John Broome (writer)

John Broome (May 4, 1913 – March 14, 1999), who additionally used the pseudonyms John Osgood and Edgar Ray Meritt, was an American comic book writer for DC Comics. Along with Gil Kane, he co-created the supervillain Sinestro and the Green Lantern Guy Gardner.

Biography

Early life and career

Broome was born Irving Broome to a Jewish family. As a youth, he enjoyed reading science fiction and began writing for science-fiction pulp magazines in the 1940s. By 1942 he was writing text fillers for Fawcett Comics, at least one under the pseudonym Ron Broom. starring the Flash, Green Lantern, Sargon the Sorcerer and others. His first known script for the company was the 13-page Flash story "The City of Shifting Sand" in All-Flash #22 (May 1946). He wrote text fillers under the pen name John Osgood. and contributed an occasional tale starring the Atom, the Hawkman, or Doctor Mid-Nite, in titles including Sensation Comics, Comic Cavalcade, All Star Comics, All-American Comics, and Flash Comics. Broome and artist Irwin Hasen created the supervillain Per Degaton as a JSA antagonist in All Star Comics #35 (July 1947). and his final JSA story in All Star Comics #57 (March 1951), the last before its retitling as All-Star Western.

1950s and the Silver Age

As the new decade began, Broome wrote science-fiction stories for DC, both standalone tales—including "The Mind Robbers", in Mystery in Space #1 (May 1951), under the pseudonym Robert Stark—and continuing-character features, such as "Astra" (in Sensation Comics, one story of which teamed him with his future regular artist collaborator, Gil Kane), and "Captain Comet", which he created with penciler Carmine Infantino in Strange Adventures #9 (June 1951). For the latter he used the pen name Edgar Ray Merritt, devised by his friend and editor Julius Schwartz, as a nod to fantasy writers Poe, Bradbury, and Abraham. and the post-apocalyptic heroes the Atomic Knights, with artist Murphy Anderson, in Strange Adventures #117 (June 1960).

With the dawn of what fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books, Broome was instrumental in writing stories of two key characters who helped revive the moribund archetype of the superhero. Following the creation of an all new Flash, a.k.a. Barry Allen, who carried the superhero name from the original Golden Age Flash, by scripter Robert Kanigher and penciler Infantino in Showcase #4 (Oct 1956)—considered the comic that triggered the Silver Age—Broome wrote Flash stories beginning in that very issue. He wrote numerous Flash stories in the character's subsequent series. He co-created several of the character's primary supervillain antagonists the 64th century villain Abra Kadabra in #128 (May 1962), and Professor Zoom in #139 (Sept. 1963). Captain Boomerang was featured in the 2016 Suicide Squad film and was portrayed by actor Jai Courtney. Other Broome additions to the Flash mythos, Kid Flash and the Elongated Man were respectively introduced in issues #110 and 112 as allies of the speedster.

Broome, with penciler Kane and editor-conceptualist Schwartz, created Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern, in Showcase #22 (Oct. 1959). He became the character's primary scripter in Green Lantern's solo series as well. Black Hand, a character featured prominently in the "Blackest Night" storyline in 2009–2010, debuted in issue #29 (June 1964) by Broome and Kane. The creative team created Guy Gardner in the story "Earth's Other Green Lantern!" in issue #59 (March 1968). Writer-editor Dennis Mallonee described Broome's work on Green Lantern as the only superhero series in which screwball comedy "was essentially realized", and called Broome "a genius. He wrote about Hal Jordan, not Green Lantern. Hal's total frustration with Carol's completely goofy 'independence' was the reason I got a kick out of the early silver age Green Lantern." Comics historian Brian Cronin examined similar themes in Broome's work in a 2011 column.

In 1964, Schwartz was made responsible for reviving the faded Batman titles and together with Broome and Infantino jettisoned the sillier aspects that had crept into the franchise such as Ace the Bat-Hound and Bat-Mite and gave the character a "New Look" that premiered in Detective Comics #327 (May 1964).

Later life

In the late 1960s, Broome and his wife, Peggy, moved to Paris, France, where he continued to script for DC Comics. His final Flash story, "The Bride Cast Two Shadows", appeared in The Flash #194 (Feb. 1970), and his final Green Lantern, "The Golden Obelisk of Qward", in Green Lantern #75 (March 1970). He returned to the United States in 1998, attending his first comic-book convention, Comic-Con International.

Awards

Broome received a 1964 Alley Award for Best Short Story: "Doorway to the Unknown!" in The Flash #148 (Nov. 1964), with artist Carmine Infantino. He received an Inkpot Award in 1998 and posthumously received the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing  in 2009. In the direct-to-DVD film Green Lantern: Emerald Knights the Broome Kane Galaxy is named for him and Gil Kane. In Green Lantern (2011), Broome's Bar is named after him. In the Green Lantern: The Animated Series episode "Steam Lantern," the eponymous character's real name is Gil Broome, Esq.

In The Flash episode "The New Rogues", the industrial complex in which the Mirror Master and the Top gain their powers is Broome Industries.

The villain Nathan Broome, who debuted during the Dawn of DC relaunch, is named after John Broome.

