George Kashdan, who worked as an editor and writer at DC Comics from around 1946 until 1968, died last Saturday, apparently from complications relating to a stroke. He had been depressed for some time because of his failing health and that afternoon, he laid down for a nap and never woke up from it.
Kashdan was born May 17, 1928 in The Bronx. He got a B.A. at the University of Chicago and promptly secured a staff editorial position at DC Comics where his brother Bernard was among the most important people in the business division. DC put George to work editing, writing and rewriting scripts, mostly for back-up features (Congo Bill, Captain Compass, Green Arrow, Johnny Quick) but he got an occasional shot at Superman and Batman. Through the early sixties, he worked under editor Jack Schiff (and sometimes, Mort Weisinger). In a book like Action Comics, which featured Superman in the front and strips like Congorilla and Tommy Tomorrow in the back, it was not uncommon for Kashdan to edit the back-up features while Weisinger took care of the cover and lead story.
In 1961, one of the back-up strips he'd long helmed, Aquaman, graduated to his own comic and Kashdan became a full editor, soon taking on House of Mystery, Tales of the Unexpected and several others, including a strip that was a particular favorite of his — Rip Hunter, Time Master. Later in the sixties, he presided over the launch of Metamorpho and Teen Titans, and began the "team-up" format in The Brave and the Bold. Other comics he edited at times during the sixties include Blackhawk, Sea Devils, Bomba the Jungle Boy and Hawkman. He also found time to write several scripts for animated shows produced out of New York such as The Mighty Hercules (1963) and for DC's television projects, including The Superman-Aquaman Hour which was produced by Filmation in Southern California and which aired on CBS's Saturday morning schedule.
In 1968, as part of a program of editorial restructuring, Kashdan was let go by DC. Several people who worked with him said it was because he was "too nice" and had occasionally clashed with management in arguing that freelancers should be paid and treated better. Others suggested that his tenure was ended because of upper-level dissatisfaction with his work. Either way, he was let go and Dick Giordano was hired to take over most of his books.
Kashdan returned primarily to writing, most of it for the New York office of Western Publishing Company. He wrote dozens of stories for Gold Key Comics like The Twilight Zone and Grimm's Ghost Stories. He did extended stints for them writing Flash Gordon and Star Trek, and also penned several childrens' books for Western's non-comic divisions, along with freelancing for other publishers (comics and otherwise) and even doing a couple of scripts for DC. In the eighties, his freelancing slowed due to failing health and several personal tragedies. He relocated to Los Angeles to be near his remaining family.
I have to insert a personal note here. When I was a kid, I would often buy the new comics at a little store called Parnin's Pharmacy located on Westwood Boulevard near Olympic in West Los Angeles. One day in 1966, while waiting in line with my purchases, I paged through the new Aquaman I was about to buy and saw — to a numb amazement I can recall to this day — that the editor had published a note from me in the letter column. I was 14 years old and it was the first time I'd ever seen anything I'd written in print with my name attached.
This sounds very trivial but anyone reading this who's ever made a buck as a professional writer can probably relate to that thrilling moment. The editor who printed it was George Kashdan, who was then far off in New York City. But — and I swear this is true — Mr. Kashdan lived his declining days in a retirement home located in West L.A. on Westwood near Olympic…directly across the street from where Parnin's used to be.
A number of us historian-type people found him there a few years ago and he was extensively interviewed by phone. I talked to him at length…and for a man who was recovering from a stroke, he had an amazing memory for most things, though not the passage of time. Every time we spoke, I had to run over a list with him of who among his old associates was still alive. He kept hoping to recover enough to get to a Comic-Con International some day and see some of them, especially his old pal Arnold Drake, who remained in touch. My friend Jim Amash taped several more extensive talks with him and they'll be turning up soon in Roy Thomas's fine publication, Alter Ego. (Thanks to Jim for helping me with this obit, by the way.) Even though I drive by that retirement home two or three times a week, I never got to go in and visit Mr. Kashdan in person. He just never felt up to receiving visitors that way.
But I did tell him via phone how much I'd enjoyed so many of his comics. I even told him about the one I really didn't like, which was the super-hero revamp of Blackhawk in 1967, and he didn't seem to have liked it much, either. He sounded like a charming and bright man, and even though I never got to drag him out to lunch down the street at Junior's Delicatessen, as we often discussed, I feel like I've lost a buddy.