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On his site, Mark Evanier relates the news that Julius Schwartz has passed away. He has also posted three additional anecdotes about Schwartz, with the promise of more to come. Comicon's Pulse has also published a tribute, and by tomorrow I'm sure there will be many, many more in the comics press and beyond.
With all this exposure by people more intimately familar with the man and his body of work, it's almost unnecessary for me to say anything at all. However, it's apparent that Schwartz was one of the most influential people in superhero history, and achievements in a life like his can never be eulogized with too few words.
Recently I've been reading and writing on the concept of parallel universes in comic book continuity, something that has always fascinated me. In many ways Julius Schwartz is the creator of infinite Earths. One of the founders of science fiction fandom, Schwartz realized the importance of catering to the older stalwart fans as well as tapping into new markets, and so 1961 saw the return of the original Flash within the pages of the most recent version. This story, entitled "The Flash of Two Worlds", saw the new Flash travel from his Earth to another near-identical one that existed parallel to his. The difference between the two was that this other Earth was the home to those original counterparts of the new generation of heroes, those that had been in action during World War II. In fact, the exploits of at least a few of the heroes on this other Earth (thereafter known as Earth-2) were known as comic characters to the inhabitants of the new Flash's Earth (thereafter known as Earth-1). Even those characters who had not undergone a retooling, such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, existed on both Earths. The only difference was one of apparent age, as they shared the same secret identities, costumes, etc. Schwartz' creation of this other world allowed the creators of these comics to change the status quo, at least on this secondary Earth. The vast majority of stories would take place on the Earth that had just been established, but if, say, the creators wanted Batman to age, or Superman and Lois Lane to marry, they could do so on this alternate Earth without disrupting the storylines on the dominant Earth.
The truly amazing thing is how, because Julius Schwartz and the creators who worked with him on these comics existed in an environment of constantly looming deadlines, these innovations weren't considered with long-term feasibility in mind. This isn't a criticism of their working methods, but rather an acknowledgement that what could very well have been a throwaway concept became the groundwork for modern superhero comic continuity, a concept that has been with the genre, for good and bad, since its inception. Due to the variances of the comic industry at the time, and the supposed disposability of the comics being produced, it was assumed that any discrepencies or confusions created by the haphazard publication of these comics would be ignored or forgotten over the years. This, of course, wasn't the case at all. By placing such divergent characters and their environments together, even if only occasionally, Julius Schwartz and the creators of these comics forged a link that ran through these titles that would last until the present day. This created a reason to remember these titles long after their publication, despite even the best efforts of various administrations within the publisher itself to have this changed.
This is just one of many legacies which Julius Schwartz has left behind and which have defined comics for decades, achievements which I could never hope to properly convey in this forum. If you would like to read more on Mr. Schwartz, please check out Quarter Bin's profile, Toonopedia, this interview from Alter Ego magazine, Mark Evanier's previous articles on the man, Schwartz' memoirs or The Oddball Comics Forum thread on his passing among many other interesting anecdotes and revelations to be found throughout the internet. Today's Oddball Comics also has a tribute to Schwartz and the archive has a Strange Schwartz week or two.
It's rare to be hit by lightning even once. Rarer still to be hit multiple times. For Schwartz, his was a lifetime of daring ideas and epoch-defining triumphs. And that's a Flash Fact. |
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