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Spider-Man title Marvel Team-Up, the New Mutants and, notably, the Firestar limited
series, which brought a female analog of the Human Torch from the X-Men TV series
into Marvel comics continuity. Ever the freelancer, by the end of the 1980s, Leialoha
had moved away from Marvel and began working for DC and other companies. He
inked stories for comics featuring Batman and other superheroes for DC; Vampirella,
the erotic vampiress, for Harris; Peter David’s Soulsearchers and Company for Claypool
Comics; and Th e Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, for Byron Preiss. His best-known and
most honored work has probably been as the inker of over 50 issues of DC/Vertigo’s
innovative Fables, stories of fairytale characters such as Snow White, Beauty and the
Beast, and Pinocchio who have been stranded in the contemporary world. He and pen-
ciller Mark Buckingham won the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Penciller/Inker Team
for their work on that series. Some of his most recent work includes inking for various
DC/Vertigo books, including Nevada, Petrefax, Sandman, Th e Dreaming, Dead Boy De-
tectives, and Fables. He illustrated Peter & Max: A Fables Novel (2009) written by Bill
Willingham. An exhibition of Leialoha’s work appeared at the San Francisco Museum
of Comic Art in 1999. He also played bass for the group Seduction of the Innocent,
who performed at several San Diego Comic-Cons.
Christopher Couch
LEVITZ, PAUL (1956–). Born in Brooklyn, New York, Paul Levitz has had a long and
successful career in the American comic book industry, rising from fan to president and
publisher of DC Comics. In 1971, while still in high school, Levitz and friend Paul
Kupperberg began a comics news fanzine, Etcetera. Kupperberg soon dropped out of
the enterprise, and later in the year Levitz took over the title and subscription list of the
defunct fanzine Th e Comic Reader (TCR). Levitz published TCR for three years and
won two fan awards for best fanzine.
Th e frequent visits to Marvel and DC offi ces to gather the latest news for TCR led
Levitz to a freelance job doing letters pages for DC editor Joe Orlando. Th e day after
he graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1973 Levitz began fi lling in as Orlando’s
assistant editor for the summer. Th e fi ll-in job became long term and Levitz worked
at DC two or three days a week while attending New York University. In 1976 he left
NYU when off ered a full-time position as editor of titles of his own.
It was common practice at the time for editorial staff to also do some artwork or
writing for the company. Levitz’s fi rst writing assignments for DC were text pieces such
as “Behind the Scenes at the DC Comic World” and the Direct Currents page. His fi rst
work on comic book stories was doing rewrites and fi nishing jobs for freelancers who
missed deadlines. His fi rst solo writing chores were on Weird Mystery, Ghost Castle, and
Aquaman. Having proven himself on minor titles, Levitz was given the opportunity to
write All Star Comics featuring the Justice Society of America. During his stint on the
book he co-created the Earth-2 Huntress with artist Joe Staton. Th e Legion of Super-
Heroes had long been Levitz’s favorite characters, but his fi rst run on the book, from
1976 to 1978, was undistinguished. In 1981 he returned to the Legion of Super-Heroes
