David Vern Reed Explained

Birth Name:David Levine
Nationality:American
Write:y
Alias:Alexander Blade, Craig Ellis, Peter Horn, Coram Nobis, David Vern, Clyde Woodruff
Notable Works:Batman
Detective Comics
Birth Date:13 December 1914

David Vern Reed (born David Levine; 13 December 1914 – 11 August 1994), was an American writer, best known for his work on the Batman comic book during the 1950s in a run that included a revamp of the Batplane in Batman #61 and the introduction of Deadshot in Batman #59 (July 1950).

Biography

Born David Levine[1] in New York City in 1914,[2] [3] David Vern Reed grew up to become a writer, with his work appearing under several Anglicized pseudonyms, amongst them David Vern, Coram Nobis,[4] Alexander Blade, Craig Ellis, Clyde Woodruff, and Peter Horn.[5] In the 1940s, he wrote such science fiction stories as the novella "The Metal Monster Murders" in Mammoth Detective (vol. 3) #4 (Nov. 1944).

He was hired to write comic book scripts by his friend, Julius Schwartz, an editor at DC Comics. It was at DC where Levine - who like all Batman writers and artists of this time ghosted under Bob Kane's label - would eventually become best known to Batman fans as "David V. Reed". Reed's first story published by DC, "Ride, Bat-Hombre, Ride" in Batman #56 (Dec. 1949–Jan. 1950) was the start of his first tenure chronicling Batman's adventures.[6] [7] He and artist Lew Schwartz created the villain Deadshot in Batman #59 (July 1950).[8] Reed wrote such key stories as "The Birth of Batplane II" in Batman #61 (Nov. 1950),[9] "The Joker's Millions" and "Two-Face Strikes Again", the latter two featuring the return of the original villains introduced by Kane and writer Bill Finger. Another story from this period, "The Joker's Utility Belt", once mistakenly believed to have been written by Finger,[10] was eventually adapted[11] [12] for Cesar Romero's first appearance as the Joker on the 1960s Batman television series, broadcast as the episodes "The Joker Is Wild"[13] and "Batman Gets Riled".[14] Besides Batman, Vern Reed wrote for Superman in Action Comics, World's Finest Comics and several of DC's non-superhero series.

He later left comics to return to prose fiction, writing such science fiction novels as Murder in Space (Green Dragon Books / Ideal Publishing, 1945), and stories for such magazines as Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures, and Astounding Science Fiction. He also wrote for glossy magazines including Argosy, Collier's, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and Mademoiselle.[15]

Reed returned to comic books in the 1970s and to Batman in 1975. Initially ignoring the character's large rogues gallery, he engaged the superhero in a series of bizarre mysteries such as "The Daily Death of Terry Tremayne"[16] and "The Underworld Olympics '76!"[17] Supervillains would later appear in tales such as "Where Were You On The Night Batman Was Killed?",[18] [19] a four-issue storyline drawn by artist John Calnan.[20] Critic Chris Sims of ComicsAlliance praised that story in 2012, noting "The price of Batman’s heroism, the guilt that he feels for being personally responsible for the victim showing up at the scene of one of his exploits, the lengths to which he’s willing to go to make sure that this person isn’t just another (literally) faceless victim, the desire to make sure he has the right killer — they’re all very modern ideas. This story may not be as well-known as anything by Englehart and Rogers or O’Neil and Adams, but it’s just as much of a turning point in how Batman was presented."[21] Batman #300 (June 1978) featured a story by Reed and artist Walt Simonson[22] [23]

After writing various Batman stories for three years, Reed left comics again in 1978 with his final Batman story "Hang the Batman" appearing in DC Special Series #15. He died in New York in 1994 (1989 in some sources[24]).

