George Kashdan

George Kashdan (May 17, 1928 – June 3, 2006)[1][2] was an American comic book writer and editor, primarily for DC Comics, who co-created such characters as Tommy Tomorrow, Mysto the Magician Detective, and others. He was a screenwriter for such animated television series as The Mighty Hercules and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.

George Kashdan
Born(1928-05-17)May 17, 1928
The Bronx, New York City, New York
DiedJune 3, 2006(2006-06-03) (aged 78)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Editor
Notable works
Aquaman
The Mighty Hercules
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
Tommy Tomorrow

Biography

Early life

Kashdan was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York,[1][3] and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago.[1]

Comics

In 1947, after having written two comic book scripts for DC Comics, he was hired as an editor at that publishing company, where his brother, Bernard Kashdan, was a business executive[4] who had joined the company in 1940.[5] George Kashdan's first two recorded comic-book credits, appearing the same month, are writing the "Congo Bill" backup feature in Action Comics #105 (Feb. 1947),[6] and co–creating the Tommy Tomorrow character with co–writers Bernie Breslauer and Jack Schiff and artist Howard Sherman in DC's Real Fact Comics #6 (Feb. 1947).[7][8]

He became a story editor on Action Comics beginning with #106 (March 1947),[6] mostly editing and rewriting the backup features on that anthology title, which headlined Superman, helmed by fellow story editor Mort Weisinger.[1] As Kashdan recalled his start at the company, "There was a small emergency there. One of the editors with whom I had worked was Bernie Breslauer. ... He was in the hospital briefly and Mort called me. He said, 'Hey, we need an editor here.' Bernie came back and I remained, basically as a copy editor. I wasn't buying stories or giving out plots, or giving out assignments of any sort. Bernie died a year or two later, I guess — around 1950. I moved into his desk.[9]

In 1962, Kashdan and artist Nick Cardy launched the Aquaman ongoing series for DC.[10] Kashdan primarily wrote for DC's mystery and war comics series including G.I. Combat, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, The Unexpected, Weird War Tales, and The Witching Hour.[6] A "Johnny Peril" story written by Kashdan for The Unexpected series in 1969 was put into inventory and finally published ten years later in the APA-I fanzine.[11] A rare example of Kashdan working for another comic book publisher is the seven–page story "Who Toys with Terror" in Atlas/Seaboard Comics' Weird Tales of the Macabre #2 (March 1975). His final story "Strange Rescue" was published in Sgt. Rock #421 (April 1988).[6]

Animation

From 1963 to 1966, Kashdan was one of the writers of The Mighty Hercules series for Adventure Cartoon Productions.[12] He worked on Filmation Associates' The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967–1968.[13]

Bibliography

Atlas/Seaboard Comics
  • Weird Tales of the Macabre #2 (1975)

DC Comics

References
  1. Evanier, Mark (June 8, 2006). "George Kashdan, R.I.P." News From ME. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  2. "George Kashdan, 3 June 2006". United States Social Security Death Index. n.d.
  3. "George Kashdan (interview) "I Graduated from Plato and Aristotle to Superman and Batman"". Alter Ego. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. 3 (93): 40. May 2010.
  4. Kashdan interview, Alter Ego, p. 42
  5. Kashdan interview, Alter Ego, p. 64
  6. George Kashdan at the Grand Comics Database
  7. Markstein, Don (2010). "Tommy Tomorrow". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016. The script had a lot of writers for something so short — Jack Schiff, George Kashdan and Bernie Breslauer (all of whom edited for DC) shared the credit, tho Breslauer (a very minor writer otherwise) is generally given most of it.
  8. "Real Fact Comics #6". Grand Comics Database.
  9. Kashdan interview, Alter Ego, pp. 42-43
  10. McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1960s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Writer George Kashdan and artist Nick Cardy immediately pushed Aquaman into the deep end of the oceanic pool. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Wells, John (February 2020). "The 'Lost' DC Stories of the 1970s". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (118): 20.
  12. Markstein, Don (2010). "The Mighty Hercules". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. The writers were George Kashdan and Jack Miller, both of whom also worked in that capacity, and as editors, at DC Comics.
  13. Daniels, Les (1995). DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. New York City: Bulfinch Press. p. 145. ISBN 0821220764. Such shows have not always been great, but they provided work for DC writers like Bob Haney and George Kashdan, and they helped support DC with licensing fees.
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