Paul Levitz

Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn and managing editor Dick Giordano, Levitz was responsible for hiring such writers as Marv Wolfman and Alan Moore, artists such as George Pérez, Keith Giffen, and John Byrne, and editor Karen Berger, who contributed to the 1980s revitalization of the company's line of comic book heroes.

Early life

Levitz was raised in Brooklyn, New York. during which time he revived the defunct comic news fanzine, ''The Comic Reader'', which according to Levitz, was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine. Under Levitz's editorship ''The Comic Reader'' won two Best Fanzine Comic Art Fan Awards. One of Levitz's teachers, Frank McCourt, was impressed enough with Levitz's work that he arranged for Levitz to appear on McCourt's brother Malachy's radio show.Interview with Paul Levitz
at Midtown Comics Times Square; YouTube; May 22, 2010

Career

During the course of his research for ''The Comic Reader'', Levitz became well known at the offices of DC Comics, where in December 1972, editor Joe Orlando gave him his first freelance work, initially writing text pages and letter pages, and later working as a per diem assistant editor before writing stories. Levitz later studied business at New York University but had taken no formal education in writing, other than a journalism course. He dropped out after three years in order to concentrate on his writing career.

After serving as Joe Orlando's assistant editor, in 1976 Levitz "fulfilled a lifelong dream" by becoming the editor of '' Adventure Comics'' on the eve of his 20th birthday. In 1978, he succeeded Julius Schwartz as the editor of the Batman line of comics.

As a writer, Levitz is best known for his work on the title '' The Legion of Super-Heroes'', which he wrote from 1977–1979 and 1981–1989. Levitz wrote '' All-New Collectors' Edition'' #C-55 (1978), a treasury-sized special drawn by Mike Grell, in which longtime Legion members Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad were married. Levitz and artists James Sherman and Joe Staton crafted "Earthwar" a five-issue storyline in ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #241–245 (July–Nov. 1978). He and Keith Giffen produced "The Great Darkness Saga", one of the best known Legion stories, in ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' vol. 2, #290–294. Comics historian Les Daniels observed that "Working with artist Keith Giffen, Levitz completed the transformation of ''Legion'' into a science-fiction saga of considerable scope and depth." In August 1984, a new ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' series was launched by Levitz and Giffen.

With artist Steve Ditko, Levitz co-created the characters Stalker and the Prince Gavyn version of Starman. He wrote the Justice Society series in ''All Star Comics'' during the late 1970s and co-created the Earth-2 Huntress with artist Joe Staton. He and Staton provided the JSA with an origin story in ''DC Special'' #29. Lucien the Librarian, a character later used in Neil Gaiman's '' The Sandman'' series, was created by Levitz and artist Nestor Redondo