Leo Dorfman


Leo Dorfman was an American writer of comic books throughout the Silver Age. Although the majority of his work was for DC Comics, he also wrote for Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics.

Early life

Dorfman grew up on New York City's Lower East Side in the southeastern part of Manhattan.

Career

Leo Dorfman began working for National Periodical Publications, the predecessor to DC Comics, in the 1950s. Comics historian Mark Evanier has estimated that Dorfman may have been "the most prolific scripter" for Superman during the 1960s.
Dorfman's work included the creation of the Superman supporting character Pete Ross in 1961 as well as writing the "Superman Red/Superman Blue" story in Superman #162, which inspired a year-long plot arc in 1998. As the writer of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, he and artist Kurt Schaffenberger crafted Catwoman's first appearance in the Silver Age of Comic Books in issue #70 and updated Lois Lane's fashions to a then-more contemporary look in #80. Dorfman also modernized Jimmy Olsen, making him a more independent figure who solved crimes as "Mr. Action", with less help from Superman. Dorfman wrote World's Finest Comics #175 which featured Neal Adams' first Batman story. In 1971, Dorfman created the Ghosts anthology series for DC.
He produced stories for Gold Key Comics' supernaturally-themed The Twilight Zone, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Boris Karloff Mystery and Grimm's Ghost Stories. One of Gold Key's editors at the time told Mark Evanier "Leo writes stories and then he decides whether he's going to sell them to DC or to us. He tells us that if they come out good, they go to us and if they don't, they go to DC. I assume he tells DC the opposite."
Leo Dorfman died unexpectedly on July 9, 1974, at the age of 60 while still writing for Ghosts. Editor and longtime friend Murray Boltinoff replaced Dorfman with Carl Wessler as the series' primary writer. Dorfman's final comics stories were published posthumously in The Superman Family #170, The Unexpected #170, and DC Special Series #7.

Awards

Dorfman was posthumously awarded the Bill Finger Award in 2020 along with fellow honorees Virginia Hubbell, Nicola Cuti, Gaylord DuBois, Joe Gill, and France Herron.

DC Comics

Action Comics #288–289, 292–325, 327–333, 335, 337, 340, 345–346, 348–350, 354–359, 362–366, 369–372, 374–376, 379–382, 389, 393–404, 406, 411, 413, 417–418 Adventure Comics #313, 387–388, 392, 396 DC Special Series #7 Ghosts #1–10, 13, 17–20, 25–30, 32, 34, 36–37, 40 Limited Collectors' Edition #C–32 Secrets of Sinister House #18 Superboy #111, 118–119, 122–124, 132, 134, 137, 139, 146, 148, 173, 175–184, 186–192, 194, 196 Superman #152, 160–162, 168, 171, 173, 176–182, 185–186, 203, 210, 218–219, 221, 225–226, 228–229 The Superman Family #164, 167, 170 Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #31–32, 35–38, 40–43, 50, 53–55, 57, 61–64, 66–67, 69–71, 73–76, 78, 80–82, 84–85, 87, 89, 94, 96, 101 Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #52, 59–64, 66–69, 74–76, 78–79, 81–84, 86, 91–94, 96–98, 100, 102–103, 106, 108, 115, 119–121, 123–127, 129–130, 132, 154–163 The Unexpected #149, 157, 170 The Witching Hour #36, 45 World's Finest Comics #160, 164, 171, 175, 183

Dell Comics

Four Color #794, 800, 831, 910, 1173, 1288 Lone Ranger #78 Roy Rogers Comics #84 The Twilight Zone #01860–207, #12–860–210

Fawcett Comics

Fawcett Movie Comic #20 Motion Picture Comics #105, 109–110

Gold Key Comics

Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #4–5 Boris Karloff Thriller #1 Doc Savage #1 G-8 and His Battle Aces #1 Gunsmoke #1 Judge Colt #2–4 Lassie #65–66 M.A.R.S. Patrol Total War #1–10 Mystery Comics Digest #2, 6, 18–19, 23–24 Ripley's Believe It or Not! #22, 25, 27 The Twilight Zone #1–2, 5, 12, 14–18, 20 UFO Flying Saucers #1