Marv Wolfman: The Best Writer for Teams? 

As someone without much knowledge regarding the history of the comics industry, I really enjoy this style of video. Being given an overview of an influential creator's career is fascinating, and your obvious passion and knowledge really makes this series engaging. Please, keep 'em coming!

I had no idea Marv Wolfman created Blade! I knew about his Titans work, but wow.... great video.

Marv Wolfman is also credited as the writer who first "humanized" Hal Jordan. He took over writing Green lantern after his dispute with Jim Shooter and after Green Arrow was dropped from the title. He was given the task of returning Green lantern to his roots after the whole "hard Traveling Heroes" run. Marv Wolfman was the first to try and give Hal Jordan actual character traits. Hal's personality as we know it was really born during this period rather than during the Silver Age.

1969. The year I graduated from high school. The generation gap was DEFINITELY big.

You, by far, have one of the best shows in entertainment history. I have been reading comic books for over 45 years and your episodes are informative with the right amount of humor. Keep going strong.

Marv Wolfman wrote one of the most beloved episodes of Jem, too! The Bands Break Up is one of the most important episodes, probably the most important that wasn't written by Marx or Slifer

Love the Wolfman. He's the inspiration for everyone who wants to do a proper team comic.

Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan with Tomb of Dracula are one of my chief inspirations for my own comic "Karl Vincent: Vampire Hunter." Marv has always been one of my favorite writers along with Roy Thomas, Len Wien, Steve Gerber, all great '70's writers. I also loved his Kiss '70's comic

The super hero comic of the 80s, New Teen Titans, with the ultimate team writer in Marv Wolfman and the ultimate team artist in George Perez.

Transformers G1 fans also know him as a co-writer of the classic two-part Return of Optimus Prime.

You know so much about the history of comics. You should write a book. I'd buy it.

DC editors from the 60s looked like monsters

Just another awesome vid, Chris. I love learning about the behind-the-scenes, political/cultural landscapes of Marvel and DC. Their histories always sound so rocky...it's a wonder anything ever got done. Marv Wolfman was a name I always saw in the credits in different comics I read as a kid, but never had a face to the name, or an understanding of his history. And I agree...Jim Shooter would be an interesting character to spotlight soon. Lots of stories in the industry that don't paint Shooter in a favourable light...that guy always seemed like such a dictator. Many thanks for educating us, Chris!

Good video, I can listen to you talk about Wolfman all day long...BUT, (you understand...) you need to do a COMPLETE video on 'Judas Contract' now (Book, not the film)... Probably one of THEE Best comics/stories ever created!

I know this is unrelated but i caught your live stream of you drawing All Might, and you got me into My Hero Academia and in 2 days i finished all the episodes that there are; im hooked and i thank you for broadening my horizons. also that was a really good drawing.

MARV WOLFMAN was just a great writer, PERIOD and is easily my favorite writer of the 1970s! And while he was exceptional on team books, his "solo hero" comics were among my favorites: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, DAREDEVIL, 8 wonderful issues of BATMAN around 1980, a handful of ACTION COMICS from the same year and of course, TOMB OF DRACULA, my favorite horror series of all time! Marv was adept at depicting Drac as the villain and sometimes--as an anti hero! I take issue with one thing you said: Marv EXCELLED at character development which he aptly demonstrated numerous times, especially if he was on a book for longer than a few issues; often with such subtlety, some may not have noticed, at least not immediately! (Example: Rachel Van Helsing\Tomb of Dracula or Domini from the same series!) Overall, I loved this video so much, a tear came to my eye! GREAT JOB! NOTE I'll let you in on a little secret: Marv uses a DRYERASE BOARD to work out his stories! He positions characters and plot points like a football coach or military general!

I loved his run on with Tomb of Dracula with Gene Colan.

His run on Amazing Spider-Man is still the best ever.

Marv Wolfman Is an exceptional writer, and an even more exceptional man. He is a great person.

Wouldn't John Stewart, Green Lantern created by Denny O'Neil in 1971, predate both the black superheroes you mentioned?

