Dan Mishkin

Dan Mishkin
Mishkin in February 2008
Born (1953-03-03) March 3, 1953 (age 71)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer
Notable works
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld
Blue Devil
Wonder Woman

Dan Mishkin (born March 3, 1953)[1] is an American comic book writer, and co-creator (with Gary Cohn) of the DC Comics characters Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Blue Devil.

Biography

As an adolescent, Dan Mishkin formed a writing partnership with Gary Cohn. Mishkin recounted

We met in junior high school and we were part of a small crowd of good friends, who are still friends to this day. We talked and loved comic books and had a lot of other interests. At one point, when we were 16, Gary said, 'I'm going to be a writer.' ... my thought was, 'I didn't know you were allowed to say that!' It was a real eye-opening experience for me, because Gary kind of led the way and said, 'If you're the sort of person who is always thinking of and telling stories, you can make this your life's work.'[2]

Mishkin and Cohn 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 (February–March 1980) and drawn by Steve Ditko.[4][5] They wrote several stories for various mystery titles as well as the "OMAC" backup in The Warlord.[4] In 1983, Mishkin, Cohn and artist Ernie Colón created Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld.[6][7] The following year, the writing team and Paris Cullins introduced Blue Devil. DC gave both series a promotional push by featuring them in free, 16-page insert previews.[8][9] Among other work, Mishkin had a run on Wonder Woman from 1982 through 1985 with artists Gene Colan and Don Heck.[10][11] Mishkin and Colan reintroduced the character Circe to the rogues gallery of Wonder Woman's adversaries.[12] He was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series in 1986.[13] Mishkin and Jeff Grubb authored the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1988–1991) and Forgotten Realms (1989–1991) comic books, and Mishkin also wrote a Dragonlance (1988–1991) comic.[14] In 2001, he worked with artist Tom Mandrake on the short lived series Creeps and in 2006 on the children's book The Forest King: Woodlark's Shadow.[15] Mishkin organized the "Kids Read Comics" convention in Chelsea, Michigan in June 2009.[16] Mishkin and Ernie Colón collaborated on The Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation Into the Kennedy Assassination in 2014.[17]

Bibliography

DC Comics

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)[18]

Marvel Comics

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. ^ Johnson, Dan (April 2007). "The Blue Devil You Don't Know". Back Issue! (21). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 28–32.
  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. ^ a b Dan Mishkin 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. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". 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. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ 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."
  10. ^ Simone, Gail (October 27, 2009). "Five Questions With...Dan Mishkin". Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  11. ^ Wilber, Steven (August 2016). "Wonder Woman's World of the (Early) 1980s: An Interview With Dan Mishkin". Back Issue! (90). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 30–37.
  12. ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 202: "The sorceress Circe stepped out of the pages of Homer's Odyssey and into the modern mythology of the DC Universe in Wonder Woman #305, courtesy of Dan Mishkin's script and Gene Colan's pencils."
  13. ^ Greenberger, Robert (August 2017). "It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time: A Look at the DC Challenge!". Back Issue! (98). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 41–43.
  14. ^ Appelcline, Shannon (2011). Designers & Dragons. Swindon, England: Mongoose Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  15. ^ Actionopolis/Komikwerks September 2006 ISBN 978-0-9742803-5-6
  16. ^ Offenberger, Rik (June 5, 2009). "Dan Mishkin on the Kids Read Comics Convention". Newsarama. Archived from the original on June 25, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  17. ^ Bort, Ryan (September 12, 2014). "A Graphic Novel That Breathes New Life into Our Understanding of the Kennedy Assassination". Esquire. New York, New York: Hearst Corporation. Archived from the original on March 25, 2016.
  18. ^ 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.
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