Comics bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rozakis . Bob . Bob Rozakis . Secret Identities . It's BobRo the Answer Man . . April 9, 2001 . November 14, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110523094133/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/bobro/viewnews.cgi?newsid986799600%2C28756%2C . May 23, 2011 . dead . mdy.
  2. Web site: Authors : Reed, David V. SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia. 2019-08-18.
  3. Web site: Summary Bibliography: David V. Reed.
  4. Book: Eury. Michael. Michael Eury. Kronenberg. Michael. The Bronze Age Batman and Detective Comics (1969–1979). The Batcave Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. 2009. Raleigh, North Carolina. 233. 978-1893905788. Bob Rozakis reveals that David V. Reed also writes for Plop! under the pseudonym Coram Nobis. https://books.google.com/books?id=e7t-mZrkF08C&q=David+Vern+Reed+Coram+Nobis&pg=PA233.
  5. Book: Clute. John. John Clute. Nicholls. Peter. Peter Nicholls (writer). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Orion Publishing Group. 2015 . London, United Kingdom. https://web.archive.org/web/20150905231258/http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/reed_david_v. September 5, 2015. live. Reed was probably the first writer to use the House Name Alexander Blade, which began as a personal pseudonym; among his other names (some apparently not identified) he used also the house names Craig Ellis and Peter Horn and wrote as David Vern, plus one story as Clyde Woodruff..
  6. and
  7. Book: Manning, Matthew K.. Dougall. Alastair . 1950s. Batman: A Visual History. Dorling Kindersley. 2014. London, United Kingdom. 46. 978-1465424563. A frequent Batman writer during the 1950s and later the 1970s, David V. Reed penned this tale drawn by Dick Sprang..
  8. From Slipknot To Captain Boomerang (And Back Again): Meet The Suicide Squad. James. White. October 28, 2015. Empire. https://web.archive.org/web/20151030044830/http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/suicidesquad/. October 30, 2015. live. [Deadshot] was originally created by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Sayre Schwartz in 1950 as a prime villain for Batman..
  9. Manning "1950s" in Dougall, p. 47: "Batman unveiled the Batplane II in this issue by writer David V. Reed and artist Dick Sprang."
  10. Book: Goulart, Ron. Ron Goulart. Over 50 Years of American Comic Books. Bdd Promotional Book Co.. 1991. New York City. 237. 978-0792454502. The story is described as a "...typical Bill Finger story...".
  11. Manning "1950s" in Dougall, p. 51: "The Joker received a utility belt of his very own in this tale that would later inspire an episode of the 1966-68 classic Batman TV show."
  12. Web site: "The Joker Is Wild/Batman Gets Riled" (S1/E5 & 6) . Sean. Gerber. November 25, 2014. Batman on Film. https://web.archive.org/web/20150912004036/http://www.batman-on-film.com/60s-BATMAN_episode-review_S1_5-TheJokerIsWild_6-BatmanIsRiled_bySGerber.html. September 12, 2015. live.
  13. http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Batman/Jokeriswild.htm "The Joker is Wild" Story Code '8709-Part 1'
  14. http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Batman/Batmanisriled.htm "Batman Gets Riled" Story Code '8709-Part 2'
  15. Editor's comment, "Letters to the Batman", Batman #271 (Jan. 1976).
  16. http://www.comics.org/issue/29181/ Batman #269 (Nov. 1975)
  17. http://www.comics.org/issue/29514/ Batman #272 (Feb. 1976)
  18. http://www.comics.org/story/name/Where%20Were%20You%20On%20The%20Night%20Batman%20Was%20Killed%3F/sort/alpha/ Batman #291–294 (Sept.–Dec. 1977)
  19. Web site: 75 Greatest Batman Writers and Artists: Writers #20-16. Brian. Cronin. June 13, 2014. Comic Book Resources. https://web.archive.org/web/20150418213139/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2014/06/13/75-greatest-batman-writers-and-artists-writers-20-16/. April 18, 2015 . live.
  20. Manning "1970s" in Dougall, p. 126: "Writer David V. Reed delivered one of his most enjoyable Batman stories in this four-part saga illustrated by John Calnan."
  21. Web site: Ask Chris #112: Where Were You On The Night Batman Was Killed? . Chris . Sims . June 29, 2012 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20150921075335/http://comicsalliance.com/ask-chris-112-where-were-you-on-the-night-batman-was-killed/ . September 21, 2015 . dead . mdy-all .
  22. Manning "1970s" in Dougall, p. 128: "Crafted by writer David V. Reed and penciller Walter Simonson, this special 34-page issue imagined a possible future where Gotham City had become the hub of Magalopolis-East."
  23. Trumbull. John. A New Beginning...And a Probable End: Batman #300 and #400. Back Issue!.
    1. 69
    . 49–53. TwoMorrows Publishing. December 2013.
  24. Book: Contributors' bio section. Batman in the '50s. DC Comics. 2002. 190. 978-1563898105.

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