Frank Lovece
| Frank Lovece | |
|---|---|
 Lovece (right) with Stan Lee, signing autographs together at 1993 Comic-Con International, San Diego |
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| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer |
| Notable works | Hailing Taxi: The Official Book of the Show Lost and Found Atomic Age Hokum & Hex Nightstalkers |
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996.
For an Entertainment Weekly article on direct-to-video movies representing themselves as theatrical releases, he produced the first — and, after the article's publication, only — home video to obtain an MPAA rating.
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Early life and career [edit]
Raised in Morgantown, West Virginia,[1] Frank Lovece attended West Virginia University in that city, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in communication. He was the arts/entertainment editor of the college newspaper, the Daily Athenaeum; held posts in student government; and interned with both the WWVU statewide radio news service, and, in Washington, D.C., the USDA Cooperative Extension Service.[2]
He became a stringer for the New York City / Long Island newspaper Newsday in the late 1980s, becoming a weekly TV columnist there in 2003.[2] Lovece's book Hailing Taxi: The Official Book of the Show, was published in 1988, the first of several books he would write on topics including the TV series The Brady Bunch and The X-Files, and on the Godzilla movie series.[2]
By the 1990s, Lovece was a weekly syndicated columnist for United Media / NEA, and a writer for periodicals including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, Penthouse, Billboard, and Entertainment Weekly, where he wrote features and reviewed home video releases and comic books.[3] For an Entertainment Weekly article on direct-to-video movies representing themselves as theatrical releases, he produced the first — and, after the article's publication, only — home video to obtain an MPAA rating.[4]
Comic books [edit]
Lovece and artist Mike Okamoto created the four-issue miniseries Atomic Age (Nov. 1990 - Feb. 1991) for Marvel Comics' creator-owned Epic Comics imprint. The series was among the items featured in the Bowling Green State University exhibition "The Atomic Age Opens: Selections from the Popular Culture Library".[5] Collaborator Al Williamson won the 1991 Eisner Award for Best Inker for his work on that and other series that awards-year, with Okamoto winning the The Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award.
Lovece went on to write stories for Epic's anthology series Clive Barker's Hellraiser, and wrote the nine-issue run of Hokum & Hex for Marvel's Razorline imprint, created by novelist Barker. Other work includes such children's comics as the licensed series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (including one story penciled by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko), VR Troopers and Masked Rider.[6] The Hellraiser story "For My Son", by Lovece and artist Bill Koeb, originally published in Clive Barker's Hellraiser Summer Special #1 (Summer 1992),[6] appears in Checker Publishing's Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Collected Best, Volume 1 (ISBN 0-9710249-2-8), though with the last page inexplicably missing; the complete story appears in an authorized online version from web publisher Wowio.[7]
Also for Marvel, Lovece wrote for the series Nightstalkers and for The Incredible Hulk and Ghost Rider annuals,[6] as well as an inventory story for Alpha Flight.[2] He additionally wrote a Vampirella inventory story for Harris Comics.[2] His three-part child-abuse drama "Egg" ran in Dark Horse Comics' Dark Horse Presents #110-112, where editor Bob Schreck opined, "Frank is probably the most under-exploited, most sensitive writer this field has to offer".[8]
Lovece also wrote an educational comic book about the American banking system for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.[2]
Later career [edit]
Beginning in 1996, he served as a Web site editor and streaming video producer at the Silicon Alley startup Gist TV (Gist.com). He later became a Web editor at Hachette Filipacchi, creating sites for Sound & Vision and Popular Photography magazines, and, from 2001 to 2004, at the Sci-Fi Channel television network, creating sites for Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, The X-Files, The Incredible Hulk, Legend of Earthsea and other television shows, movies and miniseries. In 2002, he began a longtime association with Habitat magazine, writing about New York City real estate.[9]
In 2005, Lovece and photographer Matthew Jordan Smith collaborated on the book Lost and Found, a photojournalistic record of families of abducted children and the work of The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.[10][11]
Since 2005, and as of 2013, Lovece in addition to his Newsday column and features has been a movie critic for Film Journal International.[12] He had previously been a movie critic for the TV Guide website[13] and for the northern New Jersey newspaper The Record.[14]
Humor [edit]
From 2001-2003, Lovece was a member of the New York City improv comedy troupe Wingnuts. His humor writing has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Newsday, Yahoo!/MSN, and elsewhere.[2]
Bibliography [edit]
- Lovece, Frank. TV Trivia: Thirty Years of Television (1984) New York: Beekman House / Publications International. ISBN 0-517-46367-9
- Lovece, Frank, with Jules Franco. Hailing Taxi: The Official Book of the Show (1988) New York: Prentice Hall Press ISBN 0-13-372103-5, ISBN 978-0-13-372103-4
- Reissued and updated: Taxi: The Official Fan's Guide (1996) New York: Citadel Press ISBN 0-8065-1801-4, ISBN 978-0-8065-1801-5
- Edelstein, Andrew J., and Frank Lovece. The Brady Bunch Book (1990) New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-39137-9
- Lovece, Frank (1992). The Television Yearbook. New York: Perigee Books / Putnam Publishing. ISBN 0-399-51702-2, ISBN 978-0-399-51702-0
- Lovece, Frank. The X-Files Declassified (1996) New York: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1745-X, ISBN 978-0-8065-1745-2
- U.K. edition: The X-Files Declassified : The Truth!: The Unauthorized Guide to the Complete Series (1996) London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-68232-9, ISBN 978-0-340-68232-6
- Lovece, Frank. Godzilla: The Complete Guide to Moviedom's Mightiest Monster. Originally scheduled 1998 by William Morrow / Quill. ISBN 0-688-15603-7; ISBN 978-0-688-15603-9. Subjected to prior restraint in U.S.; released overseas.
- Smith, Michael Jordan (photographer), and Frank Lovece. Lost and Found (2006) New York: Filipacchi Publishing. ISBN 1-59975-611-0, ISBN 978-1-59975-611-0
References [edit]
- ^ Lovece, Frank (December 22, 2006). "We Are Marshall". (movie review), Film Journal International. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g "FrankLovece.com". (official site). Archived from the original on November 23, 2010.
- ^ "Frank Lovece". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010.
- ^ The Washington Post, August 9, 1991: Style section, p.D6
- ^ "The Atomic Age Opens: Selections from the Browne Library". Browne Popular Culture Library News. May 31, 1995. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010.
- ^ a b c Frank Lovece at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ "Hellraiser Collection 06". Wowio.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011.
- ^ Schreck, Bob. Dark Horse Presents #110 (June 1996), p. 9
- ^ Frank Lovece at Habitat
- ^ Lovece, Frank (2006, n.d.). "Behind the Scenes of Lost and Found". TakeGreatPictures.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010.
- ^ "Lost and Found". National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 2006, n.d. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010.
- ^ Frank Lovece at Film Journal International
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes: Frank Lovece
- ^ Lovece, Frank (February 8, 1991). "Hearts, Flowers, Freeways". (review of L.A. Story), The Record. p. 5 (Lifestyle/Previews). Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Via website The Compleat Steve.
External links [edit]
- "Lovece, Frank" at The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators. Retrieved September 13, 2012. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012.
- "Comics". CliveBarker.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010.
- Meyer, Ken Jr. (March 15, 2010). "Nimbus 3 (Sept. 1977)". Ink Stains (column) 14, ComicAttack.net. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010.
- Lovece, Frank, ed. (September 1977). Nimbus (3). Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
Further reading [edit]
- Thompson, Maggie (November 2, 1990). "Atomic Age' Features '50s SF". Comics Buyer's Guide (885).
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