Robert Kanigher
Encyclopedia
Robert Kanigher was a prolific comic book writer
and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman
franchise for over twenty years, taking over the scripting from creator William Moulton Marston
. In addition, Kanigher spent many years in charge of DC Comics
' war titles, as well as creating the popular character Sgt. Rock. Kanigher also scripted what is considered the first Silver Age
comic book story, "Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!" in Showcase
#4.
, Seán O'Casey
, Eugene O'Neill
, François Villon
, Freud, the Old Testament
, James Joyce
, Sophocles
, and Shakespeare.
Kanigher's career as a writer started early, with his short stories and poetry being published in magazines. He won The New York Times
Collegiate Short Story Contest in 1932. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Kanigher also wrote for radio, film, and authored several plays.
's Blue Beetle
(where he created the Bouncer
), MLJ/Archie Comics
's Steel Sterling and The Web, and Fawcett Comics
Captain Marvel Adventures
.
In 1943 Kanigher wrote How to Make Money Writing, which included a section on comics, making it one of the earliest works on the subject.
Kanigher joined All-American Comics
, a precursor of the future DC Comics
, as a scripter in 1945, and was quickly promoted to editor. He wrote for The Justice Society of America, Hawkman
, Green Lantern
, and edited Wonder Woman
in addition to scripting the title. (In fact, Kanigher was Wonder Woman editor for well over twenty years.) He created a number of new characters during this time, including Black Canary
, Lady Cop
, Rose and Thorn
and The Harlequin.
Starting in 1952, Kanigher began editing and writing the "big five" DC Comics' war titles: G.I. Combat
, Our Army at War
, Our Fighting Forces
, All-American Men of War, and Star-Spangled War Stories
. His creation of Sgt. Rock
with Joe Kubert
is considered one of his most memorable contributions to the medium. Later in his career he also created other popular action series features, such as Enemy Ace
, The War that Time Forgot
, The Losers
, The Unknown Soldier
; and, with Russ Heath
, The Haunted Tank
and Sea Devils
. His stories have been republished in Showcase Presents
and DC Archives.
In the late 1950s and 1960s, Kanigher had a hand in creating many other characters, including Viking Prince
, Balloon Buster, the Metal Men
and the Batman
villain Poison Ivy. Kanigher also scripted the first appearance of the Barry Allen Flash
in Showcase
#4, the comic generally credited with reviving superheroes and launching the Silver Age of Comics. In 1974, drawing on a classic novel, he introduced Rima
the Jungle Girl to the DC Universe in her own title. Around 1977, Kanigher taught for a year at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art
. In 1985, DC Comics named Kanigher as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great
.
and Central
Cities.
The hometown of Nate Banks in the comic book themed kids' series of novels, The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks, is named Kanigher Falls.
Comic book creator
A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...
and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
franchise for over twenty years, taking over the scripting from creator William Moulton Marston
William Moulton Marston
Dr. William Moulton Marston , also known by the pen name Charles Moulton, was an American psychologist, feminist theorist, inventor and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman...
. In addition, Kanigher spent many years in charge of DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' war titles, as well as creating the popular character Sgt. Rock. Kanigher also scripted what is considered the first Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
comic book story, "Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!" in Showcase
Showcase (comics)
Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing...
#4.
Early career
Kanigher's literary influences included Dostoyevsky, Maxim GorkyMaxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
, Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.- Early life:...
, Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
, François Villon
François Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
, Freud, the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
, and Shakespeare.
Kanigher's career as a writer started early, with his short stories and poetry being published in magazines. He won The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Collegiate Short Story Contest in 1932. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Kanigher also wrote for radio, film, and authored several plays.
Comics
Kanigher's earliest comics work was in such titles as Fox Feature SyndicateFox Feature Syndicate
Fox Feature Syndicate was a comic book publisher from early in the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by entrepreneur Victor S...
's Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.-Publication history:...
(where he created the Bouncer
Bouncer (Fox Feature Syndicate)
The Bouncer was a fictional superhero that appeared in comic books published by Fox Feature Syndicate. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Louis Ferstadt, the Bouncer first appeared in The Bouncer . His final appearance was in The Bouncer #14...
), MLJ/Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
's Steel Sterling and The Web, and Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
Captain Marvel Adventures
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
.
In 1943 Kanigher wrote How to Make Money Writing, which included a section on comics, making it one of the earliest works on the subject.
Kanigher joined All-American Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, a precursor of the future DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, as a scripter in 1945, and was quickly promoted to editor. He wrote for The Justice Society of America, Hawkman
Hawkman
Hawkman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1, published by All-American Publications in 1940....
, Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, and edited Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
in addition to scripting the title. (In fact, Kanigher was Wonder Woman editor for well over twenty years.) He created a number of new characters during this time, including Black Canary
Black Canary
Black Canary is the name of two fictional characters, DC Comics superheroines created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino. The first Black Canary debuted appeared in Flash Comics #86 . The first Black Canary was the alter-ego of Dinah Drake, who took part in Golden Age adventures...
, Lady Cop
Lady Cop
The Lady Cop is a fictional police officer, a comic book character published by DC Comics. She debuted in 1st Issue Special #4, , and was created by Robert Kanigher and John Rosenberger.-Origin:...
, Rose and Thorn
Rose and Thorn
Rose and Thorn are the two personalities of a Golden Age character in DC Comics.Thorn is a woman with a split personality whose villainous personality has the ability to control plants. Initially, she and her hired thugs opposed The Flash...
and The Harlequin.
