Steve Gerber

Infobox Comics creator

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imagesize =
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birthname = Stephen Ross Gerber
birthdate = September 20 1947
location = St. Louis, Missouri
deathdate = February 10 2008 (aged 60)
deathplace = Las Vegas, Nevada
nationality = American
area = Writer, Editor
alias = Reg Everbest
notable works = Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, Tales of the Zombie, Defenders, Nevada, Hard Time, Doctor Fate, Sludge, Foolkiller
awards = Shazam! Award Nominee

Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber (September 20, 1947 - February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck.

Other works include "Man-Thing", "Omega the Unknown", "Foolkiller", "Void Indigo", "Tales of the Zombie", "Marvel Spotlight: Son of Satan", "The Defenders", "Marvel Presents: Guardians of the Galaxy", "The Legion of Night", "Nevada","Sludge", "A. Bizarro", and "Hard Time".

He was among the 1970s wave of writers such as Steve Englehart, Don McGregor and Doug Moench who took often minor characters and helped create a writerly Renaissance. At the time of his death, he was writing "Countdown to Mystery: Doctor Fate" for DC Comics, having briefly worked with a version of the character in 1983.

He was also known for including lengthy text pages in the midst of a comic book story, such as in "Man-Thing", "Howard the Duck", "Son of Satan", "Defenders", "Nevada", and his graphic novel, "Stewart the Rat".

Biography

Early life and career

Steve Gerber was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Bernice Gerber,Fox, Margalit. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/arts/14gerber.html?ref=obituaries "Steve Gerber, Creator of Howard the Duck, Dies at 60"] . "The New York Times", February 14, 2008] ] and one of four children, with siblings Jon, Michael, and Lisa. After corresponding with fellow youthful comics fans Roy Thomas and Jerry Bails, and starting one of the first comics fanzines, "Headline", at age 13 or 14, Gerber attended college at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, the University of Missouri, and St. Louis University, where he finished his communications degree and did some post-graduate work. He then began work as a copywriter for a St. Louis advertising agency. During this time he wrote short stories, some of which, such as "And the Birds Hummed Dirges", later appeared in "Crazy Magazine" during his stint as editor.

In early 1972, Gerber asked Thomas, by this time Marvel editor-in-chief, about writing comics; Thomas sent him a writer's test — six pages of a "Daredevil" car-chase scene drawn by Gene Colan — which Gerber passed. He accepted a position as an associate editor and writer at Marvel Comics for $125 a week — $25 less than at the ad agency — and $13 a page for writing.Fact|date=November 2007 Thomas said in 2007,

Marvel Comics

Gerber initially penned standard superhero stories for titles such as "Daredevil" (twenty issues), "Iron Man" (three issues), and "Sub-Mariner" (eleven issues), but soon developed an individual voice that mixed adventure with social satire and absurdist humor. In one issue of "The Defenders", for example, a group of supervillains, tired of always being beaten by the good guys, seeks out a self-help guru for motivation. Gerber also penned anthological horror-fantasy stories for "Creatures on the Loose" (adaptations of Lin Carter's Thongor which he openly ridiculed in letters pages), "Monsters Unleashed", "Chamber of Chills", and "Journey Into Mystery", and humor pieces for "Crazy", becoming editor of that satirical magazine for issues #8-14.

Besides a lengthy run on "The Defenders" (which included the introduction of Korvac), Gerber scripted "Man-Thing", about a swamp-monster empath; "Omega The Unknown", which explored the strange link between a cosmic superhero and a boy; and "Howard the Duck", created with artist Val Mayerik as a throwaway character in a Man-Thing story. Gerber and artist Gene Colan later collaborated on a "Howard the Duck" syndicated comic strip, of which Gerber recalled:

Gerber collaborated heavily with writer Carole Seuling on "Shanna the She-Devil" to the point that he has been creditedFact|date=February 2008 with co-creating the character and her supporting cast.

Among other Marvel projects, Gerber wrote the first issue of Marvel Comics Super Special featuring the band KISS, in which he also introduced Dr. Doom's tutor, Dizzie the Hun. Another important part of Gerber's oeuvre was reviving forgotten characters such as in "Tales of the Zombie" based on a one-shot character, Simon Garth, created in the 1950s by Bill Everett, who died shortly after the series began. In "Defenders" he brought back three pre-superhero characters, the Headmen. He also reintroduced the 1969 one-time feature Guardians of the Galaxy, first as guest stars in "Marvel Two-in-One" (he wrote the first nine issues of that series, the first seven tying directly with his other storylines) and "Defenders" then as a feature in "Marvel Presents". He created the characters of Starhawk, Aleta Ogord, and Nikki. In this series, he depicted the first obvious sex act in a book approved by the Comics Code Authority. He also wrote stories of Son of Satan, Morbius the Living Vampire and Lilith, Daughter of Dracula. He created the monk Montesi in "Dracula Lives!" #5, whose formula would later temporarily destroy all of the vampires in the world.

