Steve Englehart (;Baltimore Comic Con - Steve Englehart born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett.
Early life Steve Englehart majored in psychology at Wesleyan University, where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. After graduation he was drafted and served in the United States Army as a journalist at Aberdeen Proving Ground. While there he went to the Manhattan offices of Marvel Comics to ask if he could be an assistant to Neal Adams when his Army tour was over. "Why not now?" Adams asked, and Englehart started spending weekends in New York and weekdays at Aberdeen. The Vietnam War was in full swing, though, and Englehart realized he felt unable to support it. He was honorably discharged as a conscientious objector that fall."STEVE ENGLEHART: ‘NEAL ADAMS Was an Amazing Human Being’." Back Issues 143, "Tribute: Neal Adams." https://13thdimension.com/steve-englehart-neal-adams-was-an-amazing-human-being/
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 8. Marvel Comics. p. vii. .
Career
Marvel Comics
Englehart's first work in comics was on a 10-page story by writer Denny O'Neil in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #10 (March 1971). After briefly serving as a member of the Crusty Bunkers art team,Theakston, Greg and Nowlan, Kevin, et al., at Englehart started working as a full-time writer. He began with a co-writing credit, with Gardner Fox, on the six-page, Englehart-drawn "Retribution" in Warren's Eerie #35 (Sept. 1971). Then, as Marvel editor Roy Thomas said in a 2007 interview, Englehart became
Englehart said he had first done uncredited co-scripting on a number of stories:
This uncredited work included Friedrich's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #97, Iron Man #45, and The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #152, plus two romance comics stories and a Western tale. Englehart then wrote two romance stories under the pseudonym Anne Spencer, in Our Love #18 (Aug. 1972) and My Love #19 (Sept. 1972), and, under his own name, a standalone supernatural story in the anthology Journey into Mystery vol. 2, #1 (Oct. 1972)Englehart official site, "First Marvel Scripts II"
During his first credited superhero work, on a series starring erstwhile X-Men member the Beast in Amazing Adventures vol. 2, #12–17 (May 1972 – March 1973), Englehart integrated the Patsy Walker character, the star of a teen romantic-comedy series, into the Marvel Universe alongside the company's superheroes. He and artist Sal Buscema launched The Defenders as an ongoing series in August 1972Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 156: "The Defenders moved into their own bimonthly comic book with The Defenders #1, written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Sal Buscema." and introduced the Valkyrie to the team in issue #4 (Feb. 1973).Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 158: "[The] Enchantress of Asgard, endowed Barbara Norriss with the consciousness, physical appearance, and superhuman powers of Brunnhilde, leader of the Valkyries." Englehart has stated that he added the Valkyrie to the Defenders "to provide some texture to the group."
He wrote The Avengers from issue #105 (Nov. 1972) to #152 (Oct. 1976). During his time on that title, he wrote several major storylines including "The Avengers Defenders War" in issues #115–118 (Sept.–Dec. 1973), crossing over into The Defenders #8–11 (Sept.–Dec. 1973);Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 160: "Loki and Dormammu manipulated two super-teams into the Avengers-Defenders war, starting in The Avengers #116 and The Defenders #9 in October ." "The Celestial Madonna" in #129–135 (Nov. 1974 – May 1975) and Giant-Size Avengers #2–4 (Nov. 1974 – May 1975);Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 166: "Writer Steve Englehart started an epic story line in which Kang the Conqueror tried to locate the Celestial Madonna."Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 169: "Writer Steve Englehart and veteran Avengers artist Don Heck presented the grand finale of the long-running 'Celestial Madonna' saga...Immortus presided over the double wedding of Mantis to the resurrected Swordsman, and the android Vision to the Scarlet Witch." and "The Serpent Crown" in #141–144 (Nov. 1975 – Feb. 1976) and #147–149 (May–July 1976).
