Karl Malus during his attempt to take over ...

. Goodwin co-created (with

Marie Severin Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards ...

) the first

Spider-Woman Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and original version is Jessica Drew (later impersonated by Veranke), the second version is Julia Carpenter, and the third vers ...

, as well as writing her first appearance in ''

Marvel Spotlight ''Marvel Spotlight'' is a comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics as a try-out book. It stood out from Marvel's other try-out books in that most of the featured characters made their first appearance in the series. The series origin ...

'' #32 (February 1977). Goodwin also co-designed Marvel's

New Universe The New Universe is an imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989. It was the first line produced by Marvel Comics utilizing a pre-conceived shared universe concept. It was created by Jim Shooter, ...

line and created four of the eight series in the line. He explained, " arvel editor-in-chief

Jim Shooter James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor and publisher for various comic books. He started professionally in the medium at the age of 14, and he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comic ...

keeps saying of me: 'Well, here's this guy, in one meeting, he suddenly spews out half the ideas for the New Universe.' What that doesn't take into account is that for about five or six years I've had these half-formed notions and finally here is a situation where they would all fit in. ...it wasn't like I just went into the meeting and suddenly four concepts sprang full-blown from my brow."

''Star Wars''

In 1976, Goodwin replaced

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...

to become the eighth

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of Marvel Comics, with the understanding that it would only be temporary until a permanent replacement could be found. He ultimately resigned at the end of 1977 and was replaced by

. While Goodwin was editor-in-chief, Marvel secured the rights to publish the '' Star Wars'' film's comic adaptation and tie-in series, which then sold phenomenally well (helped by a dearth of other '' Star Wars'' merchandise at the time) at a point when the comics industry was in severe decline. Goodwin recalled about the ''Star Wars'' comic book, "That really worked ... but I can't take any credit for it. Roy Thomas is the one who brought it to Marvel, and he had to push a little bit to get them to do it." He followed Thomas in adapting the ''Star Wars'' characters into an ongoing comic book with artist Carmine Infantino, as well as continuing the story (pre-''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...

'') in a daily comic strip. Goodwin wrote the strips under his own name, although many websites and other sources erroneously claim he used the pseudonyms R.S. Helm and Russ Helm. Writer

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series ''Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and b ...

corrected the matter by stating "Archie did write the ''Star Wars'' comic strip (as well as other ''Star Wars'' material) but only under his own name. Russ Helm was a completely different person writing under his own name." During Goodwin and Infantino's tenure on Marvel's ''Star Wars'' series, it was one of the industry's top selling titles. He wrote comic book adaptations for Marvel of the two ''Star Wars'' sequels as well as other science-fiction films such as ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' and ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

''. In 1979, Goodwin wrote an adaptation of the first ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'' movie named '' Alien: The Illustrated Story'' which was drawn by Walt Simonson and published by Heavy Metal.

Epic

After Marvel Comics passed on publishing the American incarnation of ''

Metal Hurlant A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

'' ('' Heavy Metal''), Editor-in-chief

was charged with producing an alternate title, which became '' Epic Illustrated''. It was initially edited by

Rick Marschall Richard "Rick" Marschall (born February 3, 1949) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed January 10, 2011. . is a writer/editor and comic strip historian, described by ''Bostonia'' magazine ...

, but Shooter approached publisher Stan Lee to urge a replacement: "I told Stan, 'There's one guy who could do this. I don't know if we can get him.' He said, 'Who's that?' 'Archie Goodwin.' The reason I didn't think we could get him is because he used to be my boss and I didn't know how he'd feel about coming back and me being his boss."Thomas, Michael
"CBR News: Jim Shooter Interview: Part 1"
''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'', October 6, 2000. Accessed August 2, 2008. Shooter on Goodwin: "First and foremost, everyone loved Archie. Archie had a manner about him that you just couldn't not like him. While he was tough as nails, and he was probably the best that passed through this business, he managed to do it without offending anyone. He managed to be respected and remain friends with everyone and do his job." Goodwin was at the time still working for Marvel as a writer, and Shooter recalls concocting a plan whereby the company "pretended that Archie reported to Stan. In fact, I was doing all the paperwork and all the employee reviews and the budgets" so that Goodwin could have the illusion of not working for his successor. In the autumn of 1979, Marschall was fired and Goodwin hired as ''Epics editor. Shooter approached Goodwin after the moderate success of the ''Epic'' magazine and creator-owned graphic novels to produce a full-fledged line of creator-owned comics,

. Goodwin initially balked at the additional workload, and Shooter turned the line over to

Al Milgrom Allen L. Milgrom (born March 6, 1950) is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of ''Marvel Fanfare''; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker ...

before Goodwin ultimately accepted editorship. Goodwin introduced the first English translation of Katsuhiro Otomo's '' Akira'' and published English translations of the work of

Jean Giraud Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Bandes dessinées, Franco-Belgian ''bandes dessinées'' (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim under the pseu ...

