Alan Zelenetz | |
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Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Writer |
Alan Zelenetz is an American film producer and comic-book writer best known for co-creating the series Alien Legion for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics and a founder of Ovie Entertainment. Zelenetz also wrote several issues of Marvel's Moon Knight series, several issues of Thor and a run of Conan the King (issues #16–28).
Before becoming a film producer, Zelenetz was a junior high school principal at the Yeshiva of Flatbush, an Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn, and Solomon Schechter High School of New York. [1] One of the science teachers under his supervision was the father of Darren Aronofsky, director of Pi (1998) and Requiem for a Dream (2000).
Zelenetz quit his job as a high school principal and worked his way into a paid position at Marvel Comics. He did some volunteer proofreading work for a while, and then started to write for Thor, Conan the Barbarian, and Moon Knight. For Moon Knight, he introduced the Jewish identity of the character to the storyline. [1] In Thor Annual #10 (1982), Zelenetz introduced the first Nigerian hero, Shango (recruited by Thor to confront Demogorge), in the history of Marvel. [2]
Zelenetz was the main author and researcher for Marvel's Official Handbook of the Conan Universe , [3] a guide to the Hyborian Age, the fictional setting of the Conan the Barbarian stories.
He is also director of ICI, the Institute for Curricular Initiatives in New York City. [4]
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films, television programs, video games, and role-playing games. Robert E. Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine.
The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and many Marvel superheroes live in this universe, including characters such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Wolverine, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, and Captain Marvel, Blade, Black Widow, Hawkeye, among numerous others. It also contains well-known supervillains such as Doctor Doom, Magneto, Ultron, Thanos, Loki, The Green Goblin, Kang the Conqueror, Red Skull, The Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Carnage, Apocalypse, Dormammu, Mysterio, Electro, and the Vulture. It also contains antiheroes such as Venom, Namor, Deadpool, Silver Sable, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, and Black Cat.
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Roy William Thomas Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes – particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America – and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and The Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.
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Alien Legion is an American science fiction comic-book series, with several associated titles, created by Carl Potts, Alan Zelenetz, and Frank Cirocco for Marvel Comics's Epic Comics imprint in 1983. It features a military unit, Force Nomad, similar to the French Foreign Legion.
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Carl Potts is an American comics artist, writer, teacher, and editor best known for creating the series Alien Legion for the Marvel Comics imprint Epic Comics.
David Harold Hoover was an American comics artist and animator, most notable for his art on DC Comics' The Wanderers and Starman and Marvel Comics' Captain America.
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Conan the Barbarian is a comics book title starring the sword-and-sorcery character created by Robert E. Howard, published by the American company Marvel Comics. It debuted with a first issue cover-dated October 1970 and ran for 275 issues until 1993. A commercial success, the title launched a sword-and-sorcery vogue in American 1970s comics.
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The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Conan publications of Marvel Comics. The one-shot issue was published in comic book format in 1986, followed by reprints in 1993. The main author and researcher was comic book writer Alan Zelenetz.
Frank Cirocco is an American comics artist and video game designer best known as the co-creator of Alien Legion with Carl Potts and Alan Zelenetz.