In the fall of 1972, Englehart and writers Gerry Conway and Len Wein crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis, interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont. The story began in Amazing Adventures #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin), continued in Justice League of America #103 (by Wein, Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano), and concluded in Thor #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema). As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle (laughs) and each story had to stand on its own, but we really worked it out. It's really worthwhile to read those stories back to back to back — it didn't matter to us that one was at DC and two were at Marvel — I think it was us being creative, thinking what would be really cool to do."Amazing Adventures #16 (Jan. 1973), Justice League of America #103 (Dec. 1972), and Thor #207 (Jan. 1973) at the Grand Comics Database
Englehart had a run on Doctor Strange (originally with artist Frank Brunner, later with Gene Colan), in which Strange's mentor, the Ancient One, died and Strange became the new Sorcerer Supreme. Englehart and Brunner, audaciously, also created a multi-issue storyline in which a sorcerer named Sise-Neg ("Genesis" spelled backward) goes back through history, collecting all magical energies, until he reaches the beginning of the universe, becomes all-powerful and creates it anew, leaving Strange to wonder whether this was, paradoxically, the original creation (Marvel Premiere #14). Editor-in-chief Stan Lee, seeing the issue after publication, ordered Englehart and Brunner to print a retraction saying this was not God but a god, so as to avoid offending religious readers. The writer and artist concocted a fake letter from a fictitious minister praising the story, and mailed it to Marvel from Texas; Marvel unwittingly printed the letter, and dropped the retraction order.Frank Brunner, interview in Comic Book Artist #6, quoted in Comic Book Resources (December 22, 2005), Englehart's Doctor Strange #14 featured a crossover story with The Tomb of Dracula #44, another series which was being drawn by Gene Colan at the time.Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 175: "The great Marvel artist Gene Colan was doing superb work illustrating both Doctor Strange and The Tomb of Dracula. So it made sense for Strange writer Steve Englehart and Tomb author Marv Wolfman to devise a crossover story." In Englehart's final story for the series, he sent Dr. Strange back in time to meet Benjamin Franklin.Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 174: "The year 1976 was the 200th anniversary of the United States' Declaration of Independence. So it was appropriate that several of the major events in Marvel history that year dealt with political themes...In September, just before departing from Marvel for DC Comics, writer Steve Englehart sent Dr. Strange back through time to meet one of the men responsible for the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin."
Describing that time, Englehart said in 1998,
Englehart and artist Starlin co-created the character Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu,Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 161: "Capitalizing on the popularity of martial arts movies, writer Steve Englehart and artist/co-plotter Jim Starlin created Marvel's Master of Kung Fu series. The title character, Shang-Chi, was the son of novelist Sax Rohmer's criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu." though they only worked on the early issues of the series. Englehart reconciled the existence of Captain America and sidekick Bucky in Marvel's 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics, an anomaly that had been ignored since Captain America's 1964 reintroduction to Marvel presented him as having been in suspended animation since 1945. Englehart's newly retconned history stated that the 1950s Captain America and Bucky had been different characters from the ones who had debuted in the 1940s.Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 156: "In his first story line as Captain America and the Falcon writer, Steve Englehart revealed that an unnamed teacher had rediscovered the 'Super-Soldier serum' in the 1950s and he and a student used it to turn themselves into new versions of Captain America and Bucky." This was followed by an extended storyline of Steve Rogers becoming so profoundly disillusioned with the United StatesSanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 164: "Inspired by the real life Watergate scandals, writer Steve Englehart devised a story line about a conspiracy within the U.S. government." that he temporarily abandoned his Captain America identity to become NomadSanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 167: "Shocked by learning the identity of Number One of the Secret Empire, Steve Rogers abandoned his Captain America role and adopted a new costumed identity, Nomad." until he decided to refocus his purpose as the defender of America's ideals, not necessarily its government. The Englehart/Sal Buscema run on the Captain America title saw the series become one of Marvel's top-sellers. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart's work on Captain America, The Avengers, and Doctor Strange fourth, eighth, and ninth, respectively, on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".
In March 1976, Englehart had a falling-out with Marvel and left the company.
DC Comics