Robert Bernstein (May 23, 1919 – December 19, 1988),Robert Bernstein
(no middle initial),

Social Security Number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to ...

084-14-9274, at the United States

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the Social Security Administration, United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Mas ...

via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved on March 12, 2012
Archived
from the original on November 28, 2014. sometimes credited as R. Berns, was 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, playwright and concert impresario, notable as the founder of the Island Concert Hall recital series which ran for 15 years on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

Comic books

As a writer, he is best known for his

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-195 ...

tales and his

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

stories 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 ...

, where he also established the origin and mythos of Aquaman. With various artists, Bernstein co-created DC's Congorilla, Aqualad and

Aquagirl Aquagirl (also Aqua-Girl) is the alias of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as the female counterpart to Aqualad and the junior counterpart of Aquaman. Originally, the first two incarnat ...

, and also

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

. Like most comics professionals of this time, Bernstein went largely uncredited, often receiving credit belatedly in modern-day reprints of his work. His first confirmable credit is the signed, six-page story "Ghouls' Gold" in publisher

Lev Gleason Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and ''Boy Comics''. Backgr ...

's '' Crime Does Not Pay'' #43 (Jan. 1946). Other early work includes a five-page story in Spark Publications' ''Golden Lad'' #4, featuring the character Swift Arrow, plus text fillers for

and Fawcett Comics, and a 1947 Green Lantern story. For

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 ...

' 1950s iteration,

Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...

, Bernstein wrote for the war comics series ''War Comics'', as well as several stories of the masked Western character Black Rider. Also during this decade, he wrote for DC's '' All-American Men of War'', ''

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 Army at War ''Our Army at War'' was an American comic book anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed stories and featured the first appearances of Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace. The series was published from August 1952 to February 1977, then was ...

'', ''

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 ''Star Spangled War Stories'' was the title of a comics anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed characters and stories. Among the features published in this series were writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti' ...

''; psychological drama in EC's ''

Psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

'' and ''

Shock Illustrated ''Shock Illustrated'' was an American black and white magazine published by EC Comics from late 1955 to early 1956. Part of EC's List of Entertaining Comics publications#Picto-Fiction, Picto-Fiction line, each magazine featured three to five stori ...

''; and superhero stories, working with artist Jack Kirby on at least one

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

tale, in ''

World's Finest Comics ''World's Finest Comics'' was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled ''World's Best Comics'' for its first issue; issue #2 (Summer 1941) switched to the more familiar name. Michael ...

'' #99 (Feb. 1959). With artist Howard Sherman, Bernstein adapted the long-running "Congo Bill" jungle-adventure feature into the body-switching superhero feature " Congorilla", beginning in '' Action Comics'' #248 (Jan. 1959).

Superman and Aquaman

Bernstein's first recorded Superman story, for DC Comics, is "The Oldest Man In Metropolis", in '' Action Comics'' #251 (April 1959). Later work includes the DC titles '' Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane'', '' Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'', '' Superboy'' (as well as the later Superboy feature in ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

''), and features starring Green Arrow and Supergirl. With artist Ramona Fradon, he reintroduced the 1940s

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

superhero Aquaman in ''Adventure Comics'' #260 (May 1959) and scripted through at least #282 (March 1961), introducing major characters along the way. One of these, in ''Adventure Comics'' #269 (Feb. 1960), was the teen sidekick Aqualad, who decades later would become the adult hero Tempest. Bernstein and artist George Papp introduced the

Phantom Zone The Phantom Zone is a prison-like parallel dimension appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is mainly associated with stories featuring Superman. It first appeared in '' Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961), and was created ...

and

General Zod General Zod is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly known as an List of Superman enemies, adversary of the superhero Superman. The character, who first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961 ...

into the Superman mythos in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961). Later during this period historians and fans call the

Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an int ...

, Bernstein scripted stories of the

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

and the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

, and, with plots by Marvel editor-in-chief

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

, some of the earliest

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

and

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

stories, in ''

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 ...

'' and '' Journey into Mystery'', respectively. Bernstein co-created Iron Man supporting characters Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan in ''Tales of Suspense'' #45 (Sept. 1963) with

and Don Heck. He also scripted some Human Torch stories, plotted by penciler Jack Kirby, in '' Strange Tales''. He used the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"R. Berns" for his Marvel work. Bernstein adapted the famed

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

character The Shadow for Archie Comics in 1964, and his last work for that character was the two stories in ''The Shadow'' #3 (Nov. 1964). Bernstein's last original DC story in the 1960s was "Olsen's Time-Trip to Save Krypton" in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #101 (April 1967). Bernstein wrote one final comics story, "The Miracle of the Catacombs", which was published in DC's ''

Weird War Tales ''Weird War Tales'' was a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September–October 1971 to June 1983. Publication history The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was ...

'' #91 (Sept. 1980).

Concert impresario and playwright

Bernstein founded the Island Concert Hall recital series which ran for 15 years on

. His presentations spanned three decades. In 1951, when he co-founded the Roslyn Music Group, presenting chamber-music ensembles and soloists on Long Island, his concert career as an impresario was underway. Because Long Island had "an omnivorous appetite for the arts", as he phrased it, Bernstein launched the nonprofit Concert Hall subscription series in 1964, offering approximately 30 annual performances of classical, jazz, dance and theater, including Broadway road company shows and New York Philharmonic concerts. The events were staged at

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

's C. W. Post Center, the

Nassau Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...

and other Long Island auditoriums. Bernstein's one-act plays received a posthumous performance in 1993 at the Arena Players Repertory Theater in

East Farmingdale East Farmingdale is a hamlet and a census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The population of the CDP was 6,484 at the 2010 census. Located in the Town of Babylon, the residents are served by the Farmingdale ...

, Long Island.

Personal life

Bernstein lived in

Upper Brookville, New York Upper Brookville is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 1,698 at the 2010 census. History The village is named for the brook which ...

, on

. At age 69, he died of heart failure at his Delray Beach, Florida, winter home, survived by his wife, Beverly, of Upper Brookville; his daughter, Alison, of Manhattan; and his sister, Louise Sandler, of

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the northern suburbs outside of Philadelphia, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly from Cent ...

References

External links