Bob Rozakis
| Bob Rozakis | |
|---|---|
 Rozakis at the Big Apple Convention, May 21, 2011. |
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| Born | Robert H. Rozakis April 4, 1951 |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Editor |
| Pseudonym(s) |
The Answer Man Ted P. Skimmer[2] |
| Notable works | 'Mazing Man |
| Spouse | Laurie Rozakis |
| Official website | |
Robert "Bob" Rozakis (born April 4, 1951)[3] is a comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of 'Mazing Man and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man".
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[edit] Biography
Rozakis is well known as DC's Answer Man, answering trivia questions from readers in the Daily Planet promotional page in many late-1970s comics. He has also had an online presence in that capacity since the mid-1990s.
Rozakis got his start in the comics industry through his many letters to comic book letter columns. Among his earliest credits is that of editor (both managing and contributing) on DC Comics "Pro-zine" ("Professional fanzine") The Amazing World of DC Comics[4] between 1974 and 1978. In addition to editing, Rozakis wrote for the bi-monthly publication and also oversaw the letters page.
[edit] DC Comics
[edit] Comics credits
His first comics credit was in Detective Comics #445 (March 1975), as writer of the back-up feature "The Touchdown Trap", with back-up stories in Action Comics, The Flash and Batman Family (among others) soon following.[5] He was assistant editor for Julius Schwartz on the landmark issue Superman #300,[6] and also served editorially on issues of Action Comics and Detective Comics. His writing credits consist largely of back-up features and, in particular, dozens of "Action Comics Featuring:..." (Air-Wave, Hero Hotline, Aquaman, etc.), between #461 and #640. Additionally, Rozakis wrote the 1985 four-issue miniseries Superman: The Secret Years (with art by Curt Swan and Kurt Schaffenberger), and the comics adaptations of such diverse movies as Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) and Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer (1985). Rozakis was also the writer of the syndicated comic strip The Superman Sunday Special for two years.
Arguably, his most well-known writing came in the twelve-issue 1986 series 'Mazing Man, featuring the misadventures of self-declared homemade hero Sigfried Horatio Hunch III, which Rozakis co-created with artist Stephen DeStefano. The two returned to the character for three specials and for June 1987's Secret Origins #16, to tell "The Closest Thing To A Secret Origin of 'Mazing Man You Will Ever Get". Rozakis also co-created the series Hero Hotline with DeStefano, on which Rozakis also provided the coloring, a job he also undertook on the "Action Comics Featuring: Hero Hotline" back-up features.
He and artist Dan Spiegle created the character Mister E in Secrets of Haunted House #31 (Dec. 1980).[7] Among his other creations are the Bumblebee and Duela Dent (of the Teen Titans, created during his run on the Teen Titans title in the late 1970s), and The Calculator (a character who later played a major role in DC's Infinite Crisis event). His credits during his 25-year career with DC total "almost four hundred stories" featuring most DC characters, "plus dozens of features, puzzles, and activities pages".[8]
Rozakis' comic book work in 1998-2000 was a variety of custom publications including the "Celebrate the Century" comic books[9] for the United States Postal Service, as well as publications for Con Edison, the San Francisco Giants and the United Nations Land Mine Awareness program. In 2008, he began writing a series of "alternate reality" articles titled "The Secret History of All-American Comics Inc." for Alter Ego and Back Issue magazines.
[edit] Behind the scenes
Between 1981 and 1998, Rozakis ran DC Comics' production department, and as Executive Director of Production he was instrumental in the development of offset-printed comic books in a wide variety of formats. He was also the leading proponent of "computerized color separations and typesetting, electronic page preparation, and computer-to-plate printing", and as a result of his efforts on DC's behalf, the look of comic books across the entire industry changed, DC won "over one hundred awards for printing excellence", and Rozakis himself was profiled in Publishing & Production Executive on two separate occasions.[8]
In 2003, Rozakis announced his retirement from the comic book industry.
[edit] Personal life
Rozakis is married to prolific author Dr. Laurie E. Rozakis PhD, a professor of English, grammar-expert and "author of more than 100 books", and Rozakis' co-writer on Detective Comics #464 (Oct, 1976).[10][11] The two have collaborated on The Complete Idiot's Guide to Office Politics (Alpha Books, 1998) (ISBN 0028623975).[8] They have two children: son Charles "Chuck" (who wrote his Princeton University thesis on the business viability of webcomics[12]), and daughter Samantha "Sammi".[13] In 1974, Laurie and Bob drove the DC Comic-mobile, a van that served as a lending library for comic books.
Rozakis has also taught creative writing courses for the Farmingdale, New York Youth Council and CTY, a Johns Hopkins University summer program for gifted students.[citation needed]
[edit] Notes
- ^ The colorist credit for the story, "Terminus," in Detective Comics #483 (which Rozakis also wrote). Rozakis, Bob. "It's Bob Ro, the Answer Man: Feedback," Silver Bullet Comics (April 16, 2001). Accessed Oct. 20, 2008.
- ^ Elam, Christopher. "Tales of Michael Ellis & Ted P. Skimmer," Christopher Elam's OWARI (Oct. 14, 2009).
- ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comic Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5trAbNQWw. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ^ Philbin, Brian G. "The Amazing World of DC Comics," MetropolisPlus.com. Accessed Oct. 20, 2008.
- ^ Bob Rozakis: Bibliography by date. Accessed May 15, 2008
- ^ Superman #300 (June 1976) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. "In the last feature of its thirty-first issue, a story by writer Bob Rozakis and artist Dan Spiegle, a new monster hunter named Mister E was introduced."
- ^ a b c Bob Rozakis's homepage. Accessed May 15, 2008
- ^ "Celebrate the Century (Super Heroes Stamp Album)" at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ "Test Success: Grammar, She Wrote," Dr. Laurie Rozakis' blog. Accessed May 15, 2008
- ^ ComicBookDb: "Detective Comics #464". Accessed May 15, 2008
- ^ Rozakis, Charles. "An In-Depth Look at the Business Viability of Webcomics", Princeton University Economics Dept (2003).
- ^ Dr. Laurie Rozakis' blog: May 12, 2008
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bob Rozakis |
- Official website
- Bob Rozakis at the Comic Book DB
| Preceded by Bob Haney |
Teen Titans writer 1976–1978 |
Succeeded by Marv Wolfman |
