Murray Boltinoff

Murray Boltinoff

Murray Boltinoff in the 1970s. Photo by Jack Adler.
Born (1911-01-03)January 3, 1911
New York City, United States
Died May 6, 1994(1994-05-06) (aged 83)
Pompano Beach, Florida, United States
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Editor
Pseudonym(s) Al Case, Anne Case, Bill Dennehy, Blair Bolton, Bob Donnely, Evan Douglas, Ray Bolton, Sam Meade, Wesley Marsh, and Woody Adams[1][2]

Murray Boltinoff (January 3, 1911 – May 6, 1994 in Pompano Beach, Florida) was a writer and editor of comic books, who worked for DC Comics from the 1940s to the 1980s, in which role he edited over 50 different comic book series.

Biography

A graduate of New York University, in 1933 Boltinoff was hired as an assistant editor at the New York American—the first newspaper to hire his younger brother Henry Boltinoff as a cartoonist. Although Craig Yoe has stated that "Murray had got Henry [the] job",[3] Don Markstein reported that it was actually more difficult for Henry to sell artwork to Murray, as "both [strove] to avoid any appearance of favoritism".[4] Henry Boltinoff subsequently began selling cartoons to Whitney Ellsworth at National Allied Publications, and suggested that Ellsworth hire Murray as an assistant, which Ellsworth did around the year 1940.[5]

As an editor, he oversaw the creation of the Doom Patrol[6] in My Greatest Adventure.[7] When the Doom Patrol series was cancelled in 1968, Boltinoff and artist Bruno Premiani appeared in the story to urge readers to keep the series alive.[8][9] Boltinoff revived Metamorpho as the backup feature in World's Finest Comics #218-220 and #229 after the character had a brief run as the backup in Action Comics #413-418.[10] Gina Misiroglu has described Boltinoff as Metamorpho's "savior" from post-cancellation obscurity due to his "tendency to stick [Metamorpho] into whichever comic [Boltinoff] happened to be working on at the time."[11] The character's creator Bob Haney later reported having read an interview in which Boltinoff claimed to have created Metamorpho, and attributed this to senility on Boltinoff's part.[12] Haney was not the only one to comment on Boltinoff's memory: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes writer Jim Shooter recounted that Boltinoff "seemed to have early stage Alzheimer’s. Seriously. Ask his former assistant, Jack Harris. Murray would give me instructions, forget what he’d said, then be upset that I hadn’t followed some orders he’d never given me. I ended up doing rewrites because Murray misremembered things."[13]

While editing Superboy featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, his actions included hiring Mike Grell as artist[14] and rejecting Dave Cockrum's proposal for a new character on the grounds that the character was "too weird looking"—Cockrum later repurposed the character as Nightcrawler.[15]

Bibliography

As editor unless noted:

DC Comics

References

  1. ↑ Bails, Jerry; Snyder, Robin (2006). "Boltinoff, Murray". Who's Who of American Comics Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ Index to the Comic Art Collection: "Boltinoff, Murray" to "Bolvin" at Michigan State University; retrieved July 12, 2016
  3. ↑ Yoe, Craig (2007). Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings. Last Gasp. ISBN 978-0867196535.
  4. ↑ Markstein, Don (2002). "Henry Boltinoff". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ Klein, Todd (July 9, 2013). "The DC Comics Offices 1930s-1950s Part 2". KleinLetters.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ Chen, Ken (Summer 2008). "Doom Patrol, Volumes 1-6". Rain Taxi. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  7. ↑ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1960s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, joined by artist Bruno Premiani...[created] a super hero title for editor Murray Boltinoff amid a fledgling period for anthology comics such as My Greatest Adventure.
  8. ↑ McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 131
  9. ↑ Murray Boltinoff at the Grand Comics Database
  10. ↑ Stroud, Bryan (May 2013). "Metamorpho in Action Comics". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (64): 22–27.
  11. ↑ Misiroglu, Gina (2005). The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Detroit, Michigan: Omnigraphics, Inc. ISBN 978-0780807723.
  12. ↑ Catron, Michael (2006). "Bob Haney Interviewed by Michael Catron Part Four (of Five)". The Comics Journal. Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books (276 and 278). Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  13. ↑ Vaughn, J. C. (June 2009). "Jim Shooter's First Day at Marvel Comics". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (34): 14–19.
  14. ↑ Chan, Suzette (December 10, 2012). "Adapting Arrow / Mike Grell". Sequential Tart. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  15. ↑ Cronin, Brian (July 20, 2006). "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #60". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014.
Preceded by
George Kashdan		 The Brave and the Bold editor
1968–1976 		Succeeded by
Dennis O'Neil
Preceded by
Mort Weisinger		 Superboy editor
1968–1977 		Succeeded by
Dennis O'Neil
Preceded by
Mort Weisinger		 Action Comics editor
1970–1972 		Succeeded by
Julius Schwartz
Preceded by
n/a		 Ghosts editor
1971–1979 		Succeeded by
Jack C. Harris
Preceded by
Julius Schwartz		 World's Finest Comics editor
1972–1976 		Succeeded by
Dennis O'Neil
Preceded by
Archie Goodwin		 G.I. Combat editor
1974–1987 		Succeeded by
n/a
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