, a.k.a. Moebius.

Return to DC

Goodwin returned to

as an editor and writer in 1989. He wrote the graphic novel '' Batman: Night Cries'' painted by Scott Hampton and published in 1992. Throughout the 1990s, Goodwin edited a number of Batman projects, including the Elseworlds miniseries '' Batman: Thrillkiller'', and the Alan Grant-written/ Kevin O'Neill-illustrated parody one-shot ''Batman: Mitefall'', a take-off of the "

Knightfall "Knightfall" is a 1993–1994 Batman story arc published by DC Comics. It consists of a trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994, consisting of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd".On the comic book covers, only the third part ...

" saga, filtered through the character of

Bat-Mite Bat-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Bat-Mite is an imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Depicted as a small, childlike man in an ill-fitting Batman costume, Bat-Mite posse ...

. ''

Armageddon 2001 ''Armageddon 2001'' was a 1991 crossover event storyline published by DC Comics. It ran through a self-titled, two-issue limited series and most of the annuals DC published that year from May through October ('' Legion of Super-Heroes Annual'' #2 ...

'' was a 1991

crossover event A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, unofficial efforts by ...

storyline. It ran through a self-titled, two issue limited series and most of the annuals DC published that year from May through October. Each participating annual explored potential possible futures for its main characters. The series was written by Goodwin and

Dennis O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and drawn by

Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline " The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw and Booster Gold. Jurg ...

. Among Goodwin's most notable last editorial projects were '' Starman'', written by James Robinson and first published by DC in 1994 and DC's '' Batman: The Long Halloween'' by Tim Sale and

Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville'' and ''Lost'', writer for the films '' Commando'' and ''Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...

. Loeb and Sale's first work on Batman appeared in '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special'' #1 (Dec. 1993) edited by Goodwin. It is a testament to Goodwin that Loeb has said that Goodwin inspired their portrayal of Gotham police chief Jim Gordon in ''The Long Halloween'' and its sequel '' Batman: Dark Victory'', while Robinson (who considered Goodwin both a mentor and close personal friend), continued to list Goodwin as a "Guiding Light" on later issues of ''Starman'' published after Goodwin's death. Goodwin edited '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' and ''

Azrael Azrael (; , 'God has helped'; ) is the angel of death in some Abrahamic religions, namely Islam, Christian popular culture and some traditions of Judaism. He is also referenced in Sikhism. Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael ...

''. Goodwin's ''Creepy'' work is cited by editor

Mark Chiarello Mark Chiarello is an American illustrator, art director and comic book editor. Born on Halloween in 1960, he attended Pratt Institute in the 1980's. Career As a comic book illustrator, Chiarello painted the Batman graphic novel Batman/Houdini: T ...

as informing the creation of the '' Batman: Black & White'' series.Chiarello, Mark. "Introduction" in Chiarello, Mark and Peterson, Scott (ed.s) ''Batman: Black and White'' (DC Comics, 1998) . Chiarello on Goodwin: "...probably the very best editor ever to work in comics, probably the very best writer ever to work in comics."

Death

Goodwin died of cancer on March 1, 1998, after battling the disease for 10 years.

Awards

Goodwin's work won him a good deal of recognition in the industry, including both the 1973

Shazam Award The Academy of Comic Book Arts (ACBA) was an American professional organization of the 1970s that was designed to be the comic book industry analog of such groups as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Composed of comic-book profession ...

for Best Writer (Dramatic Division), and the 1974 Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division) for the Manhunter series running in '' Detective Comics'' #437–443. In the same years, he also won Shazam Awards for Best Individual Short Story for "The Himalayan Incident" in ''Detective Comics'' #437 and for "Cathedral Perilous" in ''Detective Comics'' #441. In 1974, he also won Best Individual Feature-Length Story for "Götterdämmerung" in ''Detective Comics'' #443. All story awards were shared with

for ''Manhunter'' episodes). Goodwin's work on ''Manhunter'', in which he both updated an obscure Golden Age hero, and, in the series' last episode, took the daring approach of killing him off (one of the few comic book deaths that has actually "taken" and not been reversed or

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

away in the decades since it occurred) is very well regarded by both fans and other comics professionals. Goodwin stated in his final interview, "I think that ''Manhunter'' is one of just several projects that I've worked on that I consider a highlight in my career. It is something that I may never be able to top in a lot of ways. To have done that and for DC to have given me the opportunity to do that was great." He won the 1992 " Bob Clampett Humanitarian" Eisner Award, and was named Best Editor by the Eisners in 1993. In 1998 he was entered into the Eisner Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was one of two recipients of that year's Bill Finger Award, which annually honors one living and one deceased comics creator. The award was presented July 25, 2008, during the 2008

Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

ceremony at Comic-Con International. Goodwin was similarly honored in 1998, being posthumously named to the

National Comics Award The National Comics Awards was a series of awards for comic book titles and creators given out on an annual basis from 1997 to 2003 (with the exception of the year 2000) for comics published in the United Kingdom the previous year. The votes we ...

