Alan Zelenetz is an American film producer and

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 best known for co-creating the series ''

Alien Legion ''Alien Legion'' is a science-fiction comic-book series and associated titles created by Carl Potts, Alan Zelenetz, and Frank Cirocco for Marvel Comics's Epic Comics imprint in 1983. It features a military unit, Force Nomad, similar to the French F ...

'' for the

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 ...

imprint

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 ...

and a founder of

Ovie Entertainment Ovie Entertainment is an American independent film motion picture production company based in New York City. Founded by Thoma Kikis, Christopher Kikis, Nicholas Levis, Cherise Wolas, and Alan Zelenetz in 2003 to produce independent and commerci ...

. Zelenetz also wrote several issues of Marvel's Moon Knight series, several issues of

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

and a run of Conan the King (issues #16–28).

Biography

Before becoming a film producer, he was a junior high school principal at the

Yeshiva of Flatbush The Yeshivah of Flatbush is a Modern Orthodox private Jewish day school located in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. It educates students from age 2 to age 18 and includes an early childhood center, an elementary school and a secondary sc ...

, an Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn, and Solomon Schechter High School of New York. One of the science teachers under his supervision was the father of

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Arono ...

, director of '' Pi'' (1998) and ''

Requiem for a Dream ''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same na ...

'' (2000). Alan Zelenetz quit his job as a high school principal and worked his way through a position at Marvel. He did some volunteer proofreading work for a while, and then started to write for ''Thor'', ''Conan the Barbarian'', and ''Moon Knight''. For ''Moon Knight'', he introduced the Jewish identity of the character in the storyline. In 1982, in ''Thor Annual #10'', Zelenetz introduced the first

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n hero, Shango (recruited by Thor to confront Demogorge), in the history of Marvel. While working for Marvel Comics, Zelenetz was the main author and researcher for The ''

Official Handbook of the Conan Universe The ''Official Handbook of the Conan Universe'' is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Conan publications of Marvel Comics. The one-shot issue was published in comic book format in 1986, followed by reprints in ...

'', a guide to the

Hyborian Age The Hyborian Age is a fictional period of Earth's history within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, serving as the setting for the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian. The word "Hyborian" is derived from the l ...

, the fictional setting of the

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

stories. He is also director of ICI, the Institute for Curricular Initiatives in New York City.

Selected filmography

* '' Pi'' (1998) (Judaica advisor) * '' Darkon'' (2006) (producer, executive producer;) * ''The Funeral Party'' (2007) (co-producer) * ''Andorra'' scheduled in (2007) (producer)

Selected comics bibliography

*''

'' (1984) 1-20 *''

'' (1987) 1 *'' Amazing High Adventure'' 4 *'' The Avengers'' vol.1 224 *''

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 ...

'' 32 *''

Conan The Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

'' 145 *'' Conan The King'' 20-27 *'' Epic Illustrated'' 30 *''

'' *''King Conan'' 16-19 *''

Kull the Conqueror ''Kull the Conqueror'' is a 1997 fantasy film about the Robert E. Howard character Kull starring Kevin Sorbo. It is a film adaptation of Howard's Conan novel ''The Hour of the Dragon'', with the protagonist changed to the author's other barbari ...

'' 1-10 *'' Kull the Vale of Shadow'' OGN *''Marvel Age Annual'' 1 *''Marvel Fanfare'' vol 1 13, 34-37 *''Marvel Graphic Novel'' 15, 25 *'' Master of Kung Fu'' vol 1 123-125 *'' Moon Knight'' vol 1 18, 21–22, 27, 32, 36-38 *''Moon Knight'' vol 2 1-4 *''The Savage Sword of Conan'' 83. 86. 88. 95 *''

'' vol 1 329–336, Annual 10-13 *'' What If?'' vol 1 35, 39, 41

References

External links

*
Ovie Entertainment

Works in Marvel Comics
(as a writer) American film producers Living people American comics writers Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-comics-writer-stub