Julius Schwartz (1915–2009)

Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics by the late Julius Schwartz is a breezy tour of science fiction fandom, including Schwartz's role in birthing the first SF fanzine and his involvement in the first cons, including the first WorldCon. He covers his career as an agent for a Who's Who of SFF writers, including Ray Bradbury, then his career switch to editing over at DC Comics. I knew some of the stories, but not nearly all, and though fairly lightweight as memoirs go, this is a quick, fun read.… (más)

Imagine being lucky enough to be a living legend in two fields. And no garden variety legend, but rather a persona that is beloved by people in both SF and comics. You would then have the idea of what it means to be Julius Schwartz. Or at least as he presents himself in his fluffy yet entertaining autobiography Man of Two Worlds.

Schwartz, one of the best known editors in the comics field, has spent the last several years as DC Comics’ official goodwill ambassador at conventions. Almost any professional that has attended a convention has met the kind hearted Julie. He’s a difficult man to dislike. And this book will not change that perception of the man.

What Man of Two Worlds does is place Schwartz within the context of SF literary history. And if even half of this book is to be believed, then what a place it is. Schwartz began, like many in the field, as a fan. This was back in the 1920's before fandom when Amazing Stories was in its infancy. The young Schwartz teamed up with fellow SF fan Mort Weisinger and produced the first SF fanzine (along with Forrest J Ackerman). The duo then formed the first SF literary agency.

Mort pointed out to me, “The writers don’t know what these editors need at the time when they need it. They just bang out their stories... and then blindly submit them, running the risk that while their story is sitting on one desk, a hole in an issue of another magazine is waiting to be filled by a story just like theirs- provided they get around to submitting there before the hole gets filled. They just sit at their typewriters turning out stuff, hoping they are in the right place at the right time.”

“Aha! I get it!” I cut in. “What they really need is an agent to tip them off as to who wants what!”

“To make sure that they are in the right place at the right time.”

“Exactly!” I agreed.

We were still not yet out of our teens, but that didn’t stop us from teaming up as the first literary agents specializing in science fiction and fantasy.

The agency would go on to represent some of the legends of the field. Lovecraft, Bradbury, Bester, Bloch, Weinbaum, Kuttner and Brackett were all clients of Solar Sales Service. (The young Schwartz was a fan of alliteration.)

These early tales of Schwartz in the burgeoning SF field are easily the most interesting part of the book. There are far too many stories to mention, but the bits about his involvement with the first World Science Fiction Convention (1939 in New York) and the ensuing happenings at the con are fascinating. This is a rare insider’s glimpse of one of the seminal events in SF fandom in both words and pictures.


The convention featured, in addition to the program book, a few other famous convention firsts. Forry Ackerman showed up in his “Things to Come”/Buck Rogers getup (thus inaugurating costumes at conventions), and I remember fans stopping [a:Jack Williamson|12407|Ben Bova|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1230227407p2/12407.jpg] and [a:L. Sprague de Camp|66700|Robert E. Howard|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1210954603p2/66700.jpg] on the street for their autographs (thus inaugurating convention signings). There was a guest of honor- [a:Frank R. Paul|947|William Shakespeare|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1179017891p2/947.jpg]- and even a banquet that thirty-two people attended, a sumptuous feast of lamb chops, peas, and French fries, with all of the trimmings including sherbert for dessert and all for a dollar, at the ultra swanky Wyndham Restaurant. ([a:Ray Bradbury|1630|Ray Bradbury|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1190744775p2/1630.jpg] had to sit off to the side because he couldn’t afford the meal at that time in his career since he had already borrowed money from Forry so that he could make the cross-country trek to the con.)

Schwartz has many anecdotal tales of his clients and others. There are stories about all the biggies. Asimov, Heinlen, Hubbard, Ellison, and others are all here. The early parts of this book are SF fandom lore. Any fan of the genre will enjoy these bits.

In the early 1940's, the legendary [a:Alfred Bester|10992|Alfred Bester|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224111385p2/10992.jpg] was the regular writer of DC’s (then known as National) Green Lantern when they needed a new editor. Bester convinced his good friend and agent Schwartz to assume the position. Thus ended Julius Schwartz’s career as an agent as he moved onto the career he would have for the next fifty years. And that is when Man of Two Worlds gets a lot less interesting.

Before we go any further I must clear the air a bit. Not only am I a huge comic book fan and amateur comic historian but I have worked on several projects in the medium (including two books that have been nominated for Eisners). I say this not to toot my own horn but to point out that I love comic books and so my lack of interest at this point in the book is for other reasons.

There are many interesting moments. Some of them are embarrassing, some of them informative. All of them make Julius Schwartz look like a super editor. According to this autobiography, there was nothing he couldn’t do wrong. Late in the book he is discussing his successful efforts on Superman and Batman and the resulting media tie-ins when we get this passage:

After a while I was looked on by my bosses at DC as a sort of media good-luck charm. After all I had taken Batman and -POW!- a hit TV series. Then I took over Superman and-BAM!- a hit movie. So then I was asked to take over a series called Dial H for Hero in hopes of getting a series off the ground. I took over and THUD!

Well, not even Babe Ruth hit a homer every time at bat.

That is the extent of Schwartz’s humility in the book. I think it could have used a little more of that. Another problem is that I still don’t feel like I know the man. After reading an autobiography, one should understand the motivations, likes, and dislikes of a person. I learned little about the man himself. Man of Two Worlds is much more a memoir of a life in science fiction and comics than the story of a man’s life.

This is not to say that the latter part of this book doesn’t have its fair share of entertaining stories.

(Julius Schwartz was stepping down as editor of Superman and was looking for someone to write the ultimate last Superman story. Due mostly to contractual problems, Schwartz’s original choice Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel how to bow out.)

The next morning, I couldn’t stop thinking about finding a replacement for Jerry. I was having breakfast with a young writer by the name of Alan Moore, with whom I had a good working relationship, and mentioned my predicament to him in hopes of blue skying some possible solutions.

At that point he literally leaped out of his chair, reached across the table, put his hands around my neck, and said, “If you let anybody but me write that story, I’ll kill you!” And since I didn’t want to be an accessory to my own murder, I agreed.


Another of my favorite bits about this book is the sidebars. Schwartz takes us on some interesting side trips with perhaps the best being Julie’s Hints on Working in Comics During the Silver Age. Told in three separate parts, this offers some of the tenants of comic book selling that Schwartz discovered over the years. My personal favorite is “A gorilla on the cover doing something un-gorillalike will surely sell.” Gorillas and comics have a long proud history together.

Strange Adventures had had a particularly successful issue that featured a gorilla in a cage holding up a sign that indicated that he was really a man who had been the victim of an experiment that had gone awry, thus starting a trend in cover art featuring gorillas- all of which, incidentally, sold better than those without gorillas on them.

This entertaining book defines the legacy of Julius Schwartz in a light and friendly fashion. His vital place in both science fiction and comics is self-evident and secure. The Man of Two Worlds is a fitting encapsulation of a beloved legend’s sixty-year career.… (más)