Roll of Honour. In 2007, Goodwin was inducted into the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame in

Pauls Valley, Oklahoma Pauls Valley is a city in and the county seat of Garvin County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 5,992 at the 2020 census, a decline of 3.2 percent from the figure of 6,187 in 2010. It was settled by and named for Smith Paul, a North ...

, located in the

Toy and Action Figure Museum A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

Appearances within comics

He makes a cameo appearance in a crowd scene on the splash page of ''

Ms. Marvel Ms. Marvel is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was originally conceived as a female counterpart to Captain Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, most of the bearers of the Ms. M ...

'' volume 1 #15, with thought balloons showing him trying out various nicknames for himself. In ''

The Batman Adventures ''The Batman Adventures'' is a DC Comics comic book series featuring Batman. It is different from other ''Batman'' titles because it is set in the continuity (and style) of '' Batman: The Animated Series'', as opposed to the regular DC Universe. ...

'' — the first DC Comics spinoff of '' Batman: The Animated Series'' — Goodwin appears as Mr. Nice, a super-strong but childishly-innocent super-villain. He is one of a screwball trio of incompetent super-villains that includes The Mastermind (a caricature of

Mike Carlin Michael Carlin (born October 6, 1958) is an American comic book writer, editor, and executive. He has worked principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics since the 1970s. Early life Carlin attended the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, ...

) and The Perfessor (a caricature of

). ''Batman: Gotham Adventures'' #13 (June 1999) features the last appearance of the characters with Mr. Nice leaving the group to fulfill a prophecy, with the issue being dedicated to Archie Goodwin. He is name-checked in issues of Marvel's ''Star Wars'' comics including in the alien-language words "Niwdoog Eihcra," his name in reverse. A character based on him appears in issue #82 of ''

Cerebus ''Cerebus'' (; also ''Cerebus the Aardvark'') is a comic book series created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim, which ran from December 1977 until March 2004. The title character of the 300-issue series is an anthropomorphic aardvark who takes on ...

''. He stands at the foot of the giant, living stone statue Thrunk and repeats everything Thrunk says - as if he is passing Thrunk's commands to the masses. Thrunk kills him when he steps on him. The scene has often been interpreted as an allegory for Goodwin's relationship with

, but ''Cerebus'' writer/artist

Dave Sim Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, best known for his comic book '' Cerebus'', his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political and philosophical ...

denies this and said "I have nothing but the greatest respect for Archie and in no way intended anything but a little 'hello' to one of my favorite New Yorkers." The airport in fictional

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

, home of the Batman, is named Goodwin, after Archie. In Marvel Comics' ''

What The--?! ''What The--?!'' is a Marvel Comics comic book series self-parodying the Marvel Universe, similar in vein to the 1960s series '' Not Brand Echh''. It was billed as "The Marvel mag of mirth and mayhem!" The series ran for 26 issues, from August 19 ...

'' #5, Goodwin appears as King Archibald the First in the short story ''The Alien-Ated Legion,'' which parodies the mature approach of Epic Comics. In the last panels, King Archibald says that he had never been interested in superhero comics.

Bibliography

Atlas Comics

* '' The Destructor'' #1–3 (1975)

DC Comics

* '' All-Out War'' #4-5 (1980) * ''

'' #1 (1991) * ''

Batman Black and White ''Batman Black and White'' refers to the comic book limited series published by DC Comics featuring 8-page black and white Batman stories. Volumes 1, 4 and 5 of the series feature all-new stories (published in 1996, 2013–14, and 2020–21, res ...

'' #1, 4 (1996) * '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' #132-136 (2000) * ''Batman: Night Cries'' HC (1992) * '' Detective Comics'' #437-443, ''Annual'' #3 (1973-1974, 1990) * ''

'' #158-168, 170, 172-173 (

Haunted Tank The Haunted Tank is a comic book feature that appeared in the DC Comics anthology war title ''G.I. Combat'' from 1961 through 1987. Publication history The Haunted Tank was created by writer and editor Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath i ...

) (1973-1974) * ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strang ...

'' #198 (1972) * '' Manhunter: The Special Edition'' TPB (1999) * ''

'' #146, 150 (1973-1974) * '' Showcase '95'' #11 (1995) * '' Star Spangled War Stories'' #167-171, 176, 189, 197 (1973-1976) * '' Unknown Soldier'' #234 (1979)

Heavy Metal

*'' Alien: The Illustrated Story'' (1979)

Marvel Comics

* ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...

