Bob Haney
Encyclopedia
Robert G. "Bob" Haney was a US comic book
writer, best known for his work for DC Comics
. He co-created the Teen Titans as well as characters such as Metamorpho
, Eclipso
, Cain
, and the Super-Sons
.
and Flash Gordon
, and was a regular listener of radio dramas. Earning his master's degree from Columbia University
, he embarked on a writing career, publishing a number of novels under a variety of assumed names.
In 1948, Haney broke into the comic book industry. From 1948 to 1955 Haney wrote crime and war comics for a number of publishers, including Fawcett
, Standard
, Hillman
, Harvey
, and St. John
.
scare and the U.S Senate Subcommittee hearings on juvenile delinquency, most of Haney's publishers went out of business during the period, but around 1956 he connected with DC Comics. Thus began a long association with DC, which lasted almost thirty years, with Haney scripting just about every sort of comic DC published.
Besides the Teen Titans, other DC titles Haney worked on include Sgt. Rock, World's Finest Comics
(where he created the Super-Sons), The Brave and the Bold
, Blackhawk
, The Unknown Soldier
and Deadman
. With artists Joe Orlando
and Jack Sparling, Haney co-created Cain
and his gargoyle
Gregory for House of Mystery
, characters further popularized by their appearances in Neil Gaiman
's The Sandman.
Haney frequently claimed to have co-created the Doom Patrol
with Arnold Drake
and worked with him on the first few issues, but Drake insisted that he merely called in Haney for help in meeting the deadline for the very first story.
Haney's stories in the 1960s and 70s, especially with the Teen Titans and the Super-Sons, often dealt with youth culture and current issues, but by the late 1970s and early 80s, Haney struggled to produce material that DC's editors considered timely or contemporary. This led to occasional clashes with the DC editorial staff and ultimately to Haney's departure from the company (and comics in general).
His masterpiece in comics writing is the four page "Dirty Job," illustrated by Alex Toth
, for Our Army at War
#241 in 1972, and subsequently reprinted numerous times, notably in The Best of DC treasury edition.
cartoon shows; and in the 1980s, after leaving DC, wrote for several Rankin/Bass
animated shows, including ThunderCats
, Silverhawks
and Karate Kat
.
in Baja, Mexico
.
for Best Full-Length Story ("Track of the Hook" in Brave and the Bold #79, drawn by Neal Adams
); and a 1997 Inkpot Award
from Comic-Con International.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer, best known for his work for 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...
. He co-created the Teen Titans as well as characters such as Metamorpho
Metamorpho
Metamorpho is a fictional character, a superhero in the . He is a founding member of the Outsiders, and has also joined multiple incarnations of the Justice League.-Publication history:...
, Eclipso
Eclipso
Eclipso is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre...
, Cain
Cain and Abel (comics)
Cain and Abel are a pair of fictional characters in the DC Comics universe based on the Biblical Cain and Abel. They are key figures in DC's "Mystery" line of the late 1960s and 1970s, which became the mature-readers imprint, Vertigo, in 1993....
, and the Super-Sons
Super-Sons
The Super-Sons were a pair of fictional characters in an alternate version of the DC Comics universe. The characters were created by Bob Haney and Dick Dillin...
.
Early life and career
Haney grew up in Philadelphia, where he read popular newspaper comic strips like Prince ValiantPrince Valiant
Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips...
and Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
, and was a regular listener of radio dramas. Earning his master's degree from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, he embarked on a writing career, publishing a number of novels under a variety of assumed names.
In 1948, Haney broke into the comic book industry. From 1948 to 1955 Haney wrote crime and war comics for a number of publishers, including Fawcett
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...
, Standard
Nedor Comics
Nedor Publishing was a comic book imprint of publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics...
, Hillman
Hillman Periodicals
Hillman Periodicals, Inc. was an American magazine and comic book publishing company founded in 1938 by Alex L. Hillman, a former New York City book publisher...
, Harvey
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
, and St. John
St. John Publications
St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During its short existence , St. John's comic books established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John , the firm was located in Manhattan at 545 Fifth Avenue. After the St...
.