Bibliography

Comics Magazine Company

Funny Pages #7, 11 (1936–1937)

DC Comics

Action Comics #132–133 (Vigilante) (1949)
Adventure Comics #175 (Superboy); #418 (Doctor Mid-Nite) (1952–1972)
Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4–46 (1952–1959)
All-American Comics #77–78, 81, 83–88, 97, 99–102 (Green Lantern) (1946–1948)
All-American Western #112–113, 115, 121, 123–126 (1950–1952)
All-Flash #22, 30, 32 (1946–1947)
All Star Comics #35, 39–57 (Justice Society of America) (1947–1951)
All-Star Western #66, 68, 70–72, 74–75, 80, 82–90. 92–98, 100–107, 109–115 (1952–1960)
Batman #172–173, 177–178, 186, 188, 191 (1965–1967)
Big Town #4–5, 11, 13–50 (1951–1958)
The Brave and the Bold #46–47, 49 (Strange Sports) (1963)
Comic Cavalcade #20–22, 24, 27 (Green Lantern) (1947–1948)
Detective Comics #327, 329, 332, 340–344, 346, 352, 355, 357–359, 365–366, 372, 388 (1964–1969)
The Flash #105–122, 124–128, 130–136, 138–142, 146–149, 152–159, 161, 163–166, 168, 172–174, 176, 182, 188–191, 193–194 (1959–1970)
Flash Comics #89, 91–93, 95–96, 98–104 (1947–1949)
Green Lantern #25, 27–28, 30–38 (1947–1949)
Green Lantern vol. 2 #1–16, 18–22, 24, 27, 29–31, 36, 39–40, 44–47, 49–56, 59, 66, 69–71, 75 (1960–1970)
Hopalong Cassidy #91, 93, 99–104, 106, 108–111, 114–135 (1954–1959)
Jimmy Wakely #4, 6 (1950)
Mystery in Space #1, 5–8, 10–11, 13–17, 25–27, 29, 31, 33–34, 39–40, 42, 49, 53, 55–56, 59–61, 76 (1951–1962)
New Adventures of Charlie Chan #1–6 (1958–1959)
Phantom Stranger #1–6 (1952–1953)
Sensation Comics #57, 70–72, 74, 82 (Sargon the Sorcerer) (1946–1948)
Showcase #4, 8, 13–14 (The Flash); #22–24 (Green Lantern) (1956–1960)
Strange Adventures #8–44, 46, 49, 51–60, 62, 66–70, 72–74, 76–78, 81, 84–86, 91, 97–98, 100, 103, 107–108, 110–112, 114–120, 122–123, 125–126, 128–129, 131–132, 134–135, 137–141, 143–144, 146–147, 149–150, 152–153, 155–156, 158, 160 (1951–1964)
Superboy #27 (1953)
World's Finest Comics #121 (Green Arrow) (1961)

Collected editions

All Star Comics Archives:
Volume 8 includes All Star Comics #35, 208 pages, August 2002,
Volume 9 collects All Star Comics #39–43, 192 pages, August 2003,
Volume 10 collects All Star Comics #44–49, 216 pages, August 2004,
Volume 11 collects All Star Comics #50–57, 276 pages, March 2005,
The Atomic Knights collects the Atomic Knights stories from Strange Adventures #117, 120, 123, 126, 129, 132, 135, 138, 141, 144, 147, 150, 153, 156, and 160, 192 pages, May 2010
Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives:
Vol. 1 includes Detective Comics #327, 329, and 332, 240 pages, March 2003,
The Flash Archives:
Volume 1 collects Showcase #4, #8, #13–14 and The Flash #105–108, 224 pages, May 1998,
Volume 2 collects The Flash #109–116, 240 pages, April 2000,
Volume 3 includes The Flash #117–122 and 124, 224 pages, March 2002,
Volume 4 includes The Flash #125–128 and 130–132, 216 pages, May 2006,
Volume 5 includes The Flash #133–136 and 138–141, 248 pages, March 2009,
Volume 6 includes The Flash #142 and 146–149, 240 pages, August 2012,
Green Lantern Archives:
Volume 1 collects Showcase #22–24 and Green Lantern vol. 2 #1–5, 201 pages, September 1998,
Volume 2 collects Green Lantern vol. 2 #6–13, 210 pages, January 2000,
Volume 3 includes Green Lantern vol. 2 #14–16 and 18–21, 208 pages, May 2001,
Volume 4 includes Green Lantern vol. 2 #22, 24, 27, and 29, 209 pages, July 2002,
Volume 5 includes Green Lantern vol. 2 #30–31 and 36, 240 pages, April 2005,
Volume 6 includes Green Lantern vol. 2 #39–40 and 44–47, 240 pages, January 2007,
Volume 7 includes Green Lantern vol. 2 #49–56, 256 pages, September 2012,
Green Lantern Omnibus:
Volume 1 includes Showcase #22–24 and Green Lantern vol. 2 #1–16 and 18–21, 640 pages, November 2010,
Volume 2 includes Green Lantern vol. 2 #22, 24, 27, 29–31, 36, 39–40, and 44–45, 624 pages, November 2011,