Gerry Conway


Gerard Francis Conway is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, science fiction writer, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante antihero the Punisher as well as Peter Parker's clone Ben Reilly, the super villain Jackal, and the first Ms. Marvel, and also writing the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man in the story arc "The Night Gwen Stacy Died".
At DC Comics, he is known for co-creating the superheroes Firestorm, Power Girl, Jason Todd, and the villain Killer Croc, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.
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Early life

Conway was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was a fan of comics from a young age. A letter from him appears in Fantastic Four #50, written when Conway was 13.
He attended New York University for a time.

Career

Conway published his first professional comic book work at 16, with the 6-page horror story "Aaron Philips' Photo Finish" in DC Comics' House of Secrets #81. He continued selling such anthological stories for that series and for Marvel's Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows through the end of 1970, by which time he had also published one-page text short stories in DC's All-Star Western #1 and Super DC Giant #S-14. He published his first continuing-character story in DC's semi-anthological occult comic The Phantom Stranger #10.
Conway recalled breaking into Marvel Comics through Marvel editor Roy Thomas:
Following his first continuing-character story for Marvel, with his script for the jungle lord Ka-Zar in Astonishing Tales #3, Conway began writing superhero stories with Daredevil #72. He quickly went on to assignments on Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and both "The Inhumans" and "The Black Widow" features in the split book Amazing Adventures. He scripted the first Man-Thing story, in 1971, sharing co-creation credit with Stan Lee and Roy Thomas. Conway eventually scripted virtually every major Marvel title, and co-created the lead character of the feature "Werewolf by Night", in Marvel Spotlight #2 ; he also wrote the premiere issue of Marvel's The Tomb of Dracula, introducing the longstanding literary vampire into the Marvel universe.

Spider-Man and intercompany rotation

At 19, Conway began scripting The Amazing Spider-Man, succeeding Stan Lee as writer of one of Marvel's flagship titles. His run, from issues #111–149, included the landmark death of Gwen Stacy story in #121. Eight issues later, Conway and Andru introduced the Punisher as a conflicted antagonist for Spider-Man, as well as the Jackal. The Punisher became a popular star of numerous comic books and has been adapted into three movies and a live action television series. Conway additionally wrote Fantastic Four, from #133–152.
In 2009, Conway reflected on writing flagship Marvel characters at a young age:
In late 1972, Conway and writers Steve Englehart 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. Beginning in Amazing Adventures #16, the story continued in Justice League of America #103, and concluded in Thor #207. As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle 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."
Conway returned to DC Comics in mid-1975, beginning with three books cover-dated Nov. 1975: Hercules Unbound #1, Kong the Untamed #3, and Swamp Thing #19. He wrote a revival of the Golden Age comic book series All Star Comics, which introduced the character Power Girl. Shortly afterward, he was chosen by Marvel and DC editors to script the historic intercompany crossover Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man #1, a 96-page, tabloid-sized, $2 one-shot, at a time when comic books sold for 25 cents.
He continued writing for DC, on titles including Superman, Detective Comics, Metal Men, Justice League of America, 1st Issue Special #11 starring Codename: Assassin, and that of the licensed character Tarzan. Conway briefly returned to Marvel where he succeeded Marv Wolfman as editor-in-chief in March 1976, but held the job only "about a month-and-a-half," relinquishing the post and being succeeded by Archie Goodwin.
For a time, a confluence of publishing schedules resulted in Conway stories appearing in both Marvel and DC comics in the same month: The prolific Conway's comic books with January 1977 cover-dates alone, for example, are Marvel's The Avengers, The Defenders, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and the premiere issues of Ms. Marvel and Logan's Run, and Superman and Action Comics.