'' 150, 181, Annual #11 (1975-1977) * ''

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. Publica ...

'' #28 (1981) * ''Black Panther'' #1-10 (1977-1978) * ''Capt. Savage and His

Leatherneck Raiders The Leatherneck Raiders are a fictional World War II unit appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Gary Friedrich and Dick Ayers, they were a specially trained tactical commando squad. "Leatherneck" is a military ...

'' #7 (1968) * '' Captain Marvel'' #16 (1969) * '' Dazzler'' #38-42 (1985-1986) * '' Doctor Strange'' #4 (1972) * '' Epic Illustrated'' #2-3, 13, 17-24, 27, 29, 31-32, 34 (1980-1986) * '' Fantastic Four'' #115-118, 182 (1971-1977) * '' Hero for Hire'' #2-4 (1972) * '' Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men'' #1 (1985) * ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

'' #106, 148-151, 154-157 (1968-1972) * '' Iron Man'' #1-28, 88-90 (1968-1976) * '' Iron Man and Sub-Mariner'' #1 (1968) * ''

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

'' #1 (1986) * '' Kull and the Barbarians'' #2 (1975) * ''

Marvel Premiere ''Marvel Premiere'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by Marvel Comics. In concept it was a tryout book, intended to determine if a character or concept could attract enough readers to justify launching their own serie ...

'' #4 ( Doctor Strange) (1972) * ''

'' #32 (

) (1977) * ''Marvel Spotlight'' vol. 2 #4 (Captain Marvel) (1980) * ''Marvel Super Action'' #1 (

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

) (1976) * ''

Marvel Super Special ''Marvel Comics Super Special'' was a 41-issue series of one-shot comic-magazines published by Marvel Comics from 1977 to 1986. They were cover-priced $1.50 to $2.50, while regular color comics were priced 30 cents to 60 cents, Beginning with issue ...

'' #3 (''

''); #16 (''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...

''); #22 (''

''); #27 (''

'') (1978-1983) * '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #15 (

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

) (1968) * ''Marvel Super-Heroes'' vol. 2 #4 ( Spider-Man and Nick Fury) (1990) * '' Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' #6-7 (1968) * ''

Nightmask Nightmask is a name and identity used by several fictional characters who appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first character to bear the name, Keith Remsen, was created by writer Archie Goodwin, and first appeared in ''Nightma ...

'' #1-2, 4, 8 (1986-1987) * ''

Pizzazz ''Pizzazz'' is the fifth album by American singer Patrice Rushen. Reception While she was attacked for leaving the jazz genre, Rushen was able to get a good fan base with an R&B/Pop audience. Rushen's profile in the R&B world continued to incre ...

'' #7-16 (1978-1979) * ''

Power Man and Iron Fist ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' (originally ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' then ''Luke Cage, Power Man'') was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the superheroes Power Man and Iron Fist. Publication history ''He ...

'' #103-104, 108 (1984) * ''

Rawhide Kid The Rawhide Kid (real name: Johnny Bart, originally given as Johnny Clay) is a fictional Old West cowboy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A heroic gunfighter of the 19th-century American West who was unjustly wanted a ...

'' #79 (1970) * '' Savage Sword of Conan'' #1, 3-4 (1974-1975) * ''

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 Ma ...

'' #11 (1975) * ''Savage Tales'' vol. 2 #1, 2, 8 (1985-1986) * ''

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'' was a comic book series created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee and published by Marvel Comics from 1963 to 1981. The main character, Sgt. Nick Fury, later became the leader of Marvel's super-spy agency, S.H.I.E. ...

'' #74 (1970) * ''

The Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...

'' #4-5, 7-8, 15 (1977-1978) * '' Star Wars'' #11-23, 25-45, 47, 50, 98 (1978-1985) * ''

Tales of Suspense ''Tales of Suspense'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series and two one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such arti ...

'' #99 (Iron Man) (1968) * ''

Tales to Astonish ''Tales to Astonish'' is the name of two American comic book series and a one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics. The primary title bearing that name was published from January 1959 to March 1968. It began as a science-fiction anthology tha ...

'' #99, 101 ( Sub-Mariner) (1968) * ''

'' #3-4 (1972) * ''

Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction ''Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction'' was a 1970s American black-and-white, science fiction comics magazine published by Marvel Comics' parent company, Magazine Management. The anthology title featured original stories and literary adaptations ...

Annual'' #1 (1976) * ''

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

'' #17-23 (1989-1990) * '' Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection'' HC (1989)

References

External links

Archie Goodwin
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Archie 1937 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American writers Artists from Missouri Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award winners Comic book editors Inkpot Award winners School of Visual Arts alumni Silver Age comics creators Marvel Comics editors-in-chief United States Army soldiers Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees Bill Finger Award winners Writers from Kansas City, Missouri Deaths from cancer in New York (state)