Neal Pozner

Neal Pozner (1955 – June 21, 1994), sometimes credited as Neil Pozner, was an art director, editor, and writer known for his work in the comic book industry. He worked with DC Comics at two points, first as a design director and later as Group Editor, Creative Services until his death.

Neal Pozner
Born1955 (1955)
DiedJune 21, 1994(1994-06-21) (aged 38–39)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Editor
Notable works
DC Comics design director, Group Editor – Creative Services

Career

As a young man, Pozner published a comics fanzine from 1969–1972, when he joined CAPA-alpha. He was an active member in CAPA-alpha at least until 1984.[1] He graduated from The Cooper Union.[2]

Before joining DC's staff, Pozner designed the first gay-themed bus ads for New York City as well several posters for Lincoln Center.[2] He also designed record covers for musicians like The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, and Carmen McRae, as well as the Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he designed for CBS/Broadcast Group and was briefly the associate art director of National Lampoon magazine.[1]

Pozner first worked for DC in 1977, when he designed the front cover for a tabloid-format book based on the then-upcoming Superman movie.[3] He was subsequently hired as DC's first real production designer.

Pozner wrote the 1986 Aquaman miniseries,[4] as well as designing the character's blue "camouflage" uniform. He was also responsible for incorporating DC Comics characters into a series of AIDS awareness house ads published in the company's comics.[2]

One of Pozner's many tasks as Group Editor, Creative Services, at DC was recruiting new talent. Travis Charest, Gene Ha, Stuart Immonen, and Phil Jimenez are among the pencillers Pozner "discovered."[2]

He also designed posters for Lincoln Center's Speed the Plow and Six Degrees of Separation.[5]

Death

In the aftermath of Pozner's 1994 death from AIDS complications,[2] artist Phil Jimenez, whom Pozner had hired to work at DC, and with whom Pozner had had a romantic relationship, came out in a tribute to Pozner in the pages of the DC title Tempest.[6]

Awards and tributes

Pozner was recognized with awards from professional associations like the Royal Society of Arts and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation. His work was published in Novum Gebrausch Grafik.[1]

Comics writer Christopher Priest, who worked with Pozner at DC, based the personality of the character Triumph on Pozner, describing him this way:

Neal was, likely, the sharpest tool in the shed. He dressed better and had better hair than anybody on the floor, veeps included. He was aggressive, passionate about his convictions, willing to stick his neck out for his ideals and for the people he was charged with defending. Neal swung a (political) bat at the major-major Powers That Be at DC on my behalf once, a political move I didn't expect Neal to survive. I marveled at his courage and his dignity, even as some braced against him for being very direct and headstrong and for always being right. Neal, write this down someplace, was always right. He was. At the end of the day, Neal would be proven right. That fact, more than anything else, annoyed many staffers beyond reason. Not that Neal would rub your nose in it — you'd rub your own nose. That's how right he was. [Italics in the original.][7]

Notes
  1. Giordano, Dick. "Meanwhile..." DC Comics cover-dated September 1984.
  2. Prism Comics bio.
  3. Klein, Todd. "Todd Klein comic book design work". Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  4. Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. In February [1986], Aquaman donned a blue camouflage costume in a self-titled four-issue miniseries by writer Neal Pozner and artist Craig Hamilton.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  5. "The Faces of AIDS: 1994". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  6. "Not Just Invisible". PlanetOut.com (Internet Archive). Archived from the original on 2002-03-13. Retrieved 2002-03-13.
  7. Priest, Christopher (May 24, 1994). "Triumph: The Hero You Love to Hate". Digital-Priest. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
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