I didn't know Shooter had killed Tomb of Dracula, but am not surprised. Wolfman and Colan did a wonderful job of recreating Dracula as a villain/anti-hero.

Great video. Marv Wolfman is such a great writer. He also did great work on the John Carter: Warlord of Mars comic book.

I remember seeing "Marv Wolfman" in Dracula comics as a kid and thinking it was a joke... amazing to learn that someone using his name as a pun actually led to DC totally changing their policy on crediting writers.

1000% YES. You should check out The Titans Companion by Glen Cadigan. Excellent interview with Wolfman where he lays out how he constructs his team dynamics. Priceless!!

A great video as usual. I love Marv. Keep up the good work and I have learned so much about comics through your videos.

I like this trend of cold openings you have started!

There are actually three TEEN TITANS DRUG AWARENESS comics, the second one was drawn by Ross Andru and the third one by Adrian Gonzales. And all feature The Protector.

Really enjoyed that. Loved Teen Titans and Crisis back in the day. Thank you for the video!

Thanks for doing a piece on Marv Wolfman. I also read a lot of his run on 'Teen Titans' in the early-mid 80s and regard the Wolfman/Perez work on that book as the master class on how to do a superhero team-up book. I always felt they took the basic idea of Claremont's X-Men and kind of amped it up to this whole other level. Again, thanks for promoting the work of one of the true masters of the genre.

Found your series months ago, I love how informative you are :)

I always learn something when I watch one of these videos. Am working through every single one. Subscribed.

Superb video and highly informative. Wolfman has been a favorite of mine since the 70's. This is a very well researched video and extremely entertaining. Great channel. Looking forward to your video on Shooter. I met him at a comic convention in the early 80's, back in his heyday at Marvel. He was doing great stuff at Marvel, but, in person, he gave off an arrogant, negative vibe that I could literally feel dripping off of him--at least IMO at the time.

Love the mileage you've gotten out of that wolf mask!

Another excellent video from you! I'm really looking forward to your video on Jim Shooter.

I was pretty late to the Wolfman/Perez Titans. It was the Terra storyline in the animated Titans that got me into it (I LOVE the animated Judas Contract, despite Damian Wayne). Surprised you didn't mention the creepy author-inserted character Terry Long which was pretty much the only blemish in an otherwise excellent run, and was it's fall from epicness once Wolfman, I mean Terry, married Donna Troy, coupled with Perez leaving the book.

It annoys me that back then the paper pushers up top gave themselves credits in every issue even though they had little to do with it existing and the creators had to actually fight for credit. Like with Carl Barks.

The New Teen Titans was my first and favorite comic book series as a youngster and it was all thanks to Wolfman and Perez.

This is fantastic, Chris! I must admit I only really knew Wolfman through the Crisis and Teen Titans stuff from when I was growing up--I love those old DC horror comics, though. This is some impeccable research. I hope someone writes an equivalent to Sean Howes' Marvel: The Untold Story.

Great video spotlighting an amazing writer. You should do a similar one for George Perez, he's an awesome artist!

Love the video. Reading New Teen Titans, I would say character work is underrated bc of he ties his intricate plotting to character development for his characters Like the progression of Nightwing is prob. best Nightwing work I’ve seen

Hi from Romania! Love your videos! Keep it up!

Had a nice run on Amazing Spider-Man for a few years too.

I actually like his work on Vampire Tales the best

I met Wolfman once, but I was only around 12 or 13 years old. It was at a comic book convention, which in the 70s weren't a "thing" like they are now. He gave me a third place prize in a self made little comic I made.

I knew where things where going as soon as I heard the howl, yet I still loved the pun.

Excellent video!

Didn't knew Mark created Tim Drake I was a huge fan of the original Tim Drake comic run ....yet another awesome comic tropes episode

Yess marv wolfman is one of my favorite writers!

Thank s for doing this man

Cool vid as always, but I think it was Deacon Frost Marv was suing Marvel over and not Blade. I think. Heard about it in a comic shop in the 90s. Any way can't wait to see your next vid.