DC Comics
In large part due to the Fredric WerthamFredric Wertham
Fredric Wertham was a Jewish German-American psychiatrist and crusading author who protested the purportedly harmful effects of violent imagery in mass media and comic books on the development of children. His best-known book was Seduction of the Innocent , which purported that comic books are...
scare and the U.S Senate Subcommittee hearings on juvenile delinquency, most of Haney's publishers went out of business during the period, but around 1956 he connected with DC Comics. Thus began a long association with DC, which lasted almost thirty years, with Haney scripting just about every sort of comic DC published.
Besides the Teen Titans, other DC titles Haney worked on include Sgt. Rock, World's Finest Comics
World's Finest Comics
World's Finest Comics was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled World's Best Comics for its first issue; issue #2 switched to the more familiar name...
(where he created the Super-Sons), The Brave and the Bold
The Brave and the Bold
The Brave and the Bold is the title shared by many comic book series published by DC Comics. The first of these was published as an ongoing series from 1955 to 1983...
, Blackhawk
Blackhawk (comics)
Blackhawk, a long-running comic book series, was also a film serial, a radio series and a novel. The comic book was published first by Quality Comics and later by DC Comics. The series was created by Will Eisner, Chuck Cuidera, and Bob Powell, but the artist most associated with the feature is Reed...
, 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 Deadman
Deadman
Deadman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Strange Adventures #205 , and was created by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino.-Publication history:...
. With artists Joe Orlando
Joe Orlando
Joseph Orlando was a prolific illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades...
and Jack Sparling, Haney co-created Cain
Cain and Abel (comics)
Cain and Abel are a pair of fictional characters in the DC Comics universe based on the Biblical Cain and Abel. They are key figures in DC's "Mystery" line of the late 1960s and 1970s, which became the mature-readers imprint, Vertigo, in 1993....
and his gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
Gregory for House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...
, characters further popularized by their appearances in Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
's The Sandman.
Haney frequently claimed to have co-created the Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol
The Doom Patrol is a superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80...
with Arnold Drake
Arnold Drake
Arnold Drake was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, among others....
and worked with him on the first few issues, but Drake insisted that he merely called in Haney for help in meeting the deadline for the very first story.
Haney's stories in the 1960s and 70s, especially with the Teen Titans and the Super-Sons, often dealt with youth culture and current issues, but by the late 1970s and early 80s, Haney struggled to produce material that DC's editors considered timely or contemporary. This led to occasional clashes with the DC editorial staff and ultimately to Haney's departure from the company (and comics in general).
His masterpiece in comics writing is the four page "Dirty Job," illustrated by Alex Toth
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...
, for 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....
#241 in 1972, and subsequently reprinted numerous times, notably in The Best of DC treasury edition.
Animation
In the 1960s Haney contributed scripts to the The New Adventures of Superman and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of AdventureThe Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure is a Filmation animated series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1968. Premiering on September 9, 1967, this 60-minute program included a series of six-minute adventures featuring various DC Comics superheroes....
cartoon shows; and in the 1980s, after leaving DC, wrote for several Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
animated shows, including ThunderCats
ThunderCats
ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
, Silverhawks
Silverhawks
SilverHawks is an American animated television series developed by Rankin/Bass and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. The animation was provided by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation. In total, 65 episodes were made...
and Karate Kat
Karate Kat
Karate Kat is an animated children's television series. It was developed by Rankin/Bass and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1987. The show is about Karate Kat, a brown cat who's somehow skilled in Martial arts and uses it against crime. He is usually seen wearing a blue suit with a red tie...
.
Later life
When comics and animation work petered out in the late 1980s, Haney turned to other forms of writing, including a book on carpentry. His last few years were spent in San FelipeSan Felipe, Baja California
San Felipe is a town on the Gulf of California in the Mexican state of Baja California, 190 km south of the United States border and within the municipality of Mexicali. It also serves as a borough seat of its surrouding area....
in Baja, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Awards
Haney's industry recognitions included the 1968 Alley AwardAlley Award
The Alley Award was an American series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, under executive secretary Jerry Bails, and later Paul Gambaccini and David Kaler, the award...
for Best Full-Length Story ("Track of the Hook" in Brave and the Bold #79, drawn by Neal Adams
Neal Adams
Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...
); and a 1997 Inkpot Award
Inkpot Award
The Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
from Comic-Con International.