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. 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. Levitz was one of the contributors to the "DC Challenge" limited series in 1986. Levitz eventually became an editor, and served as vice president and executive vice president, before assuming the role of president and publisher in 2002. Levitz consciously chose the combined title instead of "editor-in-chief", citing the negative results of the title he'd seen during Jim Shooter's tenure at Marvel and his desire to stay connected to the publishing  arm of DC which he had help create. In 2006, Levitz returned to writing the Justice Society with issue #82 of "JSA", completing that volume before writer Geoff Johns' relaunch. On September 9, 2009, it was announced that Levitz would step down as president and publisher of DC Comics to serve as the Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant for the newly formed DC Entertainment, and become the writer of both "Adventure Comics" vol. 2 and "Legion of Super-Heroes" vol. 6. Levitz mentioned in an August 2010 interview that he was working on "my first genuine book." His "75 Years  of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking" () was published by Taschen America, LLC, in November 2010. In addition to "Legion of Super-Heroes", Levitz wrote the "Worlds' Finest" series, which was initially drawn by George Pérez and Kevin Maguire. Levitz and Keith Giffen collaborated on the "Legion of Super-Heroes" issues #17 and 18 in 2013. In 2015, Levitz wrote "Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel", an oversized, illustrated biography/art book on Eisner’s work for Abrams ComicArts. The book would garner Levitz a nomination in the 2016 Eisner Awards for “Best Comics-Related Book.” He joined  the board of directors of Boom! Studios in February 2014. He wrote a new five-page story titled "The Game", which was drawn by Neal Adams, for the "Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman" hardcover collection. In 2004, Levitz joined the board of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization founded in 1986 chartered to protect the First Amendment rights of the comics community. He retired from the board in 2020. On December 31, 2020, Levitz announced his retirement from DC via a posting on Facebook, saying it's “the end of an era for me personally , as I go off the payroll of Warner/DC after so many decades: over 47 years on 'staff', 36 of them on employment contracts.” Awards. Levitz received an Inkpot Award at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2002, the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2008, and the "Dick Giordano Hero Initiative Humanitarian of the Year Award" in September 2013 at the Baltimore Comic-Con. He was inducted into The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2019 at the San Diego Comic-Con. Personal life. Levitz has three children: Nicole, a public health executive ; Philip, a lawyer; and Garret, who works in the entertainment industry. Levitz has named the run of "All-Star Comics" featuring the Justice Society of America as his favorite. He names Roger Zelazny as his favorite science fiction writer, J. R. R. Tolkien as his favorite fantasy writer, David McCullough as his favorite history writer and Agatha Christie as his favorite mystery writer.