Alan Zelenetz

Last updated

Alan Zelenetz
Born (1948-06-24) June 24, 1948 (age 77)
NationalityAmerican
AreaWriter

Alan Zelenetz (born June 24, 1948) [1] 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).

Contents

Biography

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. [2] 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. [2] In Thor Annual #10 (1982), Zelenetz introduced the first Nigerian hero, Shango (recruited by Thor to confront Demogorge), in the history of Marvel. [3]

Zelenetz was the main author and researcher for Marvel's Official Handbook of the Conan Universe , [4] a guide to the Hyborian Age, the fictional setting of the Conan the Barbarian stories. He and artist John Buscema collaborated on the Kull the Conqueror series in 1982–1983. [5] Zelenetz wrote the first Alien Legion series for Epic Comics. The characters had conceived by creator Carl Potts as "the French Foreign Legion in space." [6] Zelenetz and Charles Vess crafted "The Warriors Three Saga" in Marvel Fanfare #34–37 (Sept. 1987–April 1988). [7]

He is also director of ICI, the Institute for Curricular Initiatives in New York City. [8]

Selected filmography

Selected comics bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide . Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Grisar, PJ (February 23, 2022). "He made Moon Knight Jewish. He doesn't care if Disney+ has other ideas". Forward.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Nigerian Characters in the Marvel universe". Bookshy. August 2017. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  4. ↑ The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine , as mentioned in Comicvine
  5. ↑ DeFalco, Tom (2008). "1980s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.). Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 208. ISBN   978-0756641238. This title by writer Alan Zelenetz and artist John Buscema was Marvel's third attempt to launch a successful monthly title based on Robert E. Howard's barbarian king.
  6. ↑ Ellis, Jonathan (May 2000). "Interview: Carl Potts". PopImage.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
  7. ↑ Ash, Roger (June 2017). "The Adventures of the Warriors Three". Back Issue! (96). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 52–55.
  8. ↑ "Born in Another Time". Jewishideas.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
Preceded by Thor writer
1983
(with Bob Hall in early 1983)		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Doug Moench
 Master of Kung Fu writer
1983		Succeeded by
n/a
Preceded by
n/a
 Alien Legion writer
1984–1987		Succeeded by
Preceded by Marvel Fanfare writer
1987–1988		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.