Neal Pozner (1955 – June 21, 1994), sometimes credited as Neil Pozner, was an art director, editor, and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

known for his work in the

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 ...

industry. He worked with

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 ...

at two points, first as a design director and later as Group Editor, Creative Services until his death.

Career

As a young man, Pozner published a comics fanzine from 1969 to 1972, when he joined

CAPA-alpha CAPA-alpha (sometimes abbreviated to K-a) was the first amateur press association (APA) devoted to comic books, started by Jerry Bails (the "father of comics fandom") in the United States in 1964. History In October 1964 Bails released the first ...

. He was an active member in CAPA-alpha at least until 1984. Giordano, Dick. "Meanwhile..." DC Comics cover-dated September 1984. He graduated from

The Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

.Prism Comics bio.
/ref> Before joining DC's staff, Pozner designed the first gay-themed bus ads for New York City as well several posters for Lincoln Center. He also designed

record cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...

s for musicians like

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

, Jimi Hendrix,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

, and

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

, as well as the Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he designed for CBS/Broadcast Group and was briefly the associate art director of ''National Lampoon'' magazine. Pozner first worked for

in 1975 when he edited ''

The Amazing World of DC Comics ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, with ...

'' #9 (Nov.–Dec. 1975). A few years later, he designed the front cover for '' All-New Collectors' Edition'' #C–62, a tabloid-format book based on the then-upcoming '' Superman'' movie. He was subsequently hired as DC's first real

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

. Pozner wrote the 1986 ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in '' More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). The character is a pastiche of Namor. Initially a ...

'' miniseries, as well as designing the character's blue "camouflage" uniform. He was also responsible for incorporating DC Comics characters into a series of AIDS awareness house ads published in the company's comics. One of Pozner's many tasks as Group Editor, Creative Services, at DC was recruiting new talent.

Travis Charest Travis Charest (born 1969) is a Canadian comic book penciller, inker and painter, known for his work on such books as ''Darkstars'', ''WildC.A.T.s'', ''Grifter/ Shi'', '' WildC.A.T.s/X-Men: The Golden Age'' and ''The Metabarons''. He is known f ...

Gene Ha In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian inheritance#History, Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanin ...

, Stuart Immonen, and

Phil Jimenez Phil Jimenez (born July 12, 1970) is an award-winning American comics artist and writer known for his work as writer/artist on ''Wonder Woman'' from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries ''Infinite Crisis'', his ...

are among the pencillers Pozner "discovered." He also designed posters for Lincoln Center's ''

Speed the Plow ''Speed-the-Plow'' is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in ''The Producer's Perspective'', "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films ''Wag the Dog'' (1997) and ''St ...

'' and ''

Six Degrees of Separation Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also k ...

''.

Death

In the aftermath of Pozner's 1994 death from AIDS complications, artist

, whom Pozner had hired to work at DC, and with whom Pozner had had a romantic relationship,

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

in a tribute to Pozner in the pages of the DC title ''

Tempest Tempest is a synonym for a storm. '' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare. Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film * ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...

''.

Awards and tributes

Pozner was recognized with awards from professional associations such as the Royal Society of Arts and the

Graphic Arts Technical Foundation Graphic Arts Technical Foundation is a nonprofit, scientific, technical, and educational organization which promotes the technological advancement of the printing industry worldwide. The Foundation fulfills its missions through its five divisio ...

. His work was published in '' Novum Gebrausch Grafik''. Pozner received the awards from the American Illustration Annual, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Art Directors Club of New York, Print Magazine Regional Design Annual, and the Society of Illustrators. Comics writer Christopher Priest, who worked with Pozner at DC, based the personality of the character

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

on Pozner, describing him this way:

Bibliography

As editor unless otherwise noted

DC Comics

* ''

'' #9 (1975) * ''

'' vol. 2 #1–4 (writer and editor) (1986) * '' Batman Gallery'' #1 (1992) * '' Showcase '93'' #1–12 (1993) * ''Showcase '94'' #1–12 (1994) * '' Superman Gallery'' #1 (1993)

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pozner, Neal 1955 births 1994 deaths American graphic designers American comics writers AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) American gay writers LGBT comics creators 20th-century LGBT people