DC Comics and later career

After leaving Marvel's editorship, he again wrote exclusively for DC for the next decade writing both major and lesser titles – from those featuring Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Legion of Super-Heroes to such books as Weird Western Tales, Atari Force and Sun Devils. He had an eight-year run on Justice League of America, writing most issues from #151–255 including the double-sized anniversary issue #200. Conway wrote two additional Superman projects in the oversized tabloid format, Superman vs. Wonder Woman, drawn by JosΓ© Luis GarcΓ­a-LΓ³pez, and Superman vs. Shazam, drawn by Rich Buckler.
He co-created the characters Firestorm with artist Al Milgrom and Steel with artist Don Heck in the premiere issues of the respective titular comics. Two other Conway co-creations, the Deserter and the Vixen, were scheduled to receive their own series as well but were canceled before any issues were published. He additionally co-created the characters Vibe and Gypsy. As writer of Batman #337–359 and the feature "Batman" in Detective Comics #497–526, he introduced the characters Killer Croc and Jason Todd, the latter of whom became the second Robin, succeeding original sidekick Dick Grayson. With artist Gene Colan, Conway revived the Golden Age supervillains Doctor Death in Batman #345 and the Monk in Batman #350.
Conway was a frequent collaborator with Roy Thomas. Together they wrote a two-part Superman–Captain Marvel team-up in DC Comics Presents #33–34 ; the Atari Force and Swordquest mini-comics packaged with Atari 2600 video games; and three Justice League of America-Justice Society of America crossovers. Conway contributed ideas to the talking animal comic Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!, created by Thomas and Scott Shaw. Thomas and Conway were to be the co-writers of the JLA/Avengers intercompany crossover, but editorial disputes between DC and Marvel caused the project's cancellation. Conway was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series in 1986.
He returned to Marvel in the 1980s and served as the regular writer of both The Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man from 1988 until 1990. Conway stated in 1991 that "I understand the character a lot better now than I did when I was nineteen. And one of the nice things about the Marvel characters is that you can keep them fresh by changing them just a bit." His run on Spectacular included such story arcs as the "Lobo Brothers Gang War". He relinquished writing duties on both titles when he became the story editor of the television series Father Dowling Mysteries. Conway's last recorded comic credits for many years were Topps Comics' "Kirbyverse" NightGlider #1, scripting from a Roy Thomas plot, and a story for Disney Adventures, published in 1995.
Conway returned to comics in 2009 and wrote DC Comics' The Last Days of Animal Man, with artist Chris Batista. In 2011, he wrote the DC Retroactive: Justice League – The '80s one-shot. Also for DC, he wrote the Firestorm feature in Legends of Tomorrow #1–6 in 2016.
In 2015, he returned to Spider-Man by writing a story in Spider-Verse Team Up #2, and the "Spiral" storyline in The Amazing Spider-Man #16.1–20.1. He returned to work as a series' regular writer that same year with Carnage which ran for 16 issues until 2017. In 2016, he returned to his creation the Punisher by writing The Punisher Annual #1. From 2016 to 2017, he wrote The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1–9, followed by What If? Spider-Man #1 in 2018 and the oneshot The Amazing Spider-Man: Going Big, penciled by Mark Bagley, in 2019. In 2023, he was credited with the plot for the oneshot What If...? Dark: Spider-Gwen.

Novels and Star Trek Comic Strip

In addition to comics, Conway published two science-fiction novels: The Midnight Dancers and Mindship He also wrote the February 14–December 3, 1983, dailies of the syndicated newspaper comic strip Star Trek, based upon the 1960s TV series.

Screenplays and TV producing

Conway as well moved into screenwriting in the 1980s, starting with the animated feature Fire and Ice, co-written with Roy Thomas, based on characters created by Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta. Conway and Thomas wrote the story basis for Stanley Mann's screenplay for the film Conan the Destroyer. Afterwards, Conway and Thomas also worked on the script of a live-action X-Men film for production company Nelvana that wasn't produced because of distributor Orion Pictures' financial troubles and subsequent bankruptcy.
Conway wrote, and later produced, such TV series as Father Dowling Mysteries, Diagnosis: Murder, Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, Under Suspicion, ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Baywatch Nights, Pacific Blue, Silk Stalkings, Perry Mason telefilms, Law & Order, The Huntress, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and two episodes of Batman: The Animated Series.
Conway frequently referenced his comic book connections during his stint on Law & Order'' by naming characters on the show after comic book creators such as John Byrne.

Personal life

Conway's first wife was comic-book writer Carla Conway. The couple have a daughter, Cara. His second wife, Karen, is a psychologist who works with autistic children. They married in 1992 and have a daughter, Rachel. As of 2015, Conway and Laura live in Thousand Oaks, California.
Conway's ancestral family background is Irish, as he described in his blog:
Conway was raised a Christian, but stated in a 2013 interview that he does not "have any religious belief at this point".
In October 2022, Conway was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent Whipple surgery to remove the tumor, resulting in several hospitalizations. In September 2023, he declared that he was cancer-free.