Starting in 1952, Kanigher began editing and writing the "big five" DC Comics' war titles: G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat
G.I. Combat is a long-running comic book series published first by Quality Comics and later by National Periodical Publications, which was the primary company of those that evolved to become DC Comics.-Publication history:...
, Our Army at War
Our Army at War
Our Army at War was the title for a comic book published by DC Comics that featured war themed stories and was the first appearance for popular heroes such like Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace. The series started in August 1952 and ended in February 1977....
, Our Fighting Forces
Our Fighting Forces
Our Fighting Forces is a DC Comics war-anthology comic book series that ran for 181 issues from 1954-1978.Writer-editor Robert Kanigher and writer-artist Jack Kirby were among the comics creators whose work appeared in the title...
, All-American Men of War, and Star-Spangled War Stories
Star-Spangled War Stories
Star-Spangled War Stories was the title of a DC Comics comic book series that featured war-themed characters and stories. Among the features published in this series were writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Jerry Grandenetti's "Mlle. Marie," about a World War II French Resistance fighter,...
. His creation of Sgt. Rock
Sgt. Rock (comics)
Sgt. Frank Rock is a fictional infantry non-commissioned officer during World War II in the . He first appeared in Our Army at War #83 , and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.-Publication history:...
with Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert
Joe Kubert is an American comic book artist who went on to found The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman...
is considered one of his most memorable contributions to the medium. Later in his career he also created other popular action series features, such as Enemy Ace
Enemy Ace
Enemy Ace is DC Comics property about the adventures of a skilled but troubled German anti-hero and flying ace in World War I and World War II, Hans von Hammer, known to the world as "The Hammer of Hell."-Overview:...
, The War that Time Forgot
The War that Time Forgot
The War that Time Forgot was a comic book feature published by DC Comics beginning in 1960 in the title Star Spangled War Stories, created by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito...
, The Losers
The Losers (comics)
The Losers is the name of a war comic book feature published by DC Comics. The name was later given to a reimagined comic book series for DC's Vertigo imprint.The first Losers comic was a war comics feature set during World War II...
, The Unknown Soldier
The Unknown Soldier (comics)
The Unknown Soldier is fictional war comics character in the DC Comics universe. The character was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, first appearing in Our Army At War #168 .-Publication history:...
; and, with Russ Heath
Russ Heath
Russell Heath, Jr. is an American artist best known for his comic book work — particularly his DC Comics war stories for several decades and his 1960s art for Playboy magazine's Little Annie Fanny featurettes — and for his commercial art, two pieces of which, depicting Roman and...
, The Haunted Tank
The Haunted Tank
The Haunted Tank is a comic book feature that appeared in the DC Comics anthology war title G.I. Combat from 1961 through 1987. It was created by writer and editor Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath in G.I. Combat #87 ....
and Sea Devils
Sea Devils (comics)
The Sea Devils are a team of characters in comics published by DC Comics. They are a team of conventional adventurers, in undersea adventures. They were created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath ....
. His stories have been republished in Showcase Presents
Showcase presents
Showcase Presents is a line of black-and-white paperback books published by DC Comics at an average rate of two per month. Created to effectively be DC's version of Marvel Comics' Essential Marvel volumes, each book includes over 500 pages of reprints, primarily from the Silver Age...
and DC Archives.
In the late 1950s and 1960s, Kanigher had a hand in creating many other characters, including Viking Prince
Viking Prince
Viking Prince is a DC Comics title which featured in the comic book The Brave and the Bold. It was a historic adventure story about a Viking named Jon...
, Balloon Buster, the Metal Men
Metal Men
The Metal Men are fictional characters that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. The characters first appeared in Showcase #37 and were created by writer Robert Kanigher and penciller Ross Andru...
and the Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
villain Poison Ivy. Kanigher also scripted the first appearance of the Barry Allen Flash
Flash (comics)
The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
in Showcase
Showcase (comics)
Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing...
#4, the comic generally credited with reviving superheroes and launching the Silver Age of Comics. In 1974, drawing on a classic novel, he introduced Rima
Rima
Rima, also known as Rima the Jungle Girl, is the fictional heroine of W. H. Hudson's 1904 novel Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest. In 1974, she was adapted into a comic book character and featured in the short-lived monthly series Rima the Jungle Girl, published by DC Comics...
the Jungle Girl to the DC Universe in her own title. Around 1977, Kanigher taught for a year at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art
Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art
The Kubert School, formerly the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art or Joe Kubert School, located in Dover, New Jersey, is a three-year technical school that teaches the principles of sequential art and the particular craft of the comics industry as well as commercial illustration...
. In 1985, DC Comics named Kanigher as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great
Fifty Who Made DC Great
Fifty Who Made DC Great is a one shot published by DC Comics to commemorate the company's 50th anniversary in 1985. It was published in comic book format but contained text articles with photographs and background caricatures...
.
Posthumous tributes
Streets and buildings have been named in his honour in several of DC Comics' fictional cities, including KeystoneKeystone City
Keystone City is a fictional city in the . Specifically, it is the home of both the original Flash, Jay Garrick, and the third Flash, Wally West...
and Central
Central City (DC Comics)
Central City is a fictional city that appears in stories published by DC Comics, and is the home of the Silver Age version of the Flash, Barry Allen. It first appeared in Showcase #4 in September-October 1956.-Location:...
Cities.
The hometown of Nate Banks in the comic book themed kids' series of novels, The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks, is named Kanigher Falls.