5:24 . Holy shit! Two months back I was in London and i was exploring the comics section of a library there. And then A House Of Secrets omnibus issue caught my eye, out of sheer curiosity I picked it up( It had the famous Swamp Thing first appearance cover on it) it had black and white print inside. I borrowed it and got it home. I was a bit disapointed but continue to read through I found Abel's Wolfman reference and understood it as a homage to Marv Wolfman. Happpy to see panels from the comics I read or own show up in your videos like the daredevil & spider-man team-up [they fought the mad hatter(Stan Lee wrote it)].

Very cool and informative video on a legendary writer!

excellent episode.

As always, another good episode :)

Love these history videos! Please keep it up! Could we see a Mark Gruenwald video in the future, please???

I can belive marv wolfman created some of favorite comics

Not a single mention of Nova!? Shame! Just kidding, great video as always.

great video on marv wolfman man ;)

Ummm... in regards to your intro... Wolfmen only come out at night.... LOL ... J/K, I recently joined your channel and have been enjoying your videos for some time now. Another great video on comic creators. Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge. Keep up the good work!

(6:01) I really enjoyed Tomb of Dracula. The introduction of Blade, Lucas Brand and Doctor Sun. Doctor Sun story arc was creepy awesome. First his side story in #13,14 and #16 (Only voice). Then in #17 his subordinates were in the main plot, Doctor Sun (only voice) himself was testing Lucas Brand. In #19 is another subplot of him. In #20 -21 he was part of the main plot and Doctor Sun was shown for the first time in #20. Then he appear in the plot of the Chimera in #26-28 (Only voice), but his sinister presence gave the reader a terror experience. And his plot in #36-42 showed how dangerous and evil was Doctor Sun, in fact Doctor Sun rivals if no surpasses Dracula himself in evil and cruelty. The scene with Juno's corpse beheaded was great. The scene was partially shown, but the characters described the corpse.

Nice work Mr. Chris. 😄

Wolfman created a of of my favorites.

I love everything Wolfman and Gene Colon has ever done. Tomb of Dracula and Night Force are two of my all time favorites. Plus, because of his Blade character I learned to speak jive in the 70's lol

Yay, Dragon-Lord! I still remember buying that comic off of the comic racks.

New Teen Titans is definitely one of my favorite comic runs of all time, somehow I still haven't read Crisis on Infinite Earths though

Great video! Question: Why the change of the title from The New Teen Titans to Tales of the Teen Titans?It was the same series, right?

It is definitely true that the movie Blade is a far, far cry from the character Wolfman and Colan created. I mean, one of the interesting things about Tomb of Dracula's Blade was that he was NOT a vampire and lacked their supernatural firepower. He got by on his skill, ruthlessness, determination and luck, for the most part. Every time Blade took on a vampire, he was risking everything; skilled as he was, one mere backhand by a vampire could possibly KO him and sometimes did. Blade was a huge underdog and throughout his history, he was constantly losing friends and allies and enduring setbacks. Plus, he totally hated vampires to the point that he initially couldn't work alongside his future best friend, Hannibal King, upon first meeting him. The movie Blade is almost a Bizarro-world version of the original Marvel Blade. Way, way more powerful than almost any vampire, not to mention, rather than a human with immunity to vampire-bites and a hatred of the undead, he's a vampire himself. I mean, classic Blade wouldn't even be able to coexist in a room with movie Blade.

It's kinda hilarious DC's attitude in '69 about Black superheroes. Especially with Black Panther over at Marvel popping up in FF in '66... and as a member of the Avengers in the late 60's.

Giant-size Man-Thing was huge!

Tomb of Dracula is fantastic and New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Perez is in the Top 5 comic book runs of All-Time.

that intro

Wait, one thing: Jon Stewart. I know they introduced him and let it be, a while- but Adams is instrumental in his creation in GL/ GA ( #86 I think.) I included him in my blog's retrospective of Denny O'Neil in 2020.

