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American comic book writer (1914–1974) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leo Dorfman (February 17, 1914[2] – July 9, 1974)[3] (also credited as Geoff Brown[4] and David George[5]) was an American writer of comic books throughout the Silver Age. Although the majority of his work was for DC Comics, he also wrote for Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics.
Leo Dorfman | |
---|---|
Born | New York City. U.S. | February 17, 1914
Died | July 9, 1974 60) | (aged
Area(s) | Writer |
Pseudonym(s) | Geoff Brown, David George |
Notable works | Action Comics Superboy Superman Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen |
Awards | Bill Finger Award 2020 posthumously[1] |
Dorfman grew up on New York City's Lower East Side.[6]
Leo Dorfman began working for National Periodical Publications in the 1950s. Comics historian Mark Evanier has estimated that Dorfman may have been "the most prolific scripter" for Superman during the 1960s.[7]
Dorfman's work included the creation of the Superman supporting character Pete Ross in 1961 as well as writing the "Superman Red/Superman Blue" story in Superman #162 (July 1963), which inspired a year-long plot arc in 1998.[8] As the writer of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, he and artist Kurt Schaffenberger crafted Catwoman's first appearance in the Silver Age of Comic Books in issue #70 (Nov. 1966)[9] and updated Lois Lane's fashions to a then-more contemporary look in #80 (Jan. 1968).[10] Dorfman also modernized Jimmy Olsen, making him a more independent figure who solved crimes as "Mr. Action", with less help from Superman.[11] Dorfman wrote World's Finest Comics #175 (May 1968) which featured Neal Adams' first Batman story.[12] In 1971, Dorfman created the Ghosts anthology series for DC.[13]
He produced stories for Gold Key Comics' supernaturally-themed The Twilight Zone, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, Boris Karloff Mystery and Grimm's Ghost Stories. One of Gold Key's editors at the time told Mark Evanier "Leo writes stories and then he decides whether he's going to sell them to DC [for Ghosts] or to us. He tells us that if they come out good, they go to us and if they don't, they go to DC. I assume he tells DC the opposite."[7]
Leo Dorfman died unexpectedly on July 9, 1974, at the age of 60 while still writing for Ghosts. Editor and longtime friend Murray Boltinoff replaced Dorfman with Carl Wessler as the series' primary writer.[5]
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