Gregory Paul Potter is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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

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 ...

series ''

Jemm, Son of Saturn Jemm is a fictional Extraterrestrial life, alien character appearing in various comic book series published by DC Comics. He is an analogue of and occasional ally of Martian Manhunter. Publication history Created by Greg Potter and Gene Colan, Jem ...

'' with artist

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

Biography

Greg Potter began writing comics stories for

Warren Publishing Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren (publisher), James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include ''After Hours (magazin ...

's black-and-white

horror comics Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. In the US market, horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the ...

magazines in 1971, while still a teenager. His first work for DC Comics was the seven-page short story "Do You Believe In...?" published in ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

'' #259 (July–Aug. 1978). His story "Papa Don" in ''

Secrets of Haunted House ''Secrets of Haunted House'' was a horror-suspense comics anthology series published by American company DC Comics from 1975 to 1978 and 1979 to 1982. Publication history The series began in April–May 1975. Like its predecessor ''Secrets of S ...

'' #17 (Oct. 1979) was included in DC's "Top Ten Stories of 1979" collection. He stopped writing comics while attending

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, but returned to the industry in 1984. That year, Potter created

Jemm Jemm is a fictional Extraterrestrial life, alien character appearing in various comic book series published by DC Comics. He is an analogue of and occasional ally of Martian Manhunter. Publication history Created by Greg Potter and Gene Colan, Jem ...

, a character originally conceived as the cousin of the extraterrestrial

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

the

Martian Manhunter The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and designed by artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" ...

, a long-running character that had not been in use for some time. Partway through developing the series, Potter was told by editor

Janice Race Janice Race is an American former comic book editor best known for her work at DC Comics in the 1980s. Biography Raised in The Bronx,Race, Janice, brief autobiographical essay for Dick Giordano's "Meanwhile" column, ''Wonder Woman'' #317 (July 19 ...

that the Martian Manhunter character would reappear in the ''

Justice League of America The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

'' title. To avoid any continuity problems, Potter rewrote the series as ''Jemm, Son of Saturn'', a character with no connection to the Martian Manhunter. The series was

penciled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

by Gene Colan and inked by

Klaus Janson Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952) is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penc ...

and Bob McLeod. The Jemm character appeared in the " Human for a Day" episode of the ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' television series in 2015 and was portrayed by actor

Charles Halford Charles Halford (born February 28, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Chas Chandler on the NBC series ''Constantine'', Earl in ''Logan Lucky'' and Sammy Wilds in ''Bad Times at the El Royale''. Known for his distinctively d ...

. Potter and Race spent several months working on new concepts for the mid-1980s

relaunch Relaunch (March 16, 1976 – November 5, 1996) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Background Relaunch was a gray horse bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm & Taylor Made Farms. During his racing career he was owned by Glen Hill ...

of ''

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

'', before being joined by artist and co-plotter

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (co ...

. Potter left DC after completing the second issue of the new series to continue his career in advertising and was replaced by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men ( ...

Bibliography

DC Comics

* ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its se ...

Annual'' #3 ("Jemm, Son of Saturn" preview) (1984) * ''

DC Graphic Novel ''DC Graphic Novel'' is a line (comics), line of graphic novel Trade paperback (comics), trade paperbacks published from 1983 to 1986 by DC Comics. The series generally featured stand-alone stories featuring new characters and concepts with one ...

'' #5 ("Me & Joe Priest") (1985) * ''

'' #259, 261, 275 (1978–1979) * ''

'' #1–12 (1984–1985) * ''

'' #17 (1979) * ''

'' vol. 2 #1–2 (1987)

Fantagraphics Books

*''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

'' #47, 53, 59, 63, 67, 71, 94 (1979–1984)

Warren Publishing

* ''Comix International'' #1, 3–4 (1974–1976) * ''

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 ...

'' #46, 52–53, 66, 82, 123, 136 (1972–1982) * ''

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 voluntar ...

'' #36, 44, 47, 57–58, 86 (1971–1977) * ''

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 ''Creepy'' ...

'' #20 (1972) * ''Warren Presents'' #13 (1981)

References

External links

*
Greg Potter
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Greg American comics writers DC Comics people Living people Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Writers from Connecticut Year of birth missing (living people)