Marv Wolfman had a pretty short run as the writer on the adventure of Superman in 1986 and I'm kinda bummed he didn't get to Collab with John Byrne more than he did on that short run. Byrne gets the lions share of the credit as THE guy who reinvented Superman but I personally think DC put Wolfman on the 3rd book to get him to Collab on the reinvention to help give it that in house 80s DC style instead of strictly being a copy of his Marvel work. After Byrne left, they got George Perez as a writer on Superman as well and my greatest what if is Marv Wolfman being on Adventures of Superman til Perez showed up and them collabing on Superman as a partnership. For the record, I think the Post Crisis Superman books from 1986-99 is one of the great overlooked runs of a character with a continuous story, supporting cast and some of the best events ever. Albeit the main writers were Dan Jurgens, Louise Simmenson, Roger Stern and Jerry Ordway after Perez, Wolfman and Byrne left in 87-89 and those four stayed around until 1999. It's a STACKED 13 year run across 3 titles that masterfully weaves almost 600 issues into a great story. It really deserves to be spoken about in the rarefied tones of shorter runs with less issues like Peter Davids Hulk or Mark Waids Flash but I think Superman just kinda isn't everybody's vibe. You can get basically the entire run in the original print for pretty cheap and I'd vastly suggest it if you've never read it and just want a consistently good run of post crisis late 80s-90s goodness ala the Flash.

As a kid anytime I'd encounter Marv's name I would pronounce it "wolf man" in my mind. What's funny is than I was still sounding it out that way in my head until I heard you say it out loud for the first time on this video. Reminded me that the first time I saw that old ad in comics called "Attack of the Mutants" I pronounced it "mutt-ants." Lol

(6:15) In #10, was Blade first appearance, but Clifton Graves apparent demise. Oddly, Clifton Graves has dark hair in that issue, while his natural hair color was brown.

I never noticed the moon in the background lol

Absolutely loved Dracula.

With the closure of many local comic shops, Marvel and DC should look at the newsstand market once again and get comics in grocery and drug stores.

10:05 Where can you find comic sales charts like that? Also Alpha Flight outsold Spider-man? Damn.

Wolfman & Perez were a force of nature! The Judas Contract is every bit as good as the Dark Phoenix Saga and the Crisis on Infinite Earth's story, is DC's Magnum Opus! Far, far better than ANY of Marvel's, Forgotten Wars series!

Oh so thats why that godzilla animated series was so good. Didint know that someone who already did godzilla adaptations was writing it.

Ive never read a comic before, I want to start but its overwhelming where I should start with thousands of issues and hundreds of characters, any suggestions where to start?

that Nabisco and Keebler story was so interesting! good stuff. I think Wolfman and Claremont are my biggest fave writers... WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE FAN ARTS???? C'MON GUYS! GET WITH IT! can't believe there was only one this week....WEAK, guys.

You're forgetting Nova (Richard Rider) and Robot Sherlock Holmes.

Anyone else preorder the Crisis on Infinite Earth’s box set?

Given how they worried about the black superhero not doing well in tge south. How did Black Panther and Luke Cage do upon their releases?

No mention of Marvel's Nova (Richard Ryder)?

Judas contract all time titan fav

Nice video

Oh wow I always thought Tim Drake was created by Chuck Dixon

Wolfman worked for other companies, like when he wrote Total Eclipse for Eclipse Comics and Sable: Return of The Hunter for First Comics, amongst others.

3:47 - John Stewart 1972?

Woah, I didnt realize destiny had an origin outside of sandman!

Marv Wolfman is my favorite writer period.

Wait a second, Mal Duncan shows up in the early 70s in the original Teen Titans run. Predates both your examples of Black DC heroes.

If you include both New Teen Titans series it includes 200+ issues and then some cuz the raven,cyborg, starfire series too

Marv Wolfman is great and all... but I think we can all agree that he'd be 1000 times better if he were a literal wolf man

Did Bumble Bee and Mal in TT precede Black Lightning?

Anyone remember Skull the Slayer?

is there a steve gerber ?