Comics bibliography

Atlas/Seaboard Comics

Destructor #4 Targitt #3 Tiger-Man #2–3

DC Comics

1st Issue Special #11–13 Action Comics #457, 467, 477–479, 486, 517–523 Adventure Comics #444, 459–460, 463–464 All-New Collectors' Edition #C-54, C-58 All Star Comics #58–62 All-Star Squadron #8–9 The Amazing World of DC Comics #11 Arak, Son of Thunder #7 Atari Force #1–5 Atari Force vol. 2 #1–13 Batman #295, 305–306, 337–346, 348–359 Batman Family #17 The Brave and the Bold #158, 161, 171–174 Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #1–2 Challengers of the Unknown #81–87 Cinder and Ashe #1–4 DC Challenge #8, 12 DC Comics Presents #17–18, 21, 30–33, 40, 45, 53, 68 DC Retroactive: Justice League of America - The '80s #1 DC Special #28 DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #5 DC Special Series #1, 6, 10, 16 DC Super-Stars #18 Detective Comics #463–464, 497–499, 501–513, 515–526 Doorway to Nightmare #2 Firestorm #1–5 The Fury of Firestorm #1-28, 31, 33-36, 38-53 The Flash #289–299, 301–304 Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #8 Freedom Fighters #1–2 The Fury of Firestorm #1–53, 100 Annual #1–4 Hercules Unbound #1–6 Heroes Against Hunger #1 House of Mystery #188, 193, 196, 199–200, 202, 292–294, 296–297, 300 House of Secrets #81, 83, 85–86, 88–89, 94, 111–112, 140, 150 House of Secrets: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 2 Jonah Hex #40–41, 45–47 Justice League of America #125–127, 131–134, 151–216, 219, 221–223, 228–230, 233–239, 241–255, Annual #2 Kamandi #39–44 Kong the Untamed #3–5 Last Days of Animal Man #1–6 Legends of Tomorrow #1–6 Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #259–278 Man-Bat #1 Metal Men #46–48, 54–56 Mystery in Space #114 New Gods #12–19 The New Teen Titans #16 Phantom Stranger vol. 2 #10–11 Secret Hearts #143, 147, 149 Secret Origins vol. 2 #4, 17 Secret Society of Super Villains #1–2, 8–14 Star Spangled War Stories #193 Steel, The Indestructible Man #1–5 Sun Devils #1–9 Super-Team Family #11–15 Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #227, 232, 234–235, 248–249, 252–258 Superman #301, 303–304, 307–309, 345–348, 350–351, 407 The Superman Family #175, 184, 186–193, 195–202, 206–211 Swamp Thing #19–20, 23–24 Swordquest #1–3 Tarzan #250–254 The Unexpected #221 Weird Western Tales #45–58, 60–70 The Witching Hour #10, 14, 27, 38 Wonder Woman #233–241, 259–285, 329 World's Finest Comics #245–254, 256–259, 261–262, 268–270, 272, 274–275 Young Love #122 Zatanna Special #1

DC Comics and Marvel Comics

Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man #1

Disney Comics

Disney Adventures v5 #4

Eclipse Comics

The Unknown Worlds of Frank Brunner #2

First Comics

Hawkmoon: The Jewel in the Skull #1–4 Hawkmoon: The Mad God's Amulet #1–4

Marvel Comics

Adventure into Fear #10 Amazing Adventures #7, 9–11, 18–19 The Amazing Spider-Man #111–149, Annual #23 The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #16.1–20.1 The Amazing Spider-Man: Going Big #1 The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1–9 Astonishing Tales #3–8 The Avengers #151–157, Annual #6 Black Widow the Coldest War GN Captain America #149–152 Captain Marvel #22, 47–48 Carnage #1–16 Chamber of Chills #1 Chamber of Darkness #3 Conan the Barbarian #226–231 Creatures on the Loose #18 Daredevil #72–98, 118 Daredevil Annual #5 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1, 3–4 Defenders #42–45, 57 Dracula Lives #1, 3–5, 7, 9, 12–13 Fantastic Four #133–152, 179 Ghost Rider #21–23 Giant-Size Fantastic Four #2–3 Giant-Size Spider-Man #3–5 Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1 Giant-Size Super-Stars #1 Haunt of Horror #1–2, 4 The Incredible Hulk #146–147, 171 Iron Man #35–44, 91–97 Justice #9–11, 13 Ka-Zar vol. 2 #6–10 Kull and the Barbarians #2 Kull the Conqueror #4–7, 9–10 Legion of Monsters #1 Logan's Run #1 Marvel Comics #1000 Marvel Comics Presents #101–109 Marvel Graphic Novel: Conan:The Horn of Azoth GN Marvel Graphic Novel: The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives GN Marvel Point One #1 Marvel Preview #2 Marvel Spotlight #2–4 Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2 #4 Marvel Team-Up #2–12, 28–37, 52 Monsters on the Prowl #13 Monsters Unleashed #1–2, 6–7, 11 Ms. Marvel #1–2 Our Love Story #15 Planet of the Apes #1 The Punisher Annual #1 Punisher Bloodlines #1 Savage Sword of Conan #166–169, 174 Savage Tales #2, 6–10 Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #86, 117–119 The Spectacular Spider-Man #1–3, 137–174, Annual #8–11 Spider-Man/Dr. Strange: The Way to Dusty Death #1 Spider-Man: Fear Itself GN Spider-Verse Team-Up #2 Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #1–6 Sub-Mariner #40–49 Tales of the Zombie #4, 10 Thor #193–238 ThunderCats #7–12, 24 The Tomb of Dracula #1–2 Tower of Shadows #5 Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #1–4 Vampire Tales #3, 8–10 Visionaries #3–6 Web of Spider-Man #35–36, 47–48, 50–70, Annual #5–6 Werewolf by Night #1–4, 9–10 What If? Spider-Man #1 What If? Dark: Spider-Gwen #1 Worlds Unknown #1–2, 4, 6

Papercutz

Nancy Drew: Girl Detective - The New Case Files #3

Skywald Publications

Nightmare #3

Topps Comics

NightGlider #1

Warren Publications

Creepy #38, 103 Eerie #32

Screenwriting credits

Feature films

Fire and Ice

Television

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero