David Vern Reed

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David Vern Reed (1924-1989) born David Levine, was an American writer, best known for his work on the Batman comic book during the 1950s, in a run which included a revamp of the Batplane in Batman #61^[1] and the introduction of Deadshot in Batman #59.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Other work 3 Writing style 4 Notes and references

[edit] History

Levine grew up to become a versatile and prolific writer with his work appearing under several Anglicized pseudonyms, amongst them David Vern, Alexander Blade, Craig Ellis, Clyde Woodruff and Peter Horn.^{[citation needed]} He was hired to write comic book scripts by his friend, Julius Schwartz, an editor of DC Comics. It was at DC where Levine would become best known to Batman fans as "David V.Reed" and the creator of the villain, Deadshot in Batman #59.^[3][4]

Vern Reed's first story published by DC was entitled "Ride, Bat-Hombre, Ride", the start of a four year period where chronicling Batman's adventures dominated his comic book career. Indeed, he was responsible for several key stories such as "The Birth of Batplane II" in Batman #61^[5] , "The Joker's Millions" and "Two-Face Strikes Again", the latter two featuring the return of the original villains introduced by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Another story from this period, "The Joker's Utility Belt", once mistakenly believed to have been written by Finger, was eventually adapted for Cesar Romero's first appearance as The Joker on the 1960s Batman television series, broadcast as the episodes "The Joker Is Wild\Batman Gets Riled".^{[citation needed]}

Besides Batman, Vern Reed wrote for Superman, World's Finest and several of DC's non-super-hero titles. Vern Reed is believed to have left the industry in the aftermath of the Senate investigation into comics and the industry introduction of the comics code.

Vern Reed returned to comic books in the 1970s and Batman in 1975. He found found that writers such as Denny O'Neil and Frank Robbins had restored Batman to his gothic roots. As such, Vern Reed chose to emphasize Batman's skills as a detective. Initially ignoring the character's large rogues gallery, Vern Reed engaged the Dark Knight in a series of bizarre mysteries such as "The Daily Death of Terry Treymane" and "The Underworld Olympics of 1976!". However, the super-villains would occasionally re-surface in tales like "Where Were You On The Night Batman Was Killed?". These stories are known to have caused a division among some of Batman's fans.^[6]

Although Robbins, O'Neil and Steve Englehart re-established Batman as a dark avenger, their interpretation of him was stoic and often silent. By contrast, Vern Reed's version would greet his foes with a dry quip not unlike Sean Connery's interpretation of James Bond. Some readers objected that this was out of character for a "dark knight". Other fans acknowledged that deadpan humor has always been a part of The Batman's personality since his earliest appearances.^[7] Vern Reed remained on Batman for three years before leaving comics again.

Vern Reed passed away in 1989, the year Tim Burton's first Batman film was released.

[edit] Other work

Adept in writing for the combat, western, science-fiction and mystery genres, besides comic books, Vern Reed wrote for several magazines. These included Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Collier's, Argosy, and Mademoiselle. His work also appeared in pulp magazines like Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures and Astounding Science Fiction and published novels such as Murder in Space.

[edit] Writing style

No matter what genre he worked in, Vern Reed made use of what director Alfred Hitchcock called the MacGuffin, a plot device from which someone could build a story. Vern Reed's MacGuffin's are easily identified within his story titles: "The Man Who Could Change Fingerprints", "Battlefield Collector" and "Murder Comes in Black Boxes" are just a handful of such examples.^{[citation needed]}

Another Vern Reed trademark is the wealth of unusual or esoteric trivia. Everything from Nigerian sign language, ancient weaponry, civilizations new and modern through to the ability to judge the approximate age of a wine bottle by its cork, can be found in a Vern Reed story.^[8]

[edit] Notes and references