Comics Scribe Robert Kanigher Dead at 87
Leaving behind a comics career that spanned five decades, prolific comic
book writer Robert Kanigher passed away on May 6 at the age of 87.
Born on June 18, 1915, Kanigher showed early promise as a writer when his short stories and poetry began appearing in magazines including The Loyalist and The Bridge in the late 1920s, with one of his works winning him The New York Times Collegiate Short Story Contest in 1932. After serving as writer and director of a teen-oriented radio show in the late 1930s, the young scribe wrote for popular radio shows including House of Mystery and Cavalcade of America.
Some of Kanigher's earliest comics work appeared in Fox's Blue Beetle in 1940. He soon found work with MLJ/Archie on Steel Sterling, The Web and other titles, and with Fawcett on Captain Marvel Adventures. DC Comics Editor Sheldon Mayer gave Kanigher his first DC work in 1946 in Sensation Comics. Kanigher was soon hired as an editor at DC, where he remained on staff through 1968, then returned again as an editor from 1972 to 1974.
Although Kanigher wrote for other comics publishers throughout his long career, the lion's share of his work appeared in a wide variety of DC titles, including All-American Men of War, Arak Son of Thunder, The Flash, Flash Comics, Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion, G.I. Combat, Lois Lane, Metal Men, Our Army at War, Our Fighting Forces, Ragman, Sea Devils, Sgt. Rock, Tomahawk, Wonder Woman, and countless others. Best known for his realistic war stories, Kanigher also scripted the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash in Showcase #4 (the book credited with launching the Silver Age of Comics), and his celebrated run on Wonder Woman in the 1950s and '60s dramatically expanded the series' mythology - in a manner comparable to DC Editor Mort Weisinger's expansion of the Superman mythos during the same period.
"I draw from life, from emotion, from personal experience," Kanigher said in the pages of Fifty Who Made DC Great. "That's what makes my stories what they are. [The readers] recognize in my books one drive, one thought, one mind. The stories bear my stamp."
The writer is credited with creating a wealth of memorable DC characters, including Angel and the Ape, the Metal Men, Black Canary, the Gentleman Ghost, Harlequin, the Haunted Tank, King Faraday, Mlle. Marie, the Losers, Rex the Wonder Dog, Rose & Thorn, the Silent Knight, the Viking Prince, and Johnny Thunder, among others.
Kanigher's powerful writing also created controversy. With "Enemy Ace," he presented war from the enemy's point of view. His story "Head-Count," from Our Army at War #233, made the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1971 in connection with an article on realism in comics. In the early '70s, the writer examined such subjects as racism and interracial relationships in the pages of Lois Lane and DC's romance titles.
"To this day, nobody in comics could pull the heartstrings like Kanigher could," said former DC Comics Editor Len Wein. "He could tell an emotional story like nobody else. That's an amazing gift."
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Born on June 18, 1915, Kanigher showed early promise as a writer when his short stories and poetry began appearing in magazines including The Loyalist and The Bridge in the late 1920s, with one of his works winning him The New York Times Collegiate Short Story Contest in 1932. After serving as writer and director of a teen-oriented radio show in the late 1930s, the young scribe wrote for popular radio shows including House of Mystery and Cavalcade of America.
Some of Kanigher's earliest comics work appeared in Fox's Blue Beetle in 1940. He soon found work with MLJ/Archie on Steel Sterling, The Web and other titles, and with Fawcett on Captain Marvel Adventures. DC Comics Editor Sheldon Mayer gave Kanigher his first DC work in 1946 in Sensation Comics. Kanigher was soon hired as an editor at DC, where he remained on staff through 1968, then returned again as an editor from 1972 to 1974.
Although Kanigher wrote for other comics publishers throughout his long career, the lion's share of his work appeared in a wide variety of DC titles, including All-American Men of War, Arak Son of Thunder, The Flash, Flash Comics, Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion, G.I. Combat, Lois Lane, Metal Men, Our Army at War, Our Fighting Forces, Ragman, Sea Devils, Sgt. Rock, Tomahawk, Wonder Woman, and countless others. Best known for his realistic war stories, Kanigher also scripted the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash in Showcase #4 (the book credited with launching the Silver Age of Comics), and his celebrated run on Wonder Woman in the 1950s and '60s dramatically expanded the series' mythology - in a manner comparable to DC Editor Mort Weisinger's expansion of the Superman mythos during the same period.
"I draw from life, from emotion, from personal experience," Kanigher said in the pages of Fifty Who Made DC Great. "That's what makes my stories what they are. [The readers] recognize in my books one drive, one thought, one mind. The stories bear my stamp."
The writer is credited with creating a wealth of memorable DC characters, including Angel and the Ape, the Metal Men, Black Canary, the Gentleman Ghost, Harlequin, the Haunted Tank, King Faraday, Mlle. Marie, the Losers, Rex the Wonder Dog, Rose & Thorn, the Silent Knight, the Viking Prince, and Johnny Thunder, among others.
Kanigher's powerful writing also created controversy. With "Enemy Ace," he presented war from the enemy's point of view. His story "Head-Count," from Our Army at War #233, made the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1971 in connection with an article on realism in comics. In the early '70s, the writer examined such subjects as racism and interracial relationships in the pages of Lois Lane and DC's romance titles.
"To this day, nobody in comics could pull the heartstrings like Kanigher could," said former DC Comics Editor Len Wein. "He could tell an emotional story like nobody else. That's an amazing gift."