Gerber was noted for memorable supporting or guest characters who would become cult favorites in their own right. Among his best known are Everyman Richard Rory, who has appeared off and on in most of the Gerber books, and the Foolkiller, a psychopathic vigilante who inspired several different individuals to adopt his identity over the years and acquired his own 10-issue limited series in 1990. Gerber was also responsible for the creation of the Silver Samurai during his "Daredevil" run, and the female Red Guardian when writing "Defenders". He also created N'Kantu, the Living Mummy, but wrote only two stories with the character.

Toward the end of his work at Marvel, he wrote Hanna-Barbera stories for Mark Evanier under the anagrammatic name, "Reg Everbest". Only two of these, featuring Magilla Gorilla and Clue Club, were published in their English-language originals.

With his off-kilter humor and confrontational creative style, Gerber had cultivated a "wild card" reputation in the Marvel offices,Fact|date=February 2008 which he felt ultimately worked against him in the realm of workplace politics. When Jim Shooter became editor-in-chief, he and Gerber found they had personal differences, precipitating Gerber's departure.Fact|date=February 2008

Battle for Howard the Duck

Gerber left Marvel in 1979 and launched a lengthy legal battle for control of Howard the Duck. During the late 1970s and 1980s he did some work for DC Comics (including a 1981 Superman miniseries, "The Phantom Zone", the last three issues of "Mr. Miracle", and a run of backup stories in "The Flash" starring Doctor Fate co-written with Martin Pasko), and for independent comic companies.

One of Gerber's first major works away from Marvel was the original graphic novel "Stewart the Rat" for Eclipse Comics, with art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. Also for "Eclipse Magazine" Gerber and Mayerik crated the anti-censorship horror story, "Role Model/Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others." In 1982 he teamed with Jack Kirby at Eclipse to create "Destroyer Duck", a satirical comic that raised funds for his court case and Kirby's similar legal battles against Marvel. Gerber and Marvel reached a settlement in the case.

Later career

After that time, Gerber worked sporadically in comics, writing several miniseries for Marvel (including "Void Indigo" for the Epic Comics imprint in 1983 and "The Legion of Night" and "Suburban Jersey Ninja She-Devils" in 1990) and DC (including "A. Bizarro" and "Nevada" for the Vertigo imprint in 1998). Returning briefly to Marvel, he had a 12-issue run on "The Sensational She-Hulk" (four of which featured Howard the Duck, but which he considered himself to be deuterocanonical Howard), a three-issue run on "Cloak and Dagger", had Hawkeye get shot and wear a new armored costume designed by Tony Stark in "Avengers Spotlight", and wrote two issues of "Toxic Crusaders", all for Marvel. During this time he also did a serial in "Marvel Comics Presents" featuring Poison, a character he created in "The Evolutionary War" crossover. He also wrote the two-issue "Freddy Krueger's A Nightmare on Elm Street" which delved into the backstory of the character with a depth the films never displayed.

In collaboration with Beth Woods (later Slick), he wrote the "Contagion" episode of the syndicated television series "", and with her wrote "BBSs for Dummies".

He worked in television animation, working as story editor on the animated TV series "The Transformers", "", and "Dungeons & Dragons"; created "Thundarr the Barbarian"; and shared a 1998 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class — Animated Program, for the WB program "The New Batman/Superman Adventures". His Berlin Wall episode of "The Puppy's New Adventures" was heavily censored to prettify East BerlinFact|date=February 2008, resulting in Gerber's mock-slogan "ABC Standards and Practices... Protecting Your Children With Lies",Fact|date=February 2008. He also wrote the pilot episode of the animated TV series "Mister T".

He was one of the founders of the Malibu Comics Ultraverse, co-creating "Exiles" and creating "Sludge". For Image, he co-created "The Cybernary" with Nick Manabat and disbanded "" (in their crossover with Cyberforce, in which Gerber showed the impossibility of one leader leading two teams with any effectiveness), in addition to guest-writing "Pitt". In 2002 he created a new "Howard the Duck" miniseries for Marvel's MAX line. For DC he then created "Hard Time", which outlasted the short-lived imprint DC Focus, but slow sales led "Hard Time: Season Two" to be cancelled after only seven issues rather than the minimum twelve Gerber was initially promised.

In 2005, when Marvel Comics sponsored a vote on which of four unused characters to revive, Gerber asked his fansFact|date=February 2008 to vote against Wundarr the Aquarian, a supporting character he had created in "Fear" and "Marvel Two-in-One". Wundarr took second after Death's Head. He stated numerous times on his blogFact|date=February 2008 and elsewhereFact|date=February 2008 on the web his opinion that no one should write another's characters without the creator's endorsement. He himself endorsed the 2000s "Foolkiller" series,Fact|date=February 2008 starring a character he had created in "Man-Thing", because the character was a new individual using the old persona.

Later, Gerber wrote the "Helmet of Fate: Zauriel" one-shot and continued writing the Doctor Fate strip in the "Countdown to Mystery" limited series for DC Comics up to the time of his death, working on stories in the hospital.

Death and family

In 2007, Gerber was diagnosed with an early stage of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and was eventually hospitalized while continuing to work. He had gotten onto the waiting list for a transplant at UCLA Medical Center. On February 10, 2008, Gerber died in a Las Vegas hospital from complications stemming from his condition. [ [http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_02_11.html#014809 obituary by Mark Evanier] ] [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=146401 Brady, Matt. "Steve Gerber Passes Away"] . Newsarama.com, Feb. 11, 2008] At the time of his death, Gerber was separated from wife Margo Macleod. He had a daughter, Samantha Voll.

Awards

*1974: nominated at the Shazam Awards for Best Writer in both the Dramatic and Humor Divisions
*1977: Eagle Award for Favourite Single Comicbook Story for "Howard the Duck" #3: "Four Feathers of Death" with John Buscema: also nominated for the same award for "Howard the Duck" #1: "Howard the Barbarian" with Frank Brunner
*1977: nominated at the Eagle Awards for Favourite Comicbook Writer, and for Favourite Continued Comicbook Story for "Defenders" #31-40 + Annual #1 with Sal Buscema
*1978: Inkpot Award
*1978: nominated at the Eagle Awards for Favourite Writer, and for Favourite Single Comicbook Story for "Howard the Duck" #16: "The Zen and Art of Comic Book Writing"
*1979: nominated at the Eagle Awards for Best Comicbook Writer (US), for the Roll of Honour, and for Favourite Single Story for "The Avengers" #178: "The Martyr Perplex" with Carmine Infantino
*1980: nominated at the Eagle Awards for the Roll of Honour
*2002: nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative for "Howard the Duck" Issues 1-6

Collections

*"Doctor Fate: More Pain Comics", DC
*"Essential Daredevil" Vol. 4, Marvel
*"Essential Defenders" Vol. 2, Marvel
*"Essential Defenders" Vol. 3, Marvel
*"Essential Howard the Duck" Vol. 1, Marvel
*"Essential Man-Thing" Vol. 1, Marvel
*"Essential Marvel Horror" Vol. 1, Marvel
*"Essential Marvel Two-in-One" Vol. 1, Marvel
*"Essential Tales of the Zombie" Vol. 1, Marvel
*"Giant-Size Marvel", Marvel
*"Hard Time: 50 to Life", DC
*"The Helmet of Fate", DC
*"Howard the Duck" (MAX), Marvel
*"Nevada", DC
*"Omega the Unknown" Classic, Marvel
*"Stewart the Rat" (with Gene Colan and Tom Palmer), Eclipse Comics, reprinted by About Comics, 48 pgs [http://www.aboutcomics.com/PRESS/STEWART/STEWART.HTM]
*"Superman: Last Son of Earth" (Elseworlds), DC
*"Superman: Last Stand on Krypton" (Elseworlds), DC

In fiction

Gerber was the inspiration for the Marvel Universe character Stewart Caldwell, a TV writer who became Thundersword" [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/thundersword.htm#boromir The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe] " mentions "Secret Wars II" #1 (July 1985) and "Iron Man" I #197] .

Footnotes

References

* [http://stevegerber.com SteveGerber.com]
* [http://www.emmys.tv/awards/daytimeawards.php Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Daytime Emmy Awards]
*"Comic Book Artist Collection Volume 3" (TwoMorrows Publishng, 2005): "Steve Gerber's "Crazy" Days" (reprinted from "Comic Book Artist" #7, Feb. 2000) (offline)
* [http://www.omegatheunknown.com OmegaTheUnknown.com]

External links

* [http://www.stevegerber.com/sgblog/ Steve Gerblog: Steve Gerber's Online Journal]
* [http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=754&Itemid=48 reprint of Gerber interview] in "The Comics Journal" #41 (August 1978)
* [http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2006/08/05/trapped-in-a-friday-he-never-made/ Trapped in a Friday He Never Made: Essay on Gerber's Omega and Defenders]
*McLellan, Dennis. [http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-gerber15feb15,0,7815180,full.story "Steve Gerber, 60; comic-book writer created Howard the Duck"] , "Los Angeles Times", February 15, 2008
* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/gerber_steve.htm Marvel Universe Appendix's tribute to Steve Gerber]
* [http://www.thegerbercurse.synthasite.com thegerbercurse.synthasite.com]