George Kashdan
American comic book writer and editor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Kashdan (May 17, 1928 – June 3, 2006)[1][2] was an American comic book writer and editor, primarily for DC Comics, who co-created such characters as Tommy Tomorrow, Mysto the Magician Detective, and others. He was a screenwriter for such animated television series as The Mighty Hercules and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.
| George Kashdan | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 17, 1928 The Bronx, New York City, New York |
| Died | June 3, 2006 (aged 78) |
| Area | Writer, Editor |
Notable works | Aquaman The Mighty Hercules The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure Tommy Tomorrow |
Biography
Early life
Kashdan was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York,[1][3] and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago.[1]
Comics
In 1947, after having written two comic book scripts for DC Comics, he was hired as an editor at that publishing company, where his brother, Bernard Kashdan, was a business executive[4] who had joined the company in 1940.[5] George Kashdan's first two recorded comic-book credits, appearing the same month, are writing the "Congo Bill" backup feature in Action Comics #105 (Feb. 1947),[6] and co–creating the Tommy Tomorrow character with co–writers Bernie Breslauer and Jack Schiff and artist Howard Sherman in DC's Real Fact Comics #6 (Feb. 1947).[7][8]
He became a story editor on Action Comics beginning with #106 (March 1947),[6] mostly editing and rewriting the backup features on that anthology title, which headlined Superman, helmed by fellow story editor Mort Weisinger.[1] As Kashdan recalled his start at the company, "There was a small emergency there. One of the editors with whom I had worked was Bernie Breslauer. ... He was in the hospital briefly and Mort called me. He said, 'Hey, we need an editor here.' Bernie came back and I remained, basically as a copy editor. I wasn't buying stories or giving out plots, or giving out assignments of any sort. Bernie died a year or two later, I guess — around 1950. I moved into his desk.[9]
In 1962, Kashdan and artist Nick Cardy launched the Aquaman ongoing series for DC.[10] Later in the 1960s, he devised the concept of Metamorpho, an idea fleshed out by writer Bob Haney and artist Ramona Fradon.[11] Kashdan primarily wrote for DC's mystery and war comics series including G.I. Combat, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, The Unexpected, Weird War Tales, and The Witching Hour.[6] A "Johnny Peril" story written by Kashdan for The Unexpected series in 1969 was put into inventory and finally published ten years later in the APA-I fanzine.[12] A rare example of Kashdan working for another comic book publisher is the seven–page story "Who Toys with Terror" in Atlas/Seaboard Comics' Weird Tales of the Macabre #2 (March 1975). His final comics work was "Strange Rescue", a single-page story drawn by Dick Ayers and published in Sgt. Rock #421 (April 1988).[6]
Animation
From 1963 to 1966, Kashdan was one of the writers of The Mighty Hercules series for Adventure Cartoon Productions.[13] He worked on Filmation Associates' The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967–1968.[14]
Bibliography
Atlas/Seaboard Comics
- Weird Tales of the Macabre #2 (1975)
DC Comics
- Action Comics #105–106, 113, 116, 131, 135, 145 (1947–1950)
- Adventure Comics #114, 120–122, 124, 137, 150, 154, 160, 162, 164, 168–170, 172–175, 224, 487–488 (1947–1981)
- Bomba, the Jungle Boy #1–5 (1967–1968)
- DC Special Series #4, 7 (1977)
- Detective Comics #125, 130, 132, 203, 205, 211, 295 (1947–1961)
- Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #12 (1973)
- Ghosts #17, 36, 59–63, 68, 75, 78, 81, 84–92, 94–101, 109 (1973–1982)
- G.I. Combat #207, 211, 218–219, 221, 223–224, 227, 229–230, 232, 234–235, 237, 240, 243–245, 247, 250–253, 256–262, 266, 268, 270–272, 275–278, 285, 287–288 (1978–1987)
- House of Mystery #215, 224–225, 244, 251, 277, 280, 282–283, 289–290, 296–298, 311, 313, 318, 320 (1973–1983)
- House of Secrets #108, 115, 119, 124, 128, 137–139, 142, 148 (1973–1977)
- Mystery in Space #112–113 (1980)
- Plop! #2–3, 5 (1973–1974)
- Rip Hunter...Time Master #24–29 (1965)
- Secrets of Haunted House #2, 4, 7, 18–19, 21–24, 26, 30–31, 33, 37, 42–43 (1975–1981)
- Secrets of Sinister House #16–18 (1974)
- Sgt. Rock #411–417, 421 (1986–1988)
- Tales of the Unexpected #72 (1962)
- Time Warp #1–5 (1979–1980)
- Tomahawk #118, 122, 128, 130 (1968–1970)
- The Unexpected #107–114, 117–122, 124–128, 130–140, 143, 145–151, 153–154, 157–164, 166–179, 181–200, 205, 207, 209–210, 212–214, 218–219 (1968–1982)
- Weird Mystery Tales #6, 13–14 (1973–1974)
- Weird War Tales #13, 23, 25, 28, 32–36, 38–40, 43, 45–49, 55, 62, 81–84, 89–90, 92–96, 98–99, 101–102, 104–106, 109, 112 (1973–1982)
- The Witching Hour #15, 17–20, 23, 28, 32–37, 39–40, 42–47, 49–53, 55–61, 63–70, 72–79, 81–85 (1971–1978)
- World's Finest Comics #26–28, 31, 33–38, 40–45, 49, 79, 127 (1947–1962)
- Young Love #123 (1977)
- Young Romance #171, 194 (1971–1973)