Gerry Conway was born on September 10, 1952, in Brooklyn, New York City. He was a fan of comic books from an early age and even had a letter published in the letter column of Fantastic Four no. 50 (May 1966). As a teenager, he would sneak into the DC Comics offices and talk with the editors. He was only 16 when his first comic book story, "Aaron Philips' Photo Finish," was published in House of Secrets no. 81 (September 1969). At DC Comics, he also had work published in All-Star Western no. 1, Hoouse of Mystery, Super DC Giant,The Phantom Stranger, and The Witching Hour. During the same period, he wrote stories for Marvel's Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows. During this period, he also wrote for the Warren titles Creepy and Eerie and Skywald's Nightmare.
It was Roy Thomas who offered Gerry Conway the chance to write superhero comic books at Marvel. He took Marvel's "writing test," and while Stan Lee was not impressed with his work, Roy Thomas was. He wrote a script for Ka-Zar for Astonishing Tales no. 3 (December 1970) and then began writing Daredevil with no. 72 (January 1971). At Marvel, he went onto write for Adventure into Fear, Amazing Adventures, Astonishing Tales, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Creatures on the Loose, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Dracula Lives, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Kull the Conqueror, Marvel Team-Up, Our Love Story, Savage Tales, Sub-Mariner, Thor, Werewolf By Night. The Defender, Ghost Rider, Haunt of Horror, Legion of Monsters, Ka-Zar.Planet of the Apes, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Tales of the Zombie, and other titles. His most notable work in the early Seventies at Marvel was on The Amazing Spider-Man.
After leaving Marvel, Gerry Conway wrote for the short-lived Atlas/Seaboard line on such titles as Destructor, Targitt, and Tiger-Man. He then returned to DC comics, where he remained for the next decade. During this period he created such characters as Power Girl, Firestorm, Vixen, Jason Todd, and Killer Croc, and others. He wrote on such titles as Action Comics, All-Star Comics, All-Star Squadron, Arak, Batman. Batman Family, The Brave and the Bold, Challengers of the Unknown, DC Comics Presents, Doorway to Nightmare, Firestorm, The Flash, Freedom Fighters, The Fury of Firestorm, Hercules Unbound, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Jonah Hex, Justice League of America, Kamandi, Kong the Untamed, Legion of Super-Heroes, Man-Bat, Metal Men, Mystery in Space, New Gods. Secret Society of Super Villains, Star-Spangled War Stories, Steel the Indestructible Man, Sun Devils, Super-Team Family, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman, The Superman Family, Swamp Thing. Sword Quest, Tarzan, The Unexpected. Weird Western Tales, The Witching Hour, Wonder Woman, World's Finest Comics, Young Love, and other titles. He also wrote the DC/Marvel crossover Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.
Gerry Conway also wrote comic books for Eclipse Comics' The Unknown Worlds of Frank Brunner, First Comcs' Hawkmoon: The Jewel in the Skull and Hawkmoon: The Mad God's Amulet, Topp Comics' Nightglider, and Disney Comics' Disney Adventures.
In addition to comics books, Gerry Conway also did substantial work in film and television. He co-wrote the screen play for the Ralph Bakshi animated feature Fire and Ice (1983) with fellow comic book writer Roy Thomas. They also wrote the story Conan the Destroyer (1984). In 1985, he broke into television with scripts for the animated series G.I. Joe. He wrote scripts for the animated television series Transformers, Centurions, My Little Pony 'n Friends, Spiral Zone, Dino-Saucers, and Dino-Riders. He broke into live-action television with a script for Monsters in 1990.
In the Nineties, he wrote for the TV shows Father Dowling Mysteries, Jake and the Fatman, Matlock, Batman: The Animated Series, Under Suspicion, Two, Pacific Blue, Baywatch Nights, Diagnosis Murder, Players, Silk Stalkings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Law & Order, and The Huntress. He wrote some of the Perry Mason TV movies.
In the Naughts, Gerry Conway wrote for the show Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
In my humble opinion, Gerry Conway was one of the greatest comic book writers of all time. He created several characters who are still pertinent to this day, including Atomic Skull, Firestorm, Jason Todd, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Man-Thing, Power Girl, and The Punisher, among others. And while I don't particularly like the story (Gwen Stacy is one of my favourite comic book characters, he wrote one of the most revolutionary comic book stories of all time, "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" from Amazing Spider-Man no. 121 (June 1973). While I am not fond of the story, I have to admit it was well-written and it certainly changed the industry forever.
He was also an excellent television writer and wrote some of my favourite episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, including "Con-Text" and "Probability." For Batman: The Animated Series, he wrote "Appointment in Crime Alley." During his television career, he wrote stellar scripts for everything from Monsters to Matlock.
Above all else, I have to say Gerry Conway seemed like an incredibly nice guy. I followed him on Twitter when that was still a thing, and asked him a few questions about his television work. He always responded and did so politely and with a good deal of humour. He was a great writer and apparently a kind person as well. He will definitely be missed.
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