Gary Cohn (comics)

This article is about the comic book writer. For others, see Gary Cohn (disambiguation).

Gary Cohn (born January 25, 1952)^[1] is an American comic book writer, and co-creator (with Dan Mishkin) of the DC Comics characters Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Blue Devil.

Gary Cohn
Born	(1952-01-25) January 25, 1952 (age 72)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, teacher
Notable works	Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld Blue Devil

Early life

Gary Cohn attended Michigan State University earning his bachelor's degree in creative writing (liberal arts) and graduated from Bowling Green State University with an M.A. in 1980.^[2]

Career

Cohn and longtime friend Dan Mishkin entered the comics industry together following a correspondence with Jack C. Harris, an editor at DC Comics.^[3] Their first work for the company was the three-page short story "On the Day of His Return" published in Time Warp #3 (Feb.–March 1980) and drawn by Steve Ditko.^[4][5] In 1983, Cohn and Mishkin created Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld with artist Ernie Colón.^[6][7] The following year, the writing team and Paris Cullins introduced Blue Devil.^[8] DC gave both series a promotional push by featuring them in free, 16-page insert previews.^[9][10] Cohn and artist Ron Randall co-created the "Barren Earth" feature as a backup in The Warlord #63 (Nov. 1982) and it was spun off into a four–issue limited series in 1985.^[4] In the mid-1990s, Cohn wrote several stories for William Tucci's Crusade Comics including an intercompany crossover between Crusade's Shi and Marvel Comics' Daredevil.^[4] Cohn has written three Hardy Boys and two Nancy Drew novels.^[2]

Cohn was on the faculty of the Information Technology High School in Long Island City as a U.S. History and Government teacher. He retired in 2014.

Bibliography

Archie Comics

• Black Hood #2 (1983)

Crusade Comics

• Demon Gun #2 (1996)
• Shi / Cyblade #1 (1995)
• Shi / Daredevil: Honor Thy Mother #1 (1997)
• Shi: Senryaku #1 (1995)
• Tomoe #0 (1996)
• Tomoe-Witchblade: Fire Sermon #1 (1996)

DC Comics

• Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld #1–12, Annual #1 (1983–1984)
• Amethyst vol. 2 #1–11 (1985)
• Aquaman Special #1 (1988)
• The Best of DC #35, 52, 61, 71 (1983–1986)
• Blue Devil #1–10, 12–28, 30–31, Annual #1 (1984–1986)
• The Brave and the Bold #186, 191 (1982)
• Conqueror of the Barren Earth #1–4 (1985)
• DC Comics Presents #48, 50, 57, 63, 76, 96 (1982–1986)
• DC Sampler #1 (1983)
• Demolition Man #2 (1993)
• The Flash #306 (1982)
• The Fury of Firestorm #24 (Blue Devil preview) (1984)
• Ghosts #109, 111 (1982)
• Green Lantern vol. 2 #152–153, 170 (1982–1983)
• House of Mystery #295–296, 299–303, 310–319, 321 (1981–1983)
• Jonah Hex #53–60, 73–75 (1981–1983)
• Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #298 (Amethyst preview) (1983)
• Mystery in Space #114, 116 (1980–1981)
• The New Adventures of Superboy #31 (1982)
• Omega Men #30 (1985)
• Secret Origins vol. 2 #24, 41 (1988–1989)
• Secrets of Haunted House #42, 44 (1981–1982)
• Showcase '93 #1–6 (Blue Devil) (1993)
• Star Trek #51 (1993)
• Teen Titans Spotlight #18 (1988)
• Time Warp #3 (1980)
• The Unexpected #214, 216–217, 219–220 (1981–1982)
• The Warlord #42–47 (OMAC backup stories) #63–65, 67–70, 72–74, 76–88 (Conqueror of the Barren Earth backup stories) (1981–1984)
• Weird War Tales #95, 101–102, 107, 122–123 (1981–1983)
• Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #2–3, 16 (1985–1986)
• World's Finest Comics #301 (1984)

Collected editions

• Showcase Presents: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (collects Legion of Super-Heroes #298, the original Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld 12–issue limited series, Amethyst Annual #1, DC Comics Presents #63, and Amethyst #1–11 ongoing series, 648 pages, September 2012, ISBN 1401236774)^[11]

Marvel Comics

• Midnight Sons Unlimited #2 (1993)

Mattel

• Masters of the Universe: He-Man Meets Ram-Man! #1 (1983)
• Masters of the Universe: The Terror of Tri-Klops! #1 (1983)

Renegade Press

• Revolver #5 (1986)

References

1. Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
2. "Adjunct Faculty in the Department of English". Long Island University. 2008. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
3. "Amethyst Special Feature: Interview with Gary Cohn and Dan Mishkin". TangognaT Who loves palindromes?. March 15, 2009. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2011. Gary Cohn: Dan and I have been friends since our mid-teens...We were seriously trying to break into comics and had started a correspondence with an editor at DC, Jack Harris, that eventually led to our first sales.
4. Gary Cohn at the Grand Comics Database
5. Romero, Max (July 2012). "I'll Buy That For a Dollar! DC Comics' Dollar Comics". Back Issue! (57). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 39–41. 'On the Day of His Return', written by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn. It was their first sale and they were stunned it was drawn by Steve [Ditko].
6. Wallace, Dan (2008), "Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley, p. 14, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1
7. "Truth, Lies & Minicomics: A Conversation with Gary Cohn, Part 2". He-Man Tales. n.d. Archived from the original on June 21, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
8. Johnson, Dan (April 2007). "The Blue Devil You Don't Know". Back Issue! (21). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 28–32.
9. Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1980s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. The other-dimensional Gemworld found a new princess in the form of Amy Winston, an ordinary young girl from a distant reality, in the pages of a sixteen-page insert comic by writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn, and artist Ernie Colón...Standing strong against the forces of the nefarious Dark Opal, Amethyst was gearing up for her own self-titled maxiseries in May.
10. Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 208: "[A] sixteen-page preview story marked the debut of fledgling stuntman-turned-hero Blue Devil. An attempt to put the fun back into comics, writers Gary Cohn and Dan Mishkin and penciller Paris Cullins had Blue Devil face the machinations of Flash villain the Trickster in this lead-in to his own ongoing series."
11. Melrose, Kevin (January 30, 2012). "DC is finally collecting Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.

External links

• Gary Cohn at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Gary Cohn at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
• Gary Cohn at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators