Jack Schiff

Jacob Haar Schiff, detto Jack (New York, 26 settembre 1909 – New Rochelle, 30 aprile 1999), è stato un fumettista statunitense, noto per essere stato l'editore delle testate di Batman dal 1942 al 1964 e per essere il co-creatore di Starman, Tommy Tomorrow e Wyoming Kid.

Biografia

Nato a New York, nel distretto di Brooklyn, Schiff inizia la carriera editoriale come redattore per varie riviste pulp su Standard Magazines, prima di co-creare il personaggio di Starman per DC Comics assieme a Jack Burnley, Whitney Ellsworth, Murray Boltinoff, Mort Weisinger e Bernie Breslauer sulle pagine del numero 61 di Adventure Comics (aprile 1941); l'anno successivo viene incaricato dalla casa editrice di occuparsi delle testate di Batman e Superman per sostituire Weisinger, convocato per il servizio di leva durante la seconda guerra mondiale.

Nel corso del suo periodo come editore, sul numero 60 di Detective Comics (febbraio 1942) viene incorporato il Batsegnale alla mitologia di Batman, si occupa delle strisce a fumetti dedicate al personaggio per il McClure Newspaper Syndicate, sviluppa i serial cinematografici The Vigilante: Fighting Hero of the West (1947) e Batman and Robin (1949) per Columbia Pictures, diverse pubblicità pubbliche per la linea editoriale DC rimaste in uso fino a metà anni '60 e collabora alla scrittura della serie Johnny Everyman col Premio Nobel per la letteratura Pearl S. Buck.

Schiff ha lanciato fumetti con licenza di popolari programmi radiofonici come A Date with Judy, Gang Busters e Mr. District Attorney, oltre a co-creare i personaggi di Tommy Tomorrow e Wyoming Kid, tuttavia la sua introduzione di elementi fantascientifici nelle storia di Batman è stato accolto con pareri discordanti da parte dei lettori. Nel 1958, è stato coinvolto in una disputa legale con Jack Kirby inerente alla striscia a fumetti Sky Masters, vincendo, mentre l'anno seguente ha creato il personaggio di Lady Blackhawk con Dick Dillon.

I vertici della DC rimuovono Schiff dalla carica di redattore di Batman e Detective Comics nel 1964 a causa delle basse vendite, sostituendolo con Julius Schwartz affidandogli in sostituzione Mystery in Space e Strange Adventures.

Nel 1967, dopo 25 anni con la DC Comics, Schiff si ritira occupandosi, come sua ultima pubblicazione, del numero 205 di Strange Adventures (agosto 1967). Muore il 30 aprile 1999 nella sua residenza a New Rochelle.

Riconoscimenti

Schiff ha ricevuto vari encomi dall'Anti-Defamation League (1948), la National Conference of Christians and Jews (1953), l'United States Office of War Information (1945) e il Dipartimento del Tesoro degli Stati Uniti (1945).

Note

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 (EN) Jerry Bails, Schiff, Jack, su Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 (archiviato l'8 gennaio 2017).
  2. 1 2 (EN) Deaths: Schiff, Jack, su The New York Times, 1º maggio 1999 (archiviato il 27 maggio 2015).
    «Schiff, Jack. 89. Of New Rochelle, NY, died on April 30, 1999. He had been a managing editor for DC Comics, including Superman and Batman.»
  3. ↑ (EN) A. S. Salinas, The World According to Kane: and Other Stories, iUniverse, 2001, ISBN 9780595140008.
  4. ↑ (EN) Jack Burnley, Foreword, in The Golden Age Starman Archives Volume 1, New York, DC Comics, 2000, ISBN 978-1-56389-622-4.
  5. 1 2 3 (EN) Jack Schiff, su Grand Comics Database. URL consultato il 25 ottobre 2026.
  6. ↑ (EN) Les Daniels, DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes, New York, Bulfinch Press, 1995, p. 28, ISBN 0821220764.
    «Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff were recruited from the pulp magazines, Weisinger...was soon called away by World War II, leaving Schiff as managing editor for the duration.»
  7. ↑ (EN) Martin Pasko, The DC Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the DC Universe, Filadelfia, Running Press, 2008, p. 48, ISBN 978-0762432578.
    «Weisinger's idea was that Schiff would act as a benchwarmer, and after the war, Weisinger would return to his old job.»
  8. ↑ (EN) Matthew K. Manning, 1940s, in Batman: A Visual History, Londra, Dorling Kindersley, 2014, p. 26, ISBN 978-1465424563.
    «In this issue by artist Bob Kane and writer Jack Schiff...the police introduced the Bat-Signal, a giant spotlight that displayed the bat-symbol on the night sky in order to summon the hero.»
  9. ↑ (EN) Les Daniels, DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes, New York, Bulfinch Press, 1995, p. 92, ISBN 0821220764.
    «Jack Schiff enjoyed more success, however, with an even more idealistic experiment. This was a series of single-page public service announcements that he created and wrote for publication in all DC titles.»
  10. ↑ (EN) Paul Levitz, The Silver Age 1956–1970, in 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking, Colonia, Taschen, 2010, p. 422, ISBN 9783836519816.
    «In cooperation with several social welfare agencies, editor Jack Schiff routinely prepared public service ads...for all the DC titles, beginning in 1949 and continuing through the mid-1960s.»
  11. ↑ (EN) Brian Bingaman, Comic Books Unmasked uncovers Pearl S. Buck's role in changing the comics industry, su tickettoentertainment.com, 21st Century Media, 31 marzo 2016 (archiviato il 28 dicembre 2016).
    «Buck introduced the non-mask-wearing superhero Johnny Everyman, who fought racism with the power of persuasion and intellect in adventures set in China, India, the Philippines, Belgium, Germany and the U.S. Scripted by Jack Schiff and illustrated by John Daly, Johnny Everyman appeared in DC's World's Finest Comics and Comic Cavalcade in the mid-’40s.»
  12. ↑ (EN) Daniel Wallace, 1940s, in DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle, Londra, Dorling Kindersley, 2010, p. 56, ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
    «Jack Schiff edited the stories, with Graham Place providing the art.»
  13. ↑ (EN) Daniel Wallace, 1940s, in DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle, Londra, Dorling Kindersley, 2010, p. 57, ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
    «Edited by Jack Schiff, the Gang Busters comic focused on FBI cases and standalone crime stories.»
  14. ↑ (EN) Martin Pasko, The DC Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the DC Universe, Filadelfia, Running Press, 2008, p. 88, ISBN 978-0762432578.
    «For extra insurance that it would be done in good taste, the book [Gang Busters] was assigned to public service page writer Jack Schiff. Other crime-related titles from radio quickly followed, including Mr. District Attorney.»
  15. ↑ (EN) Don Markstein, Tommy Tomorrow, su toonopedia.com, Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2010.
    «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.»
  16. ↑ (EN) Daniel Wallace, 1940s, in DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle, Londra, Dorling Kindersley, 2010, p. 54, ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
    «Tomorrow's inaugural tale...was a fanciful dramatization of what writer Jack Schiff claimed to be a future vision of human space travel.»
  17. ↑ (EN) Don Markstein, The Wyoming Kid, su toonopedia.com, Don Markstein's Toonopedia, 2009.
  18. ↑ (EN) Robert Greenberger e Matthew K. Manning, The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the Batcave, Filadelfia, Running Press, 2009, p. 19, ISBN 978-0762436637.
    «Schiff attempted to force this new genre into the Caped Crusader's world. But the square peg of time travel, giant alien monsters, and flying saucers didn't quite fit into the round hole of Gotham City.»
  19. ↑ (EN) Colin Smith, On the Batman of Three Worlds, by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff (1963), su sequart.org, Edwardsville, Sequart Organization, 7 agosto 2012 (archiviato il 3 maggio 2016).
    «This process of searching for reader-enticing hooks meant an obsessional reliance upon thin, well-worn, and tacky sci-fi tropes: weird alien planets, weird alien creatures, and weird alien technology. It was a desperate attempt to combat constantly falling sales.»
  20. ↑ (EN) Mark Evanier, Kirby: King of Comics, New York, Abrams, 2008, p. 109, ISBN 978-0-8109-9447-8.
  21. ↑ (EN) Alex Irvine, 1950s, in DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle, Londra, Dorling Kindersley, 2010, p. 92, ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
    «With Blackhawk #133, the Blackhawk Squadron finally welcomed a woman to their ranks – Zinda Blake – courtesy of editor Jack Schiff and artist Dick Dillin.»
  22. ↑ (EN) Michael McAvennie, 1960s, in DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle, Londra, Dorling Kindersley, 2010, p. 110, ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
    «The Dark Knight received a much-needed face lift from new Batman editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino. With sales at an all-time low and threatening the cancellation of one of DC's flagship titles, their overhaul was a lifesaving success for DC and its beloved Batman.»
  23. ↑ (EN) Ronin Ro, Tales To Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, And The American Comic Book Revolution, Londra, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004, pp. 89–90, ISBN 1582343454.
    «There was a point when DC actually gave thought to canceling Batman...in his spacious office, facing [Julius] Schwartz and [Carmine] Infantino, [Irwin] Donenfeld told them, 'Gentlemen, you two guys are going to take over Batman. The book is dying. I'll give you six months. If you don't bring it back, we'll kill it off.»
  24. ↑ (EN) Jim Amash e Eric Nolen-Weathington, Lightning Strikes Again, in Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur, Raleigh, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2010, p. 85, ISBN 978-1605490250.

Collegamenti esterni

Controllo di autoritàVIAF (EN) 144147663102460552214 · LCCN (EN) no2012112865
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